Day 25 TOM n TOM

Day 25 Tom 'n' Tom 

So a new semester has started again, which means more time to procrastinate a little longer until it becomes serious. Since Y has uni in the city, and I was in the city, t'was like "why not catch up then?"

Y and I went to the same high school and have been friends since year 9-10ish. Its hard to find time these days to catch up with old friends and just listen to how they have been. Like I know it's easy enough to send each other some short text messages, or post a comment on Facebook, but to actually have a conversation with someone and spend some quality time with someone, for me, I find hard. It's ridiculous too, since I don't live that far from Y, or most of my friends in general ==

So anyways, while in the city, we wondered around a bit, then settled for Tom'n'Tom cafe. We wanted to play pool after, so it was a win-win since the cafe and pool place is pretty much next to each other.

I think pretty much everyone has seen, heard and eaten/drank in Tom'n'Toms by now, and each and every time Im there, it's like being in Koreatown. The whole cafe is either filled with koreans or some sort of asian-type but the main point, is that they're always busy.

After walking into the cafe, we walk over to the counter to look at the menu which is on a dashboard up above and behind the counter. Their prices are similar to Gloria Jeans. They dont have much of a variety in food. Mostly pretzels, muffins, banana bread and that korean sweet toasted bread with cream. I personally have only tried that bread with the massive lump of cream once, and that was enough. Dont like cream enough to eat it that way.

So I opted out from getting anything new and different, but instead chose something safe. When you've finished ordering and paid, they give you hockey puck-like buzzers. When your orders ready they buzz at you.

Y got an iced mocha tomaccino with a toasted blueberry bagel while I got an iced green tea latte and toasted banana bread. To us, this is a comfortable order. We know what to expect.

I love the designs on their drink cups. I think in all korean cafes they have a cute/quirky concept to them. 

Our carb-cravings were satisfied but my drink had become watery because of the amount of ice inside my drink.... green tea flavour wasn't strong enough. I think Starbucks makes one of the best tasting iced/green tea lattes that I've ever had~

All-in-all it was a fun day of catching up and playing crappy (beginners-luck) games of pool

Day 24 Home Thai

Day 24 Home Thai

One sunday after work, I journeyed it out to the city from Top Ryde to meet up with my friend. Timing worked out well because by the time my bus gets into city, she also finishes work. So I waited outside of Myers for her and my friend, J walks out with one of her colleagues.

Now I dont mind having dinner with an extra even though it was supposed to just be us two for dinner, but when the extra starts talking to you with attitude, its like WOAH~ WHATS UP YOUR ASS?! Its like, obviously if its the first time meeting you I'm not going to be talking to you, I'll be talking to the mutual friend then we can ease up into a convo. But no. This extra was targeting her comments towards me in cantonese and like DUDE i can understand you and she knew I understood her too.
But whatevs, I'm just going to keep on walking with my hands in my pockets and ignore you. Thank gawd the extra dismissed herself and headed home instead of dining with us~

I didn't really need that kind of attitude to start my night. The nerve some people have... seriously you aint that much of a hot-shot so get your head out of your arse!

Anyways after walking a while from town hall, J and I headed towards china town. We didnt have anywhere specific in mind to eat so we chose Home Thai since it wasnt packed. Home Thai have two stores which are both situated quite close together. We had already walked by the other store and that one was packed, so I'm glad we came to the smaller one.
We sat outside, in the alleyway? They turned on their outdoor heating for us and boy was it cozy.

Their menu is nice and simple. You have your entrée, curries, meat, seafood, noodles in their section and desserts and drinks were in another book. We ordered:

Crab Cakes

Prawn, chicken and crab minced with soya sauce, peppers, egg and bread crumbs, topped with sweet chilli sauce. $9.90

These were so yummy, so crispy and inside was hot and tasty. With or without sauce, these crab cakes were awesome. 

Massamum Beef curry

Slow cooked beef with massamum curry paste, coconut milk, tomato, onion, peanuts and topped with fried onion. $13.90

This is mild, creamy and compliments rice so well. Like I'm not much of a rice-eater but for curries like this, I eat carb-loads of it. 

