Makota

Today was a lazy sunny day and I was feeling tired, sick of looking at houses that seems to be going no where!!! This house hunting thing is really fustrating as its either doesn't fit what we want, or it's leased out before the open home even started!

Anyway after such a tiring day sitting in the car, I was too lazy to cook and wanted something "simple" but we ended up at Makota, a sushi train restaurant in Chatswood! Ok, so it ended up to be a rather expensive dinner than planned...sigh...the food was good but OMG how food is so expensive here!!!

Salmon roll:


Sushi roll with eel I think:


Fried scallop wrapped with salmon:


Salmon topped with mayo shrimps and caviers:


Salmon avocado roll with fish roes:


As you can see, it's a very salmon night as most of the dishes had salmon in it =)
For desserts, there were a few on the train too, we chose the pudding and hot red bean soup with sticky sweet riceballs inside. I prefered the pudding by far!

Black sesame pudding with syrup at the bottom:


This dessert was surprisingly good, the pudding was very silky like tofu and the combination of black sesame and the syrup together was a perfect match topped with peanut crumbs on the top!

Soban Korean

I've only ever tried korean once here in Sydney that a friend brought us to and I was in love with it ever since! Last night we went to check out that place again. We had to wait about 20 mins because we didn't book! It's called SOBAN korean cuisine located in westfield in Chatswood Shopping Centre.

We tried the pancake and OMG it was really nice! The pancake was nicely done, crispy and not soggy and it had a nice sauce that you dipped into it!


I ordered the same thing as last time, kimchi rice wrapped with egg omelette and covered with calarami, scallops, covered with creamy mushroom sauce. It tasted like korean and italian mixed and the side dishes were very tasty too! They had this creamy pumpkin soup which I really like and could drink a whole big bowl of it!


The price is quite pricy about $16-$20 but it's so worth it once in a while! Yum Yum!
I told myself I have to try something NEW next time...

My atempt in macarons

I failed in my first attempt making macarons and it must be the egg mixture and just not being in my own kitchen!

I had to buy all the ingredients from sratch as I didn't bring any from Auckland...and was amazed at the stuff they got here in the local supermarkets.

I tried making macarons again and this time my mixture was still a little runny and I my cheap piping bag broke so that did not make my piping easy! I should have drawn little circles on the baking paper so that i had consistent sizes, I guess I was overly ambitious!

They turned out better than expected because I did not have the right temperature in the oven so I had to keep a close watch on these as they seem to get burnt and done in what seems to be seconds!


The filling is chocolate ganache with a little rum flavour in it which gave it a really nice smell! The mixture was not spread evenly as the cookies were not even shapes so I had to mix and match.

I have so much to improve on next time!!!! Time to reflect!

Eat eat eat

Today we went for a ferry ride to Watson Bay, which is about 30 minutes from Circular Quay in the city and cost $10 return.

Once we arrived at Watson Bay, we walked pass a restaurant where the line was queuing up for their fish and chips so Marcus couldnt resist it and bought one fish for afternoon snack.


The fish here are done differently to the ones we have in NZ, and they provided a small container of chilli plum sauce....

After our trip to Watson Bay we wanted to try this malaysian place but it was closed so we strolled along the road and ventured into one of the many Japanese restaurant:
There were so many Jap restaurants it was so hard to choose and we ended up at Yutaka along Bathurst Street. Here, they offer buffet for $24 so it's not bad but we opted for the a la carte instead having so much food during the day.

Chicken Karaage don:


Fish bento box:



After dinner we went to this place called LNC dessert house on Sussex Street, near Chinatown. They offer many variety of dessrts especially the usual Hong Kong style such as red bean, almond, chestnut soups and other yummy ice and ice cream desserts. There were so many choices and even though we were so so stuffed from all the food we had during the day, I chose the red bean slushy with sticky rice and green tea gelato




We were forcing ourselves to finish this dessert & it was definately a hard task but definately coming back again to try other flavours!

I HEART macaroons

From my previous post I wrote about how I've discover macaroons and how delicate and deliciously light & yummy they are! Ever since then, everytime I walk pass some specialty french cafe or chocolate dessert place I would eye macaroons and buy them!

They're not cheap though, at Chatswood mall they were selling $2 each & you basically finish them in 2 bites or 4 if you savour is slowly! So today while in the city, my sister brought me to Lindt and OMG macaroons galore! There were so many flavours I decided to just think to my usual of hazelnut and my sister got chocolate. The French call them Macarons, but at the Lindt Chocolat Café they are Delice. It's basically 2 delicate halves of almond meringue with a deliciously rich chocolate cream filling or other amazing flavours.

Macaroons on display @ $2.20 each


Ice Chocolate & chocolate Lindy delice (Macaroon)


Delicious macaroon that melts in your mouth after every bite making you want more!


YUMMMMMMMM! The hazelnut macaroon I had was so divine it just made my day!

