Ibyang
Ibyang

Food

Dinner at Won Jo (Strathfield, NSW)

I’ve caught the busy bug at work. My load at the office has developed into a slow avalanche that it’s been quite a challenge to balance my time between home duties, work, blogging and time for myself. I don’t mind busy times though. I’ve always welcomed challenges that keep me in my toes and problem solving situations that keep my mind active.

Sometimes I don’t mind long days at work too as long as it ends up with dinner out with the Husband. Last Thursday, the Husband took me to dinner at Won Jo, our favourite Korean restaurant in Koreatown (Strathfield). We just had dinner in Koreatown the previous week but our attempt at dining at Won Jo failed then, we craved to go back.

A colouful Banchan. Won Jo serves several Banchan dishes and it’s refillable too.

We ordered our comfort Korean food that night.

We started off with Seafood Pancake. Won Jo’s seafood pancake has lots of seafood and little batter (just enough to hold the seafood in). Korean pancakes are usually eaten as appetizers but this particular Seafood Pancake has generous seafood in it that you can actually eat it with rice. It’s huge as well. We only ate one-fourth of this pancake and took the rest home.

The Husband got himself a huge bowl of Pork Bibimbap. The pork was a bit spicy and flavourful. Perfect for the huge portions of vegetables and rice.

Since it was a cold night, I had a bowl of still boiling Spicy Beef Stew. So comforting to eat with rice with it’s hot soup. 

With tummies full, we decided to walk around Koreatown. We found a liquor shop with Soju and Korean wines; a grocery store that sells Korean ice cream and a chemist that sells Korean cosmetics.

These were our loots that night: Makgolli (Korean rice wine), Binggrae Melona Ice Waffle and Binggrae Summer Crush. 

I was also fortunate to find a pencil lip colour on sale. It was a MISSHA Soft Crayon Lip Rouge and it even came with a sharpener. Can’t wait to try it.

If we’re going to end long days at work with dinner and a bit of shopping, I wouldn’t mind. But of course, we can’t do this everyday. But I’m glad for nights like this to occur in order to give us a break from our busy work.

Won Jo Korean BBQ Restaurant
33a The Boulevarde, Strathfield NSW
Phone: 9746 7041

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Koreatown Fridate: Dinner at Wooden Bowl

So how was your weekend?

Mine was lovely. The Husband seemed to have caught the same vibrant vibe I had when August started that our mojo for de-cluttering and cleaning house are back. On Saturday morning, I was able to de-clutter our shoe storage. On Sunday, we cleaned house and de-cluttered our paper files. It was a weekend of rest, play and chores. On top of it all, we got to have our Fridate at Koreatown. 

Oh I’ve missed Koreatown (Strathfield, NSW). It’s been weeks since I’ve visited and seeing it on Friday made me very happy. It’s our first date after my semi-hibernation and where do we go? Koreatown, of course. 

As per usual, I had my “Me” time at “My Sweet Memory Cafe” before dinner. I brought “Sakura” (the name of my macbook air) with me so I can write while enjoying a cup of Iced Coffee and Vanilla Cupcake. 

Their Iced Coffee is something I always enjoy because they add a lot of ice cream in it. This coffee ain’t strong so it was a perfect afternoon treat for someone who would like to sleep at a decent time in the evening. Unfortunately, the vanilla cupcake wasn’t as yummy as it looked. It was actually dry. They’ve had better cupcakes so maybe I just got a bad one that day.

When Hubby arrived, we dropped by the Korean Dollar Store and Hanaro Mart where we looked at kitchen stuff and bought a few grocery items.

We were supposed to have dinner at our favourite Korean restaurant but there was already a queue for a table. We decided to try Wooden Bowl. The photos outside their resto boasted of delicious Korean Fried Chicken (KFC) so why not? We haven’t eaten KFC in a long time.

Wooden Bowl was busy as well but thankfully, a couple vacated a table as we entered. A quick look at the menu and we realized that Wooden Bowl also offered popular Chinese dishes.

We got ourselves a half order of the Korean Fried Chicken in Soy and big bowl of Black Bean Noodle. 

The Korean Fried Chicken had a juicy taste of soy and mild chili (You can request for a spicier flavour). The skin had a thick but flavourful breading and it wasn’t as crispy. We’re used to thin and crispy skinned KFCs but even if we’re expectating for something similar, the delicious flavour of their KFC made up for it. 

The Black Bean Noodle had a huge serving. So huge that you can easily share it with two or three persons. We didn’t order rice as this was enough for me and the Husband. I enjoyed their version of the Black Bean Noodle. It was perfectly seasoned and the balance of sweet and salty was just right.

Savoured our favourite Korean dishes while we enjoyed talking about our favourite things. It was the perfect Fridate to end our busy work week. 

