Hem Nine Nine - Glebe, NSW

Momentum is a fickle thing...some days, you're on a roll and you feel like nothing can stop you while others, you've lost all motivation to continue. The task that you previously found fascinating and enjoyable has become monotonous and you find yourself procrastinating again and again. That's how I've been feeling lately with food blogging. I love eating and I love spreading news of delicious food and amazing restaurants but lately, that love has fizzled a bit and it's really reflected in the frequency in which I post content. It had gotten to the point where I'd actually considered quitting and just when I'd come close to calling it, something comes along and you're reminded again of why you do what you do. For me, this came in the form of an invitation to dine at Hem Nine Nine.



I'd first seen Hem Nine Nine's photos float around on social media and I'd always been intrigued by their food and I had personally set out to try their food one day but I hadn't gotten around to it. Lo and behold, an invitation reaches the Mrs and I sent from Hem Nine Nine themselves, asking us to come and dine with them! You would not believe how ecstatic I was when I received this email as not only had I wanted to try this place, this was also the first time we'd received and personal invite from the owners to come try their food! Of course, I booked us in immediately and anxiously anticipated the day we would go and try their delicious Vietnamese fare.

The name Hem Nine Nine or laneway 99 is a reference to the lanes in Vietnam where you can find delicious Vietnamese street food and their decor definitely reflects this. As soon as you walk in, the vibrant red walls and beautiful looking asiatic decor make the place really inviting and an interesting place to dine at. As soon as we sit down, we order two Vietnamese iced coffees to sip on as we casually study the menu. Whilst not as extensive as the Vietnamese restaurants you might frequent, from reading the description, you can really tell how special each dish is from the amount of thought put into the ingredients and the innovative ways in which they've been able to re-invent these classic dishes.

The first thing to come was our appetiser of grilled lemongrass pork skewers and boy, was this something to be excited about! You're served three skewers of lemongrass pork skewers with a side of slaw made of bean sprouts, cabbage, carrots, spring onions and this spicy sauce. The sauce that glazes the pork is sweet, savory and full of umami which really helps compliment how delicious the pork itself is. The outside of the meat is grilled to a perfect char and the aromatic lemongrass flavour permeates each bite. The meat is also super tender and juicy which makes it a joy to eat.

Soon after that, the Mrs order came: Squid ink bun rieu! As soon as this dish arrives at our table, my mouth starts to water as the smells coming off that hot, steaming bowl of soup is simply irresistible! The Mrs had never had bun rieu before but being more experienced with Vietnamese fare, I was actually really excited to see how this dish turns out. Squid ink can be a bit of a daunting ingredient to work with and even more so to eat (black is considered a rather ominous colour in relation to food) but it's a flavour that really works here and it's impact is very evident. The soup is warm, aromatic and flavoursome and you can really taste the umami that the squid ink adds to the soup. This is all made even better by the bits of crispy and softened noodles that cling to the sauce-like soup, the fried soft shell crab and the flying fish roe. A really interesting and delicious thing to eat and definitely a must try!

Shortly after the Mrs dish arrived, my order of super pho came! Hem Nine Nine have several pho items on the menu and I had originally been planning on ordering the special pho but when a dish is limited to 20 orders, you just have to get in on that action. When you're presented with a giant bowl of noodles topped with beef brisket, rare wagyu, herbs, onions and oven-roasted bone marrow all contained in this masterfully brewed beef stock...there is no way you wouldn't be impressed. I do consider myself a bit of a connoisseur when it comes to pho and I must say, I am very, very impressed with their rendition of the classic noodle soup. The stock had a bit of a stronger tartness (even without the addition of the citrus) which is instantly noticeable when you first sip the soup but as you continue to consume the noodles and soup, the tartness really comes in and helps cut through and bring balance to the whole dish. The soup is super, super rich in beef flavour...what I imagine it would taste if I ever took my love of beef and decided to make pho myself. The brisket and wagyu are tender and the delicate globs of toasted bone marrow just make it a delight to dine on.

While we would have loved to continue on to dessert (they have a unique Vietnamese coffee flavoured ice cream specially made for them by Hakiki Turkish ice cream) the both of us were so stuffed at the end of our meal that we just could not fit it in (pretty good indication of how much value you get for your money). Despite being invited to dine as guests, the Mrs and I were so impressed with our meal that we were perfectly happy to pay for our meal ourselves! I kept saying to the Mrs and even without the invite, I would have taken her there sooner or later and now that I have, I'm so, so glad that I did. Their wonderful hospitality and amazingly delectable food made it a wonderful experience for me and I'd love to return again and again in the near future!

Night Noodle Markets 2015 - Sydney, NSW

A couple posts ago, I did say mention that I liked avoiding the crowds...I may have lied. Can you really blame me though? When one of the biggest foodie events comes around, you don't really say no. I really didn't think I'd be attending the Night Noodle Markets this year but miraculously, the Mrs made the suggestion when her friends all decided to go. So, soon as the both of us finished work, we met up in the city and proceeded to Hyde park before the crowds formed. Being that it was the final week, the amount of people visiting has already decreased but I'm still really glad we decided to head into the markets before everyone else. This way, the Mrs and I could sample all the delicious offerings with minimal wait times before everyone came.

The Mrs and I started our night off with a couple of skewers from Daniel San, which I assume is a new addition to the line up since I didn't notice them last year. We bought one pork and one chicken skewer so that we could sample both. I personally liked the chicken better (I love chicken yakitori) but the Mrs thought the pork was better. I do agree that the pork did take on the marinade and glaze better but I'll always like chicken better...there's just something about smokey, grilled chicken meat on a stick which makes life amazing.

Seeing that the traffic had started to slowly trickle in, the Mrs and I thought it'd be a good idea to grab a table. We quickly found a large enough table and sat down in preparation for the arrival of our friends, which I took as an opportune time to scope out the other goods. By now, it's no secret that the Mrs loves Malaysian food so I quickly ran up to Mamak and ordered two servings of Roti Canai (one for me, one for her). Mamak's roti is always amazing...super doughy, fluffy and crispy, this combination is best served when dipped straight into that vibrant and fragrant orange curry....tear apart, dip, devour and repeat for maximum enjoyment.

I noticed that next to Mamak, Harajuku Gyoza had set up stall and being the mad gyoza fanatic that I am, I just couldn't help but order some for myself. For me, this was the biggest surprise of the night as I didn't really expect much from the gyoza...but it was absolutely, positively delicious. Gyoza is one of those commodities which is so readily available that it's hard to differentiate one from the other but this one...leagues above the competition. The crisp, crunchy bottom covers the juicy dumpling's filling which explodes with flavour as you bite into it. My experience was something straight out of a certain food-related manga...the nuanced and delicate flavours of this particular dish brought me to heaven and back...this is the one dish I legitimately wanted to go back for seconds for.

As our friends arrived, we were able to leave the table behind and go explore. The Mrs and I settled on Bao Stop as our next stall (the Mrs was interested in the fried chicken whilst I was more interested in the Peking Duck fries). I didn't actually order the fries in the end but I did order a trifecta and the chicken which was just as good. As we were in the line, the rain slowly but surely started to pour which was really not pleasant but for the sake of food, we (I) stood resilient as we waited. After we received our orders, I quickly dashed back to the group, making sure to shield the food with my body on the way. Unfortunately, it took us all a while to get to a comfortable spot and the sad thing about baos is that they tend to stick to the cardboard if you leave them there for too long. This made the whole eating experience rather messy but that was in no way detrimental to the food. The baos tasted great but I have to say the chicken stole the show...I'd say, rather ingenious the way they turned the distinct taste of XO sauce into a sweet and tangy glaze.

Didn't mention these...Korean style tacos

Apologies for the shaky focus...hard to hold still trying to dodge the rain.

Our friends saw our food and decided to venture off to the same location for their share. I was fortunate enough to be able to still try the Peking duck fries which they brought back. In retrospect, kind of glad I didn't order them because whilst I do love deep fried shoestring fries, the taste of gamey duck and hoisin only reminded me of the real deal therefore making me want that more.

Again, sorry...the rain really doesn't contribute to high aperture photos

At that point, the rain had started to clear up which signalled the continuation of the festivities. The group decided it'd then be a good idea to go and grab some ramen burgers from ONE tea lounge's stall. I abstained from this venture because I was very full at that point but nonetheless, we headed over and surprisingly quickly, ordered and recieved our food. I have to say, I am slightly disappointed in the ramen burger this year. We had the full ramen burger last year and that was absolutely delicious but as per their restaurant's menu, this year's offering was made in slider form. I think my preference is still for the mess that is the full sized burger though.

Additional to the sliders, one of our group members also purchased the fried ice cream baos. They came in various asiatic flavours (green tea, red bean and black sesame). I managed to get a taste of the green tea and I'll be honest, I wasn't really a fan. The deep fried bao just seemed a bit too bland for me and whilst they did pair it with ice cream and other sweet treats, the matcha flavour really wasn't as intense as I would have liked meaning the whole package just came across as mildly lacking.

At the end of the day, as much as I don't appreciate crowds...I'm still really glad that I got to go enjoy the Night Noodle Markets. The stalls only come around once a year and with the abundant selection of delicious samplings, you really can't go wrong if you spend a night out with great, fun people at the markets.

Mister's Test Kitchen - Gyoza Night

Now I know, I know....I couldn't keep my promise.

Although I have a very good reason! My long time phone: the Samsung Galaxy S4 died on my over the weekend so I spent it organizing a replacement and what better replacement than the newest Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge! So convenient that the latest version comes out just as my old one gives out on me. So with this brand new smartphone and a decent 16MP camera, expect better quality photos from now on!

So first post tonight will be from the backlog. A while back I was craving dumplings and since I had recently depleted my supply of gyozas, it was time to restock! Now make no mistake, making gyozas is no easy task. All the prepping and wrapping takes one full day so if you're going to make them, commit and make a LOT. The rest can be frozen and cooked up whenever your cravings hit.

So we start by shopping for ingredients, most of which can be sourced from your asian grocers. luckily, I live in a predominantly asian area so ingredients were easy to get. For this recipe, I chose to go with a more traditionally Japanese approach (though the dumplings did originate from China anyway but that's besides the point) so I chose to use pork mince, cabbage, spring onions, garlic and ginger....oh and round gyoza wrappers.

For the seasonings, I used sake, soy sauce, sesame oil a pinch of sugar and a dash of salt and pepper. Important point to remember: chop the cabbage roughly and salt it to bring out the moisture. Afterwards, wring out all the water and you'll make sure the gyoza doesn't end up too wet on the inside. Do NOT blitz it....whatever you do, do NOT use a food processor for the cabbage, if it gets chopped up too much, it'll be heaps gritty and detriment the texture. And don't mix the mince too much!! If you do, the meat will clump up into a meatball once it's cooked and you don't want that. What you want is a loose and moist filling that doesn't stick to the wrappers. You'll know what I mean when you cook it.

Fill the wrapper with a little more with a teaspoon of filling, tab a little water on your finger and wet one side of the round wrapper then fold in half.

Now comes the hard bit, pleat on one side. I'd LOVE to describe how to do it but you learn by watching. So either find yourself a Chinese grand-mama and learn off her....or Youtube it, much easier. Repeat until you run out of wrappers. Also make sure you place them onto a nice floured tray or plate. Separate them and put them in the freezer once you've finished one plate. The freezer will firm up the dumplings making them much easier to cook later on.

To cook, heat up some oil in a non-stick frying pan and line the pan with the dumplings (flat side down). Pan fry them a little until the dumplings brown a bit on the bottom. Once they've been browned sufficiently, pour water into the hot pan until the dumplings are half covered and then cover the pan with a lid. Turn the heat down to medium and let it steam until fully evaporated. Afterwards, its just fry them some more until they're crispy again and voila!

                                                                Dumplings for days.

Devon Cafe - Surry Hills

The Mrs loves brunch. Like...I'm not even joking when I say it's almost an obsession with her. I'm lucky in that she uses as Android phone and not an Apple as if she had the opportunity to use Matchbook, all our time and resources would be devoted to trying each and every cafe in Sydney.

It's pretty obvious I don't appreciate brunch as much as she does.That said, I will say that Devon cafe was thoroughly impressive. Then again, that much is expected...I mean they are the Devon cafe. These guys are definitely in the top tier. Think along the lines of the equivalent of LA Lakers of the Sydney brunch game. And with their second location having not-so-recently opened up in Waterloo, it's rather hard to deny their popularity. 

We decided to visit one weekend as I had promised the Mrs I would take her to one of her desired locations. Being the smart cookie I was, I thought I'd go out early and grab a table (back when we went, it was still a single location and hence they got packed super easily). That said, they have their system down pat so I wouldn't worry too much about excessive wait times. 

