Restaurants Archives | Page 14 of 20

Madang Korean Cuisine & Charcoal BBQ (Sydney, Australia)

21 September 2012 Ibyang Sanchez 1 Comments Category: Food, Restaurants

Considered as one of the best Korean BBQ places in Sydney CBD, it took us the perfect time in order to eat at Madang. As soon as evening strikes, people troop down to this restaurant for some Korean BBQ. So we came up with a plan to have dinner before 6pm. The plan was successful as we were the third customer that arrived a little after 5pm.

Madang Korean Cuisine & Charcoal BBQ (Sydney, Australia)

Unfortunately we weren’t in the mood for BBQ (even if their meats were highly recommended) so we decided to order a few dishes to share between the two of us.

The Kimchi Pancake seemed dry and a bit burnt in some parts. The only saving grace was it wasn’t oily and it was on the thin side so it was at least easy to eat.

The Beef Bibimbap doesn’t look as attractive as I want it to be but it was fresh and filling. The vegetables were abundant and the rice just enough for a person to finish in one seating (other Bibimbaps I’ve had overflows with rice).

The dish that brought the house down that night was the Tofu in Soybean Stew. The soup had a tinge of sweet and nutty taste due to richness of the soybean paste. It was the perfect comfort food on warm night especially when partnered with steamed rice.

The next time we come back to Madang, we’ll definitely have a BBQ so we can try their meats.

Sydney Madang Restaurant

371A Pitt St, Sydney

(entrance located down a small alleyway just north of Liverpool Street)

Phone : (02) 9264 7010

Jonga Jip Korean BBQ Restaurant (Eastwood, NSW, Australia)

20 September 2012 Ibyang Sanchez 2 Comments Category: Food, Restaurants

We discovered Jonga Jip Korean BBQ Restaurant during our Summer Fri-date in February. The restaurant is located at Eastwood, a suburb that has a Little Korean Town.

P11505Jonga Jip Korean BBQ Restaurant (Eastwood, NSW, Australia)15

Jonga Jip Korean BBQ Restaurant (Eastwood, NSW, Australia)

We had early dinner to avoid the crowd. This was where we experienced the most number of Banchan Dishes, it filled up the whole table. We had two plates of meat (pork belly and beef) for BBQ and a small pot of Kimchi Stew.

Their meats are delicious and juicy even if what we ordered were the “un-marinated” ones. The beef and pork were thinly sliced and cooked in just a few minutes.

The Kimchi Stew was tasty and had the kind of heat to warm up the tongue. It surprisingly had the balanced ratio of pork and vegetables.

This restaurant may be a bit far from where we live but eating at Jonga Jip made it worth it. I consider Jonga Jip one of the best Korean restaurants in Sydney Metro.

Jonga Jip
87 Rowe Street
Eastwood 2122
Ph: +61 2 9858 5160

Wanderlust Wednesdays: Bathurst (NSW, Australia)

29 August 2012 Ibyang Sanchez 2 Comments Category: Food, Photography, Restaurants, Travel, Wanderlust Wednesdays

Went on a day trip to Bathurst while my Mom was here. We gathered up our other friends and rented a bus for the day so everyone won’t have to stress about driving to and from. Bathurst is lovely and quiet town with pretty houses, vast wineries and friendly people.

Something about Bathurst:

Bathurst is a regional city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. It is approximately 200 km west of Sydney and is the seat of the Bathurst Regional Council.

Bathurst is the oldest inland settlement in Australia^[2] and has an estimated population of 34,303 people.^[1]Bathurst City is the 29th largest population area of the 135 regional NSW population areas in 2009. Residents of Bathurst are known as “Bathurstians”.

Bathurst is often referred to as Gold Country as it was the site of the first gold discovery and where the first gold rush occurred in Australia.^[3] Today it is education, tourism and manufacturing that drive the economy. Internationally known racetrack Mount Panorama is also a landmark of the city. Bathurst has a historic city centre with many buildings remaining from the gold rush period of the mid to late 1800s. {source}

Wanderlust Wednesdays: Bathurst (NSW, Australia)

What we did in Bathurst:
Sightsee. We walked around the town when we arrived in Bathurst. Took a lot of photos of structures made of beautiful architecture.

