Home Thai

I was so happy to find out that Jarjar was in Sydney the same time as me for a project. It meant I got to pig out with her again! Since it was her birthday recently, it was more the reason to celebrate. There was 3 of us for dinner (Jarajar, SJ and me) so Thai felt the most appropriate to share, nibble and have a few giggles.

We went to the Home Thai on Sussex Street on a Monday night and lucky for us, the wait wasn't that awful.

Faced with a menu full of choice, the other 2 left the ordering to me and I gladly accepted the challenge. I am someone who hate leaving a restaurant not feeling full, so anybody who ever dines with me, will know to except a food baby at the end of their meal.

To start I ordered the seafood tom yum, it was a fairly cold day, warm soup was a great way to start. This was more on the spicy side, I loved it and could take the heat fine but I could see SJ struggling with the heat. The soup has a generous amount of prawns, mushroom and corriander.

Next was the soft shell crab mango salad. This came with a generous amount of soft shell crab, green mango, coriander, onion, shallots, kaffier leaves and chilli jam. The soft shell crab was deep fried and tasted great alone, l would have happily eaten the crab alone, it didn't really need the salad.

For mains we got the green curry with chicken. Strong coconut milk flavours came through, apple eggplant, chilli and basil leaves were also in the curry to enhance the curry.

To go with the green curry we also ordered some coconut rice. This also went nicely the stir fried broccoli with crispy pork. Normally the crispy pork would not be served on the side but they were accommodating since jaryar is vegetarian. This is one of my favourite dishes to order whenever we go to a Thai restaurant. Home Thai does it well With the pork being crispybut not dry. The oyster sauce is sweet but not too overpowering.

Pad thai is always a favourite, so we couldn't pass it up. Thin flat rice noodles with chicken and the usual goodies. I liked the side of nuts but didn't' feel the same away about the sugar. l found that the padthai already had enough taste and did't need anymore.

For dessert we really wanted the mango sticky rice but it was sold out. Instead we got the deep fried bread sticks, served with pandan coconut jam. It was a very heavy dessert. l reccomend you share this one.

The other dessert we got was the egg custard with sticky rice. The egg custard sat on top of the pandan scented sticky rice and finished with condense milk. It's very typical thai flavours, a bit on the heavy side but still a good sweetness to end the meal.

Overall 16.5/20 It's home-y Thai food that hits the spot. The menu has heaps of options, all the classics are there along with plenty of other new things to try.

Aqua S

After months of seeing this pop up on my Instagram, I finally got myself there to see what all the fuss is about. Prior visiting I had heard a range of opinions from "it's amazing" to "just a gimmick". I was keen to see myself and I was in the area so WTH, I gave it a go.

I got there at 12 and saw 3 girls playing around behind the counter. Besides the girls I also saw a fairy floss maker, popcorn maker and a huge tray of toasted marshmallows. The flavors of the moment were their famous sea salt, chocolate and pomegranate. I was really disappointed as I wanted to try their melon flavour but sadly that was weeks before I made my visit.

They offered a range of topping such as popcorn, fairy floss, popping candy and toasted marshmallow I settled for sea salt and pomegranate with fairy floss and popcorn. I didn't really know what to expect with sea salt soft-serve, it reminded me of dipping my fries in a soft serve at Macca's. It wasn't bad at all. The pomegranate was tangy and sweet. However to me the highlight was the fairy floss and how pretty it was.

I'm not sure it's a place I'll frequent but the fairy floss was fun and it's one of those dessert that make very pretty photos.

Overall 15/20 I would happy to  go back to try it again if a flavour of my interest pops up.

A Tavola - Bondi

When in Sydney with J, one thing is always a must and that is eating somewhere nice. Since we were around the Bondi area during the day, A Tavola was only a short car ride away. It is a beautiful cosy restaurant located on Hall Street in Bondi.

Once we sat down our waiter was attentive and went through the menu with me, dish by dish and then went on to understand what drinks I like before he made a recommendation. Then was quick to serve us their house made focaccia while we waited.

J and I were both hungry so we decided on entrees, main and side to share.

