Smile Korea Mart - Sydney

After a nice dinner and a long long walk around sydney CBD, my friends and I found ourselves at Smile - Korea Mart on George Street.

What were we doing here? We were lining up for awesomeness 32cm icecream for just $2.70!!! Coming in three flavours - strawberry, vanilla and chocolate, there were two smart looking guys waiting to take our orders.

Being a chocolate fan, I chose the chocolate favour. Although a bit slanted, I think it was atleast close to 32cm! I wonder how they do it! Amazingness! :)

oh... and the icecream's not bad either. It's very nice and 'ice-y', just the way I like it (but it's not smooth and creamy like how some other people like it).

I ate and ate and ate and alas! I couldn't finish it. My friend commented that I should have kept going, as I had atleast eaten it down to the size of a normal icecream! LOL

Definately worth a try! Even if it's just for the novelty.

Ratings:
Food - 7/10
Service - 7/10 (they were smiling at my enthusiasm)
Ambiance - 5/10 (just a convenient store afterall!)
Value for money - 9/10
Overall - 28/40

Smile - Korea Mart
630 George St,
Sydney (next door to Hungry Jacks)

Miso - Sydney

To celebrate a couple of birthday, my friend and I were looking for a decent Japanese restaurant that could accommodate our company of 12 on a Friday night. Our shortlist was comprised of Musashi and Miso. As Musashi could only offer us a booking at 5.45pm (and out by 6.30pm), and Miso did not agree to our booking, we could nothing more than just rock up on the night.

We went and took a number from Miso then went to Musashi for a number. And by chance, both tables were available at the same time... mmm... tough choice (only for me, as I was the one stuck on the phone).

Miso was chosen.
At Miso, the norm was to order set dinners (or Teishoku) which is supposed to create a healthy "balance" of food. And so, we ordered one each.

Let's start with mine. I ordered Miso's Ikura Bento ($17.50), much to the surprise of my partner (when I told him on the phone), and to mine actually. I guess I was deceived by the colourfulness of it all! The thing is, I don't like rice. And as you see, on the bottom of this set is a HUGE glob of rice with Ikura and Sujiko (ie. salmon roe) scattered on top. Accompanying this huge rice portion was veges, salmon sashimi, and teriyaki mix (tofu, fish cake, salmon, fake meat stuff, and eggplant), pickles and miso soup. There were also cherries which were plump and round, and which I quickly palmed off to my friend (as I don't do cherries). I thought that it was quite a decent meal. The salmon roe was very tasty ontop of the plain rice, the salmon was cold and fresh, the pickles were a great accompaniment as were the greens, and the miso soup was delicious too. The only qualm I have about this set is the teriyaki mix. The tofu was nice... but the others was not that great (and eggplant was left untouched as I'm anti-eggplant :P).

Miso's Ikura Bento - $17.50

Now, for what my friends ordered. There was the Miso-yaki Chicken set ($15), comprised of Chicken (of course!), and cute little side dishes (potato starch cold noodles, pickles, etc), salad, miso soup, and rice.

Miso-yaki Chicken Set - $15

The Vegetable Lovers Set ($15) for my vegetarian friend. It was a mix of vegetables - tempura style, sauted, ovened... etc etc. The only wierd thing is that miso soup is not vegetarian ... (due to dashi - fish stock)... and so, my vegetarian friend could not consume.

Vegetable Lovers Set - $15

One of my friends ordered the Tempura King Prawn set ($16.50) whereas the another ordered a Tempura King Prawn Udon ($12.50). I think both friends enjoyed their choices, yet one lot of tempura is crunchy and the other soggy.

Tempura King Prawn Set - $16.50

Tempura King Prawn Udon - $12.50

When I was ordering, I was contemplating ordering the Tonkatsu Pork Loin Set ($15) for which Miso is supposed to be famous for. It claims to be super juicy and crunchy and deep fried in soybean oil. Mmm... sure smelt awesomeness!

Tonkatsu Pork Loin Set - $15

The other set I was tossing up between was the Sashimi Set ($16.50), which also looked awesome with four different types of sashimi (I think it was salmon, tuna, kingfish, and white fish...I think...) accompanied by many little side dishes, salad, miso soup and rice.

