Malay Chinese Takeaway revisit – Hainan Chicken

Hainan chicken

Chicken rice! The chicken was served cold and was nice and tender. The chili wasn’t laced with enough ginger though. Quite nice.

Jazz City Milk Bar

After taking an extended hiatus, I’m back – and I’m all about Jazz City Milk Bar!

I visited today at lunch time, but was unlucky with timing after being seated soon after a large group of people. It definitely slowed things down, but our waiter was lovely.

Even more lovely was my BBQ beef burger with a side of sweet potato fries. The sweet potato fries were crisp on the outside, soft on the inside and lightly salted. I was very impressed, after my super soggy “thrice cooked” chips from Neil Perry’s Burger Project last week (Neil, why would you put your name on something if it’s not good? Is that really a good idea?!).

I was enjoying my sweet potato fries (more “chips” really) so much that it took me a while to stop and get into my burger. When I got there I was still impressed! With a toasted bun (unlike Burger Project’s)… It was the same general bun (hamburger topped with sesame type) but a little larger and denser – definitely stood up to the filling and not becoming a soggy mess (ugh come on Neil Perry!) but the best part… It was a lovely mix of crisp, tasty bacon, a juicy patty, some token veggies that in no way detracted from the burger as a whole, a delicious smoky BBQ sauce and some fantastic sort of relish on the underside of the top bun.

It was really good.

Go try it.

Victoire, Darling St Rozelle

Check out the lemon tart and the slide of Portugese custard tart I bought from Victoire!

Victoire lemon and custard tarts

Lemon tart

Victoire makes lovely baked goods, a little on the expensive side (considering the size of some – look at that skinny little lemon tart!) but always delicious. Recommended.

T2 Brew Bar, QVB

T2 iced tea

Iced tea and the T2 QVB Brew Bar. It’s fun! You can choose iced tea or hot, and they make them, and bring them out to you! Yay!

Ramen Zundo – revisit

Ramen Zundo rich black garlic

I turned my back on this place too soon! Seriously, it’s a great broth (still don’t like the gritty mouthfeel) but the flavour is there.

Check it out!

Arima Sushi

Arima Sushi

These are upside down – it doesn’t so the fillings or size of the rolls justice. Three of these big boys for $7. The purple rice has avocado and salmon – I highly recommend the purple rice. The spicy tuna was great fun, on the spicy side but not too hot, just tasty. The brown rice held chicken avocado. It was a little dry.

I’ve also heard that Akasaka sushi, two doors down, is the pick of the two – I will have to try them soon and get back to you. I was pretty happy with Arima – can’t wait to try somewhere that is even better!

Pie in the Sky – revisit

Pie in the Sky rhubarb and apple

The rhubarb wasn’t really present, but I still enjoyed the pie! Great price, lovely setting, check it out!

Bo 7 Mon Thanh Tam, Market City

Pho bo tai and ka phe

It’s been a while since I’ve had pho – last time would have been Adelaide Pho. The setup here is a little different to most places I’ve been, as it’s in a food court. You have to load up on your hoisin and chili before leaving the counter!

The broth was sweet with a nice flavour, the beef was not predominant. I ordered bo tai but the meat was quite grey, even at the beginning, and was already sitting under the broth. There were fewer noodles in the bowl than I’m used to and the ka phe is not on par with anywhere in Vietnam (not enough condensed milk!) but was decent. I found the second half of the bowl pretty difficult to get through as the flavour got a little “same same”.

Still, overall a decent pho that is worth the trip, and the set ($11 for that and the ka phe) was good value.

Taste @ Pantry and Cafe, Gosford

Taste @ Pantry and Cafe tea

Good old English breakfast. The café itself lacks ambiance but there were plenty of knick knacks to buy!

Taste Baguette

Lemongrass Taste Baguette

I love my lemongrass. This was pretty good, but I’m sure I’ve had better from Taste Baguette – maybe it was a different store? Wholemeal bread isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, either. Overall, the experience was disappointing and left me wishing I’d spent me $10 elsewhere. There are better things to be dropping a $10 note on in Sydney.