Category: Sydney

All About Food Blog is currently based in Sydney, Australia. It is obviously THE place to be if you want to find food from all over the world.

Haji’s Biryani Restaurant

Haji’s Biryani Review:

Haji’s Biryani is located in Lakemba, Sydney. The restaurant is your typical neighbourhood and old-fashioned restaurant with unassuming appearance. Their curry costs between $13 – $16 and a few extra dollars for seafood ones.

There were only the three of us, hence we didn’t order a lot when we first came in. Since then, we’ve ordered their dishes via one of those food delivery service companies.

Biryani – $14.90 – Speciality of the house aromatic nice and tender pieces of marinated meat cooked together with assorted of freshly ground herb and spices

My friend told me this is their specialty and the one he ordered a lot when visiting the restaurant. Biryani is the perfect dish if you don’t share with the table. They give you quite a generous serving of rice and meat with one boiled egg.

For the meat, you have a choice between Lamb, chicken, beef, goat, and vegetables. On this occasion, we tried their chicken biryani.

Goat Curry – $14.90 – Tender goat meat on the bone sautéed and blended in a sauce on onions, garlic & chili with potatoes

It was quite a spicy goat curry.

Naan – $3.00 – $3.50 – Garlic, Peshwari, cheese, butter, plain

They have five different types of naan as written above. On this occasion, we chose garlic and cheese naan. The garlic and cheese taste were not too overwhelming… and that’s good because we want the curry taste to be more prominent.

Raita – $2.50 – yogurt with cucumber

Raita is my best friend in an Indian restaurant! This side dish makes the super-hot dishes more bearable. Considering that a lot of authentic Indian dishes are quite spicy, I am never far away from Raita.

The final verdict for Haji’s Biryani

Hot! That’s what my impression of Haji’s Biryani dishes. Even their ‘mild’ options can still be considered as hot for most people in Sydney. The price was quite reasonable for dishes in Haji’s Biryani.

Did you know?

Lakemba is a suburb generally linked as an Arab/Muslim suburb, due to the many Middle Eastern establishments in the area and the presence of Lakemba Mosque.

Rating for Haji’s Biryani:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $13 – $22 main dish

Place: 6.5 / 10

Details:

158 Haldon Street, Lakemba NSW 2195

+61 2 9750 3993

http://www.hajibiryani.com.au/

Feb 7, 2017
Butcher and the Farmer

Butcher and the Farmer Review:

We went to butcher and the farmer because our little one saw the tram that we could dine in when we first visited Glebe Tramsheds.

The menu is predominantly showcasing different (steak) cuts from different parts of the country.

Steak Tartare with traditional garnishes – $18

It was quite a boring-looking steak tartare. It was pretty decent but definitely not the best out there.

Smoked Beef Short Rib 2 year old grass fed Angus – $37

I love their short rib! I think this is the dish worth coming back for.

Also, it’s worth noting that (just like in other fancy steakhouses), their steak does not come with side dishes and condiments. You have to order them separately.

Grilled Asparagus with lemon and parsley – $8

Grilled asparagus was one of the side dishes we ordered that day. There wasn’t anything worth noting.

Chips – $6

We consider chips to be an integral part of dining experience in great steakhouses. Considering that these restaurants have top-of-the-range cuts, poorly-made chips could ruin the overall dining experience.

I think the chips could carry its own weight.

Spit Roast of the Day 350gr – $25

The spit roast of that day was lamb. It was beautiful. Also, I think it was the best value for your money in the restaurant.

Kids fish and chips – $10

It is probably one of the fanciest fish and chips for kids I’ve ever seen. Instead of battered fish, it was grilled fish.

The final verdict for Buther and the Farmer

Dining in a tram is a big plus for kids (and adults alike!). We are happy that Butcher and the farmer also has nice and reasonably-priced dishes to go with it.

Did you know?

Jumping into their website, I could see a few different menu items for different occasions. They are also open from 8 am – 10 pm 7 days a week. That’s quite a long opening hours!

Rating for Butcher and the Farmer:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $18 – $37 main

Place: 8.0 / 10

Details:

Tramsheds Harold Park, Shop 7

1 Dalgal Way, Forest Lodge NSW 2037

+61 2 8629 8800

http://butcherandthefarmer.com/

Dec 23, 2016
Jasmins Lebanese Restaurant

Jasmins Lebanese Restaurant Review:

This week, we will review a Lebanese restaurant that people talked about (at least in my circles). The restaurant name is Jasmins and it is located in Lakemba.

The restaurant itself is far from the words ‘fancy’ and ‘glamorous’. They are more like ‘down to earth’ kind of restaurant. Apparently, their falafel is quite famous and it is not something that I would normally order. Luckily, they give two falafels in every mixed plate. And I have to agree, they are the best I’ve ever tasted in Sydney.

As with any other Lebanese restaurants in Sydney, you were given complimentary bread, hommus, tabouli, and vegetables at Jasmins. They also gave us a few different sauces: garlic, chili, tomato, and BBQ.

Mixed plate (all shish kebab) – $16.50 – hommus, baba ghannouj, tabouli, falafel + lamb shish kebab (3 skewers)

When you see their mixed plate section in the menu, they were all pretty much the same thing, except for the meat. Basically you get hommus, baba ghanouj, tabouli, 2 falafel and onions.
My wife tried the lamb shish kebab first and warned me that we would be coming back for more. It has become our thing when we tasted something very good. I had no idea that shish kebab could be that good.

Lamb Shawarma (doner kebab) – $12.00 – marinated steaks + spices cooked on rotating skewer

The lamb shawarma was quite salty when eaten on its own. You should create your own kebab with the complimentary bread, vegetables and sauces provided.

Fried Bread – $6 – Fried wedges of Lebanese Bread – great with dips

I agree with the description. The fried bread is nice when enjoyed with dips. If you read my blog all these years, you should know that I like something crunchy in my meal. The fried bread suits perfectly.

Kefta Skewer Pack – $11 – 2x Skewers of Kefta, Hot Chips + juice

For the kids menu, we ordered the kefta (or kofta) skewer pack. It was quite a sizeable meal for the little one.

The final verdict for Jasmins Lebanese Restaurant

The falafel and shish kebab at Jasmins Lebanese Restaurant were on a different level! We thoroughly enjoyed our lunch and would definitely come back for more!

Did you know?

There are quite a lot of Middle Eastern shops and restaurants in Lakemba. They also hosted one of the largest Eid in Australia.

Rating for Jasmins Lebanese Restaurant:

8.0 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $12 – $16.50 main dish

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

30B Haldon St, Lakemba NSW 2195

+61 2 9740 3589

http://www.jasminsrestaurant.com.au/

Dec 18, 2016
Revolver Café

Revolver Café Review:

A few weeks ago, I met with Mike from Race Brunch Repeat in a Christmas party. In our conversation, he mentioned a café called Revolver in Annandale. Mike actually wrote two articles in his blog about Revolver Café… that has to mean something!

I decided to have a brunch at Revolver Café on a Thursday afternoon. The café was located in a quiet corner in Annandale. However, the café itself is definitely not quiet. They have quite an assortment of dishes for brunch and their baked eggs are quite famous. On this occasion, we had to skip the baked eggs for its special.

Lamb Cutlets – Special – Lamb cutlets with Harissa, quinoa, and feta cheese.

This dish was their weekly (?) special. We were sold on the combination of lamb cutlets and harissa. The cutlets were beautiful and the quinoa was very refreshing. To top it off, they served the lamb cutlets with a side of pita bread. It became this monstrous entrée and main dishes!

Trout Rosti – $17.5 – House smoked, Tasmanian ocean trout on a corn rosti with caper crème fraiche, baby spinach and avocado DF

I love ocean trout… I love smoked ocean trout… I love corn rosti (we, Indonesians, know it as bakwan/dadar jagung). This dish was begging to be chosen!

I was pretty happy looking at the gigantic rosti arrived on my table. It was so big that the trout looked like tiny sprinkles. The caper creme fraiche managed to tie the different elements beautifully.

Boost – $4.0 – Echinacea, Siberian ginseng, spearmint, ginger & yuzu citron honey

Sometimes presentation is equally, if not more, important than the actual taste. It gives you an extra dimension of enjoying something, even if it’s as simple as drinking tea. With Revolver’s boost tea, they give you a little hour glass to let you know when the tea is ready to be enjoyed. Oh, last but not least, the boost tea tasted great!

Iced Coffee – $4 small / $6 large

When it’s 37 degrees outside, you will want this iced coffee!

The final verdict for Revolver Café

With everything costs less than $20 at Revolver Cafe, it is obvious that they are one of the best brunch destinations in Sydney! To top it off, their dishes, drinks, and service were great!

