Home, Thai restaurant, Sydney

Sydney is overflowing with Thai restaurants. Almost every suburb would have a local Thai restaurant. Most of these restaurants make use of name puns. But one place took a more simple approach and named itself "Home".

Home is a Thai restaurant located on Sussex Street (right across the cinema car park), Sydney.  The setting is casual and contemporary. Speaking about being contemporary, the wait staff here takes your order using an iPad. So cool right?

Home serves good value and authentic Thai cuisine. Maybe the reason behind the name is to give reference to the dishes and drinks. Staying true to how they are prepared back "home", in Thailand.

Here are some dishes that I have tried so far:

Sai Groog Isan

The sai groog isan ($11.50) is a homemade Thai sausage. It is very garlicky and a little bit peppery in taste.

Chicken Pad Thai

The chicken Pad Thai ($11.90) is something I often order at Thai restaurants. This is one of my favourite versions of this classic Thai dish.

Pad pik khing 

If you love pork and don't mind a spicy dish, then try the Pad pik khing ($14.90). This is my absolute favourite Home dish! It is stir-fried crispy pork belly with chili, lime leaf, green bean and pik khing sauce. The pik khing (also known as prik khing - chilli pepper & ginger curry paste) sauce has a very mild spicy hit and is slightly sweet. To some taste buds, the curry paste/sauce could be too spicy. It's the crispiness of the pork crackling and combination of the curry paste that makes this dish sublime and standout.

Gang Dang Ped

The gang dang ped ($13.50) - roast duck curry is for the lovers of spicy red curry. The duck is well cooked and the milky red curry is superb.

Thai iced tea (Iced milk tea, Thai-style)

You cannot go wrong with authentic Thai dishes that are nicely priced and very pleasing to the taste buds. My Home Thai experience was very yummy for my tummy! How's yours?

Home Thai

2/299-305 Sussex Street

Sydney NSW 2000

(02) 9261 5058

www.homethai.com.au

Operating hours:

Lunch: 11:00am to 5:00pm

Dinner: 5:00pm to 10:30pm

Black Coffee Shop Pop-up event at the Outré Gallery, Surry Hills

It’s been a while since I’ve had a decent cup of black coffee. Black coffee freshly extracted from real coffee beans in particular. I normally prefer espresso-based drinks with milk and the occasional shots of caramel.  But my visit to the Black Coffee Shop pop-up launch at the Outré Gallery’s shop window gave me a whole new perspective and experience.

Thanks to an invite from Lisa Pham (the organiser and PR of the event), a newfound love for black coffee has sparked within me. The Black Coffee Shop is Melbourne born and based. Their mission is very straightforward and that is to serve freshly brewed black coffee wherever and whenever possible. No sugar and no milk. 

The apparatuses they used were insanely cool! The black coffee produced by different apparatuses such as an aeropress and pour-over was awesome! The taste and body of black coffee varied depending on the method used. I was able to sample black coffee extracted from boa vista beans (by Market Lane) using an aeropress. The coffee came out very clean and strong.

The creation of fine black coffee was carried out with calculation and precision. The approach was almost scientific. To get the full experience, you can still visit the Black Coffee Shop crew at the Outré Gallery on Crown Street, Surry Hills between 21 April to 22 April 2012.

Visit their website: http://blackcoffeeshop.tumblr.com/ and follow them on Twitter @Blackcoffeeshop

Outre Gallery

285A Crown Street

Surry Hills NSW 2012

Moo Gourmet Burgers, Newtown

Burger me this, burger me that, where are the good burgers at? As much as I love to stay fit, I like to end my week with comfort food. I want food that would pick me up, de-stress my mind, please the taste buds and fill my stomach!

I usually indulge myself with servings of ramen, potato chips, chocolates, macarons, pad Thai and burgers! Lately, it's been burger mania in the world of Ramen Raff. It is Moo Gourmet Burgers that has satisfied my cravings for good burgers.

Got Milk?

Moo Gourmet Burgers is dedicated to its cause of serving top-grade burgers. Everything from Angus beef patties to the burger buns are of good quality. Their items in the menu are also inexpensive considering the big servings and quality.

Moo is located in various locations. The Newtown store, located on King Street, is where I had my Moo experience.

The Beef Wagyu Burger ($16.50) is the supreme burger. It has a thick juicy wagyu beef patty with chunks of brie cheese and caramelised onion, tomato, lettuce and homemade mayo. This is what "burger dreams" are made of. It was like being in a sweet dream as I ate my way through it.

 Duck and bacon burger ($16.50). It has Muscovy duck patty, free-range bacon, homemade mayo, lettuce, tomato and orange jam. The duck patty is surprisingly good and is bursting with flavour! The orange jam is sweet and sour in taste. Thanks to the jam, the burger transforms from good to gold! The hot chips on the side (extra $3.50) was super crispy and cooked to perfection.

The classic cheeseburger ($12.00). An oldie but a goodie.

Mad cow milkshake ($6.50). This is bliss in thick liquid form. An oreo cookie milkshake that is not overly sweet. Oh yeh!!! This is definitely my favourite milkshake ever!

