Kitchen By Mike - Rosebery

I know that Kitchen By Mike has a big following. But for some reason, I'd never been a fan. Like  I know that the produce is fresh and made relatively well, but for that price, I think that you can get the same or better elsewhere. However, it does have a large seating area, making it convenient for our group of 10+ to all fit.

So at Kitchen by Mike, their menu goes from breakfast to lunch at 12pm. You line up like a good little school child waiting at the cafeteria and you make your selection. Salads are $5+ and meats are around the $15+ range. Everything you put on your plate adds to the amount you pay at the end of the line.

For this meal, hubby made all the selections. We got a roast chicken and a pork belly, with a cabagge and apple slaw, roasted root vegetable and bread. Came to around $25pp. Really not that cheap for self-service, no presentation style food. The chicken was OK, maybe just a tid bit dry for my liking. The pork belly (was quite a small serve) had good crackling but a ton of fat. If you weren't into eating mouthfuls of fat, there would have been very little of this slab that you could have eaten. The slaw was good. Fresh. Good amount of dressing. And the root vegetable was also decent. Highlight for me was probably the bread and butter. The bread was super soft and delish. The butter was also well churned - creamy and tasty.

Kitchen by Mike is right next to Black Star - so of course that is the obvious dessert choice. I was heaps disappointed that the only cake that seemed to be widely available was the watermelon cake. And if you were buying a big slab like we were, it was the only cake you could purchase. Yeh yeh I know it's big and popular and all that. But I'm not a huge fan and even if it was their best seller, I would want a bigger variety and more choice.

Ratings:
Food - 6.5/10
Service - 6/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 5/10
Overall - 24.5/40

Kitchen by Mike
1/85 Dunning Ave
Rosebery, NSW 2018
Tel: (02) 9045 0910

Shayan Quarter @ Cafe Mix - The Rocks

Hawker-style food in a five-star hotel. Who would have thought?
I feel like Shangri-La has gotten lots of good publicity recently with their food market stint at Vivid, and from when their famous pastry chef (Anna Polyviou) created that epic-looking carrot cake on Master Chef. But until a good friend of mine decided to host their 30th birthday lunch at the Shangri-La, I had no idea that Cafe Mix (the awesome seafood buffet venue) changed into the 'Shayan Quarter' by day, serving up hipster done-up hawker foods.

I have to say, as the birthday boy organised the whole thing, I don't know exactly what each dish was, nor the intricate details of each dish, but I'll do my best to explain.

First up, there was a chilli squid dish. A lot of spices seemed to have gone into coating the squid and it was cooked pretty well - super tender, not tough and chewy at all. Enough to set my mouth on fire when a red chilli accidentally ends up attached to the squid, but without the chilli, it was tasty also.

Baos are everywhere nowadays and they definitely made it onto our table. As there was a vegetarian amongst us, he got a tofu bao which he seemed to enjoy muchly. The rest of us got some pretty tasty sticky chilli caramel pork belly baos. It was a good proportion of bao to meat to veges - and ample of yummy sriracha mayo.

Next up were the playful dishes. Green papaya salad bagged with 'Shake me Up' written on top. Have to say - there wasn't much papaya in each bag but we had fun anyway mixing the papaya with a hot, sweet and sour dressing. More shaking was involved with the numbing chicken wings. You put the numbing szechuan salt in with the chicken wings and shake shake shake (kind of like maccas shake shake fries... remember those?). The small arm work-out aside, the chicken wings were actually quite tender and juicy.

We also got some greens - just some beans in a belacan-ish sauce? Nothing really to write home about - they were OK. And some fried rice which had quite a lot of ingredients. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this humble-looking fried rice. The right texture, great flavours, good dryness.

Some soft tacos came also - some with a pulled pork type filling, and some with a slow-roasted goat filling. I'm not really a lamb/goat fan but everyone seemed to enjoy the soft meat filling.

There were also some lamb shoulder skewers and some mushroom skewers. The lamb skewers were nicely cumin flavoured (or at least that's what I tasted when I accidentally had a bite) but the winners were the mushroom skewers, which were really really tasty! Mushroom sweetness with a good sweet ish, salty ish, moorish sauce. YUM!

The fish came all deep fried with individual fish pieces deboned and skewered for ease of eating. It was good. The fish was fresh. It was easy to eat.

I feel like, apart from the mushroom skewers, the desserts really stole the show. Not only did my friend have an awesome birthday cake (made presumably by Anna Polyviou's team), but we also got 2 plates of complimentary desserts - which looked really amazingly appetising! There was this bitter chocolate tart with banana, salted peanut caramelised clusters and sesame cracker, fried coconut icecream magnum and some macarons. Looked pretty damn good! My friend's birthday cake was also pretty awesome! I don't exactly know what is it. It was sweet, caramelly ?, crunchy biscuit base with popping candy? Whatever it was, it was pretty tasty :)

So Shayan Quarter is up-scale hawker food. Playful elements - tick! Wonderful atmosphere - tick! Amazing desserts - tick! Hawker flavours - sometimes tick?

Ratings:
Food - 7.5/10
Ambiance - 8/10
Service - 7/10
Value for money - ?
Overall - 22.5 + ?/40

Shayan Quarter @ Cafe Mix
Shangri La Hotel
176 Cumberland Street
The Rocks, NSW 2000
Tel: (02) 9250 6206

Kürtősh - Surry Hills

I've been wanting to visit Kürtősh for quite a while now because all their cakes sound absolutely deliciousness. Though they are famous for their Chimney Cakes, chimney cake was not what sparked my interest. I was mainly after their peanut butter and chocolate ganache cake.

As we visited Kürtősh on a weekday before noon, the Surry Hills shop was virtually empty. The number of people coming for coffee, even, was quite scarce. Cakes here are sold by weight, so how much you pay depends on how greedy you are when asked how big a slice you want cut out of the massive slab. I have to say, this is a really dangerous thing - it' so tempting to get a big slice of these delicious looking cakes and it takes loads of will power to say "just a really small piece". On the other hand, an advantage of this way of buying cake is that you can sample as many flavours as you want as you can control the portion size.

Looking at the counter, I couldn't resist getting their flourless chocolate cake on top of my original choice of peanut butter and chocolate ganache cake. Both were super delicious! The peanut butter cake was rich and smooth and creamy - but not cakey (which is good for me, cos I'm not a huge fan of fluffy cakes). The flourless chocolate cake was also densely chocolately. Possibly wouldn't have minded more of either of these.

flourless chocolate cake, peanut butter and chocolate ganache

Hubby initially wasn't going to get anything but after seeing me have so much fun choosing the cake, he couldn't resist the tiramisu. "How many bubbles?' was the question asked - but it took a few goes before hubby understood what it meant. He got two bubbles. He absolutely LOVED it. Good portion of cake and mascapone. I didn't think that there was enough coffee flavour, but hubby didn't care.

tiramisu

I quite enjoyed this cake heaven. Because we held back from large slices, the three cakes together cost us $8.50. And so, if I have my way, I will be back to sample more delicacies here.

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 29.5/40

Kürtősh (Surry Hills)
604-606 Crown Street
Surry Hills 
NSW 2010
Tel: (02) 9319 7701

Awfully Chocolate - Hong Kong

I love Häagen-Dazs but I also love Awfully Chocolate. To me, both shops are awesome for icecream but Awfully chocolate is also awesome for cake. They have a big range of delicious looking chocolate cakes but for this day, I decided to go for the chocolate tart instead.

Super glossy finished chocolate which is super rich and absolutely smooth and deliciousness, all that chocolate was encased in a crumbly yet amazing tart shell. To die for!!!

Can't wait to go back to try all their varieties of cakes! :)

Awfully Chocolate 
http://www.awfullychocolate.com/hongkong/pdt.php

Penny Fours - Leichhardt

I'd heard from somewhere that there was an awesome little patisserie in Leichhardt and couldn't wait to check it out. Located on the quieter part of Norton Street, Penny Fours is this tiny spot with just two small counters and a couple of tables. Behind the front, however, is a massive massive kitchen area - which I found really quite confusing because on this Saturday afternoon, the place was quiet as! Not a soul in sight - but we braved a try anyway.

