Author: Ardi

Buddha Raksa Thai

Buddha Raksa Thai Review:

We were having a group dinner one day and a friend chose a restaurant closest to his place. It was a Thai restaurant called Buddha Raksa Thai.

You can see from the menu that they are not your typical cheap and cheerful Thai (the Zomato menu listing needs to be updated). Most of the dishes are above $20.

Makua Yao Num Pik Pao (signature dish) – $31.90 – Crispy eggplant cooked with chilli jam, onion, shallot and cashew nut.

Crispy eggplant is the signature dish of Buddha Raksa Thai. It costs a whopping $31 for a ‘mere vegetables’ dish. However, this dish was worthy of the title ‘signature dish’. It was by far the best dish of the night.

If you are not a big fan of chilli, they can make it not spicy.

Basil Fried Rice Beef – $20.90 – Thai style fried rice with basil, chilli, garlic and egg

The basil fried rice is spicy. We ordered it because one of our friends loves this kind of fried rice.

Free flow rice – $3 per person

I need to talk about this because of how they serve the rice. There were a couple of people who roam around the restaurant bringing two types of rice: brown and white.

Larb Gai – $21.90 – Spicy salad of minced chicken, sprinkled with lemon juice, fish sauce, ground rice, mint, onion, chilli and shallot. Served with garden salad.

Larb gai is a dish that is a ‘must have’every time we go to a Thai restaurant. It is a very refreshing ‘salad’ dish that tasted spicy and sour.

Pad See Ew Chicken – $21.90 – stir-fried flat rice noodle with egg, bok choy and thick soy sauce

Pad see ew is another staple for us. It is one of those Can’t-go-wrong types of dish.

Gai Yang – $25.90 – Grilled marinated chicken fillet with Thai herb. Served with Nam jim kai (sweet chilli sauce).

Gai Yang is the Thai version of BBQ chicken dish. They are usually marinated with Thai herbs that made the chicken yellow-ish and served with Thai dipping sauce.

Duck curry – $26.90 – Boneless roasted duck cooked in a red curry sauce with pineapple and lychee

Duck curry is quite an unusual dish. Furthermore, it was served with pineapple and lychee. The end result is this sweet and sour curry with pre-roasted duck mixed in it.

Thai Milk Tea – $6.90

For $6.90, it is one expensive Thai Milk Tea. So far, I haven’t been able to differentiate between theirs and the other Thai Milk Teas in Sydney.

The final verdict for Buddha Raksa Thai

I love the signature dish from Buddha Raksa Thai. It is probably one of only a few vegetable dishes that I really like.

Do you think I should go?
Buddha Raksa Thai is probably not your average everyday Thai restaurant. You will also need to book if you are coming in on the weekend as it can get very crowded.

Rating for Buddha Raksa Thai:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $35 – $40 per person

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

135 – 137 Liverpool Road, Burwood 2134

+61 2 9747 5608

http://www.buddharaksa.com.au/

Apr 23, 2018
Stonegrill at The Builders

Stonegrill at The Builders Review:

We had a bit of a drive to South Coast during the Easter Holidays and ended up in Wollongong to stay for the night. When searching for one of the better meals in Wollongong, we ended up in a restaurant called Stonegrill. The restaurant is located at the Illawarra Master Builders Club.

Stonegrill is a steakhouse where the steak is cooked on a hot stone in front of you. This way, you can control how cooked you want your steak to be.

Truffle and Parsley Bread – $8 – Homestyle bread topped with truffle and parsley butter

It’s a nice few slices of bread to start off the night with a little side of greens and cheese.

Grainge Rump Steak – $31 – 500gr Grainge Angus Beef originates from the fertile Riverina region of NSW, where specially-selected Black Angus cattle are fed a grain-based diet for an average of 120 days

There are quite a few cuts that are better than rump steak on the menu. However, rump steak has always been a personal favourite of mine. The steak came with one side and a choice of 5 sauces. On this occasion, I chose Diane sauce.

The waitperson told us that if we wanted to cook the steak much quicker, we should slice it into thinner pieces. It was actually a great advice – unless you want your steak blue rare.

If 500 gr is a bit too much for you, they also have the smaller portion.

Mixed Grill – $36 – A juicy selection of rump steak, lamb cutlets, chicken breast, and seasoned Roma tomato

When I posted the image on one of my bloggers’ facebook group, there were many squeamish faces. Especially when they looked at the raw chicken being cooked together in the stonegrill.

