Malacca Straits, Broadway - Amazingly Malaysian!

After a great massive feast at a friend's event, my wife and I headed to the City. Though our tummies were full from lunch, we were still keen to explore this humble Malaysian restaurant. My friends at work have been raving about it, so we had to finally try it.

On Mountain Street., we walked towards Parramatta Road and came across the restaurant sign on the left hand side of the street. It directed us to a courtyard and the restaurant was at the right hand corner.

Satay Chicken

Roti Canai

We sat down and went through the menu which had all-time Malaysian favourites (and some Thai dishes). We settled for four savoury dishes: The Roti Canai with curry dip, Satay chicken, Nasi Goreng, and the Assam Ikan.

All the dishes were nice but two stood out, the Nasi Goreng and Assam Ikan.

Nasi Goreng

Their Nasi Goreng is the best I've had so far. It wasn't too salty, it was a little bit sweet, and had a hint of spiciness. It had a great serving of chicken and prawns.

Assam Ikan

The Assam Ikan on the other hand, has now become one of my favourite dishes. It is right up there in my top 5! It had chunks of fish fillet perfectly cooked, vegetables, and some pineapple pieces. It looked like a rich and hearty dish, but it's not. The sourness from the tamarind just keeps pulling me in to keep having more. It was a little bit sweet and slightly spicy. I swear, I didn't want to stop eating! I loved it!

Banana fritters with vanilla ice cream

We then ended our dinner with a nice Banana Fritters with vanilla ice cream.

I definitely recommend Malacca Straits @ Broadway as the service was superb and the dishes were very yummy for my tummy!

Malacca Straits Malaysian and Thai Restaurant

5/66 Mountain Street
Ultimo NSW 2007

Great burgers at Charlie and Co.!

When I think of comfort food, burgers and french fries come to mind straight away. I feel happy and full after my burger and fries session. But after having Charlie and Co. burger and fries, I was "happier" (also because I had dinner there with my wife) and "stuffed"! So stuffed, that there was no room for dessert. Me? with no room in my tummy for dessert? I couldn't believe it either!

We went up to level 5 of the new Westfield Sydney to a high end food court called The Sydney Room. Then we were welcomed by a really nice wait staff member at Charlie and Co. There was a choice between take away or dine in (for extra $2 per item). We decided to eat in and have the full Charlie and Co. experience.

Truffles and Parmesan Fries

Justin North, of the renowned Becasse, designed the mouth-watering menu. We started by ordering their fries coated with truffles and parmesan cheese to start with. Wow! It was good! And the serving could be shared between 2 to 3 people.

My wife ordered the Wagyu and Co. burger. It's a tasty and juicy burger with thick wagyu burger pattie, beetroot relish, pickled gherkin, and aged cheddar cheese served in a sesame bun.

Rustic Chorizo Burger

I settled with the big, juicy and great tasting Rustic Chorizo Burger. It's packed with a thick beef pattie infused with paprika, chorizo and fennel, soft peppers, and fried egg.

The service was great and if you ask me about the food? I loved it! I shall return, because it was Yummy for my Tummy!

Charlie & Co. Burgers

The Sydney Room, Level 5, Westfield Sydney,

Cnr Market and Castlereagh St,

Sydney, NSW 2000

(02) 8072 7777

My day at the Master Chef Live - Australia's cooking event

My very loving and sweet wife surprised me with a complimentary pass to the Masterchef live event the day before. Friday came and at 10:10a.m., I queued up with the rest of Sydney’s foodies to get in. Soon as I entered the Royal Hall of Industries @ the Entertainment Quarter I was like a kid in a candy store! I was surrounded by so many food stalls.

Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Truffle

But before taste testing and eating, I started the day by attending a chocolate cooking demo. The chef at that cooking demo taught us how to make dark chocolate salted caramel truffles! All of us in the demo had one truffle each to taste test. As I bite through this little delight, I felt the velvet smoothness in my tongue, followed by the sweetness then the slight salty taste cuts through the sweet hit.

Macaron Tower

Kylie Minogue eclair

Organic Chips

Manna from heaven

Chocolates

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Sweet Art cakes and cupcakes

Sublime Gelato

Mango and Vanilla Bean Gelato from Pure Gelato

Mayfield chocolates

Tejas chocolates

Adriano Zumbo's macarons

I could no longer contain myself, so right after the demo, I went for the food stalls. It was food, sweets and condiments galore. I took photos, taste tested and ate gelatos, cheese, cupcakes, chocolates, macarons, organic chips, dips, pastas, meat, deli products and the list goes on.