Rating for Revolver Café:

8.0 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $10 – $17.50

Place: 8.0 / 10

Details:

291 Annandale Street, Annandale NSW 2038

+61 2 9555 4727

http://revolver.com.au/

Dec 6, 2016
Pancakes on The Rocks Beverly Hills

Pancakes on The Rocks Review:

Almost seven years ago, I wrote my very first article on All About Food Blog. The article was about Pancakes on The Rocks at its original place at The Rocks, Sydney. The restaurant is now more like a chain restaurant with seven restaurants spread across Sydney and Gold Coast. Pancakes on The Rocks Beverly Hills was quite full when we got there and we were there for early dinner.

Calamari – $9.95 – Crumbed and deep fried, served with tartare sauce and a wedge of lemon.

This calamari is quite possibly the worst dish that you can ever order in Pancakes on The Rocks. If you want something to share at the beginning, I suggest having the wedges or nachos.

Mexicana – $15.95 – Spicy Mexican beef sauce, spicy Tomato salsa, special tomato sauce, tasty cheese, guacamole, sour cream and shallots, served on a bed of mixed lettuce….. One of our best sellers!

Crepes is one of their main attractions at the restaurant. Mexicana is my friend’s favourite there. It was pretty refreshing.

Beef Ribs – $35.95 – Tender and juicy marinated and grilled in tangy barbeque sauce. Served with golden potato wedges and mixed lettuce. Add sweet chilli $2.00 Add sour cream $2.00

The price of beef ribs has increased by around $10 from when I started writing food blog. Unfortunately, this increase in price is not followed by increase in portion size nor increase in quality. The only difference was the wedges. Instead of the fluffy wedges, they now had this curly wedges. We were quite unsure about the shape, but it turned out to be better than the fluffy ones.

The Ultimate – $15.95 – Crepes filled with cream cheese and sultanas, served with raspberry coulis and vanilla ice cream.

The ultimate is probably the only reason why I kept coming back to Pancakes on The Rocks. As the name suggested.. it’s THE ULTIMATE!

The final verdict for Pancakes on The Rocks Beverly Hills

I guess 6 years without any meaningful updates to the menu did not really hurt the number of customers visiting Pancakes on The Rocks. However, it was probably my least favourite branch so far.

Did you know?

Beverly Hills in Sydney is vastly different than Beverly Hills in California.

Rating for Pancakes on The Rocks Beverly Hills:

6.5 / 10

Taste: 6.5 / 10

Price: $12 – $36

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

Corner of King Georges and Stoney Creek Roads, Beverly Hills 2209

+61 2 9580 7200

http://www.pancakesontherocks.com.au/

Nov 25, 2016
Japanese Dining Bar by Shinsen

Shinsen Review:

Japanese Dining Bar by Shinsen is a new-ish restaurant (I’m pretty sure they were just opened at the beginning of the year) in Ashfield. Interestingly, they opened up the shop right next to another, and more established, Japanese restaurant in the area.

They have quite an assortment of Japanese dishes in their menu

Teriyaki Salmon dinner box – $12.80 – comes with edamame, salad, deep fried, sushi rolls, inari, Japanese pickles, miso soup and rice

They have a special menu, a variety of bento box for dinner. They charge a flat fee of $12.80. It was a very good value for money considering you got a few tempura pieces, sushi and the main dish.

It is seriously the best value for money for any bento box I’ve ever ordered in Australia.

Crab Don – $11.80 – Crispy soft shell crab with cod roe cream on rice

Soft shell crab is generally served in Japanese restaurant as entrée. I love how they combined the crab with others to make the main dish. The portion was bigger than your normal Japanese dish.

Sukiyaki Nabe – $14.80 – Sliced beef, fresh vegetables, taro noodles, and tofu in sukiyaki sauce with udon

Their sukiyaki nabe was also quite large and could probably share it with a friend. It is a great winter dish or if you want something warm.

Sushi

They have quite a large selection of sushi. A lot of them are fusion-type sushi. The following images are the sushi that we have ordered from our previous visits to Shinsen. They were quite comparable to good sushi restaurants in the city in terms of price and taste.

Aburi Salmon

Volcano

Salmon and Ikura

Dragon Roll

Crunchy Salmon roll

The final verdict for Japanese Dining Bar by Shinsen

Japanese Dining Bar by Shinsen is a great place to have your daily fix of Japanese food.

Did you know?

Ashfield is more famous for the many Chinese restaurants in the area. They are also the place of one of the more famous kebab shops in Sydney.

Rating for Japanese Dining Bar by Shinsen:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $12.80 Bento Box for dinner

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

215 Liverpool Road, Ashfield 2131

+61 2 8021 8051

Nov 17, 2016