Chef's Palette

It’s a nice cafe in Eastwood which is relatively spacious and has decent amount of seating. Nice place to just relax and chat over coffee and cake. Both times I went they mixed up the flavours of the cakes I wanted, but I’m not really picky in this sort of setting. 

Taro and matcha crepe cake-$7.95 each

The crepes could be thinner with less cream, but it’s decent for cafe standard and not too sweet. It also had a good height. Would have liked more matcha flavour, but the taro flavour was more distinct. Favourite crepe cake is still from Lady M, which is available overseas (like all good food, haha).

Taro Gelato Shake-$5.80, Iced Irish Cream Latte-$5

Souffle cheesecake original-$7.95

Taro shake was nice and thick, and loved the taro flavour in it. The other latte had some coffee flavour, but was more on the sweet side. I'm not sure what makes it Irish. The souffle cheesecake wasn't your typical souffle or as light as your Jap style cheesecake, but not heavy either like NY cheesecake. Still quite filling and it's good to share. It has some cream cheese without being too overpowering and not too sweet. 

upstairs seating

The Choc Pot Take 2

Taking relatives out for food runs in Chatswood, and decided to visit this place again. I love collecting points, so was sad when last time I spent $30+ and didn't collect points. Roughly 30 points can get you a coffee.

Large capp: $4, French Earl Grey w/ Milk Choc Latte-$5

The coffee was actually not great, definitely watery but my mum wanted a coffee...but really I'm here to try their other drinks/desserts. The french early grey latte was so delicious. Exactly like the tea but in latte style with a little bit of chocolate to sweeten it without it taking away from the fragrance of flavour of the tea.

Trying their cold drinks, crepes and waffles which I didn't get a chance to last time.

Banana Choc-$8, Pine Mojito-$8

The Splits (left): crepe with banana, whipped cream, honeycomb pieces, melted Belgian choc w/ salted caramel on the side-$14.50

S'more Nuts: crunchy waffle with nutty butter, melted belgian choc, roasted hazelnuts, toasted home-made marshmallows

We actually shared these desserts between 7 people which was a good idea since we had a massive lunch before hand, I had an ice cream, and chocolate is generally decadent. 

Four Frogs Creperie

If you're ever doing the Bondi to Coogee Coastal walk, walk from Coogee to Bondi since there's more food choices at Bondi rather than Coogee. After our walk, we decided to head to Randwick, since there wasn't much to eat at Coogee (if there are, please let me know good cafes)

This place is close to uni, but never had the time to come here, so after walking up the hill from Coogee to Randwick, decided to come here for crepes. We were seated upstairs, and it's a really nice atmosphere. There's an open window and it kind of feels like you're in Europe, looking down onto the street, and with their simple but effective decor (sorry no photos, was too tired lol)

menu

specials for the day

Galette of bacon, egg, swiss cheese and avocado-$16

that runny egg yolk

I was actually sick on this walk, but decided I needed some fresh air, and also I thought I shouldn't eat sweet things if I'm sick...so opted for savoury. They use buckwheat which is naturally more brown in colour, hence the 'burnt' appearance of the crepe, but it's not actually burnt. Crepe was thin and buckwheat flavour not too strong (I'm not a massive fan of buckwheat, but don't mind it when it's mixed with other flours when baking). Quite a lot of fat on the bacon so trimmed it away...Loved that egg yolk, they also gave you the option of having it runny or cooked-of course I chose runny!

banana, walnut, honey

chocolate and strawberry

white choc, salted caramel, almonds (?)

Had a bite of the sweet crepes, and definitely prefer them, I guess crepes are originally sweet. It's thinner, softer and more pleasant to eat. Want to try a sweet one next time...when I'm not sick..

Coastal Walk (:

bondi

ended up walking in the rain for a bit

Coogee

Fleet Review 2013

so busy this mid sem break, but i decided to go out to see the international fleet review with mum. such a nice day today, didn't put on any sunscreen, so i endured to day wearing a cardigan. the fleet review has been in the news for a while, and they were saying how it's the biggest event in sydney since the olympics, which makes sense since nothing internationally big happens in sydney, and when other ships sail down under, well it's big.

took more pics on my camera, but these are from my phone.

walking towards mrs macquarie chair. 

warships are coming!

there weren't that many at that time period, well about 15ish. i wanted to see the 21 gun salute, but that was across at Bradley's head. saw some aviator show, but that was also more based in bradleys head. it was still cool though. there were quite a few helicopters, with banners/flags, and it was really nice when it passed the sun, since their flags gave you a 2 seconds of shade. where the sun was, there were no clouds. some people fully camped there, ie picnic mats/camping chairs etc, i guess to see the plane show. those news reporters with 4 inch heels walking on very sloping grass/rocks-respect.

different side of sydney (:

the front side of sydney! unlike north syd where i usually go for nye "front on view", but you look at the harbour bridge from the back, so if they have words/pictures it's backwards. never been to mrs macquaries chair though, but it's got such a nice view! so much blue-ish water. also saw a dog on a speed boat with a couple-rich.

royal botanical garderns are also so pretty! i've only been to part of it if i ever had a piano exam in the city. actually went through it today, such nice green grass/garden features/newly fixed park benches.

for those who don't have snap chat.

walked by government house.

i found a castle!

why does the sky looks so blue on computer..? it's actually pretty big and quite a surprising find if you're just casually walking by. first time walking here (: if i ever have time, i would actually like to stroll through this part of the city. adventuring doesn't have to include food, it could just be 

had lunch at Sukjai Thai using groupon vouchers (Tracy, i ended up using my parent's credit card to buy the voucher). pretty funky interior design. also the guy who was serving us, i'm pretty sure he's gay or bi. he was wearing short shorts, and fully stlye his hair, i think he wore contacts, and also had quite a lot of make-up for a guy. well, i guess it's normal in thailand, since there's this really famous show in thailand of guys dressing as girls (and they're actually really pretty as a girl, like 5 inch heels, dresses etc). 

pad thai w/chicken, pad see ew w/beef, thai milk tea, lemon ice tea.

the usual. $6 each. it's normally 13.90 a plate, but they had a lunch special of 7.90 (no drinks), so technically we didn't save much. also, it was smaller than normal, cimpared to full priced customers. however, the people next to us who also had the vouchers had a bigger portion. they were bigger/taller woman, but still....in terms of flavour, this was nice, not too heavily seasoned or oily. the pad see ew rice noodles were really soft. however, the meats of both dishes were quite bland, so you had to eat it with the noodle which has sauce. i guess it's good in a way, don't want things too salty. these two plates of thai dishes are the hottest so far (in terms of temp). service was really good. sat down and they immediately poured you water, and kept helping you pour water when they walked pass (even though we are totally capable of pouring water in a glass by ourselves). they kindly explained how their deal worked (:

mother's crepes: black sesame and tiramisu w/ blueberry sauce, and pink grapefruit soda.

wow, how things have changed. they had two batches of group on vouchers, but the second batch had more limited stuff. and we used this voucher under the second batch of vouchers. there wasn't any green tea this time, but luckily we had it last time. there was nice plastic at the bottom to prevent dripping, also the sodas were heaps smaller. this time it was 300ml each. how do i know? well we knew we wouldn't finish the drinks since we had drinks before, so we brought a bottle w/ measurements and poured the drinks into it (: i was super full after the crepes though. it's weird, when i'm eating i don't think i'm full, but after, i feel as if i can skip dinner.

walked to darling harbour. tall ships, wall ships, ships, ships, ships. sooo many people, and it's only a friday. most people were elderly people w/ grand kids. can't imagine how busy it would be during the long weekend.

the bridge opened! didn't see any boats go past, but i guess they did it because it's fleet review and they can open it for show (:

i would have liked to go on a warship for $3, but tickets already sold out online through ticketek, only the tall ships for $20 haven't been sold out yet. ended up walking past the Australian Maritime Museum. usually they have a gate so you can't go further in, but they opened it this time, and they built extra/temporary flooring (?) wooden planks. you could tell since the wood looked quite brand new, and it's extended beyond the normal wharf.

ended up walking to Pyrmont. the star was just across the road, so Zumbo time! there were heaps of stalls/chairs set up in the grassy area for tmr.

Caramel au Beurre Sale, Salted Butter Caramel on Toast, passionfruit, cherry and coconut, Pecan Danish, lychee and coconut.

the colours match!

yu nuts zu millefeuille
chestnut creme legere, chestnut & lime biscuit, yuzu creme, almond chestnut crunch & caramelised puff pastry

ceebs explaining how each flavour was. maybe later. i've tried every flavour except pineapple and the special ones he sometimes makes on weekends. this time i didn't use my money, so mum chose the chesnut cake, apparently chestnuts are expensive? it was so good, but i think i prefer the other one.

they have 2 more buses between 2.10 and 3.10. now i don't have a massive gap coming home if i end at 2! got through the day and managed to get home by 4 (: productive day out! time to go catch up on so much work which i haven't touched this week. been so busy.

800-Mother's Crepes, Chat Thai, Pho Pasteur

i've been eating out all day except for my avo toast in the morning, and all i've had to is rice noodles, but i love rice noodles, so no problem today (:

day started off with walking to "thai town" the chat thai closest to Capitol. same dishes but cheaper than   Westfield by about 3/4 dollars for almost most dishes, turns out they were renovating ):

so we walked back to world square and decided to have dessert first (twas a good decision)

used group on vouchers, $2-crepe w/ ice cream, sauce and drink, pretty cheap. last time i had crepes was a long time ago.

left to right: crepe with green tea ice cream and blueberry sauce, i had crepe with baileys ice cream and chocolate (hershey) sauce), orange and mango soda, pink grapefruit soda.

the green tea had a soft seve texture, and it looked nice visually, and tasted pretty nice. baileys was pretty good, although i would have preferred it to have more alcohol (but obviously they can't put more in or else it would go over the limit of how much an underage person can consume alcohol in foods i guess...). ice creams in both crepes were generous servings. the orange and mango was kind of sweet, but the slight sourness of the orange balanced it. the pink grapefruit was more sour than sweet, and didn't have much "grapefruit" flavour. these sodas were more sodary than normal soft drinks. bad thing is that it's all take away, so you have to find a table in order to take a photo of both stuff. the crepes had this plastic packaging on the outside which is good since sometimes the ice cream goes/leaks through the crepe. mine didn't, but my mum's did....i would never buy crepes full price in aus. 

chat thai at The Galeries-Raadt Naa-$11.90 and Padt Thai-$10.90

chat thai looks good if you get the expensive stuff, but it's overrated imo. the galeries don't have much seating since it's in a food court, so the few dollars you save comes at a cost of a least pleasant dining experience compared to Westfield, but at my stage, i don't really care about ambience, i just care about food. we went after peak hour, during peak hour they have those ropey lines, and have lines of about 20 people from about 12-2. 

servings were very small compared to my last thai experience at pennant hills. luckily we filled ourselves up with dessert before. the raadt naa had very fat/thick noodles, thicker than chinese ones. the sauce had this sweetness but salty at the same time and not as thick as how chinese people do it, but there wasn't a lot of noodles, and after a while, you crave water. this pad thai was again, smaller than The Seat by a half. no joke. there wasn't a lot of peanuts, so you don't get that crunch/texture whilst having the noodles. the flavouring was less than my last padt thai, but this also had less oil which is a plus. 

trekked to parra at night for outing dinner. went to pho pasteur. nice seeing fellow bloggers (:

rare beef pho and sides (for 4 people)-$11.50

not rare enough. i remember in hk when i had pho, it was so delicious and big and tasty and cheap and the beef was actually rare when they gave it out, and the soup was hotter than the one above so it still cooked fine. this soup wasn't as hot, and servings was smaller than Thai Riffic when i had rice noodles in soup. there were a lot of sides though, and the broth wasn't overly flavoured, so it was drinkable to an extent (i try not to drink too much broth since it's really unhealthy). it was alright. i have yet to go cabra and have pho there.

i would have loved to stay longer, except i don't drive to parra since I don't know where to park and traffic is bad around westfield, and the last bus back home was at 7.25. last time i trained it from parra to penno, took 3 trains, and it took over 2 hours. it's supposed to be a 30ish min drive/40/50ish min bus ride depending on traffic, and my dad went on a business trip today, and my mum doesn't no how to drive to parra, so busing it was my only option...how was the cake? haha.

i've broken my "less than $10 a meal/plate/drink/item" today. personally, i think city food is cheaper than castle hill/parra. their cafes are so expensive, even if they're just normal cafes. like 13 for only a sandwich at a cafe in towers, and it was pretty basic. so yeah, if you know where to look, city food is "cheap". ie for day-to-day lunches/dinners, not including high class restaurants. there's this new thai place i walked past today, 6.90 for a curry/meat with choice of sauce with rice, and they were pretty big dishes. i had my mind set on chat thai, but should've gone there (even though out of the 10 things on the menu, only 1 thing had no curry or chillies)

re-watched masterclass online and NOT A SINGLE AD DURING THE WHOLE EPISODE. i've missed masterchef the whole week this week and have been watching it online at like 11pm, and every ad break they have on tv, online they have 3 minutes of ads. last year it wasn't like this, they sectioned off the episodes so you could quickly skip the middle talking parts, and there were way less ads. people always comeback, except in professionals when they said there was no second chances, and no one actually came back.

you know the fam of will, kate, and george, they have really generic names. boost has their name game tomorrow for those names. and wow, kate looks no different facially before and post-preganancy, and she still has retained her skinniness in her legs etc. i wonder what they feed her to be so healthy and able to wear heels at 7+months and also a day after she gave birth. you know what i wonder, do they bother to do her hair/make-up when she was giving birth...?

updated my zumbo's post, so if you would like to know what i thought about the other half of the box of zumbarons, well scroll down (: