Sushi Tengoku - Kensington

GIANT sushi? Sushi Tengoku is one of the first places that pop into my mind when I think of Giant sushi. Located just on Anzac Parade, it is a popular hang-out for UNSWers. I found it kind of funny how even after leaving uni, we can come back to popular uni-hangouts AND still bump into lots of people you used to know from uni LOL

Sushi Tengoku

My partner left the ordering to me - and so, I picked what I wanted to eat. California big roll ($12) was on my agenda. Big round chunk of eight slices of crab stick, fish roe, lettuce, cucumber, avocado and mayo appeared in front of us. "Is this one or two rolls?" asked my partner - it was just one. Extremely extremely filling.

california roll - $12

Seafood salad ($9) was also in our picks. So it's not as huge as that at Sushi Suma, it was still a decent-sized salad of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, sashimi cubes and a smooth tasty mildly spicy dressing. It was really quite appetising - the type of salad that makes you continually eat it. The dressing was soooo smooth - feels like egg is mixed in with it. Makes the sashimi cubes nice and slimy, with sesame seeds sprinkled on top. Last time we were here, we had the avocado salad. I remember that the avocado salad was pretty decent too :)

seafood salad - $9

We came to Sushi Tengoku for giant sushi - and so, we couldn't leave without having giant sushi! We ordered 3 types of sushi nigiri - the salmon ($3.50 each), the kaibasira (aka sea scallops - $3.50 each), and the unagi ($4 each). Each of these were huge gigantic thick slices of salmon/unagi/scallop, wacked onto a normal sized rice ball. Though not stacked as nicely as before, the scallops were my favourite - big and juicy and lots of it! The salmon was really really good. Thickly cut - it feels as though you are eating fresh sashimi (until you get to the rice).

salmon sushi nigiri - $3.50
kaibasira sea scallop - $3.50

unagi - $4

All up, Sushi Tengoku is pretty good. Sure, service is not the best and I imagine that if you come in peak times, you'll get noisy rowdy uni students. But for the freshness and the hugeness of the servings, it's probably worth the noise :P

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 6.5/10
Value for money - 8/10
Overall - 30/40

Sushi Tengoku
121 Anzac Parade
Kensington
NSW 2033
tel: (02) 9663 3388

Eats on the Plane

Sydney's cheapest McDouble can be found at the airport~ :)

I'm quite a big fan of Maccas (which really puzzles some of my friends because they don't understand how I can appreciate super high end expensive 3-hat food and still enjoy super oily greasy random fastfood) and of late, I have been taking quite a liking to their McValue menu. Particularly, I was in love with the 'deluxe cheeseburge' when it used to be out (cheeseburger with lettuce instead of pickles... omg yum!), and now, I love their McDouble - not only for it's price, but also for it's greasy meaty tastiness.

Amazingly, I got my McDouble - my two beef patties, slice of cheese, tomato relish and pickles all encased in two super sugared up buns - for $1.80!!! Why? Cos my awesome partner has staff discount - all 20c worth LOL . Laughs aside though, the McDouble I had at the airport is pretty much by far the greasiest oiliest McDouble I've had...

McDouble

As we were on the night flight from Sydney to Hong Kong, we were fed with a supper and a breakfast.

For supper, my partner opted for a bowl of spiced braised beef and noodle soup with hot bean paste whereas I went for the seared suzuki mulloway with black olive butter, steamed potatoes and asparagus. This was served with a green leaf salad with feta and snow peas. The salad was pretty average. I'm not a huge fan of fetta so to me - it was just a green salad with qantas vinaigrette. My partner seemed to enjoy his noodles OK - it was a bit red but he said that it wasn't chilli. My fish was a little overdone (but what do you expect when they have to reheat it in an oven?) - and just slightly bland I think.

greens with feta and snow peas

spiced braised beef and noodle soup

seared suzuki mulloway

For dessert, my partner had the cheese plate whereas I had a mango and coconut ice-cream with mango sauce. The air hostess apologised profusely for my melted icecream. Horrible presentation aside, I thought it actually tasted really nice~ Like a weiss bar... but with coconut instead of cream! YUM :) In retrospect - I definately should have asked for more hehe :)

cheese plate

mango and coconut ice-cream

Breakfast on the way there was a bit of a downer - they only had a continental breakfast menu to choose from. Ticking away, I had the croissant, a citris fruit bowl, and a hot chocolate. Odd combination - yes, but after a long plane ride, I was feeling a bit too gluggy to care. Afterall, we landed in HK at 4am! Yes - NOTHING was open - not even the buses or the airport express!!! Well, actually, 7/11 was open.

