Bare Witness, Rhodes

Set within the suburb of Rhodes, Bare Witness stands by the tranquil foreshore of Homebush Bay. The area has been redeveloped in recent years and various cafes and eateries have popped up to feed the hungry masses living in the multitudes of high-rises.

Outside of Cafe

Inside Cafe

Bare Witness serves as one such cafe, offering prime waterfront views with its floor-to-ceiling windows.

Cow & The Moon, Enmore

My ice cream adventures in Enmore continued with a visit to the infamous Cow & The Moon, which was named the "best gelato makers" in the world back in 2014:

Outside of Cow & The Moon

When I arrived, there was a long queue leading outside the store, which I swear didn't move at all for the initial 5-10 minutes.

Hakiki Turkish Ice Cream, Enmore

Following my meal at Salmon & Bear, I decided to work off some calories and strolled along the main street in search of dessert. Having never ventured this far into Enmore, I had to rely on trusty old GoogleMaps to navigate my way to Hakiki Turkish Ice Cream, which has been on my to-go wishlist for over a year.

Street Sign

Inside the Dessert Bar

Salmon & Bear, Newtown

Five min walk from Newtown Station lies the second home base for Salmon & Bear in Sydney. I've seen pictures of their poke bowls so I was eager to see what the hype was all about. Their original store is located in Zetlands, which requires too many public transport transfers to reach for my liking, so I decided to visit their store in Newtown instead.

Outside of Restaurant

Their name is a play on the instinctive nature of bears catching wild salmon and is emphasised by their vast displays on the wall, rustic wooden interiors with a cabin feel, and very dark lighting:

Wall Art

Frangos, Petersham

Frangos was another place that Ivanhoe and Lenni also raved about in Petersham, which is conveniently located across the road from Sweet Belem. There was a queue out the door of the fast food place so that must surely be a good sign... until you see see customers throwing away half a tray of hot chips... hmmm...

Front Counter

As you line up in the queue, you get to see stacks of cooked charcoal chicken waiting to be served as well as a view of the large selection of sides.

Salads

Sides

Sweet Belem, Petersham

Ivanhoe and Lenni raved about the Portuguese tarts from Sweet Belem so this bakery was included as a food pit stop in Petersham. Surprisingly, this was up the road from The Tiny Giant so our walk to here came to an end within 2 min.😂

Entrance of Baker

Bakery Sign

The Tiny Giant, Petersham

When Ivanhoe first invited me to a foodie adventure trip to Petersham with Ali and Lenni, I was totally excited because it would be within the vicinity of The Tiny Giant! I've seen many pics from the cafe on Instagram so I suggested that we visit this place during our food crawl through Petersham.

The day started out with a trip to the e-waste disposal place in Marrickville (a very enlightening experience) and took a slight detour to the The Addison Road Community Centre. We were all disappointed to discover that the Marrickville markets were actually open on Sunday, rather than Saturday, so we ended up checking out the various shops within the community centre. During our stroll through the Community Centre, we spotted some live poultry by a small fair-trade cafe, and walked through the community gardens in search of some (invisible) bunnies. Apparently Ivanhoe saw some bunnies on her last visit but we didn't see any... conned again by Ivanhoe within the space of 30min!

Afterwards, we headed to The Tiny Giant in Petersham and were able to score a free parking spot nearby so we didn't have to walk too far to the cafe.

Outside of Cafe

Le Montage, Lilyfield

Ever since I received my 'golden ticket' invite inside a choc block, I've been looking forward to B&J's wedding for some time... cos the wedding had to be running on a chocolate theme, right? As an FYI/fun fact: unbeknownst to the bride and groom, 1st Oct is actually referenced in 'Charlie & the Chocolate Factory' story as the day on which the golden ticket bearers could enter into the chocolate factory - how appropriate for the wedding!

The wedding ceremony and reception was to be held at Le Montage, which I had previously been to for a night-time wedding reception and the location just screamed CLASS (or maybe it was because the other couple had put in a lot of time, effort and clearly ~moolah~ to creating an awesome wedding reception)!

Sign in Driveway

So on this sunny, but seriously windy, day, I actually set up early with T-bone and Ally to check out the nearby Orange Grove markets and used this chance to source breakfast and baked goods before attending to my ushering duties for the wedding ceremony.

Flour Drum, Newtown

A while ago, Aunt-T joined MSG Cafeteria to various food blogger groups, which were mentioned on our blog but I never really asked about.. And it wasn't until I recently logged into the blog email for the first time that I discovered 50+ unread emails - a veritable minefield of spam (of the inedible type) and gold (of the edible type) because within the long list of unread emails were exclusive invites to food tasting events!

One of the recent invites received was from the Food Critics & Bloggers Australia (a.k.a. FCBA) for a tasting event at Flour Drum, Newtown. Having rarely been to Newtown (mainly to visit Black Star Pastry and Brewtown Newtown), I had to research on how to get here.

Located 10 min walk, or 4 min by bus, from Newtown station, Flour Drum sits inconspicuously among boutique shops along the main road but is rather like a hidden gem in the rough - for inside the cafe are some of the friendliest staff I've encountered and serve mouth-watering cakes. The co-owners - Christopher, Victor and Johnny - were easy to chat with and happily engaged in conversations with various customers scattered across the cafe (except maybe Johnny, who as the executive chef of Flour Drum spends a lot of his time in the kitchen - he stayed up till 3-4am making cakes for the weekend!!).

Outside of Cafe

Cafe Birkenhead, Drummoyne

Following an early morning (power) walk along the Bay Run around Iron Cove, Allie, MarK and I decided to bypass the markets in Orange Grove Public, Lilyfield, for a sit-down brunch at Cafe Birkenhead.

Located within the Birkenhead shopping centre, customers get a lovely view of the Parramatta River and Iron Cove Bridge through the tall windows along the external wall, which lets in a vast amount of natural sunlight into the spacious cafe:

Internal View of Cafe

View Towards Kitchen

Left of Field, Rhodes

Left of Field first came to my attention when I encountered an online article about the cafe and awesome pictures of their food. Hence I decided to make a trip to Rhodes to check it out.

Entrance of Cafe

Left of Field is within 10min walk from Rhodes station and is situated right next to where the Homebush Bay Bridge is being constructed (expected to open by the end of May 2016). Hence if you currently sit outside, you will face (and eat) the dust/dirt/debris from all the construction work right outside the cafe. On top of all this, there was major haze affecting the local region today from back-burning across Sydney - not the best environment for asthmatics and allergy sufferers out there.

WatervieW in Bicentennial Park - Take #2

Fast forward four months, I found myself once again at WatervieW in Bicentennial Park for another wedding reception. However, this time the wedding ceremony was held several hundred metres away at the Treillage Tower:

Wedding Ceremony Venue

The weather turned out to be temperamental on the day and was fine up until the bride started walking down the aisle, at which point it started raining and the ceremony had to shifted to under the tower. Soon after the ceremony, the clouds started clearing and the sun shone through, perfect timing for wedding photos.

After the photo session, we all slowly made our way to the reception hall but everyone arrived too early so we had to linger outside for 30 min until the doors were officially opened. Fifteen minutes prior, drinks and canapes were served to guests.

Random Food Quotes on Reception Menu

Starters

Antipasto Platter and Mezza Platter

It wasn't the best idea to place the anti-pasto platter (with sliced/cured meats) in front of vegetarians, and then place the mezza platter (with vegetarian food) on the opposite side of the table - we ended up swapping the platters around to accommodate the vegetarians. However, everything served was fresh and the dips were good. I loved the triangular crisps on the mezza plate - those disappeared real quick on my table.

Entrée

Grilled King Prawn Cutlet on Herb Risotto with Watercress and Lemon Chilli Oil

Sun-dried Tomato, Chicken and Goat's Cheese Tart,
served warm with Rocket Salad

I was served the prawn risotto again - the rice was once again a slightly under-cooked so some of the rice required a bit of chewing. To me, the watercress branch still remains unnecessary but I liked the cheese shard on top. My friend didn't like the goat's cheese tart.

Mains

Atlantic Salmon with Potato, Chilli Jam, Asparagus & Salsa Verde

Roasted Half Spring Chicken with Thyme Jus,
Creamy Potato Mash, Snow Peas and Dutch Carrots

Unknown Cheese-y Main, topped with Rocket,
Cherry Tomatoes and Balsamic Vinegar (V)

Out of the three mains, I believe the salmon was the best. Once again, the serving was rather large and the presentation of the dishes appear to have improved since my last visit. The salmon could have been cooked a little less but that's more of a personal preference. The salse verde initially looked questionable but I liked the combination with the chilli jam. This time the chicken was served with snow peas but alas only one dutch carrot. The vegetarian option for the main was a little questionable (I don't think we ever figured out what it was) - it was like this melted cheese mass, topped with a rocket salad (leftover from entrée?) and cherry tomatoes. Let's say it didn't end up being fully consumed because it was overly oily/cheese-y.

Desserts

Now here comes my favourite part of any meal - dessert!!

Passionfruit Crème Brûlée with Wafer Stick

Raspberry and White Choc Cheesecake

For some reason, I've always missed out on the crème brûlée at prior weddings so I sort of spent the entire lunch secretly hoping that I'd get it this time round and I did! Definitely a highlight and it wasn't bombarded by passionfruit seeds like the one my friend got last time (limited to 2-3 seeds this time). The cheesecake was well presented with a funky toffee shard stuck on top.

This second experience was much better than my first one. Maybe it was because I wasn't part of the bridal party this time (so much less stress), and I could relax and enjoy my time with my fellow attendees. Everything seemed to run smoothly from the guest-side and food came out promptly at the right times. Food quality was consistent with my first visit. With significantly less people (150 guests vs 300+ guests at first reception), there was a lot more space for people to walk around, and the dance floor was clear so everyone had a good view of bridal table and magic show held when dessert was served. Also, a photo booth was set up in a corner for guests to use, which was rather nifty.

WatervieW in Bicentennial Park - Take #1

After a hectic morning in the lead-up to the wedding, I was eager to get to WatervieW in Bicentennial Park and eat something substantial beyond the egg tarts and cream Swiss rolls served prior the wedding at the bride's house.

Starters

Being part of the bridal party, I was allowed into a side-room off the main hall that was stocked with platters and drinks:

Mezza Platter

Antipasto Platter

Given our concern for the potential lack of time to eat during the reception, I happily gorged on the food before our entrances into the main hall. However, upon getting to our seats, I was highly surprised by the sheer volume of starters spread across the bridal tables, which mostly went to waste.

Entrée

Grilled King Prawn Cutlet on Herb Risotto with
Watercress and Lemon Chilli Oil

Tomato & Basil Fettuccine with Roasted Zucchini & Aubergine,
Basil, Feta and Parmesan

The risotto was slightly under-cooked but I guess it's better than being served an overcooked blob. I liked how the herbs were mixed into the risotto and the combination with the chilli oil was good. The fettuccine wasn't spectacular - just a vegetarian pasta - but the serving was rather big for an entrée.

Main

Seared Barramundi Fillet, Crisp Potato, Asparagus and Green Peas,
Lemon and Caper Butter with Chilli Jam on Side

Roasted Half Spring Chicken with Thyme Jus, Creamy Potato Mash,
Snow Peas and Dutch Carrots

The serving of barramundi was rather massive and its presentation could have been improved. I was disappointed to find that the skin wasn't crispy (probably because the fish had been left to cool for too long). I don't remember seeing any snow peas with the spring chicken...

Dessert

Chocolate Fondant with Strawberries and Mint Cream

Passionfruit Crème Brûlée with Wafer Stick

I was served the fondant - it was slightly overcooked but the centre still oozed a little at first before solidifying. My fellow bridesmaid got a crème brûlée that was riddled with passionfruit seeds (perhaps from the end of the batch?) but the top half could be salvaged. It wasn't overly sweet so it was heartily savoured.

There are some amazing wedding photo opportunities at Bicentennial, especially around sunset at the lake. Despite it being mainly overcast during the daytime, the bride and groom were lucky to get some awesome sunset pictures. Just after we left Bicentennial Park, the heavens opened and rained cats and dogs...

Based on this experience, I don't think WatervieW is suited to catering for parties with over 300 people. From behind the scenes, everything was chaotic:

• The blinds to the floor-to-ceiling windows in the hall were initially closed, making the entire hall very dim. However, when they were finally opened, the windows brought in sunlight and gave a wonderful view of the park.
• Table numbering was mixed up so the bride and groom's families weren't seated in front of the bridal table at the front-centre of the hall.
• Hall was overcrowded in order to fit 25 tables.
• Bridal party was meant to be able to select anything from the available menu but we were just served alternate food, as per guests.
• Meals came out behind schedule (e.g. 20+min into the scheduled eating time) and started to cool due to the large volume of food that the kitchen had to churn out.
• They brought out a wishing well for the following reception early and placed it at the front of the hall so guests placed cards inside it throughout the reception. We ended up having to break into the wishing well using a dinner knife (and later a Swiss army knife) in order to retrieve the cards before we were kicked out of the reception hall.

