Category: Global Cuisines

All About Food Blog loves trying different cuisines from all around the world. Sometimes food has the same name but completely different look and taste.

First Drop Cafe

Rating:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5/10

Price: $15 – $20

Place: 7.5/10

Review:

This week we are visiting First Drop Café because of my coffee aficionado friend. It is a quite homey corner cafe with such a believable waitress. She convinced us with a story that the New York Style Peanut Butter Shake ($5.50) was the people’s favourite and swayed me away from my original Summer Juice ($5.90)! (Watermelon, Pineapple, and Mint) It wasn’t quite what I expected tho. The shake was quite savoury and it could use a bit more sweet in it.

Since it was not quite afternoon yet, we decided to order from its breakfast menu. They have quite a few choices with mouth-watering descriptions. Check out their Harvest Benedict ($15.90): Sauteed spinach and grilled asparagus on a bed of thyme infused oven baked field mushrooms… fancy! On this occasion, they did forget to put the asparagus on the plate, but it was quickly rectified.

They also have Schwarzenegger Omelette ($16.90), but you must be prepared to quote Arnie if you order this: ‘I’ll be back!’ It is a meal truly for Arnie: High protein egg white omelette with atlantic salmon, asparagus and capers.

I was tempted to order Homemade Beans ($17.90) because it had the in bracket ‘Our Signature Dish’. However, I didn’t really fancy beans and my friend actually ordered it. It was actually quite a nice combo of beans, chorizo and poached egg, with extra sour dough for the kill! Taste wise? It didn’t disappoint but still not my cup of tea.

I ordered Rustic Chorizo Breakfast ($15.90) that I thought had the best description on the menu: Scrambled eggs with free range chorizo, sprinkled with paprika, sitting on a bed of fresh spinach, topped with an onion jam, served with Sonoma sourdough. I’m not quite sure how free range chorizo would look like, but that’s another matter J they had a generous serving of chorizo and onion jam which I think is going to be my new favourite breakfast dish!

The final verdict for First Drop Cafe

I was very happy with the food and service at First Drop Cafe. If it wasn’t for the shake, I would have given them an 8.

If you want to see their lunch menu, please visit this page.

Details:

69 Baptist Street, East Redfern, 2016

02 9690 1611

First Drop Cafe on Facebook

Oct 24, 2013
Grandma’s Little Bakery

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Grandma’s Little Bakery has moved out of this location.

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Rating:

7.5 / 10 Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $10 – $20

Place: 7.5 / 10

Review:

I’m not quite sure when this restaurant was opened however its facebook page suggested that it was created in 2012 (Confirmed by them: they’ve been in Sydney for a year and a half). Grandma’s Little Bakery is a nice little café in Alexandria with quiet cheerful polka dot table cloths. They have shiny iPads for its menu (although you can’t really order from it). You can also have a buffet bar lunch and even vegetarian buffet bar (if you wish).

Let’s start off with something easy and always delightful: scones. The mistake we made was thinking that it was light! Quite the opposite, the scone was actually filling. The home-made butter and jam added the smooth and sweet dimensions.

We also had Celery and Lamb with grandma’s turmeric rice. The lamb and celery stew had a well-balanced flavour and went really well with the rice. Beef and mushrooms Vol-au-vent was also good (and best priced at $10) with over-flowing fillings! Even for a big guy like me, the dish was enough for lunch.

If you think you can handle a big breakfast or lunch, maybe you can try their Shakshuka Bolognaise. According to Wikipedia, shakshuka was originated from Tunisia. It’s quite an interesting dish (and large!) as it was served in a pan! Two eggs poached in bolognaise sauce would be enough to entice meat-lovers to enjoy this dish. There were also a side of organic bread slices if you must eat your carbs.

The unexpected came in last: Malabi. ’Delicious rose cream dressed with fragrant rose syrup, pistachio nut and coconut. A must try!’ – That was the menu description and we did try! It was a very rich and sweet dessert. I love the way the coconut and pistachio balanced its richness. Enter the pistachio biscotti and you got yourself a treat!

The final verdict for Grandma’s Little Bakery

You know it is a good restaurant, when at the end of the meal you had a dessert you can remember for a long time. Grandma’s Little Bakery did just that. I still cannot forget about its Malabi!

Did you know?

If you still think the dishes we reviewed were too small, you still can order its buffet bar for under $20 (I think it was $25 for Saturday)! There are quite decent healthy selections.

