Jazz City BBQ, Darlinghurst

I think it has all been a while since the anticipated opening of Jazz City BBQ with the promise of lots and lots of barbeque meat! LB Slaya, Cassanova, KC and I arrived early this Thursday night just a little before 6, perhaps a little too early as they hadn't even opened their doors yet (we were just a tad too keen). But once inside, we instantly felt like we were in one of those cute American diners with the red booths lining the walls of the small restaurant.

Menu

The menu is short and concise, offering five items with the promise of Southern American smokey char. It's simple really, you just let Chef Dan McGuirt exactly how much of each meat you want and he'll cut and weigh it for you!.

Dan slicing up the beef ribs

Are you guys digging his shirt or what? When he was about to cut us our beef brisket, he asked us, "Would you like the fattier or leaner cut? I would recommend the fattier cut, it's much more tender and juicy." How could we disagree with the man?

Housemade sauces

There are plenty of sauces for you sauce junkies to choose from. And if you're anything like us, you're just going to go for the whole shebang and may as well try everything!

Clockwise from top: cornbread / complimentary sliced white bread / pork ribs / beef ribs / beef brisket / coleslaw / complimentary raw onion and pickles / pulled pork (centre)

While I did love the flavour of the pork rib, it was a tad on the dry side, as was the pulled pork. But with all the sauces on offer, may as well drench it with that, hey? And let me give you a little tip - ride the sauce rainbow. You may be asking, what the heck is that? Mixing all of them together of course! The beef brisket was indeed awesomely fatty as promised and fat is flavour when it comes to barbequed meats. I was pleasantly surprised by the beef rib as I normally prefer pork ribs over beef ones but this was beautifully smokey with every bite. The meat slid of the bone real easy as we bit it straight off the bone - gotta get those fingers dirty when eating ribs! But what I really fell in love with were those pickles. Sweet with a little punch of sour, I couldn't help going back for more. And that cornbread. Soft, fluffy like a good muffin, and slightly sweet, our only regret was ordering one to share. Next time, one for each person!

I forgot to take a picture of the pecan pie we had. Though tiny, it was a pretty sweet end to the meal. Unfortunately they didn't have key lime pie on the menu tonight which was not a problem for us. We ventured down to Jazz City Milk Bar for dessert!

Banana cream pie, $10.00

I have nothing to say but this.

Oh. My God.

THIS WAS AMAZING. SO AMAZING. Well worth the trek here. A crispy base, layers of vanilla custard chocked full of banana pieces in between, along with whipped cream on top, made this dessert so delicious. The ripe banana really made this pie - it felt like I was eating banana custard!

Satisfied with the ending to our Southern style meal of comfort foods, we slowly walked back towards the city. But not before making a pit stop at Hungry Jacks because Cassnova and KC have black holes for stomachs. Next time, that key lime pie will be eaten :D

Jazz City BBQ
200 Goulburn St
Surry Hills, NSW, 2010

Opening Hours 
Lunch Wednesday - Friday: 12:00noon to 2:00pm
Dinner Wednesday - Saturday: 6:00pm to 10:00pm (or until Sold Out)
Closed Sunday, Monday and Tuesday 





Jazz City Milk Bar
Republic 2 Building Courtyard
Palmer Street (between Liverpool and Burton Street)
Darlinghurst, NSW 2010

Opening Hours
Lunch  Thursday-Saturday: 12:00-2:00pm
Dinner  Tuesday-Saturday: 6:00-10:00pm
Closed Sunday & Monday

Twisted Yogurt, Bondi Westfield

Frozen yogurt has been a thing that sort of hit an insane all time high last year but I feel as though the initial craze has died down a lot since then with a lot of chain stores closing down. One that hitched a ride off the American bandwagon before the craze started is Twisted yogurt which has been open since 2010 by mother of three, Cass Spies, who was kind enough to invite me to try out her new Superfood menu.

L to R: Rise & Shine, The Green Machine, Muscleberry, $8.50 each

Smoothies are such an awesome way to get in your daily dose of fruit and veggies and they always taste so delicious too!

Rise & Shine was the first smoothie we tried of the day. We all know how much of a sucker I am for all things tropical so I thoroughly enjoyed this concoction of almond milk, pineapple, coconut, mango, froyo and of course, a scoop of protein because we all know our muscles love that stuff.

The Green Machine is for the health nuts out there and is completely dairy free. The coconut water, mango nectar, spinach, mango, banana and passionfruit makes me feel like I should reward myself by having something so healthy!

The last of the smoothies was the Muscleberry which was a blend of skim milk, blueberries, bananas, froyo and protein. I enjoyed this one even though the predominant flavour was the protein :P

L to R: Pink Pitaya and Acai smoothie bowls

Aren't the colours absolutely stunning? And the best part is, it's all natural from the pink pitaya and acai! The pink pitaya was super refreshing and I felt like I was eating a super thick smoothie - the best kind really. Except with no added sugar whatsoever and is completely raw. So the sweetness is all from the 100% natural coconut water and fruit she uses to blend this baby up.

Frozen yogurt tubs

Twisted Yogurt also sells their frozen yogurt by the tubs and they have skinny flavours for you health conscious out there. Sweetened with only stevia, you barely taste any difference in flavour. It was definitely icier and more reminiscent of sorbet, though that may possibly be because of the lowered fat content. My sister and I both agreed that the coconut was the clear favourite. They use coconut cream to make it and it was lusciously creamy and indulgent.

Date and cacao slice, coconut truffle, chocolate truffle, sesame truffle

We also got some goodies made by Jess to take home! These are the perfect little sweet snacks to eat on the go and are vegan-friendly. Me being me loved both the coconut and coconut truffle :P

I'm digging how Cass Spies is catering towards the healthier end and is promoting a healthy balanced lifestyle. Her passion towards creating a menu that is made by real and authentic ingredients is really evident in what we ate. With her latest health additions to the menu, I really think Twisted Yogurt is spicing themselves up from the stock standard froyo chains. Time to get your health on!

Crystal Noir sampled Twisted Yoghurt's new menu as a guest of Cass Spies. All opinions however, are her own.

Twisted Yoghurt
Shop 307A (opposite Woolworths)
Westfield Bondi Junction

Opening Hours
Monday - Wednesday: 9:30am - 6:30pm
Thursday: 9:30am - 9:30pm
Friday: 9:30am - 7:30pm
Saturday: 9:00am - 6:30pm
Sunday: 9:30am - 6:30pm