Ya-Malaysia, Parramatta

On a spontaneous outing, we decided to try out Ya-Malaysia (312 Church Street, Parramatta) with a Groupon voucher. I'm not sure if this place is new but I've never seen it before haha. It has a decent amount of seating and are quick and kind with their service.

Fish Cakes ($6)

Yummy fish cakes! I'm really fond of these fish cakes, they were glossy, nicely flavoured and had a some crispy soft skin that made it taste even better. Enjoyed these, I easily ate two hahaha~

Satay Chicken Skewers w/ Peanut Sauce ($8)

Satay flavour was a bit spicy but well done, not exactly fond of peanut sauce so can't comment on that one but it does a good job of making the flavour more gentle if a spicy satay isn't what you like. The meat was a bit hard though and not as tender as I would have liked.

Stir Fried Chicken w/ Ginger ($15.90)

The dishes are getting more Chinese rather than Malaysian now hahaha. We wanted pork but they ran out of pork that day and had to get chicken. The chicken was rather dry so didn't really like that. But it's a nice simple dish that was probably stir fried with a bit of salt and oyster sauce and ginger making it a dish on the plainer side which I don't mind.

Salt & Pepper Soft Shell Crab ($19.90)

I'm always a big fan of soft shell crab and this one was pretty nice. Soft, a bit crunchy and quite juicy. If only there were more pieces thoughh!

Sweet and Sour Chicken ($15.90)

I've never been a fan of sweet and sour dishes but this was OK. The pineapples were especially sweet which was nice! I did like that there was a nice balance of sweetness and sourness and probably leaned to the sweet more which is what I would prefer. Chicken was nice and tender in this dish haha.

Fresh Young Coconut Juice ($5)

As my friend described it, the coconut juice didn't taste very young at all ahaha so that was a letdown.

Teh Tarik - Malaysian Milk Tea ($5)

I really wanted to enjoy this but this was really watery, not sweet and a bit bitter. Didn't like it very much at all.

Overall, I think it's a decent place if you want a busy but not super loud place to chat with friends over dinner with and have some quick dinner. Service is very fast and so you'll get your food in no time which is what I liked about this one. But, it's a pretty average place, quite disappointed with my milk tea haha.

One Piece Film: Gold, Kimi no Na wa, Death Note: Light Up the New World and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Movie Reviews

Well, well, I watched quite a few movies so I thought I'd review them since I had some time. Maybe I'm in a movie phase right now since I went to the cinemas more times in the past few weeks than the whole of last year lmao. Nevertheless, these are my opinions, even though they may not be the most positive. Well, I sound rather negative about them but I enjoyed them to an extent. I think the underlying reason still remains with the fact that movies are not my preferred medium but I do want to watch them more to see the magic people can create in the time of around 2 hours.

One Piece Film: Gold
Rating: 6/10

I think the easiest way to describe this would be that it's a standard typical OP movie. It has all the elements you would expect in a OP and does it quite well in fact. It follows a simple storyline of our Straw Hat Crew going to a gigantic casino island but the top guy is a villain oppressing the poor and stripping them of their rights as he does with the people who come to this island. He maintains his power and control through his ability with gold and money and no one is able to defy him until the Straw Hats come of course.

Nevertheless it was rather enjoyable because it's always great to see the Straw Hats kick some ass and make some friends in the new place and motivating them into saving themselves from the oppression and to fight for themselves. Gotta say, not enough Zoro screen time though hahaha. I did get a free Nami casino chip for watching this though, it's so cute hehe! Overall, it's a classic OP movie, not good, not bad.

Kimi no Na wa (Your Name)
Rating: 7/10

With the hype going on in Japan with this movie right now considering it has passed Princess Mononoke in how much the movie has earned, it was hard to pass up watching this. My score for it may seem low but I did enjoy it. Most of all, I'd say the visuals were absolutely amazing in the colour and detail that it was hard to take your eyes away from it and focus on the characters because they were so much more captivating LOL. There was a scene with raindrops on a cobweb and omg that was so detailed and beautiful. It's hard to watch this movie without being in awe of the beauty of it. Songs and music were great as well.

Basically, the story follows our two main characters Taki and Mitsuha with the guy living in Tokyo and Mitsuha living in a rural area deep in the mountains. Suddenly, every now and then when they fall asleep, they swap bodies and live the life of the other's until they go back to sleep again and so they keep up a diary on each other's phones after realising this weird phenomenon until something bigger happens that causes Taki to have to find out the mystery of this whole thing.

Personally, I'd say I wasn't too into the plot or the romance. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. The story telling was done quite nicely with how cute the two were since they would do funny things in each other's bodies and this helped their relative situations. But yeah, I wasn't really into the whole string thing and converging timelines etc but I did enjoy their little adventure and quest into trying their best efforts into doing what they can to change their lives but I couldn't feel the romance I guess.

Like, I know about the red string of fate that twists, tangles but never breaks is a central element since the red string is always either with Mitsuha or Taki meaning that they'd eventually be together no matter what, even if there is a disparity in time, place and circumstance but maybe I'm just not a romance person hahaha. I'm more of a realistic person rather than a red string of fate kinda person. I like the idea since it is deeply entrenched in culture and I have seen the red string of fate appear many times through my years of reading manga etc but yeah. I did think it was cute when he was supposed to write his name on her hand so that she would remember him but he instead wrote I love you haha, that was sweet.

I'm not saying it was bad though, I really enjoyed the movie, just not as much as other people did I guess. I would still recommend people to watch it because it is good but just don't expect it to blow your mind away. Also, not sure how they're going to English dub this without losing some focal points of this movie but oh well~ I mean, the boku, watakushi etc joke was funny :')

Death Note: Light up the New World
Rating: 5.5/10

This one for me was a disappointment, although I guess I should have expected it. The movie is a sequel to the other two previous movies and it follows (mostly) two people who have received the DNA of Light and L. To be honest, I don't know why that DNA thing was necessary but whatever, I wouldn't have minded randoms going on a rampage with death notes but I guess they wanted to hit some notes on nostalgia. Have to say, I didn't really like the guy with L's DNA, I felt like he was a rather dodgy version of L hahaha, sorry, didn't like him.

I guess the biggest disappointment was that I heard the story was going to revolve around the rule that only six death notes can exist in the human world at one time and so I was anticipating this full on battle royale with the 6 of them but instead, it was really one of them collecting four of them in like the first 10-20 minutes of the film and then the rest is just the three of them doing whatever they need to do to find each other. Gotta say that female white Shinigami was really pretty~

But yeah anyway, maybe like my friend said, the story was there but the execution was bad. I'd say they were pretty bad on both ends because they built up 3/4 of the whole movie to this sort of big reveal that wasn't very mind-breaking enough for me to have enjoyed the other 3/4 of the movie. I was also disappointed that Misa didn't have much of a role considering they brought her back.

The characters weren't something I could really connect with either so it was hard to feel emotional for any of them. Overall, didn't like it.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Rating: 6/10

Hmmm, I'm still unsure how I feel about this movie but I guess it was okay. Music was nice and the beasts were amusing and fun especially the Niffler since it was adorable haha but I think that's all there is to it. It basically revolves around Newt Scamander in New York finding his beasts again because some of them got let out of his briefcase because of a series of events with the people he encounters. I guess that is the point of the movie so it is good but I still think the movie was lacking with the amount of connection between the characters and the viewer. A lot of people may disagree with that haha but the only ones I like would be Kowalski and maybe Queenie but that's really only because they were entertaining to a certain extent.

Tina was definitely not a character I liked. I understood what kind of character she was supposed to be but nah, don't like her. Newt I have mixed feelings for, not sure if I like him or not, might have to see how it goes but if I can't like him in the first movie, there's not much motivation to watch the next. To say the least, movie was enjoyable I guess but I'd say the main focus for the film (in my opinion) landed on seeing the different beasts, a bit more background on how the wizarding world was like in those days and the appearance of Grindelwald for like one scene haha. Oh and I guess adults using magic instead of kids haha.

Chimichuri, Chatswood

 I went to watch Death Note: Light Up the New World at Chatswood the other day (probably been a week at least LOL). So, I looked around Instagram to see what's good in Chatswood hahaha.

This was when I came across Chimichuri (6 Help Street, Charswood)  and saw some good photos! But you know, Instagram is always deceiving so you've gotta try it yourself! We probably arrived around 12-12:30 on a Thursday and there were a couple of people but not packed so that was great~ Service was pretty quick. Got my drink in ~5 mins and food around 10. The staff were also very friendly and helpful.

French Toast ($16)

Warm soaked brioche toast, pomegranate, meringue, fresh berries, grilled banana

I think it's a standard that my friend will order the French Toast and I'll always order the Big Breakfast every time we go to a cafe hahaha! This was actually pretty yummy! Sweet and soft but not soggyand that gtilled banana was actually reallyyy good <3 I'd recommend this one from that one bite I had hahahaha!

Big Brekkie ($18)

Eggs your way. crispy bacon, charred corn, baked beans, chorizo, roasted mushrooms, grilled tomato baked sweet potato & served with toast

Unfortunately, I couldnt' say the same about the Big Brekkie. It's the return of the hard bread!! I think I'm cursed with this LOL, everywhere I go I get hard bread where I'd hit it with my knife and it'd literally resound beautifully like a rock. Or maybe I just have weak gums but yeah, I can't deal with hard bread. I have also realised after this that I am not a big fan of chorizo either haha, a little bit is fine but I couldn't eat two slices! Bacon was a bit hard more than crispy as well so that was disappointing.

However, the eggs were really soft and fluffy with this bit of lemon juice sorta sour refreshing after taste. I guess that made it easier to tackle the other heavier foods on the plate. Beans were also nice. The mushrooms were so yuum! Soft, and juicy! I gave the corn to my friend who said it was averagely sweet, nothing special. 

Gotta say though, the baked sweet potato was so good!!! It was so sweet and super soft! Literally like melting in my mouth but retains that lovely texture of sweet potato but sort of mashed kind of feel. It was so delicious, easily the best thing on the plate. I left it for last to enjoy happily lolol. But yeah, that was the only thing I really liked on the plate hahaha.

Tropical Sunshine ($6.50)

Mango, raspberry, pineapple

This sounds so good right?! Too bad, it was pretty dang sour and watery LOL. Yeah, I was disappointed :( Couldn't really taste much of the fruits either since it was rather watery.

Overall, I'd say this is a nice out-of-the-way place to chill. Not too far from Chatswood Station but far enough that not many people would especially go there and find it unless they know about it or work/live close by. It's a nice little cafe with good French Toast so I think it's worth a try if you're around but nothing spectacular enough to trek all the way if your'e from the West like me~ 

Chow Bella Cafe, Lidcombe

Hellooo! Yes, yes, I've been MIA (again) for like 2 months b/c of exams and stuff as I always am lol~ Apologies. It was just hard to really find some time to feel like going out to eat and writing up a post. I guess time isn't always the biggest issue since motivation plays a big part but yeah, anyway~ My life isn't important. Let's just say... 我回来了~~~ lol

Located in Lidcombe Shopping Centre (26/92 Parramatta, Road, Lidcombe) is a nice place for brunch in the West. It's very convenient if you want to do some grocery shopping and stuff in Woolies, Daiso Japan etc as well as have a nice brunch catch-up with friends.Surroundings are busy but not too loud and so is great for a bit of chitchat. The wait for food wasn't very long either (~10 mins)

Big Breakfast ($18.50)

Baco, eggs, confit tomato, sour dough, beef sausage, house made beans, hash brown

I haven't had a big breakfast in soo long! So I just had to get this one haha. Scrambled eggs are my fave so that was nice and fluffy. Bread was rather soft but crunchy as well so really liked it! However, it was a tad too salty but that was easily rectified with spoonfuls of beans or a tomato slice. Biggest gripe would have to be the sausages since they taste like those cheap beef sausages that do not taste much like beef at all lol. They're great with bread when you're lazy but not what I want in a big breakfast so that was disappointing. But it was pretty okay overall, I'm just glad I had a coffee on the side since it did get rather salty since there's added salt on the hash brown etc which I really didn't want hahaha. I'm a 'less is more' person hahaha. (P.S that little wok for the beans is toooo cutee! I want one T_T)

Eggs Benedict ($15.90)

Bacon, poached eggs, sour dough, spinach, hollandaise sauce

My friend chose this one and really enjoyed it~ I wanna say more about it but I didn't eat it LOL so I really just put the photo here for reference if you were curious as to what it looks like hahaha.

Regular Mochas & Latte ($3.50)

My mocha wasn't too sweet at all and was more on the bitter side which was a good pick me up for the day since I was so tired (like I always am) and that extra itty bitty cookie was a plus! Cookies for life pls <3 

All in all, I think it's a pretty nice and convenient place to catch-up and have some brunch but don't expect anything extraordinary. It's an average little cafe that does its job well, which I'm all for so why not~ It's not too far from my house either so that's a plus hahahaha. Oh and I forgot! My other friend ordered the Signature Crispy Skin Salmon Risotto ($24.90) and there was plenty of salmon and it was quite a big serving! I stole some and I thought it was really good even though I don't generally enjoy risotto. I'd say that's definitely a dish worth trying here!

NANA + Kingsglaive: FFXV Movie Reviews

Yes, I've been bludging, that's why I watched movies even though I don't even like movies lmao.