Details:

42 O’Riordan Street, Alexandria 2015

02 9690 0069

http://www.grandmas.com.au/

Oct 9, 2013
Sinma Laksa House

Rating:

7 / 10 Taste: 7/10

Price: $401 for 8 people

Place: 6/10

Review:

For those of you looking at the price tag on this week’s restaurant, Sinma Laksa House, it might seem very excessive, especially if you know the restaurant inside out. Truth be told, I actually took quite a gamble when I invited my close group of friends to have a dinner here.

The main reason why I wanted to eat in this restaurant was this solitary dish, Singapore Chilli Crab. I am comparing this dish with the original one in Singapore, chilli crab from Jumbo Seafood Restaurant. There were quite a few differences between the two. In Sinma, they use Mud Crab for the dish (at around $86 / kg). Ours was 2.6 kgs of Mud crab and it was gigantic! They also dumbed down the spice. I guess it would make it edible to the local tongue. I was actually very pleased with the crab (until I received the bill ^_^).

The second dish was a dish recommended by the waitress, Fried Chicken (?). It’s a very ordinary looking deep fried chicken dish with prawn crackers. The portion was also quite big tho. In contrast, the third one, Beef and Chicken Satay, was very yummy. They were grilled perfectly with sides of rice cake, pickles and onions.

Our next highlight (and second most expensive dish) is the Steamed Barramundi with Ginger and Shallot. Together with the crab, they contributed to 2/3 of the total bill! However, they were really the top two dishes of the night. The soup base of the fish was fantastic, and the fish itself was succulent.

As you might know, I am not a big fan of the green stuff, but I think these next two were okay. Long Bean Belachan is a staple food in many Asian restaurants in Sydney. There was really nothing wrong with it, but nothing special as well. I quite like the Stir fried garlic asparagus for its crunchy and tasty asparagus.

Last but not least, we ordered a dish that might need an acquired taste: Sambal Prawns and Petai. Petai (known also as stink bean) has a very unusual smell and was a perfect match for the sambal prawns. The only downside for this was the dish was brought out very-very late in the service (when everything else was practically finished).

The final verdict for Sinma Laksa House

Sinma Laksa House has a very nice Singapore Chilli Crab. Is it worth the value? It would if the restaurant and waitresses were nicer. The rest of the dishes were also nice and presentable.

Did you know?

Without the chilli crab, it would only cost us around $20 per person!

Details:

391 Anzac Parade, Kingsford 2032

02 9313 7663

Oct 1, 2013
Agedashi Salmon and Agedashi Tofu Recipe
This week we are writing a Japanese food recipe that was passed on by our friend when they came to our place for a potluck. Agedashi tofu is probably something that is available in every Japanese restaurant in Sydney. So, we are facing a daunting task of giving you an edible Agedashi Salmon and Agedashi Tofu recipe. It is easier to prepare agedashi salmon, so I will write first about it and have a special section in the end on how to cook the tofu.

Happy Cooking!

What’s needed for cooking Agedashi Salmon and Tofu?
1. 300gr boneless Salmon (skin on or not is up to you)
2. Silken tofu
3. Corn flour (or cornstarch) that is enough for coating the salmon and tofu
4. Salt, as preferred, to be mixed with the corn flour
5. Cooking oil (anything that you want) – we like to use sunflower
6. Spring onion, sliced thinly for the garnish
Sauce recipe:

Sauce plays an important part in this agedashi tofu recipe.
1. 1.25 cup of dashi stock. Dashi stock is an ingredient commonly used in Japanese food. Please visit La Fuji Mama blog if you wante to know how to make Dashi.
2. 5 tbsp mirin. Mirin is a Japanese sauce / condiment that has a lower alcohol level and higher sugar content than sake. If you don’t have / don’t want to use mirin, you can substitute it with 5 tbsp rice wine vinegar and 3 tbsp of sugar.
3. 5 tbsp light soy sauce.
4. 1 small onion, thinly sliced.
5. 1 medium-sized carrot, grate coarsely
6. 1 garlic, finely diced
How to cook Agedashi Salmon?
1. Salmon is diced according to our preferred size.
2. Heat up the cooking oil until around 160°C
3. Put enough corn flour (pre-mixed with salt) as the coating for the salmon.
4. Fry it until golden brown.
To make the sauce:
1. Mix all of the sauce ingredients into the saucepan.
2. Cook in high heat until it boils.
3. Add a bit of corn flour (mixed with a bit of water) to thicken the sauce.
Things to be observed when frying Agedashi Tofu:

Cooking the tofu is pretty similar to Agedashi salmon. However, due to its fragile state, there are things to consider when cooking agedashi tofu.
1. Drain the water when you opened the package.
2. Encase the tofu with layers of paper towel. This will absorb the excess moisture in the tofu.
3. You might want to place the tofu on a plate before you sprinkle the corn flour.
Sep 24, 2013
Ola Lola Café

Rating:

7 / 10 Taste: 7/10

Price: $10 for lunch special

Place: 7/10

Review:

This week we go to a relatively new café in Alexandria (there seemed to be loads of them opening in the last year or so!), Ola Lola cafe. Looking at their brand new website, Ola Lola café was opened on the 12^th of May 2013. It’s a very lively café with lots of bright colours.