We are used to all-you-can-eat-style grill, so I’m not quite sure what’s the fuss is about. For the sauce, we chose the creamy mushroom sauce.

The mixed grill has quite a good value for money if you want different cuts of meat… and a curious slice of tomato.

Smash and Crash – $11 – Vanilla gelato served on a frozen-cold stone with your choice of Maltesers, Marshmallow, chocolate flake, cashew nut or mini M&Ms and finished with warm chocolate ganache or butterscotch sauce. Choose two of these extras for you to smash, crash or fold into the gelato on the stone.

This is a dream of probably every kid in the world. You can mix and match basically everything your parents don’t allow you to eat (excessively). Yet, it’s an excessive serving of everything.

Pineapple and Macadamia Steamed Pudding – $9 – Steamed pudding enriched with caramelised pineapple and macadamia nuts topped with an indulgence of butterscotch sauce and served with coconut gelato

I’m not quite sure why we ordered this after all of those things above. It was a pretty nice steamed pudding with a consistency that resembles more of a cake.

Ingoldby Cabernet Sauvignon – $7 – McLaren Vale, SA

The final verdict for Stonegrill at The Builders

The quality of meat in Stonegrill was very good. The smash and crash desserts also did not last that long on the table.

Do you think I should go?
I’ve had a few stonegrill dinners over the years and so far I have been enjoying it. It goes without saying that if you don’t cook your own steak, then it’s probably not for you.

Rating for Stonegrill at The Builders:

8.0 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $100 for two

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

Illawarra Master Builders Club
61 Church Street, Wollongong 2500

+61 2 4229 6466

https://www.thebuilders.com.au/dining

Apr 17, 2018
Beijing Impression

Beijing Impression Review:

Beijing Impression is a relatively new restaurant in Ashfield. In the last few months, you wouldn’t be able to get a seat at the restaurant without queuing for hours or booking it a month in advance. They built up a reputation on their Peking duck. They put on a bit of show when serving the duck.

Unfortunately, on this occasion, we did not try their Peking duck as there was only our family dining in. There are quite a lot of unusual items on the menu. They are not your typical Chinese dishes found in Chinese restaurants.

Fried Beef and Crispy Mushroom – $16.80

I am quite pleased with the fried beef and crispy mushroom. It was probably the most ‘normal’ dish on the night.

Special Fried Rice in Honeycomb Briquette Look – $12.80

I thought we ordered fried rice. Apparently, it was a black sticky rice dessert with fruits. They also lit the fried rice up like a bonfire.

At first we thought it was a normal blackened fried rice in honeycomb shape… then we realised they put fresh and dried fruits on it… then they did this 🔥🔥🔥 So many surprises at Beijing Impression, Ashfield #dinner #chinese #ashfield #desserts

A post shared by All About Food Blog (@aaf_blog) on Feb 28, 2018 at 12:26am PST

Three Delicacies (Blood, Palm and Gizzard) of Duck in Hot Chilli Oil – $18.80

Skip this if you don’t eat chilli. This dish was very hot with quite a lot of chilli oil, chilli pieces and Szechuan peppercorns. If the heat doesn’t put you off, then the duck’s inner parts might. They have blood jelly, duck feet (palm) and gizzard.

I actually quite enjoyed it despite the heat.

Peking Style Cheese – $5.80

Again we made a mistake ordering this thinking it was a savoury dish. It turned out to be a sweet cheese with jam. It reminded me of Indonesian tapai (fermented cassava) with slight alcoholic flavour.

Creamy Fried Cake – $9.80

This is the actual dessert that came out as a dessert. Unfortunately, the little one loved it so much that we were only given a tiny portion.

Crispy Prawns – $12.80

Considering that we actually ordered three desserts on this occasion (somebody was really happy about that), we had to order an extra main dish. It was a very nice and crispy prawn with a hint of sweet and spicy sauce.

Steamed pork with rice flour – $12.80

It tasted like the sticky rice in lotus leaf but without the lotus leaf and with a lot more meat. As if you are still lacking carbs, they also throw in a few buns for free. You could technically eat just this and be really full.

The final verdict for Beijing Impression

Despite our inabilities to choose the right dishes, we enjoyed our dinner at the restaurant.

Do you think I should go?

If you do not have to experience the queue at this restaurant, the food is actually pretty decent. Obviously, you should be aiming to get their Peking Duck.

