Fratelli Famous and The Bavarian, Penrith

I'm a fan of Fratelli Fresh. Their pizzas and pastas are consistently done well. How I wished that they had branches out in Sydney's West.

Apple cider - nice and crisped!

Bubble berry cocktail - vodka, cranberry juice, sparkling wine, strawberries

It's like the heavens heard my yearning as news of Fratelli Famous along with The Bavarian opening in Penrith broke out! You'll find both restaurants at Westfield's street level dining district. You can order dishes from either restaurants and sit wherever you want. The Bavarian has a contemporary tavern/dive bar type interior whilst Fratelli Famous has a modern bistro setting. Thanks to an invitation from the Rockpool Dining Group, we were able to sample some of their food offerings.

The Bavarian

  

Haus made pretzels and butter

This place is basically the rebranded Bavarian Bier Cafe. Expect all the Bavarian Bier Cafe classics and more! They also have 17 brews on tap! We started with their pretzels and butter ($4.75). The lightly salted pretzels were crusty on the outside and fluffy inside. Along with butter, it was the perfect starter.

Best of Bavaria tasting platter

So that we can try all the meaty goodness The Bavarian has to offer, we opted for The best of Bavaria tasting platter ($65). It was a massive party of tasty proteins and crackling along with sides of mashed potato, baked potato scallops, sauerkraut and sauces sauces. The cracklings on their roasted pork belly and pork knuckles were just divine. The smoked pork belly was tender and packed with a lot of flavour from the dry rub. The sausages are as tasty as I remember it to be from previous visits specially the cheese filled sausage. The schnitzel coating needed a little more crisped factor to it but flavour-wise, it was on point.

Fratelli Famous

This establishment is a brother restaurant to the amazing Fratelli Fresh. Unlike Fratelli Fresh, Fratelli Famous is more pizza based with a focus on a "build your own pizza" menu. Basically, you can have the classics or whatever pizza flavour tickles your fancy!

Margherita pizza

We opted for a Margherita pizza ($15) with extra buffalo mozzarella. It may not be an adventurous pizza, but in my opinion, a restaurant's pizza is tested as to how well they can execute a Margherita a.k.a. the OG pizza. It did not disappoint! The base is made of sourdough with cultured yeast made in-house. Every ingredient was highlighted from the base that was thin, soft and slightly crisped to the fresh tomato sauce that was not overly sweet. Then you have the nice milky flavoured mozzarella and the beautiful aromatics and sweetness from the basil.

Nutella pizza

We also had their nutella pizza! Loads of nutella and fresh strawberries on their signature sourdough base. Need I say more?

The service was fast and staff members were friendly and attentive. Check them out next time you're in Penrith!

Ramen Raff was invited by the Rockpool Dining Group as a guest of Fratelli Famous and The Bavarian Penrith.

Fratelli Famous and The Bavarian Penrith

Dine on Riley St

Westfield Penrith

585 High Street

Penrith NSW

Opening hours:

Monday to Sunday 11am to 11:59pm

Pavel & Co, Sydney

A few days ago, I just had this massive craving for a cheeseburger. As most of my go to places for burgers are outside the Sydney CBD, I desperately searched for a place that would fill that gap. Then I found a photo of a classic cheeseburger on Google that led me to Pavel & Co. I felt my heart throw fist pumps as soon as I found out that they are situated in the CBD.

Pavel & Co is located on Kent Street near Wynyard station and King Street Wharf. This produce-driven cafe/fast casual dining place is the latest addition to the Pony Dining Group run by Head Chef Jimmy. It has an industrial look and a relaxed vibe. Their menu features spit roasted meats, which are cooked in the premises. Meats are served in buns, freshly baked paninis, and lunch boxes (with sides of salads and brown rice). In-house baked pastries are also available. They have been operating for 6 months and I have no idea how something as great as Pavel & Co. has slipped through my radar. The brioche buns are sourced from Infinity Bakery. I decided to try out their coffee and bun dishes over a few days because I heart coffee and buns!

The beans are sourced from Gabriel Coffee. I opted for a flat white on my first visit. The coffee had a medium to full body and the milk was textured nicely and at a good temperature.

Bun #1

Pork belly bun

The pork belly bun ($8 - only available up to 10.30am) was on another level of awesomeness! It was roasted pork belly with crackling, egg, chilli relish, hoisin sauce and toasted buckwheat in a soft buttery brioche bun. If you can have bacon or ham for breakfast why not a pork belly with glorious tiles of crackling and melt-in-your-mouth tender fatty right?! The runny egg yolk for extra textural amplification to the pork. The mild chilli relish and hoisin sauce gave this dish sweet, sour and spiced flavours.

Bun #2

Mushroom brioche

Another breakfast option is their mushroom brioche ($6.50). It had field mushrooms, sunny egg, beetroot relish, feta, toasted buckwheat and crispy kale in a brioche bun. The highlight is the collaboration of flavours from the smoky and slightly vinegary soft mushrooms, feta cheese and sweet beetroot relish that works so well. If you're a mushroom lover like me, then you need to try this!

Bun #3

Wagyu cheeseburger

Shoestring fries

Last but not the least is the item that paved the way for my visit, their wagyu cheeseburger ($13). It is just too legit to quit! Encased in a soft brioche bun is a medium rare Blackmore wagyu beef patty (sourced from the renowned Victor Churchill), American cheese, pickles, onions, mayo and ketchup. It was classic and simply perfect! The patty had a smoky chargrilled flavour and was well seasoned. The shoestring fries is an optional extra for $4 or you can get a burger deal with fries and drink for $19.

I was also able to sample some complimentary roast meats (thanks Chef Jimmy!). As much as I enjoyed the pulled pork, smoky roast chicken and roast lamb, it was the roast pork that stole my heart. The pork was super tender and well-seasoned with crackling cooked to crisped perfection. I must also add they make a mean chimichurri!

Pavel & Co is a great addition to the breakfast/lunch scene in Sydney CBD. The roast lamb, roast pork, and pulled pork are nothing short of excellent. I love how everything is kept simple but as the great Anthony Bourdain said "Great is very often, even most often, simple food". Keep an eye on the lamb burger! Word on the street is that it is pretty amazing.

Pavel & Co

1/222 Kent Street

Sydney NSW 2000

Phone: 02 9146 0716

Pavelandco.com.au

Opening hours:

Monday to Friday 6:30am-4:00pm

Singapore Eats 2014

Singapore lah! 

Finally! I had the chance to visit the land of SHIOK! I must say that all the delicious stories that I've heard about the food there is all true. Of course, before heading to the food loving country of Singapore, I spent some time researching. Little did I know, the day we arrived in Singapore was the same day as Chinese New Year. Most of the places I wanted to visit were closed but there were still a lot of other food places that was trading.

It was the hawker centres I looked forward to visiting the most. They are food court type places with stalls that sell amazing and affordable Singaporean dishes. It is something Singapore is renowned for. Each Hawker stall/shop is given a grade. The grading given by the National Environment Agency (NEA) is an appraisal for food stalls to ensure they maintain good personal and food hygiene, and housekeeping of their premises. Grades A and B means that the food and premises are both very clean and hygienic. You’ll find that majority of food stalls are either A or B grade. Singaporean cuisine is diverse and is predominantly influenced by cuisines such as Chinese, Malaysian, Indian, Indonesia, Peranakan and Western. Other cuisines from nations such as the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and the Middle Eastern counties also exist in Singapore.

Here's what I ended up visiting during the trip:

Orchard Hawker Food Square

While walking along Orchard Road, we stumbled upon a small hawker center called Orchard Hawker Food Square. It is located corner of Orchard Road and Cavenagh Road. It is also the only hawker center on the main Orchard area. Everything from Chilli mud crabs to Hainanese Chicken is available here.

The Singaporean style Char Kway Teow (CKT) compared to the Malaysian version, is a mixture of Hokkien noodles and thin rice noodles. It also had more of thick soy based sauce that was a little bit on the sweet side, which I really liked. Lap cheoung (sausages) and oyster pieces are the dominant ingredients. Their CKT is different from what I'm used to but I really enjoyed it.

Hawker Food Square Center

100 Orchard Rd

Singapore

Trading hours: 9am till late

Maxwell Food Centre

We were off to Maxwell Hawker Center the next day. It is located near Chinatown and it is home to Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken (rated by Anthony Bourdain as the best Hainanese Chicken he's had). Unfortunately, Tian Tian was closed but luck was still on our side as Maxwell Hainanese chicken was trading that day!

Roasted Hainanese chicken

Hainanese chicken set

At Maxwell Hainanese chicken, we tried their roasted Hainanese chicken (SG$4) and the original Hainanese chicken rice as a set (SG$6, which also includes a side of baby bok choy and soup). The rice was packed with so much chicken flavour with notes of garlic and ginger. Both versions of the chicken were succulent and well cooked but it was the skin from the roasted version stood out. These were two of the best Hainanese chicken rice that I've had.

Lime Juice

I also got a very refreshing lime juice from a shop close by.

Maxwell Food Centre

1 Kadayanallur Street

Singapore

Ah Meng Kopi

If you ever plan to visit Singapore Zoo or the River Safari, a Kopitiam named Ah Meng Kopi is a great place for some of those favourite Singaporean kopitiam dishes. Ah Meng was named after the Zoo's celebrity orangutan who passed away back in 2008. It's so sweet of the Zoo to name this establishment after her.

Seafood laksa

Nasi Lemak

Ice teh shake

The seafood laksa and nasi lemak were both super tasty. The laksa soup was rich and flavoursome. The rice on their nasi lemak was pack with so much coconut flavour with notes of ginger just the way I like it. But it was the generous serving of Ice teh shake that I loved the most. It had a good balance of black tea and sweet milk flavours.

Ah Meng Kopi

Location: Zoo Entrance

80 Mandai Lake Road

Singapore Zoo

Singapore

Operating hours

Zoo Entrance    8.00am - 6.30pm (Monday – Friday)

8.00am - 7.00pm (Weekends & Public Holidays)

Tiong Bahru Food Market and Hawker Centre

Tiong Bahru is a huge hawker centre and one of the most popular amongst the centres in Singapore. Most of the stall here are either A grade or B grade. This place was truly food paradise and value for money is an understatement!

Roast duck and roast pork combo

We got a roast duck and siu yuk (roast pork) combo (SG$4) from the Original Tiong Bahru Golden Pig and Roasted stall. The duck was ridiculously succulent and had the most perfect glistening skin. The roast pork's crackling was perfectly crunchy and the meat was flavoursome and not salty.

Fried carrot cake

The fried carrot cake or char tow kway from Kampong Carrot Cake was awesome on so many levels. It consists of cubes of steamed rice flour and white radish, fried and garnished with spring onions. It had perfect wok hei and caramelised bits that made the dish tastier.

Milo Dinosaur

Kaya toast with soft-boiled egg

Then I also ordered some kaya toast with egg (SG$3) and a milo dinosaur ($1.80) from L21 Cafe. The smooth kaya spread (coconut jam spread) in the well-buttered white bread toast had a good balance of coconut and pandan flavours. The best way to enjoy kaya toast is by dunking the toast soft-boiled eggs (increase egg awesomeness with a dash of soy sauce & some white pepper). The amazing Milo dinosaur is a drink made from instant milo but topped with more Milo powder. This Milo is sweeter and has more malt flavour.

Roti prata with egg

Before leaving Tiong Bahru, we got hold of some roti prata with egg (SG$1.50) from Hannah Prata and Nasi Briyani. It's also known as roti canai. It was perfect buttery and flaky. The egg cooked inside the roti gave this dish a nice texture and added protein. The curry dipping sauce was full of flavour and had a nice consistency. I love the notes of flavour from the Kaffir lime leaves.

I also got hold of a sugarcane and lime juice from a Wang Wang Sugarcane close by and it was so refreshingly citrus and slightly sweet.

Tiong Bahru

30 Seng Poh Road

#02-74

Singapore

Cad Cafe

Haji lane is a laneway full of botique fashion shops and cafes. It is very vibrant and reminded me a lot of Melbourne. We then stumbled upon a friendly hipster specialty coffee shop called CAD cafe. It was like a little sanctuary to escape the hustle and bustle of the city.

 

Latte

Flat white

They source their coffee beans from Toby's Estate Singapore where the beans are roasted locally. The cafe latté and flat white we had were fantastic. The coffees were medium to full body and the textured milk had perfect temperature. The service was good and the value of coffee is around the same as most cafes in Sydney.

CAD Café

23 Haji Lane

Singapore

Malaysia Peddler Sidewalk

After Haji Lane, we decided to go for a walk towards lavender area and catch a train from Lavender MRT station. We then stumbled upon a food center called Kopitiam. It's a food court open for 24 hours.

Curry Laksa

I was craving laksa badly so we decided to get curry laksa (SG$8.50) from the Malaysian Peddler Streetwalk stall. It was a generous serving and the aroma was full of comfort. The broth was creamy with a potent curry flavour. It had a lot of kick but my palate was able to handle it easily. It had prawns, bean curd puffs, fish cakes, bean sprouts and thick rice noodles. It was indeed an amazing bowl of laksa.

Malaysia Peddler Sidewalk

Kopitiam Food Court at V Hotel Lavender (near Lavender MTR station)

70 Jellicoe Rd

Singapore

Kueh Village

Near Ang Mo Kioh MRT station is a shopping centre called AMK Hub and on the ground floor level of the shopping centre is a Kueh (or Kuih) stand called Kueh Village. Kueh refers to both sweet and savoury Malaysian and Singaporean treats, which most consists of rice or glutinous rice. Most Kuih favourites are available here such as kueh lopis, kueh lapis, kueh bengka etc.

Kueh Village

(near Toast Box)

Ground level, AMK Hub

53 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3,

Singapore

Toast Box

You will find branches of Toast Box all around Singapore. It's Kopitiam joint that's great for a quick fix for some those favourite Singaporean meals and beverages. Ranging from laksa to kaya toasts and iced milk tea to lemon iced tea. It's also very convenient, as you will find most Toast Box branches located near MRT stations and inside shopping centres.

Toast Box

313@Somerset B2

313 Orchard Road

#B2-31/32/33 313@Somerset

Singapore

Operating hours

Sun - Thurs: 730am to 1030pm

Fri - Sat, eve of PH & PH: 730am to 11pm

Tel 6634 2863

Jollibee

Maybe I'm bias because I'm Filipino and I grew up eating Jollibee's chickenjoy. But their beloved fried chicken is so Shiok! Glad that we were able to visit a branch of this popular Filipino fastfood chain during our Singapore visit. It is located at the top floor of the Lucky Plaza building, which is also dubbed as "Little Manila".

Spaghetti with chickenjoy

Chickenjoy

Chickenjoy combo meal

We ordered two of their combo meals, which were the spaghetti with 1 piece chickenjoy (SG$6.60 drink included) and 2 pieces of chickenjoy with rice (SG$6.60 drink included).

Jollibee serves Filipino-style spaghetti where the sauce used is quite sweet and includes hotdog slices and minced beef. The name chickenjoy says it all about their fried chicken. It tastes like happiness! It's a joyous experience starting from the crunchy rippled batter all the way to the tasty and juicy meat.

Jollibee

6th Floor, Lucky Plaza

304 Orchard Road

Singapore

Operation Hours: Monday to Sunday 9.00am – 9.00pm