May 2014: 678 Korean BBQ, Sydney

May 2014

Sorry about the jumbled order but here's back to blogging about ozzie trip

By chance, we came across this Korean BBQ place near our service apartment as we were lazy to venture further beyond walking distance joints. 

To my surprise "678" Korean BBQ is highly popular in SYdney with both tourists n locals. I suppose having been on Running Man program had done it favors in terms of online search popularity

Evidently, a lot of Korean super stars have been here based on the wall of fame

Generally when a F&B joint has been overhyped by celeb patronage, I often find myself not liking the food a lot. However, seeing that it's late at 7.30pm and we are already in mid Q, might as well try it out. Plus the fact that the whole place is run by Koreans n plenty of Koreans patronage, I'm assuming the food has not been bastardised to suit the western palatte too much.

Upon arrival, it's important to get a ticket number and not just join the Q u see before you. After which you are free to sit of the waiting bench or stand around till a server come looking for you while confirming (matching) your ticket tub number. 

We waited for about 20mins n swiftly seated. The place is huge by the way. 

On the table, there's a quick guide on using the assortment of condiments. 

The menu had a good spread of various meat and cuts. I was starving and so we ordered beef ribs, marinated chicken thigh with chilli and premium pork belly. I could simply not pass up on my spicy tofu seafood soup. 

While waiting, we were served this free steam egg custard soup and I love the simple savoury sweet taste! Yum!!

The meat came with the vege sides and corn. Nice! They would also change the grill plate when they noticed it's getting too grubby.

our spread

Kick arse good spicy tofu seafood soup

my sizzling premium pork belly

The premium pork belly was sizzling goodness with natural sweetness (and not very fatty) but the beef was "meh" not great & on chewy side. Our fav was actually the spicy chicken thigh! Tender spicy good!

The spicy seafood tofu soup was AWESOME and definitely something I would order repeatedly! It has not been diluted in its flavor to suit the westerners so that is why I love it!

Between the two of us, we prob over ordered n could barely finish our food but I'm glad I tried almost everything and was highly satisfied!!!! Love it in fact n would fed be back!!!

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/678Sydney

• Address: Corner Pitt St and Goulburn St, Sydney, Australia 2000

Phone	+61 2 9267 7334
Website	http://www.678US.com

May 2014: @Mr Wong restaurant, doing the Westernised dim sum thingie

May 2014

What's coming back to Sydney without taking mum n dad to somewhere nice, a break from their normal mundane routine? 

So off we went to Mr Wong! Parking was a nitemare around there. Expensive too!!! Prob cost us A$50 just for parking!!

Service here was prompt and food was less expensive than we thought, as compared to Chinese restaurant in Sydney, not HK. 

There are hits n misses and I didn't take pictures of everything we ate. The roasted duck was good, liked the spring roll n scallop steamed dumpling. Vege was a tad salty and the cheong fan not great.

Indonesian food in Sydney. Yummy!

One of the greatest thing in life apart from family is friends. What will my life be like without all my friends is rather unthinkable!

During my last trip back to Australia for Dad's birthday in June, caught up with my galfren currently doing her medical stint in Sydney. Would have been better if she had been doing her stint while I was still living in Sydney back then! Think of all the roadtrips we could have had...sigh.

Anycase, she brought me to this yummy Indonesian Food place. Cannot rem the name of the place but its along the food street near the university of NSW. Loved the spread!

After dinner, we drove off in search of good cafe but in good typical Oz fashion, most of the shops are closed even if it was only close to 9pm. One thing I sure dont miss about this place is the hours the shop keep. We managed to find one just before the shutter comes down and grabbed a few to-go and headed off to Centennial Park for our girly chats in the car instead with Darling harbor bridge as our backdrop. Since we both are not tourists to the city, didnt bother with any scenic shot but rather, took a picture of the cake we were gonna ravished in the next 30 seconds to come. Ha!

Food Review: Fabulous dinner at the Quay Restaurant (again) Sydney

Dinner at the Quay Restaurant never disappoints. The level of service may vary from time to time but the food is always superb and divine. Peter Gilmore def nailed down the right way to maintain his chef hats!
Tonite, we had dinner with a view. It prob would wow a tourist better than locals like us but it was still nice.

We didnt go for the tasing menu but instead opted for the 4 course meal at A$155 a head. I had a glorious dinner. Worth every penny.

I went for the mudcrab congee for the starter, though someone should explain to caucasians that "rice in soup" is not defined as congee in chinese language. Congee is cooked rice that tastes really mashed up and you dont even see the grain. Porridge would be a more apt term but we wont get specific here. The soup was flavoursome and tasty, and it was a good nice clean start!

Next on the menu was my choice of confit of crispy skin pork belly with squid strips, combined with a healthy dose of silky tofu. The skin was crunchy and the meat melts as you bite into it. The flavour blend well together and it was a true symphony of the tastebud.

The third course I had picked was Pig Jowl. I never had tasted pig jowl which my dad explained was the jawline of the pig area. So I forgo the milk fed veal and chose another pig dish. I did not regret it. The braised meat was gorgeous!!! Forget describing it but it was just that damn good! But by time, I officially declared that I felt like I was having a fusion of chinese meal more than a western meal:) Not that I mind really.

Personally, the only less than stellar dish was the dessert. I ordered the Snow Egg which our friends had eagerly and it came highly recommended, esp after the Master Chef show that had half the nation tuned in to the programme. (online recipe with the guava version)

Unfortunately for me, it was kind of a let down. It really was more form than substance in this case. While the presentation was flawlessly beautiful, i didnt quite see what the fuss was about apart from the egg shape. It was supposed to be jackfruit ice, the egg filled with somesort of  vanilla icecream custard. The jackfruit flavour could have been stronger. I love jackfruit and the natural sweetness, yet injustice has been done to this dish. Its special "pungent essence" was mercilessly stripped, and I thought the whole dish was too sweet. Maybe they had to tamed the jackfruit flavour and tamper it down for the western palatte who isnt use to the strong taste. Then again, not everyone likes the strong taste unless u grow up in the hot tropic I suppose.

My partner had the other dessert which was some coconut creame and choc and some raspberry. I didnt like it, primarily because I dislike raspberry mixed with choc. I like my choc unadultered and non bastardised with some other flavours, esp with fruits like orange, and cherries or raspberries. I would have liked it better if it was just choc and coconut but that boils down to personal taste. Yet if we must choose, we all would have voted for the coconut choc dessert over the snow egg.

Food Review: Arrival in Sydney and dining at Bilsons Restaurant Sydney

This couldnt be a better Sydney Trip than I can ask for!

Firstly I didnt get to see people I didnt want to see, and then I got to hang out with the lovely people I wanted to hang out with! It was the loveliest weekend of all the time spent in sydney!

As usual, I spent the first 2 days in Sydney waking up just in time to see the shops closing...at 4.30pm. What's new - with my sleep pattern absolutely incongruent with Sydney business hours. It isnt my fault really. I didnt get to sleep on the overnight flight, had some problems with the first noisy room and didnt get to sleep till 3pm on arrival day. And since my hours were out of whack and there was seemingly no purpose to get up at all, I just slept while my partner struggled away at work. Hoo hoo Hoo...

Friday was dinner nite with Mum and Dad at Bilson Restaurant. Maybe I have been away too long or I was too lucky the other dining time because this winter menu wasnt really that great. It wasnt bad, it just wasnt mouth-wateringly orgasmic. Presentation was still top notch but there were certainly some hit and misses. I think there was some experimentation going on with some oriental or rather indian flavour mixed in. French cusine and hint of Indian esp soup...dun really do it for me.

However, at Bilson, they had the best mushroom combination mix I ever had. I couldnt describe it and my words will only serve to do injustice to that particular course. And the accompanying salty bread that came along with it, dipped in the mushroom custard sort of dish was absolutely divine. I dont know how they did it but that was certainly brillant my man! The other scallop starter served on a bed of mushed peas or lentils was ok but since I hate mushy things esp beans and peas, I was positively glad I didnt picked that.

