Fook Yuen Seafood, Chinese, Chatwood

Fook Yuen Seafood Restaurant

Level 1, 7 Help Street Chatswood

This was my second visit to Fook Yuen. The first was okay but not worth the one and a half hour wait. Diners beware- the line is excruciatingly long for weekend yum cha. I think Chatswood seriously needs a new yum cha restaurant.

After a long easter weekend of drinking and mayhem, our group of eight were hungry and wanting some good old yum cha. We arrived at Fook Yuen at 230pm. This was a problem since the restaurant closes at 3pm. So from the moment we were seated, we were frantic trying to order as much as we could.

I only remembered to take photos of the first six dishes.. after that, food was the only thing on my mind.

Har Gao

This is my all-time favourite dish. Simple steamed prawn dumplings.

Beef Tendon

Also another regular yum cha dish, this is sort of a soy sauce black bean beef tendon.

Chicken Feet

I know this one is a bit strange but its actually really delicious. Tastes like chewy saucy beancurd.

BBQ Pork Buns

Vegetable and Mushroom Dumplings

Stewed Pork



We ordered a lot more dishes but I forgot to take photos of them. The food wasnt too bad and I actually quite enjoyed it.

Sydney Fish Markets, Pyrmont

Sydney Fish Markets

Pyrmont

I absolutely love the Sydney Fish Markets. It is one of the things that makes me proud to be from Sydney. Most people are proud of the Opera House or the Bridge, but nope not me. If you're visiting Sydney I'll probably tell you to head down to the Sydney Fish Markets and stuff yourself silly.

A few things that you should know:

1) Parking at SFM is horrendous. If you're planning to drive, park somewhere else (Harris Street is a good idea) and walk to the market. The reason is that you can spend up to 30minutes trying to find a spot and the parking rate is $3 for the first hour (Which is not bad) but jumps up to something like $8 an hour thereafter. Its also possible to walk from Town hall station to the fish markets, it takes about 30minutes? Its a nice stroll. Otherwise take the bus from QVB or outside Energy Australia on George Street.

2) The place is packed so get ready to be shoved aside by eager Asian tourists.

3) BYO is the norm for drinks

4) Beware of the seagulls. They have been known to swoop down and steal the crab sticks off innocent people. I suggest one person carry the platter, and another to fend off the seagulls.

The food is so fresh and really yummy. Its also really cheap because you'll be paying half of what you would in a nice seafood restaurant along the harbour.

Grilled Seafood Platter

Obviously presentation isn't a word thats exists here. Everything is sort of thrown together onto a big plastic plate. We ordered a Grilled Platter for Two with scallops, oysters, calamari, bbq octopus, grilled gemfish (SO FRESH YUM), fresh king prawns and chips and shared it between three girls. It was more than enough and at $36.50 pretty damn awesome.

Sashimi Sashimi

Salmon sashimi $16 for about 300 grams. This is the equivalent of crack for food addicts. That is all I need to say.

Taste Baguette Cafe, Market Street Sydney

Taste Baguette

Market Street (next to Myer entrance)

http://www.tastebaguette.com/

If you're looking for a nice, decent and yummy place for brunch in the Sydney, the CBD is probably the worst place to go. You'll most likely end up at a tourist trap eating crappy food at rip off prices. I've yet to find a good breakfast/brunch place within 10minutes walking distance of Town Hall Station. I've been to the Grace Cafe, MoS cafe, Palate cafe.. numerous random cafes along George, Pitt, Clarence and Kent streets and none of them have really stood out. Which brings me to the moral of the story- dont expect a good breakfast in the CBD. But coffee in the CBD is okay. This post is about coffee :)

Anyhoos so what do three sexy young ladies do on a chilly Sunday afternoon? Chat at a cafe over coffee ofcourse :) On weekends most of the better cafes are closed so we decided to go to the Taste Baguette cafe on Market Street. The cafe uses campos coffee which has a smoother richer taste.

Side note: Do not ever go to the Taste cafe in World Square. I've been there numerous times, and although I loved it the first time, each subsequent visit thereafter was downright sh*t. I've had to wait 20 minutes for a coffee at 8am in the morning (hello? peak hour? 20 minutes is unacceptable). I've had orders forgotten. The second last time I went the lady who made my order burnt by toast. And it was obviously burnt and you know what she friggin did? She got a knife and scraped off the burnt bits and had the nerve to butter it and serve it to me. I was so angry after that, but late for work that I just ate the damned thing anyways. Anyways the last straw was when I went for breakfast and ordered an eggs benedict baguette and waited a very long time only to get a baguette without any hollandaise sauce. Boy was I pissed. So I refuse to ever return to the World Square Taste cafe.

But anyways- the Market Street one was alot better. Seemed like it was being run by a lot more competent people than the imbeciles at World Square.

Skim Cappuccino $4.00 eat in

Green tea and chocolate macaroons $2.50 each.

The coffee was good, the service was fine and the location is very handy so I actually quite liked this place. I would recommend this place for coffee- although I havent tried the baguettes. Actually I've been burned too many times by Taste in general that I dont think I'll ever try the baguettes again.

Adriano Zumbo, Balmain

Adriano Zumbo

296 Darling Street

Balmain

http://adrianozumbo.com/

I love my sister. She brought home a box of goodies from Adriano Zumbo without eating half of in on the way home. I dont think I could say the same for myself.

I've actually never been to the patisserie but I've heard really good reviews about it. But apparently everyone gets takeaway anyways so I guess I'm not really missing out on much.

Nice packaging. Pretty boxes always makes me excited.

I have no idea what this was but I remembered it had pineapple jelly in it. Quite strange but not too bad. Very rich.

Oh dear Lord this was good. It was so good that I licked the chocolate off the plastic Adriano Zumbo sign. I dont know what this was exactly but it had dark chocolate and cherries. Drool

And ofcourse, Macaroons. I dont really like macaroons so I cant really judge it as good or bad. Its okay I guess. I ate it anyways.

What a fat filled day.

El Jannahs Restaurant, Lebanese, Punchbowl

El Jannah

Shop 2, 709 Punchbowl Road

Punchbowl

www.eljannah.com.au

This probably isnt the right way to start off a food review but upon parking along Punchbowl Road, I spotted a used condom packet on the ground. No jokes. Enter at your own risk.

Feeling adventurous and craving some charcoal chicken? Well El Jannah is one of the best charcoal chicken places in Sydney. Ive been to the Granville one several times and really enjoyed it. The owners have recently opened a new restaurant in Punchbowl and I'm really happy about it because its closer than the Granville one.

We went at about 3pm on a Sunday afternoon so it was nice and quiet. The restaurant is airconditioned and brand new so very nice and clean. We went sort of for afternoon tea so shared a quarter chicken. I cant remember how much this was but the takeaway price is about half the eat in price. But I always opt to eat in because its cleaner, easier and its still a bargain anyways. I think for the quarter chicken eat in its about $12 with a drink?

yum. I love el jannahs. The garlic sauce, the pickles, the chicken, the bread. Sigh

The chips are really. Crunchy and sprinkled with chicken salt.

Definitely one of the best charcoal chicken places in Sydney. As for the location? Hrm I may be heading back to the Granville restaurant.

The Final Stretch

Today is the final day. Judgement day. In order words- Lodgement day. Who would have thought that two months into this Grad program I would feel this way? Stressed working late nights for the past two weeks, I've come to the realisation that tax reporting is just as bad as financial reporting. But very interesting nevertheless. To celebrate we're having cupcakes from Ghermez for morning tea.

These are really good! Nice fluffy and moist at the same time. Just as good as baby cakes and HEAPS better than cupcakes on pitt/cupcake bakery etc. P.S I chose this cupcake without knowing what flavour it was- and I think its chilli cinnamon. Weird flavour. Back to work! More updates to come this weekend.

Big Bite on Pitt, Sandwiches, Sydney

Big Bite on Pitt

250 Pitt St Sydney

Mon- Fri

Lunch only

This place is tiny but everything else about it is big. The sandwiches are HUGE. The line is huge. The wait can take up half your lunch break. But is it worth it? I think so.

I came here with two friends on Wednesday during peak hour at 1pm. The one who brought us to the place raved about it having the best sandwiches. Ever. I think its better than little vienna and it has the same concept- massive sandwiches around $9-$10 all freshly made. But I think the sandwiches are so good because the place is run by an italian (greek?) family where as Little Vienna is franchised/branched out.

Chicken Schnitzel sandwich

%20

Big hey? A 185cm big guy couldnt finish this (haha =p)

Grilled Chicken Sandwich

I ordered this one and it was awesome. I think they use lemon olive oil on the bread and YUMMM it goes perfectly with the grilled chicken. Also theres a tiny bit of tabouli which gives it a fresh herby taste, but not too much to overpower the chicken.

I ate half and was going to keep the other half for afternoon tea but decided 'what the hell' and kept eating. I failed. Miserably. I ate another quarter and didn't even try eating the other quarter for afternoon tea, I was that full. But very satisfied. Next time I think I will go with a friend and share half a sandwich.. an entire one is just too much for a girl like me =p

Also! In case any one else does their dry cleaning in the city, I noticed the dry cleaners across this cafe had just opened up and were doing a 5 shirts for $12 opening special.

Definitely a place to try if you have a sandwich craving. I also recommend you get here early.. we waited about 20-25 minutes in the line and for the food. But it was worth it :)

Sunflower Taiwanese Gourmet, Taiwanese, Ultimo

Sunflower Taiwanese Gourmet

147 George Street Broadway

9211 5298

cash only

I stumbled across this restaurant about two months ago. I normally avoid Taiwanese food because I find it too oily and the taste a little repetitive but this place is different. I think its one of the better Taiwanese restaurants in Sydney. The place had this undeniable Japanese twist. Firstly, like most Jap restaurants, Sunflower's windows are filled with plates of glistening plastic food. (drool) Secondly the restaurant is also a 'crepe cafe' and serves dessert & savoury crepes. How many taiwanese restaurants do that?

The place is packed with people all wanting a cheap and yummy feed. Don't worry, the restaurant is not full of UTS students. Its actually a good mix of locals and students and the adventurous Caucasian.

Marinated Chicken with rice, side veges, pumpkin and tea egg.

When I ordered this I asked the dumbest question. 'Hi, Is the chicken Hainanese marinated chicken?" The waitress looked at me like I was crazy. Haha, so my friends.. No. The chicken is not hainanese marinated chicken. Its a bit soy sauce ginger ish, the type your mum would make. Anyways... YUM. This was good. I ate the plate clean (and wish I ordered another one sigh)

Sunflower Special Beef Noodles Soup

I only got a tiny taste of this one because the bf was hungry and was being stingy in sharing >=(. Yes I'm looking at you hun. For a reason though.. for beef noodle soup this was pretty damn good. The soup was flavoursome and rich and the noodles were perfectly cooked. I only wish there was more noodles :( The bowl is huge but mostly soup really. Yum though.

We were really hungry so we actually ordered the steamed dumplings.. and ate them without taking a photo sigh.

Verdict- Definitely recommended if you're after lunch/dinner under $10

Mappen, Japanese Udon, Townhall

Mappen

(Part of the Menya chain)
Shop 11, 551 George Street

http://menya.com.au/mappen/index.html

Japanese style fast food- freshly cooked deliciously chewy udon with self serve toppings.

The Japanese are experts when it comes to convenience. If you love a quick, easy and cheap feed- definitely try Mappen. Mappen is the udon version of Menya, a very popular ramen chain around the city. Its cheap (approx $5 for a base udon, and $1.5-$3 for additional tempura toppings) the average meal is under $10.

You choose your base and then the toppings...

The vegetable tempura ($2.8) is really good but definitely share this as if you try eating this alone it gets sort of sickly after a while. The chicken breast tempura is also very yummy! Try to get the tempura when they are freshly cooked as its nice and crispy and doesnt have that soaked oily taste.

Beef udon ($6.90) with vegetable tempura ($2.80), chicken breast tempura ($1.80) and seaweed side (80cents)

This was very yummy. I love how you can get your own toppings. This is definitely the place for picky people who like certain things and would normally omit/add certain things in their normal meals- ie. I always get extra coriander with my vietnamese pho haha.

Ontama Bukkake

The first time I had this I didnt really like it, but the second time I really enjoyed it. This is sort of a dry udon with soft boiled egg and lemon and surprisingly, it goes really well. They give you a little bit of udon soup with the udon but most of the flavour comes from the gooey egg and the lemon and its actually a nice refreshing taste. Give it a try but if it does sound strange, try the kake which is the normal soup udon.

I'll recommend it if you're in a rush or want something cheap to eat before a big night out. If you're looking for a place to chat, this isnt really suitable because theres always long lines and people wanting your seat.

White iced chocolate, The Chocolate Room

The Chocolate Room is an easy place to go for a drink/place to chill. The iced chocolates are fairly good but slightly pricey at $8.50. But then again, you're not just paying for the drink, you're paying for the nice plush seats and the quiet environment.

Crossroads Bar, Swiss Fondue

Crossroads Bar

The Swissotel Sydney

Swiss Fondue Promotion- $27 per person

Swissotel Sydney,

Market Street Sydney

92387082

Bookings advised

Crossroads Bar is located on level eight. The lush surroundings are the ideal place to relax over high tea or a few drinks. The Crossroads Bar is also an ideal meeting place to catch up with colleagues or friends

To celebrate the boy's birthday, I took him to the Swissotel for the ultimate protein feast. Boys listen and weep. Cheese, cheese, cheese, more cheese, some sausages, pickles and lots of crunchy bread. Okay so maybe bread isn't really a protein food BUT it soaks up the cheese so its actually super cheesy bread.

Crossroads Bar on level 8 at the Swissotel is currently doing fondue but note that fondue isn't on the menu all year. You should book because it takes the kitchen quite some time to get the fondue and fondue condiments ready.

Fondue Forks

The fondue condiments

Swiss Sausages

Crunchy sesame topped bread. Very generous serving

Roasted potatoes

Gerkins and picked onions. Very good when dipped in cheese

The cheese

This was the first time I've tried cheese fondue and I absolutely loved it. The cheese was really good and everything went so well with the cheese. Cheesy goodness! Definitely a must try for all fondue-virgins.

Est March into Merivale 2011

Est

http://www.merivale.com/#/establishment/est

Level 1, 252 George St Sydney

Bookings absolutely essential

Since 2003 Est has been the recipient of the highly acclaimed SMH Good Food Guide 3 hats. I have been dying to go to this place and since Merivale is running their 'March into Merivale' promotion- What better time to go?

I had booked a table of 7 for lunch about a month early. Hint: Like Quay and other fine dining restaurants, est charges 10% 'service charge' fee if you have 8 or more people. Personally I dont see why- bigger tables tend to receive less service- not more.

March Into Merivale

You have a number of options- 1 course $33, 2courses $50 and 3courses $65 (all w beer/champagne/wine)

Entrees:

Pretty much everyone in the group ordered the white seared scallops as an entree. They were beautiful.

Mains

1) Crisp Skin Palmed Mulloway, grilled belgian endive agro dolce. Very good but sadly also very small.

2) Soy glazed beef fillet, sesame, grated apple & radish. definitely recommended. If you are trying out the march into merivale est promotion, you have to try this. Its really good

The restaurant is very beautiful. In the centre of the restaurant there are these great white greek/roman columns and it gives the place a very elegant feel.