Buttermelt Cafe - Strathfield, NSW

The Mrs and I really haven't had the chance to spend any quality brunching time together this week. She's been pretty inundated with the planning of a very special event we have coming up. Normally, I'd be a lazy one and just stay home cause my food buddy isn't with me but today, I decide to get off my butt and go out for a nice bite to eat and a haircut and boy, am I glad I decided on that. I will only ever get my haircuts from two locations within Sydney and since today, I'm not inclined to head into the CBD, I decided to head to Strathfield as see what was on offer.

Since I missed my partner so much, I decided that I wouldn't be boring and have what I always had (the deluxe set from Tomoya). No, instead I walked around a bit to assess my options and I stumbled upon Buttermelt cafe, situated in the old "Moochi" location. Upon walking past the cafe and seeing the outfit and staff, I decided to head in and grab some lunch...best decision I've made today. The cafe is small and in typical cafe-fashion, has an industrial outfit which lends to the simplistic atmosphere. the cafe if very open so you get to see all the action whilst still being detached and sheltered from it all in one of the cosy tables inside.

Although I missed my other half very dearly, I can't say I didn't enjoy myself because one of the benefits of not eating with your Partner is that you don't need to be considerate of her and you get to order what you truly desire. In my case, I'd spotted another cafe-goer eating a delicious looking mushroom pasta and that pretty much told me what I needed to order and trust me, I was definitely not disappointed. Aside from looking absolutely on point, the dish tasted delightfully fresh and was delicious to boot. I loved the fact that they included two slices of buttered bread to help you soak up all the sauce and I was really pleasantly surprised when the buttered bread turned out to be mildly sweet which helped enhance the moorish and creamy flavours of the pasta.

I'm a die hard carnivore and even I didn't miss the meat in this dish because the addition of the chunky king oyster mushrooms added a really nice textural bite to the whole package. The pasta was cooked al-dente and the bits of cheese and stringy enoki mushrooms made it a delight to eat. 

The coffee was also unexpectedly and amazingly good. Buttermelt stocks Sensory lab beans and whilst I'm not a big bean snob, I know good suppliers when I see them. After a deliciously satisfying meal, I'd normally just gulp down my coffee like it was water but the aroma and taste of the beverage actually managed to slow me down to little sips as I'd enjoyed it so much I subconsciously just wanted to sit there and enjoy the moment.

After my meal, I went off to grab my haircut and on the way to collect my car, I stopped by again to grab a drink for the road. I settled on the green tea smash which I saw someone else have earlier and again, was thoroughly impressed with how well they did it. A bit on the pricier side in terms or iced drinks but definitely well worth it, an intense matcha flavour permeates the whole drink and is well complemented by the mild sweetness of the vanilla ice cream. If you let the flavours just roll in your mouth, near the end, you'll notice a slight bitterness which helps round off the whole drink.

I actually cannot wait to bring the Mrs back to Buttermelt, not just because it's so accessible to the both of us but also because I can't believe that such a little gem was hiding under our noses the whole time. A sincere thank you to you guys at Buttermelt cafe, you'd given me a lovely lunch experience and set my weekend off to a great start.

Ramen Zundo - Sydney, NSW

I'm sure everyone is well aware of how much I like ramen by now right? I mean, I can have ramen every single day of the week and actually not get sick of it. That's why I normally relish any opportunity I get to eat ramen (especially happy when the Mrs is also feeling like ramen). This particular night, we found ourselves at World Square so since I hadn't yet taken the Mrs to Zundo, I decided tonight was the night.

Now, I had visited Zundo many time before and whilst originally, I didn't like it nearly as much as I liked Menya or Ryo's, the recipe has steadily grown on me and recently, I've also found new reason for me to go to Zundo which is the Tsukemen. Specifically, I'm referring to their gyokai tsukemen which is a combination of their pork bone stock and fish powder. If you know what I'm referring to, you'll know that no other ramen joint gets it as close to the original product as they do here. It's almost reminiscent of the tsukemen you eat at rokurinsha or taishoken.

I told the Mrs to order the tsukemen while I stuck to the safe side and ordered a zundo black as a set (with the salmon sashimi don). As a bit of an indulgence, we also ordered chicken karaage. I was kinda (really) hoping the Mrs wouldn't appreciate the tsukemen like I did...so that she'd swap with me and she could have the zundo black. She turned out to really like it which meant that she polished most of it. The dipping soup for the tsukemen had a really strong kick of umami lent by the abundant amount of fish flavour they add to it. There's also a mild kick at the end which livens up the palate to make you eat more. The noodles are also the thick noodles specifically made for tsukemen which increases the authenticity of the dish. 

My zundo black was in comparison...alright. The soup is has a really deep, boney flavour to it which is great and while it's not nearly as thick as O-san's creamy tonkotsu or the infamous Gumshara, it's still clings to the noodles well and delivers the same amount of satisfaction. The noodles they use at zundo are also a little bit different than the standard alkaline noodles used elsewhere. They're ever so slightly springier and give a really good snap when bitten into. The only part of the ramen I didn't enjoy was the addition of the chopped cabbage.

I won't speak too much about the Salmon don because I'll be honest, if you have the fresh sashimi and put it on top of the right kind of rice, it's really hard not to do it well. Aside from ramen, I was also craving sushi so this was my excuse to eat both things I really wanted. The surprise of the night came from how delicious the chicken karaage was. Neither the Mrs or I really expected the karaage to be as good as it was...the crunchy and starchy exterior ever so lightly coated the succulent and juicy chicken meat so well that each bite was like heaven in your mouth. 

I'm really glad I finally got to take the Mrs to zundo, after our trip to Melbourne where we got to taste the delicious Mugen Ramen, no place had been able to satisfy my tsukemen cravings till I found zundo. If you're ever in the mood for authentic and refreshing Japanese style dipping noodles, you'll know where to go. 

Essen restaurant & beer café - Utlimo, NSW

Firstly, before we get into it, we'd like to apologise to all our readers. We know it's been some time since our last post and we're sorry, we've a little sick and as all of you who are in a dedicated relationship understand, when one member gets sick, the other will inadvertently contract the same illness as well. Neither party will be able to fully recover for an extended amount of time because as one gets better, the other gets worse. So unfortunately, the Mrs and I have been incapacitating each other by passing the sickness back and forth between the two of us leading to us not being energetic enough to blog much.

I've finally managed to muster enough motivation post-illness to come and tell you all about what we've been up to the last week and a bit. We'll start from the previous weekend where the Mrs and I decided to go out with my friends and have a nice night out. We'd originally planned on having Papparich at Broadway but one member of the party was being held up by public transport and the restaurant had a policy where they'd only give us a table if our party was complete. So we headed down the road to Essen where they were kind enough to give us a table despite not having a booking.

We ordered drinks while we were waiting for our friend to arrive and I took this opportunity to order my favourite beer based beverage, mango weizen. I love german beer, even more so when it's got a fruity, tropical tang to it. Yes, I realise I was sick and therefore shouldn't have had beer...but in my defence, it made my night. 

After waiting a little while, our group also decided it was best to order our food in preparation of our final member arriving. So the Mrs and I ordered and shortly after, the food came just as our friend arrived at the door. I was going on and on the whole night about how much I liked sausages and whilst the Mrs would have liked to order the meat platter for two, she let me order the sausage platter while she ordered a veal schnitzel and an order of cod and potato croquettes to share. Unfortunately for me, they'd run out of a specific kind of sausage and so offered to double up on the cheese cransky. I mean, I did enjoy my meal but I think two cheese cranskys made the overall dish a bit too heavy. Maybe two of the weisswurst would have been a better substitute. The rosti was really nice though.

