Mother's Crepe

It's Saturday afternoon and pretty much nothing to do, despite the wet weather I went out to city and ended up at the World Square shopping centre looking for something to munch on. On the lower ground level at the front of Shushinbou shop there is a new Japanese Crepe stand called Mother's Crepe. The display on the side is very attractive, a range of beautifully presented crepes and the 50% discount for the grand opening work very well for the promotion, people lining up to get their crepes for about $3.50 each. I was considering the ham and cheese since I prefer hot crepe rather than cold one but eventually I couldn't resist the strawberry choco!

(Strawberry Choco Crepe)

The strawberry choco was delightful but for me I like the hot and crispy crepe even when it stuffed with something cold like ice cream, or maybe my strawberry choco crepe was meant to be hot and crispy? So it wasn't crispy enough for me then, but once again it was a delightful snack for an afternoon tea time though.

Bohae Plum Wine

It's a lazy sunday for me as the temperature's getting cool and feels like a good time to hibernate. I was too lazy to cook so just prepared my Tuna rice bowl, apart from the rice, it took me not even 5 minutes as I used canned Tuna :) It's a bowl of warm jasmine rice served with Tuna mixed with mayonaise, topped with some roasted seaweed sprinkle and katsuoboshi (grated fish flake).

My Tuna rice bowl

Today's best part was: Plum wine! It's hard to find my favorite Hana-Kohaku sake (Japanese plum wine) in the city so I got this Korean Plum wine instead. It's an imported Korean Plum wine from Bohae brewery. This plum wine goes well with raw fish and fresh food, I really love the sweet taste and exotic aroma of Plum wine.

Korean Plum wine

Spider roll

After got swollen gums since last week eventually went to dentist yesterday, got x-rayed and the dentist said 'we need to take your tooth out!' ... really? It's something I didn't expect at all but what could I say? So got my wisdom tooth taken out yesterday and it was bleeding all night long, the worst was beside I had to endure the pain I also had to endure my starving as I practically didn't eat anything the whole day except 3 portions of instant cream soup for my dinner. Sounds wierd for you? You may think how would someone still bother eating something while suffering bleeding gums after got a tooth taken out! :) 

Thanks God my gums stopped bleeding when I woke up this morning, so off the church headed to Sakae right away for lunch since it's only a stroll walk down to Liverpool street strip in the city. We ordered fish teriyaki, Tokyo yakiniku which comprises grilled wagyu beef and onion topped with fragant white radish, spring onions and special sauce served with garden salad, rice and miso soup. Anything else? asked the cute waitress, wait.. what's this spider roll? It's a sushi roll with soft-shell crab, vegetables and mayonaise, she explained. Ha! so it has nothing to do with spider at all just the way it served looks like a spider. Ok then, can I have one of  Spider roll and one umeshu as well please?

The spider roll

Tokyo yakiniku

Fish teriyaki

Umeshu (plum wine)

Gochiso-sama deshta! It was a feast!

Deep fried fish

It's a nice Sunday! 

The weather has been unfriendly over the past few days with gusty wind and heavy rain all week causing disaster in some of northern region, but today is a nice break. I didn't have any plan for this weekend apart from my weekly shopping and cooking, and today's lunch special was deep fried fish in sweet and sour sauce from my own kitchen.

Deep fried fish in sweet & sour sauce

My favorite fish for home cooking especially deep fried is Burumundi but today just couldn't find the right size, all the burumundi was about 2 kilos at least, just way too big.. so I tried Talapia, and it's not bad though.

Fish market

It's been a while since the last time I went to fish market and this morning a friend asked me to have lunch together at fish market, so I gave it a go and it was quite fun walking around the seafood market and enjoy the view of the harbour and enticing aroma of grilled seafood.

Sydney Fish Market is claimed to be the world's second largest seafood market in term of variety outside of Japan. How about the biggest one? it's not hard to guess , yes! The world's biggest Fish market is in Japan,  it's Tsukiji Fish Market located in Central Tokyo.

If you are looking for a widest variety of seafood in Australia, Sydney Fish Market in Blackwattle Bay, Pyrmont, on the foreshore of Sydney harbour,  sells more than 100 species of seafood, ready to take home or cooked to satisfy your craving for seafood while enjoy the view of the wharf and harbour, just be carefull with the seagulls flying around trying to snatch your food away!

a range of fresh fish 

The popular lobster mornay (half lobster) with chips and salad priced at $17 and a prawn skewer for $3 were more than enough to satisfy my craving for seafood today.

half of lobster mornay

prawn skewer

Saap Thai

It was a windy morning and the temperature is getting cool as winter is just one month away. It's my second week attending the mass at St. Andrew's Cathedral just next to Town Hall in the city. The first time I saw this cathedral with gothic revival archithecture and its name I thought it was a roman catholic church but actually it's an anglican church, I will write about this Cathedral later on in a separate post.

Leaving church around 12 o'clock we headed to Pitt street strip to have lunch at Saap Thai. It's a local famous in the 'thainatown' district with their authentic thai homestyle food. They are quite famous for some dishes like sumtum and nooodle boat. Sumtum is thai salad comprises green papaya, cherry tomato, long bean, peanut, chili and some more spices, but be aware that this salad is super hot, so if you aren't a chili eater your tongue and stomach might get burnt!

This time we only had seafood fried rice, stir-fried seafood with pepper and chili, Pad seew with chicken (stir-fried thick rice noodle), and thai iced tea with milk is the only drink I always order in this restaurant. If you are looking for an affordable yummy thai food in the city, I would recommend this restaurant.

Pad seew with chicken

Seafood fried rice

Stir-fried seafood with pepper served with jasmine rice

Iced milk tea for $2.8

Food Safari

I've been traveling to 5 cities during my first week only in this country, what a tight and tiring schedule since I got to catch up with some friends and join my big family's gathering, yet I did enjoy my trip and off course my food hunting!

Here are some of my yummy pictures taken during my year-end holiday trip, started with the famous Singapore Chili Crab.

Singapore Chili Crab at Long Beach Restaurant, East Coast-Singapore

Kangkung with garlic at Long Beach Restaurant

Nasih Gudeg Manggar (Rice with gudeg) from Eva Coffee House in Bedono-Ambarawa, Central Java. I was on my way up to Bandungan, a highland resort in Central Java.

Gudeg is a traditional food originated from Yogyakarta a city of Central Java, made from stewed young jackfruit, slow cooked in coconut milk and usually topped with egg, chicken, tofu and spicy ox skin.

Bubur gudeg (Porridge with gudeg) served on banana leaves at Gudeg Yu Tien Muntilan, it was my breakfast in Muntilan, 30 minutes drive from Yogjakarta.

Fried Rice with egg, beef jerky, baked bean and chicken nuggets.
It's my breakfast at Susan Spa and Resort, Bandungan-Central Java

Nasi Pecel, a famous local food at Goa Maria Kerep, Ambarawa
(Rice with pecel, a mix of vegetables, bean sprout, and noodle with peanut dressing)

Soto Sangka, my favorite Soto (Soup with chicken, bean sprout, peanut) from my hometown

Scampi Sashimi

Here is another favorite Japanese cuisine in town: Sakae Japanese Restaurant, located at 116 Liverpool street in the city. They have a great range of sushi, sashimi, lunch and dinner set at reasonable price.

Last weekend I had Scampi Sashimi and Teriyaki Beef for my lunch at this restaurant. The Scampi Sashimi was really fresh and oishi..! It's not an everyday sashimi you will find in a Japanese restaurant, also they have some other sashimi like King Fish, Scallop and Mussel Sashimi.
The entree sashimi (9 pcs) costs about $10-$12, and main sashimi (15 pcs) for $15-$16. My Scampi Sashimi was on 'Today's special' and it was only $6.5



My Teriyaki Beef set comes with rice, miso soup and salad which comprises lettuce, corn, peas, cucumber, carrot, and raisin! Yes raisin in a salad! it was the first time I got a salad with raisin and it mixed well with the veggies. The Teriyaki Beef was very tender and really yummy, I would say it's the best Teriyaki in town.

Omusubi

Omusubi, literally means Japanese handmade rice balls, a traditional and healthy Japanese delicacies, but this time I'd like to talk about Japan Foundation Sydney's online magazine called Omusubi. In this term, Omusubi comes from the Japanese verb musubu, which means to join, to unite or to form a connection. Omusubi features information about the Japan Foundation, Sydney's events and Japanese film screenings, Japan-related event information around Australia, ideas and resources for school teachers of Japanese, and a range of articles focusing on Japanese culture and Australia-Japan related issues.

Last night I got email from Omusubi saying that I've won a double-pass for the 12^th Japanese Film Festival in Sydney as a compliment for taking part of their survey, Arigato Omusubi !

This is what Omusubi (Onigiri) look like

Teishoku

It’s another favorite dining out in the city: Miso Japanese Restaurant, located at Shop 20 Holden Arcade World Square. Their concept is based on “Teishoku” style (set meal menu). Teishoku normally consists of rice, some meat (or fish), salad, pickle and some dipping sauce. Last weekend I got a chance to catch up with an old friend and having dinner at this restaurant, lucky that we didn’t queue for long, but as soon as we grabbed the seats we saw people start lining up outside the restaurant.

We ordered their special Tonkotsu loin set and the fish teriyaki orange which combine soft texture and a tangy teriyaki sauce that create a special flavor! Their price is above average but their ‘teishoku’ has top quality and the service was great.

Ramyeon & Omurice

Sunday Morning!
Went to the church at 7.30, got back to the City around 9 am, it's a bit chilling morning so wanna have something hot and spicy for breakkie.
Came across to this authentic Korean Restaurant on Liverpool street just the opposite of World Square building, never been here before so wanna give it a try. This restaurant got a unique name: "Heaven, Earth, Star & Earth" it's sound more like a title of Jacky Chan's or Jet Lee's kungfu movie for me.. ha..ha. .well, picked the Ramyeon (Ramen in Japanese) and Omurice (omelet with rice). The ramyeon came with a tasty hot and spicy soup and 4 side dishes. One thing makes me comeback to a Korean restaurant is their side dishes, not only because they are free and you can top-up as many as you wish but I do like the unique taste of kimchi, pickled bean sprout, dried anchovy, steamed potato, etc.

If you wanna have some deliciously tasty light Korean food in affordable price, this place is worth a try.

Baby Octopus Teriyaki

It’s really a hot day with 35 degree on the top! Looks like summer is just around the corner!

Rushing with weekend busy hours at work, trying to get outta there on time at 5 pm and can’t wait to have Japanese food for dinner.

It only took about 10 minutes by bus from the city to Kyushu Japanese Restaurant located at 9 Grosvenor street in Neutral Bay, arrived at 6.30 pm and got the reserved table ready for us. It's one of most popular Japanese eateries on the North Shore and sometime could be difficult getting a table so booking is recommended.

I ordered Baby Octopus Teriyaki, Wafu steak, Prawn tempura and a glass of Japanese plum wine. I picked baby octopus teriyaki since it's not an everyday Teriyaki you could find in Japanese restaurant, quite rare and was really yummy. The wafu steak was quite tender and the sauce tasted a bit like 'satay' sauce which is my favorite sauce for grilled dishes. They have an outstanding and inexpensive menu, even still above average price though, but the food quality is really good and overall service is really great! The sweet Japanese plum wine tastes good till the last sip, makes me want to grab another glass.

Okonomiyaki

Today I really want Okomiyaki for my brunch, unfortunately my favorite Okonomiyaki in town closed on Sunday so I went to a Teppanyaki Resto in Sussex Street, Chinatown. I knew it’s not an authentic Japanese Resto as soon as I got there, reading the menu and looking at some photos outside the resto, I asked my self “should I just find another Japanese restaurant?” but I still walked down the stairs and grabbed my seat though! I ordered beef okonomiyaki and seafood okonomiyaki, one of each, as soon as the chef finished cooked and served both of them, I asked “which one is the seafood one?” surprised by my question but then simply said “dunno..“. Surprised with that unexpected answer, I decided not to expect much from this restaurant run by unauthentic Japanese chef. The okonomiyaki itself wasn’t too bad, but their way servicing customer is just way too far from the way they should be.

The authentic Okonomiyaki I had in Osaka last december was really different from the one I got this morning as you can see below:

This is today's Okonomiyaki:

This is my yummy Okonomiyaki in Osaka:

King Prawn Laksa

Today's special menu: King Prawn Laksa served with ketupat (rice cube)!

It’s a wet and windy day so I reckoned it would be nice to cook something hot and spicy for dinner. If you like Singaporean Laksa, you could try my recipe: 

4 shallots, 5 clove garlic, both chopped,1 fresh red chili, 1 tbsp dried shrimp. Broth: Prawn, 3 tbsp vegetbale oil, 2 tbsp of Laksa paste (you can find in Asian grocery), 1 tbsp sugar, fish sauce, salt to tase, juice of 1 lime.

Finishing touches: Rice vermicelli or egg noodles, boiled eggs, bean sprouts, spring onions (chopped), corieander leaves, deep fried shallots.

Process in blender, shallots, garlic, chili, dried shrimps until it forms a smooth paste. Fry the paste till fragrant, add prawns for about 1 minute untill they turn red, add the laksa paste then pour some water. Bring to the boil and then add coconut cream. It' s always good to allow time to simmer  for the flavours to come out. Add fish balls and fried tofu, sugar, fish sauce and salt to taste and bean sprouts. This time I didn't use rice vermelli but rice cube instead. Garnish with spring onions, coriander leaves and fried shallots, squeeze in the lime before eating.

Itadakimasu...

Hot Doughnut

This 90 cent hot doughnut is quite famous for people in Melbourne especially among shoppers at Victoria Market. It's just a small doughnut sold on the American Doughnut van parked at the back of the famous Victoria Market but some people still queueing though. Frankly speaking, nothing's special about this doughnut compare to my favorite Krispy Kreme doughnuts :-)

The taste is ok but without the 'hole' it's more like "Odading" in Bandung ha..ha..

Wagaya Restaurant

Last Friday, it was a hot weekend in the city, walked around Chinatown after 5 looking for a nice place to chill out and get something for dinner. The Friday night market in Chinatown has started along the Dixon street and getting crowded, so took detour towards Entertainment Centre, passing Ajisen Ramen and Ramen Khan then came across to Wagaya Japanese Restaurant, looked at the menu and found Toro Sushi on the list! 

Table for two please.., no booking? Asked the waitress, lucky she managed to find a table for us but for a limited one hour only. It’s really a nice place for having dinner or just having drinks with friends, nice ambience, cozy and unique with a hi-tech touch screen on every table so we don’t need waiter to order the meal. You can choose the menu in some different categories from noodle/salad to deep fried dishes, from sushi to grilled dishes and from cocktail to sake for the drinks, and even the free water is on the menu as well. You just press whatever you want to order on the screen, confirm the order quantity and once you confirmed the order, a message telling that your order has been sent to the kitchen pop ups on the screen. You can order your dish one at the time, checking your order and the bill on the screen which is good if you don’t want to spend too much or when sharing with friends. When you need the bills just pressed the screen again and the waiter will come within a minute.

The food was ok and the service was fast and courteous, but better book the table first since you can book this restaurant by sms, what an easy way to book! 

Ribs Ramen

Ribs ramen

One friend recommended Ajisen Ramen restaurant couple months ago but I haven’t got time to try till today. Located in Hay Street, Haymarket-Chinatown, originated from Kumamoto Japan, Ajisen Ramen is very famous for its delicious ramen with plenty of collagen that can prevent aging, that’s what they claimed! Besides ramen they also have some side dishes like salt pepper squid, soft-shell crab and crab claw, the price starts from $9 for ramen and $7 for side dishes. I ordered Ribs Ramen and chili soft-shell crab, the ramen comes with tender and tasty ribs which made the soup tastes good, overall I like the ramen but one thing I wasn’t so keen on is they used different noodle from the one usually used for ramen I’ve tried elsewhere.

The restaurant interior is quite cosy with a plasma TV mounted on the wall playing Japanese Song’s MV. I was quite satisfied with their helpful and quick service.

Takoyaki Party

Takoyaki (literally means fried or baked octopus) is a popular Japanese dumpling made of baby octopus, tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, konyaku, and green onion, topped with okonomiyaki sauce, mayonnaise, and dashi (fish shavings), originating from Osaka. 

If it’s not for Ikumi-san I wouldn’t experience cooking Takoyaki! Arigato mina-san for inviting us to join Takoyaki Party in the city, where I experienced cooking and eating a bowl full of Takoyaki (plus pop corn) and couple bottles of beer for free! What a great day having beer with great friends!

Bento

Bento (Japanese lunch box) is very popular in Japan, in old days they served in a wooden box, today you can find Bento in plastic box sold in almost every supermarket, convenience store, station shop, airport shop and even aboard the Shinkansen (bullet train). They also called as Ekiben Bento means Station Bento since you can find this Bento in every station in Japan. This very affordable meal suits people on the go who has no time to prepare the meal at home.

Today they even create unique Bento box with all the accessories and topping which made them really cute! My Japanese friend forwarded me the above Cute Bento pictures.

Talking about Bento in Sydney, I have my favorite Bento box! Off Town Hall station, in the basement food court in Pitt Street side there is Momiji Japanese take-away selling home made style and delicious Bento box. They open Monday – Friday, 12 pm – 5 pm, and the good thing is they have happy hour between 3 pm – 5 pm when all Bento is reduced to $5 only! What a great yummy treat!

Ketupat (Rice Cube)

Last weekend when I just missed Mom’s cooking, I got an idea to find Rice Cube in Sydney; eventually I found this mini Rice Cube in an Asian grocery, even the instant ones. I’d rather this mini size of Rice Cube rather then the normal size I got last time. I just boiled this Rice Cube for about an hour and served with fried bean curd and peanut dressing then add some topping like boiled bean sprout, sweet soy sauce and then my ‘Kupat Tahu’ is ready!