Betty @ The Hungry Girl

How was it?
Food: 7/10
Service: 5/10
Ambience: 7/10
Value: $$

October is a fabulous month for all the foodies out there, with so many events happening as part of the Crave Sydney International Food Festival (SIFF). I’m always overwhelmed by all the events and never manage to plan ahead, but last weekend a last minute meet-up with Mrs. J led us to Hyde Park Barracks Cafe for their ‘Let’s do brunch’ menu.

Homemade Granola with Vanilla Yoghurt and Poached Fruit

For $25, we were given a three course brunch meal! The first course was homemade granola with vanilla yoghurt, and poached peach & strawberries. We both enjoyed the crunchy granola and the fresh fruit. The only problem was we were already beginning to feel full after this!

Eggs Three Ways

The second course was, eggs three ways - a spinach & mushroom omelette with ciabatta; an egg, chorizo and roast tomato tart; and ham & eggs benedict on an english muffin with hollaindaise sauce.

Eggs Benedict

Luckily I’m a huge fan of eggs, so I enjoyed everything on the plate, although it was a bit too much and I only managed to finish about half of it! The ham & eggs benedict was my favourite as the egg was poached just perfectly. This is definitely a meal for the egg-lovers out there!

Raspberry Waffles

The final course was raspberry waffle with white chocolate sauce, vanilla bean gelato and berries. Although we were completely stuffed, when these arrived at our table we gladly dug in! Wonderfully warm and crispy waffles with berries and delicious vanilla bean gelato. A perfect ending to brunch.

Overall:

If you’re looking for a brunch option in the city, this is definitely an option. The only downside was the very slow service; they seemed understaff as they weren’t very attentive. But, I thought that the value was pretty good considering that we got so much food and we left very satisfied and a little bit too full! It’s also in the perfect location, just across from Hyde Park, so you can walk it off or go for a spot of shopping afterwards :)

Hyde Park Barracks Cafe
Cnr Macquarie St & St James Rd,
Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: (02) 9222 1815
Open 7 days
Mon – Fri: 8am – 3pm
Weekends & Public Holidays: 10am – 3pm
http://www.hydeparkbarrackscafe.com.au/
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Hi there!

So, you may or may not know that I recently went on a trip to New York and Boston! I had the most amazing time in both cities, soaking up as much as I could and of course eating as much as I could! I arrived back home last Sunday and I am reliving my time by flicking through my photos! So, I thought I’d share with you some of the highlights from my 10 days in New York!

Starbucks

So, what was the first thing we did when we reached NY? We went to Starbucks, of course. Mostly because we had been deprived of internet for 24 hours and also because we didn’t want to wake up our travelling companions at 6am! Starbucks is everywhere, and they are pretty much the best coffee you will find in NY, which doesn’t say much for the coffee in NY at all!

Gigi’s Cafe – Bagels

First ‘meal’ is NY was a toasted bagel with smoked salmon cream cheese from Gigi’s on the upper west side. Bagels are so quintessentially NY for me, so this was the perfect first taste of NY!

Bagel with cream cheese

I had a bagel for breakfast on most mornings! Yum…

Cafe El Portal – Grilled Corn

Dinner on the first night was at a Mexican restaurant on the lower east side called Cafe El Portal. My fave item was the grilled corn with mayo, cheese and chilli… soo good!

Katz’s Deli – Corned Beef Sandwich

Katz’s deli is renowned for their sandwiches. I had put it down on my ‘must-try’ list and even the cab driver recommended it to us, so my expectations were high! I ordered the 1/2 sandwich + soup combo which was around $13.00. I chose the corned beef sandwich, and the man behind the counter carves off a piece for me to try before making my sandwich (so nice!).

Katz’s Deli – 1/2 Sandwich + soup combo

I chose the matzo ball soup, because I had never tried it, but heard it mentioned a lot (on tv shows!). This came with a plate of pickles, and overall it was absolutely delicious and one of my favourite meals in NY.

Met’s baseball game – hot dog

Hot dogs and beer at a Met’s game in Queens! You buy the plain hotdog then you go to the condiments station where you can pile on anything you want. We kind of went overboard and piled on everything, but it tasted surprisingly good!

SATC Tour/Magnolia Bakery – Chocolate Cupcake

One of the fun things that we did was the Sex and The City Tour. Which is perfect for all fans of the show as they take you around to all the different places that were featured in the show and they show you a clip of the scene before reaching the location to jog your memory. The tour guide was also really bubbly and fun, so I’d definitely recommend you do it, if you are a fan of the show! One of the spots on the tour was Magnolia Bakery. I had wanted to try a magnolia cupcake, so I was rather excited to find out that the tour includes a cupcake from Magnolia Bakery! We only had a choice between chocolate and vanilla (I would have loved to have tried the red velvet!), so I chose the chocolate, which was incredibly moist and sweet.

Pasti’s – Seared organic salmon

After the SATC tour, we decided to have lunch at Pasti’s (this French bistro was also featured in the series). We went in at about 2pm and did not have to wait for a table (lucky us!). I ordered the organic seared salmon which came with asparagus, pickled mushrooms & fennel in a sesame lime dressing. The salmon was seared perfectly and the sesame lime dressing really made the dish!

Ordering Italian take-0ut

For a truly authentic NY experience, we decided to order take-out one night (also because we were extremely lazy to move after a full day of shopping). Not the best meal, but something to fill our stomachs.

Clinton St. Bakery – Banana & Walnut Pancakes

One morning we had breakfast at Clinton St. Bakery. It is quite popular, and we ended up waiting about 20 minutes for a table. We all ordered a variation of egg breakfast options and I knew I had to try the much praised pancakes! We tried the banana and walnut pancakes which were absolutely to-die-for! The pancake batter actually had banana and walnuts in it, which really made the pancakes amazing! So warm, fluffy and soft… yum!

Serendipity – Iced Hot Chocolate

For dessert one night, we headed to Serendipity. We ordered the ’iced hot chocolate’ which was massive! So chocolately and sweet – if I wasn’t sharing with two others, I probably would have made myself sick!

Shake Shake – Burger

One place that almost everyone had told me that I had to try when in NY was Shake Shack! There are a few different outlets around NY, and we went to the one at Madison Square Park. We ended up having to queue for about 30minutes (well, Tigger did – thanks!), and the line seemed neverending. But… totally worth it!! These burgers were delicious, about a million times better than a maccas cheeseburger (and I actually don’t mind them haha). The shakes were also a hit as well as the crinkle cut chips.

Le Parker Meridien – Burgers

More burgers? Hells yeah! There’s nothing better than burgers, fries and coke after a night out at the meat packing district! These burgers were from a little burger place inside the Le Parker Meridien hotel. There’s just a neon burger sign pointing to the little room, no name or anything! The place is tiny with a some booths along each wall and it is packed, but luckily we score a table right at the entrance. The burgers are made to order, so you can choose to have your pattie either rare, medium rare, medium etc etc. I ordered the cheeseburger with the lot which was tomatoes, pickles, lettuce and a variety of sauces. It was the bomb!! Wash it down with some coke and fries = perfect!

Wonton noodle soup in Chinatown

One morning we headed to Chinatown in search of some noodle soup. We stumbled upon a restaurant and I ordered the wonton noodle soup which totally hit the spot.

Momofuku Cereal Milk Soft Serve

After hearing so much about David Chang’s Momofuku empire, I had to try something. And I thought the best and fastest way was to try something at the Momofuku Milk Bar.

Momofuku Crack Pie

I ordered the much hyped about goodies including the cereal milk soft serve, crack pie and pork bun. The cereal milk soft serve actually tasted like cereal and milk! And the crack pie was delicious, although at $5 per piece, you kind of expect a little bit more. However, the pork bun – fat pork belly wedged between a fluffy white bun, was absolutely a winner!

Momofuku Pork Bun

I’d definitely recommend the pork bun at Momofuku. And grab some cookies whilst you’re there, I didn’t manage to, but I hear they are also amazing and much more reasonably priced.

The Soup Man – Lobster Bisque

Any Seinfield fans out there? Whether you’re a fan or not, you should head to The Soup Man (affectionately named the ‘soup nazi’). I tried the lobster bisque, which was thick and hearty and super delicious. My little baggie came with the soup, 1 slice of bread, 1 lindt chocolate ball and 1 banana, my friends went a couple of days before me and they received some different goodies – loved it!

Street Truck – Chicken on rice

One of the best meals I had in NYC, was chicken on rice from a street truck. There’s street trucks on almost every corner in NY selling all kinds of food, this one was on the corner of 6th ave and 53rd st, and had been recommended to me by a couple of people. A huge serving of charcoal chicken on rice, with some salad, pita bread and a creamy white sauce.

Multi-Ethnic Food Tour – Cannoli

One of the fun things that we did was a multi-ethnic food tour. We booked online in advance and had to pay $20 on the day. The tour took us around our hood (we were staying on the Lower East Side), and we were given a taste of the different specialities in the area including, smoked bananas, pickles, tofu, cheese, aged meats and a cannoli in Little Italy to finish off the tour.

Inoteca – Gorgonzola & Fig bruschetta

On our last night in NY, we went to an Italian restaurant called Inoteca. Lots of people and buzz, especially for a Sunday night (I guess, this is the city that never sleeps)! The menu is quite heavy on the Italiano, luckily they provide you with a glossary explaining all the terms, otherwise we would have been completely lost! One of my fave things was the gonganzola & fig bruschetta – simple and delicious.

Other memorable NY eats:
- Giant pizza slices
- Fried Catfish Sandwich at Brooklyn Bowl (camera run out of battery that night!)
- Pretzels from street carts – only memorable because they were all so disappointing :(

Times Square

My fave touristy things during my stay in NY were:
- Top of the rock – observation deck of the Rockefeller center where you see the view of the entire city!
- Cycling around Central Park
- Walking across the brooklyn bridge
- Seeing a broadway show
- Watching a baseball game
- Walking through Times Square
- Shopping :)

Wish I had more time to:
- Visit the New York Public Library (I attempted to go 3 times and they were closed each time!!)
- Check out more museums
- Check out the East village
- Hang in Soho
- See some more broadway shows
- Spend more time in brooklyn
- Eat everywhere!
Thanks for hanging around on this epic blog post! Hope you enjoyed it :)
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How was it?
Food: 7/10
Service: 6.5/10
Ambience: 6.5/10
Value: $

A while back, I received a gift card to spend at Grill’d, courtesy of Charmaine of Liquid Ideas. I was excited by the prospect of trying these so called ‘healthy’ burgers in their trendy Darlinghurst restaurant.

Tuscan Delight $11.50

Grill’d is not your typical fast food joint. Burgers are cooked to order, using fresh ingredients and super lean patties. You can also choose between having a panini bun or a traditional wholemeal bun. I decided to go for the Tuscan Delight chicken burger on the traditional wholemeal bun. The burger consisted of grilled chicken breast, brie cheese, thick cranberry sauce, salad and herbed mayo. I really loved the toasted bun, and the combination actually had me thinking, wow this is really light fora burger. It wasn’t heavy or greasy at all.

‘Hot’ Mama $11.90

We also ordered the Hot Mama beef burger, also on a wholemeal bun. This burger had grilled lean beef,  roasted peppers, dill pickle, tasty cheese, tzatziki, salad and harissa paste. And when they say hot, they really mean hot! The beef pattie was deliciously flavoursome and the combination really worked to produce some fireworks in my mouth!!

Overall:

I really enjoyed the burgers at Grill’d. I was satisfied after my burger and did not feel guilty at all! The service is pretty efficient as well, as they take your order at the counter and you then take a number and wait.  Definitely worth a try if you’re up for a more healthy alternative to your regular burger joint.

Grill’d Burgers
314 Victoria St,
Darlinghurst NSW 2010
Tel: (02) 9331 6562
Open 7 Days
www.grilld.com.au
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****

In other news, I am off to New York this evening! (*YAY*) I have been waiting for this trip for so long, and I can’t believe it’s actually time. And it’s even more surreal because I will be going with 4 of my close girlfriends! It’s going to be so super awesome!! I’ve got a long list of food places I want to try as well as lots of other things to check out in NYC. But please feel free to pass on any suggestions or advice that you have for a first time NYC traveller! Also, things may be quiet on the blog front for the next couple of weeks, but make sure to keep up to date with me on facebook and twitter! xx

How was it?
Food: 7/10
Service: 6.5/10
Ambience: 6.5/10
Value: $$

A while back, El and I went out in search of some Korean food in the city. Walking towards the little Korean Hub around Pitt Street, we saw Milliore Korean in Capitol Square. Being freezing cold, we decided to walk in and give it a try. I always love the complimentary starters at Korean restaurants! We were given four little dishes, which included fried and sliced tofu, cabbage, potatoes and the compulsory kim chi. Great to pick at and a great way to start the meal.

Seafood Pancake

The seafood pancake here was huge! I’m used to the smaller ones at Se Jong, so this was a surprise! I really enjoyed the crispy outside and the generous lashings of mixed seafood and vegetables throughout the egg pancake.

Beef Ribs Soup

I was actually a little bit sick on this particular occasion, so I opted for the beef ribs soup. A light and flavoursome beef broth with tender beef ribs, served with rice, was just what I was after.

Bimbimbap

El had seen something about bimbimbap on Food Safari, and she wanted to try it! So she ordered the original bimibimbap, which comes with an array of vegetables and minced beef on top of rice. The great thing is that it is all cooked in a stone pot, so when you get around the sides and the bottom, there’s the lovely crispy rice!

Overall:

We were pleasantly surprised with our meals at Milliore Korean. It also seems to be pretty popular, as it is always packed. Service is friendly and efficient and the food is delicious and satisfying too.

Milliore Korean
Shop G10, Capitol Square
742 George St,
Haymarket NSW 2000
Tel: (02) 9212 2828
Open 7 Days
MillioRe on Urbanspoon

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How was it?
Food: 8/10
Service: 6.5/10
Ambience: 7/10
Value: $$

Sourdough Bread and Breadsticks

A couple of weeks ago, Little J and I met up for a long overdue lunch date at Cafe Sopra in Waterloo. I had been meaning to come here ever since I started blogging and read so many rave reviews about it! We walked in at about 1pm on a Saturday, and we had to wait about 15 minutes for a table. Whilst waiting, we perused the shelves which were filled with all manner of Italiano goodies. Once seated, we ordered some sourdough bread which came in a bowl along with some crunchy breadsticks. The bread was wonderfully warm, pillowy soft innards with a crunchy outer.

Smoked Trout Fishcake with Caper Mayonnaise & Soft Boiled Eggs $18.00

The menu is scrawled on the blackboard which takes up a large portion of the back wall. With so many good choices, it was such a hard decision and then I saw the specials menu and it just got even harder! But I decided to go with one of the specials which was the smoked trout fishcake. The creamy smoked trout filling was encased in a beautifully crusty shell. The tart caper mayonnaise complemented the fishcake really well and I always love my eggs!

Penne with Green Beans, Chat Potato & Pesto $18.00

Little J decided to go with the penne with green beans, chat potato and pesto. The pasta was such a vibrant green thanks to the aromatic pesto. The pasta was cooked til perfectly al-dente and although the potatoes and pasta may seem like carb-overload, it actually really worked. It was a pretty big serving though, so it’s possible to even share it (and save more room for dessert hehe)!

Creme Brulee $14.00

Creme Brulee $14.00

Little J could not say no to the creme brulee! Below the wonderfully toffee crackle top was a smooth and creamy custard with a distinct vanilla bean flavour. The dessert was also accompanied by some biscotti and was very much enjoyed!

Banoffee Pie $14.00

When I saw ‘banoffee pie’ written on the blackboard, I just knew that I had to try it. I had remembered hearing good things about the banoffee pie at Cafe Sopra, and since my trip to London earlier this year, I’m always on the lookout for a good banoffee pie. And finally, I’ve found one in Sydney! This was beyond amazing!! I was in heaven with every mouthful, it was deliciously addictive with the light cream topping, toffee, dulce de leche and banana on a sweet pastry crust. It all worked together so magically, what’s not to love?!

Overall:

I really enjoyed my meal at Cafe Sopra. It definitely lived up the my expecations! The food is generous, wholesome and hearty. The service is friendly and the prices are reasonable. And the banoffee pie and dessert selection will most likely keep me going back!

Cafe Sopra
7 Danks St,
Waterloo NSW 2017
Tel: (02) 9699 3174
Open 7 Days
Monday – Friday 10am – 3pm
Saturday: 8am – 4pm
Sunday: 10am – 3pm
www.fratellifresh.com.au
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How was it?
Food: 7/10
Service: 6.5/10
Ambience: 6.5/10
Value: $$

Assorted Sashimi $13.80 (12 pieces)

You’re probably thinking… this girl says that she loves her Japanese food, but I haven’t seen any Japanese restaurant on her blog for 2 months, what gives… has she changed?!! I’m sorry! I swear, I haven’t changed! I have still been eating my fair share of Japanese food, it’s just that I’ve found myself frequently a lot of my regular haunts recently. But, when I saw this little Japanese restaurant pop up along Broadway, I knew that I had to try it.

