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

Day 6 
Grill'd & Max Brenner

I'm still on holidays~And with nothing better to do on my day off, I went to Macquarie Centre to have lunch with a friend.

Even though it's semester break, there is always so many people in the centre at lunch time. We chose a bad time to go eat lunch. When we got to Grill'd, there was a long line and heaps of people already seated inside. But we chose to wait considering neither of us had tried the burgers before, and this store is new in the center. On the plus side its "healthy burgers", so why not.

The staff at Grill'd are SO friendly. They treat everyone like their own friend. Almost a little creepy, good creepy? After ordering our burgers we sat to the side, waited and observed. The man to woman ratio was so skewed. Where were all the women?

Hurray~Our orders came~

I chose their SUMMER SUNSET burger which had  grilled grass fed lean beef, avovado, crispy trim bacon, golden pineapple, salad, relish and herbed mayo. The burger was so big... I cut it in half but that was a big mistake. It was even harder to hold. let alone eat, after cutting... The burger as a whole was quite yummy, but the bread was a little hard... the juices and crumbs went all over the table.

I would have to say their chips were the highlight though. Thick-cut, hot and herbed. Soooo good!

My friend's order was similiar, just no pineapple, and it was a chicken fillet. Unfortunately for her, her chicken fillet was a bit dry and just a tad tough. But overall for a first time visit it wasnt too bad.

After lunch we went next door to Max Brenners to stuff our faces again. Who can say no to chocolate and icecream?
We ordered waffles for two. Each having a waffle and sharing the icecream, bananas and strawberries.

Heaven!

The two fat pigs finished their dessert and didnt move. We sat there for a half hour longer just chatting because we were too full and lazy to move. This is what holidays are all about :)



- steph 

Day 5 Thai

TGIF~ 

After walking around Surry Hills aimlessly for a while, my friends and I settled for In the Mood for Thai on Crown St.

Being Friday, it wasn't a surprise that the restaurant was packed and busy. We got a table at the back and boy was it cozy.

Tonight we were to celebrate my  friend's 21st birthday. Cheers to wine and good food. We chose the $30 pp set menu, just because we couldn't be bothered to decide on what we wanted to eat.

After ordering, our entres came out quite fast. The plate consisted of satay chicken skewers, curry pufffs and spring rolls. the side sauces were sweet chilli and honey.

I loved~the satay chicken skewers and the curry puffs. The chicken was not dry and though like many other places and they had lots of creamy satay sauce drizzled on top. The curry puffs were crunchy on the outside and there were cubes of potato, carrot and meat inside. There werent too spicy or oily at all. The spring roll werent bad, but there was nothing "wow"about them. Good thing about them all is that there was a lot and they were not dripping in oil.

Next the mains came pumping out.

 (my blurry shot) Jasmine rice and Thai green curry

vegetable stir fry?

lamb chops (bad lighting)

There was another dish but I was too busy eating to take a picture. 

The Thai green curry was delicious, but spicy, the vegetables didnt really do much for me. There was too much soya sauce added into the dish and overall, all the vegetables and tofu were really salty. 

Loved the lamb chops. Dont know what they marinated the chops in, doesnt matter because there were crazy good. If there was more on a plate or less of us, I'd definitely go for seconds.

After all the food and wine, we left bloated just to walk over to Messina Gelato shop, which was two shops down.

Messina is always packed... whether it be the store in Pyrmont (inside the casino) or the store on Oxford st. There is always a crowd inside and a long line leading outside the store.

these are just some of their many flavours

I bought a scoop of pistachio flavored gelato in a cone. it wasnt too sweet, very creamy and had a real pistachio flavor to it. Even though I was really full, I still had room to finish my cone. 

The rest of the night I felt content, happy and full.

-steph

Great start to the weekend~

Day 4 

Pho Pasteur Vietnamese Cuisine

Finally after many weeks, I was able to sleep in, and do as I pleased. With nothing planned and having no where to go, I felt so free.

Today I decided to go eat Pho for brunch. But which one to eat at? There are so many Pho restaurants all around Syndey... I decided to go to Pho Pasteur at Parramatta, that way I could also get some shopping done too.

Chose to eat at the older pho restaurant at parramatta since it's supposedly better tasting. Service there is always crap though. No one greets you when you enter and you sit where you please.

 

Each table has their condiments and cutlery. 

 



































The bf ordered a large special combo pho, while I ordered pork vermicelli salad. The special combo pho came out to our table within 5 minutes from ordering. Seemed a little too fast... like how many bowls do they have ready on hand out the back? My salad was yummy. lettuce was crisp, i liked the crunch of the cashews but it would have been even more tasty if my pork sausages were heated more...

The prices also had been increased since the last time I ate here. Business must be doing bad, but regardless I think there are better places to try out in Parramatta now. 

-steph

 

Day 3
Bondi 

Autumn weather has been kinda trippy lately. some days are really cold and grey and others are hot and sunny... its so unpredictable and at times just annoying. So i thought I'd make the most of today's nice weather and go to Bondi

Originally I wanted to have lunch @ Hurricanes but it wasnt opened....   And considering that I don't normally go to Bondi, I didn't know where to eat. So whatever shop that was opened and looked half decent, is where I went to eat.


After strolling up and down Campbell Parade, we finally settled for Il Puntino. It looked quite old and
warm inside but we chose to sit outside. better view of the beach.

We sat down, had a look over the menu. I chose the chicken Caesar salad and bf had the T-bone steak with vegetables. then we waited...
we waited for quite a while... and considering that there was only 1 other customer sitting near us, was it necessary to wait THAT long....finally some garlic bread came out. we didnt order it but was told that the garlic bread was on the house. (Probably to make up for bad service)
toasted focaccia bread spread with garlic oil on top. was quite nice

( toasted goodness)

Our meals came out 15-20mins later... boy was the wait long... when my Caesar salad came out, it was drenched in dressing... when placing my order, i asked them to put it on the side... i guess they forgot that...

( $16.50)

The egg was the yummiest part of the salad. Not too firm, not runny but soft. 

The bf's steak was too much of a disappointment to bother taking a picture of it... think of a simple home cooked t-bone steak with steamed broccoli, potato and carrots on the side, along with a little pot of packet mushroom sauce... Even I could cook up a better steak than that... and the t-bone steak wasn't medium rare nor was much of the meat edible... definitely was not worth $26

We finished our meal while gazing at this

When we stood up to go pay, a waiter came out and insisted me stay and have a coffee, on the house. After pausing a moment, we decided to stay since we still had time left on our parking

The food wasnt bad, just wasnt great, however because we were at Bondi, it made the outting even more enjoyable.

- steph

Dont think I'll ever bother going to this restaurant again...

Day 2

Oliver Brown~
Stepping into Oliver Brown the atmosphere was entirely different from the bustling traffic beyond the glass windows. You were sucked into the comfort of the decor and the wondrous smell of chocolate. I couldn't help jump a little in glee.

Being our first time at the cafe, we looked a little lost browsing through their menu. The pricing the and choices on the menu wasn't anything different from standard chocolate cafes.

below is a picture of waffles and a Cookies and Cream frappe, crepes and a simple cappuccino.

A mountain of melted chocolate on top of waffle, strawberries and banana? What more could a girl ask for? There was definitely enough chocolate to satisfy my cravings. The waffle, however, was more chewy than the ones I usually have but I could get by. The drink definitely tastes like oreos, a plus in my books and there was so much of it!

 The crepes unfortunately didn't fair as well. Though it pleasantly presented it tasted more  like pre-made packet crepes. Not really worth it for a meal over $10, however, the strawberries were definitely fresh and not to mention the chocolate.

The cappuccino was relatively standard. What really won our hearts was the small accompaniment chocolate melts served up in the teaspoon. Such a sucker for miniature anything!

All in all it was a pleasant first time  despite the flaws.



- steph

Day 1 of Semester Break

So what do Uni students like doing, and what do they do best? Procrastinate~ Now that we are on two week semester break, we have all the time in the world to procrastinate hard (yeah right, we all have part time jobs to work ...)

Regardless of uni break or not, we all procrastinate, and most of us procrastinate with food. So listed below for the next few will be some posts about food, and places we've been to.


Enjoy : )

- steph