We were seated promptly and having been given ample time to skim over the menu during our (my) wait, we swiftly ordered and eagerly awaited our food. The coffee came first which was nice as it gave me something to sip on while we waited. In this situation, I chose to order a pour over which was a good choice as I wasn't feeling particularly milky that day. Coffee was really good, as expected.

Shortly after, our orders arrived at our table. The Mrs ordered the famous Eggs Blini and I had ordered the baked eggs with an extra side of morcilla (I wanted to go double but the Mrs stopped me). The Eggs Blini was presented beautifully, the vibrant colors definitely did well in appealing to the diner's eyes first. However, I personally can't say that the interplay of flavors held up as much as the initial appearance did. In my opinion, the blini was a tad too sweet which didn't work as nicely when paired with the flavor of fish from the trout and Ikura roe which definitely stood out more. 

I can safely say that I ordered the better dish as the eggs were done perfectly and the sauce was the perfect amount of savory tartness which helped cut through the moorish pieces of morcilla sausage. The thick cut toast provided was also perfect for sopping up any remaining sauce. 

In my opinion, Devon cafe is definitely worth the visit. Their street cred is well deserved and with their current menu, now would be a great time to go and try it out. 

Would we return? I don't have a choice, the Mrs will make me.

Recommendations? I don't think we can make recommendations as we haven't been since the menu change but looking at their current menu, I would go with the Soft Shell Crab Roll ala Japanois.....Oh and they have flavored Cronuts at Danks *wink wink*

Areas of improvement? Their game is pretty tight, can't say I'm aware of any aspect they need improvement on.

Ballers Polpetteria - Enmore

It's been some time since I've finished high school (and university) yet I still stubbornly hold on to my bad habit of completing tasks at the last second. That said, better late than never right?

As promised, we'd do two posts a week until the backlog is done and at the rate we're going we should be finished with the belated blogs soon. First post tonight will be about a nice little place called Ballers.

One evening, the Mrs and I decided to go out for dinner however we hadn't really decided on a place, so we decided the best course of action was of course to drive to a random suburb and see what was available. We somehow ended up at Enmore (I subconsciously direct myself to the inner city all the time because that's where I'm overwhelmed with the abundant options) but at that point in time we still hadn't decided yet and I was getting seriously hangry, so the Mrs suggested we park the car and have a stroll. By some stroke of luck, the parking spot we got allowed us to walk by this nice and cozy new joint called Ballers.

The store decor was so hip and trendy that we we're immediately drawn into the place and come on, I'd never really pass up any opportunity to stuff my face with meatballs. We ordered our dishes and decided to sit in the back where you get a clear view of the open kitchen. This in my opinion was the ideal location to sit as we got a clear view of the inner workings and we also got to have a conversation with the kitchen staff (which is something both the Mrs and I love doing)

The run from the kitchen to the tables was quite quick which was nice, although as at the point of time when we visited, they had only just been open for a month or so, the service staff were still trying to get a handle on things. It was also cause of this that they didn't have any alcohol available yet (though that hardly diminishes the experience) it would have been nice to have a beer with my balls.

We ordered two meals (beef and special meatballs both with the special sauce, meatballs come with a slice of baguette bread as standard) along with fries and mash. The meatballs were delightful as they were decently sized and had a real substance to the texture. The worst thing when it comes to meatballs is when you get more bread crumbs than meat.

Ballers definitely knows how to pack in the meat as every bite was meaty and juicy. The special meatballs were good however, the real winner would be the beef meatballs. If you had to choose, go beef. Just trust me, you will understand when you taste it. The special sauce was the right amount of tomato tang balanced out and exemplified with a good kick. Put the meat and sauce together and you just can't help but want more.

Their sides were also fantastic, fries were seasoned incredibly well with a nice herbaceous element and the mash was creamy, buttery and smooth. If the Mrs (queen of mash) herself approves, you know you've done well.

After a delightful meal, we were advised that we were able to leave our mark in the toilet where a mural of sorts was slowly building from the growing fan-base they had. Quick to get our stamp in, we dashed to the back and scribbled our names there (if you happen to go in, have a look around, you'll see our tag there)

Would we return? Definitely,

Recommendations? Again, go beef. Just trust me on this. 

Areas of improvement? When we went, the menu was a little difficult to decipher (they may have fixed this issue already) which meant that a little explaining needed to be done before we could order but that just adds to the charm as you could say it leaves you no choice but to make friends with the staff.

The Mister's Test Kitchen - Ramen

Hello all!

As promised, we're trying to get into the habit of posting on a regular basis so here is the second post of the night.

Just to shake things up a bit, I thought I'd share with you all my experiences gained from trail and error in the kitchen. If it's one thing I love more than eating, it's feeding people with the food I make. Nothing makes me happier than when someone says my food is delicious (must be an inherited trait, my dad is the exact same)

So one fine evening with nothing better to do, I decided I would try to make ramen. I knew this was long process and I had prepared adequately for the road ahead. Rather than make Tonkotsu though, I decided to make Torigara. My primary reasoning behind this decision was that I personally believed that Miso ramen (my absolute favorite ramen) is better suited to chicken stock because pork stock tends to overpower the already heavy dish (also, you just can't get pork leg bones at 8PM)


I went out and bought a whole chicken, some spring onions, one brown onion, a carrot, garlic, ginger, white peppercorns, pork rashers (for the Chashu) and a lot of soy sauce. Oh and eggs, so many eggs.

The chicken was dissected quite roughly and put into the stock pot. After covering the chicken with water, I brought that to a steady boil before I added the other ingredients. And here is where I made my first mistake: stock takes times and dedication. If you're not willing to put in the work, don't try to make stock. My mistake was that I would leave everything in the pot and that would be fine. What I didn't do was par-boil the chicken and clean it out. This simple step will result in a cleaner stock.

So back to the stock, I steadily added all the ingredients and boiled it over a controlled flame pretty much until I needed to go to sleep.

While that was boiling away, I mixed equal parts soy sauce, cooking sake and mirin to make the ajitsuke tamago. To make these eggs, simply put the eggs in cold water and bring the water to a boil. After the water boils, time the eggs for 4 minutes and then bathe in cold water. Peel the eggs and submerge in the marinade (which I heated in the microwave prior and chilled) preferably overnight. Even without ramen, these eggs are delectable with some rice and bonito flakes.

So back to the stock, being exhausted from watching over the stock, I poured it all into my sous-vide machine and let the slow cooker function take care of the rest.

The next morning I woke up to continue the preparation.

But first, I decided to make myself some breakfast. That's when I came up with the idea of making a Longanisa McMuffin. Longanisa is this sweet and spicy filipino sausage that you can find in most filipino stores. All I did was take the meat out of the casing, form it into a puck, fry it off in a frying pan with an egg on the side and whack it on a buttered and toasted english muffin. This was probably my proudest moment of the two days I spent cooking.

The stock had been stewing overnight and had since become rather flavorsome. When it came time to server the Mrs some delicious ramen, I realised I made my second mistake - I needed to source some legitimate noodles. Ramen noodles are NOT egg based noodles. Instead, their yellow hue comes from the fact that they are made with alkaline water. This means that not any yellow looking Japanese noodle would do. A mistake I realised later on in serving the ramen.

My third mistake was that I got tired and made a half-arsed effort with the Chashu and didn't braise it for long enough. If you're going to spend the time making ramen, put in some TLC and braise the pork properly. The pork should fall apart at the touch but instead mine was tough from not spending enough time in the cooking process. Pro-tip: put the pork INTO the stock and cooking it along with the stock. Once it's cooking to your desired texture, take it out and dip it into the marinade overnight. That way the chashu gets it's signature soft-pillowy bite and still gets the flavour treatment it needs.

My Final mistake was with the Tare. Ramen has multiple components: the stock, the noodles and the tare which is the sauce base differentiating each flavor (shoyu, miso, shio etc.). Whatever you do, do NOT make the shoyu tare the night before. Refrigerated tare will turn sour. Instead, keep the braising liquid or marinading liquid which you marinaded the chashu in. When it comes time to serve your Shoyu ramen, reduce the liquid until it becomes a thick, umami-packed sauce that you can thin out with the stock.

Overall, the Mrs was impressed with all the effort put in (she was being really nice) but word of advice: do not attempt to make ramen unless you have the balls to follow through until the end. Attention to detail is everything.