Outback Steakhouse, North Strathfield

Outback Steakhouse

It took almost 2 hours to drive from Fairfield area to North Strathfield on a Saturday night. Both the M4 and Hume Hwy were full of traffic after an accident on the M4. You can imagine by then, after working 8 hours and 2 hours of travelling, how hungry I was. Luckily, it was a 21st dinner so there was a table reserved. My mates had ordered and finished their entrees, with mains on their way. As soon as I sat, I ordered a ribeye steak with mashed potato and caesar salad. Menu here. 

Caesar Salad

Found this to be unexpectedly overpowering with garlic. It was nice but ended up with garlic breath.

10 oz Ribeye with Mashed Potato - $30.95 

Grilled Scallops (4 Pcs) - $9.95

Of course the steak here would be the best here right, considering their name. I opted for the 10oz ribeye so I could order sides (grilled scallops). I had chosen medium well for my steak and it is perfect. It wasn't as chewy as I thought and it is tender. Oh my god. Best piece of steak! (I've had so far)
The mashed potato is creamy and buttery but a bit sticky, from the type of potato they used. The grilled scallops were moist and delish!

Outback Steakhouse
Address: Level 1, 3 George Street, North Strathfield 2137
More info here.

Tam x

The Book Kitchen, Surry Hills

The Book Kitchen

To end a semester of uni before exams started, my mate and I decided to treat ourselves to a nice brunch at Surry Hills. We originally had planned to have breakfast then visit Bourke St Bakery afterwards, but due to time constraints we settled on having brunch.

Menu 

Avocado Sourdough Toast ($17.50)

This dish comes with persian feta, poached eggs, rocket & lemon infused olive oil. My mate settled for this dish (image above). He enjoyed it quite a lot, didn't hear any complaints from him whilst eating. You can find this blog here :)

Spanish Baked Eggs ($17.50)

I tend to always go for these type of dishes when it comes to breakfast/brunch. I feel like it's those types of dishes that can't go wrong and will taste good. This dish comes with tomato confit, capsicum & oregano and white toast with chorizo. Compared to other places I've had spanish baked eggs, this cafe was the first to present it opening on a plate rather than a ramekin or saucepan which is quite different. In comparison to ones that I have tried previously, the dish doesn't really stand out. The dish itself is decent, no complaints. It doesn't have as much tomato overpowering the dish as other restaurants which is nice.

Spanish Baked Eggs

The Book Kitchen
Address: 255 Devonshire Street, Surry Hills, 2010
Hours:
Sunday - Monday 8:00AM - 4:00PM

Tam x

Dog Dog Japon, Sydney

Dog Dog Japon

Stumbled across this store after I was on a bus heading towards the bus stop at Events cinemas on George St. There was an employee holding a sign with photos of Japanese style hot dogs in front of Skyview Plaza. The store is located inside Skyview plaza across from Menya Oiden. The store itself looks so colourful and retro, it's cute.

Menu

It's hard to see in the photo but they offer regular and mini sizes for their hot dogs - means you can try twice as many varieties before you're full! From what I've been told, they offer more variety than Chanoma at Regents Place.

Yakisoba Hot Dog ($6.90)

Cheese Hot Dog ($6.60)

There's curried onions, sausage, Bolognese sauce and cheese. Weird combination together but didn't taste so bad. But by the time I finished eating, all I could taste was curry.

Chips with Mentaiko Butter ($4.90)

LOVE thick cut chips! The mentaiko butter was inside the container and to enjoy it, you spread the butter over the chips and it instantly melts. Couldn't taste the flavour of mentaiko at all because they were overpowered by pepper unfortunately. Would definitely prefer to try out other flavours they offer like wasabi mayo. I would probably try this place out again. Their layout is so cute and inviting. They also have drinks like salted caramel shake and lemon honey (not sure of the proper name).

Tam x

The White Hart, Neutral Bay

Deconstructed Cocktail High Tea

Pictured above is a Three-Tiered Deconstructed Cocktail High Tea for four people ($75). Found this deal from Groupon and we bought 2 coupons for 8 people. I'm afraid I can't tell you what we were provided with but on the bottom tier, there was a pot of chocolate soil with absinthe gummy worms and 2 sorbets. Everything on the tiers were alcoholic so unfortunately if you plan to drive, someone will miss out!

There are certain periods of time where you are able to book to enjoy the high tea. We booked on a Friday and it was only available from 4-5PM. At that time, there was plenty of parking in front which was metered. The eight of us were seated inside close to the window facing outside where we waited for our cocktail high tea experience to begin. We had no idea what to expect. Between 8 people, we had 4 tiers given out to share. We were also given "special" tea which to our surprised found out it was long island tea.

So here are a few close ups I took :)

TOP TIER (equivalent to Entree)

Damn it's blurry :( 

This is actually jelly with foam - think it was Vodka jelly

 MIDDLE TIER (equivalent to main)

This one is like marshmallow and is sweet!

This was a bit spicy - unfortunately I don't remember what was surrounded around the foam

BOTTOM TIER (equivalent to dessert)

Chocolate soil

2 different sorbet - the far right one had coconut and is the best one

Unfortunately blurry :( but tastes like coffee

"SPECIAL" TEA

Cute tea sets!

It was a really enjoyable experience. Something really different and fun! Would definitely recommend this to anyone interested and I would definitely come back again. I found out that they also do deconstructed cocktail high tea on weekends as well. You can have a read below :)

Tam x

Night Noodle Markets 2013, Hyde Park

The Ramen Burger Revolution finally hits Sydney! 

Ramen Burger (classic beef) - $12.50

Making it's first appearances at Night Noodle Markets as part of Good Food Month presented by On Ramen. I love this time of month because it's the time "high end" restaurants showcase their menu and are more affordable = MORE FOOD ADVENTURESS! = budget life.

I visited Night Noodle Markets on a Friday night about 6:30PM and by that time it was already packed. There were no tables available and people were marking their territories on the open grass areas. As hungry as we were, we decided to walk around and see what there was on offer. Our first meal was the Ramen Burger, however it took roughly 25-30 minutes wait until we actually received our meal after ordering.

Ramen Burger

In comparison to price, the burger itself is quite small. You can see you also receive a small amount of salad which is tomato, carrot and lettuce. Alongside the salad are small pieces of watermelon to have after devouring the burger. The Ramen Burger consists of a juicy beef patty, lettuce, spanish onion, chilli sauce and tangy mayonnaise between crunchy layers of ramen topped with sesame seeds. It is one delicious piece of work! Definitely something to try out if you're keen and willing to pay $12.50 for this.

Unfortunately this was the only photo I took from my visit at the Night Noodle Markets. Will definitely try to visit once more! You can find out more about the Ramen Burger here. For more information about the event, visit here.

Tam x

Tay Do, Canley Heights

Greetings!

This will be a relatively short post to get back into blogging again. Feels good to be blogging again after a few hectic week. Uni assessments, society events, weekly 21st's. Glad to finally have a breather now until final exams. There always seems to be drama at the most inconvenient and unexpected times. Since starting this blog, I've made met a lot of new faces and made a few friends who I can trust and talk to, joined a Oztag team with Fairfield City Council, went to a few new food places (to be posted!), started playing piano again, and quitting my job at Chemist Warehouse.

So I had lunch at Tay Do (next to aquarium and Diem Hen) on Canley Vale Road. It was my first time there and I was introduced to it by a good friend. They are a fusion of chinese and vietnamese food which also provide set menus for dinner for groups 4 and up. For lunch, we both went with Stewed Duck Noodles (Dry version). In vietnamese, they are called "Mi Vit Tiem". Up until that day, I've only tried the vegetarian version of Mi Vit Tiem. I have no idea what it was meant to taste like but the soup is AMAZING. The duck just falls off the bones. Was so good and honestly a reasonable price too. Because it was the dry version, you get a bowl of noodles and soup separate.

Stewed Duck Noodles ($10.50)

Stewed Duck Noodles ($10.50)

 Definitely would come back for another! Not sure how it is at dinner time but there generally is always people inside.

Tay Do - Chinese and Vietnamese restaurant
Address: 209 Canley Vale Rd, Canley Heights NSW 2166
Opening hours:

Sunday	10:00 am - 10:30 pm
Monday	10:00 am - 3:00 pm, 5:00-10:30 pm
Tuesday	10:00 am - 3:00 pm, 5:00-10:30 pm
Wednesday	Closed
Thursday	10:00 am - 3:00 pm, 5:00-10:30 pm
Friday	10:00 am - 3:00 pm, 5:00-10:30 pm
Saturday	10:00 am - 10:30 pm

Tam x

Chat Thai, Westfields Sydney

So after late night shopping around Westfields Sydney for a gift for my friend's girlfriend, my mate and I had a late dinner at Chat Thai. It was quite crowded and we had to wait around 30 minutes before our turn. Their service is relatively quick despite how many waiters/waitresses there are.

Yakult Blended Ice ($5)

 Tastes just like Yakult! Except a lot colder haha. Definitely recommend trying this even though you could easily get this from any supermarket. BUT this has ice and is a MUCH larger size!

Khao Padt ($14)

Khao Padt is fried rice with eggs, chicken and chinese kale. It's not bad, it's like a comfort food but I find it a bit oily for my liking.

----

ROUND 2!

I actually went back to Chat Thai the next day cause I had a girl's day out. We initially wanted to meet up to get some Zonuts @ Adriano Zumbo Patisserie but we had JUST missed out! :( So we ventured to Westfields for lunch after the girls had seen my instagram post of the yakult blended ice drink (above).

Nahm Lum Yai (Iced Longan Cordial with Longan Drink)

Nahm Lum Yai 

This drink is quite sweet. It tastes similar to the longans you can get in the cans from asian groceries. Other than that I don't think its quite unique. Definitely for those who enjoy longans.

Khao Na Gai Yaang ($12.50)

Khao Na Gai Yaang ($12.50)

Khao Na Gai Yaang is grilled tumeric and lemongrass chicken with smoked chilli and tamarind relish on rice. The chicken is soo good! It's not dry and you keep going for more!

Khao Na Bped ($15)

Khao Na Bped ($15)

Khao Na Bped is roasted duck with ginger and duck gravy with rice. The gravy is AMAZING! Don't get me wrong, the roasted duck is good too but the gravy was something I never had tried before. It is creamy and spicy. I couldn't help but continue eating haha. Seriously recommend trying the gravy on this. The roasted duck is moist and a bit salty for my liking but good protein :)

Young Coconut Jelly

The jelly had pieces of young coconut in it which made the jelly seem more fresh. The jelly itself is sweet but not overly sweet and has a nice coconut fragrance.

Tup Tim Grob ($6.50)

I THINK this was what was ordered. Otherwise correct me if I'm wrong! It is tapioca coated water chestnuts in an aromatic syrup with fresh coconut milk and roasted peanuts. I think there was also pieces of jackfruit but I honestly don't remember.

I enjoy eating here every time. Chat Thai doesn't fail to disappoint me and their constant long queues justify this. Would definitely be my go to Thai restaurant at the moment.

Tam x