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JAZZ CITY MILK BAR

11/28/2013

Frieddddddd chicken with waffles!? Whatttt...

Jazz City Milk Bar does American style cuisine.. so think burgers, chips, chicken wings, waffles, pies and the list goes on! Basically Jazz City Milk Bar offers an extensive range of food that really captures what American cuisine is all about! :) Jazz City Milk Bar is tucked in among residential areas in Darlinghurst and is around a 15 - 20 minute walk from Taylor Square, Oxford Street. Jazz City is wedged in between two other restaurants and it is definitely not a big place at all! So I recommend you book a table (booking can be done online or over the phone), even if it is just you and a friend.

Myself and two other friends arrived at Jazz City Milk Bar at around 7:30pm and the place was already full with people queuing up for a seat. Luckily I booked a table for us so we scored a table on the outside/ front part of the restaurant. We were all so hungry and since my friend has been here before she recommend all the good stuff to us! The waiter was very polite and helpful, especially when I couldn't decide what milkshake to get :P We ended up order three dishes to share- Johnny's Fat Boy Burger (Texas style spicy beef chilli, beef patty, crispy bacon, onions, pickle relish, mayo, lettuce, tomato cheese and American mustard), Soft Shell Crab Burger (Seasoned breadcrumbs coated and deep fried soft shell crab served with a New Orleans remoulade sauce, pickled cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce) and Chicken & Waffles (A Belgium waffle, southern fried chicken pieces, spinach, brown butter and a drizzle of maple syrup). We also ordered dessert to share- Apple Pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Mango Milkshake | $8.00

Normally when I order milkshakes I never go for the fruity flavours, I really wanted the peanut butter one but they ran out :( So I ended up ordering the mango milkshake. I wasn't sure if it would taste good or not but I had nothing to worry about once I had my first sip! It was absolutely delicious! It basically tasted like mango ice cream :P The milkshake was not too thick or watery and it had a nice creamy consistency through it. The mango flavour was also not too overpowering and bland. I would definitely recommend this milkshake for all you milkshake lovers out there! :)

Chicken & Waffles | Belgium waffle, southern fried chicken pieces, spinach, brown butter and a drizzle of maple syrup | $24

I heard a lot about this famous chicken and waffles dish before and I just didn't know what to expect, come on.. chicken and waffle- GENIUS! Eating the waffle and chicken by itself is very bland but if you pour maple syrup on it, it is completely a different situation! Well there's no other way to describe it than salt meets sugar. It was a very strange combination, one that gives your taste buds a bit of a shock! I thought it was a very clever and unique combination but a little bit strange in terms of the combination of flavours.

Johnny's Fat Boy Burger | Texas style spicy beef chilli, beef patty, crispy bacon, onions, pickle relish, mayo, lettuce, tomato cheese and American mustard | $19.00

This was one meaty/ hearty burger that was jam packed full of all the sinful, diet ruiner ingredients! The meat patty was really thick and juicy and mixed well with all the other ingredients. However something inside this burger was extremely salty.. so salty I couldn't eat another piece! Even my friends found it really salty.. a bit disappointing to be honest since my friend said it was really good last time she ate it. We also got sweet potato fries on the side, which were seasoned lightly- sweet potato fries never disappoint! :P

I didn't get any good pictures of the soft shell crab burger :( but the burger has seasoned breadcrumbs coated and deep fried soft shell crab served with a New Orleans remoulade sauce, pickled cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce ($17.00). I wasn't a big fan of the soft shell crab burger, the crab was very flaky and it was coated in way too much breadcrumbs that it had a very doughy texture to it.

Apple Pie with extra scoop of vanilla ice cream | $8.00 (+ $3.00 per scoop)

The apple pie slice was very generous and packed full of apples! The slices of apple inside the pie were very large and the pastry kind of just fell apart when you picked it up. The pie was very delicious and it was nice and warm- as if it was straight out of the oven (not sure if it was or not :P). The extra scoop of ice cream was $3.00, which I thought was a bit of rip off but it complimented the warm apple pie very well.

Overall, the meal was very enjoyable and I think Jazz City Milk Bar did a fantastic job at capturing and serving up a good old American meal. The waiters were extremely nice and helpful, however they are very busy and it is hard to get there attention sometimes. I would definitely go back to try there other dishes :)

Happy eating x

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BUNS & BALLS

11/26/2013

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I was lucky to be invited by 'Simons says' and 'The Darlin Group' to check out and dine at a newly opened restaurant/ bar in Kings Cross named 'Buns & Balls'. Interesting name hey? :P but this little gem tucked among apartments and shops along Bayswater Road is packed full of life and potential! This is my first time being invited to a restaurant to experience their food in a different way.

There is a large courtyard and open sheltered area right at the front of the restaurant. We arrived at approximately 7pm and the place was slowly filling with other bloggers and other people enjoying a chilled night out. For the online influencers dinner they set up the front open sheltered area for us, there was the option of the communal stooled chair tables or the couch area. My friend and I (we were allowed a plus one) chose a random couch seat to the left, which had a view of the front of the restaurant. On the table we were given a set menu and throughout the night we were able to sample a majority of the food on that menu. There was burgers, meatballs, salads, dessert and drinks complimentary of Buns & Balls! :)

Now to the food.... :)

Special menu for the night

As you can see Buns & Balls organised a lot of food for us to try that night! I was super excited to start eating :)

Watermelon and lime (without alcohol)

Pineapple, ginger beer and bitters (without alcohol)

Both drinks we got was non- alcoholic, since my friend and I were both driving home after (P platers) :P
I ordered the watermelon and lime- it was very bland and tasteless, however it was very refreshing and it did go very nicely with the food.
The pineapple and ginger beer- this was quite sour and strong in flavour, like the watermelon and lime drink it was very refreshing but these two drinks were not outstanding. I think if it had alcohol in it, it would of given the drink an extra kick.

Crispy tofu with chilli sauce

The crispy tofu was the first dish we tried and I found it very interesting and unique- I highly commend Buns & Balls for being so innovative. The outside layer of the "meatball" was thin and crispy and as you pass the crispy layer, you sink your teeth into a soft and moist batter which contained tofu and I think some diced vegetables. The flavours were very interesting- I've never tasted anything like this. The crispy tofu meatball went really well with the chilli sauce (I'm usually not a fan of chilli sauce but the combination of these two complimented each other in a very light and subtle way). The chilli sauce did give the crispy tofu extra flavouring because the crispy tofu by itself was a bit bland but nonetheless it was a very good entree dish.

Beef & Pork meatballs

The beef and pork meatballs was extremely soft, moist and packed with loads and loads of flavour! The meat was tender and melted in your mouth instantly. I personally like a lot of sauce on my dishes (if it is a saucey dish) :P and this dish definitely had a generous amount of tomato/ bolognese sauce. It tasted a lot like a lasagne minus the pastry layer :P I really enjoyed this dish and I would definitely be happy to demolish a whole plate of this :)

Char- grilled beef burger | Wagyu beef, cheese, grilled onions, tomato, lettuce, mayo & BB's burger sauce

The char- grilled beef burger tasted like a premium/ boss McDonald's Big Mac. I think it might have been the sauce that gave that similar taste to a Big Mac. However, the wagyu beef in the Buns & Balls burger is ten times better than the beef patty you get in a Big Mac :P

I usually have a bad habit of comparing dishes to other dishes from other restaurants I have previously eaten at. I am the biggest fan of Chur Burgers (I have a post on this from a few months ago), so it was given I would compare these two burgers together. To be honest, Buns & Balls burgers are not as good as Chur Burgers but it does have its own unique qualities. The char- grilled beef burger was definitely very filling and hearty.

Above is a picture of a bone that was in my char- grilled beef burger, this was quite disappointing to find. When I chewing I suddenly bit onto something hard, luckily I didn't chip my tooth :P I was contemplating whether to put this on but over the past few weeks the places I have been to either myself or a friend would find a bone in our dishes. This is just a warning to everyone to be careful when eating and also a warning restaurants to be careful with these things.

Char- grilled chicken salad

It was nice to have a salad in between all the meat we were eating! :P The chicken in the salad was extremely moist- a big thumbs up to Buns & Balls for cooking their meat to perfection! Overall this salad was pretty decent except the sauce was extremely tangy/ sour and I just couldn't eat anymore of it. My friend demolished it pretty quickly, so it must be a unique taste only some people will like.

Ice cream cookie sandwich | Left: Macadamia cookie and vanilla ice cream | Right: Chocolate chip cookie and vanilla ice cream

On the special menu under dessert it said "A sweet surprise, just wait and see ;)". I am definitely a sweet tooth, so I had a very high expectation on dessert... did it disappoint? It sure didn't! :P What could be a better combination than cookies and ice cream- in sandwich form!? NOTHING! :P

This was a very quirky and simple dessert which I enjoyed a lot. The cookie gave a nice crunch before the creamy and soft ice cream. It did get quite sweet towards the end, so I was only able to stomach one piece :P

Icing coated doughnut with melted chocolate

The doughnut tasted a lot like a Krispy Kreme doughnut, I'm not sure if it was actually a KK doughnut or not. The combination of melted chocolate and doughnut was heavenly (I'm definitely on the road to diabetes!).

The bar

Interior

Exterior

A big THANK YOU and shout out to Simon from 'Simon Says' and Sian from 'The Darlin Group' for organising this lovely and enjoyable event! Thank you so much for inviting me :D It was definitely a great experience!

Overall, Buns & Balls is a very chilled restaurant/ bar that is perfect to hang out with friends and family. You'll definitely get quality, hearty food which will fill that hungry stomach!

(Sorry about the different qualities of the photos- half was taken using my trusty Canon camera and the other half was taken using my phone) :)

Happy eating x

Disclaimer: This review is only my personal opinion and experience of/at the restaurant, this review is not intended to damage the reputation of the restaurant.)

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BONDI PIZZA (Eastgardens)

11/25/2013

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Westfield Eastgardens is a shopping centre that is located in the suburb of Eastgardens in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It has been around for as long as I can remember and I have fond memories of going there as a young child. Eastgardens is fairly small compared to the Bondi Junction and Pitt St, City Westfield, however recently it has been given a face lift and is now looking fabulous! :P

A new food court has been added to the Westfield Eastgardens and I was curious to see and try what was there after seeing so may advertisements about its grand opening! Restaurants such as Bondi Pizza, San Churro, Ribs & Burgers, Sedap, Kingston & Co and Languan Thai has been the new addition to the Eastgardens eatery family. The new restaurant area looks very classy and is already buzzing with life with it only being open for a short while! The hardest decision was where to eat, as everything seemed so appealing. I did notice however there was a lot of "meat" restaurants like Ribs & Burgers, Bondi Pizza, I do believe Kingston & Co serves a lot of meaty dishes :P But I was definitely not complaining since I love meat! (come on who doesn't!?) :P

My friend and I decided to eat at good old Bondi Pizza. I have been to the Westfield Bondi Junction branch a couple of times and I know that it never disappoints! I think Bondi Pizza had the biggest space out of all the other restaurants, it is located in the corner and as indoor and semi outdoor seating. At first we thought it was empty/ closed but little did we realise that the restaurant was so big that people were tucked in at the back! We ended up sitting in the semi outdoor area- it did get quite windy but it was nice seating area.

Bondi Pizza has a lunch and dinner menu, since it was lunch time we were given a lunch menu. There is a lunch special, which is a pizza + drink for $9.50. It is definitely worth it since the quality of the food is extremely good! We ended up ordering two small pizzas- Grilled chicken pancetta (marinated grilled chicken, pancetta, fresh tomato, rocket and bbq sauce) and Mexican nacho (premium ground beef, beans, fresh diced tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream and sweet chilli sauce- hot chilli sauce is optional). We also ordered the Bondi Pizza classic oven-baked swirls (oven baked Swirls served with vanilla ice cream and warm melted Belgian chocolate).

I think the only downfall was the service, we were created by a very nice waiter but I think she was scolded at for grabbing the wrong menu that (I think) the manager told another girl to take over. The new waiter gave me the impression that it was an effort to serve us, she looked very annoyed. Other than that, the food made up for the not so good service :)

Grilled Chicken Pancetta | Marinated grilled chicken, pancetta, fresh tomato, rocket and bbq sauce | $9.50 (Lunch special price)

The 'Grilled Chicken Pancetta' pizza was a bit plain for me, the chicken was very dry and I felt that the ingredients on top did not give that pizza feel haha! It felt more like eating chicken, rocket and flat bread separately. The rocket and tomatoes were very fresh and I thoroughly enjoyed that freshness it gave the pizza.

Mexican Nacho | Premium ground beef, beans, fresh diced tomatoes, guacamole, sour cream and sweet chilli sauce- hot chilli sauce is optional | $9.50 (Lunch special price)

The 'Mexican Nacho' has got to be one of my favourite pizzas at Bondi Pizza. I tried this last time I went to the Bondi Junction branch and my life has never been the same! haha I'm joking :P For me, I like my pizza to be packed with flavouring and sauce, and the 'Mexican Nacho' pizza definitely has that sauciness to it! The combination of sour cream, guacamole and sweet chilli work so well together with the fresh tomatoes and beef. Ultimately it is nachos gone crazy and put onto a pizza base! :P I highly recommend this particular pizza! It will change your life! :D

Our Classic Oven- Baked Swirls | Home- made oven baked Swirls served warm with vanilla ice cream and warm melted Belgian chocolate. Swirl options include: original, apple, banana and chocolate brownie | $10.95

No meal is every complete without dessert! I've heard about the oven- baked swirls made by Bondi Pizza by a friend a long time ago and she said it was definitely a highlight to her meal. We decided to order the original swirl, which is basically cinnamon and butter. The swirls was doughy and fluffy, it had a very buttery taste to it. I could hardly taste any cinnamon maybe because I dunked the whole swirl into the melted chocolate. The combination of ice cream, melted chocolate and the swirls works well together to create a sweet doughy flavour and sensation in your mouth.

Overall, I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the new Bondi Pizza in Eastgardens. The pizza never disappoints and I look forward to going back there to try their other dishes!

Happy eating x

(Disclaimer: This review is only my personal opinion and experience of/at the restaurant, this review is not intended to damage the reputation of the restaurant.)

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MR. CRACKLES

11/25/2013

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Oink oink oink.... crackle crackle crackle

Mr. Crackles has definitely made a name for itself since its opening. Offering a range of delicious rolls, hot dogs, sides and mix dishes but the greatest thing that Mr. Crackles has to offer is the PORK CRACKLING *drools*. I am the biggest fan of pork- pork sandwiches, burgers, PORK EVERYTHING! :D So I definitely knew that I would enjoy this little eatery. I have passed Mr. Crackles countless times going down Oxford St but I never got around to try it so as my friend and I were looking for dinner I asked her if she liked pork, especially crackling. Her response was a big fat YES :D and then we decided to pay Mr. Crackle a little visit!

On the menu there is range of different rolls (+ other types of food) to choose from- lamb roll, beef roll, chicken katsu roll, pumpkin roll and so on. It didn't take me long to decide what to get (which is a first!), I decided to get the good old crackles classic roll which had crispy pork with Vietnamese salad... so I think it was basically a Vietnamese pork roll with crackling :D My friend got the sweet pork soft roll with cabbage salad. We also got a crackling cup to share.

Crackles Classic roll | Crispy pork w/ Vietnamese salad | $10.00

The 'Classic Crackle Roll' is like the premium version of a Vietnamese pork roll. There is a generous amount of Vietnamese salad and pork with crackling in the roll. The pork was cooked to perfection- soft and juicy with nice crunch from the crackling on top. The combination of salad and pork worked well together as the fattiness and oil from the pork is covered up by the sour and tangy sauce from the salad. The roll was a toasted roll so it was quite crunchy, however it got a bit difficult to eat and you have to take quite small bites (unless you have a big mouth- go for it!) :P

Sweet pork | Soft bun w/ cabbage salad | $11.00

I got to sample a bit of the 'Sweet pork roll' thanks to my friend :) This roll tastes just like a pulled pork roll but instead the pork is marinated in some sort of sweet sauce that gives it a really unique taste. The soft bun that it is served on, is definitely much easier to eat than the toasted roll that I had.

Crackling cup | $5.00

The crackling is always my favourite part when I eat roasted pork but never did I think I could get a whole cup full of crackling pieces! Each piece of crackling was quite large and they all had a glossy yellow shine to them (too good to eat!) The crackling had that hard crunch to it, it had quite a salty aftertaste and after one piece I left the rest for my friends. At first I thought it would be really oily but after eating it all I could taste was salt. A little bit disappointed but nonetheless it was very tasty.

The menu

Overall, I understand the hype surrounding Mr. Crackles and I definitely will be back soon to try their other rolls and dishes. Each serving on the rolls are extremely generous, filling and worth the amount you pay. I highly recommend Mr. Crackles if you wanted something quick on the go or if you're extremely hungry!

I don't recommend this place if you have a large group because they only have side benches on each side of the shop- most people usually do take away.

Don't be deceived by the small/ fast food looking interior because this place is packed full of goodness!!!! Go get some crackling, share a piece or two with a friend and eat the rest yourself :P

Happy eating x

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COWBELL 808

11/14/2013

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HELLO!!! :D

Sorry for the lack of posts, I have been drowning in assignments and exams! I'm almost done and right now I am... procrastinating... :P (definitely one of my talents)

So the other day my friend and I organised to cook together but once she arrived at my place after a morning swim we both lost all motivation to cook. We both wanted to just EAT! It took us awhile to decide where to eat. My friend suggested Cowbell 808 because we were both keen to try the Bacon hotcakes (sad part to come). We arrived on Bourke St around 12:30pm and we were lucky enough to get 2 hour parking spot! Bourke St usually has a lot of parking- and free!

Cowbell 808 was not too busy when we arrived but just before we left it did get quite packed. We were greeted by a very friendly and welcoming waitress.

The menu does not have that much (I think we got the breakfast menu), I was quite disappointed by the lack of variety that this menu had. So the sad part is that THERE WAS NO BACON HOTCAKES!!!!! :( Instead of bacon hotcake it was lemon hotcake (which we ordered). We also ordered a lamb toastie because my friend and I agreed that we need MEAT in our meal.

Note: I'm very sorry for the lack of photos in this post (my friend and I were extremely hungry that we just snapped a few photos and dug in! :P)

Now to the food....

Lemon Ricotta Hotcakes | Mascarpone, lemon ice-cream and espresso syrup

So I heard a lot about the famous Bacon hotcakes so I had a high expectation for the hotcakes but obviously since this a totally different flavour I did not expect too much. The hotcakes were extremely nice and fluffy (how hotcakes should be like!) it went very well the tangy lemon ice cream and espresso syrup. The first few bites were delicious, however after a few more bites the dish got far too sweet and a bit sickening. Luckily my friend and I split this dish or else I wouldn't be able to stomach it all. I enjoyed the crunch that the hotcake had, it sort of tasted a bit like waffles.

Lamb Toastie | lamb, cheese and fried egg on sourdough bread

This toastie was extremely tasty! The lamb, egg, cheese and sourdough bread complimented each other so well. There was a very generous amount of lamb, however parts of it did seem a bit overcooked and my friend's side of the toastie had a big bone in it!! (a bit more careful next time!) Towards the end of the toastie it got extremely salty, as if the salt was not mixed properly through the meat, this was a bit disappointing since it started off so well.

Overall, Cowbell 808 does have a lot of potential- great location, decor, atmosphere and a stomach filling meal. I think other cafes around them may have a bit more of an edge in terms of the quality of the food. It was a decent meal that filled my stomach but I was 100% satisfied with the quality of it, considering the price- standard cafe prices around $14-18ish.

Other than that, there is a very nice atmosphere at Cowbell 808 and the staff there are very hardworking and polite.

Go try it for yourself anddddddd happy eating :)

Also I promise to be posting more once holidays come around! :D

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PARAMOUNT COFFEE PROJECT

11/5/2013

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There's a new kid on the block and it is definitely making a name for itself. It seemed like Paramount Coffee Project (PCP) just emerged from nowhere overnight and now its been the talk of the town. I've seen photos of PCP's number one dish the 'Crab Po Boy' all over instagram and facebook. Itching to try this place I organised a much needed catch up with a good friend who suggested we try out Paramount Coffee Project and without a doubt we made our visit to see what all the hype was about.

PCP is located on Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills (around a 10-15 minute walk from Central Station). I decided to drive there because my friend and I wanted to go to Flour and Stone after (a post will be going up soon!), so it was best to drive. However, parking was an absolute nightmare! We arrived around 10:30am on a Tuesday morning and there was no parking to be found! I think I drove around Surry Hills 10 times! We finally found a parking spot just around the corner from PCP but I warn you the parking is crazy expensive- $7 and hour.. whattttt! But we weren't going to let that small thing ruin our food adventure! :P

Out of all the cafes I have been to I've got to say that PCP has the best interior design, it has a large open space with big windows allowing a lot of natural light in giving the place a very relaxed and chilled atmosphere. We chose a seat on the benches that face where the filter coffee is made, so that was very interesting to watch while we ate :)

The breakfast menu has a lot to choose from, you can choose something light or heavy- we obviously went for a big and heavy breakfast because we were starving! :P We ended up ordering the PCP waffles and of course the famous Crab Po Boy!

Peanut Butter & Jelly milkshake | $8.00

When I saw the peanut butter and jelly milkshake on the menu I knew I had to try it, I have never seen or heard of this type of flavoured milkshake. The milkshake definitely had a very overpowering peanut taste and the jelly made the milkshake very thick and heavy, which was a bit hard to drink at the end. It was a very interesting drink but a bit too rich and heavy for me :P

Crab Po Boy | Soft shell crab, house slaw, ranch dressing, milk bun | $18.00
Add: McClures potato crisps and dill pickles | $3.00

Ahh the famous 'Crab Po Boy'.... where to start now... This dish was definitely overrated, I was quite disappointed. That's always the problem when something is too hyped up because you then have a very high expectation. The dish overall wasn't bad but I felt it was very standard- just soft shell crab with slaw in a bun.. nothing particularly special about it. There is a generous amount of soft shell crab which is a big plus but it was very hard to eat this burger, when I picked it up the filling would fall out, so I ended up cutting into smaller pieces... I basically just deconstructed the whole burger haha! :P

The chips on the side were absolutely terrible! It was extremely salty.. not salt and vinegar salty.. its like putting a whole spoon full of salt in your mouth! I ate one piece and that's it. My friend liked the pickles on the side, she too did not like the chips- so it was just left untouched which was a shame.

PCP Waffle | Fried egg, guacamole, maple bacon, pico de gallo | $17.00

The portion of this dish was absolutely HUGE! There was a very generous amount of each ingredient on the plate and I was very pleased. However this dish did lack flavour, the waffles was very stale and doughy, I would of liked if it was slightly crunchy. I think the only part of this dish that had a lot of flavour was the maple bacon- this was very tasty! The combination of waffle, egg and guacamole was very bland and I felt it was missing that extra kick of flavour. On a note don't eat all the bacon first, like what I did, I reckon if you put the bacon with everything else you'll get that punch of flavour.

Overall, I feel that Paramount Coffee Project is a bit overrated and hyped it. The quality of the food is very good and the portions are generous. The atmosphere of PCP is definitely something that would draw me back there. I am also keen to try there other dishes as they do like quite delicious. The service is extremely commendable- the waitresses were quick, friendly and helpful.

Let me know what you though of the famous 'Crab Po Boy' or what your favourite dish was :)

Happy eating x

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