Instafoodies Event - Glebe, NSW

We're back! Back again! And this is true in more ways than one! It really has been more than a while since our last blog post and there's very good reasons for that: unfortunately, our computer needed to be re-formatted. With the recent release of Overwatch, my old tower wasn't capable of running the game so I had to spend weeks figuring out how to update my computer to the point where I could play the game. No regrets though since it's been heaps of fun playing online with my friends and in the heat of the new game, I've completely forgotten to write anything about our recent adventures!

So we're back on the blog again! and this time, we find ourselves back at Hem Nine Nine! See, we had such a blast at Hem Nine Nine last time that when we got an invite to come back and attend an instafoodies event (organised by Robbie from it'd be rude not to), we knew we just had to come back. On the day, there were no markets on so parking was a bit easier to find than the first time we went. As we walked in, Robbie was there to greet us and it was so great to finally see him in person. The magic of social media is that you will get to know people rather intimately without ever having met them at all. I'd followed Robbie on Instagram for some time now but the event was the first time I'd actually met him. This becomes this sort of reoccurring theme throughout the event as I come to see a lot of people I follow of Instagram as well.

So as the place quickly starts filling up again, we found ourselves back on the table we sat at the last time. Since there were so many invitees and space was becomes scarce, we were seated with other instagramers and attendees (who we quickly got acquainted with...nice to meet you Erika, Mandy, Vee, Susan, Lily). As we get to know each other, the food starts rolling in dish by dish (which at that point was really exciting since we were starving!). Better still, we were presented with dishes that we didn't get to try last time! (we're only two stomachs...couldn't order that much even if we wanted to). Now, we were given a LOT to eat (we were SO full by the end of it) so I can't go into too much detail about each but I will give you a good run down of each dish (further descriptions can be found on our Instagram):

1. The duck rice paper rolls. Tasted like peking duck but with a little Vietnamese influence. I liked the addition of pickles!

2. Fish balls! you would not believe how happy I was when this arrived at the table. So reminiscent of my childhood trips to the home town of Hong Kong. Spicy, springy and delicious!

3. Wagyu Bo Luc Lac skewers. I mean, I love Bo Luc Lac (shaking beef) already but to make it with Wagyu and then put it on skewers? Ingenious! Super tender cubes of beef, char-grilled and served with sweet capsicum and slaw on the side.

4. Ox tongue: very tasty and savoury sauce that glazes these slices of tender ox tongue. A good squeeze of citrus really helped cut through the rich, beefy flavour and sauce.

5. A platter of soft, toasted bread rolls serverd with roasted bone marrow, chopped fresh chilli and pickled onions. Sort of like a...decadent and buttery do-it-yourself sandwich. Very delicious.

6. The grilled lemongrass pork skeweres we had last time. Still just as good! Still just as flavoursome and fatty.

7. Pork belly Baos. I believe these are also served on their "Mama Linhs" food truck and whilst the serving of pork belly in a Chinese bun is nothign new, Hem Nine Nine's rendition really stands out from the rest in that they pack in the sauce and the pickles that come with it are fantastic.

 

8. Crispy skin chicken! I mean, how can you not love this perennial Vietnamese favourite? Very crunchy deep fried skin that sits on top of the juicy chicken meat. It's really great how they chopped it all up and it had no bones in it at all so it makes for a great drinking snack.

9. Bo Kho...I can never pronounce it right whenever I try to order this at a Vietnamese restaurant but I love it all the same. Less sweet than most other versions I've had out there but definitely packing in the rich, meaty flavour. Love the addition of other cuts of beef and the general omission of the tendon (not a big fan of tendon).

10. By this point, I was well and truly stuffed...could not imagine handling more food. Then someone mentioned that the last dish was gonna be Pho...I almost freaked out! Luckily, it was Pho but not as we knew it. What we got was the Pho Banh Mi which was this bread roll stuffed with tender, fall apart beef that's been cooked in Pho spices and then served with generous amounts of sriracha mayo and other veges you typically find with pho. Very ingenious way of modernising one of my favourite noodle dishes.

Finally, after all the food that we gorged on, Robbie comes out to address the crowd. Kudos to Robbie for organising such a successful event! Additionally, for dessert, we got treated to a slice of the amazing cake from Desserts with Lynda! I've been a massive, MASSIVE fan of hers for a while and it turns out that she reads our blog too! Such a wonderful delight to know that someone you follow on Insta reads your content as well and it was amazing having met her...such a humble person for the amount of success she's accumulated in such a short time.

The cake was super moist and I loved the addition of the pandan cream! Would 10/10 love to eat something like this again! Overall, the Mrs and I had a blast attending this event. If I haven't said this before, I'll say this now: Hem Nine Nine serve up a fine Vietnamese fiest I'm honoured and glad to have been able to dine there twice already. I'm certain that things will only get better for them from now on and I do recommend giving them a try when you can! Thank you to Mama Linh, Chef Peter, Hem Nine Nine for the wonderful food and hospitality and thank you for inviting us to celebrate the birthday of the food truck! A special thank you to Robbie for organising as well!

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!

Salaryman - Surry Hills, NSW

I've always, always wanted to be a cook or a chef...I never made it but I still dream about it day and night. It was only in the last couple of years that I'd found what I was truly passionate about and that's ramen. It all started when I had my first legitimate bowl of ramen in a tiny shop in the heart of Tokyo a little more than a decade ago. Since then, I haven't had enough of the stuff. One day, when I have enough incentive and nothing to stop me, I'll fly to Japan and sign up to ramen school (yes, that exists). For now, I'll need to live vicariously through my dining experiences of which, my most recent was Salaryman (last night).

I managed to separate myself from the Mrs and had the opportunity to eat out with a mate. Knowing that he is as much of a foodie as I am, I decided to set the location at a place I assumed we both wanted to try out. We arrived at roughly 6:30pm and got seated right at the bar where the open kitchen was situated. My mate is a really, really chill guy but I genuinely felt horrible since my focus was split between maintaining concentration on the conversation we were having, and being distracted by the magnificent work of the brilliant chefs who were just an inch from where we were seated. Seeing the chef delicately and meticulously slicing bonito just fascinated me to no end. So clearly, it was the perfect seating arrangement.

Once we'd made our decision on what we wanted, we promptly placed our our orders and waited patiently for our dishes to arrive. I find that it's nice to occasionally catch up with a friend you haven't seen in a sometime. It breaks the  monotony of daily life and gives you a bit of context and insight into theirs. As we got into our discussion, our first order arrived: oysters! A dozen of them! I'll be honest, I'm a sucker for decadent, luxurious things...foie gras, caviar, uni and oysters...I love it all. Salaryman does this particularly well which is great.The oysters are super fresh and still retain that briney flavour, but are light enough that I think even people who don't regularly enjoy oysters could appreciate this. The vinaigrette has hints of ginger and rice wine vinegar (I think) which is great for cutting right through it and opening up your appetite.

Shortly after our oysters, our order of prawn toast okonomiyaki arrived. This was a really, really interesting dish to me as I'm a Chinese guy who has a palate way more in tune with Japanese flavours. This dish felt like the best of both worlds. Prawn paste is sandwiched between two slices of white bread, crumbed and then fried for a really crunchy texture. Next,  they just pack on the umami by adding okonomiyaki sauce, kewpie mayo, bonito flakes and aonori. Flavour wise, it tastes just like your favourite do-it-yourself Japanese pancake but texturally, it's definitely a prawn toast (minus the excess of sesame seeds and overused, greasy oil).

We finished up our starters and watched as the kitchen prepared our mains. The first to reach us was our order of the bone marrow with duck ham and fried milk bread. Seriously, this dish was impressively delicious. It's fatty, rich and beefy but has so many different elements that come together and make it great. The bone marrow is legit just that: two pieces of beef fat roasted over an open wood fire. You then eat it with soft, pillowy fried bread and the duck ham which gives it this savoury, salty element. I'd be able to down one (or three) of these by myself.

Finally, my most anticipated dish arrived: the pork and pipi ramen. Visually, it looks nothing like any other ramen you've had: it's much smaller which can be confusing because of the price they charge, but straight away, you can tell that a lot of thought went into this humble bowl of noodles. The soup stock isn't gravy thick like other Sydney ramen establishments but had an almost equivalent meaty depth to it. The pippies were cooked in the wood fire until they'd just opened up, yielding that delicious meat as you tear the pippies from their shells. The thick cut pork belly was super fatty but could have been a bit softer or more tender in my opinion. The noodles were wavy and clung to the soup well with a delicate yet springy snap. Finally, the black garlic and sesame oil rounds out the whole bowl by giving it that additional layer of moreish, aromatic flavour. The best bits of the ramen were actually the two ajitsuke eggs that sit on top. Eggs in ramen are usually just salty and molten, whereas Salaryman's rendition has a defined acidity to it which really helps cut through the richness of the whole bowl... It's an experience and a half eating one of those eggs. It's a really, really great and interesting bowl of noodles but the combination of all the heavy flavours can leave you a bit stuffy even much later into the night.

Salaryman claims to be the best ramen in Surry Hills (on their website) and while I personally don't think I can attest to that (at least until I've tried Komachi) I certainly think they do what they do really well. They've sold Surry Hills (and greater Sydney) on the idea of delicious, well-done Japanese inspired dishes. The flavour of the ramen they create isn't the traditional type of ramen that makes you reminisce about the streets of Tokyo. Instead, they are edgy and dynamic, which in my opinion is more reminiscent of the David Chang/Momofuku Noodle Bar movement. With that in mind, I very much like the direction that the Sydney food scene is going.

Ghostboy Cantina - Chinatown, NSW

At the moment, I'm making a mad scramble to catch up on my posts. I've been eating out so much recently and I've let the content build up. I really, really don't like leaving things too long as I find I can't visualise the flavours as well the longer I leave it. That said, there are places you eat at that you can't really forget...such a Ghostboy Cantina. You will rarely find a place which has you dreaming about it each and every day.

Although it wasn't too long ago that I dined with them, I feel like it's appropriate for me to write about them since they left such a deep impression on me. Firstly, their name is mad hilarious! I literally figured out the meaning as I was standing there waiting for my tacos...you see, Ghostboy is located near the back of the Dixon House food court which is in the middle of Chinatown. As if not the most out of place store there, they take it a step further by making a tongue-in-cheek prod at that fact: when translated to Cantonese, ghostboy become gwai zai or "white boy"...yes, as in young Caucasian lad.

That said, the titular "gwai zai" is mad impressive: Toby Wilson, who was the previous owner and head barista of Wedge Espresso in Glebe has a magic ability of seamlessly blending Asiatic and Latin flavours and presenting it in a bite size package of absolute flavour. I managed to sample all their current offerings by visiting twice over the course of two weeks. On my first visit, I was stressed for time so I could only really order takeaway. 

I chose to order the beef and pork with an order of fries knowing that I'd be back for their cauliflower taco. You'd assume that being takeaway, it wouldn't be as good anymore but no, you'd be wrong...it's still bloody fantastic. I bit down on the beef taco and as I do, the thin, double layered flour tortilla (which is actually toasted peking duck wrapper) gave way to the tender, rich beef. All the other ingredients: the onion, coriander, salsa and bean sprouts combine in your mouth and just for a moment, a familiar joy floods my mouth as I feel the sensation of a delicious bowl of pho compounded into one, single bite. I just stand there...smiling like a dork.

From my second visit

I think I ate the tacos in the wrong order because after the beef, the pork (which, according to Instagram is actually the crowd favourite) just really didn't bring me the same happiness. I mean, it's still a great package: fatty pulled pork sits on top of the same toasted wrapper with crisp, fresh and sweet peach cubes, basil, salsa roja and verde...still a great taco but just not at decadent and moreish as the beef.

On my second visit (last weekend), I shared some tacos with the Mrs and my good mate. There, I had the beef and pork again but this time, we also ordered the cauli. This led to another mind-blowing moment because the cauli was also intensely delicious!! Fried florets of cauliflower, salsa verde, onions, herbs and this amazing cashew and macadamia cream...all topped with fried shallots. If you don't like vegetables...you will after to take a bite of this.

Both times I've visited, I also made it a point to order the fries which were great (well seasoned and slightly tart) but really, when you have tacos as amazing and well made as the ones described above...nothing else matters.

Toby has stated in an interview that he doesn't know how long Ghostboy will stay around but Toby, if you are reading this: you're doing amazing work and I'm sure hoping you'll be around for a long, long time.