The beef was tender, flaky and was falling off the bone. Im pretty sure there was potato in it too. There was a whole onion globe in the curry, dont bother trying to eat it.... tastes funny

Chicken Pad Thai

Traditional stir fry thai noodle. Wok tossed thin rice noodles with egg, soft tofu, pickled radish, garlic chives, bean sprouts, chilli powder, tamarind sauce, palm sugar and fish sauce. $11.90

I didnt notie that there was a corner of chilli powder, so after I mixed it a bit and served myself some pad thai, I had this burning sensation in my mouth... Way too hot for my liking. It was pretty average, probably should've ordered one of their salads instead. Neither J nor I touched the pad thai much.

Dessert

In the distance, the first dessert is sweet sticky rice and mango. The rice smelt and tasted like coconut milk. It was sticky and chewy and really nice. Even though mangoes are not in season in winter, this half was sooooooo yummy. It was so ripe and both of us kept digging our forks into the pieces. 

The second dessert was sweet fried bread with pandan dipping sauce. Because the waiter brought out our desserts when we hadnt finished with out mains, the bread a was pretty much cold by the time we came to eat them. but they werent soggy or yuck. instead they were fully inside and still quite crisp on the outside.

 I was a bit reluctant to dip my bread into the pandan sauce because in general I dont like pandan, but OMG it tastes solo GOOD together!

I'm so glad the J ordered both those desserts because they were so yummy! Even though I dont like the taste of coconut milk or pandan, I'm pleasantly surprised at how nice they taste in food. 

For just us two girls, I think we ordered too much. We didnt finish our mains and J took the rest home in a doggy bag. The total bill came to $52 which isnt too bad considering it was 1 entrée, 2 mains and 2 desserts. I definitely want to try their salads next time, maybe in summer~ 

Day 23 The Little Snail

So a little while back, my friend saw an online deal, I think it was $69 for two people for a 3-course meal at the little snail. Considering that none of us had been there we were all like "why not".

I think about 8 of us bought that coupon/deal and booked in a date for dinner. I remember on that day, parking was hard to find and it was hella windy and cold.....

When we walked into The Little Snail and waitress greeted us and then directed us to our table. We had a great view of darling harbour since our table was upstairs. It was pretty packed both upstairs and down too.

After we all had arrived and looked over the menu, we ordered. I was very impressed with the way the waitress took our orders, because there was no confusion when the food arrived.

This was a complimentary drink. Didnt taste that nice. Tasted like vodka orange, but worse

Entre:

Calamari Rings

Nicely golden, crispy on the outside, a little chewy on the inside (I think my friend was hungry for more)

Duck liver patty

Very rich but flavourful despite the appearance

SNAILS~

Surprisingly they tasted nice but it was so hard to get them out of the shells. Especially when its your first time using the tongs... 

Seafood soup 

Was so delicious. I could have just had this alone as a main. The salmon wasnt overcooked and nicely pink inside. And I loved the broth.

Mains:

I cant remember what meat this was. it was either beef or pork? Doesnt look that fab but it smelt and tasted lovely. Potatoes were a bit average though along with the 2 pieces of broccoli...

I think this one is lamb with a red wine sauce.

Salmon with risotto rice

The skin was crispy and the salmon was cooked perfectly. I couldnt finish it because of my entrée. The risotto rice tasted very much like tomato but it as a whole. Its a nice dish that I would definitely order again.

Crab ball

I cant remember what it was called, but the broth is similar to my seafood soup. However the ball in the middle was a mixture of crab meat and veggies. Looks tasty but i think they could have incorporated some other colors to the dish though.... its all so orangey

Desserts:

Chocolate mousse

The design for this dessert was fun. No one was allowed to touch anything until pictures were taken. The chocolate casing was crispy hard but the mousse inside was soft, light and very chocolatey. 

Chocolate Banana Crepe

The name says it all. Chocolate. Banana. Cream crepe ball. Kinda average but having the added chocolate underneath made up for it. 

Vanilla ice cream

Might sound normal but the vanilla bean ice cream was so rice. Underneath it was a sweet biscuit and on top was a caramel disc. Pretty yum for a simple dessert.

