Sushi Ichi Bar - Parramatta, NSW

One of the biggest parts of moving out and being responsible is budgeting. In order to survive comfortably, you have to make sure to count every penny going in and out. This is a responsibility that the Mrs has begrudgingly taken up on a weekly basis and she's been doing quite well at it. This week, I was informed that despite our usual expenditure, we were doing rather well for budget and so, we could enjoy a nice dinner out. I took this as an opportunity to gorge on something I hadn't had the chance to eat in a while: sushi.

That's why early in the morning, I made a booking for two at Sushi Ichi Bar, located on the far end of Cowper Street near Harris Park. I'd seen some of the photos of this place from sweetandyummie about a month ago and I'd be dying to try this place as soon as we could. The possibility that there could be a good sushi place so close to home meant I just had to go try it. We'd been waiting on a delivery all day and had barely made it in time for our booking but I'm glad we did. In my opinion, Sushi Ichi Bar is in a prime location being so close to Harris Park/Parramatta station and being just down the road from Anytime Fitness...so convenient for people looking for a quick bite after work or a post-gym feed.

I'd wanted to order the sushi best deal which was this massive boat of nigiri but the Mrs was against it as she didn't find the crunchy roll appealing. Maybe next time I can ask them to see if they can substitute it for the aburi roll...but oh well, we still ordered enough (I guess) for the two of us. First to come was the nigiri lovers B which was four pieces of salmon nigiri, four pieces of aburi salmon nigiri and eight pieces of raw tuna hoso maki (little rolls).

As an avid lover of sushi, Sushi Ichi Bar is impresses me a lot in both the speed at which the lone sushi chef can churn out their delectable food items for 3 tables of guests as well as how fresh and immensely delicious their sushi is. For me, The sushi shari is on the softer side but I'd much prefer that to underdone rice. I mean, for a local sushi joint, the quality and balance of the rice is spot on: mildly acidic yet sweet at the same time, the sushi rice is a perfect vessel to ferry those fresh, flavoursome slices of fish into your mouth.

Additional to the nigiri lovers, we also ordered the ichi salmon aburi roll. In this roll, you as the diner get to choose whether you want seafood salad or salmon in a roll with cucumber and avocado. The roll is then topped with additional slices of seared salmon, spring onions, tobiko (flying fish roe) and sauces. Seriously...I cannot stress my immense joy and satisfaction at how good this sushi roll is. The torched salmon slices and chunky salmon meat intertwine in your mouth and give you this textural contrast that makes each bite heavenly.

That not being enough for us (me), I ended up ordering the noodle and sushi deal as well of which I chose to have the udon with three pieces of additional salmon nigiri. At first glance, the size of the bowl might be a bit small but when you start eating it, you realise they do give you a decent portion of noodles. It comes with a fried prawn tempura, a stick of seafood extender, a slice of tamago (Japanese sweetened omelette) and a slice of aburage which is sweet tofu skin. The soup is heavy on the umami and you can clearly taste the dashi stock used to make it. Needless to say, I enjoyed every moment of my udon noodles and I savoured my last three pieces of salmon nigiri even more so.

In my opinion, the most impressive part of my experience at Sushi Ichi Bar wasn't the just that they had really, really fresh and authentic sushi available (though I did love every piece of sushi I ate), it was also the fact that all of our items came to a very reasonable $46.40. I really think that the general area that Sushi Ichi Bar gets overlooked but I'm hoping traffic and business will pick up there very soon. Until then, I very much hope to become a regular at this humble little sushi bar.

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.

Brewristas - Glebe

Hello everyone!

Firstly, we'd like to thank each and every reader who comes by our little blog, we've recently been trying to blog more frequently (so that we can get a into the habit of posting and so that our list of places to blog about doesn't grow any more) and we're definitely noticing the increased views we're getting so that's good! It's such a humbling experience knowing that people come and find genuine interest in our lives so we definitely appreciate you taking the time to read about our adventures. We hope that we can continue to consistently provide good content regularly so stay tuned!

As Autumn begins to get into full swing and the weather become a bit colder each and every morning, it becomes increasingly harder to wake up. That said though, I still managed drag myself out of bed and take the Mrs on a brunch date. She's always been so lovely and supportive that I thought that she deserved a bit of treat. With that in mind, we got dressed in our Easter Monday best and drove all the way to Glebe to try out a place that's been on our list for some time now: Brewristas.

Parking really wasn't hard to find as there's plenty of street parking all along Glebe Point Rd and on the off chance that you just can't find any parking, Broadway has free 2hr parking so that definitely helps (it's not a far walk either!). 

Walk in and you'll notice that the place is rather expansive with a back area that looks very comfortable. We opted to take the first seats that became available. That wasn't any detriment though as we got to see all the people come and go. The unfortunate result of visiting on a public holiday was that the staff would be exceptionally busy meaning it took some time before our coffee and food would arrived. I didn't particularly have a problem with it as I personally like watching people do their thing but the Mrs wasn't nearly as patient. 

*Action shot!*

The Mrs had ordered her standard coffee which was done spectacularly however I opted for a pour over with the house beans.

Quality takes time and attention to detail. That I understood and so when my coffee came, I was all the more appreciative of it. Brownie points for the impeccably dressed Kevin and his wonderful explanation of the coffee and the way to enjoy it!

Our food eventually came (the staff acknowledged the wait and apologised for it so all was well in my books) and boy did the dishes look pretty. The cold eggplant and vegetable stack was delightfully fresh which made it an appetizing Autumn dish as the flavor of the pesto wasn't all too overpowering and there was the balsamic glaze there to cut through it all. The bits of chorizo (an additional $3) and boccocini also complimented the dish well.

Now, Kevin's balls...oh so delicious. The flavor that these four small balls pack is immense. The combination of the tofu and pork which is deep fried and encrusted with bits of Shin Ramyun and covered in a good amount of spicy mayo....a match made in heaven if there was ever a more apt description. My only wish was that there were more of it to go around. I don't think any adjective I label it with could give it the justice it deserves so if you're ever visiting, trust me: order one order for each diner. You will fight over these.....or you might be smart enough to order more, I don't know. 

Brewristas is definitely a place to come and spend an afternoon, ideally you'd shoot for a day where it's less busy but with how these guys are doing, I honestly don't think their popularity with the Sydney crowd is set to fizzle anytime soon. 

Would we return? For the balls? yes. Most definitely yes.

Recommendations? Order the balls...make sure you've ordered enough so you won't need to share. Oh and sit in the back so you have a clear view of the brewing station.

Areas of improvement? If they provided more balls for the price that would be great but I guess that's just an indication of how impressive they were.

Cibo e Vino, Rouse Hill.

Upon checking my email inbox on Saturday morning, I came across an advertisement. Normally I would simply ignore it or send it to my spam folder, however, this particular email came from a restaurant I had rather fond memories of. The first time the Mrs and I dined at Cibo e Vino, they were still based in their old location in Castle Hill. I distinctly remember being mesmerised by the high quality of the food and the brilliant service I received. So, I decided to go back as they had recently relocated and were offering a discount for re-opening.

We arrived rather late - around 8pm and it was rather empty (though I suspect it has something to do with the fact that they just opened).

We ordered two pastas, a pizza and a side of the parmesan fries. (Mrs: #forevereating #fatlife) The fries were about the same as I remembered the first time I had them: herbaceous with a good amount of kick. The portion was a lot larger than I remember though which is a good thing.

Pastas were cooked al dente and the sauces were made quite well. Though I have to say I am disappointed they decided to lose the hand made pastas which I loved the first time.

The pizza was also pretty good with a good amount of smokiness lending to a pleasing texture and taste.

Would we return? Yes.

Recommendations? The anti-pasto pizza was the highlight of the evening.

Areas of improvement? The service was quite good but the sooner they get their alcohol license the better.