Ibyang
Ibyang

Food

Last Week’s Dining Adventures

As much as we like dining at home, there are weeks that we’d eat out more often than planned. Last week was one  of those weeks. Due to errands we had to do, the choice to eat out was the most practical thing to do. 

Attended mass last week in celebration of Ash Wednesday so the Husband and I met up in the city. Hunger pangs struck us so we head to the nearest Pepper Lunch for some Hamburger Steak (for the Husband) and Salmon Teriyaki (for me).
I had shopping errands on Thursday so I went to the shops after work. After I was through, the Husband suggested we meet up near his workplace and have dinner before go home. We took that chance to have some Korean cuisine that night. Husband had a colourful Chicken Bibimbap while I had a Tofu and Pork Stew at Kaizen BBQ. 

 I love the little bowls they use for their Banchan. 

The following day was one big errand day for us. We both took a day off and woke up very early (para din kaming pumasok sa office) and had our car check-up and service. Sans breakfast, we appreciated that our car’s service centre had a comfortable lounge (complete with TV and wi-fi) and served pastries and good coffee. 

That day consisted of one errand after another. Our last stop on Friday was at IKEA. We had a heavy afternoon snack before we left home then went out. After walking around the second floor of IKEA in Homebush, we stopped by their food court to rest and have a light snack of Vegetarian Spring Roll, Mashed Potato and Chocolate Cupcake. We just shared these between the two of us as we’re still a bit full from our meal at home.

In our books, this was indulgence. So this week, we’re going to take it easy with after work errands and give ourselves a break from dining out.
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Dinner at Mizuya (again!)

18 February 2013 0 Comments Category: Food, Restaurants

A week after having dinner with friends on my birthday week, the Husband and I went back to Mizuya the following week because I craved for their Spicy Karaage. It was that good!
I was early so I had time to take photos of the restaurant. They have a bar-type dining for patrons.
And a cubicle-type of dining area which gives patrons privacy while they eat.

Our dinner.

Takoyaki Balls (deep-friend octopus and potato dumplings).

The Spicy Karaage that satisfied. I could have this everyday.

The highlight of our dinner was getting a small plate of Crispy Chicken Skin. Soooo good! Thin crispy chicken skin served to us fresh from the deep fryer. This is a great partner to beer or rice (coz I’m Pinoy like that! Pwedeng ulam! Haha). This is definitely not healthy but a once-in-a-while indulgence won’t be too bad. And be sure to share! 
That was one fun and delicious dinner. Since it’s still Summer here in Sydney, we went out and it was still light. I shared this photo in my IG account but I’m sharing it again here because the sky was just too blue and beautiful that day. 

Basement, 614 George Street
Sydney NSW 
Phone: 02 9266 0866
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Food Find: Meltykiss by Meiji

15 February 2013 4 Comments Category: Food

Discovered a good alternative to Royce Nama Chocolate in the guise of Meiji Meltykiss. It comes in small bite sizes packaged individually and stored in a box. I found four flavours at the Thai Kee IGA X-press supermarket but I only bought two, milk chocolate and white chocolate. It has a creamy centre and cocoa dusting on the outside. I love the milk chocolate better as it tastes very chocolatey. 
Meltykiss
Meltykiss
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Foodie Love In A Bottle of Gourmet Tuyo

13 February 2013 1 Comments Category: Food

Lent Season starts today, Ash Wednesday and as Catholics, we try to observe not eating meat on Ash Wednesday and every Friday for the next six weeks. While there are a lot of probable non-meat meals I can serve at home, the challenge is preparing them as I’m usually not up to cooking on Friday nights. While it is always easy to just eat out, I prefer that we minimize this during Lent Season as part of our sacrifice. 

My usual choices for meatless meals are a combination of seafood and vegetables. I also take this chance to sometimes cook Tuyo (dried salty fish), a kind of fish I grew up eating in the Philippines. The problem with cooking Tuyo is that it leaves a strong smell at home. We don’t really mind the smell as we’re used to it. However, we’re careful to cause inconvenience in the building we live in. One can smell it in the corridors and the smell stays at home for a while even if you light scented candles and incense or spray air freshener. It is a hassle but it’s all worth it especially you eat it with steamed rice and tomatoes or pair it up with Champorado (Chocolate Rice Porridge). Ohhh yum! It’s one of my comfort food.

It seemed like an answered prayer when I chanced upon a bottle of Gourmet Tuyo at G&L Supermarket. I’ve read about bottled gourmet tuyos in the Philippines and I was hoping one day it would reach the shores of Sydney. And it finally did!  
GGourmet Tuyo From A Bottle

Connie’s Kitchen Gourmet Tuyo is heaven sent! Salty dried herring in olive oil all ready for eating. It has the right amount of saltiness and has no preservatives. It had a few pieces of red chili which added more flavour to the fish but it’s surprisingly not spicy.

Gourmet Tuyo From A Bottle

I prepared three side dishes to go with our Gourmet Tuyo when we had them for dinner few nights ago: Kimchi, Green Mango Salad and Spinach Salad and it was the perfect partner to all three.

Gourmet Tuyo From A Bottle
My “first Tuyo love” will always be the fried Tuyo but this will do on days when I’m craving for Tuyo and wouldn’t want to face the hassles of cooking it.

I hope G&L Supermarket will constantly have bottled Gourmet Tuyo available. This is a great alternative to cooking Tuyo at home as you just need to open that bottle and voila! You’ve got delicious Tuyo to enjoy with steamed rice or Champorado. 
Note: I discovered Connie’s Gourmet Tuyo at G&L Supermarket located at 17-21 First Avenue, Blacktown NSW.
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“Sweeten Thy Soul” (Dinner & Desserts with Girlfriends)

Ended the month of January on a happy note as the Husband and I met up with good friends Meds and Charyn for dinner. 

The plan was to try out this family restaurant in Westmead but it turned out that they were closed for the evening due to an event (oh well, maybe next time). So we trooped down to Parramatta to have dinner there instead. Thanks to Charyn’s suggestion, we got to try mouthwatering pizzas, a comforting risotto and a decadent sticky date pudding at Restaurant 317.

I started off with a refreshing glass of Mojitos with lots of fresh lime wedges. It was so hot that day and this made it all better. 

Got ourselves a Cheese and Olive Starter Pizza made of Provolone Cheese and Olive Tapenade.

For our mains, we had the Margherita Pizza and Italian Sausage Pizza.
All of us enjoyed the Chicken Risotto in creamy sauce, mushroom and shallots. I loved this.
The pizzas and risotto were very filling but we can resist but order their Sticky Date Pudding. It’s too sweet for my liking but since there were four of us that shared this, it wasn’t overwhelming. It had a lovely butterscotch sauce and delicious vanilla gelato which made the sticky date pudding more enjoyable.

 A few steps away from Restaurant 317 is Chocolateria San Churro, one of my favourite dessert places in Australia. We came here to have a hot Spanish chocolates and some churros. Our Spanish chocolates that night: the original and thick Classic Spanish chocolate, the Madrid Mocha which had a shot of espresso (I recommend this to coffee lovers) and the nutty Avellana which has a hazelnut flavour.

“Sweeten thy Soul” is what you see in every cup at Chocolateria San Churro. Very fitting phrase to describe why it’s important to me to be with loved ones. As good food nourishes the body, it is the people we love who feed our soul. 🙂


Restaurant 317
317 Church Street, Parramatta
Phone: 1300 317 317

Chocolateria San Churro
287 Church Street, Parramatta
Phone: 02 9633 1566

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