The Mrs' veal schnitzel came out looking a whole lot better than my dish in terms of proportions. She didn't comment all too much on it though (the Mrs is a bit of a schnitzel snob) so I can take it that it wasn't up to be high standards but from the little I got to eat, I could tell it was a decent schnitzel. The veal was tender and juice which complimented the crispy exterior quite well. The dish was also accompanied by a tartly flavoured cabbage salad which helped cut through the richness of it all.

The additional order of cod & potato croquettes were nice but we could have done without it. Mainly because the dishes we ordered were so heavy that we didn't need it but also because it wasn't nearly as delicious as we'd hoped it to be. I really enjoyed the flavour of the smoked cod fish but due to the potatoes being so dense, it didn't make for a very enjoyable eating experience. I personally think it would have been better if the potatoes were creamier or if it was accompanied by slightly more mayonnaise to help lighten it up.

Overall though, the food was really enjoyable and when you pair that with great company, what food you eat really doesn't matter all too much. I think it was a great choice to pick Essen as the restaurant we visited. 

Chicken Maru - Hurstville, NSW

Lately, I've been feeling a bit tubby...which is to be expected since as you may know, I've had a LOT of fried chicken lately. Fried chicken of the korean variety...with abundant cheese powder. But can you really blame me? I mean, it's so succulent and crispy that you just can't resist eating it again and again. The only reason I've managed to keep my waistline relatively in check is that KFC (Korean Fried Chicken) wasn't exactly the most accessible item...until now.

It seems as though in the short time I've been staying away from Hurstville, it's evolved to encompass so many more cuisines than I last remember it having. One of the new additions is Chicken Maru, Hurstville's first Korean Fried Chicken establishment (which we believe is also a chain in Korea as indicated by the packaging they provide for takeaway). When I first learned of this place, I legitimately had a moment of internal conflict. My heart said no but my stomach said "gimme gimme gimme". Alas I was able to stave off my appetite until last night when the family wanted to go give it a try. From that moment on, I realised that I was doomed.

If you know Hurstville, you'll know that parking is an absolute nightmare. Luckily, if you're willing to pay for it (and keep it to an hour) you can park up at the train station for $2...or just go shopping for groceries and validate your ticket. You really wouldn't normally expect a place to be packed on a Sunday night but it was. Tables of friends, students, families all devouring piece after piece of delicious fried chicken. The smell wafting through from the kitchen was maddeningly irresistible, like an olfactory siren song.

You do get your usual banchan (korean side dishes) to which in my opinion was ever so slightly disappointing in flavour but obviously, not a major detriment as you don't really come here for legitimate Korean food. That said, we still found it obligatory to order a seafood pancake and soft tofu hotpot for comparison. In my humble opinion, the seafood pancake was only satisfactory as it was definitely not the worst I've had but far from the best. The outside rim was rather crisp but it got a little doughy in the middle which might float some boats but I personally have a preference for crispy all the way through.

I was definitely more impressed with the soft tofu hot pot though as the soup was tummy warming and had a decent amount of heat to get the tastebuds racing. Packed with soft tofu and delicious vegetables, the soup really made me happy to be dining at Chicken Maru that night as I had just woken up from a nap and needed a bit of a pick me up on a slightly colder night. I also really appreciated the fact that there were clams and bits of cuttlefish to go with the soup.

As the kitchen was supremely busy with the amount of orders it had to cook, the last items to arrive on our table were our orders of fried chicken. No issue though as this was primarily why we decided to visit and we were all rather excited to dig in. For those of you who share my love of Kentucky Fried Chicken Hot & Spicy flavour (and get equally distraught every time they take it away) I say to you, fear no longer! We now have a suitable and permanent replacement in the Chicken Maru original flavour! I really didn't expect it to be spicy but it was...and it was so much more delicious for it. The crunchy, batter covered exterior housed the most moist and succulent flesh and as you continued to devour your piece of fried chicken, the appetising heat builds up to a crescendo of gustatory elation. Worth. Every. Bite.

