Blackwattle Café, Glebe

Ever since my nephew was born, it’s a real mission to find a spacious and pram friendly café whenever we are catching up for coffee. Not far away from Pyrmont there is a nice café inside a heritage building with excellent water views right next to the Anzac Bridge. Despite of the nice view and environment the food and service was not so impressive, menu was very limited and it was a long wait before someone attended to us.

http://blackwattlecafe.com/

Ratings
Food:	4/10
Atmosphere:	6/10
Service:	5/10
Value:	5/10

Average Price
Breakfast:	$6 – $15
Lunch	$15 – $25
Dinner:	N/A
Degustation:	N/A
Corkage:	N/A
Cakeage:	N/A

Others
Ease of finding a car park:	Normal
Ease of finding the restaurant:	Normal
Brightness of restaurant:	Bright
Noise Level:	Noisy
Waiting time for foods:	15 mins
Booking time require:	Walk in
Child friendly/High Chair:	Yes

 

Baked beans on toast, $10

I’ve chosen the bake beans because it was a homemade bake beans rather than canned one, it was a huge disappointment because the beans was extremely salty, I almost wanted to take it home and reconstructed it by adding small amounts of brown sugar. At the end I couldn’t finish it…

Cappuccino, $3.3

Coffee was okay, more on the flat side.

Chai Latte, $4

Latte, $3.3

Scramble eggs with mushroom served with toast & roast tomato, $14.50

While the scramble eggs was cooked nicely, the breakfast was very very ordinary, probably would not come back again.

Scramble eggs with bacon served with toast & roast tomato, $15

Like my blog? Feel free to leave a comment or subscribe to receive email notifications for update !

or Add me in Facebook and Twitter

Address:

55 Leichhardt Street, Glebe
opening hrs: Tue – Sun: 8:00 to 16:00, Mon closed
Ph:+612-9692-9785
Web: www.blackwattlecafe.com

Getting There:

Parking: glebe point road then short walk to the park

By Train: No train station nearby

 

The Dip, Sydney CBD

 

One of the good things of being a food blogger is the privilege of using an excuse of food blogger catch up to try some new restaurant. The Dip featuring American goodies such as pulled pork, hot dog & nachos has recently opened in the CBD, hidden within the Goodgod nightclub. I am not a really big fan of hot dogs and this sort of foods but I must say their hot dog are awesome, melt in the mouth pulled pork… oh… thinking about it makes me want more now.

 

Ratings
Food:	7.5/10
Atmosphere:	6.5/10
Service:	7/10
Value:	6.5/10

 

Average Price
Entrée:	$6 – $8
Main:	$12 – $15
Dessert:	$4 – $10
Degustation:	N/A
Corkage:	Fully licenced
Cakeage:	N/A

 

Others
Ease of finding a car park:	Hard
Ease of finding the restaurant:	Hard
Brightness of restaurant:	Dark / Disco lighting
Noise Level:	Noisy
Waiting time for foods:	15 mins – 20 mins
Booking time require:	1-2 Days
Child friendly/High Chair:	Not suitable for kids

http://thedip.com.au/

10 of us crazy foodies had a strategic approach of what to order, We had one main each then order few different side dishes to share on the table. Mel and I share our main again so that we get a taste of everything.

Lev’s Dawg – smoked kosher hot dog with chipotle mayo, fresh tomato salsa, grilled yellow peppers and American mustard on a steamed bun, $12

Big hit of the night, most popular choice amongst most people, I absolutely love it. The sausage was flavoursome with a chargrill flavour, I especially love the steamed soft brioche bun topped with heaps of mayo and tomato salsa. I regrets I didn’t order one more of those.

Southern Smoke – 12 hour smoked pulled pork sandwich with bbq beans, apple & cabbage slaw and spicy bbq sauce, $12

The slow 12 hours cooked pulled pork was smoky and tender, though I had a mess eating it as the sauce just dripped everywhere.

Pulled pork nachos – corn chips topped with pinto beans, black beans, chipotle peppers, tomato salsa, lime cream and cheese, $14

The Nachos was HUGE! Enough to feed 10 of us, and it was still hot after all the photo sessions. The corn chips are so different to the one I’ve eaten before, it was much thinner and lighter that you just keep eating it without feeling guilty.

Grilled corn – on the cob, with lime mayo and chipotle salt, $8

I love corn, I can eat it everyday and don’t feel bored. This corn is more on the expensive side but the taste was gorgeous. It has a nice chargrill flavour but not overly burnt, the highlight for me was the mayo, I almost drown my whole corn cob in the sauce, it is THAT good!

Snow peas, $8

We decided we need some veges to balance out our meat, so we ordered some greens. Snow peas was crunchy and seasoned well.

Slaw, $6

By the time I’ve had a chance to taste this dish, it is nearly polished by everyone. It has apple and cabbage unlike the ordinary coleslaw. It was refreshing and cleanse the palate to ready for dessert.

Salsa Fries – hand cut fries with fresh tomato salsa and cheese, $6

This was the 2^nd favourite dish of the night, I have a weakness in hand cut fat chips, extra fresh tomato salsa and cheese was a bonus! I even dipped it in the mayo too.

Ice cold Guac – sweet avocado ice cream, strawberry salsa and waffle chips, $10

Ice cream doesn’t really taste like avocado probably because I had too many avocado shakes in Cabramatta and so used to the strong taste, this ice cream has a mild avocado flavour. the waffle was more on the small side which shocked us a little bit that it was just a piece of biscuit.

Cookies N Cream – Salted caramel ice cream between two chocolate molasses cookies with hot chocolate fudge, $10

I didn’t try this dessert but majority of people kept nodding their head and raving how good it was.

This place is really fun and lively, It is best to drop by on a Friday night after work, have a few drink of beer and a quick bite. On the down side, this place is very noisy and almost impossible to talk, I nearly lost my voice at the end of the night.

 

Like my blog? Feel free to leave a comment or subscribe to receive email notifications for update !

or Add me in Facebook and Twitter

Address:

55 Liverpool St, Chinatown
opening hrs: Wed – Thur: 17:00 to 23:00, Fri: 17:00 to midnight, Sat: 18:00 to midnight 
booking: do@thedip.com.au 
Web: www.thedip.com.au

Getting There:

Parking: Kent Street 
By train: Town Hall station

Brunette Belgian Praline Spread from Le Pain Quotidien, Sydney Westfield

 

www.lepainquotidien.com

picture adapted from Fontshop

 

Surprisingly when 99% of the population loves Nutella I am the 1%. Ironically I fell in love with Brunette, a rather less sweet, creamy smooth hazelnut spread that is double of the price of Nutella. I happened to found these babies in a small cafe in Sydney Westfield called Le Pain Quotidien. JC had his breakfast there on boxing day before he broke the bank and he can’t wait to show me these. We bought a bottle for $10 and can’t wait to try when we got home. The result was way worth the $10.

Originated in Belgium and featuring four flavours:

– Brunette-Belgian Praline Spread

– Noisella-Belgian Chocolate and Hazelnut Spread

– Blondie-Belgian White Chocolate Spread

– Noir-Belgian Dark Chocolate Spread

You can spread this hazelnut goodies on anything and everything, toast, crackers, you name it and certainly you won’t be able to find this in anywhere. You can find this in Surry hills, Bondi junction and Sydney Westfield. Address can be find on their website.

 

Like my blog? Feel free to leave a comment or subscribe to receive email notifications for update !

or Add me in Facebook

Meat and Wine co, Darling Harbour

www.themeatandwineco.com

Ratings
Food:	6/10
Atmosphere:	7/10
Service:	5/10
Value:	6/10

Average Price
Entrée:	$15 – $25
Main:	$30 – $50
Dessert:	$10 – $15
Degustation:	N/A
Corkage:	$30 per bottle
Cakeage:	$30 per cake or they can organise it for $59 each

Others
Ease of finding a car park:	Hard
Ease of finding the restaurant:	Easy
Brightness of restaurant:	Dark
Noise Level:	Normal
Waiting time for foods:	15 mins – 20 mins
Booking time require:	2-3 Days
Child friendly/High Chair:	Yes

 

One thing I love about my job is I am always lucky enough to get invited to work lunches or dinners. Early this week, our broker from work was very kind to take us for an evening out. Being a food blogger, of course I have a duty to fulfilled which is to blog about the restaurant but was also assigned the task to pick the venue. It was not an easy task, not only I have to look at the environment, the price, the taste but also the type of food and dietary requirement for everyone.

Some of the challenge I had to face were:

– Nice décor

– Satisfy bunch of meat lovers

– No Indian or Japanese

– Spacious seat for 6 people and fully licensed restaurant

– In the City CBD

– No art on the plate

– 5 out of 6 are male , so meaning big portions and not much greens

Here are just only a few points to mentioned, to cut the story short, Meat & Wine co. is ideally located in darling harbour right next to IMAX, the view was great as we were sitting next to the window with a water view. The décor was gorgeous but lighting was a bit dark for my photograph purpose.

Mixed Bread Platter – Garlic, Herb and Bruschetta, $20

This is the most expensive garlic bread and Bruschetta I’ve ever tasted but also one of the best one. It is different to other that I’ve tried because the bread is so crunchy and thick that feels like a brioche rather than an ordinary piece of bread. The Bruschetta was absolutely gorgeous with heaps of fresh herbs, tomato, feta and vingerette dressing. I know this is only an appetizer, but I’m happy to eat this as a main.

Boerewors Skewer – Skewered and char-grilled traditional African mini beef sausages and onions. Served with pap (polenta) and BBQ relish, $27

Boerewors is a sausage, popular in South African cuisine. It is made from coarsely minced beef and spices such as coriander seed, black pepper, nutmeg and cloves and is preserved with salt and vinegar. This is the first time I tried Boerewors, It was OK the inside was quite rich and dry. I’d still prefer a Chorizo thou.

Portuguese Prawns – Succulent shelled prawns, pan-fried with golden eschalots and creamy Portuguese sauce. Served with steamed jasmine rice, $17

Prawns was served in a very Asian style with steam jasmine rice in the middle, the prawn alone was fresh and perfectly cooked but I just think the sauce doesn’t match the definition of “Portuguese”

Chicken Wings – BBQ chicken wings served with blue cheese sauce, $13

I am a big sucker of chicken wing but also someone who hates blue cheese, it turns out the combination work out great! I can hardly taste the strong blue cheese taste. Meat itself was marinated with lots of sauce, moist, and falls off the bone with a really good flavor.

Caesar Salad – Cos lettuce, egg, bacon and Parmigiano shavings tossed with our Chef’s traditional Caesar dressing and finished with crispy garlic croutons, $16

Surprise … Surprise… There is some green for the table and I absolutely adore this salad and do love the whole leaf salad presentation.

Monte select (Grain-fed 120 days) Rib-eye 350g with mushroom sauce, $38

Toward the middle of the night, service was lacking and the order was messing up a bit. The Rib-eye was requested to be book medium but a lot of blood is on the surface. This was sent back and lucky it turn outs perfectly.

Wagyu (Grain-fed 500 days) rib-eye 300g with mushroom sauce and mash, $59

Wagyu was requested to be cook in medium-rare but turn outs to be a medium, so we all thought this has been mixed up with the rib eye.

Signature cut (Grain-fed 130 days) Monte gold fillet 250g char-grilled and served with mushroom and truffle butter, hand-cup chips and roasted vine ripened cherry tomato, $55

Onion rings, $5

We ordered a serve of onion rings to share around the table, it was a disappointing one because the chef just literally fried the ring with a batter without putting too much seasoning or removing the onion skin.

Yoghurt marinated lamb cutlets, flame-grilled and served with Mediterranean couscous (replace with mash), tomato and cucumber salsa and mint and coriander yoghurt, $36

I gave one extra point for the lamb because I don’t eat couscous and the waiter happily substituted it with the mash. Presentation wise was good and portions was generous. Someone was having fun with the kitchen grill and burnt my lamb, as you can see in the picture the meat was over burnt giving an unpleasant bitterness burnt taste. Also, I asked for a medium and it turn out to be a well done.

Crème Brulee – Crème brulee infused with Madagascar vanilla bean. Served with strawberries and finished with a tuile biscuit, $12

I love crème brulee and still trying to find the best one in Sydney. No luck, the crème brulee in here is tasteless, the sugar crack was lovely and the strawberry and the sauce match it perfectly. Despite I can see a lot of vanilla bean in the crème but I didn’t taste any.

Conclusion: Good decor and environment, although I believe you can get better tasting steak that’s bigger and more reasonable priced elsewhere. On the positive side, the menu choices do provide diversity and food for the kids.  Bit let down on the service as the wait staff did not smile, everything seemed to be a hassle and not attentive.

 

Like my blog? Feel free to leave a comment or subscribe to receive email notifications for update !

or Add me in Facebook

Address:

IMAX complex 31 Wheat Road, Darling harbour 
opening hrs: Sun – Thurs: 12:00 to 22:00, Fri – Sat: 12:00 to 23:00   
Ph:+612-9211-9888
Web: www.themeatandwineco.com

Getting There:

Parking: Kent Street or Pyrmont Bridge Rd 
By train: Town Hall Station

Taste Baguette Bakery Café, Market Street Sydney

If you like baguette, you must come to Taste Baguette café because they baked their own bread onsite every 15 mins! Hieu who is the chef and owner of Taste Baguette café has been a baker and pastry chef since he was the age of 13. Hieu’s vision was to open a bakery/cafe where bread & pastries would be baked regularly throughout the day. With this vision, Taste Bakery & Restaurant in Surry Hills was born, where hand crafted baguettes were baked every 15 minutes for lunch and filled with freshly grilled meats & salads. This French-Vietnamese influenced café is so popular that it has spread last few years and can now be found in various places such as in Sydney uni, Surry hills, Sussex lane, World square, Market street and met centre.

 

www.tastebaguette.com

Ratings
Food:	7/10
Atmosphere:	5/10
Service:	5/10
Value:	6/10

Average Price
Entrée:	$5 – $10
Main:	$10 – $26
Dessert:	$5 – $8
Degustation:	N/A
Corkage:	N/A
Cakeage:	N/A

Others
Ease of finding a car park:	Hard
Ease of finding the restaurant:	Easy
Brightness of restaurant:	Bright
Noise Level:	Normal
Waiting time for foods:	15 mins – 20 mins
Booking time require:	Walk in
Child friendly/High Chair:	No

 

 

 

Classic Vietnameses – Pork, pate with pickled carrot and radish, cucumber, spring onion, coriander and soy dressing. (Chilli optional) $8.50

If you are someone who is indecisive, you’ll be having a hard time picking over 10 baguettes in their menu. I have opted for the Vietnamese classic because It is something that I am familiar with and will sometimes ordered in a Vietnamese suburb such as Cabramatta or Marrickville. The baguette was light and crunchy with just enough of salad to balance out the meat and dressing.

Chicken Schnitzel, $8.90

Herb crumbed crispy goujons served with coral lettuce, tomato, rocket, and honey mustard mayonnaise.

The chicken schnitzel was smaller than expected with more salad then meat, the taste however was very good and doesn’t give me the oily feeling which other chicken schnitzel does.

Mini Almond and cheese croissant, $3.50

These mini almond and cheese croissant will make a good snack for the afternoon tea, it is buttery and crunchy on the outside and meltingly soft on the inside.

Fig and fruits tart, $3.50

The tart was very light and not very sweet, if you like plain and simple dessert. You will love this fruit tart.

Brownie, $3.50

After trying a few of their dessert and cakes, I realise everything in Taste are very light and healthy. They do not put a lot of sugar or artificial stuff in their foods. Brownie in here wasn’t my kind of sweet because it was too bland and dry.

Cappuccino

Pork and fennel chipolatas w/ caramelised red onion marmalade baguette, $9.50

Breakfast menu from Taste were fantastic, the idea of having your breakfast in a freshly bake baguette was interesting. The pork and fennel chipolatas was by popular demand and the next customer after me who ordered this was already sold out. It was flavoursome and juicy.