One of the owners recommended our first dish, Empanadas. The website also stated that Empanadas was Ola Lola’s signature dish. There are four choices to choose from: beef, chicken, tuna or spinach and at $4.50 each (or 3 for $11.50) I think they were quite a bargain. I’d say the chicken and the beef are the better two. They are served with fresh salsa and I recommend you try it with Chipotle sauce on your table!

Our second meal was the meal of the day that they have for a fix price of $10: Albondigas de la Abuela – meatballs in tomato/Chipotle salsa with cheese and chilli. We were quite amazed when the dish arrived as we got FOUR giant meatballs with a side of salad and two slices of bread. They were pretty good and definitely worth the price!

The final verdict for Ola Lola Cafe

Ola Lola Café is a nice every day café if you happened to live or work around the area. The cafe brings fantastic Latin American hospitality in its service.

Did you know?

In some parts of Southeast Asia (especially Indonesia), empanadas is known as pastel. It is crispier than empanadas and has sweeter taste with chicken and potato as its main fillings.

Details:

39/101 Doody St, Alexandria 2015

02 9317 4687

http://olalola.com.au/

Sep 16, 2013
Sate Kelinci Pak Sapri

Rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7/10

Price: $2 – $2.5 per plate

Place: 7/10

Review:

This week, we will take you to a typical Indonesian restaurant with a pretty unusual (for some people) ingredient. Sate Kelinci Pak Sapri is a restaurant specialises in rabbit satay. Great-tasting restaurants in Indonesia have predominantly one champion dish with some other dishes that people rarely ordered.

As expected, the first ten items in their menu are all about satay and all of its variation. However, since it took a while to grill them, the first two that came was ‘Gule Kelinci’ and ‘Paha Kelinci Goreng’. ‘Gule Kelinci’ is a soup-based, curry-like dish that was a bit spicy and quite bone-full. ‘Paha Kelinci Goreng’ (deep fried rabbit’s thigh) on the other hand was quite yummy and perfectly accompanied by the pickles and tomatoes on sweet soy sauce.

Now comes the rabbit satay. The regular ‘Sate Kelinci’ came with the usual peanut and sweet soy sauce, with a side of pickles. Rabbit meat is considered a white meat, so it tasted quite close to chicken, although some claimed to be healthier. The second one was a variation of it, Sate Kelinci Barbeque. So, instead of the peanut sauce, they were soaked with pre-made barbecue sauce. It is definitely quite an interesting combo, but I still like the regular one.

The next two items weren’t on the menu but we know it’s there, because we asked them. The first one was Karedok. Karedok is a kind of vegetable salad with peanut and garlic sauce. It is a dish originated from West Java and you could pretty much find it in any traditional restaurants. The second one is called Otak-otak. It is a grilled fish cake wrapped in banana leaf. They are enjoyed with spicy peanut sauce. Otak-otak is a pretty interesting dish because it’s soft and charry with a rich peanut sauce taste.

The final verdict for Sate Kelinci Pak Sapri

Sate Kelinci Pak Sapri gave us an authentic lesehan experience with a nice and affordable serving of satay. This might not be the restaurant for rabbit lovers, or people allergic to peanuts, because there are plenty of them.

Did you know?

There are quite a few of ‘Sate Kelinci’ restaurants on the way to Lembang. However, we picked Sate Kelinci Pak Sapri restaurant because it has a pretty spacious parking and the restaurant looked pretty presentable. This restaurant is pretty un-miss-able because it is located at a right bend of the road.

You can either enjoy your meal the normal table and chair way, or ‘lesehan’. ‘Lesehan’ is when you enjoy food in a restaurant where you sit on the floor/mat-covered floor, instead of sitting on the chair. I always choose lesehan, because it creates a sense of informality.

Details:

Jalan Raya Lembang, West Java, Indonesia

Aug 26, 2013