croissant, a citris fruit bowl, hot chocolate

We again caught the night flight back from HK to Sydney. Here, we were served with dinner, instead of supper - which really means you get a choice of entree. My partner opted for a prosciutto and bocconcini salad whereas I opted for soup. I have to say, my soup - which is a duck and taro soup - was one of the weirdest oddest soups I've drank. Why? Well, I normally don't have taro in my soup... However, my partner's prosciutto looked appetising :)

prosciutto and bocconcini salad

duck and taro soup

For mains, I had a roast chicken with creamy sauce, potatoes and beans. My partner had a salmon with rice with bok choi. Remembering my previous experiences with airplane fish, I was happily gobbling down my juicy tender chicken with creamy sauce. YUM :)

roasted chicken

salmon and rice with asian greens

For dessert, it was some sort of cake with fruity bits in it. Don't quite remember what fruits - but it was something I didn't really want to eat. And so, I let my partner have the cake, and I took my fruits. There were meant to be grapes, but as I didn't want grapes, I got extra pineapple! Score! :)

cake and cream

fresh fruit

Breakfast this time did include hot options. My partner went for his museli and fruit and yoghurt and toast whereas I had my creamy eggs, sausages, smoked salmon and potato hash. Between the two of us, we probably ticked close to everything (bread and pastries aside)... but nothing of ours was the same. We have such opposite tastes but I guess that's when they say - opposites attract! Atleast we won't be fighting for food :) In all honesty, the breakfast is GOOD. If it wasn't for me feeling so tired and exhausted and gluggy, I probably would have enjoyed it much much more.

toast, fruit and yoghurt, museli with milk

scrambled creamy eggs, smoked salmon, sausages and hash

Rockpool inspired or not - my plane food experience this time was slightly average ish. Could be better but hey - it's food on a plane so what should I expect?

Japanese food in HK

There are HUGE selections of Jap food in HK. These range from high-class Jap restaurants with harbour views, moderately priced casual Jap restaurants, wwwaaaayyyy too many sushi trains, as well as uber awesome sushi (singular and platters) that you can just pluck from your everyday supermarkets.

Whereas my partner and I usually go crazy on Jap food, on our most recent trip, we didn't get the chance to. Instead, we settled for the casual restaurants, sushi trains and supermarket-variety sushi... which really wasn't bad either! :)

Sashimi set from Kaneda (in Wan Chai)

terriyaki beef from Kaneda

grilled pork neck from Kaneda

Camquat in coke from Watami

Soft shell crab salad from Watami

beef tongue from Watami

mixed rolls from Watami

Potato mornay from Watami

Scallop sushi from Itamae

Salmon sushi from Itamae

Crab roe salad from Itamae

California roll from Itamae

Soft shell crab roll from Itamae

Lobster ship and cheesy flying fish roe ship from Itamae

Unagi sushi from Itamae

Sushi platter from Marketplace (supermarket in Langham)

So the verdict? Well, at some places, the sashimi and sushi is not as fresh or tasty as it is in Sydney (or atleast some parts of Sydney) but... Why is it so cheap?!?!?!

Kaneda Japanese Restaurant - 1/F, Fraser Suites, 74-80 Johnston Road, Wan Chai

Watami - www.watami.com.hk

Itamae sushi - Shop 1-3, G/F., Excelsior Plaza, Yee On Bldg., 24-26 East Point Rd., Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Cafe food in HK

Cafes (Honkie style or otherwise) are EVERYWHERE in HK. Some franchised, some one-offs. Some good, some dirty. I guess you really need to know where to go. One of the best cafes which is famous for it's "pantyhose" milk tea (絲襪奶茶) is Lan Fong Yuen (蘭芳園). It's been around for ages, since the 1950s, and even though it's been renovated in past years, it still has those tradition honky cafe wooden tables and folded up chairs.

We each ordered a 'lo ding' (撈丁) on this occasion. 'Lo Ding' is pretty much mixing sauce and marinade together with a famous brand of instant noodles. The noodles are quickly boiled, drained and tossed in a wok before the marinade is put on. My partner ordered one with chicken wings, egg, and cabbage. He said that it was just average - probably not enough marinade mixture. Mine, on the other hand, was a ginger and shallot soya-chicken fillet with cabbage. Mine was excellente~ Soooo yummmy!!! I got such a huge plate AND managed to polish it all off! Mmm... I love instant noodles :). Sitting at a shared table, I saw lots of people ordering tomato and potato soup based stuff as well - that must be the new "in" thing at this place - but I prefer my instant noodles :)

'Lo Ding's

And as for my milk tea? Superb! Smooth, silky and really rich in tea flavour. Really good - better than most honky cafes.