Our second order of chicken came shortly after and although it did give me an equivalent amount of joy, I also found my mouth a bit burnt out from all fried chicken. Mind you it was delicious to have cheese powder dusted on top of the chicken but alas, it didn't mask the fact that it was still the same kind of chicken we had just previously had. I believe that if we didn't order the original chicken and instead had opted for a saucy kind, I would have enjoyed the snow cheese chicken MUCH much more. For this, I have to regrettably admit that I didn't do the snow cheese chicken justice but I know better for next time. Lesson learnt: half sauce & half Cheese makes for a happy dining experience.

On the one hand, I'm really glad to see the area that I grew up in develop into such a thriving foodie hub but on the other, I'm also filled with sadness as I've only just discovered this place just as I'm imminently about to pack up and move to another area of Sydney. Hopefully, the Mrs and I will be able to enjoy coming here with our friends and family whenever we do come and visit. I know for a fact that if I'm ever craving snow cheese chicken, this is the first place I'll be hitting up.

Badmanner Thymes Espresso - Parramatta, NSW

Another weekend, another opportunity for the Mrs to drag me to brunch...well, not so much drag anymore. I'll admit, I secretly do look forward to the opportunities I get to go and enjoy a quiet and quaint meal with the love of my life. She's been able to convince me that additional to the delicious food, I get the time to just slow down and just enjoy moments of tranquility between us. That, I believe, is the most precious part of brunching.

The Mrs decided to take me to a local favorite of hers (one which I've yet to come to). Located right opposite of another popular brunch destination, Paper Planes Cafe...Badmanner Thymes is the perfect place to come when you're looking for an alternative to their ever popular neighbour. I really don't see why this place isn't as packed (or more so) than Paper Planes as there's a huge and spacious dining area with ample seating and the food comes out so quickly....people are missing out.

We ordered some beverages to start off with: the usual coffee for the Mrs and a green tea latte for myself. The coffee was very good however, the green tea latte was a bit stronger in the matcha flavour than I'm usually accustomed to...still, I enjoyed it thoroughly as it made me really slow down and sip at it which meant that over time, I got to liking the drink a lot more.

Despite the other really delicious sounding items on the menu, I opted for the safe option of eggs benedict as I was feeling particularly breakfast-y that day. This was a great choice as the eggs were on point...perfectly poached eggs sitting on top of some smoked salmon, avocado (additional to the order) with some shallots and wilted spinach to accompany it all. They didn't cover the thing in hollandaise which meant you really got a well balanced breakfast.

As usual, the Mrs picked the better brunch dish as she had ordered the black forest with additional chorizo. If (more like when) I do go back for brunch, I will 100% order this next time...it is actually divine. The combination of ricotta cheese and mushrooms along with the eggs done sunny-side up (my favorite way) just made the whole package undeniably delicious. The addition of chorizo meant that if meat was important to you, you didn't miss out on it. The salty, spicy pork sausage just made you crave the other components more.

The more I visit Parramatta, the more excited I get about the prospect of becoming a permanent member of this community. I can say with confidence that one of the only things that matters to me (the abundance of food) is well and truly catered to here. The level of quality this establishment provides and the service we received made the whole experience unforgettable.

Yang's Food Truck - Pitt St Mall, Sydney CBD

Sometimes, it's rather difficult to be someone's partner. This is especially true when it comes time to decide what to eat. Both sides will try to gauge what the other wants and neither will be able to appropriately reach a compromise because both sides want to make the other happy. This is exactly what happened the other night. The Mrs asked me what I wanted for dinner out of two potential choices she gave me (dumplings or Malaysian) and I chose the one I thought she wanted...turns out she wanted Malaysian after all. This wasn't to say we didn't have an enjoyable first dinner...but it did mean that she was still in the mood for some Malaysian food.

Luckily, as we were shopping at Pitt St Mall, Yang's food truck rolls up and starts preparing for service. I jumped onto the opportunity straight away as I'd always wanted to try Yang's (also...rather convenient that we just so happen to want Malaysian as well). After a very short wait, the blinds go up and service began. The queue progressed really quickly and the food even quicker than that which is actually rather surprising because from experience, food trucks take a while. Even better when there's plenty of seating around!