Poached egg w/ crispy bacon, spinach and hollandaise sauce baguette, $9.50

The more standard poach egg and bacon was excellent, the fluffy bread absorb all the hollandaise sauce and when I broke the egg, the yolk was so gooey and delicious.

Conclusion: The food is great especially the French baguettes and pastries. Service seems to be luck of the draw and this place doesn’t take booking so meaning be there before 12.30 or long queues.

 

 

Like my blog? Feel free to leave a comment or subscribe to receive email notifications for update !

or Add me in Facebook and Twitter

Address:

Shop 1A, 68 Market Street (entrance of  City Myer store), Sydney 
opening hrs: Mon – Fri: 7:00 to 17:00, Sat – Sun: 8:30 to 16:00   
Ph:+612-9233-7778
Web: www.tastebaguette.com

Getting There:

Parking: Kent Street or Pitt Street
By train: Town Hall

Taste Baguette Bakery Café, Market Street Sydney

www.tastebaguette.com

Ratings
Food:	7/10
Atmosphere:	5/10
Service:	5/10
Value:	6/10

Average Price
Entrée:	$5 – $10
Main:	$10 – $26
Dessert:	$5 – $8
Degustation:	N/A
Corkage:	N/A
Cakeage:	N/A

Others
Ease of finding a car park:	Hard
Ease of finding the restaurant:	Easy
Brightness of restaurant:	Bright
Noise Level:	Normal
Waiting time for foods:	15 mins – 20 mins
Booking time require:	Walk in
Child friendly/High Chair:	No

 

 

 

If you like baguette, you must come to Taste Baguette café because they baked their own bread onsite every 15 mins! Hieu who is the chef and owner of Taste Baguette café has been a baker and pastry chef since he was the age of 13. Hieu’s vision was to open a bakery/cafe where bread & pastries would be baked regularly throughout the day. With this vision, Taste Bakery & Restaurant in Surry Hills was born, where hand crafted baguettes were baked every 15 minutes for lunch and filled with freshly grilled meats & salads. This French-Vietnamese influenced café is so popular that it has spread last few years and can now be found in various places such as in Sydney uni, Surry hills, Sussex lane, World square, Market street and met centre.

Classic Vietnameses – Pork, pate with pickled carrot and radish, cucumber, spring onion, coriander and soy dressing. (Chilli optional) $8.50

If you are someone who is indecisive, you’ll be having a hard time picking over 10 baguettes in their menu. I have opted for the Vietnamese classic because It is something that I am familiar with and will sometimes ordered in a Vietnamese suburb such as Cabramatta or Marrickville. The baguette was light and crunchy with just enough of salad to balance out the meat and dressing.

Chicken Schnitzel, $8.90

Herb crumbed crispy goujons served with coral lettuce, tomato, rocket, and honey mustard mayonnaise.

The chicken schnitzel was smaller than expected with more salad then meat, the taste however was very good and doesn’t give me the oily feeling which other chicken schnitzel does.

Mini Almond and cheese croissant, $3.50

These mini almond and cheese croissant will make a good snack for the afternoon tea, it is buttery and crunchy on the outside and meltingly soft on the inside.

Fig and fruits tart, $3.50

The tart was very light and not very sweet, if you like plain and simple dessert. You will love this fruit tart.

Brownie, $3.50

After trying a few of their dessert and cakes, I realise everything in Taste are very light and healthy. They do not put a lot of sugar or artificial stuff in their foods. Brownie in here wasn’t my kind of sweet because it was too bland and dry.

Cappuccino

Pork and fennel chipolatas w/ caramelised red onion marmalade baguette, $9.50

Breakfast menu from Taste were fantastic, the idea of having your breakfast in a freshly bake baguette was interesting. The pork and fennel chipolatas was by popular demand and the next customer after me who ordered this was already sold out. It was flavoursome and juicy.

Poached egg w/ crispy bacon, spinach and hollandaise sauce baguette, $9.50

The more standard poach egg and bacon was excellent, the fluffy bread absorb all the hollandaise sauce and when I broke the egg, the yolk was so gooey and delicious.

Conclusion: The food is great especially the French baguettes and pastries. Service seems to be luck of the draw and this place doesn’t take booking so meaning be there before 12.30 or long queues.

 

 

Like my blog? Feel free to leave a comment or subscribe to receive email notifications for update !

or Add me in Facebook and Twitter

Address:

Shop 1A, 68 Market Street (entrance of  City Myer store), Sydney 
opening hrs: Mon – Fri: 7:00 to 17:00, Sat – Sun: 8:30 to 16:00   
Ph:+612-9233-7778
Web: www.tastebaguette.com

Getting There:

Parking: Kent Street or Pitt Street
By train: Town Hall

Queen Victoria Market, Melbourne

www.qvm.com.au

 

It’s a fairly standard norm for food bloggers to blog about the Queen Victoria Market (QVM) in Melbourne and I am no exception. We first visit the dry food section and slowly eat our way up to the meat and seafood section. This landmark of Melbourne impressed me alot because of the way the shops are structure and the variety of food it offers.

The Market is open every day of the week except Mondays and Wednesdays. On Wednesday evenings in the summer months, there is a night market which offers dining, bars, live entertainment and a variety of other stalls.

 

Weisswurst with Sauerkraut from the Deli Hall

Weisswurst is German sausage, Sauerkraut is shredded cabbage fermented in brine, so basically to simplified things this is a damn good sausage roll. The sausage has a really crusty skin and the roll was nice and hot.

Bread rolls and all kind of snacks

Meat store which have fresh wild rabbit for sell

The meat are nicely prepared and marinated with all different kinds of herbs, Chicken wraps, fresh wild rabbit, they even have chicken & prawn dim sims…umm… impressive!

 

     

Cheese , olive oil and Salami

The heaven of Olives

KoKo Black in QVM

prosciutto and Jamon, the most expensive I saw was $425/kg which is aged 24 months

The hearty selections of meats

We were so tempted to get some of those nice Scott fillet and Wagyu beef score 7 for $65/kg, thinking back and forth how the hell can we transport it back to Sydney and just saw the meat store selling cooler bag for $3.5 and we finally managed to find some ice packs from Big W too. So here the crazy two of us bought 1kg of Scott fillet, few slices of the Wagyu beef and some chunky pork chop with bones.

   

Cappuccino to clear our pallet and get ready for the next round

 Spicy lamb borek

Our eating journey didn’t just stop here, we saw everyone was sitting on the benches eating this little babies and we were walking round and round to find it. This is like a turkish bread stuffs with lamb mince and garlic and heaps of herbs. The flavours was strong and the bread was fluffily soft.

 

 

Jam doughnuts, $4.50 for 6

The highlight of the day was these jam doughnuts, the doughnuts van is a veritable institution at the QVM, cooking hand rolled, jam filled, sugar crusted yeasty little beauties for over 50 years. So don’t waste your calories on Doughnut king anymore.

 

Like my blog? Feel free to leave a comment or subscribe to receive email notifications for update !

or Add me in Facebook

Address:

Corner of Victoria and Elizabeth St, Melbourne VIC
opening hrs: Tue & Wed 6:00 to 14:00, Fri 6:00 to 17:00, Sat 6:00 to 15:00, Sun 9:00 to 16:00  
Ph:+613-9320-5822
Web: www.qvm.com.au

Getting There:

Parking: onsite parking 
By Train: Melbourne Central Station  
By Tram: Any tram heading north along Elizabeth and William St 

 

Hurricane’s Grill & Bar Top Ryde Opening December

 

Just a quick post here, for the Hurricane’s Grill fans, guess what? I have received an email from the management team the wait is finally over! Hurricane’s Gril Top Ryde is officially open for dinner as of tonight 2nd February 2011.

It will be open for lunch (from 3rd February) and dinner 7 days a week
Lunch: 12:00 – 15:00
Dinner: 17:30 – late.
Please note that they do not take reservation via email. For reservations or booking queries you can contact 02 9130 7101 between 10 am to 6 pm.

A while ago, plenty of advertisement on career website as the new restaurant are still trying to recruit a Restaurant Manager and floor and bar staff. The new Top Ryde shopping centre is located on the corner of Devlin Street and Blaxland Road, Ryde, is at the centre of it all. With options at every point of the compass, public transport at the doorstep, and access to over 2,000 undercover car parking spaces I think you should come and visit the restaurant soon!

 

 

Like my blog? Feel free to leave a comment or subscribe to receive email notifications for update !

Add me in Facebook

 

Address:

Corner Devlin Street and Blaxland Road, Ryde 
opening hrs: Mon – Wed, Fri – Sati: 09:00 to 18:00, Thurs 9:00 to 21:00, Sun 10:00 to 17:00 
Ph:+612-9808-8816
Web: www.toprydecity.com.au

Getting There:

Parking: Top Ryde City shopping centre own underground parking
By Train: No train station near by 
By Bus:

Charlie & Co Burgers, Westfield Sydney

www.charlieandco.com.au 

Ratings
Food:	7/10
Atmosphere:	5/10
Service:	6/10
Value:	7/10

Average Price
Entrée:	$8 – $10
Main:	$15 – $20
Dessert:	N/A
Degustation:	N/A
Corkage:	N/A
Cakeage:	N/A

Others
Ease of finding a car park:	Extremely Hard
Ease of finding the restaurant:	Easy
Brightness of restaurant:	Bright
Noise Level:	Noisy
Waiting time for foods:	20 mins – 25 mins
Booking time require:	walk in
Child friendly/High Chair:	No

The A$1.2 billion Sydney Westfield finally opened last week located under Sydney Tower between Pitt Street Mall, Castlereagh Street and Market Street. I have joined the crowd to try the latest creation of Justin North – Charlie & Co. One of the Sydney highest profile chef whom is also owner of Becasse, Etch, Plan B and Le Grand Café. Burgers are no longer a fast food thing, Justin North has designed a menu that maintains the integrity of premium, fresh produce, all locally sourced to create a flavoursome and juicy burger like no other. In saying that, I will be comparing the burgers with Grill’d because it is still my no. 1 favourite burger place.

I must say, it was an expensive lunch. Five of us bought a total of four burgers and three chips to share, total bill of $86.

 

Burgers are all delicately made with the finest ingredients, looking from the glass window I can clearly see the ingredients they put in. from tomato salsa to lettuce and the mayo and buns. They operate like a Subway and systematically pass the burger to the person to the right for the next step.

The Wagyu & Co. Burger – Wagyu Burger with beetroot relish, pickled gherkin and aged cheddar on a toasted brioche bun, $16

The Wagyu Burger was clearly the most popular burger. At first glance, the portion seems lean but the big flavours make up for size. The meat patty was just right, not overly lean or fat. It comes with the aged cheddar nicely melted on top, with the mayo oozing out on the first bite was just amazing.

The Rustic Chorizo Classic – Pork burger infused with smoked paprika, chorizo and fennel, with soft peppers and fried egg on a toasted brioche bun, $16

I opted for the Chorizo classic, I really like the original idea of a pork burger combining chorizo and egg. It was just gigantic and I could only ate half. Inside was a thick pork patty with two chorizo and a fried egg. The fried egg was a little bit over cooked and the meat was too lean for me. But bags and bags of flavours coming from the paprika and grilled capsicum was just awesome.

The Laden Malayan Chicken Burger – Infused with cumin, coriander, chilli, galangal, shrimp paste and satay sauce on a sesame bun, $15

I didn’t get to taste the Malayan Chicken but my friend said it was beautiful.

Herb Fries, $7

The fries was not as good as the Grill’d because I think it was a bit overly fried and some of them are quite chewy and hard.

Parmesan and truffle fries, $8

The truffle fries was beautiful although I don’t know the little white stuff on top is truffle or mainly parmesan.

 

Conclusion: Overall, I think it was a good try. The burger here are slightly smaller compare to Grill’d but for a higher price. The bread are soft but not toasted. This is also another thing which I don’t like about. But in terms of flavours I think they nailed it. I also don’t have the bloated and oily feeling after the meal, which was a good sign. But keep in mind you will be dining at a food court environment but paying a higher price.

 

Like my blog? Feel free to leave a comment or subscribe to receive email notifications for update !

or Add me in Facebook

Address:

Corner of Pitt Street Mall and Market Street, Sydney  
opening hrs: Mon – Wed, Friday – Sat: 9:30 to 18:30, Thurs: 9:30 to 21:00, Sun: 10:00 to 18:00  
Ph:+612-8236-9200
Web: www.charlieandco.com.au

Getting There:

Parking: Kent St  
By Train: Town Hall Station  
By Bus:

My labour day long weekend, Central Coast

 

Well the long weekend is over, and we survived the day light saving for a lost of an hour. Now its time for the lazy me to post about what I’ve done during those 3 precious days. We have absconded city limits and head up the north to Central Coast, we were originally going to fit in a few recreational activities that the extra day affords but due to the stupid weather AGAIN we stayed inside my friend house most of the time and cooked.

Thanks to Esther for lending out her luxury home, especially her kitchen where 4 people can fit in at once to cook different things. OK readers, here are more pics for the curious one.

After we offloaded our bags and luggage, we drove out to the biggest Westfield in town. I was amazed by the size of this shopping centre it is double the size of QVB in Sydney. But I felt like a foreigner because we were the only Asians in the mall…

Mad Mex in Central Coast

Cool lights made out of Corona bottle

Wanted to try some Central Coast local restaurant but could only see franchise that Sydney also has. So, we opted for Mad Mex. Some background info here, Mad Mex serves gourmet Baja style Mexican food that’s healthy, hearty and the only thing it’s heavy on is flavour. The first store opened in Sydney and expanded to Melbourne and Brisbane.

Chicken Burrito – soft flour tortilla with black beans, rice, cheese, lettuce & sour cream.

Yellow corn crispy tacos – crispy yellow taco with black beans, cheese, lettuce & sour cream

Beef quesadilla – grilled and sliced tortilla with cheese filling and served with salsa & sour cream

On the way back home for some relaxing DVD and indoor games, we saw this sign…

How can we resist not to get one, occasionally we will see 99cents/kg watermelon in Woolworth but what’s more exciting than getting a whole! Although it wasn’t the seedless one but skin was really thin and extremely juicy & sweet..awww! I love watermelon!!

We got back home, cut our watermelon and put them in fridge for cooling. What other indoor activities can we play now? Esther suddenly took out her Mah Jong table and I think it is time to teach our two ABC boys to learn how to play this Chinese ancient game. Mah Jong is a traditional Chinese tile game with many variations. An ancient game widely play by Chinese and Japanese. More info here.

For dinner, we decided to go for a quick and easy steam boat. For the stock I have use chicken stock along with some Chinese herbs and corn.

On Sunday we drove to The Entrance, since the Entrance has now been internationally recognised as “The Pelican Capital of Australia” and we want to be part of it. Before feeding the Pelican we decided to feed ourselves first with a nice lunch. We stumbled cross MOJO’s cafe which is just behind where the Pelican Pavilion foreshore is. The staffs here are local residents, they are really nice and friendly.

Spicy Chicken Turkish – Lightly spiced chicken, roasted red capsicum, avocado & cheese, $10.90

Mojo club burger & Fries, $16.90

Fish & Chips – Beer battered or grilled fish fillets served with fries, salad and homemade tartare sauce, $16.90

Seafood platter for one – Lightly battered fish, grilled fish, fresh prawn, mussels, calamari, salt & pepper squid, smoked salmon, fries & salad, $28.90

Hot Chocolate

I am really happy with the food here, portion are generous and tasty. The seafood platter was HUGE and enough to share between two people. All ingredients are fresh and made to order.

Carrot cake by Rain, extra sultana and walnuts

Vegetables soup with parsley

Chicken bake pasta with parmesan cheese

Fresh garlic breads

oops… guess who cleaned up the mess?

More cooking continue after we got home, Rain made a carrot cake, I made a vegetables soup and pasta baked chicken, JC baked some fresh garlic breads. It was the first time I made a pasta bake chicken, if you are a cheese lover I think you will like it. I will post the recipe in another post. I had such a relaxing and good time in Central Coast, when is the next long weekend?