The start of the eating spree

After getting rudely woken up at 9am with a hangover, I managed to pack my bags for a night out with the girls and headed into the city. After dumping everything at the hotel, we caught a cab to my favourite Jap restaurant Don Dons. (I'm not giving the address as its crowded enough and I don't want the prices to go up!!) All of my friends who have been to Don Don's absolutely love their udon noodle soup. Whenever you order a meal, they generally give you a piece of sushi, or a small bowl of udon noodle soup. We always swap the sushi for their udon. ALWAYS.

Entree udon noodle soup - the best you will ever have. I guarantee it.

After their udon noodle soup, their seaweed udon salad will have to come a close second. This is a must have in Summer, and a must have most of winter as well.

Seaweed udon salad

After completely stuffing ourselves, MnMs had to meet up with some friends to go to the Human Body exhibition. As I knew I'd be nursing a hangover, I decided to skip that and go to the Paddington Markets with Cookies instead. After a lot of impulse buys, we decided it was time for some cookie ice cream sandwiches!

Mochaccino - Chocolate cookies with espresso ice cream

Chocolate cookies with strawberry ice cream

God these were so good! And such a great way to celebrate our impulse buys! We really wanted their strawberry shortcake version, but they were all sold out. Oh wells, we both had bags of chocolate coated coffee beans (Creme brulee and mint flavours) and that should tide us over til dinner time.

We caught a bus back to the city, and stopped by World Square to pick up some snacks and ice cream for the night. After we got back to the hotel, we freshed up and decided to take a nap whilst waiting for MnMs to show up again. It was this time, when the both of us were in bed together, that house keeping decided to burst in. God this looked really REALLY bad. I swear there were no wandering hands under the covers!!!

When MnMs finally showed up, we did some DVD shopping before going to our favourite Spanish Restaurant, Encasa. Ever since we took MnMs here, this has become a "must visit" place. We decided to forgo the paella, and focus on the tapas. I think we got a bit greedy...

Octopus marinated in Lime

Spinach and pine nut omelette

King prawns in a saffron tomato sauce

Bread rolls to mop up the sauce

Fried potatoes with spicy salsa and garlic mayo

Chorizo fried in a herb butter

Garlic mushrooms

We were soooooooo full by the end of the meal! I wanted a lot more bread rolls to mop up all the delicious sauce, but I felt like my stomach was going to split open! But the food was so good!! I think the jug of sangria really pushed us over the edge though.

Because we were so full, and MnMs was so trashed, we decided to take a walk around the city and ended up at Darling Harbour. It was inside the shopping centre that we spent an entire hour in the shoe store because some people can't decide what shoes to buy! We actually got locked into the store because someone also insisted on fixing the shoes and rearranging their shelves!!!

After walking off all the food, we headed back to the hotel room and thats when the snacks and shot glasses came out:

Cowboy shots!

Lets just say we had a very interesting night. Lots of gossiping, LOTS of laughing, and there was an incident that involved ice cream and a window. We finally crashed into bed after 1am.

Chicane

There is a huge cafe space directly below my office. When I first joined, the cafe was literally deserted. However, it was close and I went and tried their coffee once and never went back. They eventually closed down and the place was left empty for quite a few months. I walk to work one day and suddenly see the place under construction. After what seemed like a really long time, the cafe finally reopened and is today's Chicane.

Initially the place was quite deserted as well. The customers were badly burnt by the previous owners and it looks like it was going to take a lot of effort for their business to pick up. I even went in one day to try their coffee, took one look at their menu and went "This isn't a lunch place for me". Fast forward a few months, and you'll be lucky to get a table on a Friday afternoon without booking. And this place is HUGE. The place is completely packed out at lunch times and there are patrons from morning til night. It is now one of our unofficial meeting rooms. (I've lost count the number of times I've walked past and seen people have "meetings" there)

I've eaten at Chicane once or twice, mostly for farewell lunches. Their eat in menu is quite nice. Steak and beef burgers, pasta, risotto, grilled fish, lamb kebabs and the most divine salt and pepper squid. Because of their menu, I've never bothered eating there unless its a big organised lunch event. It was only recently that I found out that they have some great pre-made sandwiches, and for $8.70, you can get a salad with it as well. Of course I had to give it a go, and now I am completely hooked!!

Moroccan Lamb Baguette with Tuna Nicoise salad

Tandoori Chicken with Baked potato and chorizo salad

MmMmm its packed with chicken

Veggie burger with Roast veggie salad and Walnut Garden Salad

Moroccan Lamb Baguette with Caesar Salad and Pumpkin, Sundried Tomato and Bocconcini salad

Chicken Schnitzel Caesar Sandwich, Caesar Salad and Sweet Chilli Noodle salad

I have yet to have a sandwich and salad I did not like. The Moroccan lamb has got to be my favourite one so far, and I love their Caesar salad! Their premade sandwiches generally don't change, but they also have a sandwich bar section where you can choose your own fillings. Their salads change every day so you don't get sick of what they have to offer, but I think their caesar is always available.

What I love about Chicane is the great value and the fact that you're really full after eating. Not "Omg I'm going to be sick" full, but you definitely won't be starving by the end of the day. I've actually started to organise lunches there as its turning out to be a great catch up join. And I'm going to make it a mission to try all their sandwiches!

Chicane Cafe
20 Bond St
Wynyard

Azuma

I found out recently that my workmate has accepted a position elsewhere and will be leaving our team really soon. She has been a part of our "World Safari Lunches", which is when we try out a new restaurant once every 3 weeks and splurge a bit. No food court stuff for us. Although we're having a team farewell, we thought it would be good if the 3 of us went for a private lunch to have a bit of a chat before she left. We decided on Azuma since they have wagyu beef on their menu and we were all craving for some red meat.

We arrived at Azuma to a serene setting and excellent service. We decided on a bento box each, and ordered a serve of wagyu beef to share.

Noodle Bento - $35.00
Udon Noodle Soup, Teriyaki Chicken, Tempura, Rice, Salad and Fruit

Noodle Bento - $35.00
Cold Soba, Teriyaki Chicken, Tempura, Rice, Salad and Fruit

Sashimi and Tempura - $38.00
Sashimi, assorted Tempura, grilled seasonal fish fillet, rice and Miso soup

There was so much food I couldn't fit it into the one photo! Yes that one bento box!

Seared Wagyu Beef served with Daikon & soy citrus sauce - 100g for $22.00

The bento boxes were such good value we could barely get through the food. I went for the hot udon noodle soup since I've ordered it before at their little takeaway food court joint Ton Ton. The tempura was unbelievably light, I could almost convince myself its low fat! Almost.....

The Wagyu beef was a bit overdone for my liking. We ordered medium, but it was more well done. I think next time we're going to order rare so we can taste how buttery it should be. The sauce however, was heavenly! If I wasn't so full, I would've ordered another bowl of rice and a big spoon to scoop up all the sauce! It was sooo unbelievably good!

We had a great time sitting around chatting without getting kicked out (which is always a plus). The service was attentive but no overbearing. The food was a bit over priced for what you get, but we had a great lunch catching up with my workmates that it was worth the money.

Azuma
Tel : (02) 9222 9960
Fax : (02) 9222 9962
Address : Level 1, Chifley Plaza, 2 Chifley Square
(Cnr. of Phillip & Hunter Street)
Sydney NSW 2000

Malaysian Cuisine - Jimmy's Recipe

I've recently discovered a little secret place literally around the corner from my work. Its a little hole in the wall restaurant that is barely noticeable from the main street. I only happened to spot it one day heading into our office car park. In fact, this place has been open for almost 2 years, and none of my workmates even know about it! There is a tiny sign advertising their presence and that's it. The shop itself is tiny. You can only sit a handful of people in there. So either go early, or grab takeaway.

I'm not even too sure what the name of the shop is call. Maybe its just "Malaysian Cuisine", but whatever it's called, they've got some good food in there! I've been there a few times just to try their food out, and so far so good.

Chicken Laksa

Their Laksa is supposedly the best in Sydney, but I personally still like the laksa from Malay-Chinese Takeaway. I prefer my laksa to be lighter so I can finish the whole bowl. Their laksa is richer than MCT, but still good regardless. I just wouldn't finish all the soup......I'll feel too guilty from their richly goodness!

Kapitiam Chicken

I went back the next day to try their Kapitiam chicken. This was...strange. The sauce is slightly sour, but also curry/satay like. I've never had this dish before, so I'm not sure if its the way its supposed to be. I was disappointed in how they made the dish though. They had a Kapitiam SQUID special the day I was there, but I really had a hankering for chicken. Instead of cooking a fresh batch, they picked up some chicken and mixed some of the squid sauce through it. The dish didn't taste bad, but I think I would've liked it better if they had covered all the chicken with the sauce. And maybe if I didn't find squid pieces in my container...

Hainan Chicken and Rice

Chicken and veggie broth

Chilli garlic dipping sauce and ginger shallot sauce

Every time I've gone into the shop, I see people consuming plates of the Hainan Chicken Rice. So for my workmates birthday, we decided to give the dish a go. The chicken was very nice and tender, the soup flavoursome (Even though it was msg laden) and the dipping sauce was oh so authentic! They even give you the option of wing or thigh.

I'm liking this place alot as it is so close to my work and is perfect for those days I am too lazy to walk anywhere to buy lunch. It is literally a 30sec walk from my office! How great is that for rainy days!

The shop can be found in the tiny Bridge Lane between Bridge St and Abercrombie Lane.

Bavarian Bier Cafe - Revisted when sober

Work and life has been really chaotic lately, meaning I haven't had a lot of time to catch up with Moishii. Since we both enjoy the Bavarian Bier Cafe and we haven't been back since Marco's drunk birthday bash, we headed off to the York St. This time, the place was packed til bursting point.


We arrived early and our table wasn't ready. So we opted to wait outside on the street since I really can't handle the noise right now. As we're standing around the corner enjoying some much needed silence, I spotted him.

