Sunday, June 23, 2013

Yebisu Izakaya

"An izakaya (居酒屋) is a type of Japanese drinking establishment which also serves food to accompany the drinks. They are casual places for after-work drinking." (Wikipedia)



Most people probably already heard of this term "Izakaya", you can probably see lots of business men gathering up in such places after work in Japan. It's a good place for quick snacks, drinks and catching up with casual conversations. When "Yebisu" opened up in Regents place in Townhall, I was amazed of how much this corner has become so similar to what's really in Japan. There were huge paper lanterns, quirky graffiti (there was a giant Totoro!), neon light as shop signs etc. All of these attracted many people to surround this place over the weekends and evenings.



There was a long bench right outside with customers sitting there for a few drinks, just like the setting in Japan. The interior was tidy, and full of wooden furniture just like the traditional designs. Although with all these traditional looks, don't forget the high-tech aspect of touch-screen ordering menu, just like Japan, there will always be a mixture of the olds and new. The waiter and waitress are as polite as always, and they will always make sure the plates would be cleared away as soon as they are finished.


Sapphire Blue $6.80 and Tequila sunrise $8.80



Pork & Kimchi (Salt) $4.80

This is probably one of the best skewers we tasted so far, the combination was perfect in terms of taste and texture, and the sauce was incredibly flavoursome. I love how they rolled the Kimchi inside the pork, so that you get this layer of juicy fat pork and then the crunchy bits of Kimchi.




Pork belly (Teriyaki or Salt) $3.00

Both of us love Pork belly! However when this was compared with the Pork & Kimchi skewer, it seemed less appealing. They were still a nice little dish, and one thing I love about Japanese skewers is that they are never too oily.



Chicken meatball with Porched egg (Teriyaki or Salt) $4.80

This was something new to us, and it looked interesting. I couldn't quite figure out the correct way of eating this, but I tried eating the meatballs alone and as well as soaking it in the Porched egg. The meatballs actually didn't taste too much like chicken, but it was very fulfilling. The Porched egg was very cold, and fully slipped down my throat like a kid on a slide at the playground. Funny little dish I must say, and I'm just so obsessed with the bursting moment of Porched egg these days.




Takoyaki

We always seemed to have picked a Takoyaki dish whenever we eat Japanese food, it's becoming like a habit. The Takoyaki was extremely hot (always becareful when biting them!!) but full of octopus, it has always been a nice Entrée dish for us.



Yebisu Omelette rice $14.80

Mmmm...the scent of this dish has always been amazing. We loved how fresh the ingredients were and the perfect mixtures. The egg was a little bit runny, and I must say that is probably the perfect state to go with steamy rice. We quickly finished this whole bowl and it still felt like we needed more...mmmm....



Ice cream with Daifuku $3.80

Daifuku is a mochi (sticky rice cake) which is usually filled with red beans. But in this case, it's filled with ice cream!!!! Before I go into details, I must mention the purple fluffy candy floss on the top. We ate this and then found out there were those exploding lollies hidden inside the candy floss (I forgot what you call them, but I'm sure we all had one when we were kids), this made us laugh instantly and as well as having a bit of nostalgic moment. The combination of ice cream and mochi is a genius idea, and the Daifuku was extra soft and stretchy!



Cream puff ice cream chocolate $3.80

Comparing to the Daifuku, we didn't enjoy this as much. The texture of the puff and the cold ice cream didn't seem to go very well together. It was like eating ice cream with bread or toast, which diminished the taste of the ice cream.


The dining experience was wonderful, and we were impressed by their wide range of beverage selection especially the cocktails. We loved the atmosphere and surroundings, and it can get pretty crowded around dinner time. However, it was a little pricey comparatively, but a few skewers and a drink here would definitely be worth the visit.


Address:
Shop 7-10
501 George Street, Sydney

Phone number:
02 9266 0301

Opening time:
Sun to Thu  noon - 3pm, 5 - 11pm
Fri and Sat  noon - 3pm, 5pm - midnight


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Yebisu Izakaya on Urbanspoon

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Giveaway (Groupon vouchers x 2) - Hole in the Wall Espresso

Thank you for entering the competition everyone! 2 Winners have been selected to be DAVID OSSINGTON (new winner has been selected as previous winner did not provide an email address) and KRISTINA LAM. Congratulations!

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Hi all the wonderful readers out there! Thanks to Groupon, "My Hunger will go on" is going to give away 2 x $5.00 vouchers to spend at Hole in the Wall Espresso (CBD) in which includes a sandwich or wrap and bottle of water.There are 20 choices of fillings to choose from, and you can also create an account and order from their website to avoid the queue (must be collected before 3.45pm).

coupon from Hole in the Wall Espresso Sydney

(Image from http://www.groupon.com.au/deals/sydney/Hole-in-the-Wall-Espresso/717047460)


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What do you have to do?

Just simply comment under this post with your name, email address, which post you liked the most from this blog and why.

2 winners will be announced on Thu 20th July 2013 and vouchers will be send to the emails provided.


For more information regarding to this deal, please check out HERE.


"My Hunger will go on" shall be looking forward to your comments!! Good luck!


*Apologies that this giveaway is only available to Sydney residents
*These vouchers are valid till 21st Aug 2013

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Address:
Foyer 229-231 Macquarie Street
Sydney 2000

Opening time:
Mon to Fri 7am - 4pm


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Hole in the Wall Espresso on Urbanspoon



THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Black Star Pastry


Opposite of Newtown station, there was an open area which leads to Australia Street. If you walk a little bit more, you will find this small but incredibly popular place called the "Black Star Pastry". After winning so many awards and recognitions, it certainly gained a wide range of customers from all around the areas. So on this particular cloudy yet delightful day, Bun and I finally arrived here to hunt down that extraordinary-looking piece of cake...


Pretty much the indoor area was completely full once we arrived there, and the seats outside were also taken. We saw quite a few tourists going in and out with different types of cakes, and we got even more excited while waiting in the long line.



We saw a couple of interesting cakes, and some chocolate flavours almost tempted me to grab them. BUT NO! We were there for a reason...


Lamb Shank + Red Wine Pie $7.80

Before we go on with the cake, Bun started on the pie that made he fell in love at first sight. Yes, it was Lamb Shank, one of his favourite types of meat! I couldn't really tell the filling was actually Lamb Shank, it still tasted a little like beef, but the mixture was totally delicious! The pastry layer was great, with a few extra crunchy bits on the pointy edges.



Strawberry, Rose and Watermelon cake $7.00

Here it is! Our most wanted piece of cake from Black Star Pastry! Indeed like...OH MY GOD! Both me and Bun never really tried cakes with fresh watermelon (we have probably only tried mango, strawberry, kiwifruit etc), and not to mention the addition of flowery scent. The strawberries were huge and fresh, combined with syrupy tastes and naughty textures. The layers of cream and dacquoise created that contrast of nutty and soft sensation in the mouth, along with the boost of watermelon flavours. The overall combination was like a masterpiece, it was one of the most creative cakes we've ever seen. I would strongly recommend this to all the people out there, this unbelievably light-taste cake would be amazing for any type of occasion! (Hint: wedding cake? XD)



Address:
277 Australia Street, Newtown NSW

Phone number:
02 9557 8656

Opening time:
7 days  7am - 5pm


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Black Star Pastry on Urbanspoon