Mikazuki, Parramatta

Yayyy! Parramatta is opening more Japanese restaurants! I've already been here like 3-4 times just because Mikazuki (169 Macquarie St, Parramatta) is so close to Parramatta Station since it's like right across from Arthur Phillip High School and is right next to UWS/WSU. It's a decent place that's a tad more on the expensive side but not too more than average so I really like it! Service is nice and the food comes in 10-15 minutes which I am always glad for.

Nabe Udon ($15.50)

Soy dashi flavoured white wheat noodle soup and seaweed in a pot topped w/ shallot, seaweed, naruto maki, soybean curd, tempura prawn and onsen egg

I really like the udon hereee! It's so springy but also soft making it really easy to eat and enjoy! Great for Winter and with the onsen egg mixed in, the soup is a bit eggy but filled with dashi flavour making it really lightly flavoured but not plain at all! The tempura prawn is also very big and legit, it's sweet and filled with seafood flavour and not soggy at all. Everything else is as usual since you literally just put it in to cook it so of course it was good~ I've eaten this twice already just because I've been so colddd and this warms my soul lolol.

Spicy Seafood Poke Bowl ($18.90)

Hawaiian style cube sashimi in spicy sauce and sushi rice topped  w/ seaweed, pickled ginger, avocado, nori, sesame, greens and roe

At first, I wasn't really sure whether I would like this but whoaa this was actually pretty good! Te sashimi was fresh and mixed with the spicy sauce and rice gave it a bit of a spicy but flavoursome mix. It's not very spicy at all so it's all right even if you can't eat spicy food especially since the seaweed and avocado hep to break it up from the spiciness as well. I'd recommend this~

Takoyaki ($7.50)

Octopus balls drizzled with garlic aioli, Japanese BBQ sauce, tuna shavings and seaweed paper

This isn't the cheapest of takoyaki but it most definitely is legit with the big pieces of octopus that are in the balls. It's nice and crispy outside but super hot and soft on the inside. I really liked this~ I really wanted another onee hahaha.

Large Tonkotsu Shoyu Karaage Ramen

My brother had this and thought the soup was rather salty and average for the price it had. 

Tonkotsu Miso Chashu Ramen ($15)

I wasn't a fan of the ramen either as it was pretty average, nothing special. It's not too thick so that's good but the chashu wasn't very crispy or very soft either. The noodles were very basic packet kind of noodles but the egg was perfect~~ Runny but not crazy watery kinda runny which is what I lovee~ Soup base was average in that it wasn't very good but not enough to hate it I guess? Basically, average overall.

Soft Shell Crab Roll ($12) and Crunchy Roll ($14.50)

The sushi were rather expensive for what it was considering that the rice was quite cold and more akin to boiled rice rather than sushi rice? The tempura was crunchy but it doesn't have that much meat to it and the soft shell crab was average in that it was soft but nothing special.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend the sushi or the ramen but I think the udon and rice bowls are quite delicious considering the limited options in Parramatta for Japanese food. I'll definitely continue to come here since it's so close and I love takoyaki haha. I can't wait to try all the other dishes~

Yumei Japanese Restaurant, Chinatown

My sister bought a voucher for Yumei (Capitol Square, 9/730-742 George St, Haymarket) so we all decided to try this place out considering how close it is to Central Station. My sister's been here before but sadly, it seems like the quality of the food has gone down from what she said. The food was reasonably priced but sadly, I have to agree with her that the food wasn't very good at all.

Karaage and Ebi Curry ($16)

This was very undermining as the whole dish was rather salty and the curry was especially gluggy and the corn didn't make it any better. The karaage was rather tender though and the tempura was okay but I was really looking forward to the curry which disappointed me.

Soft Shell Crab Salad ($14)

This was an all right dish if I recall correctly lol. Considering that even if it was relatively salty, there's salad to make up for that lol! 

Teriyaki Wagyu Beef? ($14.30)

Beef was really dry and seemed quite overcooked, wasn't a fan of the sauce either, quite watery and nothing special.

Chahan ($13.50) 

Rice was quite soggy and very sweet as well, not the biggest fan of sweet rice so that was really weird and unexpected, didn't enjoy it.

Grilled Sushi Party ($14.50) 

These were all right! Not super fresh but it wasn't bad, the rice was a bit hard though.

Volcano Roll ($14.70)

Cheese wasn't melted completely and was cold and chewy making the sushi rather meh. This was quite sweet too lol.

Yaki Udon ($13.50)

I really didn't like this. The amount of bonito flakes was way too overwhelming alongside the mayonnaise. It's the takoyaki sauce but udon version so it was really weird. The udon was rather hard as well so I didn't like this at all.

Overall, I feel like the sauces of the dishes always leaned to the sweet side and so even though some of the food was cooked nicely, the sauces didn't make the dish and vice versa for others. Hence, it was a pretty disappointing dinner and I don't think I'd go back again/

The Sparrow's Mill, CBD

A few weeks ago, my friend and I went to visit the Sydney Jewish Museum since there was a Groupon for it. It was really informative and had lots of information and things to see, I think you can easily spend the whole day there just reading everything lol, definitely quite an overload of info but it was interesting. It spoke about contemporary Jewish influences and culture on the ground floor and the next two floors greatly revolved around the Holocaust. It was a very quiet place so I'd recommend it if you're interested in the Holocaust.

Anywho, we decided to have a feast beforehand LOL and we were craving Korean so I suggested The Sparrow's Mill (120/116 Liverpool St, Sydney). It's really close to World Square so I think I might go there more often.. The table was quite small for the food we ordered though, it was quite a feat fitting everything below on to the small tables and not knocking anything down when we were eating lol. Otherwise, food came in like 15 minutes yay!

Incredible Gangjung (H $18) 

cinnamon base and soy sauce with sweet and crispy skin

I didn't realise this was a sweet fried chicken until it came hahaha! I don't even like cinnamon LOL. But for someone whose not a fan of cinnamon, it was all right. It definitely smells strongly of cinnamon though so that was a bit of a turn off. However, the cinnamon and soy sauce combination was quite nice, it was mostly sweet but it didn't feel weird as a sweet fried chicken. The meat wasn't dry as I thought it might be and it was quite crispy. My friend really enjoyed this as a lover of cinnamon hahaha. The rice cakes were so soft and chewy, I liked it~

Beef Soft Tofu Soup ($15)

Soup is my favourite at Korean restaurants, especially when it's Winter and it just warms you right up! It looks like it might be spicy but this wasn't really that spicy at all, maybe a tad bit to enhance the taste but not too much that I couldn't drink it. I mean, we nearly drank the whole thing hahaa! Note that this does have A LOT of beansprouts though, not kidding. I'd say it was mostly comprised of bean sprouts with bits of meat. egg and shallot. I got a good dose of veggies and warmth from this, I really liked it~~

Seafood Pancake ($15)

I was so impressed with the pancake!! It was crispy but also soft and it was so generous with the seafood! Every piece my friend and I ate had a prawn or octopus and they weren't tiny pieces either! There also isn't a crazy amount of shallot like other places do so it had a great balance of everything. The pancake itself was soft and didn't have an overwhelming amount of dough (yay!) so everything complemented well. I usually eat seafood pancake whenever I go eat Korean food and I'd have to say, this pancake might be my favourite, totally recommended!

Side Dishes

I'm not the biggest fan of the side dishes though~ I really like that potato that's sweet that other restaurants have but it was okay. Kimchi was kinda spicy so I had it with some rice hahaha.

Overall, I really enjoyed the food and would definitely come back for more! I wanna try the other chicken and soups whilst having another helping of the pancake hahaha. The only issue I have would be the small table and sides but that's fine~

Thai Garden, North Parramatta

As a farewell to my friend going to work in Darwin for a few years, we all decided to go to Thai Garden (526 Church St, North Parramatta) for dinner before she leaves. I wasn't expecting much since I've never been a fan of Thai but the variety and food was actually pretty good! The food came within 15-20 minutes as well and they all came at once so that was good~ Although we were upstairs, the staff were still quite attentive and I never felt that I needed to wait very long for them to notice when we needed something.

