Chopsticks x B.R.A.D collaboration: Hello Kitty Diner - Chatswood, NSW

To the Mrs: by the time you read this, I should be officially standing next to you as your husband by that point in time. Theoretically then, it should be safe for me to post this to you without spoiling anything. Firstly, I'll have to apologise to you as I've gone and tried something without you again...but not without good reason this time. The B.R.A.D crew and I had dance practice and so, they invited me to dine with them at Hello Kitty Diner prior to going to practice...you can't be mad at me for that (smiley face).

I met up with the boys of B.R.A.D right after I finished work where I took the train from North Sydney to Chatswood and immediately bolted up to the diner to meet with them. They'd already ordered some "snacks" to start but once I arrived, we quickly proceeded to order the dishes we all wanted to eat. I found my experience at Hello Kitty diner to be...very reminiscent of when I used to watch Hello Kitty cartoons with my younger sister. She'd always demand to watch the Hello Kitty VHS we had so I'd begrudgingly watch it with her...but secretly, I did like watching it too. The titular mascot is sprawled almost everywhere in the diner making this Sanrio theme restaurant rather endearingly cute.

We'd all ordered an assortment of food items but the first of my orders to come was the fried chicken and waffles. A doughy waffle sits neatly on top of a few nuggets of crispy, southern fried chicken. A drizzle of syrup then glazes both items to complete the package. I'd say that I enjoyed the chicken much more than I did the waffle though as to me, the waffle didn't add to my experience but the chicken was spiced really well and came out rather juicy.

B ordered some sweet potato fries which came with a miso flavoured dipping sauce. He was very much confused by this mixture of flavours as the sweet potato fries would have been too heavy and starchy alone but the dipping sauce was also not too enjoyable to his palate. I on the other hand, very much enjoyed the sauce...the nuttiness from the miso really helped to cut through the starch of the fries. The boys seemed to enjoy the standard fries much more than they did the sweet potato fries.

Shortly after we'd finished the fries and chicken, our burgers arrived at our table. B ordered what I believe to be the crispy pork belly burger: pork belly with slaw, maple bacon and apple. From what I could tell of his facial expressions, I am led to believe that he didn't really enjoy his burger all too much. Although Chur Burger designed the menu and were consulted on the food, I feel as though the offerings at Hello Kitty diner don't really compare that well to the real thing. 

I had ordered the ebi (prawn) burger but as my one arrived, I was informed that they'd run out of milk buns and had to use the other, harder buns...bummer. The flavour of the bun was good however I don't necessarily think it matched my idea of what an ebi burger should be. From my experience, ebi burgers normally contain a patty of chopped prawns fried in a 'katsu' or croquette....this contained separate pieces of fried prawn which made the experience of eating it slightly harder. It also meant the crunch factor was less prominent as you don't have the crispy outer shell of panko to bite down on.

I'd say that if given the choice, I would personally return to Hello Kitty diner...but only under the provision that I'm going with someone who's never been. But for a place like this, I really don't think you really go for the food, food is but an afterthought. Instead, I believe the charm lies in the nostalgic feelings that are conjured when you're surrounded by this immensely popular icon of modern culture.

Manpuku Ramen - Kingsford, NSW

My father-in-law said during dinner that "Manpuku means immense happiness in Japanese". I can't exactly verify that as a fact (I'd studied Japanese at UNSW for three years, kanji was always my worst enemy) but based upon the intense satisfaction I felt during consumption...I'd say he was pretty on track. When I was studying, I'd never ventured previously to try this ramen joint... mainly because one of my closest friends (and occasional ramen buddy), Zhen said that this place wasn't worth the visit. That was when they'd first opened and years later, after the second shop in Chatswood opened up, their popularity steadily grew as you could undeniably see the jump in instagram posts. So, when I knew we were all heading to Randwick on Tuesday night, I'd quickly jumped on it and made the suggestion to take everyone there.

Upon entering, the server greeted us with a lovely, cheerful hello and as we made small talk, he asked us if we were Indonesian as we'd come in in a large group but I mentioned that the Mrs and their family were Filipino. He then broke out into many Filipino words (most of which I still hadn't learnt) and that, I believe, endeared him very much to my in-laws. It wasn't too busy and we weren't in any particular hurry to order so we took our time in deciding and boy...I really needed it. My choice should have been obvious as I have one rule when visiting a new ramen restaurant: always try the miso ramen. But ever since I was lucky enough to try Chase Kojima's first gyoukairui tonkotsu...I'd been addicted to gyokai style ramen (pork bone stock mixed in with fish stock). Naturally then, I'd picked the gyokai with the most: the manpuku mk II.

The whole package is a sight to behold....droplets of flavoursome black garlic oil sits in this milky white broth that's barely viscous. On top are bean sprouts, sliced wood ear mushrooms and not one, but two eggs and two sheets of nori. And then...the piece de resistance: tender, fatty and decadent pieces of braised pork. I am not lying when I say it's incredibly delicious....it can't not be. The broth lacks the finesse and layering of Sokyo's gyoukairui but that doesn't matter, because it's own charm is how well it owns the flavour. The pork is a definite highlight of the dish...you don't even care that you don't get chashu as each bite brings you to a transient state of porcine enjoyment. The noodles aren't my favorite yellow, wavy variant but that's hardly a detriment.

