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.

Bluewater Cafe Manly – Breakfast

Bluewater Cafe Manly – Breakfast Review:

This week we are reviewing a restaurant by the Manly beach, Bluewater Cafe. We went to Manly beach quite early in the morning. It was so early that they were still serving the breakfast menu. When I browsed their website for research purpose later, I found out that their breakfast menu was probably the most exciting one. Their dinner menu, on the contrary, only consists of pizza, pasta and burger.

Bluewater is part of a group called, Platinum Restaurant Group. They are specialising in restaurants near the water in Sydney and Queensland.

Ocean Breakfast – $22.9 – Smoked salmon, poached eggs, hash browns and avocado. Topped with tomato salsa and balsamic glaze served with sourdough toast.

Salmon, poached eggs, hash browns and avocados are all my favourite dishes. So, picking this one was a no-brainer. They sprayed the balsamic glaze quite liberally, but I think we could use a bit more of the salsa. Other than that, it was quite a solid dish.

Buttermilk Pancakes – $17.9 – Homemade pancakes with seasonal fresh fruit, mascarpone cheese & maple syrup. Topped with roasted almonds and mixed berries

After I took pictures of the pancakes, I realised that the maple syrup was nowhere to be seen. Unfortunately, when the waitstaff gave us the syrup, the pancakes were no longer pretty. It was quite an interesting mixture of light and fresh fruits with the heavy mascarpone and berry jam.

Latte – $3.5 – Coffee

The final verdict for Bluewater Cafe Manly

Bluewater Cafe in Manly delivered us quite a solid breakfast. Obviously looking at the beach while eating your brekkie and drinking your morning coffe is always a plus.

Do you think I should go?
There are quite a few different cafes on the main strip of Manly beach. While I haven’t tasted quite a lot of them, I suspect they would have quite a similar quality.

Rating for Bluewater Cafe Manly:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 7.0 / 10

Price: $15 – $24 per dish for breakfast

Place: 7.0 / 10

Details:

28 South Steyne, Manly 2095

+61 2 9976 2051

Bluewater Cafe Manly

Sep 14, 2018
Maenam Lao and Thai

Maenam Lao and Thai Review:

When we talk about Strathfield, people would associate this suburb in Sydney with the dozens of Korean restaurants in the area. However, I will talk about the only Lao and one of only 3 Thai restaurants on this week’s review, Maenam Lao and Thai.

Lao and Thai cuisines are quite alike. According to wiki, som tam, sticky rice and larb dishes that you can find in most Thai restaurants in Sydney are actually a part of Lao cuisine.

Maenam has quite a diverse range of dishes and luckily we went there with quite a lot of people. So we could order quite a few of them.

The dishes at Maenam

Massaman Beef Puffs (4 pcs) – $8.90 – Massaman beef curry encased in puff pastry served with sweet chilli dipping sauce.

It is quite interesting to have massaman beef in a puff pastry. I love how they did it.

Raw Beef Salad (Larb Dip) – $13.90 – A Lao specialty of chopped raw beef, Asian herbs, tossed in an anchovy lime dressing and grounded roasted rice.

Larb is usually presented with cooked minced beef. This raw beef version was akin to the Japanese/Korean Yukke dish minus the egg yolk. I think this is my favourite dish of the day.

Seafood Crispy Noodles – $17.90 – Crispy egg noodles immersed in a thick gravy sauce with seasonal vegetables.

Crispy noodles dish is one of the first things that the little one will look for (obviously after ice cream). Kids always love the crispy nature of the noodles and the dish usually comes with lots of vegetables and your choice of meat.

Salt and Pepper Soft Shell Crab – $16.90 – Deep fried battered soft shell crab seasoned with salt, pepper and shallots. Add $3 for mango or apple salad (seasonal)

I don’t know why they don’t just combine the soft shell crab with the salad instead of having it as an optional extra. The salad really accentuates the soft shell crab, something that people will miss if they didn’t order the salad.

Crispy Pork Belly – $16.90 – Crispy pork belly in chilli basil sauce topped with crispy Thai basil leaves.

The bite-sized portion of the pork belly looked to be a hit amongst us.

Massaman Curry Beef – $15.90 – Mild and aromatic curry of slow-cooked beef served with potatoes, onion and carrots topped with fried shallots and roasted cashew nuts.

We can’t have enough off massaman beef, so we order the full version instead of just the puff.

Desserts at Maenam

Durian sticky rice – $10.90 – Served with coconut sauce

Durian sticky rice is available in this restaurant. I know some of you will either love or hate durian… so let’s just leave it at that.

Roti by Maenam – $10.90 – Served with a choice of pandan, chocolate or condensed milk sauce and served with a side of vanilla ice cream

I was defeated in the voting between chocolate or pandan sauce. However, the chocolate sauce was also quite a good combination with the roti and vanilla ice cream.

Maenam 3 – $10.90 – A taste of Thailand with 3 scoops of coconut, salted palm sugar and lychee ice cream. Garnished with seasonal fruits.

Three massive scoops of ice creams. I don’t think we should explain it more…

The final verdict for Maenam Lao and Thai

Despite being one of only a few Thai restaurants in the area, Maenam does not disappoint. They have an above average quality of food.

Do you think I should go?
There is another good Thai restaurant nearby, but they are a lot more expensive than Maenam.

Rating for Maenam Lao and Thai:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $15 – $20 per dish

Place: 8.5 / 10

Details:

31 The Boulevarde, Strathfield 2135

+61 2 9746 5882

http://maenamlaothai.com.au/

Sep 3, 2018
Kokoroya Japanese Sushi Dining

Kokoroya Japanese Sushi Dining Review:

I have been to Kokoroya a few times since my days living in Maroubra. However, I only got to write about it based on my recent visit to this Japanese restaurant.

Just like any high-end Japanese restaurants, Kokoroya utilises a touch screen menu where you can just click and order. You can also check how much you have spent so far. So far, I have always enjoyed restaurants that adopted this kind of menu system.

Crispy Zucchini – $9.8

Fried zucchini was the perfect start to our dinner.

Aburi Salmon Sushi 5pc – $16 and Tobiko Ship – $6.5

Being a ‘sushi dining’, obviously, one of your main orders were its sushi dishes. Their sushi was slightly bigger than the average sushi served in restaurants. They were also well-presented.

Large Sashimi Mix – $36

I always consider having a scampi in the sashimi platter to be a plus. Kokoroya gave two scampi and a handful of scallops for their sashimi platter!

Fisherman Hot Pot – $17.8 – Udon noodles with assorted seafood

Fisherman hot pot in Kokoroya is probably one of the most elaborate udon dishes in Sydney. They put a lot of seafood into the big bowl of udon.

Crispy Chicken Namban – $20.5 – Sauteed chicken served with sweet & sour sauce

Chicken namban is a sauteed chicken with special Japanese ‘namban’ sauce – a yellow sauce that’s quite sweet with a hint of sour taste. I’ve had a few different chicken namban in Sydney. I thought the chicken namban in Kokoroya was excellent. Just be mindful that they don’t serve rice with this dish.

Unagi Kabayaki – $24.8 – Grilled eel

Unlike chicken namban, their unagi kabayaki does come with rice. The unagi poriton was massive!

Mochi Ice Cream – $9.5 and Kids Vanilla Ice Cream – $3.5

Nothing is quite filling and satisfying than a cool ice-cream-filled mochi!

The final verdict for Kokoroya Japanese Sushi Dining

Kokoroya might be one of the more expensive restaurants in Maroubra. However, they backed it up with great service and nice food quality.

Do you think I should go?
There is one other thing that I haven’t mentioned in the review above: Kokoroya has a playground! If you have kids, this restaurant is awesome!

Rating for Kokoroya Japanese Sushi Dining:

8.0 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $155 for 3 adults + 1 child

Place: 8.5 / 10

Details:

Shops 1-2, 665-667 Anzac Parade, Maroubra 2035

+61 2 8347 2226

http://kokoroya.com.au/

Aug 20, 2018
Ishiyama Japanese Dining

Ishiyama Japanese Dining Review:

There is a curious little Japanese restaurant above the Campsie Station called Ishiyama Japanese Dining. I was always interested in trying but if we were ever in Campsie, it was usually quite early in the morning and the restaurant wasn’t even opened yet.

One day we were around Campsie a bit later in the afternoon, so I took the chance to try going to the restaurant. The restaurant was pretty small and heavily decorated with Japanese ornaments.

Edamame – $6.80 – Boiled soybeans

Edamame is our little one’s favourite starter. Nothing can go wrong by ordering this dish.

Takowasa – $7.80 – Pieces of octopus dressed in wasabi

Takowasa might not be for everyone. It is a combination of raw octopus and wasabi, the spicy green thingy in a Japanese restaurant. So, yeah, some of us (including myself) might enjoy the strange heat and slimy texture of octopus.

Chirashi Don – $17.80 – Assorted sliced sashimi on sushi rice

The chirashi don at Ishiyama is probably one of the more complete dishes in Sydney. In addition to the usual fish, you also get prawns, scallops and a slice of unagi (Japanese-style grilled eel). It is such a great value at $17.80.

Soft shell crab

You know you are in for a treat when you receive two soft shell crabs in a dish. The spicy sauce for the soft shell crab was also pretty nice and not too spicy.

Salmon sashimi and sushi platter

This was the main dish for the little. Didn’t even need a long time to finish the whole dish!

The final verdict for Ishiyama Japanese Dining

Ishiyama is a decent little restaurant atop the Campsie Station.

Do you think I should go?
Ishiyama Japanese Dining is probably not a restaurant where you purposely go there to enjoy dinner. However, it’s quite an enjoyable little restaurant.

Rating for Ishiyama Japanese Dining:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $15 – $20 per main dish

Place: 7.5 / 10

Details:

Shop 8, 184 -186 Beamish Street, Campsie 2194

+61 2 9789 3031

Aug 13, 2018
Loaded by BL

Loaded by BL Review:

I’ve been attending a few short courses at Sydney Uni in the last couple of years before I realised there was quite an interesting burger joint just around the corner from where I was taking the classes. The restaurant is called Loaded by BL. BL is an acronym for Bar Luca, one of the well-known bars in CBD.

The interesting thing about Loaded by BL is that instead of many pictures of burgers, you will face a large blackboard with lots of texts. These are the different combinations you can have for their burgers.

Step 1: You start off with 10 different bases that you can get. It ranges from $4 – $8.
Step 2: You will then need to figure out whether you need extra meat from the 11 different things that you can choose from. The price range is $3 – $5.
Step 3: Add your cheese (from 10 different options). Some of the bases will include the cheese. In that case, your first one will be free. Otherwise, the cheese will cost between $2 to $4.
Step 4: This step is if you need optional extras or special configuration, like gluten-free bun. They have 29 different things ranging from 50c to $4.
Step 5: Get your sauce. There are 15 different of them. The first one is free, but if you need extra, it would be $1 each.

If the options above too challenging for you, they provide eight premade ones for you to choose from.

Cheeseburger – $8 – Beef pattie, choice of cheese, choice of sauce

Combo – $4 – add fries and drink

You can make any of your burgers a meal (that is adding fries and a can of drink) for an extra $4.

The Blame – $16 – Cheeseburger, poutine, maple bacon & maple aioli

Bar Luca calls this ‘Blame Canada’ with the overabundance serving of maple aioli and maple bacon. In Loaded by BL, the burger is simply known as ‘The Blame’. You will need to blame it once you step on the scale!

Tater Tots – $5 – with maple aioli

I was quite happy with the size of my tater tots. For $5 you get a big box of it with an extra sauce.

The final verdict for Loaded by BL

It is always fun building your own burger. Loaded by BL gives you that opportunity. Just be careful you don’t stack it up too high… or the bill will follow.

Do you think I should go?
It might be a bit confronting in your first foray into Build-Your-Own burger. However, once you get the hang of it, this place is pretty cool.

Rating for Loaded by BL:

7.5 / 10

Taste: 7.5 / 10

Price: $8 – $16

Place: 8.5 / 10

Details:

170 – 172 Missenden Road, Newtown 2042

+61 2 9565 5276

Loaded by BL

Aug 2, 2018
Kebab Abu Ali

Kebab Abu Ali Review:

One day we went to Fairfield to try the famous Kebab Abu Ali. According to our Iraqi friend, it is one of the best Iraqi restaurants in Sydney. We were so impressed the first time we went there that we called the cavalry so that we could try a more diverse range. Unfortunately, the second time we were there it wasn’t as glittering because we were made to wait for more than an hour for most food to come. The waitpersons were sometimes clueless about what to do. Also, don’t forget to BYO water as they will only give you a small glass of it and nothing more.

The one dish that made me want to try Kebab Abu Ali in the first place was the Pacha. We were then interested in trying the fish. More about those dishes below.

Abu Ali’s Appetiser Plate – $17.50 – Includes Baba Ghanouj, Hummus, Tabouli, and Garlic sauce. Served with fresh Iraqi bread. Add on Sesame Bread – $3.50

When we ordered the appetiser plate with sesame bread, the bread came quite early, but the dips came out towards the end of the dinner. Apart from that, their baba ghanouj was very beautiful. The tabouli and garlic sauce were also pretty good.

Free Salad

They gave away a massive plate of free salad to share with the table.

Kubba Mosul – $12 – Kubba Mosul is a traditional lamb minced meat stuffed inside a burghul (crushed wheat) pancake that’s baked and fried to give it a crunchy texture.

Kubba mosul is quite a filling and massive entree. If there weren’t eight of us, I don’t think we would be able to finish it.

Okra Stew – $6.50

The Iraqi okra stew was pretty interesting. Instead of the usual South East Asian crunchy texture. This one had a very soft texture with strong tomato flavour.

Parda Plaw – $20 – Parda Plaw looks like a giant pudding wrapped in a golden brown pastry. Cut your way through and you’ll find an aromatic pilaf inside, super long grains of basmati rice mixed with chunks of lamb, fried vermicelli noodles, toasted almonds and walnuts… Optional meat available.

The description in the menu above said it all. It was a very nice combo of rice and pastry dish.

Pacha – $17.50 – A rigorously prepared bowl of sheep’s head parts. People in Iraq eat that every day for no other reason than that it’s delicious. The meat is a fun-park of textures – some bits tender, others more gelatinous – all scooped up with comforting layers of soup-soaked bread.

This is why we wanted to go to Kebab Abu Ali in the first place. I know it’s not for everyone but we LOVE sheep’s head soup. It is not something that you can find very easily in Australia. The great thing about their soup is that you were spared from actually eating with the bone in (yep, some countries do serve WHOLE sheep’s head).

It was one of my guilty pleasures.

Iraqi Mix Grill – $18.50 – One char-grilled Iraqi Kebab, Chicken Tikka and Lamb Tikka, delivered with a liberal sprinkling of sumac. Served with grilled tomatoes, Iraqi bread and salad.

They have a few different mixes, but basically you choose between beef kebab, chicken tikka or lamb tikka. Their skewers were pretty good.

Grilled Fish – $85

When we ordered it, they said it would take 40 minutes. It ended up being 1.5 hours. They had three different sizes and we chose the biggest one. The fish tasted wonderful, but probably not worth waiting 1.5 hours for.

The final verdict for Kebab Abu Ali

If it was only judging from our first visit to Kebab Abu Ali, then they might score a bit higher. Unfortunately, the 1.5 hours wait was really testing our patience.

Do you think I should go?
They probably could not handle a big group, so if you want to try, maybe come with a smaller group. If you love pacha (sheep’s head soup), then you must try their version!

Rating for Kebab Abu Ali:

7.0 / 10

Taste: 8.0 / 10

Price: $30 – $35 per person

Place: 8.0 / 10

Details:

Shop 1, 41 Spenser Street, Fairfield 2165

+61 2 9723 3644

Kebab Abu Ali on facebook

Jul 24, 2018