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

Kürtosh

Finally tried a Kurtosh! I've had cakes here before, but never had enough people to share this with. 

(Those who follower this blog will know how long ago this post is lol)

Pistachio Kurtosh-$8.50

It was doughier than I expected, and quite filling. I don't think I'm a big fan of this sort of pastry, so it was below expectations. It wasn't overly sweet since we opted for pistachios, but at times it felt like eating so doughy bread+nuts.

cakes

 

Raspberry cheesecake, tiramisu-$4.50 ($4.90 for 100g)

I don't know if their prices have increased, but they do their cakes but weight. I've had the strawberry one before which was quite light. The cheesecake here is quite dense, but not as dense as NY cheesecakes. Sort of off because I like my cheesecakes to be fluffy like Jap ones or just dense yet silky like NY style. The tiramisu lacked coffee flavour and a lot more cream than mascarpone. Maybe I just chose the wrong stuff this time...

The Sweet Spot Patisserie Take 2

The first time I went was a while ago, but it's nice to come back and see those cakes still for sale and roughly the same price.

We got drawn by the macaron ice cream sandwiches in their display fridge, and decided to get them as a substitute for a friend's birthday cake.

Baklava ice cream, salted caramel, cookies and cream, Tim Tam, Orange and Chocolate (Jaffa), Mint-~$6.50 each (I think)

different view

Generally they were pretty nice. The macaron was quite hard to cut into and chewy, but I guess it's not fresh and it has been in the freezer. Ice cream not too sweet when you share it, but after a while it becomes quite sweet since the macaron has more sugar than actual flavouring. The Baklava one had some pastry at the bottom, I guess to resemble the original dessert.

One of the places I didn't have time to go to in my NYC trip last year was having an infamous macaron ice cream sandwich. Until then, two of my dessert loves have yet to be perfected together.

Past birthday cakes for friends:

Caprioska: Short bread biscuit base with layers of lemon-lime mousse, lychee and vanilla sponge

Medium cake-$48

Love the spray finish (soz for over exposed photo), inside had mousse and sponge, but after a while the mousse does become really sweet. The lemon-lime flavour wasn't very prominent.. You'll find frozen bit of lychee inside. The base is super duper hard, even after over an hour out of the fridge and in outdoors temperature. Our plastic spoons were no match for the base. It wasn't too overly salty, but a good amount of salt which would've helped the sweet mousse if we good only cut into it...Macarons were pretty bad, rock hard and super crunchy, opposite of what it's supposed to be. I guess they aren't fresh and stored for a long time in the fridge...

Tiramisu: Layers of vanilla sponge brushed with coffee, filled with chocolate cream and topped with coffee mascarpone and cocoa

Can't go wrong with tiramisu :)

Dandelion's 20th

haven't studied/done any assignments since tuesday night since work and events at night, but I love parties, and couldn't miss this one especially since i didn't have work. last week had to miss out on a 21st because it was during the day ):

aww, Dandelion, you are so, so thoughtful, and love the effort you put into everything! so pretty and on point. didn't manage to get a picture of the cranes...hope you liked the presents! hehe. really lovely meeting your uni friends (:

lights

food

cake

i think Dandelion wins with the most consistent cake. so far, there's been at least 4 occasions with the tiramisu cake from the Cheesecake shop. hoping to see it for many more years to come! i'm one of those people who try to have a different cake each year, and order different stuff for my family. Connie's tart was so good as well! nice and surprisingly good bitterness. need to learn how to make good pastry.

polaroids!

haha, that one on the left...i've always wanted a polaroid, but the film is so expensive D=

18 on the 18th

my brother new straight away when he started high school, that his 18th birthday would be during HSC. well, at least he didn't have a test on his birthday. no time to go buy a nicer cake to try, so, so stressed for Monday. it's not worth much, but your performance kind of indicates how you will go in the finals, since the finals are harder. so if i do bad, then finals are just going to be unthinkable, if that makes sense...

