Food Archives | Page 39 of 68

Restaurant: Yummy Chinese BBQ (Haymarket, Sydney NSW)

19 September 2011 Ibyang Sanchez 0 Comments Category: Food, Restaurants

Last Friday night was the start of the Husband’s Birthday Staycation in Sydney (more on that in tomorrow’s entry). We met up after work, checked-in at the hotel, dropped our bags and headed straight out to Chinatown.

I’ve been eyeing this BBQ restaurant in Haymarket even before they even opened. On nights when I come home late from the office and I just met up with the Husband at Townhall Station, my bus would pass by this restaurant. Timing was always the culprit that’s why we never get to dine here. Since we just wanted to hang out in Chinatown on Friday (our hotel being near the area), we finally had the chance to try out Yummy Chinese BBQ Restaurant.

It was already busy when we arrived and thankfully a table was immediately ready for us.

Restaurant: Yummy Chinese BBQ (Haymarket, Sydney NSW)

Dinner buffet was at AUD$35.00 per person, drinks not included. The buffet consists of BBQ meats and seafood, soup, sidings, cooked mains and dessert. Guests are required to pay for their meals and drinks before they start eating. Be sure to finish everything you got from the buffet or else they will charge you AUD5.00 per plate of leftover.

The concept is similar to Korean BBQ where you get to cook your meat while eating. The difference with Yummy Chinese BBQ is the grill used for cooking the meats. The marinated meats are skewered on metal sticks and placed on the grill that automatically rotates. How wonderful is that? No more flipping meals on the grill!

I made a video to show the rotating meats on metal sticks. I used our Lumix GF1 to also show the quality of Lumix GF1 when it comes to capturing videos. The GF1 nicely focuses on its own as long as you don’t move the camera.

There was no rice which disappointed me. I’m not sure whether you can order separately but since none of the guests have rice on their table, I disregarded my want for rice and focused on the sidings available on the buffet. The sidings weren’t bad although the fried stuff were on the oily side.

There were two choices for soup: Spicy Soup or Seafood Soup. We opted for the Spicy Soup and it was really hot! Lots of red chilies swimming on the hot pot of soup. There were seafood and vegetables skewered on wooden sticks that can be put in with the soup to make your own Hot Pot. I love this idea too!

We enjoyed this gastronomical indulgence and even if there were only two of us, look at how many skewers we managed to finish…

Don’t forget dessert! There were a selection of fruits, little cakes, pudding and ice cream. We shared two scoops of ice cream (vanilla and strawberry), a little caramel cake and little cup of Mango Pudding.

Yummy Chinese BBQ
761 George Street
Haymarket, Sydney NSW
Phone: 02-9280 2800

Restaurant & Bar: The Little Snail (Pyrmont, Sydney NSW)

19 September 2011 Ibyang Sanchez 1 Comments Category: Food, Restaurants

Discovered The Little Snail in July when we celebrated my aunts birthday. Compliments to my cousins who invited us to have a sumptuous lunch on a beautiful warm, Saturday.

The Little Snail offers a delicious, filling but reasonably-priced three-course lunch for only AUD$36.00. Guests are given the opportunity to choose from a wide-range of entrees, mains and desserts.

The restaurant is known for their Escargots which was what I had for my entree. Twelve juicy escargots marinated in herb-infused court bouillion, oven-baked in garlic and butter. I highly recommend that you give this a try when you dine here.

Restaurant & Bar: The Little Snail (Pyrmont, Sydney NSW)

The Husband tried their Salt and Pepper Squid. Crispy on the outside but tender on the inside. The aioli dip perfectly complimented the dish.

For our mains, the Husband chose Veal Tenderloin in piquant cream of smoked bacon, shallot and sun-ripened tomatoes. It came with potato croquet.

On the other hand, I tried their massive Prime Australian Beef Fillet. Tender and perfectly-cooked, it was served with pommes puree and red wine jus. I loved the beautiful potato bar that came with it.

I was able to try one of my relatives’ Citrus Marinated Tasmanian Salmon. I loved the slightly tangy taste and the crispy skin of the Salmon. It was served with crabmeat risotto and sauce vierge.

My relatives and I ordered different desserts on the menu in order to have a taste of everything.

Chef Churned Hazelnut and Praline Ice Cream

Warm Sticky Date Pudding

Handmade Profiteroles

Classic Creme Caramel

All the desserts we ordered were lovely but my favourite of the lot would have to the be the Classic Creme Caramel.
The Little Snail
(located near Harbourside Mall)
50 Murray Street
Pyrmont, NSW
Phone: 02 9212 7512

Restaurant: Bread is Ready, Coffee is Done (Seoul, Korea)

12 September 2011 Ibyang Sanchez 1 Comments Category: Food, I Love Seoul, Restaurants, Travel

On our third day in Seoul, we woke up early and went back to Hongdae to check the place out in the morning. We spent a good hour and a half in Hongdae exploring and doing street photography. From Hongdae, we took the train going to Anguk Station and made our way out to Exit #3.

As we were walking out to Exit #3, I saw this cafe with an amusing name: Bread is Ready, Coffee is Done (BRCD). Since we haven’t had any proper breakfast yet, we decided to stop by and have late morning tea. The aroma of coffee and freshly-baked bread was also inviting.

Even if lengthy, I fancy the name and their logo. As a foodie, the name of a restaurant/cafe has an impact on me, plus, how they brand themselves with their logo and interiors.

Bread is Ready, Coffee is Done has cozy interiors with good, non-intrusive lighting. Most walls are covered in doodles and artworks.

It is a cafe, bakery and restaurant. They not only serve cakes and pastries, they also offer dishes such as burgers and pasta.

It was nearly 12 noon when we got to BRCD but we craved for just good coffee and bread that time since it was our official sit down meal for the day. I think our tummies seemed to be running on Australian time still because it would’ve been nearly 9:00am in Sydney–so that meant morning tea for us.

I had my usual Cafe Americano and now that I’m on my third day, I’m convinced that they make really good Americanoes here. Their coffee was smooth and rich.

I don’t remember the names of the bread we had but mine, I think, was cheese bread. While the Husband had a roll with fillings inside. I can’t remember what that filling was though. Their bread was light and not too sweet.

We left Bread is Ready, Coffee is Done satisfied and newly-charged with energy as we excitedly went off to our next stop: Changdeok Palace (coming next on our Wanderlust Wednesdays this week).We visited BRCD on 20 April 2011.

Bread is Ready, Coffee is Done
Located in Anguk Station
Seoul, Korea

Restaurant: Won Jo Korean BBQ (Strathfield, NSW)

8 September 2011 Ibyang Sanchez 0 Comments Category: Food, Restaurants

Our newest hang out to get our Korean cuisine fix in Strathfield is at Won Jo Korean Restaurant. Located just a few minutes away from the Strathfield Train Station, it’s convenient to stop by the area for some good ‘ol authentic Korean BBQ and more.

Restaurant: Won Jo Korean BBQ (Strathfield, NSW)

Once inside the restaurant, we felt that it’s parallel to those Korean BBQ restaurants we found in Seoul. A friendly greeting of “Annyeong Haseyo!” by the owners and staff will easily transport you to a different place.

We first dined here with another couple who loves Korean cuisine like we do. The second time around, I organized our group of friends to have dinner here so my Husband and I can share our love for Korean food with them. And Won Jo did not disappoint!

As soon as we sat ourselves on our table, they served us a set of Banchan (refers to their small dishes/side dishes). We love that the Banchan here at Won Jo are refillable. Just ask the servers for more and they will oblige. The nicest thing they did to us was the second time they served us Banchan, they gave us two sets!

My favourite of all the Banchan: Cabbage Kimchi.

There were four of us that initially arrived at the resto so while waiting, we ordered one of their appetizers, the Kimchi Pancake. We loved it. Freshly-cooked and warm. It wasn’t too spicy, just right.

There were seven of us that night so we ordered two big plates of the Combination BBQ. A plate consists of different meats: chicken, pork and beef.

Along with the BBQ, they will serve the usual vegetables to go with it.

They staff of Won Jo will help set up the BBQ and even start laying out the meat for you.

The fun part of the BBQ is that you get to enjoy cooking, eating, talking and drinking Soju with friends.

Korean BBQ will not be complete without the Jjigae (Korean Hot Pot). We ordered the Beef and Mushroom Jjigae. The soup was clear and sweet. It came with a lot of vegetables, tofu, rice cakes and soft vermicelli noodles.

Our dinner was well-spent with everyone going home with happy smiles from all the great food and company.

Won Jo Korean Restaurant

#33 The Boulevard

Strathfield NSW

Phone: 02-9746 7041

Open for lunch and dinner, 7 days a week

Starbucks Imported from Korea

5 September 2011 Ibyang Sanchez 4 Comments Category: Food

We were at Strathfield again on Friday and had dinner with our friends. We arrived early and we’re able to check out a Korean grocery store called Hanaro Mart. My eyes lit up when I went inside the store and found an abundance of ingredients for Korean dishes. We have Asian shops and Korean stores where we live but this one in Strathfield has more Korean products.

We even found Starbucks imported from Korea. We bought a set of the Starbucks DoubleShot (in can) and the Starbucks Frappuccino Mocha (in bottle) to try it.

The Husband and I tried both variants yesterday. Although both were supposed to be drank cold, I heated up my DoubleShot for breakfast. The drink was frothy and creamy. You can smell the wonderful aroma even if it came from the can.

I had a sip of the Mocha Frappuccino when the Husband had it for afternoon tea yesterday. He drank it straight from the bottle, cold and refreshing.

I think we will have regular visits to Strathfield now that we have learned about Hanaro. Not only can we get lots of Korean ingredients from them, we can also get our supply of bottled and canned Starbucks.

Hanaro Mart
Shop 16, Strathfield Plaza
11 The Boulevard
Strathfield NSW 2135