Bowl n Roll

Duck banh mi-$8

 

inside/cross section

If you didn’t know already, duck is one of my favourite proteins. This banh mi was packed with duck and filling. Duck was a bit fatty in places so didn’t eat all the skin. It’s more pricey compared to other pork rolls, but there was a decent serving of meat inside, and the actual roll was quite large I couldn’t finish it. After a bit of time, the soy sauce did soak into the bread and also at the bottom of the roll, but the bread was nice and crunchy. 

Tan Viet Noodle House, Viet Hoa Hot Bread, OneZo

I hardly come to this side of Sydney, so when I do, I try to eat more than one meal here.

Herbal Duck with Noodles-$16.50

I don't know the proper name for this, but I like how they gave a decent serving of duck. The herbal soup wasn't too herbally, no where as herbal as those Chinese medicines. Helped made the duck less dry. The serving was massive, had half the noodles and the other half still fit into a takeaway box.

Crispy chicken

The crispy chicken was indeed crispy. Also a massive serving of rice.

Pork roll-$4.50 and some other roll for free (worth $3.50)

cross section

I've actually been here before but never blogged about it, so blogging here just so I can remember I've tried this place before. This place is considered more expensive compared to other places for $3. Bread could be crispier, but filling was decent, wished there was more pate though.

Got just normal milk tea with pink pearls, 2 for $8 from memory. It didn't have that nice tea fragrant flavour of milk tea, and the pearl texture wasn't really that chewy. Found this milk tea tasted more like milk.

menu

Motto Motto

Another new restaurant opening in Macquarie Centre. You go to the counter, order and pay for the food then you find a seat.

food spread

Wagyu beef rice bowl: tender MB6-9 wagyu beef strips, w/ fresh veg in rich yakiniku sauce-$15.90

It's not cheap for a bowl of rice. The beef could have been more tender, since it didn't really taste like wagyu. Obviously it wasn't a super high grade, but I just expected more flavour from it, rather than relying from the flavour of the sauce. There wasn't a lot of veg for the amount of rice they gave. The sauce had a nice sweetness to it.

Pork belly Jap roll: slow-cooked pork belly, crispy green salad, onion, tomato, pickled cucumber and mild mustard w/ authentic Japanese sauce-$14.90

Again, not cheap for a roll. Not sure what makes this Japanese since it just tasted like a brioche roll. Ended up eating this in layers since it was slightly falling apart when it came. Pork wasn't dry and good amount of flavouring. Thought basic salad leaves and veggies didn't make it taste Japanese at all, and neither did the 'Jap' sauce, which I'm not sure what they used as their sauce since it didn't taste very Japanese...

This place is a different addition to the shopping centre, but it really didn't amaze me.

Marrickville Pork Roll

First time coming to this side of Sydney, so of course I had to drop by for some of these pork rolls. Even in the morning at around 7:30am, there was a tiny queue which started to form behind us, so I can only imagine how long the lines are at around lunch time. 

Pork roll-$5

inside

I hardly ever have this sort of stuff so I can't really comapre-I think maybe 2nd one this year? According to a Viet friend, it's pretty decent. I though it was quite nice and loaded with heaps of fresh veggies and toppings, and not overly salty with the liver pate/added salt etc. Roll still had a slight crunch/crust and wasn't tough to bite into either. It's probably one of the bigger ones I've had, since in my area, there are non authentic Banh Mi's which are smaller and cost more.

super tiny shop

 

look at all those ingredients

Not Baked By Me Baking Day

Baking day at Tracy's today! Although I didn't baked, enjoyed watching people (and eating the baked goods afterwards, hehe). It's actually quite amusing watching other people make stuff

Cinnamon scrolls

Putting yeast in them makes a lot of difference compared to the no yeast version. These ones are like soft bread, where as no yeast makes it sticky yet dry. They look so pro!

chocolate pudding

despite the amount of sugar in this, it was super moist and delicious. i think it's the first time i've had steamed Western cake (compared to steamed asian cakes)

that team effort (Y) (not by me lel)

Loved Tracy's home made ice cream! Quite creamy and not too sugary, and so smooth. Hope to try the original vanilla next time :)

The photo struggles of having tall flowers...

Carrot cake

Again, a lot of hidden sugar, but this cake turned out really moist and not overly sugary. I actually don't like carrot cake, but the sugar and cinnamon may have helped cover the carrot in it (I don't mind carrot by itself).

Time to actually make stuff myself, lol

Youeni Foodstore

this place is so close to home (well 12 mins drive is close for me), and i've finally had time today to go. actually, it was pretty spontaneous. had some of the bread i made for brekkie, there's something about health foods like buckwheat which just fills you up without eating a lot, so i wasn't really hungry. 

cappucino-$3.50, green juice of apple, celery, spinach and ginger-$5.50

the coffee art is a nice tulip, but i don't think this is a cap even though we ordered one and the receipt says it's a cap. a cap needs some chocolate powder. this one was more like a flat white since it didn't have as much foam and a stronger coffee taste. maybe because this cup is smaller than others. also, the grounded coffee wasn'tt filtered probably since there was some grounded coffee bits at the bottom of the cup =/ i guess the price is decent for castle hill. cafes in towers serve a cup of coffee for well over $4.

the green juice was so refreshing for a hot day like today (: a hint of sweetness from the apple, and the celery and spinach wasn't too overpowering. even though i have a blender, you really need a juicer to have such "clean" juices without pulp and little bits and pieces. 

roast pork shoulder: baked apples, kipflers, fennel seed focaccia-$20

i really wanted to try their baked eggs (yes, even though today was hot) but breakfast ended at 11.30 and i went there quite late. luckily their kitchen closes 3.30pm nowadays. shared this dish with my mum since we were quite full from brekkie. ordered the most expensive thing...but it was nice (: the pork wasn't too heavily seasoned and easily pulled apart, and yes the skin had fat but i just cut that away. potatoes were nicely cooked and the apple was soft but not mushy. the bread was really, really soft, which made us buy a loaf home.

soft 7 grains-$5.50

weighed this at home, and it came to 648g, which is pretty decent. normal loafs we get are about 750g, so i think the price for organic bread at a cafe is good. the crust of this is hard unlike the white bread we had before (which actually cost more by the loaf than the grain one) but this one was still so soft inside (: also, serrated knives are really useful for bread. i feel like we should buy fresh bread more often so i can use the knife more.

after another night of snowboarding, i'm kinda sick of it. from pictures, you can actually tell so chi's half pipe is narrower and steeper than vancouver's. the guys tricks are a lot cooler than the women's though. apparently the names of the tricks are sometimes named after the person who did it first and they just make up a name. names like "yolo" and just some signature moves which aren't official moves but just signature moves which really do look cool. just wiki-ed snowboard tricks, so, so weird. you can probably find the names on a normal cafe menu...

Buckwheat and Pear Bread

decided to make some healthy bread using buckwheat flour. the recipe said to use either water or milk, but i didn't have any milk, so i used water. i just think the water made it a less bread texture...the pears were actually "poached". it only they were more ripe to begin with...i used some sugar since i didn't have any coconut sugar, but everything else is super healthy (: another trusty recipe from the whole pantry app (: yay, they had an update a few days ago and there's this super healthy salted chocolate and rosemary tart. the only thing i'm missing is hazelnut spread...

i love winter olympics! actually i love all olympics. didn't have time to watch the whole opening or the encores during plus retreat, but i loved the ballet pieces and circusy inflatables (: no idea what order the countries walked out in, usually it's alphabetical...still think winter has so much more risks, injuries and dangerous obstacles compared to summer.

favourites are definitely figure skating! so glad they showed the ladies free and team pair free, twas so beautiful to watch. love their costumes. i think figure skaters are amazing. they need to know how to dance and have poise, be flexible like a gymnast and combined with flowing ice skating. i like to watch aussies during olympics, but the promotional ads are just a bit over the top. 

the snowboarding girls are all so pretty! i think the snow does good stuff to the skin. and most of the girl competitors are really friendly as well during the winter olympics. you don't see in normal olympics individual competitors hugging and cheering for each other, or still smiling even though they came 4th.

so glad you can switch between channel 10 and 1 for some variety. sometimes i don't know if i should watch mkr, dance or winter olympics! too much choice.