Sydney Food Archives - Page 28 of 37

Starbucks Free Coffee & Belle Pizza, Crows Nest

December 3, 2008 / Sydney Food / 0 comment

On the way to dinner, Bev spotted a sign outside the Starbucks at Wynyard station saying “Free Xmas Coffees”. She races to the station to meet us, and we all flew back to Starbucks to line up for free beverages and gingerbread men – bonus!

The staff busily making our tasty treats.

Alec and a free gingerbread man.

With our freebies! What a score!

We then met the rest of the gang and proceeded to Belle La Pizza Restaurant at Crows Nest.

Talking about … stuff.

Garlic bread – a bit too buttery but still tasty.

Romance!

The pizzas begin!

My tomato risotto with vegetables. Very very tasty!

Nom nom nom.

Food frenzy!

Hunger satiated at last.

Completely ready to burst.

Sad thinking of our friends leaving!

Belle La Pizza Restaurant
242 Pacific Highway,
Crows Nest
(02) 9955 1113
Open for dinner seven days

Off To Newcastle!

November 23, 2008 / NSW, Sydney Food / 0 comment

Jan’s birthday called us back north to “Poo-castle”, as Alec likes to call it, so we went on a road trip that was adventure plus, but relaxation zero!

On the way up we discovered this amazing French patisserie at Lindfield, directly across from the station on the Pacific Highway. We were were driving north when we passed it, and decided to turn around to go back for cake, we didn’t think about how difficult it is to do such a basic maneuver on the Pacific Highway. It took us about 20 minutes to get back to the store – so note to anyone going here and overshooting the store, just park the car and walk back, no matter how far it is!

Window filled with goodies.

Cakes! I want them all …

Front counter filled with tasty things.

Close-up of the tarts we ate for breakfast.

This rabbit cookie was so tasty! Buttery without being overly buttery like shortbread. It was perfect to go with a milky tea or hot chocolate.

It was storming in Newcastle, so we stayed in most of the day, and head out to the centre of town for dinner. We didn’t book a table anywhere – BIG MISTAKE! Every single restaurant was packed, and the one we wanted to go to was booked out for the night.

Strolling back down the street we passed this little Thai place. It also looked busy, but being in the mood for Thai (or at least, I was!), we gave it a go. Even though this place too was completely packed out, they squeezed us in.

Benjamas Thai Restaurant

Alec and the birthday girl.

A whole page of vegetarian options – yay!

Cute table setting.

Busy, busy, busy!

Vege spring rolls. Light and delicious!

My vege pad see ew – amazing! The best Thai I have had in a long time.

Beef pad see ew for the carnivores.

Thai fried rice.

Satisfied and ready for cake!

We bought a mango cake from the patisserie as well – thick slices of mango layered over cream and sponge cake. OMG so delicious.

Layer of cream and mango in the middle too!

Christophe’s Patisserie Francaise
364 Pacific Hwy
Lindfield, NSW
(02) 9416 3883

Benjamas Thai
100 Darby St
Cooks Hill, NSW
(02) 4926 1229

Umaimon Japanese Restaurant – Back For More

November 21, 2008 / Sydney Food / 0 comment

I took Alec to experience the deliciousness that is my new fave Japanese establishment – Umaimon.

Alec randomly bought me these gorgeous pink roses. Thank you love!

They match my awesome Peter Alexander velor jacket.

Alec pulls one of many faces.

Delicious, salty edamame.

We tried the udon noodles this time – and they were amazing! The best noodles we’ve had outside of Japan.

Alec’s was with pork.

Mine with veges and tofu. OMG so perfect in every way.

Obligatory self-portrait after stuffing ourselves.

Umaimon
51 Druitt St
Sydney

(02) 9283 0606

New Boulevarde Hotel, Strathfield

November 19, 2008 / Sydney Food / 0 comment

After meeting our broker we stopped off at the New Boulevarde Hotel, Strathfield, as we were starving and it was the only place we saw open on the way to the station late at night.

It had a very unassuming front – some unkind people might say “run down”, but when we went inside it smelled amazing and had a reasonably priced menu with items to suit us both.

Scary-looking facade – housing tasty food!

Very old-school pub dining room.

Garlic bread – yum!

Bruschetta – perfect tasting mix, just a little too much oil.

Penne pasta with napolitana sauce – my favourite!

Alec hoes into his giant steak.

Perfectly cooked and very tasty from what Alec says.

The food was also extremely reasonably priced – highly recommend if you are passing through Strathfield. The pub is at the Boulevard crossing – I couldn’t find the address!

Rahmen Genki & San Churro

November 14, 2008 / Sydney Food / 0 comment

A Friday night catch up with Alec and Daniel took us to Rahmen Genki Japanese Noodle at Artarmon. I tried to visit this place a month or so back with Bev and Lisa, but it was randomly closed on a Tuesday night.

On a Friday night, it was packed out with a queue to order food – which leads me to one of the quirks about the restaurant, you order at the door then wait to be seated.

Lots of locals pack this place out.

The menu at the door and instructions.

Boys chatting and gossiping.

It was great to see Daniel. Loving the new hair and change in his wardrobe.

Despite being super busy, the food came out relatively quickly. It was super fresh and was served in very good-sized portions, for a very reasonable price.

Terriyaki chicken.

My stir-fried vegetables and rice. Delicious and cost under $10.

Alec’s noodle soup.

After eating we were peckish for dessert so head off to San Churro to introduce Daniel to their tasty treats.

San Churro change their menu frequently – and not for the better. This time they had changed their shakes and gotten rid of the milk chocolate shake that I craved. I orderd the only alternative, a dark chocolate shake, but it was far too bitter and strong. I stirred the cream into it and it was much improved, but not nice enough to order again. Very disappointing – not sure I will be heading back any time soon!

The shake in question – “Classic Cold”.

We ordered churros to share – Daniel highly enjoyed his first churros treat.

Alec in action.

Close-up of the delicious churros.

Rahmen Genki
6 Wilkes Ave
Artarmon

(02) 9410 3777
Closed Tuesdays

San Churro
Shop 609, Chatswood Westfield
1 Anderson Ave
Chatswood

(02) 9412 2276

Sanctuary Hotel

November 13, 2008 / Sydney Food / 0 comment

On a whim, we all met up for dinner at the Sanctuary Hotel for a quick meal. Bev was out with her parents so we finally got to meet them! It was lovely to be able to get to know them – we could definitely see where Beverly inherited a lot her looks and personality!

The Sanctuary Hotel opened this year in the spot of the famous old Don Quixote Restaurant. It’s a very bright open space, very different to most pubs, and the food is super fast and fresh. meals are also very reasonably priced – between $11 and $14 for a main.

Alec’s burger.

Fish and chips.

Spicy linguine pasta.

Steak sandwich.

Steak with mash.

My margarita pizza – very tasty but not very filling.

Group shot!

With Bev’s delightful parents!

Pretty girls 🙂

Sanctuary Hotel
545 Kent St
Sydney

(02) 9264 1119

Bravo Trattoria

November 11, 2008 / Sydney Food / 0 comment

Just a quick night out to welcome home Alec and to celebrate Bev staying in Sydney a bit longer.

We decided to try Bravo Trattoria in Crows Nest, famous for their many kinds of pasta (rumoured to be a hundred different kinds).

It is a very unassuming little place in the centre of Crowie. I’m not certain they had a hundred types of pasta, but they certainly did have a lot of variety.

Garlic bread – more buttery then garlicy.

Pizza – not sure which one this is.

Bev’s pasta.

Vege pizza – not mine!

My four-cheese pizza – very tasty but a bit over-priced.

Eating action shot.

Nom nom nom.

Italian pasta – delicious! I wil be ordering this one next time.

Lovely ladies!

Wuv!

More wuv 🙂

Bravo is well-known for their gelato, made on the premise every day.

Lots to chose from!

I thought it was very over-priced however – $5.40 for a tiny scoop! It was very tasty, but not so much better than Gelatissimo to warrant the price hike.

My mango gelato – very tasty, especially the wafer.

Alec’s berry crumble. Very good crumble – not soggy as crumble can become.

Fast and ready to explode after dinner. Bev seems to be expecting a pasta baby.

Bravo Trattoria
6 – 8 Falcon St
Crows Nest

(02) 9906 3620

Cookies!

November 8, 2008 / Sydney Food / 1 Comment

In honour of Alec coming home I thought I would bake cookies – something I haven’t tried in a while because our oven is lacking an element.

It seems my baking mojo has flown completely out the window – I made a lot of silly mistakes and got really frustrated!

ANZAC biscuit batter – my first attempt!

I haven’t used my parents’ fancy oven in a while and I forgot what all of the settings did. As a result, I put the oven on “grill” and “grilled” the biscuits. Whoops!

Completely ruined top batch

The second tray were salvaged

I tried to make a basic vanilla cookie as well – this proved to be much more successful!

Batter on the tray

Cooling on the rack

Covered in sprinkles (I put these on the batter on about 30% of the cookies so they cooked in the oven with the sprinkles on them)

Now I’m keen to replace our crappy oven so I can bake some more!

Umaimon Japanese Restaurant

November 5, 2008 / Sydney Food / 0 comment

I saw a review for this little restaurant on the very excellent Grab Your Fork blog, which is also where I have sourced the pic below as the owner didn’t appreciate me taking pics!

Umaimon Japanese Restaurant is right near my work, but I’ve never noticed it before as it is quite tucked away.

My friend Isis agreed to try this little place out with me. We sat down outside so as to enjoy the balmy evening air, and were presented with three menus to peruse. Lots of choices, all in Japanese with brief, and somewhat interesting, descriptions.

We ordered edamame for appetiser to shade (about $4 for a bowl), and I ordered the stir fry energy vegetables ($8.90) plus steamed rice ($2.90 a bowl). Isis ordered chicken and tofu salad. Our food arrived quickly, in no particular order, and was delightfully fresh and perfectly cooked.

My energy vegetables had a bit of a punch to them – perhaps a lot of ginger in there? – and had lots of bean sprouts, which I just love.

Tofu salad

Isis’s chicken

Cute little bowl of rice

Stir fried energy vegetables.

The food was extremely reasonably priced and delicious. It was also packed with Japanese people, so I’m guessing it’s also a hit with the locals, which is another sign that it’s an authentic place to get very tasty Japanese cuisine.