Despite us having a full meal already, we still decided to order a feast as this was such a rare opportunity that we just couldn't pass it up. The mrs opted for the MFC slider and I ordered the soft shell chilli crab and prosperity slider (we also got drinks...milo dino and teh tarik). The Mrs has a knack for picking really great malaysian dishes and this is no exception. The perfectly fluffy and sweet milk bread sandwiched a delightfully crispy and juicy fried chicken fillet. The spicy slaw which was generously piled on top of the meat gave it a really hot and spicy kick. 

The prosperity slider brought back fond memories of late nights in Hong Kong over Chinese New Year. The double meat patty (cooked to perfection with a pink centre) paired well with the black pepper sauce which kicked up the umami tenfold. I also really appreciated the raw onions which provided the crunch that the slider needed. Finally, the crab was crisp and the sauce was incredibly spicy but appetising, though I did find myself feeling slightly bowled over by the  amount of grease consumed as aggregately over the three dishes.

I can probably say that we won't be doing double dinners again any time soon (our waistlines won't allow it) but for a rare treat, this experience was definitely well worth it. Thank you Yang's for filling our bellies with scrumptious Malaysian delights.

Nishiki Sushi - Campsie, NSW

How is it that $35 buys you so much happiness? That's what I was wondering the whole time I was having dinner at Nishiki. There is nothing that gives me more elation than to know that I have the option to gorge on as many of my favorite morsels as I can and not have to pay exorbitant amounts of money. Does happiness equal sushi? In my case, it certainly does.

Recently, the family has been seeing ads in the Chinese papers informing us that new sushi buffet has opened in Campsie. We were feeling particularly in the mood for sushi so we decided to drive out and try it out for dinner. Being located on the main road means that parking is a bit of an issue so don't hesitate to duck into one of the side streets, it really isn't that much of a walk.

Strategically speaking, you should always try and position yourself as close to the chef as possible. Unfortunately for us, being that those spaces were already occupied, we chose to sit at the seats closest to the door as we were particularly famished. In truth, this really wasn't much of a detriment (in fact, kinda became a benefit) because you have the option of ordering as many items as you'd like from the staff. Being so close to the front counter meant that we were always quick to be attended to.

I'll be very honest, we didn't expect very much from Nishiki...mostly because we've been scorned by so many sushi buffets on offer however, in my case, I was rather pleasantly surprised when I found the quality of the sushi to be better-than-decent. The neta (sliced fish) tasted relatively fresh and the rice really wasn't that bad. I also quite enjoyed the selection they had on offer as it did focus more on the nigiri than the rolls. I do have to say that I was slightly disappointed with the kingfish belly. I found the fish to be a bit on the thicker side and the skin wasn't cut as thinly as I'd have liked it to be which made it slightly harder to chew. 

Aside from various pieces of nigiri and maki available, they also provided small slips of paper which allowed you to order hot food by the piece. Being that my absolute favorite fried oysters were on offer, I'm really surprised I didn't go crazy with my ordering. If you're not a big fan of sushi, I guess you could stick to the fried foods (they also had self-service miso soup on offer) but I'd suggest only ordering a bunch of the stuff you really wanted. The karaage was missing it's starchy crunch but all else was great. The fried oysters came out piping hot and every bite yielded a perfectly crunchy exterior and briny, creamy interior.

As you must have gathered, I had actually walked into Nishiki a skeptic but I definitely came out a convinced and satisfied man. I got my month's worth of sushi in one sitting (mum and the sister needed to join plates to catch up to my pile) and I didn't feel nearly as full or as pressured than when I went for the annual sushi challenge at another unnamed sushi purveyor (one of my proudest moments, 24/25 plates). Nishiki is definitely worth the return, if not for the decently delectable sushi, than for the value for money you get out of the experience.