Food Archives | Page 34 of 68

Emperor’s Cream Puffs (Chinatown, Sydney)

15 March 2012 Ibyang Sanchez 8 Comments Category: Food, Restaurants

A walk towards one end of Dixon Street in Chinatown will usually result to the wonderful aroma of sweet custard drifting in the air. Have a look at the side of the street and you’ll probably see people queue up at a small window. The sign “Emperor’s Cream Puff” looks discreet that the only indication that it exist would be the many people waiting to get a hold of these cute and delicious custard-filled puffs.

For 30cents each or AUD$1.00 for four pieces, it is a good deal.

Production of the cream puffs are non-stop. As long as there are people lining up and ordering, their machine continuously creates one after another. The cream puffs are given to the customers fresh and hot.

The bite-sized, fluffy cream puffs are filled with smooth egg custard. I find this quite addicting because it’s soft and so easy to eat.

If you’re in Chinatown, this is one of the food shops worth lining up for.

Emperor’s Cream Puff
beside Emperor’s Garden Restaurant
96-10 Hay Street
Haymarket, Sydney 2000

Recipe: Beef Bulgogi

13 March 2012 Ibyang Sanchez 4 Comments Category: Food, Recipes

While it is easy to find Bulgogi marinades in supermarkets these days, I learned how to make my own Bulgogi marinade last year. The bottled marinades may be flavourful but in reality, homemade Bulgogi doesn’t need to have a strong BBQ-y taste. Instead, it should have a harmony of balanced flavours that doesn’t overwhelm.

For the recipe below, you will need half a kilo of Beef. Tenderloin, Sirloin or Rib-Eye would be good options.

What You Need for the Marinade Sauce:
4 tbsp of soy sauce
4 tbsp of water
3 tbsp of sugar
2 tbsp of honey
2 tbsp of sesame oil
1 tsp pepper
4 cloves of garlic, minced

What You Need to Finish Off the Dish:
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
2 stalks of green onion/shallots, chopped (alternative: white onions)
Salt and Pepper, to add flavour

Optional:
Mushrooms, sliced
Carrots, sliced

What To Do:

Slice half a kilo of beef into thin strips.
In a bowl, throw in the ingredients of your Marinade Sauce, then mix it with the sliced beef until well coated.
Marinate for at least 2 hours and keep it in the refrigerator. I leave it overnight for maximum flavour.

You can cook your Bulgogi-marinated beef in two ways:
(1) Grill the beef. After grilling, transfer to a plate or cast iron plate. Sprinkle it with shallots and sesame seeds. (see my previous post: Weekend BBQ Party with Friends)

(2) Stir-fry the beef in sesame oil, garlic and onion. Saute for a while then throw in mushrooms, carrots and green onions. Add salt and pepper if needed. Once the beef and vegetables are cooked, transfer to a plate or bowl and sprinkle with sesame seeds (see photo below).

Note: Measurements of ingredients are based on estimates so these only serve as guides. If you want stronger flavours, you may choose to add more. The key is to taste as you go along.

Happy cooking!

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Dessert Train at Adriano Zumbo (The Star, Sydney)

28 February 2012 Ibyang Sanchez 7 Comments Category: Food, Restaurants

After 483 years (exaggeration! hehe), I finally got to share with you my Dessert Train experience at Adriano Zumbo‘s newest venture at The Star.

Say what? Dessert train? Did I read that right? Is that what I think it is?

Yes, yes, yes!

Newly-renovated The Star (formerly known as Star City, Sydney’s premiere Casino) now has new fancy shops and restaurants and Sydney rejoiced that Adriano Zumbo was part of the addition. Opened on the 4th quarter of 2011, the Adriano Zumbo at The Star looked the part of a glittery signage of a theatre, the concept very apt for a casino place.

Dessert Train at Adriano Zumbo (The Star, Sydney)

The store that looked fun and whimsy inside was divided into two: the Patisserie and the Dessert Train. The Patisserie is merely for take-aways. You get to choose desserts and macaron flavours of your choice displayed in playful cabinets.

Inside the “In Case of Emergency Break Glass” cabinet are macarons!!!! Brilliant!

On our second visit, we made sure that the Dessert Train was fully-operational. While the Patisserie is open everyday from 11am onwards, the Dessert Train is only open from Tuesday to Sunday, afternoon onwards (please check their website before visiting).

We lined up for the Dessert Train at about a quarter to six in the evening and we were third on queue already. Good thing we were early as the line was getting longer by the time they opened the Dessert Train area.

And just like kids, the Husband and I oohhed and aahhed as the desserts came out. We felt like kids in a Willy Wonka movie! Haha.

And to add to that childlike ambience, they had little anime figures on the side of the conveyor.

Just like the concept of a Sushi Train, each dessert plate was coloured and equivalent to a cost. They also have ice cream for AUD$3.50/bowl.

The Husband grabbed a plate of this rich chocolate cake covered in smooth chocolate cream.

I was being boring that day so I grabbed a pink plate that had my Zumbo favourite, The XIWT.

Crunchy pastry that housed gooey innards of caramel and chocolate.

Once a few plates of macarons were out, we couldn’t resist getting at least one even if we were already full. We got the orange-milo-salted caramel combo and it turned to be a good finale to our dessert rendezvous.

A little disappointed that they didn’t offer coffee or tea. I thought they did and was actually looking forward to having a cuppa as we savour our dessert. I thought maybe they didn’t want people to stay for long. Seating was limited to about 20 (just my estimate) and customer turnaround was quite fast since one can’t really handle that much dessert (not unless that was your dinner).

The Husband and I had a cake each and a plate of macarons (which we shared), plus a bottles of orange juice and water to cleanse our palate from all the sugar. We thought of getting a bowl of ice cream but passed…maybe next time.

Some days, I say ‘No to desserts’ as I have a bit of aversion to sweets (especially in big amounts). But who would say “No” to experiencing a Dessert Train? Not me. It was sugar overload (at least for me) but I loved the foodie experience.

Adriano Zumbo at The Star
Shop 1, Cafe Court
The Star
80 Pyrmont St., Pyrmont, NSW 2009
Entry Via Edward St

Patisserie Opening Hours:
Monday to Thursday, 11am till 11pm
Friday & Saturday, 11am till Midnight
Sunday, 11am till 10pm

Dessert Train Opening Hours:
Monday, CLOSED
Tuesday to Thursday, 6pm till 10.30pm
Friday & Saturday, 6pm till 11.30pm
Sunday, 12pm till 5pm

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Japanese Restaurant: Makanai (Sydney, NSW)

22 February 2012 Ibyang Sanchez 1 Comments Category: Food, Restaurants

Makanai Japanese Kitchen is one of our places to go to when it’s a little too late to eat at the food courts in Pitt Street.

The place was previously housed a different Japanese restaurant named Asakaze so when we noticed that it had been replaced by Makanai, we went in to try it.

The improved sushi train is longer and has more selections. We sat ourselves on a normal table so I just had to stand up and get our choice of sushi: a plate of prawn and tuna. Their sushi was lovely and flavourful.

The Husband ordered a Bento Box set which includes a bowl of miso soup, small plate of salad, slices of fresh salmon, Chicken Teriyaki, Sushi rice and a siding of fried dim sum and tempura. The Bento Box was good enough to be shared (in our case) since we’ve already eaten a bit of sushi while waiting. I’m not a fan of Teriyaki Chicken but theirs were juicy and flavourful.

We loved that the sushi train has a few dessert options so we tried the Japanese cheesecake. It wasn’t as rich or cheesy like the normal cheesecake. It seemed more like sponge than cheesecake. It tasted good and was moist.

This is a good place for a quick bite or long meals with friends. Food is tasty, freshly-made and reasonably-priced.

Makanai Japanese Kitchen
239 Pitt St
Sydney New South Wales 2000

Korean Cafe in Sydney: My Sweet Memory (MSM)

27 January 2012 Ibyang Sanchez 1 Comments Category: Food, Restaurants

This is my newest favourite cafe in the city. I discovered My Sweet Memory (MSM) last year during one of the weekends we had dinner at Strathfield. I’ve been hanging out in Strathfield because of the Korean shopes, cafes and restaurants there. However, I’ve been discovering a few more Korean restaurants in the city of Sydney lately and this was one of them.

My Sweet Memory (MSM) is a stationery cafe located in Bathurst Street near Townhall Station. It is a quaint and charming cafe that serves good coffee and delectable cakes and pastries.

They have a wide array of stationery items you can buy. They also sell shoes, bags and polaroid cameras.

Cute E-postcards. I hope they have a Sydney or Korea E-Postcard but they don’t. Instead they have Tokyo and Paris.

I’ve been spending all my “Me” times at MSM. The staff are accommodating and they make good coffee.

I tried their New York Cheesecafe and it was indulgent.

Once I ordered their Coffee+Macaron for AUD$5.00. It was a good deal but the Macaron was average. That didn’t stop me from enjoying my coffee though.

Whenever they serve your coffee, they always give a small sweet and crunchy biscuit which I love. The biscuits are also available in packed containers should you want to bring some home. It is also a great gift idea to loved ones.

My Sweet Memory (MSM)
95 Bathurst Street
Sydney, NSW