all my brother wants on his 18th is to drink. that logic, drinking during his hsc. i'm worried that he'll become an addict, even though we have minimal alcohol at home, there's nothing to stop him from buying it outside...

when i think about it, i do waste a lot more money on birthdays compared to my brother. he hasn't even had a party w/ his high school friends...which really gets me thinking, is a 21st worth the time/effort/money...yes, it is about the memories, but still....i guess nowadays, if you don't mention the word "party" it's expected people pay for themselves....well so far all the birthday dinners i've been to is like that....

homemade tiramisu from the neighbours (:

it came with the whole ribbon in cake box with cake cardboard, so when we both opened the box, my mum and i were like "wow". homemade, was not expecting any presentation etc. well, apparently the person owns a cafe, and likes to make stuff on weekends...please give us more cake, haha. oh, uel and shanelle from MKR last season are opening up a cafe in macquarie! finally some contestant from a cooking show opening a cafe in Sydney, and within price range (hopefully). have been waiting for someone to do this. other people have, it's just their restaurants/cafes are in other states. like, those twin sisters from before, sam and bella do have a burger stand thing at Bondi markets, or some markets, but those are too far away to trek to, even if bondi junction is 15min away from uni...but markets are only on weekends..

blackforest cake-$38.50

pretty sure their prices have rose. got the same cake for my 18th as well. it doesn't taste as nice this times, since there's more canned cherries on the bottom layer in stead of sponge. and the top mousse layer has decreased in thickness slightly, so it's not balanced as well. oh well, cake is cake, and food makes me happy (and possibly study a bit harder). 

Baking at Better's

finally went to better's house! thank you so much for you hospitality and generosity. the flavoured water was real interesting/nice. loved your pasta and lasagna, need to get myself some of that sauce.

i actually didn't make much. even though i was looking forward to this day, i wasn't in the mood to bake-was way too hot.

tiramisu

looks pretty good (didn't help make, only helped to eat). the tia maria flavour was definitely there. i think i'm pretty decent with alcohol, but the mod worrying thing was that if i get a RBT, and since you can taste the alcohol in it, well then gg. it's different from when you cook with wine since it gets reduced, but this just gets mixed. i don't make these kind of things by myself since it requires too many ingredients which aren't easily found at home.

chocolate macarons! (didn't pipe this batch)

totally underestimated the power of better's new hand mixer. with my one, it takes about 10-15mins to get a glossy finish/peak for the egg whites, since my mixer overheats an then you have to wait for it to cool. her one was so powerful, didn't keep my eye on it, nek min nit, it was over beaten. luckily it didn't split. thus, over beaten egg whites result in a crunchy/crispy shell, but the inside was still soft. we were going to make a salted caramel filling, but ceebs. i've found some easier salted caramel filling recipes without too much effort, haha. i shall attempt some macarons from scratch one day. almond meal was on special last week on coles. my mum rain checked me some, need to remind her to buy it for me (:

19. Birthday Free Food Haul (Elisa's Guide to Free Birthday Food)

19. i can't believe it's been a year already! today's date somewhat has a pattern (: i don't like the number 19. it's prime and ugly, 17 sounds and looks better, but 19 is =/ doesn't feel like it's my birthday. from primary to high school, i used to be like, guess what!? it's my birthday in two weeks! and then remind people. now i think i'm at the stage where i'm like meh, not as excited as i used to be/don't want people to know how old i am. i bet my face can still pass as a 14yo.

it's mostly because i didn't have a party that it felt like it was my birthday. it kind of feels good not organising any parties, although i would love one, i don't have the moneys. i have to pay for some of my 21st if i have one. then again, i would rather not have any parties and save it all for my wedding. yes, i'd rather go all out on my wedding than have a few parties here and there.

before uni, there wasn't a lot of chances to go to the city, but since uni started, i go city everyday. i figured this year is the year to go after free food, since next year uni will be super busy (more on this later). such nice sunny weather today (: i've always loved august (totes no bias here lol) since it starts to get warm, not a lot of rain, and not too hot (:

Lowenbrau Keller

first time having a proper German meal. originally we were only going to share a free meal, but that seemed to cheap, so we got two plates. everyone ordered a massive pork knuckle (signature dish), but the crumbed skin of the pork knuckle would make my face even worse...lol.

this place is a must to go on your birthday! just make sure you book. the restaurant is massive inside. you can choose any single plate on the menu.

top: lunch special of haus-made sausage, mash potato, some special onion with some sauce-$14.50. bottom: Original Zwiebelrostbraten, Char-Grilled 300g Sirloin Steak with Cheese Spätzle, Apple Onion Confit & Red Wine Glaze

being asian, i tried to maximise my free meal, so i got the steak. it's $35 (on the website it says $38). i asked for medium, but the sides were a bit chewy. the apple things on top was quite interesting, so was the floury things. it reminded me of gnocchi, but more flavourless, so you needed to have some sauce with it. this flour was a bit dense-ish, but it was nice in its own way. i didn't actually hear the proper name for the lunch special, but for 14.50, that wasn't too bad. the sausage was sooo good! meaty, not overly flavoured, didn't feel like there was a skin on it, big, no fattening/oily feeling. no wonder why during aroma festival, hordes of people lined up to get a super duper long hot dog for $10. the mash here was pretty nice, onions had this sourness to it, and the sauce was good. i've had a lot of sausages from various butchers before (still have yet to go snag and stand), but this one is one of the best!

coffee was 3.50 and was decent (i had a chai for 3.50 at uni earlier, and it hardly had any spices and the cinnamon was just spooned on top of the milk-disappointed). btw, hot water here cost $1.50 (also at uni in that cafe i went to, hot water was 1.00. ridiculous).

walked past the Masterchef pop-up restaurant. literally pop up as it was a tent/marquee. probs heaps fancy inside. kinda like our exam centres, where it's actually nice inside. the place around the site smelt of fertiliser/sewage, i walked past at around 4-ish, and today is the opening night, so no idea how they would get rid of the smell on time. their bar wasn't opened yet, so couldn't see what the bar menu was ): no time to trek to the rocks again.

walked to darling harbour since free shuttle bus ended at 3.30. i guess that makes sense since if i was a paying customer, i would be so angry at those free shuttle buses causing even more congestion during school zone/peak hour. anyways, we were super full, so a good half hour walk was pretty good.

San Churros

person was nice and said she didn't have to check ID. she didn't even look at my voucher properly. i made two emails, so got two vouchers, so i could have gone the day before/after my bday.

churros for two: 6 churros w/ dark and milk chocolate dipping sauce-$15

dark was soo much better than milk. looking at other tables, most people finished more of their dark than milk. the dark choc had a more intense/not as sweet flavour, and a richer smell.

was looking forward to this since i've never had them before. tbh, they weren't that great. the centre of the churro was still a bit doughy, yet at the same time, the whole churro itself didn't have enough dough and was skinny. it didn't have the lightness of what a churro should be. maybe it's because it was free so they didn't cook it properly...MOVIE WORLD CHURROS ARE THE BEST! no jokes.

Baskin Robbins

 now this was a "waste of stomach space". you see. by now i'm quite full and full of sugar, but i signed up to the club. i've never seen a non-asian run baskin robbins before (if you do, please tell me). that asian lady didn't even care about customers. what if we were paying customers? would you still continue to look at your phone and ignore people who want to be served? sooooo stingy these people, even more than towers. when i tried the red velvet, the man only gave me a tiny bit ie a speck of rice. how do i frikken taste it? all i tasted was plastic. then i showed my voucher and id to the woman. she fully stared at the voucher and my licence, sructinising every single detail up close. literally. she put the paper close to her eyes, then scratched her head (which is super unhygenic, esp when you're serving food WITHOUT gloves). i felt like she memorised everything on my licence. after about a full 5min, she says "you can only choose the flavours was the spoon" ie the crap flavours. i didn't want anything chocolate/caramel after the churros. 

