Miss Fera, Miss Jamie, and I had a date night for a catch up since (A) we haven’t seen Miss Fera a lot since she finished, and (B) we haven’t done it for a while. We settled on going to Bondi Junction (rather than Randwick again) with no plan in mind, but the night couldn’t have worked out any better!

We wandered around and I suggested to have Ramen Kan. While Miss Jamie had it before and didn’t like it, she was willing to give it another shot since she didn’t order ramen last time. So we beat the busy time and got a table straight away, but weren’t given a menu for a while (which was even better since we had SO much to talk about and weren’t in a rush to order).

When we got our menu, we got soft shell crab and agedashi tofu to share. Miss Fera got the Crispy fish noodles, Miss Jamie the tonkatsu shoyu ramen, and I ordered a teriyaki beef udon rather than the other beef udon (I thought I had that one before, but checking back on my previous Ramen Kan post, I realised I had it twice in a row!).

Soft shell crab

Agedashi tofu

Teriyaki beef udon

Tonkatsu shoyu ramen

Crispy fish noodle

The food was a bit on the salty side (especially the crispy fish noodles), and Miss Fera didn’t end up finishing her meal. However, we did enjoy the (very filling) meal!

Ramen Kan
3/25-33 Bronte Road
Bondi Junction NSW 2022
Phone: (02) 9387 5691

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After food, we went into Bondi Junction Westfields with an intention to walk it off… We ended up window shopping (everything was closed), mostly stalking shoes for Miss Fera’s yellow and navy dress. After a funny encounter with one of the securities (who probably think we’re weird or suss or both), we ended up sitting in the shopping center and chatted the night away… it was heaps fun, and like a slumber party without the pillows, jammies, or location. We called it a night approaching 11 PM.

At long last, we hear from the busy AC (who if not caught the travel bug, has been busy with work), and even offered a breakfast outing with the rest of us RC members (Ag buddy, ZW, and I). So even though a 9 AM start was quite early for a Saturday, we looked forward to catching up over bacon & eggs, of course.

And early I was, subconsciously waking at 5:30 AM thinking I was late, slept again, and still had excess time by the time I got up (I’m not even that early for uni!). Apparently, I was not the only one who was early; Ag buddy was also early… she even turned up to Central station 20 minutes early, despite having trackwork on her train line.

Anyway, due to good reviews, we decided to have our breakfast at Cafe Ish, an Australian/Japanese cafe at Surry Hills.

At first, we didn’t head in because between Cafe Ish and the neighbouring shop, there appears to be a video shoot of some sort. And we thought we’d wait outside a tiny bit since ZW hadn’t arrived yet.

After a while, we walked in but weren’t served a seat, so we randomly resided at a table. The waitress came by and asked if we were ready to order, and we told her we wanted the menu. And then she came by 2 minutes later to ask if we were ready to order drinks, to which we replied that we hadn’t decided yet. Two minutes passed, and she walks by to ask if we wanted to order yet, so on impulse, we ordered our drinks (Ag buddy and I ordered an orange juice each, and AC an English breakfast tea). Another waitress came by, and we told her we ordered our drinks, and that we also told her we were waiting for a friend. So, they relocated us to upstairs to accommodate the 4 of us, which was a lot comfier!

By that stage, I was feeling a sense of urgency and unwelcomed by the place.

Anyway, ZW finally arrived, and the waitress saw this as an opportunity to ask if he wanted to order a drink, and he just replied no. We sat deciding on which “breakkie ish” meal we wanted to order. At the end, AC decided on a Little ish, whilst ZW, Ag buddy, and I went for the Big ish.

We had to tell them our preference of bread (white or whole grain), and the way we liked our eggs. Somehow, I remembered to ask them to cook my meal with extra virgin olive oil rather than butter (lactose-issues), but completely forgot that scrambled eggs are often cooked with milk (argh!)… Until it came out looking creamy (commented by Ag buddy). So we clarified with the waitress, and they tried to accommodate for intolerance. In the end, Ag buddy agreed to do a swap with me (she had poached eggs), but her toast was buttered, so the waitress offered us another piece of toast. Everything worked out, but man was I in the mood for some scrambled eggs!

Orange juice ($5.5)

AC’s Little ish (fried egg)

Quattro Stelle bacon, 1 egg, roast tomato and toast ($13.5)

Ag buddy’s Big ish (poached eggs)

2 eggs, bacon, tomato, croc sausage, mushroom, beans, toast, fried potato mochi ($24)

ZW and I ordered Big ish with scrambled eggs

2 eggs, bacon, tomato, croc sausage, mushroom, beans, toast, fried potato mochi ($24)

Aside from previous issues, we all had an awesome meal! The orange juice tasted fresh, the food tasted and looked lovely. My poached eggs were cooked perfectly, the croc sausage tasted very different (it was quite spicy actually), the bacon, oh what can I say to bacon… I just love bacon! Not a fan of beans, so I just ignored it and can’t comment. ZW was yet again the lab rat and tried the potato mochi for me, and to his suspicions, it did contain cream/cheese. So that was something I also didn’t eat. But everything else was great!

And! The waitresses practically left us alone to the point where we actually found it hard to grab their attention. Complete 180 degree, but I liked it better this way!

We had the most random talks, which were often accompanied by loud laughter. One example… we had dubbed one of the doors “the jump of death”… because it looked like you had to jump down when exiting that door (click on picture and you’ll see why).

Door (see back story)

Anyway, we had a nice and filling meal, and continued our journey out the door by walking for about an hour, burning the food off while having more random chats and soaking up the lovely sun (by the way, how beautiful was the weather today?!).

Cafe ish
82 Campbell Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 9281 1688 ‎

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So so so!

So excited about this I had made a new post about it.

Last Friday night out with the girls, after saying bye to NM, we popped into Gelatissimo for a quick treat as I know for sure there’s always sorbet for my poor lactose-intolerance self (haha, self-pity). Self-pity pretty much ended there when I spotted a new flavour that looked FANTASTIC!

Chocolate sorbet.

Chocolate sorbet.

Chocolate sorbet.

I had to order it! And it was fantastic!! I think due to the lack of milk, it turned out more like dark chocolate, but I’ve pretty much gotten too used to not having milk that this chocolate was normal to me. Instant favourite! On the other hand, the strawberry flavour I ordered to accompany my chocolate was just okay.

Princess KZ (left) and my sorbet (right; strawberry and chocolate sorbet)

So the next day (Saturday) at Burwood, Mr AG and I popped into Gelatissimo again… This time I didn’t hold back and ordered two scoops of chocolate sorbet. Yum! ♥

Double chocolate sorbet:Indulgence!

And today, after AC had to leave for work, I suggested to go Gelatissimo again to get more of the chocolate sorbet (just can’t have enough!) and lychee sorbet as my other scoop… ZW got a lychee sorbet as well and whilst he really liked it because it was really sweet, I thought it was overly sweet but quite tasty. ZW’s green tea didn’t gt a mention, but I think he liked it. Ag buddy got a scoop of white chocolate, and she said it was really creamy and indulgent.

ZW, Ag buddy, and my sorbet.

So, spring has just started (despite today’s warm warm weather), and already I’ve had so much dessert (mostly sorbet)! I feel like such a glutton! But I love it!

A meetup with my girls was due a while back, though it kept getting rescheduled due to unexpected things coming up. Finally, we decided on having dinner tonight, and quickly made up our mind to dine at an Indonesian restaurant called Delima due to good reviews. Princess FR said she’d bring her guy friend along, so Princess KZ and I decided to bring ours as well. And then FR had an emergency work shift, resulting her not being able to make it. So then it was Princess KZ (and DC), Princess NM, Mr AG and I.

Rushing from uni, Mr AG and I found it a tiny bit confusing to find (so we took the easy way out and phoned KZ to ask for directions). Apparently, it’s in the alleyway of China Town, in one of the shops, upstairs. Inside was ambient and looked very nice (with some nice decors). My first thought was that this place was perhaps one of those a hidden gem. As we approached, the waiter asked, and we told him we had a table with KZ, and he led us to our table… this was funny because apparently, KZ had not made reservations under her name (or told them her name when she got a table)… So how they guessed (and so sure about it), I did not know.

Hellos were exchanged when we arrived. Our table (and surrounding ones) had a thin layer of tassel-like curtain (not sure what they’re called)… you can see through it completely, but because it was segregated by a physical barrier, it felt discreet (which I enjoyed; I like feeling like I can put my bag down without someone coming and stepping on it).

Because Mr AG and I were late, they already had ideas on which dishes to order… and since we weren’t too fussed (as long as there’s no lactose, I’m game… and Indonesian food should be pretty safe with that), we just went with whatever they ordered. In the end, we got these 5 dishes, and had rice with them.

