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

Shangri-La Buffet-Cafe Mix

Christmas in July is closer than last Christmas, but here are just a few food pics from the Christmas seafood buffet at Shangri-La. There was a decent selection of seafood, meats, sushi, salads and dessert. As I'm older, I can't eat as much as I used to, so I really do select a small bit of each dish, since I still want to try everything.

seafood

I found the oysters lacking the good quality/fresh oyster taste.The crabs and prawns just lacked that extra freshness. Found the salads were all a bit overdressed/way too creamy. I know it's a buffet, but I expected more from a 5 star hotel. 

meats and other buffet style food

dessert, they change it pretty regularly since it goes quickly

chocolate fountain, but the chocolate as you can see at the bottom looks off...

plate 1

2

 
3

dessert (ended up sharing this)

Also had creme brûlée and creme caramel

 

Chinese Dragon: blue curaçao, grenadine, melon liquor, soda-$16

Tastes like my cough medicine. Do not recommend

cute coconut

Mr Wong

This place has been on my list to eat for over 3 years, so finally decided to come here for a dinner. Just a tip, don't bother turning up on a Saturday without a booking of 6 or more. Either get there when they open at 5.30pm or come back at 10pm. We got there at 7pm and I was expecting a 2hr wast since weekdays some people wait that long, but Saturdays are on a completely different level wait times where they cut off the waiting list. After some persistence, they put us on the waiting list, so we did end up waiting almost 3 hours. Last orders are at 11.30pm (just might run out of some stuff). I'm pretty good at waiting for food, but 3 hours never again...Luckily the food was worth the hype and wait.

There were still heaps of people coming to eat at 10pm (probably for a 2nd dinner like us, or 'Siu Yeh' (canto for supper/night time snack). We rarely eat Cantonese food out, since we get heaps of that stuff in HK when we go back to visit relatives, but I have to say, this place is probably offers one of the best contemporary Cantonese food. Although the wait was long, the food all came within 20mins and service was attentive.

Steamed dim sum platter (8 pieces). A selection of today’s specialties-$32

Yes, it is expensive at $4 for one, but I've missed juicy, plump prawns in dim sums. There are hardly any good yum cha places in Sydney. We had har ago, pork and prawn shumai, some spinach with prawns, and the colourful one had this really tender beef inside, a bit sweet and sour, which was are favourite one.

Chinese roasted duck (whole) with plum sauce-$60

Every birthday, it's kind of 'tradition' that we buy a roast duck from those Asian butchers for my birthday dinner at home. Well, this is my 'birthday' duck, and it was so good! It's bigger than those takeaway roast ducks with more meat and less fat. It's less artificially flavour/saltiness compared to the typical ones, rather this one has let's the duck flavour come through, with a really honey-like plum sauce rather than water sweet chilli plum sauce. The soy sauce for the base wasn't too salty either. We were all pleased with the quality of the duck for this price. (I think takeaway roast ducks are about $40 for one, but not as meaty).

King crab fried rice "typhoon shelter style" with garlic and chilli (large)-$30

What's a Chinese dinner without fried rice? It was fried really well, like the traditional way where the rice is a lot more 'dry' and less 'squishy' compared to other fried rice, but it was still moist at the same time (go figure). There wasn't a lot of oil or overly seasoned with salt either. We opted for minimal chilli which was perfect for us as we still enjoyed the mild chilli kick. Would have like more crab in this to boost the flavour. Loved the bits of fried garlic in it.

Sweet and sour crispy pork hock-$28

It looks quite small in a bowl with only 8-9 pieces, but first time having something like this, and it was interesting. Crispy outside marinated with a good balance of sweet and sour (and not really chilli despite looking the chillis being visible), and inside was super tender and moist. 

Dinghy Lake: Mr Wong's iconic lychee sorbet rolled together with Plymouth gin, fresh lemon juice, blue curacao & a drop of rose water, garnished with a rose petal-$17

Yum, can I just eat the lychee sorbet by itself? This drink is worth trying, not too sweet either.

Mango pudding with coconut tapioca, lychee granita and mango pearls-$16

My brother hates mangoes, but this was the first time he actually ate something mango! The real surprise was the granita which was like a flavour bomb of lychee fruit rather than lychee syrup which is too sweet. Pudding had a good a amount of flavour, less dense compared to normal mango puddings, so more like jelly. The tapioca could have had more coconut flavour, The mango pearls had a slightly acidic flavour and really bursted with refreshing juice.

cute elevator

bar

dim sum station

stir fried side

pastry (dessert) kitchen

duckkk

Hope to come again to try the dim sum lunch menu, or more of the dinner menu with 5 other people so I can make a booking rather than wait.

Anita Gelato and The Potting Shed (The Grounds Take 3)

driving in the city in peak hour is the worst. buses going in and out of their bus lane to their bus stops, taxis stopping in the middle of the road, pedestrians crossing without looking. 

had to do some stuff today with mum in the city, but finally walked time to had for Anita Gelato, and first time going to Central Park. actually, we just went there for the gelato, no time to actually look around the shops. hardly ever pass this side of the city.

jumbo size: cookie man, blueberry with meringue, chestnut-$8

the cookie man flavour was recommended by that guy, and i do love it! texture wise, this gelato isn't as smooth as cow and the moon, and also not as flavourful compared to Messina. it was nice, but portion wasn't that big. the person didn't spoon it out nicely, that presentation =/

had to pick some stuff up and passed The Grounds along the way back. i've been wanting to go to the potting shed for a long time now, and i guess today was good timing since the grounds were closing up for the day, whilst the potting shed is opened until late. it's a different atmosphere, and i love the decor! menus on copper clipboard with hand tools, pottery-like cups, toilet with purposely rusting taps and looking super old. even more plants around the place compared to the normal cafe/outdoors.

Toiler's tonic-$16

description, as if i can remember all that

when you sit down, they confirm with you your at the potting shed and no coffee is served here. i think many people before have given up waiting in line at the main cafe then go here, but then are disappointed that there's no coffee. they have heaps of drinks here, and since it was hot today, i decided to try a cocktail. wanted something sweet, but kind of wish it was sweeter. the ginger beer was quite subtle, and the basil gave it an interesting kick

kurobuta pork belly sliders-$15

on the pricey side, but it was yum. the kim chi was surprisingly nice with that sour flavour and a good amount of chilli, well the amount where i can handle which is slight chilli and no water needed to give the whole slider a kick. for other people, you probably won't even taste the chilli in there. the crackling was so, so crunchy, and pork was soft, but not melt in your mouth. first time having charcoal buns, but lucky no charcoal after taste.

slow cooked grain-fed angus short rib with sweet and sour glaze, spiced eggplant-$23

the beed was so soft, but would have preferred if there was less fat on it. the sauce was amazing-not your typical asian sweet and sour sauce (obviously), but it elevated the whole dish. the eggplant was too charred for our liking, and would have liked more spice. did you know i use to hate eggplant. actually, i only eat eggplant when i dine out since just plain eggplant is still kind of gross for me. i love most foods, just eggplants was one of those foods i answered to "most disgusting food" when i was younger.

the potting shed is more pricey, and portions weren't massive. the idea is to share your food, so without asking, they gave us these really cute pottery/ceramic bowls. it is a different experience with the whole bar. even in the afternoon, there were quite a few people dining there with a few drinks. i think i still prefer The Grounds Cafe.

driving around the city and surrounding place, and going past all these place i wanted to eat in surry hills/newtown, but no time/place to stop to try something from places which i have been wanting to go for a while...oh well, the thing with doing a degree which is 5 years gives you more time to try out places instead of wasting money frequently eating out, if that makes sense...

Below Zero Ice Bar

bought cheaper tickets through the Book Me NZ website. came here after the burgers. first ice bar experience! now this place is cold: -5degrees. it's apparently the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere but it wasn't as big as i was hoping it to be. it has an ice fireplace, but they didn't turn it on. i think melb has one, but sydney doesn't, so i guess this was worth the money. discounted to $15 entrance, with a cocktail drink. i asked the person if i could get 2 mocktails instead of 1 cocktail, but she said no, so i whipped out my phone and showed her the email from another staff saying they could give 2 mocktails, hence that mobile data is worth the money! one drink isn't cheap, from memory, a cocktail is $10, a mocktail is $7.50

i asked how long you could stay in for, the person said "as long as you want' shortly after i understood why

it's really pretty inside. there's a few animals, ice tables/seat, Photo Booth and even air hockey!

(:

gondola

bear friend

drinks w/ glasses made of ice

so i got a cocktail, and my mum got 2 mocktails, but we shared them between us. pro tip: drink your drinks asap. i wanted to make it last longer by having a few sips and taking photos, but you know how things freeze at 0 degrees? well, our drinks started to freeze, and so we couldn't drink the last bit/bottom of it...no wonder why the other people in there chugged down their drinks. the person who made you the drinks left the room after, so we had the room to ourselves-more photo taking opportunities! more photos on fb, but even then, i selected only a few.

they gave you special gloves so you would also get a grip on your ice cups. at the end you could smash them (: i quite liked their jackets. it came past your butt, so when you lean against the ice, it protects your clothing. then again, the ice is solid and not melting, so you didn't have to worry about your clothes getting wet.

the room

chandelier

i managed to stay in for 1 hour before it was wayyy too cold-even for my standards. my mum left a bit earlier than me, but the other people in there who were quite big/tall, they only lasted in their for 20mins. the record is 5 hours, not sure how they survived that in -5 degrees...

really fun and relaxing experience (: