CeCi Korean Restaurant - Strathfield, NSW

Moving out is tough! You have to pack your belongings, move and transport the items across the city, clean stuff...and then clean some more stuff! I honestly thought I could pack my whole life into a suitcase and move on but clearly...I was very mistaken. My one suitcase turned into racks and racks of shirts, jackets, t-shirts and a couple of round-the-city trips to ferry my stuff from old home to new. In amongst all the uprooting of my life, I've been neglecting my diet lately (literally been surviving off of cup noodles for a week and a bit now). Without proper sustenance, my body began craving proper food and so being the ever loving partner, the Mrs took me to Strathfield and fed me a proper meal.

I've been going to CeCi's for a while now and whilst there's really nothing remarkable looking about this store, this place is a little gem hidden in the middle of Strathfield. The walls are plastered with the usual Korean soju posters as well as various in house specials (such as the flavoured soju...great for a night out). Order any items from the menu and the usual Korean side dishes are shortly brought to your table. This time, we got kimchi, cucumbers, buckwheat jelly, bean sprouts and marinaded potatoes. These little dishes are all delicious in their own right but even more so when you're starving and anticipating the meal you've ordered.

Despite going to a Korean restaurant, my first instinct was to order something that was deep fried. Which to me could only mean one thing: Donkasu (the Korean version of Japanese Tonkatsu...which I believe is a Japanese take on German schnitzel). Served with a side of rice, cabbage salad and a squizzle of bulldog Tonkatsu sauce, this dish is the perfect thing to have when you're craving a sense of belonging and home. Crunchy but not overly greasy, the meat is best served cut up into little bite sized pieces with rice.

The Mrs made the sensible choice and ordered the soft tofu hotpot. There is literally nothing more comforting than mouth-burning tofu swimming in a moorish seafood soup...the searing sensation of the heat and the spice numbs away any sense of homesickness which is ever so slightly mellowed out by eating it with the rice provided. The dish is kept consistently warm from the earthenware pot it's served in and won't be able to stop having more and more until you notice that you have nothing else but a few spoonfuls of soup left...well worth it though!

Since that meal, I've been reinvigorated in my mission to successfully transition from my old place to my new home and so far...I'd like to say it's going well. According to the Mrs, I still have a long, long way to go before I'm completely self-sufficient and responsible for myself but I've got (not a lot) of time to learn and well...least I've got Messina less than 10 minutes walk from me.

Roastville - Marrickville, NSW

The Mrs has been a bit busy this weekend with the in-laws heading off on a holiday for a few weeks so she this morning, she had to get up early and help drive them to the airport. Knowing the Mrs, she wouldn't have been all too happy about that (she loves her sleep) but one definite benefit of going to the airport is that you're extremely close to where all the brunch action is. That's exactly what the Mrs had planned and as soon as she dropped off her parents, the three of us (the brother-in-law, her and myself) all headed off to Marrickville to checkout a place we've been hearing about: Roastville.

 

The original plan was to go there and check out their fried chicken and waffles which has been circulating instagram lately but unfortunately, upon arrival we'd learned that the waffles were only available from 11:30am onwards...shame. Still, that didn't deter us from having a great meal there so we promptly ordered coffee and food. The coffee beans are roasted in house and therefore, it's obvious that you have to try what they have on offer. The Mrs looked impressed so that's a good sign but I'll be honest, despite being great there really wasn't any outstanding or notable differences...then again, I'm really no coffee connoisseur.

Well, I really didn't come here for the coffee but for the epic looking food. The brother-in-law and I both ordered the dirty bird benedict (which I didn't actually know was their signature dish) and I have to say...it was amazing. The excessiveness of the dish is the first thing you'll notice...when you look at the dish, the first thing you ask yourself is "how am I even eating something like this in the morning?" but it totally works. There isn't too much hollandaise (a crime a lot of other eggs bennys are guilty of) but what you get really helps to accentuate the dish. It's a perfect amount of moorish creaminess and tartness with what a really delicious kick from that mild harissa. The chicken is super tender and juicy (so juicy) with ample tonkatsu-like crunch (the Mrs said they probably use panko bread crumbs). Finally, that bread...it was so moist and flavoursome that it was almost biscuit like in texture...definitely my highlight of the day.

The Mrs wanted to be different and ordered the eggs on toast with a side of chickpea, kale and tomato ragout as well as some chorizo...which surprisingly, totally worked. The toast is nice and rustic (just the way she likes it) and the beetroot relish really helped cut through the butter egg yolk and give it some sweetness. The ragout was delicious in it's own simplistic way with crunchy kale, chickpeas and a slight tartness from the tomato which to me, tasted like there was almost a middle-eastern spin on the ragout. The chorizo was also great in that they didn't use the smoked variety which at times, ends up a bit dry when cooked. Instead, they opted for the unsmoked kind which made it really sweet fatty and meaty.

Although I am admittedly slightly disappointed that I didn't get to try the fried chicken and waffles, today was definitely no loss as I got to try their spin on my favorite breakfast and we are extremely impressed with their execution of the food. They strike a very fine balance between healthy, raw ingredients and excessive yet satisfying and soulful dishes. Marrickville was already an amazing foodie destination but I believe it's now gotten even better with it's addition of this delightful cafe.