Candy Stripes.

i got candy stripes which was orange and white choc mousse. sooo flavourless. it was served in the smallest, cheapest soft serve cone, even maccas cones are better. the scoop of ice cream was the smallest scoop of ice cream ever! seriously, not worth your time going to the Harbourside one. such stingy people. and they were the only people who didn't say "Happy birthday". every other place said it at least once. their attitude is horrible. never ever going to this one again. no idea what this is worth, i think it's worthless because even for kids cones, they don't serve ice cream in it, only soft serve ice cream. i didn't bother to argue with them to get a waffle cone, after the first contact i made with them for the tasting, i just wanted to leave baskin robbins.

Boost

my all time favourite place to go! i love boost. just join their vibe club. boost has really good members discounts time to time, and you really do feel good after drinking it!

Skinny Dip-$6.40 (or 6.90, there was only a sign of this flavour, but no actual price). it had apple juice, strawberry sorbet, yogurt, raspberry, banana, and probably heaps of other stuff.

the guy was so nice, he's like "don't worry, you'll definitely get an original". the one in harbourside opened recently, and so far, they're the only store to still other 3 sizes, other places only have medium and original. he was also very generous with the sorbet, i counted 4 scoops. normally i think it's 2/3. so refreshing and a ncie way to finish all that food. (i actually didn't finish the boost, splitted it with my mum). not enough time to see if i could get a free boost at other stores, but i don't think i can since their card is electronic.

Nando's

never have a bought Nando's full price. what's good about this is that you can get a member club without purchasing anything (unlike sumo salad). got takeaway since it was getting late/i needed to go dance. they let you have a "birthday meal"-how generous of them! you can choose any regular item, any side and and drink. too much choice!

lemon and herb half chicken, peri peri chips and tropical juice-$17.45

i think this chicken wasn't as freshly grilled compared to my last experience. they probably half cooked it, then grilled it more to make it warm when someone ordered it, since we only waited 5min, and last time at towers it was a 10-15min wait (according to my mum). i guess it makes sense since you need to serve heaps of people quickly in the city. chicken was quite burnt on the other side. the peri peri chips actually weren't spicy (maybe they didn't put enough spice in it).

Subway

got this the day before since i knew i would be too full today.

6-inch steak and cheese sub ($7.20) and coke (no idea how much bottled coke costs these days).

the unsw doens't participate in these deals/offers, so i had to walk outside. this wasn't toasted/warm enough and i think this 6-inch was more like 5 inch. oh wells, free lunch, can't complain. also, my bro came home with a $5 meatball subway w/ drink. it was supposed to be 6-inches, but the guy misheard, and gave him a footlong but he let my bro still pay $5.

birthday cake from zest patisserie-tiramisu.

this was a mousse and sponge cake, with super cute chocolate coffee mousse cups on top. it's not made on site, it's made in the other franchise in rozelle, but they deliver cakes to cherrybrook at around 6am in the morning. i've had over 10 cakes from here, so i've basically tried everything i've wanted. this tiramisu cake was good, except it wasn't as nice as the other cake there. i think the sponge may have been soaked in too much liquer, and i don't think our fridge is cold enough since the mousse isn't firm enough. this was a medium sized cake (didn't need a big one unlike pervious years), and i couldn't fit all 19 candles without all the candle conjoining together, BUT I LOVE MY CANDLES, so we lit 13, then blew them, then lit 6, then blew them. #firstworldproblems.

all in all, over $80 worth of free food. probably will do some place again next year, but other places are a no-go. i had at least 2 other places to go to, but not enough time.

my present of food has been satisfied. didn't have a proper birthday dinner since i was sooo full. what i really want for my birthday is one of those "money can't buy" things. ...

thank you Dandelion for the cake. it was good, and it survived in one piece after i walked around for the whole day!  as always, it's the thought that counts (: