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Two photo collage of Aqua S's soft serve

Served! Aqua S, Regent’s Place Sydney

Review April 22, 2015

How much can there be to soft serve? Heaps, apparently. Aqua S debuted to crazy round-the-block queues with a single, unique flavour: sea salt soft serve, tinted a bright robin’s egg blue.

You might say that it was the flavour that launched a thousand queues.

They have two flavours that change every week, with sea salt as the constant, and whimsical toppings like cotton candy, torched marshmallow and popping candy. Because what’s the point of soft serve if it doesn’t delight the kid in you? They seem to do fruit flavours especially well, with a fantastically juicy watermelon that was well balanced with the sea salt. The Apple Blackcurrant tastes like the large bottles of juice that you can get at the supermarket, and was quite refreshing, if not slightly on the cloying side of sweet.

The service is polite and efficient, and quite no-nonsense, which takes away from the whimsy slightly. And the price gets to me too, because $6.30 for a cone with two toppings somehow seems a tad steep to me when round the corner you can get decent soft serve for around the $2 mark. It’ll be interesting to see how long Aqua S can keep churning out new flavours though, because if they can, they’re in the running to be the Messina of Soft Serves in Sydney.

This was independently paid for.

Aqua S
Regent Place
501 George St
Sydney, NSW 2000
Phone: 0406 970 070
Website: http://aquas.co/

An aerial shot of the vegetarian shiitake mushroom ramen, with pickles and gyozas on the side.

Shiitake Mushroom Ramen Recipe

Food Recipe April 22, 2015 4 Comments

I am an absolute ramen fiend – nothing beats a hot bowl of noodles and soup in the middle of a freezing winter. But most ramen broths are based in bone and meat for that intense flavour, and it does mean that my vegetarian friends often miss out on this awesome meal. But bone does add a depth of flavour that is hard to replace, so I thought to use Lapsang Suchong – a smoky black tea – and konbu – a dried seaweed – to add body to the soup.

The result is this Shiitake Mushroom Ramen that I can share with ALL my friends, and if I swapped out the egg and egg noodles, my vegan friends too!

Week 16: Photo a day challenge

Photography April 21, 2015

It’s that time of the week again, and after what’s been a relatively busy week I don’t know whether I’m proud or ashamed to say that I’ve completed 4 of the 7 days of this week’s Photo A Day Challenge by FatMumSlim. It’s 1 more than last week, but I really thought that I’d be more on top of this!

Either way, these were the prompts that inspired me the most, and got me clicking!

Aerial shot of our order from Yang's Malaysian Food Truck!

Ramly Burger in Sydney! Yang’s Malaysian Food Truck

Food Truck Review April 20, 2015

In Singapore, night markets (pasar malam) are big business. They take on a nomadic, gypsy quality, moving from suburb to suburb, with makeshift tents sprouting up overnight like daisies after a spring shower. Loud music begins blaring, hawkers begin hawking, and pans and grill go on the heat and curls of smoke start beckoning, crooking its wispy fingers and luring you into the bright light.

And with food like that, you’d think that you have died and gone to heaven.

The Ramly Burger debuted in Singapore in a pasar malam to great fanfare, causing queues round the block as we are wont to do. Originating in Malaysia, this burger was created by a man named, well, Ramly, and consists of a beef or chicken patty, covered in egg, lettuce, sauce on sauce on sauce, and is the sloppiest burger you’d ever eat. Even now, with all the knockoffs, most of the Ramly burgers in Malaysia are made with patties sourced from the original Ramly makers.

So when I heard that Yang’s Malaysian Food Truck was serving up Ramly burgers on the menu, I was like a kid with an early Christmas, chomping at the bit to get my hands on it. But of course, a food blogger never just orders one thing off the menu. No, we order the whole damned lot.

Roti with Curried Chicken

Soft Shell Chilli Crab with Mantou

Ramly Slider

Chicken Rice balls

Curry Puffs

The Soft Shell Chilli Crab with Mantou is a fantastic take on the Singapore Chilli Crab, with more fresh chillies used and not quite as sweet as I was expecting. And you know, deep fried milk buns are always a winner with me. The Chicken Rice Balls were quite surprising, since I’ve never had them that way before, but the little morsels grew on me…maybe because I’m a lazy eater and these were convenient mouthfuls. The chicken was a tiny bit on the dry side, but on the whole still a thoroughly enjoyable dish. The Ramly Sliders were great as a slider, but at the risk of sounding like a perv in a red light district, it needs to be dirtier, and greasier. It was almost too clean and sophisticated to really communicate the Ramly experience. The curry puffs had the super flaky pastry spot on – I could feel my arteries clogging, which is always a good sign when you’re eating pastry – but the filling was just a touch…wet. Again, no relation to the red light district.