Rating for Beijing Impression:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $90 for 3 people (without the Peking Duck)

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

11-13 Hercules St, Ashfield 2131

+61 2 9798 5288

Apr 10, 2018
Nu Bambu

Nu Bambu Review:

I saw a few pictures of food at Nu Bambu in Sydney Food Bloggers facebook group. Considering that the restaurant is quite close to where I live, we decided to give it a go one day.

The restaurant is located in Canterbury and Hurlstone Park RSL. The menu is quite a fusion of all things Asians, from the Thai salad to Indonesian Nasi Goreng. However, I think it is probably one of the pricier RSL food in Sydney. Is the price justified by the taste?

Beef Tartare – $16 – Cape Grim grass-fed, raw Steak with lemongrass, lime leaf, quail yolk, sesame crackers

It is quite an interesting display of beef tartare. I have never seen it served with sesame crackers and fried shallots. I love the extra crunchy dimension to the dish.

Thai Salmon Ceviche – $15 – Raw salmon, fresh coconut, coriander, mint, red nahm jim

The ceviche’s combo is also something you don’t see very often. This Asian version of ceviche came with fresh coconut and spicy Thai dipping sauce.

From these two dishes, we got a sense that it was going to be quite an exciting dinner.

Beef Short Rib – $24 – Twice-coocked with sweet fish sauce, cucumber relish

I won’t tell you anything but this: You must order the beef short rib.

Grilled Champagne Lobsters – $39 – Cooked over coconut charcoal with confit sambal butter

Due to my lack of knowledge of what ‘Champagne Lobster‘ is, I was kinda surprised when it came out as 2 small-ish lobsters. The lobsters were full of flavour. Don’t worry about the sambal butter, I am sure most people would be able to handle the heat.

Whole Crispy Fried Fish – $30 – Green mango, coriander, sweet chilli, tamarind

This dish might look a little bit challenging. It was a whole fish after all. The sweet, spicy and sour taste was in line with a mild Thai green salad. I love whole fish as I could eat pretty much everything but the bones.

Asian Greens – $8

You know they make a good bowl of vegetables when your kids couldn’t stop eating it. That’s exactly what happened with this Asian Greens dish.

Thai Tea Fondant – $15 – Ginger & cacao sorbet

Unfortunately, I made a rookie mistake for this dish: I did not take a picture when the yummy, gooey Thai tea seeped out of the cake. It was also interesting to know that the ginger sorbet worked perfectly with the cake.

Crispy Choux (4) – $14 – served with pandan custard or lychee lemongrass

Again another rookie mistake… no gooey pictures… but this time it’s because I wasn’t fast enough to stop people from devouring them!

Sorbet – $12 – charcoal coconut, mango lychee, yuzu passionfruit, strawberry & raspberry

There were four different choices for the sorbet, but since the majority would want to try mango lychee, we had two scoops of them. The other one was yuzu passionfruit.

Trung Nguyen Cold Drip Coffee – $6 – condensed milk over ice

Considering that Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk was usually super sweet, that giant ice sphere actually dumbed down the sweetness considerably.

The final verdict for Nu Bambu

Nu Bambu might be one of the most expensive RSL restaurants in Sydney. However, the price was justified by the quality of food they served.

Do you think I should go?
Definitely! However, please be prepared that if you expect your usual Asian dishes, you will be disappointed.

Rating for Nu Bambu:

8.5 / 10

Taste: 8.5 / 10

Price: $200 with drinks for four people

Place: 8.0 / 10

Details:

Canterbury Hurlstone Park RSL
20-26 Canterbury Road, Hurlstone Park 2193

+61 2 9559 0088

https://nubambu.com.au/

Apr 4, 2018
Lone Star Rib House – Top Ryde

Lone Star Rib House – Top Ryde Review:

We were walking around in Top Ryde Shopping Centre when I saw a signboard with my biggest weakness written on it: All-you-can-eat. That’s when we decided we should give Lone Star Rib House a try.

Upon arrival, you were given a bucket of free peanuts. Not a bad start, we thought.

Big Spring Beer Battered Onion Ring Tower – $16.95 – Feed the whole dang posse with a Tall Tower of Onion Rings

The onion ring tower was quite massive. They were also super crunchy with very nice sauce.

Unfortunately, it also turned out to be the best dish of the day.

All You Can Eat Ribs & Wings – $29.95

With the all you can eat ribs&wings, you are required to finish everything that they gave you before you move on to the next plate. It’s quite challenging as the ribs also came with wings and chips.

The wings have quite a few different sauces that you can try: BBQ, Sweet Chilli, Satay, Coriander Ginger & Lime, Hot, “Hot Ass” sauce. Despite the sauce, they were super dry. The chips were also chunky and a bit much. I guess it’s much cheaper to serve a bucket of chips than risking people ordering the second plate.

Little Kids’ Beef Ribs – $8.95 – with chips and all you can eat ice cream.

Interestingly, our little one could not eat the beef ribs as it was super dry and hard. It was very different than our ones.

Brownie Blast – $12.50 – Homemade Brownie Fudge Sundae, Crowned with Creamy Vanilla Ice Cream, Hot Chocolate Fudge, Whipped Cream and a Maraschino Cherry

The brownie was pretty decent. However, the rest was just stock standard.

Long Island Ice Tea – $12.95 – Tequila, Rum, Gin, Vodka, Triple Sec, Lemon Juice, Topped with Cola

I reckon this has got to be the cheapest long island ice tea I have ever seen. Either way, you get what you paid for.

The final verdict for Lone Star Rib House – Top Ryde

I guess Lone Star would be worth it if you could finish at least two plates of all-you-can-eat ribs, wings, and chips. However, given it’s a fixed set menu, I think most people would be reluctant to order a second serving.

Do you think I should go?
If you can eat a whole bunch of ribs, wings and chips… then yes. However, quality-wise, there are a lot of better rib houses out there.

Rating for Lone Star Rib House – Top Ryde:

6.0 / 10

Taste: 5.5 / 10

Price: $29.95 all-you-can-eat ribs, wings and chips

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

Top Ryde Shopping Centre
Devlin St & Blaxland Rd, Ryde 2112

+61 2 9808 2939

http://lonestarribhouse.com.au/

Apr 1, 2018
Dapur Ibu Alya

Dapur Ibu Alya Review:

We went to Dapur Ibu Alya the first time on the 30th December 2017, one week after their grand opening. They were so new that they had not even put down the signboard from the previous restaurant. Dapur Ibu Alya is located on the main street of Lakemba, Haldon.

Dapur Ibu Alya is an Indonesian restaurant that serves food primarily from the Western part of Indonesia, specifically from the city of Padang. Their main dishes were mostly spicy, except probably their fried rice and noodles.

3 Choice – $11 – Rice + 2 meat + 1 vegetables

The hot bar deal is one of the main features of the restaurant. Basically, you choose three things from the bain-marie and have a quick lunch or dinner meal. The menu might differ from time to time but generally speaking, you will find a few curry options, some vegetables and some fried stuff.

Iga Bakar Komplit – $12 – Grilled ribs with rice

The grilled ribs are actually not spicy (unless you choose to add the chilli sauce in the small container that comes with it). The portion was actually not too bad, given that it was only $12.

Gulai Limpa – $12 – Spleen Curry

This is why we visited the restaurant in the first place. We have heard through the grapevine that they have a very nice spleen curry. Spleen is a part of the internal organ of a cow, obviously not everyone’s cup of tea. Unfortunately, this curry is usually the first one to sell out. If you come to the restaurant just for this, I would advise you to call first to avoid disappointment.

Sate Padang – $11 – Beef Skewer with rice cake

Sate Padang is quite an intereting satay from the city of Padang. Instead of the usual peanut sauce, they have the very distinct-looking thick yellow sauce.

Mie Ayam Bakso – $11 – Meatball noodle soup with Chicken

Mie ayam bakso is usually a favourite of the little one.

Mie Goreng Ayam – $10 – Chicken Noodles Stir-fry

An alternative, if you like the noodles stir-fried instead of just boiled.

Es Campur – $5 – Mixed Fruit Punch

Es campur is a traditional Indonesian drink that is pretty refreshing. Especially during a hot day.

Es Duren – $6 – Durian juice

I don’t think it needs an introduction. You either love it or hate it. We are from the ‘love durian’ side.

The final verdict for Dapur Ibu Alya

I have been here quite a few times after that first visit. It is a pretty good option for an Indonesian restaurant around the area. However, don’t expect fine dining quality and service in this restaurant.

Do you think I should go?
I think Indonesians would appreciate this restaurant more as the taste was pretty authentic. It could be a bit challenging for the others (unless if you are familiar with Indonesian cuisine).

Rating for Dapur Ibu Alya:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $10 – $15 main dish

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

41 Haldon Street, Lakemba 2195

+61 404 910 060

Dapur Ibu Alya on Facebook

Mar 27, 2018