Pad See Ew w/ Beef ($16.90)

Stir fried flat rice noodle with egg and dark soy sauce, mild spices and seasonal vegetables topped w/ garlic oil and chopped fresh herbs

Pad see ew is always my go-to when I have Thai so this was a natural choice. Gratuitously, compared to the one I had last time, this was balanced and not as sweet as Saute Thai in Parramatta. I really enjoyed it with the veggies but the beef wasn't tender and was quite tough so that was disappointing. However, the chicken was really good! It soaked in the sauce quite well, albeit a bit dry.

Praram Vegetables ($16.90)

Steamed green vegetables and round beans topped with Thai Garden's peanut sauce sprinkled with roasted sesame seeds

Don't be fooled by its appearance! This was surprisingly really good (although probably very fatty lmao) since the sauce complemented the veggies very well being sweet, creamy but also a bit savoury for a nice blend of peanut butter. Everyone was fighting for this one hahaha, definitely recommended!

Chilli Basil Noodle ($16.90)

Fresh thick noodles saute with spicy homemade fresh chilli paste, mixed vegetables and Thai basil

No comment on this one since our vegan friend ordered this haha but she said she enjoyed it very much. Here's the photo if you wanted to see it XD

Massaman Curry Chicken ($18.50) (top middle)

Sliced curry chicken breast fillet in medium hot massaman curry, potatoes and onion wedges topped with oven roasted peanuts

I wasn't able to take individual photos since it was inconvenient to stop people from eating just for me to take photos hahaha but the Massaman curry had a surprising presentation in that it looked like a light satay chicken! It wasn't bad but was rather sweet for what it is and didn't taste like the usual curry you would expect. However, it was still quite creamy and nice.

Duck Oh Duck ($18.90) (left)

Shredded boneless duck w/ sliced Granny Smith apple, Thai herbs and mints, lemon chilli dressing, garnished with roasted cashew nuts and crispy fried duck skin

This was actually a pretty nice salad! It was sour but very refreshing and the shredded duck made it a bit more meaty so that meat eaters wouldn't be completely turned off from it. I'm not a salad person but I liked this.

Fried Ice Cream w/ Strawberry sauce

We decided to get dessert as well! Hahaha, this reminded me of my parents' restaurant back in the day lolol except this fried ice cream seemed to have coconut shreds in the fried outside as well which I didn't enjoy. I am not a fan of coconut (although I love lamingtonssss). Otherwise, your regular fried ice cream dose with the store bought sweet strawberry sauce.

Pandan Waffle w/ Vanilla Ice Cream

This was pretty yuumm! The waffle was nice and warm and it had a good deal of pandan flavour from it! Reminded me of those pandan waffles you get in Cabramatta but with lesser coconut shreds in it so I liked it~~ Vanilla ice cream is your basic run of the mill home brand ice cream~

Overall, although I'm not a fan of Thai, I don't think I'd mind eating here again merely because the variety of dishes and the standard across them all is pretty good and so it is a place that I would recommend even if you're not a fan of Thai!

Yasaka Ramen, CBD & Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tarts, CBD

Previously my sister visited Yasaka Ramen (126 Liverpool St, Sydney) in the beginning of 2016 and around December that year as well and she really enjoyed their ramen. So, we decided to visit again after she returned from Japan. When we first entered into the restaurant, for some reason the floor was really slippery (I nearly slipped zz) and when you go upstairs, the air is extremely pungent of ramen and pork making it really difficult to breathe. Tbh, I really didn't want to stay after that because I actually felt quite sick just sitting there lol. Anyway, we stayed and ordered. The restaurant was relatively busy around 6:30pm but we still got a table for 3 and we got our food in around 10 minutes.