Coconut Rice ($4 per person)

Ayam Kari

Old times favorite Sumatran curry chicken ($15.95)

Garlic Shoot Cah Sapi

Stir-fry garlic shoots with beef tenderloin, salty fish, and chili shrimp paste ($15.95)

Ikan Bakar Bali

Grilled whole fish with Balinese sauce ($29.95)

Ayam Panggang Kalasan

Grilled chicken with sweet and soy-based Javanese style sauce ($15.95)

Kwetiaw Goreng

Stir fry flat rice noodle with seafood ($14.95)

I honestly didn’t think I’d like the ayam kari (I’m not too big on curries), but I liked the flavour of this one, though I couldn’t have too much of it at once. The garlic shoot cah sapi was nice; I really liked the beef tenderloin. The shoots also had a different flavour to the beef, which was interesting. The fish had a good flavour, but we thought it was slightly dry (fair enough, it is a dry dish); we should have tried one with a sauce or something. The fried chicken was pretty good, and I guess it was the easiest to fit into the palate of someone who isn’t too used to Indonesian food. I really liked the noodles as well, and it actually reminds a lot of us of Thai pad see ewe (noodles like that can’t go wrong for me). Being Asian, we had our dishes with coconut rice; it smelt really fragrant, it was quite nice, but methinks $4 per person is a bit much, especially compared to the other dishes we ordered. Apart from that, I thought the food was reasonably priced for what it was.

Overall, Mr AG and I enjoyed the food moderately and would go again… NM thought it was okay but wouldn’t personally make effort to dine here again (unless friends requested). I think we feel the way we do about the food because we’re actually not used to the taste as much. I’ve only had Indonesian food about twice… and my palate needs to adjust accordingly, so I am definitely willing to try more Indonesian food in general.

Food: 7/10
Ambience: 8/10
Service: 9/10
Value: 7/10

Delima Restaurant
69/1 Dixon Street
Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9267 7045

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Met up with two RC buddies (Ag buddy and Mr ZW) for dinner. After a long time wandering around and deciding, we went for a cafeteria-like Japanese restaurant called Menya Mappen. They serve udon/soba/don (which are apparently hand-made?), side dishes such as seaweed salad and various tempura, and drinks too.  They carry a simple concept, offer convenient value meals (udon from $3.90!), and are efficient/have a high turnover rate of customers (a policy of theirs is that you can’t take seats before ordering).

Hungry, I made up my mind on what to order when I saw this beauty on the menu…

That’s right, I wanted a “large hot bukkake udon”.

Because this was my first time, I had Ag buddy lead my in the self service line. When it was my turn to order, I just couldn’t be mature and order my bukkake straight, so I pointed to the menu. Moving along the self-service aisle of goodies (I took a chicken breast tempura, 2 seaweed salads, and a soft-boiled egg), we got to the end where the guy at the counter calculated the price (mine was $8.80 all up!). It was then that was when I realised I had forgotten to order my udon in the large size! At the end, I was right; if I hadn’t messed up and remembered to order the larger udon, it would’ve been a filling meal. Nevertheless, it was tasty and affordable, and I would definitely go there again (perhaps to try a kake next time… with pics).

Menya Mappen Noodle Bar
11/537-551 George Street
Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9283 5525

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Next stop was dessert! We headed to LNC Dessert House for a proper catch up (since it Menya Mappen wasn’t quite the place for such things), and to fill any excess space in the stomach (which I had a bit of).

I ended up ordering a scoop of green tea sorbet and a mango sorbet… which I enjoyed but I won’t order together in the future (they didn’t go well together on the same plate… though I doubt many would go with green tea sorbet!). ZW’s tofu wasn’t as soft and fluffy as it appeared (which I remembered when I had this last time), and Ag buddy ordered a milk dessert (we joked that it was heated milk), which was apparently like custard and was light and fluffy. It sounded yummy!

Tofu with mango sorbet (Mr ZW’s)

Green tea and mango sorbet (mine)

LNC Dessert House:
12/339 Sussex Street
Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9283 3823

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We ended the night but not before taking sticker photos (purikura). As always, that was pretty fun! ♥

Had an impromptu meetup with Ag buddy and RC buddy!

We went for sushi train at Takumi (no pics for this). Incidentally, we sat next Ag buddy’s friend but hadn’t realised it until a few plates in. The sushi was good, though we noticed a couple of things after a while. (1) Everything was supplemented with mayo (and I avoid mayo out of paranoia). (2) The same thing kept coming around. (3) We kept making a grab for the seaweed salad ship (but it’s yummy!)…

We ended up downing 30 plates of sushi altogether, and ready for dessert! (Actually, I lie, we were pretty full but wanted to catch up more, so dessert was the way to go)!