Sashimi Set - $16.50

Another of my friends was brave enough to not even look at a menu and just say a number (of a set). And so, when his Katsu Don (deepfried pork loin cooked with egg & onion sauce - $15) came, he didn't even know it was his! Yet, he did seem to enjoy his feed.

Katsu Don - $15

And now for something I don't eat - Unagi Bento ($17.50). Looks as awesome as my meal yet... with eel (another of my not-eats).

Unagi Bento - $17.50

Last but not least, there was another Udon ordered. This friend sat far far away from me, so I'm not 100% sure what udon this was... but I believe that it was the Hokkaido Seafood Udon in a miso and soy-milk soup base. Mmm... sounds delicious, looks cloudy.

Hokkaido Seafood Udon - $13.50

Now for drinks. These included the Strawberry and Banana smoothie ($5), Green Tea Smoothie ($5), and the Grape Calpis Frappe ($4.50). All looked and tasted great. :)

Strawberry and Banana Smoothie - $5

Grape Calpis Frappe - $4.50

Green Tea Smoothie - $5

Although the waitresses had problems fitting our crowd in the little restaurant, my friends and I all seemed to have a great time. And since there were no complaints from my friends, I can only assume that the food and drinks were all deliciousness (and reasonably priced)!

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 6/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 28/40

Miso Japanese Restaurant
World Square Level Piazza
Shop 20, Liverpool St
Sydney CBD, NSW
Tel: (02) 9283 9686

Eats on the plane - Qantas food

I guess my trip wouldn't be complete without a blog on my plane food. My partner and I managed to score seats on Qantas where we were fed quite well (and often).

For lunch, our meal comprised of either Moroccan chicken with cous cous or sweet and sour pork with noodles. My partner downed the chicken but the cous cous was left untouched. My sweet and sour pork was...ermm.... tasted better than the noodles I guess (and being a big fan of noodles, for me to not like these noodles is a BIG call). Well, what did I expect from plane food?

We also got a nice salad with vinegarette, bread and butter, cheese and crackers, and a boost chocolate bar!

In between my two plane meals, the air-hostess very kindly served us with cup noodles, which was very fortunate given my next meal... not that it was bad - just that it was completely what I DON'T eat. It was pumpkin and feta ravioli >.< My partner ate his share (and bit of mine).
.But I guess I was too preoccupied thinking about what I wanted to eat in HK that I didn't really care about what the plane food tasted like.

On the way back from Hong Kong, the plane food was much much more appetising.
The dinner was either roast beef with mash, or fish with noodles. What I wanted was fish with mash and so, my very nice and sweet partner ordered the beef and gave me his mash :)
kekekeke... the mash and the fish were both super super yummy!

The meal also came with a salad, bread rolls with butter, and a coconut red-bean pudding, completed by a Tim Tam. Mmm... I was happy with this meal :)




Much to the dissappointment of my partner, cup noodles were not stocked on this flight.
Nonetheless, the breakfast made up for it (atleast that's what I thought).

My partner got the Chinese breakfast (Noodles, steamed bun, and dumpling type thing) whilst I got a potato and spinach fritata with mushrooms and tomato (which I neglected). The fritata was a good finish to my plane meals. :)



In all, the service on Qantas flights weren't excellent - yet, they did meet any demands we had (apart from the cup noodle incident). The ambiance - well, it's just a plane. On the way there, we got the first seats in economy (ie. lots of leg room), and on the way back, we were just thankful for a seat (as they were overbooked). I have to admit, however, that given the recent Qantas publicity, travelling Qantas does evoke anxiety.

Ratings:
Food - 5/10 (better on the way back than the way there)
Service - 6/10
Ambiance - 6/10 (better on the way there than the way back)
Value for money - 9/10 (my friends travelled food-less and entertainment-less for $1000 more)
Overall - 26/40

Eats in Hong Kong - Cafe Fare

Cafe's are a way of life in HK.
There are also different levels, styles and pricings of Cafes.

One that my friends and I went to was TPK Cafe (again a chain store) in Central. It's dressed up as a classy restaurant - but the food served is normal honky cafe style food.

For instance, there's the baked cream fish with rice, combination rice with egg, and pigeon. I'm a fan of creamy anythingness, so the creamy fish worked well for me. On the other hand, me and pigeon do not go together - I don't like the taste, the texture, nor the imagery that forms in my head when I eat this - so, I just don't, much to the delight of my partner (who now gets TWO pieces).


Then there's the fried beef ho fun, baked portugese chicken with rice, and super large prawns with spaghetti, all of which were quite average. My only complaint is that the fried beef ho fun looked super super soy sauced. Luckily, it still tasted good good :)



Now for my favourites of the night - baked seafood rice and the creamy chicken and mushroom with rice. Very yummy - and very much the average type of food you get at any normal honky cafe. The only difference is the ambiance and the decore of the place - very dressed up! Luckily, the prices weren't too dressed up and were very decent.


Other types of cafes you might find are tucked away in upstairs places - normally with some special theme or fusion of some sort. The Orchard Garden Cafe and Restaurant is a jap fusion (also a chain which might be found in Causeway Bay or Mong Kok).

We ordered our mains (alot of them), and because we saw the next table with deliciousness soup (which came with bread and salad), we ordered a "light meal" each. Soup had a choice between russian borsch (my partner's favourite), and cream (my, and the rest of our table's favourite). And check out the bread! The bread came nice and fresh and hot - and looked like a cute muffin. It was soooo nice and soft and dipped in the soup... mmmm.. very satisfying.




We also ordered 5 mains between the 5 of us, and also 2 snacks. There were 2 pastas, 2 pizzas and curry chicken and rice. I liked my squid ink pasta with salmon and mushies the most - so very very creamy and yummy. The other pasta was supposed to be pesto with salmon, mushies and angel-hair pasta... a bit less yummy.



We also chose two pizza's. Being aussie boys, a bacon, pepperoni pizza was ordered. And to get a feel of the "fusion" we also ordered a wasabi beef and cheese pizza topped with seaweed... mmm... interesting I guess - but fell short of my amazingness expectation as my friend described it as awesomeness.


We also ordered a curry chicken rice. Again, pretty average. Yet, my partner seemed to thoroughly appreciate it.

Snack-wise, we had the potato and scallops/prawn- which is really a scallop sandwiched between mash potato and slightly torched on the top (and accompanied with a bit of garlic). It looked nicer than it tasted. It was quite an odd combination - but I like mash, and I like scallops. So, I guess it was alright :P


Another one of my friend's favourites was the gyoza stuffed chicken wings. Imagine a gyoza (or the gyoza filling) stuffed inside a chicken wing (minus the chicken). Mmm... I like eating chicken more than gyoza filling.


The next place I'm describing isn't really a cafe - more a shanghainese restaurant (again a chain, found in many many places - and so I thought I'd shove it in this post too).

We went to this place after we were fed up waiting for Itamae (a Japanese sushi train). We ordered crab pan-fried buns (very very crab oily... the orangey goodness was spewing out. Good for taste, bad for health!).

A vegetarian dish - mixed veges in fried tofu wrapping. Mmm... oily.

Shredded pork and preserved veges noodle soup. I thought that this was very very average. You could get this type of noodle soup at any random cafe in HK.

And they mixed up our xiao long bao!!! We ordered the normal minced pork one... and they gave us meat and vege... hmm... BUT - it was very very nice and juicy, so much so, that my partner was ok about the extra vege in it~

And lastly (or firstly... as this came out first) there's the drunken chicken. Chicken in HK always tastes more tender than chicken in Australian, H5N1 or otherwise. I think that previously, we would have had fresh fresh chicken, but now, the chicken might have been dead for around 12 hrs (according to my uncle). Tasted good nonetheless~


I've neglected to describe the fast-food cafes you can get everywhere in HK for two reasons - one, I only ate at a handfull. And two, the times where I did eat there, I was with my uncle and I thought that he'd find me wierd if I whipped out my camera at every food place he took me to! (and since he pays for everything for me, I don't want him to think I'm wierd~ ) :P