Mamak @ Dixon Street

Tonight after eating at Mamak, I realised that the food here isn't that great compared to the other malaysian restaurants we've had. Roti chanai is probably still the nicest here though...but the Chendol and Nasi Lamak is WAY BETTER at Makan at Alice in Thornleigh.

The making of roti


Nasi Lamak:


Roti Chanai:


Chendol, with the jelly abit hard and the ice was icy, not as creamy & does not have red beans & grass jelly:


So tonight my verdict is I think I'll go back again to Mamak for Roti and teh tarik but probably not go into the city just for that..it was a long journey back home by train =(

French Toast with bananas

I enjoy window food shopping

Macaroons for $2 each, insisted that cj actually try one so she got the hazel flavour one & said it was delicious & light


Lots of mousse and cute little desserts so tempting!




Red bean green tea roll on the right, I'm so going to get one next time

Day out

Visited DFO (Direct Factory Outlet) similar to Dressmart today and had a coffee break at Michel.

I wouldn't say this is the worst banana bread I've ever tasted, but it is one of the not so nice ones in Sydney I've ever tasted. So, I think it will be my last one from here...


My sister's cinnimon scroll which looked better:


It was a tiring day just waiting for my sister to try different dresses...but it's good to see that she manage to look good in most of them =)

Eggie Breakkie

It's always so nice to have home made scramble eggs on toast with pepper and a cup of coffee on a Sunday morning!


Now, i just need to make hollandaise sauce for eggs benedicts!

Sambal

We had lunch at this place called Sambal after visiting C3 Church in Oxford Falls, yes another Malaysian restaurant. Infact, this malaysian place is only about 2 mins drive from Marcus work and opposite the hotel that we used to stay in. It's a surprise we NEVER visited this place. I can't believe that I've visited so many places to eat in one week. Here, it was pretty packed and hidden away.

The Satay chicken here was nice especially the peanut sauce


Mee Siam here was quite spicy and a few cups of water didn't help but it was tasty


Hokkien mee here is better than at Makan @ Alice


My tummy really needed a rest but it's so hard when there is so many food to try!

This place also sells kuehs along the counter at $5.50 per box, and their only open from Thurs to Sun night and if you want fish head curry you'll need to give 2 days advance notice!


This place is definately a must to come back with more people and order dishes instead. It's just to far away to some of these places & the queues can be long if you don't book.

Makan @ Alice

Tonight we had dinner at this place called Makan at Alice's about 30 mins drive from our place recommended by a friend for their chendol.


Honestly, after tonight I felt that Auckland Malaysian food was so so much better given the smaller population. The chendol tasted great and reminded me of the ones in Melaka, this could be the gula melaka. The Teh Tarik was alright, better than those in Auckland BUT the food...well let's just put it, I miss Selera and even Sri Putri because it's not that great that it stood out for me. The price also did not help given that the food was only so so.

Fried Kuay Tiew


Hokkien Mee


Nasi Lamak


I had the Nasi Lamak & the beef rendang was quite nice but I don't know why I prefer the one in Selera New Market...the portion here is small for the price of $12.50.
Food is so EXPENSIVE here!!!!

We were discussing about how we should open up our own kopi tiam or old white town coffeee or something since it is so hard to find good malaysian food.

Teh Tarik



Delicious Chendol




Chendol cost like $5.50.

So you guys in Auckland better enjoy your food there coz it's actually good =)

Eastwood

Last night, we had dinner at this new suburb that we've never been to called Eastwood. It reminded me a little of howick area where the place is full of chinese restaurants. It mainly consist of chinese and hong kong style crusine so if you're looking for jap or korean you won't find too many around here.


We went to this small hong kong shop called BBQ One and apparently it's recommended in the cheapeats book of Sydney.


One meat on rice cost $9.80 and 2 meat on rice cost an extra dollar. They also sold laksa, dry noodles and their service was quick and free soup came with it too! I think my dad in law will like this place because of the roast meat =) It's pretty crammed and you smell after you leave....

Roast pork on rice


After dinner we crossed the road to have dessert. This place is called Taste of Shanngjai restaurant There were about 2 bubble tea place and this dessert store stood out because of the red bean display. This place sells very shanghainese food...there were so many types of buns, noodles, peking duck, and sweet desserts. The list goes on and so it's definately a place where I'll come back again and it's packed even at 9pm!
Here are some items off their menus just to give you a taste of what they have:

Rice cakes with preserve vege


Stir Fry noodles with prawns


Double filling of sesame and red bean in one sticky rice ball


This is the red bean dessert I had

Red bean + Herbal jelly + Ice cream


Vanilla ice cream on the top


Loads of jelly and red bean swimming in the sea of milk


This was sweet, lots of coconut milk so next time i'll probably ask for less milk. Also if you don't select regular size they automatically give you big which is quite big especially after dinner.

Honey melon drink served with herbal jelly and basil seeds


There were other drinks on the menu such as chendol, ice kajang, cheng teng, sago gulaman and the usual bubble tea, frappes, ice cream etc etc....definately a place to visit if you want your asian desserts.

I'm so glad we checked out this area coz now I can bring you to check it out when you come =)