ZenQ Desserts, CBD

Spent early afternoon tramping around Cockatoo Island with the boy trying to get photos for my studio project which is actually due very soon... Crap. But trying not to think about that... I wasted time until mid afternoon with the boy. I was going to buy some macarons from Laduree but the line was so incredibly long. What are people doing at 2:30 anyway?! So I suppose I will have to wait until next time.

I met up with A, F and M for an afternoon dessert snack! Since A is back from Melbourne for a short few days and F is also leaving for Adelaide once again this weekend. But gee, I really ought to cut down on some of that sugar. But it really was delicious sugar! I love Asian desserts because of all the chewy extras that we can add in.

Coconut sago with taro, $6.80

Ok, this really does not look too appetising. It really just looks like a pool of white... But the taro pieces were really deliciously sweet and the coconut sago was amazing! Though to be honest, it's really hard to mess coconut sago up unless you dilute it waaay too much...

Red bean soup with ZenQ signature Q balls and pearls, $6.50 + jelly cake, $0.60 + sweet potato, $0.60

This was a bowl full of chewy goodness! The Q balls were apparently sweet potato, taro and matcha flavoured. I could taste the difference between the three, but I couldn't really tell they were these specific flavours... But they were really good regardless. The jelly cakes were slippery suckers and the sweet potato was also extra sweet as it had been marinated in honey.

The honey toasts looked amazing as they were being brought out for other tables - I know what I'm ordering next time! They also have a lot of $5.50 afternoon specials which we somehow missed after zooming in straight for the menu... If we had only gotten the red bean sago that was on the specials menu! Oh well.

I love how we can so easily talk about nothing and everything for almost 3 hours straight and it still felt like no time had passed whatsoever. I really do miss having all of you here constantly to talk to whenever I want and it really was wonderful being able to catch up with you girls again and can't wait until summer break!

ZenQ Desserts
181/569 George St
Sydney, NSW, 2000
9267 9880

Pasticceria Papa, Haberfield

Cheesecake for breakfast! How healthy... Ok, after today, time to eat much more clean!

Torta di ricotta, $4.00

This slice of cheesecake was one of the better ones I've had lately. I loved the slightly chewy crust that surrounded the ricotta innards which were so smooth and creamy. What was great about this cheesecake was that it didn't feel too heavy when eating it which is the case with a lot of cheesecakes. It also wasn't overly sweet nor was there excess amounts of cinnamon dusted on top which was perfect because the delicate flavour of the ricotta was not overpowered by these other flavours. It was also really cheap for the slice!

Macarons, $2.00 each

I love macarons! Though I don't love the price... They do hurt my wallet. But sometimes I do get incessant cravings for them and I was sold once the lady told me the flavours in the display cabinet. What I noticed was that the orange one was significantly smaller compared to the other two.

Left to right: coconut, lemon & lime, rockmelon

Necessary innards shot! But yes, the rockmelon was what really sold me. It also had to be my favourite out of the three (: The coconut one wasn't bad - definitely one of the better ones I've had and I loved the surprising chocolate centre! But I could tell the coconut flavour came from the use of essence so that sort of had me a bit apprehensive. But the texture of these macarons were spot on - crisp shell on the outside that was soft and had a slight resistance when taking a bite.

I definitely will be back for the cheesecake.

Pasticceria Papa
145 Ramsay St
Haberfield, NSW, 2045
9799 9631
http://ppapa.com.au/

Opening Hours
Monday - Friday: 8:00am - 6:00pm
Saturday: 7:30am - 5:00pm
Sunday:7:30am - 1:00pm

Milk Bar by Cafe Ish, Redfern

Been wanting to come here for ages ever since I heard it opened! I was very sad about the closing down of Cafe Ish as I never managed to go there to try their crab omelette but after I heard about this, I was very excited.

