Food Archives | Page 12 of 68

KOFOO Korean Food (Sydney, Australia)

29 May 2013 Ibyang Sanchez 0 Comments Category: Food, Restaurants

The Husband treated me to Korean dinner on my first week back at work. We passed by this Korean restaurant named KOFOO in Sussex Street before we went on vaycay and as always, we got interested.

It was a Thursday night but the place was not busy. We found it to be one of the biggest Korean restaurants in Sydney so even if there were a few customers, it didn’t look cramped.

Upon seating, we learned that KOFOO is a franchise brand from Korea, where they have more than 200 branches. They take pride in offering 120 dishes, made fresh daily.

The place is hip and young but still observed how the usual Korean cuisine is enjoyed–with Banchan dishes!

I ordered the Spicy Pork Belly (Jeyuk Deopbap) which consisted of rice with pork belly marinated in spicy sauce and a siding of vegetables. This dish was very spicy. Not for the faint-hearted. The meat was soft and the flavour lingers even if you have drank lots of water.

The Husband had the Bulgogi Bento which came with rice, egg, potato wedges and stir-fried kimchi. We enjoyed this more than my dish. The Bulgogi was sweet and tender.

KOFOO is a place where people can enjoy well-prepared food at reasonable prices. Other than their food, the rustic and yet warm ambience gives us that modern Korean feel which we find comforting.

KOFOO Korean Food
347-353 Sussex Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Phone: 02 9261 2465

The Blessing of Spending Time With Friends

27 May 2013 Ibyang Sanchez 0 Comments Category: Aussie Life, Charmed Life of a Mrs, Cherished Memories, Food

The best way to go back to “our normal” is to spend time with friends again. And that’s what we started doing two weeks ago. One week of recuperation from flu and one week of getting on top of work at the office, I’m back at socializing again.

I feel very grateful that since we came back from holiday, we’ve gotten “Welcome back!”, “I miss you!” and “Let’s catch up!” messages from our dear Sydney friends. It sure is nice to come home to a place where friends welcome you back with open arms. So after working out our schedules, it’s about time we start seeing our friends here–because we miss them too!

Annie and her delicious macaroons. We haven’t seen each other for a long time so I’m very glad we had the chance to re-connect. We met up for tea after work and caught up on what’s keeping us busy. A sweet bonus was being gifted with two boxes of delicious macaroons. She baked them herself and it tastes as good as the ones we buy from Manila (pang Goldilocks levels!)

My Sweet Memory (Cafe) moments with Jackie. She’s my ever-dependable coffee-date-in-the-city-after-work kind of girlfriend. Every chance we get, we try to squeeze in an hour just to sit down and catch up. That’s why the moment I was physically well, we blocked our scheds for a quick coffee klatch. Update galore kami ng aming Manila vaycay (she also vaycayed in Manila recently).

Tintin, Jamie and Me. Since Tintin moved to Sydney, we’ve been foodie mates ever since. Two weeks ago, we had a date with Jamie Oliver–well, not the person, just his food. We had a lovely pasta dinner and a fresh fruit dessert on a rainy Thursday night. It was nice to know that Tin is enjoying her new-found life in Sydney. It’s refreshing to see Sydney thru her eyes.

Fun Thursday with Friends (a.k.a. Gala Galore). Last week, I took half a day off work just to spend time with girlfriends who were also on a day-off that day. Ganyan ang true friends–nagda-day-off para maglakwatsa LOL. We started off with lunch at Chef’s Gallery, went around the shops at Westfield, had tea at Laduree, dinner at Lamesa and ended the night at Badde Manors. It was so much fun! We spent the whole time just talking about girly stuff, wifey and mommy stuff, relationships, etc. Lahat na!

As we get older, moments with friends are a luxury. I’m glad I have girlfriends who message me from time to time just to know how I am. I’m grateful we have friends who also believe in the importance of nurturing friendships by spending time with us.

Not only do I feel normal now after two weeks of seeing friends but my “homesick-from-travel” heart feels healed. Now I can’t wait to see all our other friends soon.

My New Favourite From Royce: White Chocolate Covered Potato Chips

23 May 2013 Ibyang Sanchez 0 Comments Category: Food, Things I Love

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned before but my greatest food weakness is potato chips. I really can’t live without them for a long time. Whenever a workmate of mine comes to my desk and offers me their chips, I’d go weak and have a chip or two. I stay away from chips during weekdays but on weekends, I let myself have a pack or two (just so I won’t binge later on). My other weakness is white chocolate which I love enough to even write a blog post about it.

Last year, my Mom brought us a box of Royce‘ Milk Chocolate Potato Chip and we loved it! It was sooooo good. It was the perfect snack for me and the Husband because I love potato chips and he loves chocolates.

When we vaycayed in Manila last month, we dropped by the Royce stall (like we did in 2011) and bought items to bring home with us. This time, I bought the White Chocolate Potato Chips.

My New Favourite From Royce: Potato Chip (White) Chocolate

P1260578My New Favourite From Royce: Potato Chip (White) Chocolate

The quality of these chips amazed us. We transported this in Manila and once we arrived in Sydney, we stored it inside the fridge right away but the chips are still crisp.

Potato Chips + White Chocolate = a sweet and salty harmony inside a box. I’m one happy foodie because of these.

Royce also has these chips covered in dark chocolate and my Husband loves them.

Limited Edition Magnum Ice Cream Bars

26 March 2013 Ibyang Sanchez 8 Comments Category: Food

My Husband and I are like little kids whenever we pass by the ice cream section of grocery stores. Our eyes get all big in wonder when we see new flavours on the shelf.

Our recent discovery are the limited edition Magnums.

Magnum BLACK, an espresso-flavoured ice cream bar. Coffee and chocolate harmony. Inside a thick layer of dark chocolate cracking chocolate is an intense ripple of black espresso coffee, swirled in smooth and creamy vanilla. The Husband and I enjoyed this bar while having our afternoon coffee and this partnership took us to coffee heaven. The coffee inside this bar is real so this bar literally has that caffeine kick you expect from coffee.

Magnum MARC DE CHAMPAGNE, also known as the new Magnum PINK. This one’s for the wine lovers out there. This bar is covered in cracking chocolate and a pearlescent pink coating and tastes like sweet wine.

These two flavours are limited edition bars but I hope they make these part of the regular flavours.

The Chilled & No-Cook Oatmeal

21 March 2013 Ibyang Sanchez 0 Comments Category: Charmed Life of a Mrs, Food, Health and Well-being, Recipes, Tips

I’ve always cooked my oatmeal. I’m used to heating it up on the stove and I have to say that doing so sometimes discourages me from having oatmeal even though I like having it for breakfast (We don’t own a microwave at home so that premise is moot).

Thank goodness the universe heard me and one day, I read a tweet from one of my tweethearts Bettina (@blissfulcow) wherein she shared that it’s possible to eat chilled oatmeal. Hooray! Problem solved!

So here’s what I do in creating chilled and no-cook oatmeal in jars:

You need:

2 cups of Oatmeal

180 grams Natural Yogurt

2 cups of Milk

3 tbsp Honey

Fruits (or nuts) to mix in with your oatmeal (to make it a healthier dish)

– this yields 4 jars.

I always opt for the Natural Yogurt as it’s less sour. Alternatives to Honey: Maple Syrup, Sugar, Nutella, Peanut Butter.

Mix the oatmeal, yogurt, honey and milk in a bowl.

Then place the mixture inside jars or plastic containers. Throw in your fruits on top and seal the jar/container. You can also add nuts if you like.

Put the jars inside the fridge and chill them for at least 30 minutes. That’s enough time to soften the oatmeal.

Freeze and Eat
I make a big batch, enough to fill at least four jars, during weekends and store them inside the freezer. I usually bring a jar to work and eat it for breakfast or morning tea. I finish all four jars in the course of the workweek.

I’ve read that frozen oatmeal can stay good until about a month. The longest time I’ve stored oatmeal inside the freezer was two weeks.

The Flexibility of Oatmeal
There are so many things you can add into your oatmeal other than fruits and nuts. You can also make substitutions for the milk (almond milk, soy milk etc) and flavour of your yogurt. You can also omit the yogurt from the recipe if you don’t like yogurt. You can add different toppings, syrups and seeds (i.e. chia seeds).

Why I Love It
It keeps me full for longer. It’s low in calories but high in fiber, removes bad cholesterol, contains antioxidants and enhances the immune system. It’s easy to make and and it tastes good!