Who is "Him"? "Him" is the guy that tried to hit on Moishii whilst we were at Luciana's party! My first reaction was to chase. So I grabbed Moishii's arm and started dragging him through the city and through a suburb to catch the guy only to grab a photo and run! Like WTF? I don't know what possesses me to do these things.

After we huffed and puffed our way back to the restaurant, we finally get seated. We had an absolutely delightful waitress called Tina serve us and within 10mins, we had food and drinks!

BBQ Octopus Greek Salad

This was absolutely mouth watering. The Octopus had a lovely BBQ charcoal aroma, the fetta was creamy and the salad was soooooo refreshing. I am definately going to order this again!

Mixed Sausage Platter

We both went for the mixed sausage platter since we didn't know the difference between all the different types of sausages. And what better way to learn than to get a mixed platter? The only thing is, they keep telling me the names, but I keep forgetting. Lets just say it was really good! And the mashed potatoes, crispy onion rings and bier jus went when the sausages just perfectly. I'm not a huge fan of sauerkraut so I left most of it untouched. Well, it was more to do the with the fact that I was WAY TOO FULL!!! So why did we order dessert?

Peach Melba

Beats me. But it was refreshing! The peaches were sitting on a bed of berry coulis and was topped with a cool creamy vanilla ice cream. Actually, we liked the ice cream more than anything else. I think its to do with the fact that we so rarely eat vanilla ice cream now days.

And to wash it all down? Peppermint tea. Until the next visit to the Bavarian Bier Cafe!

Malay-Chinese Takeaway - The best Laksa in Sydney

I guess this place is no longer a secret based on the number of people that rock up every lunch time (Especially after they made it into SMH). The Malay-Chinese Takeaway shop on Hunter St is famous for their laksa. Walk in any day of the week, and you see all the tables packed with people slurping down their delicious laksa that is spicy and comforting. The secret to their laksa is that they don't use just coconut milk like the other restaurants. They actually use a combination of coconut milk and normal milk. This gives it a creamy but not overly rich taste meaning you can drink every last drop of the soup and still not feel sick. OK, you can feel sick when you are so full but you won't stop eating because it tastes sooooooo good!

Skinless Chicken and Veggies

Seafood and Veggies

I first tried their laksa almost 2 years ago. First week at work, I got invited along to their weekly laksa lunch and I've been hooked every since. I've also got a lot of friends hooked as well! This is a no frills place. You get your own cutlery, the plastic bowls and spoons have been stained yellow from serving thousands of laksas every week. This is not a place is sit and chat for a leisurely lunch. Even if the owners are happy for you to stay, its the 50 odd people lining up against the wall, all the way out the restaurant, who stand there giving you dirties if you don't up and leave the minute you finish your last drop of soup. I've even had people squeeze into the one spare seat we've got left on the table, and sit there staring at us until we've finished eating.

Ontop of the laksa, they also serve a whole range of other Malay and Chinese dishes. Theres always a special of the day. Usually its either Har Mee (Prawn noodle soup), Tom Yum Noodle Soup or Mee Siam (Stir fried rice noodles with a tangy sauce). Their Har Mee is always popular, and so is their Combination Hor Fun (Rice Noodles), but no where near the popularity of their laksa. Just remember to wear black when you go in case of splatterage. (Otherwise you can buy a bib from them)

Malay-Chinese Takeaway
Shop 1, 50-58 Hunter St
Sydney
http://www.malaychinese.com.au

Lunch @ Bavarian Bier Cafe - O'Connell St

One of our friends is heading off to the UK with wife to show off his new born son. (New as in 6 months old) and thought we should catch up for a beer or two before he's off for a few weeks. Since we all worked in the City, we headed off to the Bavarian Bier Cafe in O'Connell St. After a lot of confusion and people heading off to the York St one, we all managed to gather for a beer or two. I was being good and stuck to water. *GASP**SHOCK**HORROR* I know! But I had a long day left at work and falling asleep on the job was not going to help me.

We ordered off the bar menu, and originally I was too lazy to take photos. But when my Wagyu Beef burger came out, I just HAD to take a photo of it:

This thing is HUGE!! See that stick through the middle of the burger? Thats a satay stick stick. This burger was so big I couldn't just pick it up to eat, I had to cut it in half before I could even tackle this beast! Of course, that meant that I get a great innards shot:

MmmMMmm meat...... *Homer Simpson drool face* I've never had a burger that isn't 100% cooked, and this was a perfect way to introduce me to a rare burger patty. Its a shame that the wagyu beef was turned into a patty, if it was wagyu beef at all. Not that I can tell when its in a patty form. But this burger was damn good! And damn HUGE! I gave half of it to my workmate and I still couldn't finish my meal! I had chips leftover. I NEVER have chips leftover. But I had chips leftover! And did I mention the burger was good? But for $17, it better be damn good.

I would've taken photos of the other food, but once you pick this baby up, you do not let go, otherwise everything will just fall to bits! And reconstructing it will be a real problem considering the size of this thing!