Blackbird Cafe 2, Darling Harbour

Darling Harbour is the place to go when you're searching for a good view to impress whilst having your meal. So if the food doesn't impress, at least the waterfront will right? That being said, I enjoyed my meal at Blackbird Cafe significantly more than I thought I would last time - the salad really was a surprise of the good kind. My visit this time however, was of a different sort. The TGIF sort. I was kindly invited by Carly from Blackbird Cafe to sample their new cocktail menu designed by their in house mixologist, Mirko, who has spent ten years mixing drinks all over the place from Italy to Miami and even across North America. Looks like Blackbird has landed quite the Italian catch.

Clockwise from back: Sweet Emotion ; Apple Lychee Martini ; Oreo Crunch, $17.00 each

These cocktails were so incredibly yet dangerously drinkable!

With peach vodka and schnapps, passionfruit passoa, paraiso and lemon sour topped with lift and blue curacao, I really felt like it deserved an umbrella. It's the kind of drink you feel like you ought to be drinking in the Caribbeans whilst getting your tan on.

Introducing paraiso and apple schnapps gives your traditional martini a sweet fruity twist. I say the lychee flavour from the paraiso is a winning addition here.

But my favourite of the trio would have to be the Oreo Crunch. You wouldn't even know it were a cocktail if nobody told you because it really felt like I was having an awesome Oreo thickshake! This concoction of kahlua, baileys, frangelico, oreos, honey, sugar syrup and icecream seriously made us all feel like we were having a liquid dessert. Super delicious.

Onto proper food now, shall we?

Gnocchi, $26.90

Couldn't resist how lovely a simple gnocchi sounded with buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil and cherry tomatoes. The tomato based sauce itself needed a bit more of an extra little something but I loved the parts where I managed to get some glorious melted mozzarella and parmesan cheese. And there's always something very addicting about the texture of pan-fried gnocchi.

Lamb and champagne risotto, $28.90

Risotto always holds a special place in my heart and this one sounded very alluring with its inclusion of enoki mushrooms and pumpkin. It didn't quite hit the mark seasoning wise though. It could've packed a great punch if the flavours were infused into the risotto itself. Overall, a pleasant dish, but the wow risottos would have to go to Uccello and Jones The Grocer who've definitely set high benchmarks.

We were also rewarded with front row seats to a giant fireworks extravaganza from Blackbird's balcony. So do keep that in mind whether you find fireworks too loud or are looking to impress - it goes either way! Plus there is a lot of options on the cocktail menu for everyone to have a great Friday night :P

Crystal Noir sampled cocktails courtesy of Carly Lund of Blackbird Cafe, but opinions are entirely her own. The meal was independently paid for.

Blackbird Cafe
Harbour St, Balcony Level of Cockle Bay Wharf
Sydney, NSW, 2000

Grill'd, Darling Harbour

There's something satisfyingly good about tucking into a bigass burger that has an assortment of everything in it. And today, my friends and I were looking for just that when in search of a good feed for lunch. Luckily Harbourside was open this long Easter weekend! And we can always trust Grill'd to serve good burgers.

Clockwise from top: regular chips, $4.95 + herbed mayo, $0.70; summer sunset, $12.50; moroccan lamb, $12.90; almighty, $13.50

The chips were crunchy and generously seasoned with oregano. Combined with the herbed mayo, we got an oregano hit with these sticks of potato! My friends both enjoyed their burgers and said they were really good :)

Almighty stuff this burger

I was eager to tuck into mine - I ordered the biggest out of all of us! We were given a choice out of wholemeal or white sourdough and I went with the latter. Sourdough just gets me every time - would've been perfect if there was a wholemeal sourdough option!

The Almighty burger wasn't given that name for no reason at all - just look at how much they jam-packed into this baby. Grilled grass fed lean beef, tasty cheese, crispy trim bacon, free range egg, a couple of slices of beetroot with salad, relish and herbed mayo was what comprised this massive burger. Patty was tender and not at all dry and went together so well with every other element in this burger mmm... My bacon wasn't crispy, but I'm not fussy - it was easier to eat this way :)

Clockwise from top: passionfruit soda, $3.00; iced sweet potato latte, $4.30; grapefruit juice, $3.00

With all the crowds exploring the Easter activities around Darling Harbour, we decided to venture over towards Town Hall for somewhere quieter. Tom n Toms is a nice little cafe and we quickly nabbed the last table before anyone else could steal it. If you like your drinks sweet, definitely go for the sodas! Passionfruit soda always goes down a treat. The sweet potato latte really tasted of sweet potatoes - definitely never imagined sweet potato being made into a drink with milk but it worked surprisingly well. The grapefruit juice was slightly tart - exactly what I needed to break down the heavy burger I just had :) What I do want to try from here next time is the garlic butter toast or the cream toast!

So what do you think makes a good burger my fellow readers? Any favourite combinations that you have that you believe makes the ultimate burger?

Grill'd
10 Darling Drive, Harbourside Shopping Centre
Darling Harbour, NSW, 2000
9281 5121

Opening Hours
Sunday - Thursday: 11:30am - 10:00pm
Friday - Saturday: 11:30am - 11:00pm



Tom n Toms
97-99 Bathurst St
Sydney, NSW, 2000
9267 9989 

Kazbah, Darling Harbour

I know I've been very quiet lately and haven't been very active on the blogging front... But it's because I got a new job! It's at a very small company, but it's a start in my career so I've been busy working there from 9-5, cramming in as much work before Christmas. So unfortunately, I haven't had much time to go out. But my sister and I snatched up the chance to meet up with a very old friend (we've known each other since before I even went to Kindergarten!) over lunch as soon as the weekend rolled around.

Water with fancy green leaves

Kazbah has been on my list of places to eat for a while now, for their legendary French toast. Look at it!

French toast, bacon, glazed baby figs, double cream& apple cinnamon syrup, $18.00

If there's one thing you need to order when you go to Kazbah, this is it. The bread had soft innards surrounded by a deliciously crunchy crust. Look at that fatty bacon as well! Tastes amazing but cannot be good for my arteries :P But the sweet figs paired perfectly with the bacon and syrup. I've become the biggest fan of the bacon and syrup combination every since breakfast at Pancakes on the Rocks!

The camel burger - camel kafta, grilled eggplant, rocket, tzatziki, haloumi & chips, $21.00

Our curiousity got the best of us and we ordered the camel burger. What would camel meat taste like? It reminded me of beef, though there was a distinct smell much like lamb. The taste wasn't too prominent because there was a lot of spices used within the patty to give it flavour. And I suppose it's always hard to discern differences in meat patties! The Turkish bread was charred to give it a lovely crunchy edge. The chips here are worth mentioning because of the seasoning! I love some spiced chips (:

Chahi - yemini sweet milky tea, $4.50

This tea had nice hints of ginger and cinnamon, but wasn't too strong. Shame they used a teabag for this! I'm always disappointed when I order tea out and instead of loose-leaf, I get a teabag. It is quite dissatisfying. I am however, admiring the crockery (:

We walked to San Churros and spent a significant amount of time catching up there over cold drinks as it was a hot day. Nothing like air conditioning in shopping centres to beat that!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas filled with joy and happiness. Wishing you all the best!
xx

Kazbah
The Promenade, Harbourside Shopping Centre
Darling Harbour, NSW, 2000
9555 7067

Menya Oiden, CBD

After a gruelling day after work and then uni, I met up with the boy for some dinner. To be honest, my appetite still wasn't feeling its best after my hayfever attack yesterday but I decided I ought to eat anyway. And Menya Oiden seemed the best idea for that as they have the choice for some small portions! I love the cafeteria feel of the joint where you order your dish, decide whether you want to add on any side dishes and move along to the end where you pay for everything. We got there very early at 5 and so dinner queues hadn't started yet, thank god!

Mini Oiden Curry, $2.90 with extra ontama (half boiled egg) $1.00

This tasted great! And I actually thought the serving size was perfect. It was enough so that I wouldn't feel hungry but left me with stomach space to eat dessert if I wanted to! Which is, lets face it, quite often ;) And so cheap! The egg was also boiled to a perfect googiness which I really enjoyed as well.

Mini teriyaki chicken salad, $3.60

The boy got a salad as a snack as he had just eaten before he left uni to meet up with me. The chicken was good but I thought it would've been nicer if it was served warm.

Seaweed salad, $0.90

And Japanese seaweed salad is always good. And for 90c, why not?

Clockwise from left to right to bottom: Creme brulee, Coconut and swiss chocolate, Maple walnut all for $6.95!

I had a coupon for Movenpick icecream where I could get 3 scoops of icecream for the price of 2 scoops! I really loved all the flavours we got. The coconut and swiss chocolate had crispy coconut flakes scattered throughout, adding that lovely extra crunch. And they didn't skimp on the walnuts in the maple walnut either! There was even the crunch of toffee in the creme brulee. Yum.

Left to right: Salted butter popcorn, salted butter caramel, custard crunch, chocolate donut

And since we were in Darling Harbour anyway, why not make that extra little trip to The Star for some macarons? The chocolate donut was a real surprise I did not expect to like as much as I did! It had a delicious cinnamon ganache sandwiched between the chocolate shells that were scattered with cinnamon sugar. And the salted butter popcorn is a flavour I go back for again and again. So good.

Pancakes On The Rocks, Darling Harbour

Pancakes. Glorious, fluffy pancakes. What more could you want?

Believe it or not, one of my workmates had never been to Pancakes on the Rocks!! Blasphemy or what?! And she calls herself a Sydneysider... I kid, I kid. So we decided to have dinner there after work so she could get her first taste of what Pancakes on the Rocks is all about! I myself have been there quite a few times before, but I still managed to try dishes I haven't had there before. I had made a booking a few days before, and we were seated promptly after arrival in one of the big booths next to the window.

Beef ribs, $25.95 + $2.00 for sour cream & sweet chilli sauce

Potato wedges, sour cream, and sweet chilli sauce is one of my favourite combinations. You really cannot go wrong with that! The beef ribs were nice and tender and not tough at all which was a relief. They were good, but not as fantastic as the pork ribs you can order here! I'd definitely recommend ordering the pork ribs over the beef ribs! The plus side was that this hunk of meat had 3 bones - it split perfectly between the three of us girls that were there ;)

Thai chicken crepes, $14.95

There were satay chicken breast pieces inside this crepe, along with carrots and coriander. Funny story - I picked up this small piece of what I thought to be a crispy part of the crepe that fell off. I put it in my mouth and it turned out to be fried ginger! Needless to say, I spat it right back out. Cannot believe I chewed on a piece of ginger... But yes, nice crepe. Even nicer when I lathered it in sour cream and sweet chilli sauce.

Blueberry heaven, $10.95

This was amazingly delicious as I do love blueberries. The pancakes were nice and fluffy and I do not even want to think about how much sugar went into making the blueberry sauce.

Devil's delight, $13.95

Very, very rich dessert. Especially loved the strawberries covered with chocolate sauce! Strawberries and chocolate is another favourite combination of mine. Sweet and juicy!

Everything cleared off the plates, we were stuffed to the brim. Three girls, four dishes that were extremely big in serving, not a good combination. We sat at the comfy booths for over half an hour digesting because we did not want to get that sudden feeling of bloatedness that hits you after standing up when you've just had a gigantic meal. It was nice to relax and talk without needing to worry about anything uni related!

Monstering through all the dishes

Going in for a quick detour in Harbourside, I managed to nab myself yet another shirt and wallet from Cotton On. Ah, the perks of having a friend who work in retail!

Pancakes on the Rocks
229/230 Harbourside Shopping Centre
Darling Harbour, NSW 2000

Trading Hours:
Sunday - Thursday: 7am - 10:30pm
Friday - Saturday: 7am - Midnight