Let's say the bride was not happy over the first two fails.

On the other side of things, the guests thought that everything went well and had a good time - I guess that is most important.

Post for second (reception) experience can be found here.

Urban Bites, Newtown

The shame about visiting Newtown is that one's stomach is never big enough to sample all it has got to offer. The sweltering summer heat further reduced our appetite, so instead of a food adventure, we would have to settle for brunch.

Uncle G and I have been keen to try this place a couple of years in a row now. It's that tempting BOGOF deal in our Entertainment Book which I bookmark every year, but never quite get to.

Smoked Salmon Salad: capers, avocado, meschulin leaves,
garden vegetables w lemon olive oil dressing $19.50

The first thing that strikes you as your food arrives is the serving size. The glasses in the top right give you a good idea of how big the dish is. Definitely feels like America! The salmon was deliciously fresh and generous on my plate.

Roast Pumpkin Salad: tossed with coriander, capsicum,
chilli & balsamic (with extra side of chilli) $18.90 

The Pumpkin Salad matched the salmon salad in size and was well seasoned. The extra chilli dressing provided was wonderfully flavoursome, not overly spicy. The salad were delicious and well dressed.

Big Veggie Brekkie - Grilled haloumi, homemade baked beans,
mushrooms, 2x poached eggs, spinach & hashbrown

 Generosity is a continuous theme at this cafe. There was an abundance of haloumi. Enough for this vege meal to be endorsed by my omnivore friends.

Roast pumpkin salad: as above, w extra prawns

Greek style calamari: lightly floured and seasoned fresh calamari w greek salad $21.90

 Uncle G missed out! What's there not to love about a giant plate of S&P Calamari?

Chicken Souvlaki: w greek salad, tzatziki, pita bread & steak fries $21.90

The chicken souvlaki was by far my favourite dish of the day. Definitely adequate for sharing between two. I recommend ordering a salad and a souvlaki between two people for a balanced & satisfying feed.

Selection of cakes

Now that I've finally been here, the only feeling I'm left with is a sense of regret for not using my previous Entertainment vouchers for this place. Incredible food & incredible value! But what else would you expect from this neighbourhood?

(From left) Cow & Moon Gelato: Black & blue, Malto Bliss, Apple wasabi, Mandorla Affogato $5 for small cup

What do you think about Newtown? And what are some of your favourite spots around this area. Growing up in Usyd, I've always been a fan of Thai La Ong. Six dollar thai lunches, big servings and free delivery for orders over $20 (straight to your uni building - say what!?).

Taste of Shanghai, Ashfield

Only 20 mins from Sydney CBD is our city's own Shanghai. Well, maybe that's not quite true, but this suburb has had a long standing reputation for the destination for a 'Shang' meal. We're pretty tired from shopping, so Uncle G and I decide to grab a quick meal at Taste of Shanghai.

Xiao Long Bao - $9.80 (9 pieces)

Wonton in Red Chilli Oil Sauce - $9.80 (10 pieces)

Szechuan Style Braised Barramundi with Fermented Rice Balls and Chilli or with minced Pork. $24

Spicy Dan Dan Noodle Soup- $9.80

So maybe we were over-ambitious for just 2 people, but it felt like ages since Uncle G and I had eaten out, so we splurged. No harm done as we just got take away for the left over wontons.

The XLB were ok. Probably what I would expect from most 'run of the mill' dumpling joints in China. So for Sydney, its probably commendable. Certainly nothing to complain about yet not quite as good as New Shanghai's (at least in my opinion).

The wontons were again average. They remind me a lot of the '大云吞‘ I get in Shanghai (again, at your run of the mill local shop). Stuffed full of pork and shepherd's purse - these guys are filling but the veges didn't suit Uncle G's appetite. In fact they somewhat disappointed as well. I had such high expectations following the Taiwanese editions I ate recently. Unfortunately these did not nearly match those standards.

The spicy Dan Dan noodle was not quite as I anticipated. I imagined a sheet of red chilli oil, aromatic from numbing chilli & dark soy coloured pork mince. As you can tell from the picture - not quite what I had envisioned. But it sure was spicy!!!! Not for the faint hearted - although Uncle G liked it and mopped it all up.

And finally the fish! I was expecting glutinous rice balls in with the sauce, but didn't see any. It was, heavy, loaded with fermented rice grains. The fish itself appears a little overcooked but the flavours were enjoyable.

What's your favourite chinese eatery in Sydney?