The Honest Kitchen

Didn't realise I've actually been here before around 1.5 years ago. It's a nice restaurant if you want some Western food in a relatively quieter place to chat.

food spread 

Had the same bacon and potato pizza as last time. I don't think the other pizzas sounded interesting.

Seafood pasta bread bowl

It's cute how it's served in a bread bowl and comes with the 'lid' of the bowl as well. Decent amount of prawns and other bits of seafood in the pasta.

Chicken risotto

Not your authentic Italian risotto, as this was a bit more soupy instead of creamy, but it was still nice with decent chunks of chicken.

Bingsu with mochi and almond and bean powder. They use the soft, milky ice here.

Really can't go wrong with snowflake like milky ice for dessert. Good amount of mochi and bean powder as well, so you have flavour all the way to the bottom.

Jang Ta Bal and Square Cafe

I'm actually not a huge fan of kbbq since you're essentially eating a lot of fat, and bbqs in general aren't healthy or good for the skin. They are good to for catchups though since you can slowly cook and talk. Love going to Korean restaurants for the sides. My chilli tolerance has increased ever so slightly since I can handle kim chi spiciness. 

food spread

meeeat

This place gives a different sort of vibe when you step in, as the actual seating is at the back, sort of like an open garage and half outdoors, with stools only and large communal tables. Doesn’t feel like you’re actually in Sydney. Ordered quite a bit from different sets/platters, to individual meat dishes. Food arrives pretty quickly, and service was ok. They were willing to change the mesh if you asked, but really meshy/wire ones have the meat stuck to it really easily. All up we paid around $30pp. 

Bing soo is always a good idea after KBBQ. This medium size was ~$32 each. They have the nicer milky ice here rather than the hard flavourless ice. The fruit was nicer than than mochi/almond one . It is overpriced ice, but it’s sometimes fun to eat stuff out of a massive jug with friends. Can’t really make this stuff at home unless you have an ice machine.

Passion Tree

I actually came to Chatswood to use this cake voucher and was hoping that some cafes were open late afternoon. Unfortunately almost all cafes closed their kitchens after 2pm on a Saturday, so we walked around a bit, then stumbled across this-dessert saved the day! This was on my list to eat, but I did forget about it. Also, the Hello Kitty Diner closed down, didn't even get to try it but that was ok, since I wasn't really into what they offered in their menu.

Taro Bingo-$16.90

I think I took too many photos so by the time I poured th hot taro sauce, the white choc flower didn't melt immediately, but it did melt eventually. I found the taro sauce way too sickly sweet, and the red beans also made it too sweet, then you still have the white choc. Although I have a sweet tooth, I need a balance in flavours. The taro ice cream had a nice sweet taro flavour, and good crunch from the cornflakes and almonds. The ice is just normal plain shaved ice (not the milk style ones which are more Taiwanese I think), so I guess that's why you need some sweetness to flavour it. I loved the mochi as a fun chewy element and they weren't too sweet.

Matcha mochi pancake-$13.95

   

Super fun to look at an upside down ice cream, with crunchy chocolate balls inside. The matcha ice cream had a good hit go matcha, and the space wasn't to sweet. There were some red beans in between, but didn't feel like it needed it. Wished the pancakes were bigger to help get more of that sauce.

        

Honest Kitchen

Apparently this has been at Eastwood for a while now-Korean and Italian fusion. Spontaneous dinner decisions weren't bad. Don't really remember the prices, but it wasn't too expensive

Potato and bacon pizza-$15

This pizza was delicious! Base was fluffy and soft but not limp, potatoes thinly slices with good amounts of bacon on top. It was super cheesy as well. Wished there were more greens to balance all that saltiness.

Fettucine in creamy sauce-$15

Pasta was average, not overly creamy. Wished there were more toppings.

Mango cheesecake bingsu-~$15

This bingsu had really fine ice, kind of like powdery snow, so it was super smooth when you swallow it, and no hard bits of ice at all. The mangoes were sweet, and the cheesecake reminded me of those supermarket freezer cheesecake, but both paired well with the ice. It also had some sort of condensed milk at the bottom, making the ice even smoother and giving it some flavour.

La Vigne Bakery

Summer desserts involving bing su in the summer evening are actually really nice. Haven't been to Eastwood for over half a year, and so many places have changed. Went to La Vigne Bakery for dessert, and they have a nice garden style seating at the back (I have yet to try their baked goods)

Bing Su with bean powder and rice cakes (mochi)-$18

I think it's my first time having bean powder, and it's so yum-a kind of nutty, slightly peanut flavour sprinkled onto the ice. The kochi was really good as well, and loved the kind of condensed milk at the bottom with half melted ice once you get to the bottom. Money worth spending (despite the price of ice here is probably less than 50c).

Cremeria De Luca-Pop Up

first time having a proper gelato burger without having to trek to Five Dock last Friday! thanks for coming out to The Strand. i've never had one of those Messina creations before where they have "ice cream bread," but i was definitely more keen for this. been eating out way too much, but i'm telling myself that once uni gets busy, i won't have the luxury of going places to eat.

gelato burger: rosewater and pistachio gelato, panna (whipped cream), nutella, brioche bun-$10.50

i decided to go all out and get everything. surprisingly it wasn't messy to eat, just the icing sugar went everywhere. luckily it wasn't the really sticky type of icing sugar. this gelato didn't melt that fast luckily. the rosewater was a nice flavour, not too overpowering or sweet. the pistachio was more on the sweeter side, and would have preferred a nuttier flavour. apparently those 2 flavours are the most popular. also tried the cinnamon flavour where you did get a good cinnamon kick, but it was also pretty sweet. haven't had nutella in ages, so decided to get it even though it was an extra $1. it's pretty cool how it freezes up when the gelato is put on top. the cream wasn't too creamy, but more on the sweet side. halfway through this burger and i was already super full, so didn't have room to try their granites. the person serving me was super nice as well, took away my rubbish-brownie points!

met up with Shirley and Tracy for round 2 of bingsu.

green tea bingsu-$15

went to the outdoor cafe between the station/shops-Strathfield Square Cafe. the ice was a lot finer in this one, so melted really quickly. would have preferred to have more green tea flavour. loved the mochi and pearl toppings. i do like my ice cream, but thought there was too much ice cream in proportion with the ice.

original belgium waffle-$3.80

the waffle is a bit on the small size, but then again everything these days is small. it's got a slightly sticky texture when you initially bit into it but would have liked more 'crunch' with it. it's not as buttery and sweet as I imagined. it was nice, but I do prefer my belgium waffles without toppings to be more buttery (despite being super unhealthy)

another food run

met up with Shirley and Tracy last Wednesday whom I haven't see for ages. some "cheap" eats, but good catch up time.

mamak avocado smoothie

earlier at uni, mamak were giving out free avo shakes. believe it or not, this was my first time having one, and i was expecting a super rich and creamy avocado flavour, luckily it wasn't too creamy. i love my avocado, but the thought of making it super rich and creamy makes it feel a bit to fattening. this one was a bit sweet, so you can taste a little bit of the ice cream in it. 

honey butter bread-$8.90

second time having this in a week. this one didn't taste as cinnamon. the free wifi is now limited to an hour

red bean bingsu-$18

made our way to Central Park just for this at TNS Coffee Project. can't believe they had to call the manager to give us 20% off. quite ridiculous imo. just give us the discount, it's only around $4 cheaper. feel like i', getting ripped paying $18 for ice, but it's the novelly of eating it i guess. too much candy in this one, and hard to incorporate the toppings with the ice which was quite thick