 MOOteaser milkshake ($6.50). This one is for the malt chocolate fans out there! It's maltesers in the form of a milkshake. Not so sweet with malt chocolate goodness leaving the taste buds wanting more.

 Good value for money considering the huge burger servings and top-notch taste! The milkshakes are lusciously insane. The burgers and shakes at Moo Gourmet were very yummy for my tummy.  You had me at "Moo"!

Moo Gourmet Burgers

232 King Street  

Newtown NSW 2042

(02) 9565 4001

www.moogourmetburgers.com.au

Hours: Sun-Sat 11am till late

Cabramatta Food Crawl by Noodlies

New South Wales has numerous diverse communities. Communities containing ethnic backgrounds that contributes to the beauty of this country. 

Located within south-western Sydney, is the suburb of Cabramatta (also known as 'Cabra'). It is a suburb like no other! Driven by the unity of its many cultures and wide range of amazing food. This is a suburb of many splendid wonders. People from backgrounds such as Vietnamese, Chinese, Laotian, Cambodian and European play a big part in this suburb. 

Not long ago, I was one of the few lucky bloggers selected to take part on the Cabramatta Food Crawl. A food crawl to explore the superb Vietnamese cuisine that Cabra has to offer. This event was organised by the renowned Thang Ngo of Noodlies food blog and SBS Feast Magazine.

I had the pleasure of going in this adventure with 6 other bloggers and V.I.P. guests: Simon, Amanda, Cheryl of Fairfield City Council and her husband David. Thang took us on an educational and gastronomic journey through Cabramatta.

First stop was Pho Viêt for our Pho fix! Did y'all know that Pho Viêt has been around serving Pho for around 30 years? Now that's very impressive!

Pho Tai ($9.00).  This Vietnamese rice noodle soup dish includes thins slices of rare beef (cooked in the broth), meatballs, and tripe. Set aside is a separate plate of mint leaves, basil and bean sprouts. Both the mint leaves are normally placed in the pho (amount is of personal preference). For maximum flavour, break the mint leaves before mixing it in the broth. It is good value for a very generous serving of excellent quality pho. The broth was very well balanced in terms of flavour. The tripe is well cooked. It is one of the best phos I've ever had.

Second stop was Vinata's Bakery, home of the best banh mi and baked goods in Cabramatta. The lovely and proud owner Vinata was kind enough to let us sample her bakery’s bahn mi and some baked goods. Baked goods like twisted sweet croissants and pâté so (puff pastry filled with pork sausage) were made with passion evident in their taste.

The bahn mi at Vinata’s is the best one I’ve had. The fresh bread used reminded me of a baguette and is also perfect (crusty outside and fluffy soft inside). Encased in this perfect bread roll was a combination of awesome flavours from pickled carrots, liver pâté, cilantro, slices of pork, other slices of vegetable and a sauce made by Vinata from scratch.

Then, we took a short stop at Thu Phung for a sugar cane drink ($2.50 Medium and $3.50 for large). I fell in love with the drink instantly. It had the perfect harmony of sweet and sour in a refreshing drink. The citrus sour component comes from the cumquat juice.

Next stop was the very popular Bau Truong. As Thang has described it, it is unpretentious and the food is authentic. The lovely owner Linda, graced us with some of their specialty dishes. Dishes such as: Rice paper rolls with special hoisin sauce dip, banh xeo pancake and my favourite, ca xuc banh trang.

 

The bahn xeo is a fried pancake that also contains coconut milk. The pancake is filled with ingredients like bean sprouts, prawns and chopped shallots. A piece is sliced and wrapped in a leaf of salad and herbs.

The ca xuc banh trang is my absolute favourite. Dipping the fried rice paper with black sesame into the amazing fish curry dip was a golden moment. The caramelized curry and fish still lingers in my mind. It is that good!

After all of that awesomeness, we were also served with a lemon, lime and lemongrass crush. The lemongrass turns a lemon and lime combo drink to another refreshing level.

We also bought some takeaway desserts at Ngoc Duc. I watched the emperor’s puffs being made with amazement.

Last stop was at Café Nho. It has a very laid back vibe where I can see myself hanging out all day.

The Café Sua Da is a Vietnamese style iced coffee with condensed milk. It is strong but not bitter. The condense milk component mellows down the drink.

The food crawl party had to end at some point but I left with fond memories, a happy stomach and a game plan for my next visit to Cabra. I certainly had an amazing time and deeply enjoyed the food that was very yummy for my tummy!

Ramen Raff took part in the Cabramatta Food Crawl and dined as a guest at various restaurants courtesy of supporters: Fairfield City Council, Lenovo, SBS Feast Magazine and Royal Umbrella Rice

Pho Viêt

11 John Street  

Cabramatta NSW 2166

(02)9728 6657

Vinata’s Hot Bread
13/1 Hughes St, Cabramatta NSW 2166

Bau Truong

42 John Street  Cabramatta NSW 2166
(02) 9727 4492