Creme brûlée

LOL looks like one of the store bought creme brûlée's that was tipped upside down on a plate and had a sliced strawberry stuck on top.

I think the little snail likes to go for a simplistic appeal when plating because most of their dishes looked like something that I could do....

I'm sure it tasted nice ( cant remember )

Chocolate cake and vanilla ice-cream

This one was my dessert and I loved it! The chocolate cake was almost brownie-like and underneath it was a biscuit base, almost similar to what cold cheesecakes have. The cake wasnt too rich but almost moist inside. Underneath the ice-cream was a pineapple biscuit? toffee? i dont know what to call it but it was chewy and tasted like sweet pineapple.

It was hard to try it altogether. You pretty much had to eat each separately.

Sticky date pudding

yummmmmm-o loved how the ice-cream melted into the middle and made the texture different in your mouth. surprisingly it wasnt too sweet, but you definitely had to eat each spoonful with the sauce and ice-cream together

There were more people on the night but because the table was set out in a long row, I couldnt take pictures of their food. Overall night was fun and enjoyable. It was also good to catch up with my friends over some nice food and I cant wait to go back there to try the rest of their menu. 

Day 22

Sakae - Japanese Restaurant in Eastwood

Whenever I'm in Eastwood around lunch time, I always have a hard time deciding on what to eat... Oh the dilemmas of having choice.

After walking aimlessly for a while, X and I decided on eating lunch at Sakae. 

There are a few outdoor seats at Sakae, but we chose to sit inside.

The inside is very small and very narrow, but considering that it wasnt very busy today, I didnt mind. We were quickly showed to our table and given menus. 

I think the lunch time menu is more value for many than dinner time. The food choices are pretty much the same, except the bento boxes are way more expensive at night and seem to be smaller. 

X ordered a sushi bento box and I ordered teriyaki fish. 

Woah~the amount of rice that was in my container was enough for two meals of mine. (I'm not much of a rice person)

The sushi bento looks pretty good and pretty similar to the picture on the menu haha

My teriyaki was a bit salty in my opinion, nice but i had to drink a lot of water. But overall it was a decent lunch :)

Day 21 Pine Inn Hotel

Who likes cheap eats? UNI STUDENTS DO~!

Because I was at X's place, and he was felt like eating cheap steak, we decided to go to Pine Inn "Hotel" for lunch.

This place is either hella busy or dead quiet. Either times, the food always comes out fast and hot. Today it was quiet. Probably only 3-4 tables around us were occupied.

On the $10 menu there is:

Steak (t-bone or rump) 

Chicken Fillet 

Fish

German Kranskey Sausage

Pork Chops

Lamb Chops

Spaghetti Bolognaise

and Calamari. 

All are served with chips and salad.

We always get the steaks. But one day I think i'll try their fish and chips. See if its any good. I ordered a rump steak medium rare with mushroom sauce. After ordering we collected our cutlery and chose a table. Within 10-15 minutes our buzzer started to vibrate, alerting us that our steaks were DONE~

There is never a shortage of sauce on my chips and salad. I love thick cut chips~ makes me feel a little healthier eating it with my salad. However there is always something to be said about the way my steak is cooked, like too cooked, unevenly cooked, too rare etc, but because its only $10 and it aint no kind of fine dining, WHATEVS~

We both couldnt finish our steaks and both felt like PIG after. Couldnt move. We sat there for a while longer talking the cars in the carpark. (X has a ODD when it comes to cars T_T)

Overall was a nice afternoon =)

Day 20 Assignment Finished

So the soul purpose for starting this blog was for a uni assignment. It was a group assignment and we chose to blog about food, since its one of the easiest topics to do. 

Now that the assignment is finished, and since this blog under my profile, I think I will try and continue uploading posts just to see where it goes. 

My friend and I previously tried to upload regular posts on our other blog, but because we were so busy with uni, there really was no point in continuing that blog. 

Hopefully people will continue in supporting this blog by either reading my opinions or just scrolling through and looking at pictures. Either way its greatly appreciated~

- steph

Day 19

Macquarie Centre Noggi

Watermelon Flavor

I thought I would try the increasingly popular frozen yogurt and wasn't disappointed. Noggi offers you the decision of designing your own combination offering a selection of yoghurt flavours and toppings ranging from chocolate and lollies to fresh fruit. I chose the watermelon yoghurt with toppings of strawberries and chocolate flakes. It was very enjoyable the only downside being that the server leaves a large air hole in the middle of the yoghurt so it makes it looks like you are getting more yoghurt than you really are.

- Shivank

Day 18

Pancakes On The Rocks, Northmead: Devil’s Delight Pancakes

Pancakes on the Rocks is a popular restaurant because it offers pancakes all day long, as well as offering a selection of steaks, ribs and salads. I chose the 'Devil's Delight' pancakes, and from the image you can understand how this dish got its name. There are 2 delicious chocolate pancakes drizzled in chocolate syrup, topped with cream and chocolate ice cream and surrounded by fresh strawberries. For $13.95 these pancakes deliver maximum satisfaction.

- Shivank

Day 17 Ampersand Café & Bookstore, Paddington: Fig Waffles

Located in Paddington this trendy cafe/bookstore offers gourmet food and coffee as well as books of all kinds. The cafe offers and outdoor area and includes interesting art all around the store including a large street artwork outside. I chose the fig-covered waffles. For the price ($13.50) the meal was fairly small which was a disappointment. The figs were fresh, and the accompanying syrup was tasty although the waffles themselves were nothing fancy.

- Shivank

Day 16

T2 Hornsby, Crème Brulee Tea & High Tea for 2

The restaurant is dimly lit for a romantic feel, with large comfy lounge chairs and secluded corners for customers to relax and enjoy privacy in. T2 offers a large selection of teas all served in a mismatch of modern and vintage crockery. Along with the Cafe/Restaurant there is a shop located next door where you can purchase teas, crockery, gifts etc. The tea I chose was the crème brulee, which was highly fragrant but not over powering. I also had part of the 'High Tea for 2' which included a selection of mini sandwiches, cupcakes and macaroons. Overall this meal was an affordable treat and made for a very relaxing afternoon.

- Shivank

Day 15

Pancakes on the Rocks

Pancakes on the Rocks
After a partying till the morning we somehow found ourselves waiting for the restaurant Pancakes on the Rocks to open. It was a restaurant I had never tried before and this early morning seemed like the right opportunity.

We all ordered similar dishes being cautious having not eaten at this restaurant before. My dish arrived, pancakes with ice cream, egg, bacon and a few slices of pineapple. When the plate arrived I was left staring at it for a while wondering how these ingredients would mix. As I begun to taste I soon realised it was not something I liked. None of the ingredients worked well together. Rather I was left eating each on its own. The bill definitely was not worth the food we had tasted.

-Manraj

Day 14
Indian Cuisine

An inside look into the world of Indian cuisine

Having a friend who owns and runs an Indian restaurant is very handy as there isn’t an opening or closing time and “mates rates” apply.
We chose to eat the entrees of tandoori chicken and sheesh kebab inside the kitchen as it was separated from the restaurant. We entered the kitchen with stoves boiling, pans frying and a strong smell of spices. It was quite the atmosphere. Along with a few drinks we enjoyed the dishes, which for my liking had less chilli but still plenty of flavour. The chicken was moist and kebabs were tender.

-Manraj

Day 13

CBD Noodles, for hands down the BEST Laksa in Sydney

So I’ve heard a few people mention the CBD Noodles as the best or one of the best Laksa’s in Sydney, so I decided to pop in a few days back. I immediately had high expectations for the place due to the sheer line. There were definitely 20 people or more queuing up outside the store so CBD Noodles had to be doing something right!   

Chicken Laksa

Boy were people right! Though I wasn’t quiet as convinced by the queue outside the store and was expecting an ordinary bowl of laksa, what I got was quite the opposite! The Laksa was zingy and very creamy, just the way I love it. Ingredients wise, the quality of the fresh coriander and onions were great. They also give very generous serves of meat.

I managed to clean the massive bowl up, it was that great! Will definitely be going back.

-Tharanya

Day 12

Red Spoon Thai

It’s always a good feeling when you walk into a restraint unplanned, just because there aren’t many options, with no expectations... and BAM then you are pleasantly surprised when the restraint delivers. This was the case a few weeks ago when I walked into Red Spoon Thai.

Like most trendy Thai Restraints these days, Red Spoon Thai was decked out in dark wooden tables and weaved basket seats. The atmosphere was very romantic with dark moody lighting and red everywhere from red candles, red lamps, red cushions and even red chopsticks.

We ordered Satay Chicken Skewers for starters and the Wagyu beef salad and Massamun Beef for the main.

Petite Satay Chicken Skewers $9.90 (8 pieces)

Though they did mention ‘Petite’ clearly on the menu, I was still taken back a bit with the size of the skewers. Having use to big chucky pieces of satays chicken I was a bit disappointed by these Petite Satay Chicken Skewers. But probably only cos I wanted more! The chicken skewers dipped in the creamy sauce were just divine.

Rice with Massamun Beef (19.90) and Wagyu Beef Salad (22.50)

The Massamun Beef had to be my favourite dish of the night. It is a famous dish from Southern Thailand of slowly braised beef cooked in thick milk curry served with sweet potato (and optional rice). The meet was truly soft and creamy. My boyfriend on the other hand, loved the Wagyu Beef which was a marinated char grilled Wagyu sirloin with salad of mixed leaf, cucumber, min and red onion with chilli lime dressing.

Overall, I loved the restraint. The staffs were friendly, the atmosphere was great and the food was fresh! I’ve been back a couple of times already in the past month. Absolutely loving the place.

- Tharanya

Day 11

Wafflelicious, a waffle lovers paradise

Uh-oh, another chocolate blog! Seeing as though it’s pretty much my goal in life to try out all the possible desert restraints/cafes in Sydney, as soon as I found out about Wafflelicious, I had to go there.

Wafflelicious is located on Queens Street, Auburn, right across ‘Sweets On Queen’, a cafe that is very popular amongst locals for coffee, Mediterranean deserts and hookah. This is a great advantage for Wafflecious as it got immediate publicity. In fact, i only found out about Wafflelicious through a friend who is a regular customer at Sweets On Queen.

What I really like about the place is the decor. The restraint opens up to big, glass windows that let in a lot of light during the day. It is also very spacious inside with beautiful decors around the store.

Right, time to order!

Willi Wonka Waffles

I ordered the Willi Wonka waffles and an Ice Chocolate. With over 11 different platters of Waffles, Wafflecious definitely lives up to its name as it has the largest selection of waffles in Sydney! I obviously went for the most indulgent of all. The Willi Wonka had everything from fresh fruit, to chocolate sauce, to whipped cream and two different flavours of ice cream!  It was literally a chocolate factory in your mouth!

End verdict?

Though the selection of waffles was incredible, the waffles themselves were average. It was also very pricey for my liking! It was a onetime pleasant experience but i don’t think I’ll be going back.

-Tharanya

Day 10 Mamak

Sydney’s best Roti’s are at Mamak

After hearing people rave on about these delicious roti’s for quite some time, I finally decided to venture out to China town to see what all the hype was about! And boy was I surprised when I approached the bright red restraint. Ques. There was a que of people extending out a couple of meters from the store.. AND this wasn’t even on the weekend.

After sitting around the pavement for a good 30mins, we were finally seated on a table for two. Though the shop was functional inside, it was still pleasant! Originating from India, the ‘Mamak’ are traditional Indians who moved to Malaysia due to British colonisation and opened street stalls to survive. These street stalls specialise in roti, satay and mi goreng noddles; and have become very popular all around Malaysia.

Kari Ikan ($10.50)

We started off with the Kari Ikan lunch special, which was a fish curry served with rice. The curry was very flavoursome and the decent pieces of fish were very soft and flaky, just melting away in your mouth.

Lamb Murtabak – at the back of the picture ($11.50), Roti Kaya – at the front ($7.50)

We then had the delicious ‘Lamb Murtabak’ which is a thin pancake like parcel which is filled with spicy meat, cabbage, egg and onion. It is a large serving and even sharing between two people wasn’t enough to finish it! The Lamb Murtabak is served with 2 curry sauces and is also available with chicken filling.

Last but definitely not least, we finished off with the ‘Roti Kaya’. Having quiet the sweet tooth, this was definitely my favourite dish of them all! The Roti Kaya is filled with a traditional spread made from pandan and coconut. It is absolutely delicious!

With such great food at such cheap prices, Mamak is probably the best Malaysian restraint in Sydney. The Roti (especially the sweet selection) is absolutely legendary and should not be missed. I now understand what all the hype was about and definitely will be going again!

- Tharanya

DAY 9

Dinner on Cavill
The Gold Coast is a bustling city relying on tourism as its main income. This makes it that much harder to pick a restaurant. We travelled to an Italian restaurant, which I didn’t bother to remember the name as we were so hungry and it was the first place that came to sight.


Chicken Parmigiana
Spaghetti Bolognaise
Garlic Bread
Hahn SuperDry

It had been a long, exhausting day and some carbs were needed to keep us going for the rest of the night. We were seated and the service was great, our beers came out instantly as we requested. Then the entrees of garlic bread, which at first looked great but later realised just how over flavoured, they were. It was like biting straight into garlic.
The mains arrived and didn’t look to appetising but we soon realised how great the dish was. The chicken parma was cooked perfectly with just the right amount of crunch. The spaghetti may have been a little watery but it worked well with the chicken. All in all it was an enjoyable dinner and am looking forward to going back and remembering the name of the restaurant.

- Manraj

Day 8
Gold Coast Break
During the midsem break I travelled to my home away from home, Surfers Paradise. This city always tends to provide a very relaxing and enjoyable experience.

For breakfast at my hotel Freshwater Pointe I ordered

Omelette with mushroom
Two hash browns and sausages with a side of tomatoes
Two slices of bread
Orange juice

This breakfast was not the best I’ve tasted. However, due to a big night anything would have done the job to replenish my energy levels. The eggs were tasty however, the hash browns were over fried and sausages tasted really cheap and lacked flavour. And not toasting the bread was a first for a breakfast I’ve had.


-Manraj

Day 7
Jamies Italian


Whilst walking through the CBD, X and I decided that we should try Jamie Oliver's Sydney restaurant, Jamie's Italian. There was so much hype around the opening of this restaurant back in 2012 and many people have already blogged about their dining experiences there, so it was definitely necessary that we tried it out ourselves.

Even though the restaurant was busy, we luckily didn't have to wait for a table. The The maître d was so friendly and lead us up the stairs to our table.

After looking over the menu we ordered:

(Complementary fresh bread made in house)

FISH blank

$12.50_PP

CURED & CRISPY FISH

Beetroot-cured salmon, roasted shellfish, smoked mackerel pâté & mini fritto misto with yuzu mayo

ITALIAN CHEESE

Amazing aged pecorino with crispy “music bread” & chilli jam

PICKLES

Pickles, green chillies, best green olives & caper berries

CRUNCHY SALAD

Shaved carrot & beets with lemon & loads of mint

Loved the battered fish. crunchy outside, flaky inside. they especially tasted nice because they were served hot.

The mussels were spicy and tangy. 

I didnt really like the crunchy salad. It had a weird taste to it and neither of us could point out what that taste was. I wish there was more salmon though. The sauce on top was sweet and it complemented the salty salmon really well.

The green chili things were really chewy and sour. discarding them, the biscuit thing? was yummy and creamy and easier to eat. Behind it, in the picture, there is the italian cheese with chili jam. If i wasnt so full, I wouldve eaten it all. The chili jam was surprisingly sweet.

 After the FISH BLANK our pasta orders came out. My risotto was very creamy and I couldnt finish it all. The oil in the bowl kind of put me off a little too.

WILD TRUFFLE RISOTTO

$13.50

Finely minced black truffle with butter & Parmesan. 

X ordered the Tagliatelle Bolognese half portion ($12.50). It looked like normal spag bowl but the pasta was ribbon-like and very "to the bite". I think I preferred her pasta over my risotto because it wasnt as rich but still very tasty.

Jamies Italian is definitely a new favourite of mine now.

- steph