Maki Maki has been open for about 3 months. I can tell that it’s popular with the student population around the area. There is the option to purchase take-away or to dine in the restaurant. You can also see the chefs working at the back of the restaurant, which is always a bit of a novelty for me. The first dish we ordered was the assorted sashimi. The standards – salmon, tuna and kingfish. The salmon was wonderfully melt-in-your-mouth fresh and tasty, however the tuna and kingfish didn’t blow me away as much.

Seaweed Salad $8.80

We really enjoyed the seaweed salad which was two types of cabbage, carrot, seaweed, radish and flying fish roe dressed in a ‘maki salad dressing’. It reminded me a lot of the ‘yee sang’ just by the look and because we had to mix it all ourselves! I liked the sweet dressing and I am a seaweed fiend, so this was perfect for me.

Philadelphia Sushi $7.80 (6 pieces)

The Philadelphia sushi a pretty standard combination of salmon, cream cheese and avocado, but I always love the combination, so I decided to order it. I thought that the sushi rice could have been a little bit softer as I found it a little bit hard, but the gooey cream cheese, avocado and salmon made up for it!

Tony Special $7.80 (4 pieces)

The Tony Special sushi was a cucumber & avocado filled sushi roll, wrapped in baked salmon and topped off with spicy tuna and crab meat. And yes, when they say spicy, they mean spicy! This roll was creamy and gooey thanks to the crab meat and spicy tuna, and the cucumber & avocado were simple and refreshing.

Overall:

A satisfying little joint that won’t break the bank. It’s perfect for a pre/post movie meal, or a post shopping meal. It’s convenient, the food is good and the wide menu selection is sure to please anyone. I’ll most definitely be back for more.

Maki Maki Japanese
169 Broadway,
Ultimo NSW 2007
Tel: (02) 9212 2665
Open 7 Days
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How was it?
Food: 7.5/10
Service: 7.5/10
Ambience: 7/10
Value: $$$$

Alio Hand Made Focaccia and Grissini

About 1 month ago, I had the pleasure of dining at Alio Restaurant in Surry Hills and tasted their special 10 course degustation menu which was to mark their 10 years in business (congratulations Alio!). Unfortunately, the 10 course degustation was only available throughout the month of July, but they do have degustation menus that change with the season, so please check their website.

Marinated Olives

Alio is run by brother and sister team, Ashley and Tracey Hughes. They add a quirky twist to traditional Italian fare. There was a little story beneath the description of each course on the menu, and I will try my best to share that with you!

Organic Reggiano Parmesan and Olive Oil

The first course was the hand made focaccia and grissini with 40 month old organic Reggiano Parmesan and warm marinated olives. From day one they have made their own breads and grissinis; I enjoyed the warm and fluffy foccaccia and the grissini was lovely to nibble on.

Stracciatella

The stracciatella is a Roman chicken broth with cheese ravioli. The signature soup is thick and flavoursome, and since the custom began in early 2000, approximately 20,000 litres of complimentary soup has been served!

Bresaola

The bresaola is air dried beef fillet served with truffled baby green peaches and a roman dressing. The saltiness of the air dried beef was paired wonderfully with the creamy roman dressing. Ashley and Tracey are fond of truffled baby green peaches, and since they arrived on our shores in 2009, they have featured on the Alio menu.

Char grilled eggplant baked with buffalo mozzarella

I really enjoyed the char grilled eggplant which had a lovely smoky flavour and was melt in the mouth smooth. The char grilled eggplant is baked with buffalo mozzarella and dressed with a 25 year old balsamic vinegar! Almost sounds too good to eat :)

Hawkesbury River Calamari with Fresh Chilli and Lemon

The Hawkesbury river calamari was beautifully presented, and so soft without being too chewy. The simple dressing of fresh chilli and lemon added a lovely elegant touch to this dish.

Red Wine, Pancetta and Radicchio Risotto

I must admit that when the risotto dish was placed on our table, we were not all too impressed. But looks can be deceiving and this risotto certainly lived up to it’s reputation. The redish/brownish colour lends itself to the radicchio, which works wonderfully with the risotto. The red wine sauce was lovely and cheesy, although it did get a tad too salty towards the end. All risottos are made to order at Alio, which means much care and love goes into this particular dish!

Barramundi baked in abag with Black Mussels, Thyme and Vermouth on Cavalo Nero

Probably one of my favourite dishes of the evening was the barramundi. This particular barramundi is baked in a bag along with black mussels, thyme and vermouth on cavalo nero. Apparently, this is one of the more popular dishes and one dish were the recipe is requested most frequently! And I can see why! The barramundi is so juicy and meaty and the flavours work so well together.

Lightly Beaten Char Grilled Fillet of Cape Grim Beef with Fresh Baby Peas and Potato al Forno

At this point, I was beginning to reach maximum capacity! Despite how gorgeous the piece of chargrilled fillet of Cape Grim beef was, I simply could not finish it! I thought that the meat was cooked perfectly, the baby peas added a lovely sweet touch and the potato al forno was a nice change from your regular mash. This particular beef has been used in Alio since 2009 and is hormone, chemical and GMO free.

Blood Orange Sorbet

Despite reaching maximum capacity, there’s always still room for dessert, right?! Right. So a blood orange sorbet was offered and was the perfect tang and palate cleanser.

Panna Cotta with Fruit Salad and Mint

The panna cotta at  Alio has a history of it’s own. A staple at the River Cafe, of which both co-owners were a part of, it became uniquely Ashley’s own with roots from his training in London and Italy. I thought that the panna cotta was beautifully presented and just looked like summer on a plate, however it was very sweet, almost too sweet, and too creamy. I prefer mine to be just a little bit lighter, although others managed to lick their plates clean, so it may have just been me!

Overall:

A perfect date restaurant, away from much of the hustle and bustle of Crown St. The food is gorgeously presented and you can definitely see the attention and care that is put into each dish. A real interesting take on your traditional Italian restaurant, and I like that.

Alio Restaurant
5 Baptist St,
Surry Hills NSW 2010
Tel: (02) 8394 9368
Open 6 Days (Mon – Sat) Dinner only
www.alio.com.au
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How was it?
Food: 8/10
Service: 6.5/10
Ambience: 7/10
Value: $$$

Antipasto platter $32.00

After hearing so much about the amazing scones from Cafe Enzo at the Hunter Valley from Karen, I knew that I would have to have them on my next trip there. So after a few wrong turns, we finally made it and I was really hoping that they’d live up to my expectations! So after sitting down I perused the menu and could see no trace of the word scone, so I quickly asked the waitress and she assured me that they did indeed have some scones and they’d save some for me *phew*! So, first of all we started with the antipasto platter which consisted of marinated fetta, caper berries, kalamata olives, sundried tomatoes, gorgeous artichoke and beetroot, housmade tomato chutney and proscuitto with char grilled ciabatta. A delicious way to start our meal.

Baby Spinach, Pumpkin & Avocado Salad $22.50

Tables and chairs on the grass add to a country feel for this particular city girl! As we take in the fresh air and relax, the rest of our food arrives. The baby spinach salad comes with roasted pumpkin, goat’s cheese, avocado, pancetta, shaved parmesan and a sweet honey mustard dressing. I enjoyed the crisp spinach, sweet pumpkin and creamy avocado, although I thought that it was a tad pricey.

Special: Linguine $29.50

Two items from the special menu of the day were ordered. The first dish was the linguine with chorizo, prawns, olives, basil and tomatoes with a lemon butter sauce. I enjoyed the plump pan-fried prawns and the strips of spicy chorizo. The dish was packed full of flavour and the creamy sauce was especially enamoured.

Special: Whole Baby Chicken $34.00

The second item we ordered from the special’s menu was the whole baby chicken with potatoes, tomatoes and olives. The chicken pieces were surprisingly very juicy and succulent. The verjus glaze added a slight sweetness to the roasted chicks and the bed of potatoes were so deliciously creamy.

Scones

And finally it’s time for scones! I made sure that I saved room for these little gems! When they were brought to the table, I knew that they looked good! They looked like what real scones are supposed to look like! They were wonderfully moist and light, not quite cakey but not too dense and toasted just perfectly. Smothered in the beautiful clotted cream and jam, these babies were definitely worth the trek!


