El Jannah - Blacktown

Our favourite charcoal chicken shop has opened out in Blacktown recently and this was fantastic news as a few of my friends live out that area and we could pop by for a feed. Just as popular as it's other joints in Granville and Punchbowl, its a good thing that this El Jannah spans across 3 shop fronts - meaning that there's a lot of seating (but probably not ample seating given it's crowd volume).

I've ordered my usual favourites here several time - quarter chicken with the pickle and bread condiments. I also ask for lettuce most times. And of course -the chips. The chicken here is as good as Granville. Tasty and charcoally... but as everyone knows - it's really actually the amazing garlic sauce that makes this AWEOME. The chips, unfortunately, are not as uniformly golden brown as the ones in Granville... guess quality control on the oil or the deep frying person isn't as strict out here.

my chicken meal

quarter chicken, pickles, garlic sauce

regular chips

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

El Jannah - Blacktown
44-48 Flushcombe Road
Blacktown
NSW 2148
Tel: (02) 8814 9485

Little Italy (2) - Blacktown

Meeting up with a friend in Blacktown and decided on Italian. My friend's favourite Italian local was - Little Italy - and hence, there we dined.

Greeted by friendly smiling staff, we were quickly whisked to out table. We scanned through and ordered our selection of drinks and food. My friend's pick for the night was the Veal Boscaiola ($22.90). This was a nice stack of lean veal steaks, topped with plenty of ham and mushrooms and surrounded by a unhealthy pool of cream. Healthy or not, it was thoroughly enjoyed.

Veal Boscaiola - $22.90

My friend is normally the chicken enthusiast and has chicken for breakfast, lunch and dinner. As he opted for veal today, I felt obligated to order chicken to fill in the void. Hence, my choice for the night was the Chicken Valdostana ($21.90). This was a HUGE serving of chicken (I couldn't tell if it was 2 or 3 thick slabs of chicken), nicely cooked and tender enough, flamed in brandy and swimming in a pool of cream. Accompanying my chicken was ham, mushrooms and cheese. Definately not a healthy meal, but it suited me well after a huge and hectic week at work. To make it slightly healthier, a bed of vegetables (potato, carrot and beans) were beneath the meat tower.

Chicken Valdostana - $21.90

And for dessert, yet another unhealthy option - the Nutella pizza ($14.90). Nutella super filled the two middle slices of folded pizza to the point where it was just thick and oozing out. The two side pieces had slightly less Nutella - it really would have been nice if it could be evened out a bit. Served with a scoop of vanilla gelato and strawberries, it was a yummy sweet finish to our meal.

nutella pizza - $14.90

In all, Little Italy is a good place for a chill out and a quick catch up. It's quiet, spacious, and the staff are generally friendly. Food wise, big portions abound. Might not be the best tasting Italian food, but it's not bad.

Ratings:
Food - 7.5/10
Service - 7.5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 29/40

CBD Tower- Level 1

28 Patrick Street

(opposite Blacktown Westfield)

Blacktown, NSW 2148

Tel: (02) 9831 4000

Hi Thai - Blacktown

I met up with a friend after work one day, and we decided to eat at Hi Thai, a recently opened Thai restaurant in Blacktown.

I was sooooo close to ordering my usual Pad Thai. To break tradition, I opted for the chicken Peanut Noodle instead ($13.90). This was chicken pieces with super thick rice noodles, topped with a HUGE heap of super rich, super tasty, super oily, super unhealthy, yet super yum peanut sauce, mixed vegetables and egg. This was extremely extremely yummy. But with every bite, I could tell the I was eating something that was doing my body harm. I felt as guilty as I would have been, eating peanut butter out of a jar - which I guess was pretty much what I was doing - eating peanut butter mixed with oil! *sighz* Never mind - a treat after a hard days work.

Chicken Peanut Noodle - $13.90

My friend opted for a heathier option. He chose the Tasty Pumpkin with beef ($13.90). This was thin pumpkin pieces with beef, egg, veges and mixed with oyster sauce. As it doesn't come with noodles, hence he had to order rice with it. His dish was much much healthier tasting and looking compared to mine. Unfortunately, it was less yummy than mine.

Tasty Pumpkin with beef - $13.90

Overall, this was an average Thai place. Not bad, not excellent - but Thai is good any day.

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

Hi Thai
On Four, Westpoint Shopping Centre
Blacktown
NSW 2148
tel: (02) 9831 2415

Nirello's - Blacktown

After tennising at a free court in Blacktown, my friends and I decided to grab a bite to eat a Nirello's. Situated on the outskirts of Westpoint, this little Italian restaurant is situated in quite a quiet (and slightly dim-litted) environment. The first thing you can't miss is the menu - it's plastered all over the wall overlapping one another - a bit overwhelming and confusing so luckily, we each get a regular-sized menu to look at.

We decided to order a serving of garlic bread to share ($3.50). This smelt awesome when it came out and was also nice and cruchy and tasty. However, I don't know if it was styles or because they don't know how to cut bread in half, but the two slices were cut soooo unevenly. Luckily, there was four of us and all four of us didn't really care how big or small our garlic bread portions were.

Garlic bread - $3.50

One of my friends decided to order the Nirello Special pizza. She had wanted to small size. After consulting with a friendly looking waiter who said that the small pizza was tiny and she pretty much definately ought to get the large one (large $17.50), my friend decided to heed to the waiters advice and get the large one. I have to say, however, that my friend is actually quite small, very skinny and very very very skinny. To think that she could finish a large pizza on her own... what was the waiter thinking??? Lo and behold, the large pizza came out - very large and round and on slightly thick and hefty crust, topped with sliced italian sausage, mushrooms, capsicum, onion, garlic and mozarella cheese and lo and behold, she actually couldn't finish it! In fact, she ate 4 pieces (exactly the number of slices the small pizza would have been). When my friends bit into the pizza, she was saying that it was a bit spicy and wondered why. We hypothesised that it the was the sausage which was a bit spicy. In fact, there was actually a bit of chilli in the sauce. Mystery solved! :)

Nirello special - $17.50 (large)

My other friend decided to order the linguine pesto (entree size - $16.90). Interesting enough, when we asked the waiter if we ought to order the entree size or the main size for the pasta, he described the main size as really really really big and the entree size as really really big. Hence, he talked both my friend and I into ordering the entree size. It turned out that the pasta was big - the size of a main from most decent restaurants... but it wasn't as HUGE as he'd made it out to be. My friend's linguine pesto comprised of linguine, chicken, and lots of basil pesto. He thought it tasted alright - not bad. But halfway through the meal - the swamp occurred. Yes - a swamp of oil (hopefully olive oil) started to freak us out. He still perservered with finishing his pasta though :)

linguine pesto - $16.90 (entree size)

Unfortunately, my linguine al salmone (entree size - $17.90) suffered the same swamp fate. It was still tasty though. Nicely cooked linguine with smoked salmon and asparagus bits tossed in super creamy garlic sauce. Mmm... yummy... but the swamp made it feel super super super unhealthy.

linguine al salmone - $17.90 (entree size)

My partner ordered a non-pizza non-pasta item. He opted instead, for the chicken parmigiana ($22.90). This was two crumbed chicken breasts topped with eggplant and melted mozarella cheese and doused with napoli sauce with bits of overcooked broccoli on the side. The napoli sauce was rich and aromatic and very tomatoey. My partner rated this so-so.

chicken parmigiana - $22.90

Last but not least - onto dessert. We decided to order a nutella pizza to share (small - $10.90). As we were people who learnt very quickly from past mistakes, we told the waiter that we wanted a small one - yes - even after he gave us a "are you sure?" look, we stuck to our decision of a small nutella pizza. And rightfully so. We were so sure that the description of this said "...topped with strawberries..." so when we saw this, we all had a good laugh. We thought- really??? only 3 lone strawberries chopped in half? It was only after a more close inspection that we found out - it was TWO strawberries chopped in thirds! Surely it would have looked asthetically better to cross-sectionally cut the straweberry and spread it out. Anyway - strawberries aside, the pizza was pretty decent. Warm, thick but not too thick crust topped with nutella. I would have preferred a bit more nutella - but it was still okay.

Nutella Pizza - $10.90 (small)

In all, Nirello's was an OK Italian restaurant out west. Having an awesome 25% off voucher thanks to the E-book meant that we each paid no more than $18. Nice and cheap and tasty.

Ratings:
Food - 7.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7.5/10
Overall - 29/40

Nirello's
Westpoint Blacktown
Level 3, Flushcombe Rd
(Opp. Blacktown Council)
Blacktown
NSW 2148
Tel: (02) 9622 8050

LIttle Italy - Blacktown

My friend is going to Canberra to work :(
However, she is coming back every weekend.
But even so - a farewell dinner was in order and it took place at Little Italy in Blacktown.

My friend who comes here a bit, always orders the SAME thing. I really ought to take it as a hint coz his dish was super super awesome looking. It was the Chicken Valdostana, a big chicken breast flamed in brandy and topped with cheese, ham, mushrooms and shallots ($19.90). It was also served with a chunk of broccoli and drenched with cream sauce. Mmm... he loved every bit of it and it looked super awesomeness!

Pollo Valdostana - $19.90

His girlfriend, who also orders the same thing every time ordered the Chicken Cara Maria. A chicken breast flamed in brandy with avocado, green peppercorns, bacon and prawns and again, drenched in cream sauce ($19.90). It likewise, looked super super awesome and she seemed to love it lots and lots and lots.

Pollo Cara Maria - $19.90

My Canberra going friend and I ordered the same thing - which came out looking very very different. We both ordered the Pollo pasta comprising of chicken pieces, baby spincah and mushrooms ($17.90). The difference is - I wanted cream sauce, she wanted tomato; I wanted fettuccine, she wanted penne. Hence, it seemed like two different pastas altogether. The similarities were there, however - both on the bland side (lacking salt salt salt!!!), needed more parmesan, and came in a huge huge huge huge serving that we both struggled and failed to finish.

Pollo Pasta - $17.90

In all, it seemed like a great Italian restaurant which served big portions of food at reasonable prices. Service was friendly and ambiance exudes family restaurant feel. Not bad at all.

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

Little Italy
Shop 7, Level 1, CBD Tower
28 Patrick Street
Blacktown (opposite Westpoint Shopping Centre)
NSW 2148
tel: (02) 9831 4000

The Coffee Club - Blacktown

The Coffee Club Blacktown

After playing tennis, my friend and I were on the look out for some yummy food to make up for the energy used. Funnily enough, we did not order any coffee though we were at the Coffee Club at Blacktown Westpoint. Instead, I was happy with my Bundaberg lemon lime & bitters, and my friend was good with his grapefruit flavoured Capi soda.

lemon lime bitters

grapefruit capi

Being slightly health conscious, my friend ordered the Lifestyle chicken fillet burger with a side of chips. This was a grilled slab of skinless chicken breast with tomato, mixed lettuce, spanish onion and light slightly melted mozzarella cheese all cased within a big bun and drizzled with spicy herb aioli. My friend hungrily and satisfiedly gobbled it all up :)

Lifestyle chicken fillet burger

Likewise, I decided to be healthy today and so, I ordered a chicken and avocado wrap - toasted. Funnily enough, what I ended up getting was a chicken salad wrap - no avocado included LOL. I didn't even realise the cafe's mistake until half-way through my wrap, and by then, I couldn't be bothered to complain. My first look at the chicken pieces struck up the word "bland" in my mind. Contrary to my predictions, the pieces of chicken breast were kind of slightly juicy. Looks can be deceiving :P The wrap was also very filling and left me hunger-less after my energy expenditure exercise that morning.