Kylie Kwong

At 11:30am, I went to Kylie Kwong's cooking demo. As I stood waiting, I turned around and there was Ms. Kwong, smiling at me. I was star struck as she said "Hi" to me. She demonstrated three basic ways of cooking three different types of tofu. She even gave us a background story about tofu and which ingredients went well with them. It was definitely a wonderful and special experience just being taught by Kylie Kwong live and in person.

I then went on and visited the rest of the other stalls inside the hall.

Pork Belly Wraps

Margherita Pizza

Just when I thought that was all the food stalls, there were more outside!

Masterchef Judges Gary and Mat

Just before I left the event, I saw the Masterchef judges Gary, George and Matt!


I ended it with a seafood cooking class. Here is the finish product, Marinated Grilled barbecue prawns:

Marinated barbecue prawns that I cooked (I endeavour to improve on my food presentation)

I hope that there will be a Masterchef live for 2011 as everything that I tasted in this event was very Yummy for my Tummy!

We Love Ramen!,Yatta! (Alright!)

Finally, my first post!

For the last few months my wife and friends have been telling me to start my own food blog. Since I talk about food all the time, I said to myself, why not?!

Most Asian countries will have it’s own special noodle soup dish and luckily, we have most of them here in Sydney. There’s the Cantonese Wonton noodle soup, Malaysia’s Laksa, and the Vietnamese Pho. I love all the above, but, there is one particular noodle soup dish that I've fallen for. It is Japan’s “RAMEN”! I call it the Supreme noodle soup dish. I’m so hooked into it and I even got my wife and friends hooked into it too. I know someone who once thought that I got myself into some new religion which I found quite funny. Come to think of it, I got myself into something powerful and moving. Every sip of the broth and slurp of the noodles was euphoric, it was like taking me to a land of joy and comfort. There are different types of Ramen: Miso, Shio, Shoyu, and my personal favourite, tonkotsu (not to be mistaken for tonkatsu).

The Japanese’s passion for the pursuit of perfection can be found in this bowls of joy. My wife and I were first introduced to the taste of Ramen in a Ramen restaurant called Ichiban Boshi. This restaurant is located at the top floor of The Galeries Victoria, Sydney. I have been intrigue by Ramen for the longest time and was even more intrigued every time I visit the Kinokuniya Bookstore and see the long queue outside Ichiban. Ever since we first tried the ramen at the Ichiban Boshi, we became regulars.

Tantanmen

Gyozas (This is Ramen's Best Friend)

Iced Green Tea Cappuccino

The Tantanmen ramen was like love at first taste for us! We kept coming back for more of it. It is topped with tasty minced pork, thinly sliced leeks, and halved boiled egg. This spicy miso based ramen is so good and different from any noodle soup dish that I’ve had. It did remind of me of laksa a little bit, but with a Japanese twist. The spiciness is not overwhelming but was just enough to give the dish a bit of kick. It had the taste of Miso and hint of peanuts. The noodles were cooked so as to be firm but not hard. It was a party in my mouth. The gyozas went so well with it too and it was one of best I’ve had.We finished our meal with the popular Iced green tea cappuccino, which I highly recommend.

Then, not too long after being introduced to tantanmen, I read on the Grab Your Fork food blog about a tonkotsu ramen place called Gumshara (which translates to”The Chronic”) found inside the Eating World Food court in Chinatown, Sydney. As it has been included in the site’s Top 10 best Sydney eats for tourist, I decided to set a date to try it. I took a half day off work on a Friday and headed to Chinatown. I lined up at this very humble noodle area of the food court and was greeted by Gumshara’s Chef Mori. Chef’s a very nice guy I must say. I decided to order for the Pork Spare rib Ramen, which is limited to 10 bowls a day. Upon hearing my order, Chef had this smile of delight in his face. I read that this ramen is Chef’s passion poured onto a bowl. 

Pork Spare rib Tonkotsu Ramen

I've Conquered it! Yatta!

After about 5 minutes, a masterpiece was served. Topped with a huge slab of Pork Spare rib, bamboo shoots, slice of spring onions and sheet of seaweed. I went for it, and after one sip of the thick pork bone broth, I fell in love with it! As a friend of mine described the taste, it was like liquefied pork and almost like gravy but not quite. Then, the noodle was another story. It was cooked to perfection. The Pork was so juicy and tasty to the bone. It was so rich from collagen that after finishing my Ramen, I was left with this thick film like feeling on my tongue.

I was euphoric after my tonkotsu ramen hit. It is amazing and from then on, it became my Favourite!

I love it and I must say that Ichiban Boshi’s and Gumshara’s Ramen are definitely very Yummy for my Tummy!