The first entree was culatello with melons and rocket. I loved the saltiness in the cured meat balanced with the sweetness of the melons and the slight bitterness in the rocket

Second entree was squid ink scallops. This was served with cucumber, apple and witlof. It was light starter and a creative play on different textures and flavours

As my main I was feeling quite famished when I was ordering so I choose a heavier pasta. I got the pappadelle ragu. This was done with waygu beef shin, red wine, tomato and horseraddish. The sauce was hearty and the fresh pasta gave the perfect amount of bite.

J got the seafood pasta. it came with a generous amounts of mussel, pipis, fish, prawns and calamari. It was served on a tomato base sauce. The produce was fresh and each mouthful, reminded you of the beach.

To balance out, we got a side salad of red cabbage . It came with raisins, walnuts and dressed in balsamic. It was a very generous serve so I would recommend people to share. It was a fresh crisp salad. Perfect to go with all the carbs.

We didn't get dessert, because we had initially planned to get some gelato from Messina next door, but we finished dinner too late and never got there.

Over 17/20 I really enjoyed the food here. It does a beautiful refined Italian experience. All dishes I tried had great harmonized flavour and it's a place I would visit again, next time I'm in Bondi.

Momofuku Seiobo

To celebrate me ageing and getting old D took me to Momofuku while we were in Sydney. It's a place that I have wanted to visit for awhile now. Over my many trips to Sydney each year, I have never been successful in obtaining a table. So when I learned that we got a booking for my birthday I was super excited. I have read a lot of good things about David Chang and the Momofuku in New York so the Sydney branch has been on my 'to try' list for a very long time. We got a seat at the bar, so we got to watch the action in the kitchen.

Momofuku only offers a degustation option for $185; it is a 10 course meal so make sure you come with a lot of stomach space. You can also get a wine pairing with it - either a full pairing ($105) or a reduced pairing ($65) and if you are a responsible designated driver there is also the non alcoholic pairing option ($60).
The non alcoholic pairing was actually very interesting. I got the following drinks during the dinner.

Sweet Tea
Watermelon juice
Rhubarb soda
Cucumber lemon myrtle juice
Roasted green tea (house blend)
Blackcurrant and thyme
Ginger lemonade



Now to the food. For the first course it was a series of canapes. In small cups we got the crab chickpea filling, zucchini black garlic filling and carrot, mullet roe filling. I was quite fascinated with the intricacy in the construction of these. They were just small flavour explosions in your mouth and designed to open up your pallet for the remaining courses.

Next canape was the parson's nose with roe. This was basically fried chicken bum with roe. The chicken was very crispy and topped with the roe, it had a different twist to the typical fried chicken flavour composition  It tasted more like crispy fried chicken skin, than fried chicken itself. This was my favorite canape.

Final canape was the cep with hazelnut. Cep is a type of mushroom, it was served on a slice of toast. The mushroom creaminess with the hazelnut unexpectedly worked very well.

Second course was a scallop, kombu in duck broth. This was a big scallop ravioli with noodles and duck broth. The scallop ravioli was interesting but more on the bland side. The dish heavily relied on the strong flavors in the broth. It was nice but nothing breathtaking. Given it's play on the Chinese wonton noodle classic, a bit of green vegetable in there with a slice of shitaki mushroom would have made it more contemporary and added more textures.

Third course was waygu beef with radish and fermented black beans. This dish was very pretty and it's designed to be eaten mixed up so the prettiness is quickly covered in blackbeans. The waygu was cooked perfectly. I don't know what to think of this dish. I didn't love it, I didn't hate it. D called it a very pretty black bean beef. It was very salty to eat on it's own, I think if I had a bowl of rice and maybe another dish to balance it out I would enjoy it a lot more. On it's own, it was a bit too much.

Fourth dish was the maron with pea and pistachio. The marron was fresh and light, which made it a nice contrast to the prior course of wagyu. The pea, pistachio was an interesting combination but it wasn't something that made me want more of. The marron on it's own was juicy and succulent - it didn't really need anything else to go with it.

Fifth dish was John Dory with broccoli and lemon. I usually love John Dory and this time it wasn't any different. The lemon sauce helps bring out the natural flavours of the fish. The broccolini was a steep and well balance contrast to the lemon curd especially with the almond flakes.

Sixth dish was the partridge with truffle and endive (looks like a mini baby wom bok but with much stronger flavors). The partridge was cooked perfectly but the hero of this dish was that truffle puree. It was intense, it was smooth it was just beautiful. I wanted to lick the plate. The endive on the side was interesting but I was too focused on the truffle.