Chicken and "avocado" wrap

In all, the food was average and the service was non-existant (but they probably aren't supposed to do anything). The most important thing was the company - and the company was awesome ~!

Ratings:
Food - 6.5/10
Service - 6/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 6/10
Overall - 25.5/40

The Coffee Club
Level 1 Westpoint Blacktown
Shop 1010
Patrick Street
Blacktown
NSW 2148
tel: (02) 9622 5900

Hog's Breath Cafe (2) - Blacktown

Hog's Breath Blacktown

One of my friends was nice enough to read over my thesis draft (yes it is thesis month >.<). We met up for lunch so that I could get my draft back. We met in Blacktown Westpoint and he took us up to "on four" for Hogs Breath. Interestingly, a comment my friend made was that this place scored a dismal 4.1 on Eatability to which my partner and I instinctively said "err...soo... why are we here?!?!?!?". His reaction was that he absolutely loved this place and comes here again and again and again with his lovely partner. What he left out initially was that he and his partner also orders the same thing again and again and again...

So, first impressions are important. The ambiance is cool - like any other hogs breath - and filled with awesome posters and wierd and wacky hogs breathy stuff. The waiters and waitresses on the other hand.... errm.... we were first served by "Ketchup", then served by "Spunk". Umm... cool? ish? unsure.

I ordered a crispy chicken burger ($12.75). I don't eat beetroot. So I asked "Spunk" if I could substitute beetroot for something else. The answer was a dissappointing NO. I could, if I choose, just eliminate it. And that was exactly what I did.

The bun was... erm... atleast a few days old (very bordering on the stale side)? The chicken coated in seasoned crumbs was not bad. Lettuce, tomato and onions also featured in this burger. The cheese was dissappointingly un-melted... >.<

crispy chicken burger - $12.75

My partner ordered a new york grill ($26.95) and asked for it "medium rare". This came out medium-well on most bits, and well done on the outskirts. soo.... ummm.... yeah.

new york grill - $26.95

Now onto what my friends order time and time again. There was the chicken caesar wrap ($12.95) which was "char-grilled" chicken breast with chopped up cos lettuce, bacon, and croutons wrapped in a "grilled" tortilla (which is WAAAY too pale to even be considered "grilled) and seasoned with parmesan cheese and caesar dressing. Nonetheless, my happy friend chomped this down very happily. No complaints whatsoever.

chicken caesar wrap - $12.95

The other usual was the chicken dijonnaise ($22.95). This was meant to be "marinated" (yet again, very very pale and non-marinated looking) chicken breast char-grilled to "perfection" (only if you like your chicken dry or very dry). I asked my friend how his meal was. He LOVED it. But... he did concede that the chicken would be quite dry if the sauce was not present. I definately have my doubts about the chicken - but he comes to this hogs breath very often and orders this dish very often.

Chicken Dijonnaise - $22.95

So, by and large, my two friends were quite pleased with their meals and enjoyed it thoroughly. My partner and I had our reservations about it. I would have given a bit more than the eatability 4.1... maybe about a 5? But then that score does not explain why keeps my friends coming back time and time again *confuzzled*... The service was pretty good. The "Spunk" was quite friendly and attentive throughout our meal. Don't really know where "Ketchup" went - but I think I prefer "BBQ sauce" more anyway :)

Ratings:
Food - 5.5/10 (factoring my friend's liking for this place)
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 26.5/40

Hog's Breath
Shop 4005, Level 4
Westpoint Shopping Centre
17 Patrick St
Blacktown
NSW 2148
tel: (02) 9621 1900

Nadia's - Blacktown

A quick brunch with uni friends took us to Nadia's Cafe at Blacktown. The menu offered a lot of appetising-sounding choices and so, what to eat was definately a tough one this morning.

Drinks first. I ordered my usual - iced mocha with skim milk minus the cream (I hate the taste of full-cream milk and I hate the taste of cream) ($5.20). Mmm... tastey.

Iced mocha - $5.20

My friend's iced-chocolate ($5.20) complete and overflowing with cream. My friend said it was average too.

Iced chocolate - $5.20

Now... the awesome drink. A Snickers milkshake ($5.50). Omigoshhh!!! It was soooo Snicker's like I felt as though I was seriously drinking the chocolate bar. The Mars bad milkshake ($5.50) was also good - but not as great. Tasted more like a caramel milkshake.

Snickers milkshake (the Mars bar one looks the same but tastes less awesome) - $5.50

Foodwise - one of my friends opted for a chicken gourmet brie salad bagel ($11.90). She said it was awesome. My other friends who also tasted this thought otherwise.

Chicken bagel - $11.90

A simple turkish toast with melted butter and jam ($4.50) was a choice by another friend. Interesting choice - looks huge and filling.

Turkish toast - $4.50

A tandoori chicken wrap ($11.90) was also ordered. Very tandoori-like with avocado and other nice veges. My friend didn't like this toooo much (but he thought it was too chilli for his liking). It looked huge though!

Chicken tandoori wrap - $11.90

Now my dish - the most awesome of the lot (thought I) was the eggs benedict with ham ($13.90). The poached eggs were not as runny as I liked, but they weren't overcooked - so passes! The spinach and the ham and the sauce Mmmm......... I love eggs benedict and though this was not the best I've had, it still satisfied my cravings :)

Eggs Benedict - $13.90

The service here was not great - I don't think they bothered with us much. But the ambiance and food is acceptable.

Ratings:
Food - 7/10
Service - 5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 26/40

Nadia's Cafe
K6, Lvl 2
Westpoint
Blacktown
tel: (02) 9671 2018

Panarotti's - Blacktown

I know it's been a while since my last blog - I've been busy (procrastinating), my computer's been playing up, and really, I guess I've just been lazy.

Panarottis

Anyway - to business. Food!
Pizza to be exact.
And pizza at Panarotti's was... a lot better than I expected.


Our table of four ordered a Cheesy Garlic Bread ($8.95) for starters. And it came out very nice and cheesy and very topped with mozzarella. The dough of this "garlic bread" was soft and doughy and somewhat drenched in fats and oils. Mmm... just the way I like it (I prefer dough soaked in cheesy oil than super tough dough).

Cheesy Garlic Bread - $8.95

We also ordered 2 large pizza's to share - the Greek ($19.95) and the Tandoori Chicken ($21.45). The Greek pizza comprises a nice heap of parmesan, garlic, herbs, feta, spinach, and (unfortunately) olives. It was all so very yum - although a tad salty (even after I delicately pick off all the olives from my slices). The Tandoori Chicken pizza was topped with chicken (surprise surprise!), pineapple, shallots, and chilli. Personally, I like my chicken chicken-colour rather than bright orange.

Greek - $19.95

Tandoori Chicken - $21.45

Overall, it was a good night. Very casual. Very chillaxy.
We were slightly ignored by the wait-staff, but I guess it was a busy night.

Oh - and I forgot to mention how huge the portions seem to be at this place (not incl. pasta). I saw the next table get a what I think is the world's biggest bruchetta. I mean, the bread may have been the normal thickness but the amount of tomato piled up? It was horrendously huge huge huge! Like, 3 times the thickness of the bread! ... and I used the word horrendously because I'm not a tomato-eater and the thought of eating so much tomato repulses me. But - the bruchetta must be a gold mine for all those people who do like tomato :)

Ratings:
Food- 8/10
Service - 5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7/10
Overall - 27/40

Panarottis Blacktown
Shop 4007
Westpoint Shopping Centre
17 Patrick Street
Blacktown, 2148
Tel: (02) 9621 2194