As for dessert, I went for chocolate affaire. I mean it's really no brainer since I never like cherry desserts, in this case Lemon-cherry mix and I dislike Souffle. Mine was pretty good. Not too rich and certainly appealing in both presentation and taste. I had a taste of the lemon cherry and it was alittle over the top for me. The blood orange Souffle was ok. I never quite know how to comment on a souffle. It rises, didnt collapse, taste bubbly. yeah that's about it. I didnt quite get the hint of blood orange but mum likes it and that's all it matters.

The main was bordering on average and frankly nothing to crow about. I had the duck slices. It was ok. The fish was rather prettily presented but I thought the combination tasted a little strange.

2012 UPDATES:

Bilson has gone under.

http://www.smartcompany.com.au/food-and-beverages/top-sydney-chef-tony-bilson-to-shut-restaurants-after-payroll-tax-bill-forces-him-into-administration.html

Fantastic dinner @ The 3 Weeds Restaurant

Had dinner at The restaurent at 3 weeds Hotel. OMG, dinner was really really fantastic!! One of the great ones I have had in Sydney for a while and strongly recommend for any sydneysiders or people in town with days to spare. This is one of the few restaurants that deserved the chef hat. I was so busy chatting and eating that I forgot to grab pictures until it was dessert time....

For entree, I had the pork belly with cider and apple and it was wonderfully done. The top skin was crispy and meat tender. Unlike the pork belly I had in canberra which was reeking horribly with salt, what I had tonight was tasty, and the natural meat sweetnes was enhanced somehow throught the cooking.

For the main, I had the special for the night which was Pan fried Barrumundi served with red cabbage in red wine jus. Oh wow! I normally do not like specials for the night but I was completely impressed and so was steve who had the same main as I did. The skin was perfectly crispy and meat cooked to perfection. The red cabbage was fantastic and has a twang to it that complimented the fish sooooooo well! There was no room to find fault with!

My companions had the scallops for entree which also looked divine and the blue eye fillet was also beautifully done.

As for dessert, it was a perfect round up to the night. Steve and I again had the flourless choc oudding served with chestnut icecream. While the icecream was average, but the choc pud was divine especially for any choc fan addict. It has the soft lava center and served delightfully warm with a light fluffy top. The mergine too was nice but a little bit creamy and rich if you are already too full.

All in all a perfect night, with a wonderful white french wine recommendation that went very well with our meal with its fruit aroma and clean finish. I couldnt ask for a more perfect dinner even though its without a view. However who cares when u have great company for the night, not to mention polite, prompt and non instrusive serving staff!

Farewell Lunch

Met some friends at "The loft" at King's Wharf for late lunch last friday. We had spectacular view and so we "basked" in the sun sitting in the large sofa outdoor. It was a beautiful day as well. I am so going to miss this clear blue sunny sky once I head to live in HK. Back to grey gloomy days, not to mention bloody rain storms this year now.

The Loft had beautiful and very pretty interior decor. It's hip and funky and I heard the place is often booked out and full at night for drinks. The stretch of outdoor is also lined with comfy large sofas as well. Perfect for chilling out with friends at night.

Since its a wine place, I wasnt expecting great food but surprise surprise, my meal tasted better than I had thought, and even better than most of the "upmarketish" restauarants surrounding the darling harbour.

I had the panfried atlantic salmon while my gf had the fish and chips. We decided to share the salt and pepper szechuan squid. I really like the squid as it was a good chucky piece and was a tinge spicy to boot which goes fantastically with wine.

We hung out for about 2 hours since the whole place was pretty quiet at noon, before heading to Lindtt cafe (again) at darling harbour to meet another Jap friend Rei who was leaving for Japan on Sunday.

By 6pm, I was completely stuffed from food and dessert and hot chocloate. Well I figured I might as well enjoy every drop since I am not getting any once I am in HK....Yeah, I think I was pretty satisfied by night fall..... :P