And then we had herbal grass jelly at Meet Fresh, while teaching Ag buddy Cantonese… I taught her how to say “eat banana” and “bad boy” among other things, and she made the funniest combos with those words, and they made perfect sense as well. She picked it up fast…

Takumi
Market City, Shop R3.02b, 9-13 Hay St
Haymarket NSW 2000
Phone: (02) 9281 7200 ‎

Map:

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Meet Fresh
13 Goulburn Street
Haymarket NSW 2000
Phone: (02) 8339 1031 ‎

Map:

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Mr AG and I met up with Mr MI and Mr CW at North Strathfield for dinner. We couldn’t decide on which restaurant to dine at, and came across a nice-looking Thai place called Thai Paragon, and decided to settle there (as it was starting to get cold from being out too much).

The place had a nice interior design, was dimly lit (with flickering table candles), and was warm. It was a busy restaurant, and it got a little noisy sometimes, but the ambiance was good.

We decided on what to order, and one of the waitresses came to take our order. It literally went like this:

Mr MI: Can I have some fish cakes?
Waitress: Anything else?
Mr MI: And a Massaman lamb?
Waitress: Anything else?
Mr AG: Can we have the chiken pendan?
Waitress: Anything else?
Mr AG: And a  Tom Yum Prawn?
Waitress: Anything else?
Mr AG: And a chili basil noodle with rump beef.
Waitress: Anything else?
Mr CW: Can I have a Pad Thai chicken?
Waitress: Anything else?
Mr CW: And a coke?
Waitress: Anything more drinks?
Mr AG: I’ll have a coke as well.
Waitress: So 2 cokes.
Mr MI: And I’ll have a pure blonde.
Waitress: Anything else?
Me: And water for the table. That’s all for now.

Excusing that, the food came out in a timely manner, and was well-presented (check out the flower plate under the tom yum soup!). The servings didn’t look too bad either for the noodles (though the rice had to be ordered separately at $2.50 per person).

Fish cakes and chicken pandan

Tom yum prawns

Massaman lamb

Chili basil noodle with rump beef

Pad Thai chicken

In total, the food was pretty good, and we were pretty happy about it. My chili basil noodles was tasty, not too chili, and the rump beef was tender. The tom yum food had a great flavour, though the prawns were obviously frozen, and there were too few of them (not that I’d eat them).

The service up to this point was good… a red flag presented itself when the waitresses kept coming over and taking our plates, briefly mouthing a “finished?” while taking it away. We had to stop them a few times because we were NOT finished with it. The same deal when the waitress actually took our fish cake away with the same “finished?” attitude… I mean, I guess I didn’t have a choice but to BE finished!

And when our table was cleared (and they did so pretty quickly), I had suspicions that they were wanting us to leave. My suspicions were confirmed in less than a minute when one of the waitresses came to our table, handed us the bill (we hadn’t asked for it yet)… and pretty much told us that the table was for someone with reservations, and indicated that we should leave.

Yes, people are waiting for the table, but the way she did it was not very polite… I mean, if she had made a small talk, and said it in an apologetic manner, I would be so happy to comply. But it wasn’t like that at all.

On the way out (after paying the bill), I have a habit of saying “thanks” to waitstaffs. Usually, they would smile back, and say thanks as we leave… but this one passed either unnoticed or unappreciated… or both really. That said, we all walked out of the restaurant feeling a little bit annoyed.

So in short, good food served by people lacking in communication skills = a “could be better” experience that could have easily been “a great experience”.

That ends my mixed review for Thai Paragon Restaurant, North Strathfield.

Thai Paragon Restaurant
Shop G2, 24 Bakhouse Quarter, George St
North Strathfield NSW 2137
Phone: (02) 9746 7005

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Just came back from a dinner date with my 3 girls (and their boys)… minus Mr AG as he didn’t want to leave Little L, his mischievous pup, home alone… because he did that yesterday for a short while, and came home to a MASSIVE mess inside and out of the laundry room… and from his description, it was NOT pretty! So that pretty much leaves me as a 7th wheel, which is the most I’ve ever had (thanks Mr AG).

It was pretty much unplanned for us to have dinner at Burwood (it was originally at Ryde at 5:30, changed to City, and then Burwood… then it was changed to 6:30!)… We had wanted to catch up in George’s cafe, but it was pretty much packed out and booked out… so we tried Bello (inside Westfield shopping center), and there weren’t seats for 7. It was getting a little difficult so we settled for a cafe across George’s cafe called Sidnees cafe as the seated area inside was relatively empty (more people outside).

Everyone called for their food while I was still making a decision. After chit chatting for a bit, I went to order my drink and main. Guess who’s food and drink arrived before everyone else’s? Hehe.

Anyway, we had a good catch up (though it’s alittle hard for 7 people to be talking to each other around a rectangular table)… But moreover, the food was really mediocre; somewhat standard cafe food. And it wasn’t just me!

I ordered a veal schnitzel sandwich, and the veal schnitzel was very dry and plain, the chips were soggy and vapid, and the salad was had no taste. I didn’t end up eating most of it… I also had a fruit frenzy (which sounded cute), and it was fine, but a little too sweet!

Miss FR and Mr R ordered a chicken schnitzel and Miss FR thought it was very dry (Mr R did not touch his plate at all!).

Miss NM ordered a lasagna, and thought it was comparable to the ones you buy at the supermarkets and heat it up in the microwave…

Miss KZ got a carbonara (I think), and she told me that it was absolutely covered in cream… it got a little too much for her.

Fruit Frenzy

Veal schnitzel sandwich served with salad and fries

Chicken schnitzel (traditional)

Lasagna di carne

So anyway, mediocre cafe food… probably won’t be going there again.

Sidnees Cafe
53 Burwood Road
Burwood NSW 2134
Phone: (02) 9715 7466 ‎

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Miss Jamie, Miss Fera, and I went out for dinner and movie tonight!

Pu-Cha: Deep fried pork, prawns, crab meat, egg, served with sweet chilli sauce.

This was tasty =9

Garlic and Pepper Quails: Crispy quails marinated in garlic and pepper.

Hot Plate king prawns Cooked in spicy sauce

Chilli Basil chicken With mixed vegetables, sweet basil and fresh chilli.

Sticky rice with Thai custard

Can’t believe, this warm and tasty treat is dairy-free We ordered 2 to share.

Chao Praya
33 Perouse Road
Randwick NSW 2031
Phone: (02) 9399 5509

Map:

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And we JUST made to it Ritz cinemas to watch Bridesmaids. The cinemas was actually quite full (I don’t go to Ritz very often, but maybe I should, because it’s only $8 on Tuesdays!).

Some might say this is a chick flick, but I really don’t regard it as such.

This movie was very enjoyable; funny, awkward/embarrassing, colourful, and has some emotional/sadface moments, and even gag-gross in some scenes (to the point where I had to turn away). Some parts were wrong, and some parts were just WRONG (must watch the end bit… it’s only then I think you’ll see what I mean)!

I thought it had a nice amount of friendship, jealousy/competition, and romance (I’m not the type to like a lot of this stuff, but I like the amount in this flick).

I especially like how the lead actress (Kristen Wigg) portrayed Annie; very likable and almost unlikable at the same time! But the way she makes a fool out of herself… oh the hilarity! Oh and for some reason, I thought Rhodes was adorable! :3

Anyway, we all enjoyed it a lot, it has good ratings on rotten tomatoes, and I recommend it.

Impromptu meet up with Antigen buddy and Miss YP =D

And with Miss YP, it only meant one thing… Korean food!

It was really busy and loud, and we sat right next to a sorta loud table (they were playing drinking games), so we screamed through our catch up! Plus, because the air con was on heat with people hot potting and BBQing around, it was an uncomfortable sweat-inducing warm in the restaurant! So off came outer wear (and I really packed on with that).

We ordered the beef and seafood hot pot (which was MASSIVE), and some bulgogi (which we perhaps shouldn’t have, since we had so much food!). A peach tea for me and a soju for Miss YP and Antigen buddy (as I don’t drink).

Hot pot soup base

Lots of stuff for our hot pot: Chinese cabbage, carrots, mushrooms, tofu, cucumbers, udon noodles, beef, mussels, prawns, squid… I’m sure I’ve missed stuff as well!

Bulgogi

And then as we were finishing up, a guy came up to our table, kinda drunk, and started telling us how he was penalised for a drinking game, and had to have a toast with the 3 of us.

So he poured me a drink (the other girls had one), and I had to pour him one, and toasted/drank up. And then he asked me to pick some food up and feed him.

We were so amused… until Antigen buddy told me that his friend caught it all on camera! But anyway, how random is that?!

Anyway, great night and catch up (long overdue), and something funny to remember it by ^_^;

Kobow
68 Liverpool Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Phone: (02) 9283 8077 ‎

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