Wooden Bowl
29 The Boulevarde, Strathfield
Phone: 02 9746 9077

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Food Favourite: Tikoy (Rice Cake)

2 August 2013 9 Comments Category: Food

I grew up having Tikoy as staple at home. It’s one of my family’s favourite snacks. We sometimes even have it for breakfast. This is one of reasons why I love celebrating Chinese New Year (even if I’m not Chinese) because they’re abundant in supermarkets. However, at our home in Manila, my Mom buys them all year round because we love them.

Here in Sydney, I only get to eat them during the CNY season because they’re easily available in almost all Asian supermarkets. Maybe in some supermarkets they are available all year round and I just don’t notice. 

What I did this year was hoard Tikoy so I we can at least have them for a while. I bought them at G&L Supermarket (Blacktown) and IGA in Chinatown.  The last bit of Tikoy we had was sometime in May. 

How we enjoy them. I usually slice them up, dip in beaten egg and then fry. I have once tried wrapping them in lumpia wrapper (spring roll wrapper) and it was good too. It’s like Turon only that it’s Tikoy inside of it instead of banana. 
Tikoy Finds
Tikoy Finds

A wonderful discovery. This year brought me to finding a Red Bean flavoured Tikoy. It was sweeter than the normal Tikoy and we loved it. 

Tikoy Finds
Tikoy Finds
Next year, the plan is to hoard as much Tikoy as we can and try other flavours too.
Do you also enjoy eating Tikoy? How do you cook them? 


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Christmas In July Celebration

This may sound corny or ridiculous to some but since Winter falls from June to August in the southern hemisphere, there is such a thing called “Christmas in July. In countries such as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, some people get together for a “Christmas in July” celebration to have that Christmas feel during winter. 

I learned about “Christmas in July” when I moved in Sydney . The concept was introduced to me by girlfriends who thought that we should come together for a Christmas-inspired meal. No giving of gifts, no fancy trimmings, just pure love for food and togetherness. We have made it a tradition and look forward to it every Winter. While my friends and I always catch up often during lunch/dinner/coffee/parties/special occasions, our Christmas in July celebrations are a bit special because we make sure there’s Baked Ham on the table.

The truth was we almost skipped our “Christmas in July” celebration this year. I was semi-hibernating and busy at work. Our weekends are compromised as the Husband and I are working on web design projects. Our other friends also had things going for them. The only solution was to take a day-off during the week and fortunately, a few of us were able to get a day-off on a Thursday.

We were blessed with lovely sunny weather and a table laden with delicious food. We had Baked Ham, Beef Bulgogi, Fried Chicken and Salads. Dessert was this beautiful Mocha Roll (that tasted exactly like Goldilocks) created by our friend and ice cream on chocolate cups. 

Instead of dinner, we opted to get together for lunch so we can spend the day out in sun and play with the kids. 

I love that there is such as thing as “Christmas in July” and I’m glad that it’s a valid occasion here in Australia. It’s the kind of Christmas that I like where all you have to do is share a plate of food and just be there for the people you love. It’s also a wonderful excuse to get together in the middle of Winter and feel the warmth that genuine friendship brings. 

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Food Find: House of Polvoron (HOP)

29 July 2013 2 Comments Category: Food

We saw a stall of House of Polvoron (HOP) in Megamall (Manila, April 2013) but didn’t get the chance to try it while we were there. Thankfully, I found four flavours of HOP at G&L Supermarket and Tong Li Supermarket two weeks ago. 
Food Find: House of Polvoron (HOP)Food Find: House of Polvoron (HOP)
Food Find: House of Polvoron (HOP)
Polvoron is type of shortbread made of flour, sugar and milk. It’s one of the most popular candies in the Philippines. It sometimes come in different flavours like ube and pinipig; and sometimes added with nuts.

Our favourite Polvoron is the one made by Goldilocks. I remember as a child, my Mom would always bring a bag of Goldilocks Polvoron and I’d giggle with happiness. Lucky that Goldilocks Polvoron are available at Asian supermarkets here so we never really miss them. Last year, we discovered chocolate-coated Chocovron. While I found it okay, the Husband didn’t like it so I never bought them again. 

Having HOP here in Sydney is a good sign. It kind of changes the Polvoron scene in a great way. More brands, more choices. While I love Goldilocks Polvoron, I don’t mind supporting other Filipino brands as long as they taste great.
HOP takes pride in their special polvoron because they are made of natural ingredients quality, does not contain artificial flavours and colours. Their polvoron has a delicate sweetness and crunchy texture. We’ve tried four flavours: Classic, Cashew, Pili and Cookies and Cream.

My favourite from all four is the Cookies and Cream flavour. It was sweeter than the other flavours but it’s the kind of sweetness I can’t get enough of. Its taste reminds me the Cookies and Cream cake I love from Michel’s.
Food Find: House of Polvoron (HOP)
Food Find: House of Polvoron (HOP)
Food Find: House of Polvoron (HOP)

I found HOP at G&L Supermarket and Tong Li Supermarket. Try them if you chance upon them. 


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