Seventh dish was duck with rye and swede. The duck has a crispy skin and cooked with the centre just pink. Swede on the side was interesting, I've never had swede before, when I saw it, I was imagining it to taste like something potato-y. However it was nothing like that. The root was vegetable had more bite than I expected, it was more a turnip with a bite laced with the flavours of rye.

Eighth was the start of the desserts, ewe's curd with choux and rose water syrup.  The choux was like a profiterole with the ewe's curd filling. Unlike a profiterole, this was heavier and had a denser texture. The curd was nice and fluffy and the rose water syrup provided the sweetness. The rose water syrup was the key element that ties this dish together.

Ninth was the corn, chevril and anise. This was a corn custard with a anise meringue and chevril ice cream. I love cracking the meringue, the sweetness of the meringue together with the sweet corn taste balanced out the chervil (tasted like parsley). I won't say I would normally go for this type of dessert, but it was interesting to try.

As a bonus, because we were there for my birthday we got a chocolate log to share prior to the final dessert. This was a decadent chocolate mousse cake with chocolate chips on the side. It was so rich and intense. I was so full at this point but it tasted so good. Fortunately the host was really nice and gave us a box so we could take it home and enjoy the next day.

Tenth was the artichoke, pear and sunflower. This was a chocolate caramel artichoke underneath those beautifully arranged slices of pear. I found this one very interesting with their choice of ingredients and pairing. It is not something I would think goes well together but it did. Nice surprise.

Final dish was a canele that had a beeswax finish. It was their version of a classic French dessert. Sadly I was so full at this point I couldn't finish it and just had regrets the next morning. It has a caramelised crunchy exterior and a solid custard spongy interior.

As a take home gift we were given sachets of their house tea brew (which was offered as part of the non alcoholic pairing). I found this as a nice touch, that added to the experience.

Overall 17.5/20 I was impressed with the creativity in a lot of the dishes but it didn't completely live up to the hype. Given how difficult it was to secure a booking and the constant raves in the media and food blogs I was slightly disappointed that I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped to. I was really hoping to get the pork bun, as it was something that others had spoken fondly of. It was still a great experience but just fell short of my expectations.

Oiden Bowl Bar

On Christmas Day I decided it was a good idea to wander down to Chinatown, since nothing was really open around where I was staying. On my way to Chinatown I passed Oiden Bowl Bar. Oiden is located on George Street and it's the sister store of Menya Mappan.

It's a affordable self service donburi (rice bowl) restaurant. It's great if you are looking for a fast, cheap feed. They offer a good range of Japanese rice bowls from fish, to chicken, beef and vegetarian. Other than rice bowl, they also have a selection of fried side dishes such as takoyaki, croquettes, fried tofu, spring rolls, seafood sticks and fried chicken. 

If you want something less oily, they also offer miso soup, kimchi, edamame, seaweed salad, potato salads and soft boiled eggs.

Since I was on my own, I went with their mini bowl set so I could try more. For $9.90 you get the choice of 3 mini bowls and for an extra $2 you can get a side of potato salad, seaweed salad and miso soup.

The first bowl I got was the chicken karage bowl. Two pieces of chicken topped with mayo on a bed of seasoned rice. Simple and no frills, the chicken was tasty and not dry at all.

Second bowl was ontama tanaka salmon bowl. This was part of their healthy range menu, it had salmon flakes, pickles and a runny egg. Again the rice was well seasoned. It was full of flavour and this was my favourite bowl out of the three, the runny egg made it more 'comfort' food in my eyes and just that little bit more enjoyable.

Final bowl was the plain salmon bowl. This had raw minced salmon with seaweed and egg yolk powder seasoning on the rice. One thing I miss about Japan is all the different type of rice seasoning they had. Egg yolk seasoning was one of my favorite when I was in Japan, this time it was no different. The bowl was just simple and not boring. Only thing is I'm not a big fan of the minced salmon.

I tried the mince beef croquette as well. This was cripsy on the outside and still fluffy on the inside. I was quite surprised I was expecting it to be very dry, given how it looked.

Overall 14/20 If cheap, fast, filling Japanese is what you are after, then Oiden does that well. For less than $20, you can get nice and full from this place. It is great for the student budget or just when you don't want anything fancy, yet tasty.