My mate, Preston who joined us for dinner that night ordered the tsukemen. A thick layer of oil hides this opaque and aromatic hot broth which by itself is rather intense but when mixed with the thicker noodles is simply divine. Amongst the other condiments provided, the most notable is the sheet of branded nori and a chunky slab of the same tender, braised pork I got in my soup.

The brother-in-law chose to have the miso ramen (we'd ordered it before he arrived just so it'd we could save some time) and luckily for him, it's arrived not long before he walked through the door. The magic of ramen is truly a wonderful thing...it can turn an exhausted and agitated man into a calm and collected individual through the meditative and therapeutic slurping. As he took each spoonful of soup and each strand of noodle, you could see the grin of utter satisfaction grow on his face. The soup of the miso is nutty and filled with umami. Have a big enough spoonful and you'll taste the slightest hint of a kick for what I assume is the chilli bean paste mixed in with their house blend of miso. The two slices of chashu are torch seared slightly to give it a charred, smokey ambient flavour which works really well in this dish.

The Mrs reaaally missed out as she was on a no-carb diet (faux pas on my part...taking her to a noodle bar) so she stuck to salad but she did order an interesting item which were these two pancakes (at the time, she didn't realise they were made with flour) which were served on sticks and topped with aonori, bonito flakes and kewpie mayo. The filling had bits of seafood and cabbage so basically...an okonomiyaki on a stick....delicious. The father-in-law also order teba gyoza or chicken wing dumplings which were these two chicken mid-wings stuffed with dumpling fillings and then deep fried.

Although we all agreed that Menya was our preferred ramen establishment, Manpuku definitely has it's place on my list. The soup is thick but still drinkable and plenty flavoursome and the ramen is actually a pretty solid and satisfying bowl. If I was ever in the hood again (or in Chatswood), I think I'd certainly return for a bowl of the ramen with the unbelievably hard to pronounce name.

Song Fang Khong - Fairfield, NSW

Happy new year!!! Apologies again for the minor delays between posting content but between juggling christmas, new years and our upcoming event, it's been super hectic. I've had this one saved in my backlog of places to post about for a while now but I'm only just getting to it now that I have some 15 minutes to spare, The Mrs was finishing up work for the term and so we decided to grab a bite somewhere near where she works. When asked where we should eat, the immediate image that came to my mind was Song Fang Khong. I had previously had a wonderful dining experience at Song Fang Khong before when my friend took me here to grab a bite to eat prior to us attending a wedding and because of this, I wanted to replicate that experience for her.

When we arrived, we were super lucky to be able to still grab a table as although this place is small, it's super popular with the locals. As we sat down and looked at the menu, I let the Mrs decide (with my input) what to order. The lady at the counter then proceeded to promptly take down our order and gave us a bottle of table water while we waited...the Mrs then asked the lady for "iced tea". This thoroughly confused me as the Mrs would never order any bottled drinks (I had assumed the Mrs wanted a bottled drink from the fridge) but sure enough, the lady took our bottle of iced water and poured in this dark tea from a pot which looked like it'd been steeping for a long time. As the dark liquid mixed with the water, it turned into a bright, opaque orange which had a fragrance reminiscent of the Thai milk tea the Mrs loves so much. Super refreshing with a spicy bitterness, the water was enough to distract us as we waited for our dishes which arrived shortly after.

First to arrive was the rice and papaya salad. Rather than go for the thai version, I had asked the Mrs to try the authentic Laotian version available on the menu. Fair warning: this dish isn't for people with weak stomachs as it does pack a very funky (yet delicious) taste. This exotic flavour stems from the primary difference between the Thai and Lao versions of the dish: padaek or fish sauce. This ominously dark paste gives the salad it's signature black dressing and funky aroma. Uber delicious with coconut rice and meat but for those who don't like the flavour of fermented fish, stick to that Thai version.

Quickly after our salad arrived, our order of grilled Lao sausages also arrived at our table. By now, everyone should know how much I love sausages...and I have to say, this is the epitome of an amazing sausage. The casing is grilled until it's charred and almost crunchy which it an amazing textural experience as you bite into it, allowing the sausage to release the fatty, spiced meat inside. The meat is flavoured with all sorts of aromatic, southeast asian items of which, most prominent is the lemongrass.

Finally, the plate of grilled ox tongue arrived after the sausages which completed the Laotian feast we had ordered. My usual experience of eating ox tongue is generally restricted to Japanese yakiniku restaurants where they slice the meat rather thinly but in this case, each piece is cut into thick, finger sized pieces which gives it more chew. This also means though that it has a deeper beef flavour and more of a rich, fattiness that it can release when you eat it.

When trying to describe Song Fang Khong to someone who's never been, I find that you can only really describe it with the words "pleasantly surprising". Surprising in that such delicious food and amazing hospitality is hidden away in this gem behind Fairfield station and surprising in that this place has managed stay away from public attention for so long. I would definitely recommend anyone wanting an authentic Laotian dining experience to go try this place.