Sunflower Taiwanese Gourmet

This is one of BW's fav places for cheap eats, and it is indeed a good place to go just to chat, with clean tables, friendly staff, and cheap Taiwanese food (for Sydney standards, obviously not as cheap as Taiwan). 

food spread

pearl milk tea-~$5

Added it as part of a meal for around $3. It's a massive serving, around 750ml-1L. It's not really sweet and can taste the tea flavour in it. Pearls were nice and chewy.

Taiwanese beef brisket noodle soup-$11.20

A nice serving of noodles, and decent chunks of beef. The soup wasn't too salty, and could taste the beef flavour in it. I would've preferred slightly thicker noodles like I had last yr at some famous beef noodle place. It's still pretty good for the price you pay.

Taiwanese Cha Jiang Noodle with minced pork-$9.70

This is relatively less flavourful compared to the beef noodles, and probably a healthier option. The mince wasn't too fatty, and decent amount of veggies as well. I'm not a massive fan of those asian style tea eggs, but it tasted like what it's supposed to be (I'm a poached egg cafe girl lol).

Juan Bowl & Tea

This place feels like a cafe which would open during weekdays, but it's actually opened more weeknights than lunches. Would recommend to make a booking since there's not heaps of seating, but for walk in there are bar seating. They are quite 'high tech' in terms of using payment systems connected to iPads, and also they show their daily specials on photos on their iPads which I think is quite smart, since specials change and they can save ink since they don't need to reprint menus every day. The menu is super simple, with only 5 items available, 1 of them weren't available on the night but they had a special, so still a choice of 5 for mains, and one entree special, and 2 desserts. They suggest teas to pair with each dish as well. 

food spread

Tonkatsu-rice with onion, 2hrs slow-cooked bungalow sweet pork tonkatsu, free range scrambled eggs, house apple mustard mayo, roasted tomatoes, red cabbage, miso sesame sauce-$23

inside 

It's not cheap for a tonkatsu with rice, opted for the normal koshihikari rice with this. The pork isn't super thick, but it is still a decent area. It could have been a tad bit more crispy/light in terms of the batter, but the pork was moist. Liked how there were two dipping sauces as well. I normally don't like scrambled eggs, but I like the smoothness from Jap style scrambled eggs since they're not really creamy/milky.

Matching tea-organic lemon myrtle: native Australian from QLD rainforest, tangy and sharp, sweetened to taste, provides a refreshing and zesty palette cleanser, great health tonic-$8

It's not cheap for tea, but when tea is in the restaurants' name and they suggest pairing teas, well then I couldn't resist not trying. It did give a nice subtle tang and slight zest to help lighten up the pork, mainly cause deep fried food is generally oily and relatively heavy. It's a nice light tea, but I like teas more flavourful. The only other time I've had a matching tea was in some tea region in Taiwan, where it's an actual tea house with like 50 tea options.

Wagyu: rice with garlic butter sauce, 2hrs slow-cooked wagyu roasted beef, free range onsen egg, crispy lotus root, beetroot miso, wasabi, snow pea sprouts, onion sauce-$24 (extra $1 for 12 grain rice)

no yolk porn from the onsen egg ):

12 grain rice

Beef was thinly slices and also quite tender. It wasn't super flavourful in terms of the meat itself. Was disappointed that it looked like an onsen egg, but the yolk was overcooked from the normal leaky yolk. The lotus root could've been crispier as well. The 12 grain rice is sort of like brown rice and tasted quite healthy, but wasn't really garlicy. The waitress warned us that the onion sauce is quite salty and just pour it depending on our taste, but I didn't actually find it that salty when you mix it with the rice, although it could be more oniony. It's an expensive dish for beef and rice, but it's good quality and nicely plated. 

Matcha tiramisu-$12

the top is so flat

 

inside

I've had a similar dessert in HK, where it was also a matcha tiramisu or some matcha cake inside a wooden box. There was a nice hit of matcha, but not the really bitter type. I think cause they premade it quite early on so it was quite soggy/wet inside. There wasn't much sponge, and a bit too much cream. Some of the liquid from the cream/marscapone/alchool just seeped out over time, and you end up with a watery puddle at the bottom. The dessert was nice, but I've had better tiramisus before.

inside

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.

Pepper Lunch

This place is reminiscent of high school outings where you go out to the city for the day then have lunch or dinner at a cheap eats place. 

Classic Beef Pepper Rice-$10.90

Kimchi Chicken with Rice-$13.90

They're decent serving sizes for the price, and it's sort of a fun novelty mixing your meal on a hot plate. Just need to mix it fast to help cook the meat more. I don't tend to add more sauces since I think there's enough flavour in the meat already.

The Q on Harris

Making the most of non 9am uni starts by exploring new places for breakfast. The menu is quite limited here, but it’s a quiet cafe just away from the city with a nice courtyard and natural lighting, perfect for a place to chat. I’m quite behind on places to eat since uni has started, so didn’t even realise they stopped selling their matcha cheesecake last year. 

food spread

Capp: $3.50

Batch brew Solok Radjo: rum raisin and tropical fruit punch with full bodied velvety dark cocoa finish-$3.50

The coffee was average. I thought the filtered coffee came cold, but I guess there’s a lot of variations for filtered coffee. This one was quite bitter and on the first sip reminded me of Chinese herbal tea. I never put sugar in coffee because I think that just ruins the taste of the actual coffee flavour (except for iced coffee, then again I hardly have those drinks). Slowly we sipped our way through this huge mug. Tried to appreciate the different flavour notes in the coffee, but I’m no coffee connoisseur. 

Buta Katsu Sandwich: House made thick-cut ham cats, tomato chutney and mustard mayo, with a side of potato korokke-$18

It didn’t say how many grams it was, but I’m assuming 150-200g, like other thick cut pork cats sandwiches I’ve had. The skin could have been more light and crispy/golden since it was a little bit on the oily side. The potato side was a fun addition to have on the dish. It was a surpassingly filling dish. 

Q Bowl: house smoked caramelised bacon, tempura shiitake mushrooms, glazed dutch carrot, pickled raddish, black rice-$16

I think this is more on the pricey end for a bowl of rice. You could choose between house smoked bacon, pastrami or salmon. Couldn’t really taste the smokiness in the bacon, but I liked how it wasn’t over caramelised. The tempura could also be lighter for the mushrooms. The pickled raddish helped give some acidity from the heaviness from the bacon. 

Lotus

For a girls night out pre-theatre dinner, I decided on something a bit more fancy (Aladdin was an amazing musical!) I often walk past this place in The Galeries, and wanted to see if it was worth the hype. (Yes, Aladdin was my fourth out of six musicals I've seen, so you can probably tell this is quite out back dated post, from last spring menu).

Service was generally pleasant and friendly. I liked how our table had a few spotlights on it, although my seat had a lot of shadows. Generally the lights were useful.

The Galeries


nice cutlery for modern Chinese food


cute


inside is quite big




Steamed mud crab and pork xiao long bao-$21


inside

I was quite excited to try these despite the price. The dumpling skin is thin and you can taste the crab in it but a bit on the subtle side and not worth $5.25 a bite. I guess I have had better in Asia (as expected).

Fried rice with duck, asparagus and mustard seeds (large)-$25

Love this fried rice, not too oily with fresh flavour. Wish there was more duck though...I like this sort of fried rice as the texture of the rice is more dried/fried.

Wok fried tea tree, wood-ear, and mixed mushrooms with garlic-$24

This dish was pretty average as I normally have this sort of thing at home. It didn't taste like anything special, so wouldn't order it again. Sometimes the English names of Asian things sound cooler on paper, only to realise that you normally have this at home...

Pork belly with some sweet and stick soy based sauce (not on the menu anymore...)-$32

We all loved the pork belly, and that nice stick sauce. Some bits did have way too much fat to swallow, but decent chunks of pork which wasn't dry throughout.

Slow cooked beef short ribs with ponzu and soy-$39

Another favourite, the beef was really tender and fell off the bone. It had a good balance of citrusy and salty flavours, quite light yet flavourful. 

food spread


dessert!

 
Lotus garden: jasmine tea bavarois, apple, matcha sponge, apple cider jelly, burnt vanilla crisp-$16

It's so pretty! They are vary in shape. This crisp didn't have a hole in it where the 'pea tendrils' were supposed to go through. This was my favourite of the two. Subtle tea flavour mixed with apple. Didn't get much matcha sponge thought. Really loved the flavour in the jelly.

Mandarin picked from the tree: valrhona chocolate mousse, mandarin, dark crisp pearl, chocolate soil, caramel sauce-$17


inside

It is so cute and looks like it's name. I'm just not a big fan of orangey flavours with chocolate as it reminds me of those Jaffa chocolates which I hate. The soil wasn't too buttery or dry, and the caramel inside wasn't too sweet either since it balanced with the bitter choc mouse and slightly sour mandarin flavour.

Dinner was more than the average price (for a typical uni student), but a splurge and catching up with friends is always a good idea (: