Poporo Takeru, Market City

It's been a whileee! This is probably going to be the opening for all of my posts from now on since UTS has finally started their Autumn Semester and I'm already behind with my homework so here I am procrastinating lmao.

Anywho, this time, it's a place I've been to a few times in the past! Poporo (Shop 2A, Level 3, Market City, 9-13 Hay Street,Chinatown) is on the food court level of market city right next to the sushi train there (cheap for students! and pretty good!). It has been here for many years and it is a rather spacious little restaurant with comfortable chairs and a nice atmosphere. It's also fun how you can see the people eating sushi train hahaha!

Hotate Kinoko Spaghetti 1/2 size ($6.30)

Since my friend and I really like variety, we decided to just try 2 half sized dishes instead of settling for one hahaha. She got the this one which was a scallop and mushroom spaghetti, the taste was very light and cheesy but too oily for me. It was a nice plain spaghetti dish but otherwise, nothing spectacular.

Kaisen Don 1/2 size ($7.90)

I was super excited for this since I love fresh salmon on rice with mayonnaise but sadly this was a disappointment. I have no idea why this was soo sweet! It was so weird! Hahaha, I had to add so much soy sauce to the rice to balance it back to normal. I much prefer Ramenkan's kaisen don instead. But the salmon was pretty fresh and smooth <3

Spicy Soft Shell Crab Spaghetti 1/2 size ($7.10)

I was also quite excited to try this soft shelled crab boiled crab meat with spicy cream sauce spaghetti since it looked great on the menu and it didn't disappoint! The sauce was good in how it was spicy and creamy but it was too watery and spicy for me. It said it was mildly spicy but I had to take turns drinking water and eating my kaisen don to wash out the spiciness each bite hahaha (yes I'm weak). However it did taste nice. And if you haven't noticed, these half sized dishes have such generous portions! Like the kaisen don is very obviously smaller sized but these pasta dishes were pretty good sized portions. 

Mango Calpis ($3.90)

I love ordering mango calpis whenever I see it on a menu hahaha and this one although a bit watery tasted like the usual, sweet, cold and refreshing!

Overall, I would recommend coming here for an average cheap meal that will satisfy your stomachs and since it is in market city, it's really close to everything so super convenient for lunch if you're around the area and the service was quick and efficient. All in all, I don't mind coming back, but it's not somewhere I'd especially go back for.

Criniti's, Parramatta

Today, I was wondering how my friend in Italy was doing when I realised that I forgot to do the post on his farewell dinner at  Criniti's (291 Church Street, Parramatta)! Lol, but time will probably fly by really fast and I'll be blogging about the welcome back dinner in July in the blink of an eye.

Anywho, after getting rejected last time because we didn't have a booking hahaha, we decided to book this time and get in for suree~ I've been to Criniti's once before but that was the one in the city and it has been so many years I've forgotten whether I liked it or not so this was a nice memory refresh. It's also quite close to the station since it's really just down Church Street and really near San Churros (yum!).

Carne Amore (Traditional size $27)

Since we were all meat lovers, we opted for the carne amore which had tomato, mozzarella, veal, salami, double smoked ham, bacon, italian sausages, oregano & bbq sauce to top with and to be honest, I think it was pretty normal. It pretty much really did taste like a meat lovers pizza hahaha but I did enjoy it since I lovee pizza <3 wish there were mushrooms~~ The pizza base also wasn't very spectacular either in that it wasn't crunchy or soft but merely had that dense but tasteless doughy impression to me that I wasn't fond of. But, overall average.

Meatballs w/ Spaghetti doused in Napoletana sauce ($27)

LOL, so I didn't realise that the photo was blurry until I uploaded it here hahaha. To prevent headaches, the size of it has been shrunk but you can see the gist of it. It's Spaghetti w/ meatballs hahaha (obviously). 

Although very plain, I actually quire enjoyed this amongst the rest of the food because it was a nice breath of relief from all the other saltier food and was thus a nice condiment with the others. The Napoletana sauce was very light but had a rich tomato base that made it taste very refreshing and good for stimulating your appetite for more food. I'm used to plainer foods as well so I really enjoyed this simple but exquisite basic; the meatballs were very soft and palatable as well.

Ciccio’s Calzone ($29)

 My friend suggested calzone and I had no idea what it was so we just went for it hahaha. I'm all for new things I haven't tried!~ This contained mozzarella, san daniele prosciutto, zucchini, roasted capsicum, goat’s cheese & oregano which I found quite nice and interesting on the first few bites but after having a bit more, I found it extremely salty for my taste buds. I think it was probably the goat cheese that made me feel that way but yeah nevertheless, not my kinda dish. However, I was fond of the pita bread texture. Maybe I can try it with different fillings next time.

Sweet Potato Chips w/ chilli salt & parsley ($12) + aioli dip (?) $2

This was my absolute favouriteee! The last time I had sweet potato chips, I was super disappointed so I wasn't expecting much from this one but these were soo good! It was crunchy but soft and the chilli salt accompanied it so so well and definitely perfect to whet your appetite. I also  believe that we got the aioli dip which had a tinge of chilli and a refreshing creamy sour taste that just made it taste so addictive that we just couldn't get our hands off it. Definite recommend!

All in all, I think I do remember thinking years ago that Criniti's pizzas are very average and still do think so after this experience again but I'd definitely go just for the sweet potato chips haha! Also, with the variety and the bumbling atmosphere at the restaurant, I guess I can understand that it's definitely a nice place to enjoy a good variety of food with friends. Personally, I wouldn't mind coming again but it's definitely not a priority to be recommended.