Bounty milkshake, $7.00

This milkshake was so deliciously thick and rich with coconut macaroon ice cream, coconut milk and chocolate sauce. I wish it was served more cold though. Then it would've been perfect! It also came with the canister which had even more of the milkshake in it! Talk about excess :D And digging around the bottom, we were rewarded with big chunks of unblended chocolate. Yuuuuum. I was pretty full from sucking down most of this milkshake because it was just THAT rich!

Bounty milkshake & rockn road milkshake, $7.00 each

The boy ordered a rockn road milkshake which had coconut macaroon ice cream, chocolate sauce, red racer syrup and coconut milk. I liked my choice better to be honest ;) The boy wanted the Lime Time milkshake but they sold out unfortunately :( Devastated because it really did sound delicious. Reminds me of Splice icecream which I absolutely adore.

Crab and cone, $14.00

It was the middle of the afternoon and we wanted to try various things so we weren't quite ready to commit to their large serving of legendary crab omelette. Therefore we got the smaller version - how cute is the cone of chips? Soft shelled crab is always a winner in my books. I really could eat it all the time. It went surprisingly well with the avocado and the flavours from the shallots, garlic, chilli, soy and ginger really made this dish super delicious. A squeeze of lime and I was off like mmm...

Bacon cheeseburger, $6.00

The boy ordered the bacon cheeseburger because he couldn't resist the cheap price. Didn't try this but he scoffed it down pretty damn quick and was apparently pretty yum.

Ais freaking awesome chicken wings, $13.00

Hello deep-fried goodness! Ah, these plans of eating clean with less carbs really isn't working for me is it... It is worth it though for these wings of tastiness! We asked what sauce would be recommended as tonnes of the food bloggers around have been going for the crab sauce, but apparently the vinegar and shallot sauce is better so vinegar and shallot it was! And boy was I glad we got this sauce! My sister preferred the crab sauce that was on the omelette but I totally fell in love with this one. Perfect amount of sweet and sour - it didn't even need the lime that was provided on the side! Think I preferred the chicken over the omelette.

The main reason we went to Redfern was because my sister wanted to go formal shopping and there was this amazing formal store in Redfern where I had bought my formal dress was amazingly cheap! Unfortunately, they closed down so she felt as though she was in a bit of strife. Instead, we decided to hit up Birkenhead Point, and we really thought we had to speed through all the stores there because it was a quarter to 5 when we arrived and shops closed at 5:30! Turns out we needn't have worried because we are indeed speedy shoppers and made rounds of the entire outlet in about half an hour. Efficient much? But we still didn't find anything so guess she has to find luck elsewhere...

Last minute decision to stop by at Pasticceria Papa in Haberfield for their famous ricotta baked cheesecake before my boyfriend chaffeured my sister home! I shall make a post about this tomorrow after I take it out of the fridge to devour muahaha.

After my sister went home, the boy still had a couple of hours before he went off to train with his team, so why not go for some froyo?

Small peanut butter froyo, $4.50 with mango pearls and crumble, $1.00 per topping

Wowcow is definitely not on the cheap side in terms of froyo. Noggi prices are better for their froyo sizing, as well as their toppings which come down to 50c per topping. Whereas I normally love peanut butter to bits, this flavour didn't quite appeal to me. It reminds me of those Asian peanut flavoured desserts which I am not too big of a fan of. And it didn't quite suit the yogurt I thought...

Oh well, their napkins sure are cute!

Milk Bar by Cafe Ish
105 Regent St
Redfern, NSW, 2016

Opening Hours
Monday, Wednesday-Friday: 6:30am - 5:00pm
Saturday, Sunday: 8:00am - 5:00pm

Lightened up muesli

Summer is slowly coming back into our lives and that would mean lots of cold breakfasts like yogurt, fruit and cereal. What I love about having breakfasts like these is the fact that I could sprinkle some muesli on top to give it a wonderful crunch!

What I don't like about store bought muesli is the excess oil and that they can often be sickenly sweet. This crunchy version has been given a little makeover so that it is has no oil and is only lightly sweetened making it the perfect accompaniment to your breakfasts during summer without feeling like you're adding to your waistline! Especially since bikini season is coming up and I know we all want to look our best for that ;)

Before going into oven!

Lightened up muesli
Makes around 2 cups

Ingredients

Dry
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup peanuts (or any nuts of choice)
1 tbsp pepitas
1 tbsp sultanas
1 tbsp dried pineapple

Wet
1 heaped tbsp applesauce
1/4 cup honey
1 packet Natvia (3g) or sweetener of choice
1 tsp vanilla essence

Method
1. Preheat oven to 170C.

2. In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients together. If you want to add other dried fruits, do feel free to do so! Mix it up according to your taste buds. In a separate small bowl, mix together the wet ingredients except for the vanilla essence. Microwave on high for 30 seconds or until mixture is like a liquid. Stir the vanilla essence into the liquid mixture.

3. Add wet ingredients slowly to dry ingredients while mixing until everything is well incorporated. Spoon onto baking sheet.

4. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Stir through the mixture halfway through to ensure even baking.

5. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before pouring into an air-tight jar. It should keep for about 1-2 months.

Outback Steakhouse, North Strathfield

After finishing my 40% 20th Century Australian Architecture (oh wow that's a handful to say) presentation, I went on a double date with my friends at Outback Steakhouse! My boyfriend is always keen for some steak...

A had made a reservation and we were very quickly seated. Our waiter for the night was very attentive and always made sure everything was alright.

Coco Berry, $6.95

Everyone knows by now my weakness for coconut. Anything with coconut in it is always an instant order! Like this coconut strawberry smoothie. I couldn't taste the strawberry but it tasted exactly like Pina Colada!

Bloomin' Onion, $9.95

All I can say is yum. The batter was so crunchy and dipped into the spicy sauce made it so good. Both our boyfriends didn't eat much of this as they were saving stomach space for meat... Ah, boys will be boys.

Crispy calarami, $13.95

I love calarami and these were no exception. The sauces were what made it so delicious though! We were trying to figure out what the green one was and we just coulnd't figure it out. Turned out it's a wasabi mayonnaise when we asked a waiter! It definitely did not taste like wasabi and didn't have that sinus clearing effect for all you wasabi haters out there! It was actually quite nice. But when I checked on their website it said it was chive aioli which seems to make more sense... But who knows. The other one was a marinara sauce which we also used to dip our deep-fried onion bits into! A noted that it tasted like pizza when we dipped the onion into the marinara sauce which was true! A and I were seriously full after basically eating the two appetisers by ourselves and mains were still to come... So we sort of picked at our boyfriend's dishes instead of eating a main. A even "doggy-bagged" her burger and chips haha. DEEP-FRIED FOODS ARE DECEPTIVELY FILLING. But the rice pilaf in the Combo Griller ($34.95) was really good!

Then off to Aldi it was to buy some cheap lollies. Which are actually quite nice!

Outback Steakhouse
Level 1, 3 George Street
North Strathfield
Sydney, NSW, 2137
8756 5741
http://outbacksteakhouse.com.au

Opening Hours 
Monday-Thursday: 5:00-10:00pm
Friday: 5:00-11:00pm
Saturday: 12:00-11:00pm
Sunday: 12:00-10:00pm

pre-order excitement

Quick blog post while I procrastinate from uni work. I have a 50% portfolio due tomorrow along with another 40% presentation on Thursday! I've been almost delirious from lack of sleep - living on about 3 hours a night at the moment. My entire cohort are exhausted from all this work! I cannot wait for Thursday night. I might even just sleep all weekend - Sleeping Beauty style ;)

Anyway, on a bright note, I pre-ordered the iPhone 5 on Virgin! I've been with the company for so many years now and the free texts and calls Virgin to Virgin are definitely worth it. But happy days! I will finally have a new phone at the latest by next week! My Nokia is almost unusable... Every time I lock it, the screen will go weird on me and to be able to see things on the screen, I have to restart the phone. Plus I really hate how it runs on Simbian. So I think that really does call for a new one. I'm getting it in white which is super exciting. I cannot wait to download a whole tonne of fitness apps to use on it :D

Hello sexy iPhone!

Also been watching X-Factor whilst drawing up diagrams for our presentation. I love the super group the judges created this year! And the rapper is pretty damn awesome. I'm in love with his tattoo HAHA. But seriously, I can't believe they called themselves "The Collective".

...

THE COLLECTIVE. WHAT KIND OF NAME IS THAT?! What surprises me even more was that people voted for this name and it was the most popular. Really is not a catchy band name. But they do sound amazing ♥

I'm pretty sure I'm one of the biggest fangirls out, for almost everything. Especially The Vampire Diaries which is coming back soon which I am super excited about! I have missed the cast's hotness in my life.

Time to get back to working - definitely no fun :( See you all on the other side! (Which really isn't because I have to spend all of mid-sem break catching up on other units...)

Happy Tuesday everyone!

xx

Happy birthday A!

Bought the green tea gateau from Bread Top! It was really light and fluffy and yum! Haha, looks like a model with fake grass on it...

And I swear we didn't set off the fire alarm in our building lighting the 20 birthday candles.

Bavarian Bier Cafe, CBD

One of my good friends D is down from the Gold Coast for his semester break so we had to go out for dinner before he leaves again. And being the unorganised one he is, he realised he had to leave tomorrow for the start of uni again on Monday. Last time I checked, he wasn't leaving until next week! So luckily we managed to see him once before he jets off yet again. Being the group of boys that they are, when I asked them what they wanted to eat, the first thing that came out of their mouths was "MEAT!" followed closely by "Beer...". And what better way to have both than at a beer cafe? So off to Bavarian Bier Cafe it was!

As usual, I shared with the boy because it's the best way to try more food - the perks of having another ;)

Pretzels all round! $3.50 each

Pretzels were ordered, but the butter was forgotten even though it said it came with butter on the menu... Loving the stand for the pretzels though.

Beer! Sorry for blurry pictures... Dark inside it was.

Flammenbrot with rocket, ricotta & semi dried tomatoes, $17.50

This was tasty with the creamy ricotta going very well with the rocket. Definitely hard to cut though - lucky I was given a steak knife! Muahahaha...

Bread crusted oven baked chicken schnitzel, $27.50

I ordered this because it mentioned that the chicken was free range. The chicken thigh used for this schnitzel was very tender under that beautiful crumb. Though the crumbs didn't stick as well probably because it was oven baked as opposed to deep fried, but it was very crispy nonetheless and went down a treat. The creamy yogurt and emmenthal cheese sauce on the side went atop the schnitzel very nicely.

Apple strudel, $12.00

First time I've tried apple strudel and despite everyone saying it's like apple pie, I found it quite different. There weren't as many spices used compared to apple pie, and that's why I have to say I like the strudel better! It was served piping hot with a crunchy pastry, vanilla anglaise and whipped cream. A sweet finish.

We went back to Wynyard station where KC, P and B proceeded to check into Hungry Jacks because somehow, they could still fit in more food... And they realised they could check into the various surrounding city ones as well for some reason so we managed to score multiple free soft serves, along with a cheeseburger, sundae, coke and fries! Facebook is going to be spammed once I log onto that. I bet the woman working behind the counter was thinking "What is going on here?!" with us walking in many times. That definitely caused us amusement. KC, D and I decided to call it an early night because I have a lot of work to finish off and D hasn't even packed yet despite having a flight tomorrow morning!

Definitely a great way to relax for a night. Though now it's time to dive straight back into catching up. Argh! Wish me luck!

Bavarian Bier Cafe
24 York St
Sydney, NSW, 2000
8297 4111
http://www.bavarianbiercafe.com/

Opening Hours
Monday - Friday: 10:00am - 12:00am
Saturday - Sunday: 11:00am - 12:00am