Here we go anyway~

NANA (2005) 

Rating: 5.5/10

NANA was a movie I've always wanted to watch but could never really get over the live action touch of it. This time, knowing that Yazawa Ai has announced that she will come back to finish NANA, I thought I should try to watch the movie again. It's better than expected, but I still didn't really like it. I'll start off with the things that I liked. The clothes, you could really see how much detail and thought they put into it even with side characters like Shouji and Sachiko. Yazawa Ai gives all of her characters distinctive fashion styles and it was really nice to see Shouji wearing that beanie, Sachiko with her cowboy hat, the lovely clothes Oosaki Nana wears, I was impressed. Too bad we don't get to see that classic red jacket with a black heart. But that red dress she wore when she was young, her black skirt and everything, it was very nostalgic. I also really liked the classic scenes in NANA but I have to say that some of them were rather lacklustre emotionally and not as didn't give as much of an impact as it should've. Nakashima Mika was pretty cool as Nana though. 

As for things I didn't like, there were too many lol, I'm really not suited for movies haha. It's mostly because they didn't really show any of the good qualities of Hachi and everything was centred on Oosaki Nana, which I don't mind I guess but it felt like her story rather than their story. I also didn't like that sometimes many things were rushed so much that there were many things lost in the process such as Shouji's cheating. The songs were nice though! But I still prefer the songs in the anime, I feel like the anime really showed the differences between Nana and Reira's voice and how beautiful yet distinct they both were. A lot of things weren't explained clearly either so it could get confusing if you don't really know NANA.

I guess it was okay, but I'd still rather the anime. I feel like some of the actors and actresses were a bit I guess not as expressive as I would have liked. The NANA anime is one of the only manga adaptations to anime that I so sincerely love and feel like expressed the manga really well. The live action really doesn't have that same atmosphere and pain, it didn't resonate really well. So yeah, I don't think I'm a fan. But yeah, I'm happy that Yazawa Ai herself has announced that she will finish NANA, although there is no concrete date or anything, the fact that she has stated that she'll finish it is enough for me. It's enough for this little fan that has been waiting for 7 years.

Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV

Rating: 6/10

Kingsglaive was a movie I didn't know what to expect of. It's a prequel to the game so it follows King Regis' rule when the kingdom fell by Niflheim's hands. It mainly focuses on the Kingsglaive which are the elite guards of the king and how their interests align and differ from the king. Spoilers ahead btw~ I'd have to say the voice acting isn't the best but the CGI is beautiful. Those action scenes were pretty amazing I have to admit. I still think one of the daemons looked like Diamond Weapon from FFVII though hahaha.

Personally, I thought the story was a bit clunky. It's very..superficial I guess? Quite generic and disappointing, it was also very disheartening to see that practically half of the Kingsglaive were traitors. It doesn't really show why they have such a strong repugnance to the king and his actions either so it feels rather saddening in a different way. I'd say the warping looks hella cool though. I'd love blades like that to teleport around <3 Lunafreya was cooler than I expected as well, she really had that domineering presence and resolve. I'd say she's definitely a worthy heroine and romantic counterpart to Noctis. Fights were pretty nice because of it hypes you up for whether this will be similar to how the gameplay will be like hahaha. I think I'm mostly looking forward to seeing the monsters in these beautiful graphics for the game, I mean seriously, that behemoth in the demo was sooo cool, can't wait to see a high quality Tonberry, Cactuar and like Marlboros omgggg.

I guess overall, don't come expecting a good story, just come instead for good and fun action scenes. Oh and cool monsters! It's worth watching as a Final Fantasy fan I guess hahaha. But frankly, the story didn't' capture me and instead made me think whether I will really like  FFXV's story when it comes out. There's just so much hype right now for this game though that I feel like it's gonna come crashing down like Diablo 3 did. But, we'll see.

Korean Fusion Pocha, Lidcombe

With a long due catch-up with my friend, I suggested some Korean fried chicken in Lidcombe. Funnily, we didn't end up getting any fried chicken hahaha. Anyway, we were both lazy asses so we chose to go somewhere close hahaha. Korean Fusion Pocha (30 Joseph Street) is about 5-10 minutes from Lidcombe station amongst the many other Korean restaurants here. We went at the odd time of maybe around 2 so it was rather quiet with only another table besides us. I guess that means we get the whole place for ourselves then! :D Service was nice and the food came really quickly. I can't remember the exact names and price of every dish, but our bill came to $72 for 3 dishes + soup so it was okay~ Portions were good too.