Lan Fong Yuen famous milk tea

We also went to a Jap style cafe called Suzuki Cafe. Situated inside Langham in Mong Kok, it was quite busy, especially around the lunch hour. My partner and I ordered a set each. My partner ordered a spaghetti cabonara with a 'hot spring' egg whereas I ordered a soft shell crab pasta with mentaiko. This was served with a drink of our choice and a creamy seafood bisque. The soup was nice, but my main was YUM! The pasta was creamy, but not overlly so. Soft shell crab was crunchy and not bad at all, and the fish roe added an extra crunch element to my pasta. My partner's cabonara was pretty average. The hot spring egg was simply just a runny poached egg - which I guess is pretty decent. Drinks-wise, I had a green tea latte whereas my partner had a mango malt. The mango malt is WEIRD. Like a mango milkshake but runnier and made with malt vitasoy. No my type of drink, but my partner liked it.

green tea latte and mango malt

creamy seafood bisque

spaghetti cabonara

soft shell crab pasta with mentaiko

You know how we have Pepper Steak in Sydney? Well, in HK, it seems like the new hip thing for youngsters. But because we've had Pepper Steak in Sydney, we opted for the shop next door - Pork Pan. I ordered a pork katsu with cheese, whereas my partner ordered a Kurobuta Pork Katsu. I thought that my cheesy pork katsu was a little bit odd. It probably would have tasted better with real cheese (like, Tasty or Mozeralla) compared to processed Kraft Singles tasting cheese LOL. My partner's pork, on the other hand, was really really tasty and really really tender. Not bad at all! Accompanying the pork katsu, we had a choice of rice - rice with tomato or rice with egg, as well as a fried egg on top, some veges and some cabbage. Also coming with a drink, from my memory, the total came to less than AUD$10 each meal. Not bad eh?

cheesey pork katsu

Kurobuta tonkatsu

We also had an experience at a random cafe on the street. We ordered a char kway teow, a random beef intestines rice noodle soup, and hainan chicken rice. Honestly, the food at this random cafe was a little on the oily side and the taste was pretty average. Just as well I think - as I don't remember the name of this cafe :P

char kway teow

beef intestines noodle soup

hainan chicken rice

We also had a casual dinner at Man Fai (文輝墨魚丸大王). This place is pretty famous for it's cuttlefish balls and fish balls - AND it's super super packed. You have to eat super quickly and you're packed into a very little space. But the food, I have to say, is pretty damn awesome :) My partner and I both ordered the 'four treasures' noodle soup - I had mine with flat rice noodles, my partner opted for thin rice noodles. The four treasures are basically, fish ball, cuttle fish ball, fish meat dumpling and fish paste slices. We also had chicken wings (on request by the partner). It's sooooooo yummy. I live in Aberdeen when I stay in HK and Aberdeen is famous for it's fish balls. And although the fishballs here are not as awesome as the ones in Aberdeen, I find that the noodle soup is better, possibly because it's got a huge heaping of seaweed in it which I think adds the finishing touches to any fishball noodle soup.

chicken wings

'four treasures' noodle soup

Last but not least on our cafe tour, we had a quick lunch at Tsui Wah (翠華餐廳). My partner ordered a mixed grilled set. This came with russian borsch, garlic bread, a drink, and a HUGEEEEEE hotplate of pork, chicken, beef, and sausage with veges and either rice or spaghetti. I was stupidly amazed by how huge this set was (and again, it's only around AUD$10). I tasted his food - it was AMAZINGLY yum!!! The all the meats on the mixed grill were super tender and tasty.

milk tea
russian borsch

garlic bread

mixed grill set

My choice for the day was a seafood fried instant noodles. OMG - it was like a mountain on a hot plate. It was sooooooooo good. The instant noodles were super yum. Slightly singed on the outskirts, but soft and tasty in the middle. I'm salivating just thinking about this.

seafood fried instant noodles

I simply love eating at cafes in Hong Kong. Not only for their price and their variety but also for their quality. It's usually soooo yummy and I really wish we had some awesome ones here in Sydney :)

Lan Fong Yuen 蘭芳園 - Main shop: G/F, 2 Gage Street, Central, Hong Kong,

Tel: +825 2544 3895

Suzuki Cafe - http://www.suzukicafe.com/about.htm

Man Fai 文輝墨魚丸大王 - 22-24 Jardine Street, Causeway Bay

Tsui Wah 翠華餐廳 - www.tsuiwahrestaurant.com