As a food truck, Yang’s Malaysian Food Truck is off to a great start, serving up quality Asian-inspired food in convenient to-go portions. There’s some maturing that needs to happen, as with any new food business, but I do think that they are a truck to watch. *thumbs up*

This meal was independently paid for.

Yang’s Malaysian Food Truck
79 Edinburgh Rd
Castlecrag, NSW 2068
Phone: 0408 221 213
Website: http://yangsfoodtruck.com

Screen showing manual functions in a camera

How to start photographing in manual

Photography Tech April 20, 2015 4 Comments

So you’ve read all about composition, colour and styling, and it’s now time to use your camera in Manual mode, like the “pros” do. But where to begin? Manual mode leaves all the controls entirely up to you, and all those buttons and options can sometimes get confusing.

Well here’s a quick starter’s guide to using your camera in Manual mode – and perhaps help demystify those strange settings!

Hickory Board with all the smoked items from Parson's Bar and Kitchen

Toss That Shrimp on the Barbie: Parson’s Bar and Kitchen

Review April 17, 2015 1 Comment

Barbecue is the new cronut. And it’s not your average kettle-barbecue-in-the-backyard-with-men-standing-around-it either. This wave of smoked meats has recently swept from America’s deep south all the way to Sydney, and it looks like it’s here to stay. Looks like that shrimp on the barbie is getting some company.

Parson’s Bar and Kitchen is the latest to offer up smokey meaty goodness with Smoke Week: plating up brisket, ribs, wings and sausage in a restaurant that they’ve built themselves.

Owners Joe, Nick and Byron spent years working in the grueling hospitality industry, before deciding that they wanted to build something to call their own. Literally, build it. Located in a vintage house in Potts Point, they’ve installed a bar, a fantastic brick wall, a lovely deck with outdoor seating…all with their own two hands.

Pork Crackling with Bacon Salt

The newest addition to the family is a stove top smoker, which impressively churns out brisket, bacon, ribs and an amazing twice smoked (!) chorizo, where the meat gets smoked, then minced and put into sausage casings, cured, then smoked again.

Bacon, as if it wasnt glorious enough on its own, is also fried, dehydrated and ground into a bacon salt, which is used TO SEASON CRACKLING. As you do. Needless to say, this simple cup of crispy salty bacony goodness caused me to turn into that emoji with hearts for eyes. Because that’s how you fall in love, my friends.

Smoked Brisket Sliders

Plum Glazed Beef Short Ribs

There was also some pretty amazing pork and beef ribs, but, as with most other cases for me, the beef ribs with its sticky sweet glaze came out on top. Tender but with just the right amount of pull, these ribs had me licking my fingers the way the good colonel intended.

Smokey Southern Fried Chicken

Speaking of the colonel, the team at Parson’s have decided to forgo the plain smoked chicken, and tszuj it up a bit by also frying it. Because everyday can be #fryday too. Served with a ranch sauce, these were crazy juicy, and had just the right amount of salty crispy goodness that it nearly had me reaching for a beer.

And I don’t drink.

Potato Salad and Slaw

And to help you along with your five-a-day, a lemon juice-based potato salad, and slaw to cut through the richness. Which, impressively, was a line finely toed by the guys at Parson’s. The trap with a smoker is that sometimes it can be “more is more”, and the resulting meat becomes just a conduit for smoke, but with this order, they have hit the meat with just the right amount of smoke to enhance the other flavours. If you can get a hold of them, the Southern Fried Chicken, Twice Smoked Chorizo and Plum Glazed Beef Ribs were absolute standouts to me.

I can’t wait to see what else they are going to come up with that smoker!

Insatiable Munchies dined as guests of Parson’s Bar and Kitchen.

Parsons
3 Kellett St
Potts Point, NSW 2011
Phone: 02 8540 6320
Website: http://www.parsonsbar.com.au/
Opening Hours: Tues-Sat, 5pm-12mn, Sun-Mon, Closed

Aerial shot of my cook books on a white background.

How To Cook When You Don’t Know What To Eat

Food April 17, 2015 4 Comments

As an obsessed eater, my cooking choices are almost always driven by what I feel like eating. Whether it’s a new favourite from the latest restaurant, or comforting dishes from my childhood, my stomach and tastebuds has never led me down the wrong path when it comes to cooking.

But sometimes I get bored, and my stomach remains rebelliously silent. And when my dinners start looking the same week after week, I get into a food schlump, and all the joy starts getting sapped from my meals.

It’s at these times when it’s so important to have an arsenal of backup food inspiration, to shake off the doldrums of stale repetitive food. This is how I cook, when I don’t know what to eat.
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No more fussing with various removers and soap to keep those brushes squeaky clean! This is a simple and cheap 1 step method to cleaning makeup brushes

Blend it out! Tips and tricks for blending your makeup like a pro

Beauty How To April 16, 2015 1 Comment

In the race to primp, preen and accentuate, the beauty industry have come up with such a variety of colours and pigments that can cover any look and skin type you can think of. But the real trick to applying makeup like a pro doesn’t always lie in what products you use, but also how you apply it.

So from years of trial and error (and there have been some pretty dark times. BURN THOSE PICTURES!) I bring you my top 5 ways to achieve that flawless airbrush blend, without forking out for an airbrush.

BBC (fried chicken) from Belly Bao in Good God, Sydney

Buns of Steel: Belly Bao, Sydney CBD

Review April 15, 2015

I never did entirely understand the almost-fanatic appeal of the Gua Bao – soft, sweet milk buns filled with (traditionally) braised pork belly, mustard greens and sauce – to some. Sure it’s tasty and all, and its possibilities in terms of building the perfect bite in this hand-held snack-to-go are certainly promising, but surely it doesn’t require the fad-level attention that its been getting right?

Clearly, I haven’t tried the baos from Belly Bao.

Located in GoodGod Small Club, where The Dip used to reside, Belly Bao has grown from its humble beginnings as a market stall, into a busy eatery with legions of adoring fans. It was the brainchild of Sylvia, who, while on holidays in New York, came across these delicious morsels. Upon returning to Sydney, she realised that there was a clear gap in the market (and her own access to delicious baos), and decided to risk it all and make her own. With her parents to guide her with their years of restaurant experience, Sylvia started her market stall and hasn’t looked back since.

From top: Tofu Bao, Soft Shell Crab Bao and Short Rib Bao

From top: Roast Pork Belly Bao, Fried Chicken Bao, and Braised Pork Belly Bao

Sweet Potato Fries

BBC (Belly Bao Chicken)

The result? The best milk buns I’ve ever had in Sydney. It’s ridiculous just how fresh, soft, and fluffy they are, and it’s not surprising to hear from Sylvia that they make their own buns, rather than getting it supplied from someone else. And the fillings don’t disappoint either – the classic Braised Pork Belly Bao is my favourite with its thick dark sauce clinging to the tender slice of pork belly. The Short Rib Bao comes a close second, with its Korean inspired flavours of sweet soy and kim chi.

But don’t fill up on buns, because the Sweet Potato Fries, which are liberally salted and covered in a house made aioli and chilli sauce, are SO satisfying. Hot off the fryer, these fries are delicious in their sogginess – sweet potato fries don’t ever seem to crisp up in the same way that regular fries do – and the sauce over the top has to have some sort of hard drug in it, because I’m so SO addicted to the stuff.

The BBC also came highly recommended, and it did not disappoint. Juicy meat, crunchy exterior that shatters into your cleavage, and all that jazz. And anyone who goes through the effort of brining their poultry, is alright in my books.

I’m so relieved when Sylvia divulges that the plan is to make Belly Bao readily available 7 days a week, because I don’t think I can live with such good food being unavailable for half of the week. Now excuse me, while I get my fries on.

Insatiable Munchies dined as guests of Belly Bao.

Belly Bao
GOODGOD Small Club
53-55 Liverpool St
Sydney, NSW 2000
Website: http://bellybao.com/

A plate of Koshari sits on a table set with smaller plates, cutlery, and middle easter inspired napkins

Carb on Carb Love: Koshari Recipe

Food Recipe April 15, 2015 8 Comments

As the months get colder, it somehow feels more acceptable to dig into a huge bowl of carbs. But not just one kind, mind you, no, it has to be layers upon layers of different carbs, with sauce and crispy shallots over the top.

Introducing my Koshari recipe – a carb lover’s winter dream come true or rice, pasta, lentils, chickpeas, a tomato based sauce, crispy shallots, garlic vinegar and hot sauce. And of course, my twist on it with Persian rice, because the Persian in my house wouldn’t have it any other way.

And how can you go wrong with butter and rice?

This was independently paid for.

Aqua S Regent Place 501 George St Sydney, NSW 2000 Phone: 0406 970 070 Website: http://aquas.co/