Yayyy! So many sides! Kimchi wasn't very hot at all, which was both surprising and a tad disappointing. The potato mash and pieces of potato were super sweet! Great for any breaks in between the spiciness of food. I think the spiciness of the dishes in this store aren't very high (coming from someone that doesn't really eat spicy) so don't expect anything to be very spicy. Otherwise, sides were all good!

Beef Bone Soup

I love the milky white soup that has absorbed all those beef nutrients. So warm and good! There's no beef bone in this though hahaha, just some noodles, slices of beef and enoki mushroom. I liked this one, it's plain but a great contrast to other spicy dishes and definitely very soothing for the stomach.

Dumplings

I can't remember what these dumplings were called but there were noodles, egg and a bit of veggies in it. I didn't really like this one though, the skin wasn't really smooth and I'm not a fan of the filling either. It's very plain. I usually like food on the plain side but I think this one was way too plain hahaha.

Spicy Chicken w/ Cheese

This one was my favourite of the bunch!! My non-spicy eating friend thought it was bit spicy but I don't think it was really spicy, maybe just a bit spicy. I liked it. It's definitely not super spicy for sure. But dayuum that cheese was soo good with it. Tasted like braised chicken in kimchi sauce with cheese, a tad sweet as well. I think I was just addicted to it because of the cheese hahaha.

Seafood Pancake

My friend and I were so surprised at this one! We thought we ordered an omelette! LOL Well, I don't think she took the order wrong since it's still something like a pancake hahaha, it just has lots of eggs in it that makes it taste more like a seafood omelette rather than a pancake. As an omelette, it tastes rather okay.

Overall, I don't think there's anything special about this place or anything really remarkable about the food. The food is decent  with good servings but there's nothing I'd really especially come back for. Guess it's time to explore more restaurants in Lidcombe then! :D

Pizza Design Co, Paramatta

My birthday was a while ago but anyways, better late than never hahaha~ So yeah, we were going to go dumplings for dinner but after realising that there was train trackwork, we decided to just go to Parramatta Pizza Design Co (279-281 Church Street) since it'll be closer and more convenient for everyone.

I booked online, which was easily accessible and then they called my number to confirm the booking. Pretty quick and solid. It was funny that when we got there at 7pm though, there was no one so I guess I didn't really need to book haha. Probably because it was a superr cold night. But anyway, nicely spaced out tables and you can sit outside or inside. Obviously I was sitting inside with this winter going on hahaha. Service was also very quick, we ordered our food and it came like 10 minutes later or something with the sides and then the pizza quickly came after.

Crispy Chicken Wings/Drumettes w/ Ranch sauce ($15)

These were seriously soo good! Everyone on the table loved it! Definitely worth it! Super flavoursome and the chicken was very tender. The sauce can get a bit spicy after a few pieces but these were borderline addictive, so really, just gulp some water and continue! The spices used just made the chicken so fragrant and filled with flavour, definitely recommended if you come here! I thought the chicken wings were better by itself so I didn't dip the sauce hahaha.

Choose your own pizza ($18)

I totally forgot what was in the pizza but anyway, just in case you don't know, here, you can pick your own pizza base, sauce and 4 toppings ($3 for each extra topping) and so make your own pizza! We got pretty basic stuff in this one, which was traditional base, tangy bbq sauce with capsicum, mushroom, pineapples and chicken I believe and it was a pretty standard pizza. I guess it was a safe choice hahaha. It's a thin pizza, like supeeer thin, those kinds haha, which I don't mind. We also tried the dairy free cheese but couldn't really taste through the sweetness of the bbq sauce.

Choose your own pizza ($18)

My friends chose this one but I think it was traditional base, sugo sauce with chorizo, capsicum, chicken and..mushroom maybe? I dunno but this one was definitely much better than bbq sauce! The cheese and sauce matched very well along with the chorizo. Standard but good. 

Sweet Potato Chips (~$9)

Hmm.. I can't remember how much this one costed but it's around $9 I guess. It was a bit salty by itself but if you dip it in the sauce, it makes it have this sour creamy taste as well and so dampens the taste of the salt and heightens the sweetness of the sweet potato, which makes it really nice! Definitely better with the sauce. They were also quite crispy in texture, which I really liked.

Overall, I think this is a pretty decent place to go to if you just wanna pop in at any time and enjoy some pizza without a line. But don't put too much expectation in the pizza because it's nothing special, I'd say the chicken wings would be more of the main deal here haha. Everything was also very decently sized, finished everything with four people! If I brought my brother here though, he'd eat a pizza by himself hahaha since they aren't too big or too small.