Overall:

If you’re thinking of heading to the Hunter Valley, Cafe Enzo should definitely be considered as a pit-stop, if not for the gorgeous surrounds and food, then for the awesome scones! I’m already looking to the next time I’ll be reunited with those scones!

Cafe Enzo
Located at Peppers Creek
Cnr Broke Rd and Elkerts Rd,
Polkolbin NSW 2320
Hunter Valley Vineyards
Tel: (02) 4998 7233
www.enzohuntervalley.com.au
Open 7 Days for breakfast & lunch

Cafe Enzo on Urbanspoon

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Aug 102010
How was it?
Food: 8.5/10
Service: 5/10
Ambience: 5/10
Value: $

Pho Dac Biet

The past week was insanely busy for me as I had my cousin visiting from overseas. As she only had one week here, we were determined to eat as much as possible! You can see some pics of what we ate during our week of feasting over at my facebook page or by clicking here.

I had to take her to Cabramatta to try some of Sydney’s finest and most authentic south east Asian cuisine. I found out that Pho 54 had just recently reopened (thank god!), and so I decided pho was the order of the day (followed by avocado shakes and pandan waffles – I love Cabra!)

We ordered a ‘small’ bowl of pho dac biet each. I am a fan of the combination of slimy tripe, tendons, brisket and big fat meatballs :) If you are not a huge fan of the tendons, tripe etc., there are many other variations available including pho tai which contains only beef fillets. My family and I love Pho 54, as we have been frequented this small eatery for quite a while, so I do have a soft spot for it. The broth is aromatic and flavoursome and the noodles are lovely and thick.

Overall:

Pho is perfect for winter (or any season really!). Pho 54 is always good for a satisfying and cheap meal in Cabramatta. Even though I love Pho 54, I must say my preference is  leaning towards Pho Bac Hai Duong as I prefer the sweeter broth, but both are still winners!

Pho 54
2/54 Park Rd,
Cabramatta NSW 2166
Tel: (02) 9726 1992
Open 7 Days
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*A big hi to Boston’s awesome friend Izabela! I’m looking forward to Pho 88 :)

How was it?
Food: 6.5/10
Service: 6.5/10
Ambience: 6/10
Value: $

A couple of weeks ago, D* took me to a secluded little Italian restaurant, hidden behind the hustle and bustle of Kings Cross. The menu consisted of your traditional pizza, pasta, salad and dessert combinations. Sometimes all you need at the end of a working week is a big bowl of carbs, no?!

Garlic Bread $4.00

The restaurant/cafe is small and narrow with just over a few tables inside and a couple of tables outside. I liked the laid back and friendly service. The garlic bread was warm and fluffy and the perfect way to start our meal.

Cacciatore $10.00

There is a choice of spaghetti, penne, fettuccine, gnocchi or gluten free pasta. I chose the gluten free penne pasta with my cacciatore. The cacciatore is a tomato based sauce with spicy Italian sausage, onion, garlic and herbs. I like my tomato based sauces more than the creamy pastas, so this suited me just fine. The spicy italian sausages gave the dish a nice chilli kick.

Carbonara $12.00

The carbonara was wonderfully creamy with bits of bacon, mushrooms, onion & garlic, finished with egg & parmesan. They were very generous with the bacon and mushrooms, both of which were enjoyed thoroughly.

Chocolate Fondant $12.50

Ok, let’s not lie. The pastas were just one step towards getting us to our chocolate fondant dessert. D* had spoken about how awesome this was, so I was really looking forward to it. It was a small pot of chocolate fondant served with strawberries and vanilla ice cream.

The best part was piercing through the top cakey layer to reveal the gooey chocolate! So good.

Biscotti served with the bill! I thought that was a nice touch :)

Overall:

Dolcetta is a lovely little casual Italian cafe/restaurant. If I lived or worked around there, I could see myself going quite often as it seems reliable and offers some decent Italian fare at very reasonable prices.

Dolcetta Cafe Providore
4/165 Victoria St,
Potts Point NSW 2011
Tel: (02) 93315899
Open 7 Days

Dolcetta on Urbanspoon

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Thank you!

Thank you for stopping by!
I hope you enjoyed your stay and hope to see you again!
Feel free to leave a comment or email me.
And happy eating :)
Betty xx

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