Janus, Sydney CBD

One of Westfield Sydney's positive attributes would have to be their choice of eats in their food court. There's so much more than your standard fast food joints on offer. For those of you who don't like the hustle and bustle environment of food courts, you can even venture up to level 6 where they have Xanthi Restaurant, Chat Thai, Chinta Ria, Sky Phoenix, Max Brenner, and Janus, where I made a particular visit this time around with Miss Dentist-In-Training and my other friend E.

Thornclarke pinot gris, $38.00

This was an occassion of celebration, so we decided to order a bottle of wine. Hailing from South Australia, with its flavours of Nashi pears and apple puree, this white wine finished on a clean and crisp note. Can't say I know too much about wines, but this one wasn't bad.

Spicy chorizo, $20.00

Couldn't resist ordering a pizza with chorizo on it. They were quite generous with the chorizo pieces, and bits of fennel, rocket and capsicum added a punch of flavour that made this pizza quite delicious.

Pumpkin, haloumi & pinenut salad, $15.00

I was looking forward to the lemon and oregano vinaigrette that would dress this salad but unfortunately we didn't get any of that. Instead, we got a very oily dressing that didn't have much flavour and only added grease to the palette. Much like when you forget to shake those Praise salad dressings you can buy at the supermarket before you drizzle it onto your salad. The saving grace of the plate was the roasted vegetables themselves - butternut pumpkin, sweet potato, carrot, eggplant and zucchini. I quite enjoyed eating them with the saltiness of the grilled haloumi.

Pappardelle al ragu di agnello e pecorino sardo, $18.00 for entree size

It sounded so promising with its slow cooked lamb shoulder ragu and pecorino sardo. When I see slow cooked lamb on the menu, I'm expecting a meat that's extremely tender, with the flavours infused right in from all that time that's spent cooking. What we got instead was quite a bland pasta dish, where the pasta was a tad slimy and the lamb itself was quite stringy. And where, may I ask, is the pecorino?

Choc-nut fudge brownie, $5.80

We decided we needed a little bit of a pick me up after that mediocre-at-best lunch, so we headed next door to indulge in a piece of intensely rich fudgey brownie. That chocolate sauce cheered us right up!

So do let me know, do you try to save the day after a not so awesome meal by treating yourself to a little something extra afterwards?

Janus
L6 Westfield Sydney
188 Pitt Street
Sydney, NSW, 2000

Opening Hours
Monday - Friday: 11:00am - 9:00pm (closed from 3:00 - 5:00pm)
Saturday - Sunday: 11:00am - 9:00pm

Mr Crackles, Darlinghurst

"Crackling you say? That you can buy in cups? I am so there!!"

That was my reaction upon first hearing about Mr Crackles a few months prior. After all this time, I finally found myself there, eager to try their pork crackling.

The stop itself is merely a storefront with a few stools inside. We managed to get in right before a massive line started, with most getting takeaway. There are only eight seats in total after all.

Because of the small store, you'll probably have to run off elsewhere to eat your purchases :)

My friends and I got pretty excited by just looking at the crackling on display. Look at the huge curls of it just sitting there!

Crackles classic - pork & salad, $10.00 for a small

After meandering off to a nearby area to eat our goodies, we dug into our pork salad with gusto, savouring the satisfying crunch of the crackling. The pork meat hidden underneath was also deliciously tender. I was glad that the salad was pickled, really giving that extra zing and balancing out the meat which was surprisingly not that fatty.

Crackles classic roll, $10.00

My friends who ordered the roll were also extremely happy at the fresh bread and generous fillings!

Sweet potato wedges, $7.00

The sweet potato wedges were very addictive and moreish. I believe the sweetness makes these wedges easier to eat more of and the fact that sweet potato isn't as starchy as potato is, I found myself munching on these quite easily. It also came with a delicious spicy aioli on the side that offset the sweetness!

Chilli cheese fries, $8.50

Like nachos, but with fries instead of corn chips! I find this combination better, as I tend to become quite sad when the corn chips get soggy underneath the beef mince and cheese. Potato is soft already, so I don't mind it becoming softer while soaking in all the flavours from the sauce in the beef mince. The melted cheese on top was like the icing of a cupcake - it just makes things that much better!

The man-servings did get to us in the end, though we managed to finish everything despite it all! It was too yummy not to. So are you all fans of pork crackling? And do you prefer sweet potato or potato wedges?

Mr Crackles
155 Oxford St
Darlinghurst, Sydney, 2010
80682832
www.mrcrackles.com.au

Opening Hours
Monday - Wednesday: 11:00am - 8:00pm
Thursday: 11:00am - 9:00pm
Friday: 11:00 - 3:00am
Saturday: 12:00noon - 3:00am
Sunday: 12:00noon - 9:00pm

Holy Basil 2, Sydney CBD

Wanting to see the Vivid Festival, my family decided to eat out in the city beforehands. Holy Basil always has great food and close by to where I work so I headed off there right after I finished to meet the fambam!

It was my grandparents' first time eating Thai food and they requested nothing be too spicy so I definitely ordered on the mild side of the menu. And of course little pots of green tea for them!

Kai Yang (Laos charcoal BBQ chicken), $13.90

 The first to come out was the grilled chicken which had a lovely marinade that had been grilled to little charcoal-y bits. Delicious on its own, but you could always dip it into the sweet chilli sauce or chilli sauce if you're after that kick. We didn't expect the bowls of rice we ordered o be quite that large - it could easily have served three people per bowl!

Pad see ew (with chicken), $12.90

After enjoying the pad see ew last time, along with the fact that it's a favourite of my sister's, it definitely was a must order! The smoky flavour that permeates the noodles is what makes it so special and I really do like it, albeit the fact that it's just a tad too sweet for my tastebuds.

Gang masaman (beef masaman curry), $16.90

Massaman curry is a very mild curry that's quite creamy from the coconut milk in the recipe as well as the final drizzle on top. It's the best stirred through rice!

Som tam (green papaya salad), $10.90

I definitely wanted to introduce my family to the Thai papaya salad, requesting it to be very mild. I love how my grandma still found it extremely spicy haha! They were surprised that it was actually green papaya, as it's not something they've ever tried before.

Crispy fish (with green mango salad), $44.90

This was what I was looking forward to all night though! I could seriously have eaten it forever...They fillet the fish, cut it into individual pieces which are then crumbed and deep-fried. Nothing is wasted as the head and tail is given to you as well! The batter was very crunchy and extremely moreish as they definitely weren't shying away from the pepper :D It went very well with the green mango salad on top which was my preference over the papaya salad. I thought it was the perfect balance of sweet, sour and salty. I didn't get any hit of chilli, but that wasn't missed with any of my relatives! The family also enjoyed how refreshing this salad was. I think they just couldn't quite get used to the slight pungency of the crab paste used in the papaya salad!

I don't think any of us were particularly in the mood for any dessert so we passed on their house special deep-fried icecream. I should probably check out the rest of their dessert menu next time!

Holy Basil
Shark Hotel 127 Liverpool St
Sydney NSW 2000
http://www.holybasil.com.au

Opening Hours
Daily
Lunch Hours: 12:00-3:00pm
Dinner: 5:00pm-12:00midnight

Eats lately via iPhone #2

Uni has been keeping me busy lately so I've gathered snapshots of bits and bobs I've been eating!

Clockwise from top left: apple & cinnamon, lemon meringue, strawberry, black forest, carrot, hummingbird

Cupcakes from the Cupcake Bakery! Cupcakes are just so cute and there was plenty of icing - my favourite ;) I really enjoyed the apple & cinnamon, along with the lemon meringue! I was expecting something special from the hummingbird but it just tasted like plain old banana to me. Which isn't a bad thing as I love banana bread/cake/muffins!

The Cupcake Bakery
320b George St
Sydney, NSW , 2000

 

Muesli and yogurt

Top Juice in Westfield Sydney has tonnes of fresh juices but I went for something heartier. Fresh yogurt is the best and this was the super thick kind swirled with a delicious mix of oats and raisins :)

Top Juice
Level 5 Cnr Pitt St Mall And Market St
Sydney, NSW, 2000

Sweet taro and red bean crushed ice, $8.00

I have a thing for taro in desserts - especially the sweet marinated kind they have at Meet Fresh! Taro and red beans is a classic Asian flavour combination which I love :)

Meet Fresh
175 Rowe Street
Eastwood, NSW, 2122

Pork roll, $4.00

I love porks rolls. This place has my favourite pork rolls! Crunchy bread? Tick! The carrots and daikon are pickled just to my liking and the sauce they use here is what I think makes this pork roll number one in my books.

Ashfield Vietnamese Rolls
222 Liverpool Rd
Ashfield NSW 2131

Grilled Portugese chicken salad, $15.00

Decided to buy lunch at uni for once while waiting to meet a friend and went for the char-grilled chicken with piri-piri spices with coral lettuce, rocket, tomato and chilli sauce. The salad was average at best and not worth forking out the $15.00 (costs extra to sit in). Unfortunately you don't feel comfortable staying there for too long as the waiters continuously hang around and watch you like a hawk, even swooping in multiple times to try get you to leave quickly. Hard to have an enjoyable lunch when they're acting that way. I've had the baguettes here which are pretty good. Go for the lemongrass chicken!

Taste Baguette
City Rd Law Building The University Of Sydney
Sydney, NSW, 2006

Guava, biscotti & green tea froyo

Taro, biscotti, green tea & blood orange froyo

Noggi recently got renovated and they now have a lot of new flavours on rotation. Yes I know, I have a teeny tiny obsession with frozen yogurt. And Noggi has always been my go-to place for biscotti and blood orange (when they do have this flavour). I always top my frozen yogurt with mochi, coconut chips, blueberries and other fruit if I get extra toppings :D

Noggi
2/2 Albert Rd
Strathfield, NSW

Half roast pork knuckle, $28.00

Probably a bit silly of me to get half the pork knuckle when the entire thing costed just $5 extra! But I know I would not have been able to finish it without being waaay too full so I decided to skip the whole knuckle, go for half, and spend the rest on beer! I asked them to replace the mash with sauteed potato because while I do love mash, I've had it many, many times in my life and I wanted to try sauteed potatoes! The pork knuckle had such a lovely crackling, and the sourness of the sauerkraut plus sweetness of the apple compote brought out the best of the pork.

Bavarian Bier Cafe
24 York St
Sydney, NSW, 2000

French toast, $7.90 + $3.00 extra for bacon

My sister and I decided to have brekky in Newtown before class one day and we settled for a cafe next to the art store I bought some supplies from. I so badly want to say that I loved this but it was much to eggy for my liking. But yay for bacon and maple syrup!

Fringe Cafe and Restaurant
199 King St
Newtown, NSW 2042

Massaman beef curry, $6.95 during lunch

I order Massaman curry way too much, but this non-spicy Thai curry is so comforting that I can't help but be drawn to it each time. Hooray for multiple Thai restaurants in Newtown with cheap lunch specials!

Newtown Thai II
105 King St
Sydney, NSW, 2042

 

Hehe made myself a Vietnamese inspired salad for lunch at uni :)

And also breakfast in a jar so that I could transport it :D Greek yogurt, nectarine, berries, muesli and maple syrup mhmm.

Also baked some potato wedges with greek yogurt and sweet chilli sauce. Chucked in a tonne of different spices. Loved using the greek yogurt as it was just like having sour cream but less fat and higher protein :) Chobani's the best!

It was my brother's birthday recently and all good birthdays must end with cake! So a mango cheesecake was bought from Michel's Patisserie. He absolutely loved it despite the fact that he normally isn't the biggest fan of sweets so thank goodness :)

So there we have it! A little too much food everywhere haha.

Eats lately via iPhone

Sorry I've been MIA for a while! I'm currently doing Chinese at summer school and boy is it intense. So many characters to learn and so little time. Not to mention getting the tone and pronunciation right... But it doesn't mean I haven't been eating :P

Burnt butter gelato, $6.00

With all the hot weather going on lately, gelato has been a must! This burnt butter one reminded me much of salted butter caramel.. Mm, so good.

Check out the mountainous claw of gelato! The perks of bumping into a friend who works there :P

N2 Extreme Gelato
43-1 Dixon St
Haymarket, NSW, 2000

Happy birthday cake, $9.00

As with all of Adriano Zumbo's cakes, this one was incredibly rich. How could it not be with a flourless chocolate biscuit, chocolate sabayon mousse, chocolate brownie, milk chocolate chantilly and passionfruit glaze? Definitely delicious though! But I think my heart lies with the V8 ;)

From L to R: candy cane, johnny walker, citrus, salted butter caramel, & salted butter popcorn, $2.50 each

Wasn't the biggest fan of the candy cane, Johnny Walker or citrus (which had gone soggy) but salted butter caramel and salted butter popcorn have always been favourites of mine at Zumbo!

Adriano Zumbo Pattisier
80 Pyrmont St
Pyrmont, NSW, 2009

Clockwise from top: coconut, maple, & fruit salad fairy floss

I bought these on a deal website for $5.00 (I think?) each with $10.00 shipping. It definitely is interesting trying new flavours, especially gourmet, artisan fairy floss! If anyone is interested, Spun Fairy Floss has stores around Sydney.

Iced tea and scone with jam & cream

I finally made a trip to the Tea Cosy with a few of my high school girls to catch up. And my, this apple and cinnamon scone was absolutely delicious! So fluffy and with the home made jam plus cream, I fell in love with scones all over again. Must visit this place again!

The Tea Cosy
33 George St
The Rocks, NSW, 2000

San churros signature classic Spanish hot chocolate, $5.95

This was a different experience having a hot chocolate this thick! I really did love it, but nearing the end of the cup I was finding it a bit too thick and a bit too sweet. Great in smaller doses though! And maybe not after a huge meal, like I had...

Choclateria San Churros
2-10 Darling Dr,
Sydney, NSW, 2000

Khao nieaw sangkaya, $4.00

Sticky rice steamed with coconut cream and palm sugar accompanied with a steamed coconut custard? Yes, please!

Chat Thai
20 Campbell St
Haymarket, NSW, 2000

Volcano sushi

Couldn't resist snapping a photo of this extremely pretty volcano sushi dish we managed to nab on a sushi train. So much cream cheese!

Kz's Sushi Experience
59 Burwood Rd
Burwood, NSW, 2134

Grilled lamb salad, $22.90

This salad really did win my heart. It was amazing of all sorts! There were so many elements yet they all seemed to work together. The sweetness from the pumpkin and beetroot, cous cous for texture, baby spinach for our daily dose of greens (and iron!), walnuts for crunch, lamb for protein and a delicious mint and coriander dressing. Too good.

Blackbird Cafe
Harbour St
Sydney, NSW, 2000