The Choc Pot, Burwood

I have personally been just a little bit of a chocolate addict for a short while now. Ok, I lie, it has probably been years. There's just something extremely comforting about it. It appeals to your sweet taste buds and it's oh so incredibly velvety as it melts in your mouth. Don't you agree? Luckily, I was able to indulge in my sweet tooth to celebrate the completion of my bachelors. Guess who's a postgraduate now! :D

Walking into The Choc Pot, a new chocolate bar located just opposite of Burwood Plaza, I couldn't help but be wowed by the deco. There were sweet little shelves and pots everywhere. And who doesn't love a faux brick wall just to make it look that little bit more special? :P

Though what I was really wowed by was Ash's background story to opening up this little cafe. We got chatting as he prepared our desserts for us and he told us a little bit about his background and how he dappled within many different courses in uni and finally ended up in the midst of a medicine degree. However, he found that it wasn't truly his calling and his passion and love for sweets and dessert conquered all. It was decided then and there that he gave up studying medicine to pursue his love of cooking.

It was upon discussion about his use of jersey milk and our combined knowledge of agriculture that I discovered he graduated from the same high school as me - one year before I went in for year 7. Small world, huh? The milk from Jersey cows is supposedly higher in fat content making the milk creamier and resulting in richer desserts - all the better for us dessert fanatics! I was very happy to hear that they used quality ingredients such as Cellbaut chocolate, free-range eggs and unrefined caster sugar and everything is made fresh from the man himself! I was informed that they underwent an intense testing period of all their desserts on the menu with their friends and family to determine whether it was menu-worthy or not.

White choc strawberry smoothie, $8.00

 On this sweltering hot day, the fruity smoothie was definitely a refreshing treat.

White chocolate pannacotta splice, $12.00

What made this pannacotta so special definitely had to be the pineapple and mint sauce. It was sweet but not overly sweet with a slight tang from the pineapple. I thought the white chocolate pannacotta would be a bit much paired with a fruity sauce but that was not the case and it paired together surprisingly well! So well that I pretty much poured that extra little jug of sauce all over the pannacotta. Yum.

Chocolate souffle with salted caramel, $12.00

The chocolate souffle had a lovely oozy centre that was wonderfully rich. How can chocolate not be so? And of course there's just a little extra serving of salted caramel on the side to make things just that little bit more indulgent.

I was very tempted to try many of the smaller treats in the cabinet but I will save that for another time. Perhaps after I've had a gym session down the road :P

Crystal Noir dined as a guest of Ashley & Deirdre of The Choc Pot. All opinions however, are my own.

The Choc Pot
7/1 Railway Parade
Burwood, NSW, 2143

Opening Hours

Monday - Wednesday: 8:00 am - 10:00 pm

Thursday - Friday: 8:00 am - 11:00 pm

Saturday: 11:00 am - 11:00 pm

Sunday: 11:00 am - 10:00 pm

Eats lately via iPhone #3

Hello fellow readers! Sorry for the lack of posts as of late - this last semester of my bachelor's degree is proving to be very hard with a lot of work :( But I haven't forgotten about this little blog nor have I disappeared and as proof, here's a little round up of all the things I've eaten recently! Whee, lots of food incoming.

Banh mi, $3.95

Pork rolls always hit the spot for me. There's something so comforting about the combination of pickled carrots (they must be pickled!!), cucumber, onions, coriander and pork. This one is from my favourite store in Ashfield. It's a chain of the original which started in Marrickville!

Ashfield Vietnamese Rolls
224 Liverpool Rd
Ashfield, NSW, 2131

Banh mi ga xa (lemongrass chicken), $6.95

Whilst I do love pork rolls, this lemongrass chicken roll stole my attention and I was feeling like something different. This store is just down the road from my work place so it's perfect if I want to grab a quick lunch. What's great about this place is they offer a variety of different breads (I chose multigrain) and offer to toast it for you which makes it so much more awesome. This roll was very tasty and especially refreshing from the addition of mint leaves. Their pork rolls are also cheap at $3.95 - a great price for lunch in the heart of the city!

Bank Mi K
G2/730-742 George Street 
Haymarket, NSW , 2000

Broadway roll - part of a set

The sushi definitely satisfied my sushi cravings at the time. Loved the spicy sauce that came with it. We got this as part of the meal set which also came with noodle so it was very cheap at $10.

Takoyaki

Because it's a standard order when eating Japanese, yay!

Maki Maki
169 Broadway Sydney
Ultimo, Sydney, 2008 

Special beef noodle soup, $12.50

I walked past a new Vietnamese in Burwood and made a mental note to visit soon. And that was exactly what I did and ordered a big bowl of steaming pho. Because pho is so comforting. The waitress came with the bowl of pho and I was wowed by the sheer size of it. The soup was flavoursome and clean tasting. I felt like I barely made a dent in the noodles! Definitely will try the rest of their menu. Business seems to be going well for them - it's always packed during lunch times!

Mint Vietnamese Pho and Cuisine
226 Burwood Rd  
Burwood, NSW , 2134

Smoked salmon and fennel salad, $16.00

Perfect combination of smoked salmon, fennel and spinach. There were currants to add sweetness and capers that burst in the mouth. The creamy dressing really tied everything together.

Le Monde
83 Foveaux St 
Surry Hills, NSW , 2010

Cocktails, $15.00

Caught up with one of my girlfriends at Fratelli Fresh over excellent truffle risotto. We also ordered cocktails because we're girly like that. Mine was a wonderful concoction of grapefruit and cucumber while my friend chose the peach and champagne combination.

Cafe Sopra at Fratelli Fresh
11 Bridge Street 
Sydney, NSW, 2000
Underground

Peanut butter milkshake, $8.00

Jazz City Diner was still closed, so we ended up again at the Milk Bar to which I proceeded to order this amazing peanut butter milkshake. I took one sip and felt giddy with happiness because it was THAT good. The peanut butter flavour is different from the peanut butter we have in Australia. It has a distinct American peanut butter flavour that I love - especially in Reese's peanut butter cups!

Coconut cream pie, $8.00

Soft, fluffy cloud of meringue on top of a smooth custard and flaky pastry. I think I went to pie heaven. It wasn't too sweet so I felt like I could continue eating it with no problem at all! Don't worry all you coconut haters out there - the dominant flavour is not coconut! It's just a sprinkling of flakes on top of the pie :)

Jazz City Milk Bar
Republic 2 Courtyard Palmer St  
Darlinghurst, NSW, 2010

Chocolate & churros tapas

A tasting plate of mini churros, chocolate, deep fried chocolate truffles, choc brownie and strawberries. Love the churros at San Churros - perfect for dipping in melted chocolate!

San Churros
47 Glebe Point Rd 
Sydney, NSW, 2037
 

Chocolates Del Mondo, Burwood

For the past week, I've been having the biggest craving for a good cheesecake for some reason. So what a perfect time to try out a new chocolate cafe other than going to Max Brenner! I've been wanting to go to Chocolates Del Mondo ever since it opened last year but have put it off until now.

I was very excited upon seeing the large display cabinet of cakes and tarts that they had!

Forrero Rocher shake, $7.95

We ordered a shake as it was quite a warm day, and it was very refreshing and cooling. This definitely tasted like Ferrero Rocher, though I thought it was a bit too runny. I enjoyed it all the same regardless.

Lime and coconut cheesecake, $8.95

Sorry, wasn't told how much these two cakes cost individually, but together it was $17.90. This was quite an odd concoction with lime jelly on top of a coconut cheesecake. I thought the lime was a bit too tart and it didn't quite work that well with the cheesecake which disappointingly had that coconut essence flavour which I find to be too fake and not to palatable on my tongue. The swirl of chocolate definitely made it look more pretty but I failed to see how it was necessary as it didn't correlate with the flavours of lime and coconut at all.

Baked blueberry and ricotta cheesecake, $8.95

I had higher expectations for this one as I love blueberry and that crumble on top looked quite lovely! But unfortunately the ricotta cheesecake itself was quite dry and had a grainy texture. The only flavour came from the crumble and the blueberries that were directly under it. The rest of the cheesecake didn't have much flavour at all.

Considering how much we paid, I was expecting better quality cakes but unfortunately they fell short. Alas, I probably would have been better off buying a frozen Sara Lee cheesecake from my local Woolworths freezer. Cheaper at that too. Definitely not what I was expecting when I had such high expectations too. I was pretty happy about having a local chocolate cafe to frequent, but I don't think I would be going back any time soon :( Maybe for the drinks?

Does anyone have a favourite cheesecake at any cafes to recommend to me? :)

Here are the menus if anyone is interested.

Asian Sugar Rush!

To be honest, the first time I had Meet Fresh, I was not so enamoured by it. My first and foremost rookie mistake was choosing 'hot' when they asked me whether I wanted it cold or hot. Never order these desserts 'hot'!! It was a cold day and I thought that having something warming would be awesome. But they only ever heat these to the stage of lukewarm, almost as though you left a hot dish sit for a while and it's almost gone cold. Not the best of stages I think. Second reason would be because of all the hype there was surrounding Meet Fresh. All my friends raved about how delicious it was, so I think I did have my expectations raised through the roof. Which all came crashing down when I was eating my lukewarm dessert.

However, with all Asian desserts, I believe that the more you eat it, the more you enjoy it. You become appreciative of all the different textures in the dessert that vary from chewy to soft to icy! Definitely the highlight.

I had a strong craving for Meet Fresh the other day, and I dragged my younger sister with me - who has never had Meet Fresh! We walked to our local one in Burwood and I'm glad they open so early in the morning. Yes I did have this for breakfast, so please don't judge the fact that I had this first thing in the morning!

Taro balls no. 4, $5.50

Definitely a magnificent sight, that huge tower of ice! Surrounding the mountain was taro which had been marinated in honey, taro balls, pearls, and red beans. The shaved ice is doused with a sugar syrup made out of a type of sugar that we Chinese people often use in our dishes called rock candy. They normally come in huge chunks that look like rocks, hence the name. It is a very sweet syrup, but it definitely has a different sweet flavour profile compared to the sugar that you would normally find in your local supermarket. There are taro and sweet potato balls which are chewy like pearls, and paired with the sweetness of the taro and red beans, this dessert is always a winner.

At first, my sister did not see why I had such a craving for this but she definitely got more into it the more we ate. I think she began to see why you would want it the more you eat it.

Meet Fresh
169 Burwood Rd
Burwood, NSW, 2134 

Opening Hours
Monday-Friday: 11:00am - 11:00pm
Saturday: 11:00-12:00am
Sunday: 110:00am - 11:00pm

Herbal jelly with ZenQ signature Q balls, pearls and red beans, $6.50 + extra sweet taro, $0.80

Remember those awesome grass jelly drinks that had so much sugar added to them but you loved it anyway when we were kids? This is exactly what this dessert was like! But instead of little pieces of grass jelly, there were huge chunks of grass jelly which were sweet and slipped easily down our throats. Thank goodness it wasn't like the grass jelly that came canned as one huge chunk in the shape of the can - those were nasty! If the dessert wasn't sweet enough, there were chunks of palm sugar on top of it all :P ZenQ's signature Q balls have three flavours (matcha, taro and sweet potato) instead of the two offered at Meet Fresh (taro and sweet potato). I'm really in love with marinated taro!

Do any of you hate the textures of Asian desserts, or are you the complete opposite and are in love with them? I, myself, am the former ;)

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

Cafe Bello, Burwood

Caught up with one of my best friends today, V, who I haven't talked to properly in person for ages because of our hectic uni lives! Damn uni sucking away our time.

We decided to have lunch at a local cafe in Burwood, right at the entrance of Burwood Westfield.

Lamb and mango salad, $19.90

I wish there would have been a bit more lamb and mango considering the price tag that came with this dish. The lamb filet was cooked pretty well though and was still pink in the middle. I particularly liked this flavour combination with the mango giving sweetness and counteracting against the slight bitterness of the lettuce leaves. There were also hidden cucumber pieces and some Spanish onion in there was well.

Banana waffles, $15.90

It's always nice to have something sweet after a main dish am I right? :D Banana waffles it was! Waffles were nice and crunchy, bananas were fresh, maple syrup was sweet, vanilla ice-cream provided extra creaminess and there was icing sugar dusted on top. What is there not to like?

It was nice being able to talk for a few hours about nothing and everything - catchups are the best!

Bello Cafe
Westfield Burwood
Shop 172, 100 Burwood Rd
Burwood, NSW, 2134

Opening Hours
Open 7 days a week

Wowcow, Burwood

Today was the opening day for the frozen yogurt store Wowcow in Burwood! My sister and I absolutely love frozen yogurt so we were keen to go and eat some froyo at the grand opening.

They had so many things going on - they even had actual cows! Look at this one - it's wearing a Wowcow visor hat, how cute.

It was a gold coin donation for a free kids size frozen yogurt, and all the proceeds go to the Oxfam foundation.

Chocolate froyo with mochi, almonds and coconut & original froyo with mango pearls, normally $3.98 each

See those little orange balls? I have to make a special mention about those because they are amazing! There was a skin on the outside that was encasing a juicy mango juice which burst when you bite into them. They were so. freaking. good. The chocolate one was very creamy and the mochi here is sweet and chewy, and definitely beats the mochi they have at Moochi.

We had to buy a few things from The Chemist Warehouse, but on the way back down, we were given samples of churros dipped in melted chocolate which were delicious. That just tempted us to get yet another cup of frozen yogurt.

Chocolate frozen yogurt with brownie pieces

The brownie pieces were fudgy and really good, and not at all cakey. Definitely a chocolate overload on this one ;)

My sister took a photo with the man in the cow costume! I did feel sorry for him - imagine how hot and stuffy it'd be under that thick fur...

Wowcow
51 Burwood Rd
Sydney, NSW, 2134

Open until late daily

SparQling, Burwood

Today I caught up with one of my best friends whom I haven't seen in a while. Uni does make it hard to catch up with people when I'm so deeply immersed in work. But I had a great time today, and it really reminded me why I love him so much! I think the waiters and waitresses were getting annoyed because we kept on talking instead of looking at the menu! Though eventually, we did make our choices. I picked the steak sandwich, thinking it'd just be a nice sandwich but when it arrived at the table, it was basically a burger with two meat patties, TWO. Look at it! Not only that, I was not expecting the fries at all. So needless to say, I had a massive lunch indeed. Lucky I had a very light breakfast in anticipation of hanging out with V - he has a very big appetite and we always eat up a storm when we hang out!

Steak sandwich, $15.90

The burger itself was very nice, with fillings of beetroot, grilled onion, tomato, lettuce and BBQ sauce all served on foccacia bread. It was very fat and extremely messy to eat! Very unflattering and I would not recommend ordering this on dates - it is definitely not pretty to eat even though it did taste good! I also bumped into one of my architecture friends, V, who was also having lunch here!

Even though I was completely stuffed, V dragged me to Strathfield to get Noggi as they have a special flavour these two days - blood orange. Boy am I glad I tried that as it was so good! I'm still thinking about it right now actually... While ordering, I saw S from my primary school! We had a quick chat before she went back to her friends with extra seats as Noggi is always extremely packed.

I'm amazed at how quickly the time passed. We talked for 3 hours non-stop basically, while eating so I definitely enjoyed myself today (:

I was so full I had to go on an one hour run to elate myself of my bloatedness! Which reminds me of how unfit I am... I definitely have to pick up my game!

On another note, I blew $170 on a trench coat. IN MY DEFENSE, it was an extremely beautiful trench coat and is everything I have been looking for in a coat! I am going to wear it everywhere to make it worth it. Hope it lasts me for many many years to come because I am really going to weasel every last cent out of it! I really do need to do a haul post of all the clothes I've bought recently...

Anyway, I have to wake up early tomorrow morning to go to Paddy's Markets in Flemington for vegetables! So I should probably go to sleep now - at least attempt to anyway haha.

Happy weekend everyone!

xx

SparQling Pizza and Grill
126 Burwood Rd
Burwood, NSW, 2134
9715 7730