8bit

There's a new place in town-Steam Mill Lane as part of Darliing Square (which I think was a car park  before al the renovations started happening). There's heaps of restaurants opening up in this cute laneway. It reminds me of Barangaroo, although that one is more 'romantic' and 'mature' where as this lane is more 'fun' and 'family friendly' with the coloured lights and cheaper food on average. Now I don't have to go Melbourne to try these burgers.

Didn't occur to be that 8bit=1 byte until BW pointed to it, which I'm guessing is like one bite of their burger...It's got a nice sort of modern retro feel to the restaurant.

burgers

it's cute how it's served in burgers

8bit with cheese: beef, tomato, lettuce, red onion, pickles, mustard, cheese, ketchup, 8bit sauce-$11.50

I always try to get a plain-ish burger without too much stuff added in just so it's easier to compare to other places. I didn't find this beef burger that amazing tbh. It tasted like a fancy Big Mac, but not as tangy. The 8bit sauce wasn't super prominent in flavour, since I think with the mustard and ketchup mixed you couldn't really taste the original flavour in their sauce. The beef is juicy without being too oily. The bread held well together and was soft (unlike Maccas where it was soft and felt apart just from your fingertips).

Golden Axe: crispy fried chicken, cheese, sriracha mayo, slaw-$12

We both liked the chicken one better since the beef was nice but there wasn't anything that stood out to make it different. There was a nice thin batter on this chicken, which make it extra crispy, and felt like less oil was soaked into the chicken. The chicken was also moist, and went well with the slaw to help freshen it up. The sauce had a nice kick to it without being too spicy.

cute arcade games

I think you could actually play for a while in these since the game I played was pretty say and hard to die in.

openish kitchen

 

I feel like there's more outdoor than indoor seating. Didn't have the fries or the shakes since this was a pre dinner for an actual dinner for me, so maybe next time.

Wild Sage

I normally figure out where I want to eat beforehand, but on this night spontaneously decide to come here to also try to avoid the rain. This new building in Barangaroo was built within months, since my bus goes past it every morning, and you can see the progress everyday. It's a nice half indoor/outdoor sort of restaurant, although not all their outdoor seating is fully covered so some of it gets wet outside. I love the floor to ceiling windows though since it allows natural light into the restaurant. Inside there aren't many seats, but they were kind enough to give us a bigger corner table.

food spread

One for the lady: Irresistable & Addictive. Rose petal infused vodka, pear brandy & pomegranate fused with fresh lime & vanilla. Served straight up in a classy martini glass-$18

I hardly ever order drinks when I eat out, apart from coffees, but alcohol is expensive so I normally don't order it. The cocktails in photos looked too pretty to pass this time round, so decided to share this drink. It was actually really delicious, it had a bit of sweetness from the fruits and the floral flavour wasn't too overpowering, yet you could still taste the vodka in it. Sometimes cocktails just taste like cocktails or juices, and you think if they even put any alcohol in it.

Pork belly lollipops with cabbage, daikon, pickled carrots, sesame seeds, shallots, chilli aioli-$16 

I love the sound of this on paper and thought it was very cute. You get 2 pieces per stick, so it is pricey, but so delicious. I don't normally eat the fat of pork belly at home, but I do if I eat out. The skin was crunchy and had decent chunks of meet. The sauce was a nice sticky yet not too sweet, and the chilli aioli helped give a mild kick to it. 

Slow cooked ox cheek with guinness beer, pickled carrot, dikon, pomegranate, crispy shallots, horseradish-$28

inside

The ox cheek was cooked perfectly, and split really easily with a knife. It looks small but once you start digging in, it's pretty filling. Couldn't really taste the guinness beer since all the alcohol was probably cooked off already. The pickled carrots and other veggies helped to keep this dish light.

Black chicken: pepper, lemon grass, tamari & coriander chicken with green mango cabbage salad-$28

This sounded cool on paper but was more on the average side. I was thinking of it being really black like charcoal, but I guess the black is from the paper. Flavour wise, the chicken wasn't overly seasoned and cooked well. This dish was really fresh, but the salad does have quite a lot of acidity to it, so more of an acquired tasted.

open kitchen

Gogyo

I've been to Japan twice, but have only visited Tokyo, not Kyoto where this ramen store originates from, so when a friend suggested we go after an afternoon clinic, I was definitely keen to try. I've also been to Hong Kong multiple times, but there is so much food there that I also never tried this ramen there either. 

I wasn't expecting much, but was pretty surprised at the decor inside. It gives off that 'expensive restaurant' feel, even though you're only eating ramen. Yes, this ramen costs more than your cheap Chinatown ramen (don't get me wrong, those Sydney favourites still on my list to eat just haven't had time). Made a booking for Monday night, and it was quite busy after 6pm, with all the bar tables and high tables with stools full. They give you bibs to wear which I thought was quite cute. Normally you have bibs if you eat ribs. It's nice to protect your work clothes if the noodles does splash in the broth.

Kogashi Miso: charred miso base, original chicken broth, half umami egg, pork belly chasu. Noodles: #16F medium-thin (low hydrolysis)-$18

ramen lift

This is definitely worth trying at least once. It's a very unique sort of broth as you get that burnt after taste. The broth was more oily and because of that burnt aftertaste, it's hard to drink the broth after you finish it. Normally I don't drink it because it's too salty, but here the burnt miso aftertaste rather than being salty is only nice with the noodles. The only time I've ever fully drank ramen broth was in a Michelin ramen restaurant in Tokyo. The noodles held together well and had an al dente texture, since there's less water and more flour. Was hoping for a larger slice of pork, but it was super soft. There isn't a lot of noodles in the bowl compared to other ramen places, but I guess that allows you stomach space to try the side dishes.

Chilli Shoyu-$17

Tried a tiny spoonful of this, and it was enough to make meet my spicy tolerance. Apparently this ramen tasted really fresh because of the coriander and tomatoes in it.

Karaage chicken-$16

I normally don't order fried chicken unless other people want it. This was crispy on the outside, and super juicy and moist on the inside. Worth trying this Jap style fried chicken. You get 6 pieces which is sort of an odd number to share.

Gogyo Original Gyoza-$14

inside

Asked the waitress for popular side dishes and she recommended this, and also said it was larger than your average gyoza. Well, tbh, it's smaller than your average gyoza, and it's not cheap for 5 pieces. It could have also been crispier. The meat inside was seasoned well without being too salty, and the skin was really thin, so I guess you're paying for the freshness and I'm assuming it's handmade by the chefs here. They have heaps of other sides to try compared to other ramen places.

Open kitchen

They have 8 chefs which is a lot for ramen, then again there is more seating here. Although in Japan, the award winning ones only have 3 chefs serving 10-15 people at a time, but they constantly work the whole day. The service was quite attentive at the beginning and they kept refilling water, but once it got busy, it was hard to get more water and waited a bit to pay the bill.

bar

I don't drink alcohol much at restaurants, but here they don't allow you to try the glass before you purchase the bottle. Even though a friend did get a glass, they didn't pour it in front of the table, which apparently is what happens at other restaurants. Not sure if this is a Japanese thing of not pouring the bottle in front of the customers?

Menu

Entrance

Alrose Garden

Came here for dinner after visiting BW's church as Strathfield is close by. This place is quite simple with not an extensive menu choice, and not many side dishes either. One thing I love about Korean food is all the side dishes.

food

Clam hot noodle soup-$13

Decent amount of clams in these noodles, and the soup wasn't overly seasoned. There was actually quite a decent amount of noodles in the bowl and we couldn't finish it. It is a more healthier alternative for dinner out, compared to the next dish.

Fried chicken (half)-$18

I normally don't order fried chicken since it's so unhealthy and not good for your skin (hence haven't had KFC in so long), but would still have some if I'm sharing. I no fried chicken expert but I thought this chicken was decent, not too salty and decent chunks of meat. There was this deep fried pork with cheese inside that looked so good when it was cut into.

One Tea Lounge and Grill-Take 4

I don't often 'repeat' restaurants, but this place is probably one of the exceptions. Finally won a food competition thanks to this photo from Night Noodle Markets (NNM) earlier this year, so decided to use the $50 voucher to try the new summer menu. It was also an excuse to over order and to try some things I never got around to trying at the NNM earlier this year and previous years. I've tried most of the things that always stay on the menu despite the season, It was quite quiet for a Thursday night, unlike when I came on a Monday night in August when they had the matcha ramen special. Love how they include lots of photos for some items on the menu.

entree/snacks

Salmon Tataki: lightly seared salmon with matcha yuzu-$12

Salmon was seared well and fresh. The matcha and yuzu both could be stronger, but you can taste more of the yuzu than matcha. Still a nice combo of flavours on salmon.

 

Peking duck fries w/ waffle fries: shredded duck with housemade spicy hoisin sauce and fried shallots-$18

I've always wanted to try these at NNM, but I hardly every order fries as a side, so would feel bad ordering it, but since I had a voucher, can justify ordering this. Duck is my fav protein, and love the combo of using peking duck as a topping. The amount of duck was decent and also included some skin in. The waffle fries were nice and potatoey, but a tad oily. The sauce did have a nice kick of chilli but it was bearable. Wished there were more shallots to help try to lighten this dish.

matcha coconut chicken: tender chicken thigh with matcha coconut cream served in a brioche toast box with grilled vegetables & matcha rice-$29

 

curry in a toast box!

It's a very Taiwanese thing to have a toast box, then they cut up the inside and fill it with the cut up bits of bread, but normally its sweet. First time having matcha curry inside a brioche toast box. It was a nice amount of matcha and creaminess from the coconut in the curry and chicken was cooked well. Wish they gave a bigger portion of rice and veggies though. The matcha rice had a sort of seaweed flavour to it, those people who don't like matcha because of that weird flavour would understand. I guess I didn't mind having that different matcha/seaweed flavour in the rice since it helped contrast a bit to the matcha coconut curry.

dessert spread

Matcha heaven on fire-$23

Our most popular creative dessert show as you watch the orange liqueur burn the candy floss heaven to reveal a beautiful matcha terrarium filled with matcha castella cake, caramel walnut, meringue & red bean azuki mousse

 

She lit the orange liqueur to pour over the fairy floss, then melted it more with the blow torch to reveal the inside

inside

Yes, you are paying for the theatre of the dessert. The matcha cake inside wasn't too strong, but the matcha sauce was quite intense with a bit of orange liqueur in it to make the dessert more matcha-y. Could also dip the fruits in the sauce as well. I did find the candied walnut s way too sweet, and there were heaps of it so couldn't finish it all. The red bean mousse had a slight nutty flavour in it which was interesting. You can't actually eat the fairy floss since it just melts and sticks to the table/plate.

Matcha hokkaido cheesecake: a perfect balance of texture & taste with the famous creamy hokkaido cheesecake paired with matcha along with candied candied lemon, berries & cream-$16

Love the creaminess and cheesiness from this cheesecake, whilst still being light. Still struggled to finish it since we did order 6 things between two...Good balance of matcha in this cheesecake, and the fruits also helped cut come creaminess. 

Cookie shots: delicious crunchy cookie shots with a hot creamy beverage

 

inside after I added some matcha liqueur 

cheers

 

matcha and red velvet with matcha latte

I have to admit, this is a copy of Dominique Ansel's cookie shots, who had a chocolate cookie in the form of a shot class, and filled with vanilla infused milk. His cookie shots are more refined with a thinner pastry all around and coated with choc inside. These ones have a relatively thick cookie base and wall, so the actual volume inside inside that big, and filled each 'shot glass' around 3-4 times with the match latte which I found was quite weak and more towards the milky side. The flavours in the cookies were a bit too sweet afterwards since they're coated with white choc inside to prevent the hot beverage to melt or seep through to the cookie. The red velvet sort of tasted like it, but again the white choc flavour was more prominent. It's still decent for Sydney standards.

Love the inventiveness of the food here with a bit of theatre. If you love matcha, then this is the place for you.