Lucky for us, we were not disappointed. The chocolate tart ($4.50) was amazing!!! The tart pastry was crumbly and golden, and despite looks, the chocolate filling was really chocolately, light, fluffy ish and just delicious. So delicious that I couldn't resist but to also get their salted caramel chocolate. This was also really really yum! It took sooo much self restraint to not also get the chocolate croissant.

chocolate tart

salted caramel

So looks can be deceiving! Though a super quite small and quaint patisserie, it exceeded my expectations muchly.

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 6/10
Value for money - 8/10
Overall - 29/40

Penny Four's
141 Norton Street
Leichhardt 
NSW 2040

Sacher Cake in Vienna

Prior to our Euro trip, one of my colleagues had told me that a 'must do' in Vienna was to go to Hotel Sacher to have some sacher torte. The Sacher torte is one of the most famous Viennese desserts - invented by Mr Franz Sacher in the 1800s. It's pretty much a layer of marmalade (usually apricot jam) spread in between two chocolate sponges then covered in dark chocolate icing.

My first experience of this famous cake was at the Residenz (at Schonbrunn Palace) as it was showering a bit and we were stuck indoors. They had a cabinet full of different cakes but, you know, had to pick the local specialty. Have to say - it wasn't bad here. But at the same time, it also wasn't anything special. Kinda just like chocolate sponge cake with chocolate icing :P

Upon advice from my colleague, we had to also try this cake at Hotel Sacher (which as the name indicates, is super famous for their Sacher cake). The spongy bit was probably a bit lighter and softer here and the jam was more distinct. The chocolate was also richer and more chocolatey. Unfortunately, whilst I am a massive chocolate fan, I am not a jam fan. And it was after this slice that I decided to move on to eating it's cousins (e.g. the chocolate truffle cake)

Cafe Restaurant Residenz Schonbrunn
Schloss Schönbrunn.
Kavalierstrakt 52  vom Haupttor links, 1130 Vienna, Austria
Tel: 01 24100300

Hotel Sacher
Philharmonikerstraße 4, 1010 Vienna, Austria

Ganache (2) - Melbourne

I remember that I had an awesome cake from Ganache last time I was in Melbourne - hence, I couldn't wait to return. Stepping into their new branch on Collins Street, we were met with glass cabinets full of hand-crafted chocolates, macaroons cakes and slices as well as some enticing packaged chocolates.

This time round, I opted for a brownie mousse cake ($7.50). This a layer of delicious brownie with dark and milk chocolate mousse which was smooth, decadent and melt-in-your-mouth, and topped with a layer of chocolate anglaise. There was also a thin slice of tempered chocolate and a tiny tiny speck of gold flake sitting on top. YUM.

brownie mousse - $7.50

The pistachio macaroon ($2.20) had a crunchy shell and a creamy pistachio filling. I think I have confirmed that I am not a fan of macaroons - freshly made or frozen type. Instead, my hubby took fancy to this little treat.

pistachio macaroon - $2.20

My hubby opted for a Chocolate Milkshake ($6). This was a sweet chocolaty concoction with gelato, chocolate ganache and slightly too much milk. My hubby and I are both thick shake fans - hence, I think we'd prefer more gelato and more chocolate... so this was slightly diluted for our liking.

Chocolate Milkshake - $6

I love the cakes at Ganache. A must-return for sure!

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7.5/10
Overall - 30/40

Ganache
Collins Street
Melbourne
Tel: (02) 9650 8388

Patisse - Waterloo

Following Masterchef and Food Safari hype Patisse has been packed out on most weekends.

I'm actually not a macaroon fan - but seeing all the different colours and flavours makes me really happy... hence, we went macaroon hunting at Patisse only to find............. there's only one flavour left!?!?!?!?!


Apparently, they make their macaroons every wednesday and people buy them buy the 50s or 100s (according to the shop dude)... hence, when I come on Sat (and I've been hunting twice), there's only like 1 flavour left.

Well... I got it anyway. The vanilla macaroon was sweet, fresh out of the fridgely cold, and... mmm... average actually. Slightly disappointed.

Vanilla Macaron

I also couldn't resist the Opera cake. This was really yummy. Layers of coffee syrup soaked coffee cake, chocolate ganache, coffee buttercream and chocolate glaze - it was really really yummy. Slightly lighter and less dense compared to most other opera cakes, it was still really tasty and coffee-chocolately... I gobbled it up in no time!

Opera Cake

I have to say - Patisse is nice. Looks nice. Looks appetising. Is appetising. But not super duperly so. It was kind of average ish - like, Opera cake is nice... but Opera cake at Intercontintal is better I think. So Patisse is a nice cafe, cake, dessert place which is slightly over-hyped by Masterchef.

Ratings:
Food - 7.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 28.5/40

Patisse
G01/197 Young Street
Waterloo
NSW 2017

Tel: (02) 9690 0665

Sea Sweet Patisserie - Parramatta

My friend who lives from the Shire has, on multiple occasions, been trying to tell me how awesome the baklavas are from a sweets shop in Parra. After many times of hearing about it, I made her actually take us down here - so we can try it ourselves.

The patisserie is called Sea Sweet and is located on Church street, on the quieter side of the river. There are two glass cabinets full of cakes and petit fours, and two huge cabinets of lebanese sweets. According to my friend, it's probably better value to take-away, as they charge you double the price for eating in.

loads of cakes and sweets available

On this particular occasion, we decided to purchase half a kg of mixed baklavas ($13.90). We got a huge selection - cashews, pistaccios, chocolate baclavas, rectangular ones, round ones, the whole lot. They all have a different name - but being me, the only difference I sense is cachew vs pistaccio. What I mean is that, to me, all cashew ones taste the same and all pistaccio ones taste similar. The baklavas here are really quite awesome. Sweet, but not overly so. Light and puffy and crispy. Bite-sized (which is kind of bad as it means that I consume many many in one sitting).

1/2 kg of baklavas - $13.90

The baklavas here are yum. The range of cakes available also seem quite good and my friend thinks that they are decent in taste. The service isn't 100% though... but be patient and eventually, they'll get there.

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 6/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 28.5/40

Sea Sweet Patisserie
4 / 354 Church St,
Parramatta
NSW 2150
tel: 1300 90 80 70

Christopher's Cake Shop (2) - Mascot

Christopher's cake shop

We were around Mascot area on the weekend and having tasted their Baklava's not long ago, I was begging for us to swing around Christopher's for a sugar hit.

For a Saturday afternoon, there was still a decent selection of cakes left. I took my pick - the Duchess. The way the girl behind the counter described it sounded like, "chocolate with chocolate with bits of biscuits throughout then covered with chocolate". Sounded good to me! LOL

Duchess - $4.10

The cake sounded so tempting that I decided to dig into it whilst my partner was driving (hence, the photo was taken in a moving car).

The cake was deliciousness! Chocolate fudge consistency with small spongy biscuits throughout then covered with more belgium chocolate. It was sweet but not overly so (or might be okay because I'm a chocoholic). However, it was a bit dense. It tooke me two sittings to polish it off. Definately an indulgent kind of cake but probably well worth all the calories. Wedding diet? Pshhht. What wedding diet? LOL

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

Christopher's Cake Shop
1213 Botany Road
Mascot
NSW 2020
Tel: (02) 9667 0300

Christopher's Cake Shop - Mascot

Christopher's cake shop

I've always had trouble with pronouncing 'Baklava' and hence, I will typically just refer to those yummy turkish sweets made of pastry and nuts (yummiest is pistacchio or caschew I think :P) and drenched in syrup.

On one awesome occasion, my partner bought over a WHOLE TRAY of Baklava from Christopher's cake stop (medium tray - $18.50).

Baklava

Layers and layers of filo pastry, which are extremely moist and light, with lots of chopped almonds... all super soaked in syrup. Omgosh - it's sooooooo rich and really rather super sweet. Well worth the calories or whatever you're comsuming.

Christopher's also have lots of other cakes and slices and my partner swears that the Tiramisu is absolutely awesomeness! Guess I need to go there and try again one day :)

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - ?
Ambiance - ?
Value for money - 8.5/10
Overall - 17/20

Christopher's Cake Shop
1213 Botany Road
Mascot
NSW 2020
tel: (02) 9667 0300