Restaurants Archives | Page 17 of 20

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The place was previously housed a different Japanese restaurant named Asakaze so when we noticed that it had been replaced by Makanai, we went in to try it.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

Taiwanese Cafe: ZenQ Desserts

12 January 2012 Ibyang Sanchez 5 Comments Category: Food, Restaurants

Asian desserts are fast becoming popular these days. The Husband and I got interested when we saw an Asian dessert cafe in Chinatown a few months ago because they look similar to the Philippines’ Halo-Halo (heller??? Asian dessert nga diba? So malamang hindi nalalayo ang Halo-Halo).

Anyway, we’ve been hanging out in North Ryde area pre-Christmas 2011 when we chanced upon a Taiwanese cafe called ZenQ Desserts.

ZenQ Desserts is the sister company of Chatime. The difference between the two is that ZenQ offers more variety from desserts to drinks.

ZenQ’s main ingredient is the Q Ball which is a traditional Taiwanese handmade dessert. It is made up of sweet potato and fresh taro mixed with tapioca and water formed into dough. After kneading, the dough will be shaped into a ball, then they boil it before serving.

ZenQ offers several dessert dishes but if you don’t have a certain liking for some ingredients, you have the option of creating your own dessert. You just need to choose your sweet base and then let the staff know what toppings you like and they will put them all together for you.

The Husband opted to try their Grass Jelly with ZenQ Signature Q Ball and Pearl. It was moderately sweet and refreshing.

Since it is the season of Mangoes, I opted to try their Mango Shaved Ice with Mango, Mango Jelly and Ice Cream. I love the “Mango-ness” of this dessert. The Mango was fresh and sweet while the shaved ice really tasted like real Mango.

Other ZenQ desserts that I would like to try next time: their Honey Toasts!!!

ZenQ Desserts

Macquarie Centre

Corner Herring Road and Waterloo Road

North Ryde, NSW

Shop 223, Westfield Chatswood

Phone: 9411 6882

Korean Restaurant: Kaizen BBQ (North Ryde, NSW)

11 January 2012 Ibyang Sanchez 2 Comments Category: Food, Restaurants

It’s been years since I’ve been to the Macquarie Centre and now that it is near to where the Husband works, we now have a reason to meet up there.

The mall has changed and I’m glad they now have more restaurants. And what do you know, they have a Korean restaurant! The minute Hubby arrived, I told him, “I know where we’re going to eat”.

Kaizen BBQ offers All-You-Can-Eat BBQ for lunch (AUD$32) and dinner (AUD$35). They also offer an All-You-Can-Eat Wagyu BBQ (AUD$38).

If you don’t feel like gorging on lots of food, you can opt for their ala carte or their All-Day-Special meals that comes with miso soup, rice and salad.

The wooden interiors suggests a modern but clean atmosphere. The lighting helped in making the ambiance cozy and warm.

As soon as we’re seated, they served us the Banchan dishes and I immediately noticed the cute bowls. Look, a star!

It was a cold night when we visited last year (pre-Christmas 2011) so we got ourselves a hot pot of pork and tofu with vegetables. It would have been a great dish had it not been too salty for me.

We weren’t in the mood for BBQ (sometimes we’re too lazy to really cook haha) so we opted to order their special meals. The Husband got himself the beef while I had the spicy chicken. Both dishes were good and enjoyable. Nothing fancy or spectacular. It’s like good ‘ol home cooked meal which gave us comfort at the end of a busy day at work.

For dessert, they have lots of cakes to choose from. Glad to learn that their cakes come from Hello Happy. We didn’t indulge in desserts though because we were looking forward to having dessert at ZenQ (up next!).

We are looking forward to having All-You-Can-Eat BBQ here soon.

Kaizen BBQ

Level 4, Shop 408

Macquarie Centre

Corner Herring Road and Waterloo Road

North Ryde, NSW

Phone: 9805 0337

Cold Taho at Gumballs

12 December 2011 Ibyang Sanchez 3 Comments Category: Food, Restaurants

I usually buy fishballs from Gumballs and never cared about their drinks. They recently renovated their take-away shop in Westpoint Blacktown and with the new facade emphasizing the drinks they offer, I noticed they serve Taho (Sweet Tofu or Bean Curd with Caramel and Pearls) and Halo-Halo. Apparently, along with the revamped of Gumballs, they introduced new drinks and desserts as well.

I got excited when I saw the photo of their Taho on the menu and ordered a regular cup right away.

It’s Cold Taho and the packaging is likened to the milk teas served by Chatime and Easy Way. I love it! It is almost the same as the Taho I buy in the Philippines, only cold and not as sweet (you can request to add more caramel syrup).

Next time, I’ll try their version of the Halo-halo and Sago Gulaman.

Gumballs

Click for Locations