Rasa Delights, Eastwood

A lot of these food trips were done before my sister left for Japan since she wanted to eat at all these places haha so forgive me for constantly mentioning her even though she's been in Japan for a while now loll. This time, it's a Malaysian restaurant called Rasa Delights (Shop 115, 80 Rowe Street, Eastwood). My sister was craving hainan chicken before she left and so she said we should come here. We got here pretty late around 8pm but it was still quite bustling. Luckily we got a table straight away and was served very quickly. Service was quick and prompt and attentive.

Veggies with Oyster sauce (Free!)

So nice of them to worry about our daily veggies intake! Hahaha, I love getting free veggies. These were very simply boiled in water and then taken out to dip with oyster sauce. A standard but nice dish.

Teh Tarik (Malaysian style Milk Tea) $3.50 for cold

This is $3 for a hot version but I really wanted a cold drink on the side so I opted for this one. I love the cup! It was also very milky and not too sweet. Most importantly, the taste was very smooth, I liked it, but it did have a bit too much ice and thus diluted the taste quite a bit after a while.

Bak Kut Teh (Large $18.80)

I always thought Bak Kut Teh was literally tea but apparently it's meat cooked in broth with no tea involved at all haha! It's great for drinking or dipping with foods. I drank a bit and I felt so warm and full. It has this nice sweet saltiness to it that is great with rice or alone as well. Meat and mushrooms were also brewed very well in the broth and thus absorbed all of the taste of the broth and was very soft to eat. The meat practically rolled off the bone, yuum~

Malaysian Curry Beef Brisket (Medium $13.80)

I was a bit excited for this one and I have to say, the tender pieces were sooo good! Strong curry flavour that is a bit spicy but nevertheless, really delicious. However, there were pieces that were really tough to chew that I nearly choked on lmao so that was a turn off.

Boneless Hainan Chicken (Half) ($18.80)

We really wanted a whole chicken but they only had half left so we just got the rest. When my sister told me the hainan chicken here was good, I really didn't expect it to be so smooth and tender! Way smoother than my skin lmao. It comes with the three usual sauces to dip with making it a very delicate but great dish.

Overall, I would recommend this place if you're looking for some nice Bak Kut Teh to warm you and your companions up and if you're really craving some hainan chicken as well because those two dishes are definitely recommended! It's a small shop but it's fast and efficient. I think I'd like to go again when I have some cravings for these dishes ahaha.

Friendship Oriental Seafood Restaurant, Beverley Hills

Initially, we were planning to go to Iron Chef in Cabramatta but my dad didn't recommend it and we have tried it before so we thought we'd go somewhere new called Friendship Oriental Seafood Restaurant (477 King Georges Road, Beverley Hills). When we entered, there was definitely enough space for the 7 of us at dinner and although I can't remember the exact prices, most of the dishes were decently priced at around $20-25 each dish excluding the crab and duck. The food did take a while to come but that was okay because we get free soup!

Oh, nearly forgot! I totally recommend you to bring someone who can read Chinese if you come here because the Chinese and English menus are really different lol! I looked at the English menu with my sister and we thought there were so less dishes here to eat.. Then we asked our mum for the Chinese menu and whoaa! Everything was there loll. Although there were some dishes in the English menu that weren't in the Chinese menu loll, so weird. But yeah, the real stuff is in the Chinese menu so read that one for sure!

Complimentary Soup of the Day (Free!)

It's pork bone soup! My mum makes this a lot at home so I really liked it and had two bowls! Very refreshing and sweet. Good start to the meal! Main deal is of course the soup and not the meat :P

Roast Duck (2 eats)

I think this was supposed to be around $40 or something but there was a special that day so was only $28. It comes with peking duck and then they serve the rest of the duck on a plate for you to eat. Obviously, I forgot to take a photo until I took a bite haha but the duck was nice and tender but the pancakes were a bit floury. Otherwise, nice.

Roast Duck (2 eats)

When we got the rest of the duck, sadly it was rather dry and not as meaty as you would expect. Wasn't very impressed.

King Prawns with Snow Peas

It's hard to get this one wrong! Haha, this one was nice, a very plain but satisfying dish. Definitely great for washing out the strong tastes of the other dishes. King prawns were also very good and snow peas weren't overcooked, which was great!

Beef Brisket Claypot

This one was a bit undermining since it seemed to contain more beef tendons than beef brisket which I like. Flavour was quite simple and not very dense, which was good. It did taste like it had been submerged in the sauce for a while so that was yum!

Crab with Vermicelli

I'm not the biggest fan of crab but I love this dish! It soaks up all the crab sauce and is so flavoursome and springy. I love these noodles with crab!

Deep Fried Tofu w/ mushroom claypot

The tofu pot is a standard I love and this one didn't really disappoint either, the tofu was great soaking up the sauce along with the mushroom and tofu skin. Definitely a great veggies dish! This one is usually safe to order at any restaurant haha.

Crab with yi mein

I was super looking forward to this one but was left so disappointed! The noodles weren't cooked thoroughly eughh, still uncooked :( so it was a bit hard sigh. Otherwise, crab was nice but hard to eat as usual haha.

Peking Pork Spare Ribs w/ Fried Milk

My sister was really curious about fried milk and she loves peking ribs so we ordered this. The fried milk was surprisingly nice with a little crispy outside and smooth milky tofu and custard sort of texture inside that tasted pretty much like milk. Fascinating but not sure if I like it hahaha. As for the ribs, they were good! Tender and the pieces weren't oversized like some restaurants, it's a bit more on the soggy side though which was a bit of a minus.

Overall, it was a nice family dinner with everyone (except my dad!) but it's not somewhere I'd probably go back to considering it's quite out of the way for me and the dishes weren't exceptionally done well. I guess, we'll go back to the hunt for a better Chinese restaurant!

Mr Stonebowl/石锅先生, Burwood (UPDATED REVIEW)

My brother asked me about this place the other day and since he asked me about it, my sister became curious and wanted to go since we've been losing favourite places in Burwood to eat at. This isn't part of this post but I definitely DO NOT recommend Canton Noodle House in Burwood anymore because of their below average service and when I had Japanese Tofu there last time it tasted super sour and expired, which was definitely not acceptable. So yeah, I used to really like that place but I think they changed their management and staff. It has also become rather quiet at dinner times, for a very apparent reason. But yeah, tofu is inexpensive and to cook and to give your customers tofu gone bad is pretty ridiculous. My sister told them that the tofu tasted off and they replaced it but it still turned out bad like the previous one so yeahhh, no.

Anyway, back to the main deal, Mr Stonebowl at 185c Burwood Road (previous review), I've talked about this place before but since I had different dishes this time, I thought I might as well do an updated review! As always, super busy though, think I got there around 7:30pm and I had to wait until 8:10pm for a seat for 4 people. It was a cold night as well zzzz.

Pork Rib with Mushroom Soup/虫草花原味炖肉排 ($4.80)

It was really really cold so I wanted this soup again! Sadly, it does taste a bit different from memories, like it still tastes good but I feel like they added MSG to it in comparison to when I tried it a year ago. Maybe those signs I saw saying they're recruiting chefs and stuff has something to do with it..lol But yeah, still tastes quite authentic and great for the winter time but it does taste like there's MSG now,

Deep Fried Chicken Fillet with Dried Chilli/歌乐山辣子鸡 ($15.80)

Woo! My sister and her boyfriend loved this dish the most but I really didn't like the after taste of the chilli chicken in my mouth. It's probably the type of chilli they used that I'm not very familiar with so I didn't especially like it but they loved it. It was quite spicy as well but I do admit, it did taste pretty nice and tender.

Pan Fried Pork Dumplings/香煎锅贴 9pcs ($8.80)

These dumplings were soo good! Super recommended! The skin, the meat inside, it was literally perfect. Wasn't too chewy and tasted really soft and crunchy at the same time. Really enjoyed it.

Singapore Style Barramundi/星洲石锅鱼($18.80)

Since every single table we saw while waiting for a table was eating this, we decided to order it as well. It was pretty nice and not very spicy, but it was a bit hard to get the fish meat off at times because it was stuck to the fish bones. Overall, pretty good, when you could pick up the meat, it was very soft and the sauce was more of a sweet and sour taste.

Marinated Tender Chicken/魔鬼嫩滑鸡 ($7.80)

I tried this again! My dinner mates didn't like it very much but I still like it. But I guess it didn't match well with the rest of the dishes since it's better eaten as an entree before all the food comes and not with all the food at once. I really enjoyed it as an entree. It still has that funky light and tangy taste which is really creamy. The chicken was also as tender as ever.

Xiao Long Bao/灌汤小笼包 9 pcs ($9.80)

Xiao Long Bao ($8.80)

Yuum! This was pretty nice as well, not as perfect as the other dumplings but it was still very meaty and juicy which I loveee. It's not crazy good but definitely good for satisfying the craving!

Overall, I think if you're looking for a restaurant with densely flavoured dishes, this would be a great pick since everything is packed with flavour and the dishes come really fast as well! A possible negative would be that most of the service staff mainly speak in Mandarin/Taiwanese and so might not understand anything outside of which dishes you want and table water etc, the simple stuff that is required in all restaurants. I guess it's better to have someone that understands it but not necessary. Overall, it's a good place but I'm not fond of the crazy lines it can have so it's not really a restaurant I'd ever be rushing to get to.

Rocksia Hotel Bistro, Arncliffe

My sister will be leaving to teach English in Japan under the JET Program very soon, so she's been wanting to go to the food places she has had fond memories of before leaving. Rocksia was one of them because she went there once before with her colleagues when she still worked at Hurstville and she said their portions were really generous and it tasted good and off we went! 

Located at 299 Princes Hwy, Arncliffe, Rocksia Bistro had plenty of seating for lunch on a weekend with relatively quick service. It has a nice lively atmosphere perfect for a relaxing lunch with a friend or the whole family with your kids. However, contrary to my sister's memories of long ago, it seems that the food has become rather disappointing.

Ribs w/ chicken wings drenched in BBQ sauce + chips and salad

My sister's boyfriend ordered this and although the sauce was pretty nice, the ribs and the chicken wings were simply too dry. The chicken wings were the better part of the deal since they weren't as dry as the ribs but still wasn't up to par for being succulent at all. As for the ribs, they were extremely boney lacking greatly in the meat area and also extremely dry to the point of being crunchy dry. My sister was really sad about this one since she said these used to be really good and a great value for money.

BBQ Chicken Pizza ($18)

Mexican Spiced Chicken, Streaky Bacon, Green Capsicum, Mozzarella, House BBQ Sauce

Pizza was quite average in taste, I liked it but the crust was quite burnt as you can see which made it have a really strong burnt taste so I just skipped the burnt crust. Pizza was also surprisingly smaller than I thought considering the price. Not very family friendly in that area!

Lamb Shanks in Red Wine and Rosemary

The only complaint my sister had with this one was the smaller portion but I guess it's relatively decent if she didn't have expectations of the old. Sauce is not one I'm fond of since it's quite sour but my sister said that's how it should taste like so I guess the sauce is still as good! I'm just not a fan of it haha. I don't like sour food very much. Oh, on another note, the chips are good! Fresh, crunchy and soft on the inside and they're pretty big! Thumbs up!

Overall, restaurants can really change in a few years and I guess this was one that didn't keep up to the good reviews my sister had of it once before. It's not a very convenient place for me to get to as well so very unlikely I'd come back but I do think this place is better enjoyed for the atmosphere of a nice break and soothing relaxation time with the kids or just a casual lunch or dinner. Just don't order the ribs loll.

Kanzo. Parramatta

Long time no see everyone! Been MIA for a while because of an erratic skin condition affecting my face. I thought I'd be able to enjoy my holidays after the uni semester finished but then this happened in the period of my exams and was just ughhh. It's probably the weather and eczema acting up again sigh. But anyway! I've been slowly recovering after a few visits to the doctor and hopefully it goes away completely!

I was able to grab a quick lunch at Parramatta with my friend the other day and wasn't sure what to eat so I thought I'd Google some stuff and came across this Japanese restaurant called Kanzo (Shop 6, 55-67 George Street) so we decided to try it out! No line at all but it is a pretty small shop so you might have to wait for seats depending on the situation but it has a pretty quick turnover rate since this isn't exactly the most comfortable place to sit with how cramped the space is. It's okay once you sit down though. But yeah, I'd recommend this place for a quick lunch but not somewhere you'd want to exactly sit in for hours on end.

Takoyaki 5 pcs ($4)

Takoyaki!! I haven't eaten this in so long! Was super excited to eat this! But sadly, it only had a tiny piece of octopus in each ball so it was a bit disappointing. But overall, it tasted okay, a bit on the smaller side though, the photo makes them look so big hahahaha, it's a lie.

Free Side Salad

Typical salad that comes along with a meal! I didn't try it because I generally don't like these salads.

Teriyaki Chicken Udon ($11)

For the main meal! Sorry for that random ray of light on it lmao, but this was pretty nice. The teriyaki chicken was really tender and nicely flavoured and the udon noodles were nice and chewy. It also has enoki mushrooms in the soup and I absolutelyy love those! And the addition of a slice of fish cake is always good. The soup was also very densely packed with the seawood flavour soup that is alike many udon soups. Very light but very flavoursome, I really enjoyed it and would definitely eat this again.

Overall, I think this is a great place to grab a quick lunch or two with a friend considering how cheap and quick it is in how efficiently they come with the food after you order but it can be a rather cramped place due to its size but I think it's worth a try if you want something cheap, quick and delicious!