_MG_087Wanderlust Wednesdays: Bathurst (NSW, Australia)2

We saw the Mount Panorama Circuit, a motor racing track where the Bathurst 12 Hour race is held every February. There were a fair bit of bikers that waved hello to us when they saw me taking their photos.

We had lunch at a park on top of Mount Panorama. Together with family and friends we had a feast of home cooked meals.

P1170Wanderlust Wednesdays: Bathurst (NSW, Australia)567

Taste their wine. Our bus driver was able to find a winery company which accommodated us on a Saturday. The owners of Mt Panorama Winery (117 Mountain Straight Mt Panorama, Bathurst) welcomed us with happy smiles and lots of wine bottles to taste.

Even their dog was friendly enough to join us during the wine tasting. She even stayed still so I can take a photo of her.

The Husband had to pat her goodbye before we left.

Have coffee, pie and ice cream. When in Bathurst, visit Annie’s Ice Cream Parlour right on the corner of George and Church Streets. The restaurant’s theme brought us back to the 60’s as Elvis and other popular icons’ photos from the 60’s era are found on the walls of the shop. They make good coffee and serve homemade ice cream (must try!). And this was where I got to taste the best apple pie ever!

Their apple pie’s filled with chunky and sweet apple slices, it was sooooo good. Served hot and perfect with a sprinkle of icing sugar and cream on the side.

On our way to Bathurst:
I always enjoy the scenic routes of any travel in Australia during road trips. With the bluest skies and vast landscapes, I’m always in awe of the beautiful sceneries outside of my window.

We had a quick stopover at Echo Point, Katoomba in Blue Mountains. This was where we had morning tea so we took this opportunity to marvel at the fog surrounding the Three Sisters Mountain.

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Food Tripping in Chatswood

23 August 2012 Ibyang Sanchez 2 Comments Category: Aussie Life, Charmed Life of a Mrs, Cherished Memories, Food, Restaurants

I’m slowly going back to old photos on my hard drive. I have so much to share and one day I hope I get to put everything on the blog even if it some events happened ages ago (hello, Philippines, Melbourne and Gold Coast vaycays 2011!! LOL). I vow to do that because I’m blogging firstly for me and my family–I want to immortalize everything that makes my everyday memorable thru photography and writing.

For now, I’m focused on publishing the times we spent with my Mom when she vacationed here last Autumn Her travel was a food and shopping experience because that’s all we ever did whenever we go out. The sequence of events are usually like this: we arrive at the place, have a look around, find a place to eat, sit down and have a meal, walk off what we ate by shopping, sit down to rest and eat, walk and shop again, sit down to rest and eat again, do a bit of walking before finally going home. It’s just a cycle. My Mom and I (and also my Dad) are best buddies when it comes to eating and shopping so it’s always enjoyable to hang out with her.

We spent a whole day in Chatswood because it’s one of the places in Sydney Metro that we both enjoy eating and shopping. It’s been years since she’d been here and it amazed her that the place changed with more food and shopping establishments.

We slept in and arrived for late lunch at Towon Chinese Restaurant (Shop 214, Level 2 of Westfield Shopping Centre, Chatswood). I had the Sweet and Sour Pork Bento while Mom had her favourite Chicken Omelette. Huge servings for deliciously prepared meals with reasonable prices.

We started shopping inside Westfield right after lunch and only stopped for coffee at Oliver Brown Chocolate Cafe (Shop 212, Level 2 of Westfield Shopping Centre, Chatswood). We still felt full from lunch so we only had chocolates.

After coffee, we set out to Chatswood Chase and shops along Victoria Avenue for more shopping. By early evening, we got tired from all the walking so sat down at ZenQ Desserts (Shop 223, Westfield Shopping Centre, Chatswood) for a dessert dinner. Since we were full from lunch and afternoon tea, we decided to bail on real dinner and have dessert instead. We shared a bowl of Mango Shaved Ice with Mango, Mango Jelly and Ice Cream and this huge Honey Toast.

Honey Toast is made of strips of bread coated in butter and icing sugar, placed creatively inside half a loaf of bread. The bread is perfectly toasted that each bite is crunchy. Our Honey Toast came with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream, strawberries and cream. It was sweet, delicious and filling.

We visited Chatswood on a Thursday so we can also explore the Mall Market in Victoria Avenue and Anderson Street. The market consists of food; home & gardening; art & design and clothing & accessories stalls. During the evening, entertainment is also provided by the council.

After our dessert dinner at ZenQ, we had a little food trip at the Mall Market. I finally got to try Mamak, one of Sydney’s best eats. The Husband got me their Roti Canai, crispy on the outside but fluffy on the inside. It was sooooo good and comforting, I want to bring it with me to bed (haha). I enjoyed dipping it in curry and spicy sambal sauce.

And because I ate most of the Roti Canai, the Husband and Mom got themselves some Takoyaki from Colotako. If you want an array of sumptuous Takoyaki, get it from Colotako as they are the masters in making Takoyaki.

When we’re all stuffed from all the food we ate at the market we had one final stop–Daiso (inside Mandarin Centre, 65 Albert Avenue Chatswood), where we shopped some more.

Flavours of the Philippines at Grace Hotel

20 August 2012 Ibyang Sanchez 5 Comments Category: Ang Kalatas, Food, Restaurants

Once again, we had a wonderful gastronomical experience at the Grace Hotel as they brought the Philippines’ most famous dishes to Sydney. For three weeks, Via Mare Chefs Rodito Dimatera, Benjamin Zabala and Leandro Templonuevo cooked up a feast for Sydneysiders to enjoy. True to its theme “Flavours of Philippines”, they made sure that each dish represented a part of the Filipino culture.

My Husband and I were privileged to experience the exquisite works of art of our Filipino Chefs when we dined in on a Friday night. San Miguel Beer and Coconut Juice were especially served to partner with our beloved dishes from the Philippines.

From the appetizers to desserts, everything was done by the chefs. We started with the Sinigang na Hiponthat warmed and fascinated us with it’s perfect tamarind sour taste and un-shelled shrimps ready for eating.

The salad section was abundant and one that truly wets the appetite: crispy Bagnet Salad with shrimp sauce, Green Mango Salad with Crab Meat, Salted Egg Salad, Lumpiang Sariwa and Chicken Galantina.

The hot dishes that did not disappoint as one had so many to choose from. The famous Pancit was a good partner to the freshly-baked Pandesal and Lumpiang Prito. The Chicken Adobo was more flavourful than ever because it was topped with Mozarella Cheese (Who would have thought? I will definitely do this when I cook my Adobo at home). The most tender and saucy Kalderata and perfectly grilled Pork Ribs were indulgent when paired with pillowy steamed rice. And the star of the buffet, Crispy Pork Belly, was everything crispy and crunchy. Sinful and yet worth the calories and cholesterol.

Laden with mouthwatering treats at the dessert section, we found Leche Flan, Maja Blanca, Cassava Balls and Palitaw. They also lined up the ingredients for making your own Halo-Halo which was a brilliant idea.

We arrived early at Grace Hotel and had a bit of a chat with all the chefs. It was wonderful to meet them and learn about their cooking experience in Sydney. They talked about the dishes they cooked and how they prepared some of them. Most of their time was spent inside the kitchen as they were the only ones who cooked all the dishes but they gladly go out of the kitchen once in a while to say hello to customers. I was mighty proud to hear how hardworking and how pleasant they are in spite being busy.

Grace Hotel set up the perfect ambience for this event as their staff were accommodating, parallel to the Filipinos’ hospitality. While we enjoyed the food, we can hear OPM songs being played. For a few hours of enjoying good quality Filipino, it felt like we were home.

The Flavours of the Philippines at Grace Hotel is ongoing until 26 August. Please check http://www.gracehotel.com.au/ for details and reservations.

This foodie experience is sponsored by Grace Hotel for my “Ang Kalatas” article.

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