Egg Ramen ($14.80)

I decided to just get something basic rather than the kakuni that my sister and brother ordered. I tried the kakuni and alike my siblings, we thought it was extremely sweet but the meat was very tender. As for the chashu, it wasn't really grilled at all and filled with fat rather than a nice balance of meat and fat. When I took a bite, it was just a mouthful of fat and I literally felt quite sick from eating it. The egg was good though, gooey and soft!

The soup base was similar to the chashu, filled with fat sadly. It was also very thick like goo. If we had to compare it to Gumshara, Gumshara has a good fat and is thick because it's filled with the nutrients of pork bones boiled in the soup for a very long time. Whereas, for Yasaka, it tasted like it had all the crappy fat and goo accumulated into the soup making it super oily and sickening. The noodles were also very plastic-ky making it very chewy but in an uncooked way.

Mango Calpis ($4.50)

This was a breath of fresh air from the fatty soup base. It was lightly sweet and very cooling in the restaurant. It was more on the watery side than the calpis side though and that's probably because of the ice and stuff. I liked it but I might have been influenced from the fact that I didn't enjoy my ramen so this was my only salvation lolol.

Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tarts

Chocolate Tart ($4.20)

Since I really love the cheese tarts here (I like them more than Uncle Tetsu!), I thought I'd try out their new chocolate tart. Unfortunately, this way way too nutty for me and the chocolate tasted like hazelnut chocolate as well so it was an overload of a chocolate nut taste, so unless you enjoy that, this is definitely more of a nut tart than a chocolate tart.

Overall, Yasaka was definitely a disappointment and I don't think I'd like to visit again but cheese tarts (not the chocolate tart T_T) are definitely worth it~~

Umaya, Parramatta

Seeing the new Japanese restaurants opening up around Parramatta, I decided to visit Umaya (Shop 5/134-140 Marsden St, Parramatta) and although my bro already told me it wasn't that good and rather expensive, I still thought that I might as well try it. Since we went on a public holiday, it was very empty when we sat down for lunch. The staff were thus rather quick and attentive. The meals come along with side dishes like miso soup and come to around $18 so it's not too expensive but still rather expensive considering other options.

Oyako Don

Simmered chicken, onion  and eggs in Japanese sweet sake and soy sauce

My sister decided to get something different from the katsudon that her fiance and I ordered and so chose this. Although it tasted all right, it wasn't anything special and had a bit more of a stronger mirin taste than the usual ones I've had before. However, it was rather soft and smooth. There was way too much rice though.

Japanese  Katsu Curry Rice

This was probably the best out of our dishes, I stole a bit from my bro and it was quite good! Not too much rice, quite a bit of curry and it was smooth, tasty, a bit spicy with a balanced amount of meat. My brother finished it off rather quickly haha. However, he doesn't think it's worth price of around $18.

Katsu Don Chicken

Deep fried crumbed chicken fillet and eggs simmered in soy sauce and Japanese sweet sake

For me, I saw the photos on Instagram and decided to get the katsudon and honestly, it's one of the most underwhelming katsudon I have. It was very disappointing considering the heavy amount of rice with no sauce on it and the chicken was really tasteless and mushy. The egg was okay but couldn't save the rest of the dish. I'm not a fan of pickle radish and veggies etc so the sides weren't my thing either. The miso soup was quite salty as well.

Overall, I definitely wouldn't recommend this place and agree with my brother that it's rather expensive and the food isn't great either. I was excited for a new Japanese joint to open but this was disappointingly not worth the trip to go to.

Dessert Kitchen, Haymarket

I was supposed to try the ice stream ramen here but my friend and I were really cold and rather full so we got some rather lightweight desserts instead. It's located real close to Market City, like 5 mins away so super convenient to get to! (Shop 1/78 Harbour St, Haymarket) I don't really remember the prices of some besidse the drinks so can't comment much but service was quick, food came in around 10 minutes and my milk tea probably took another 5 minutes after that.

Matcha and Azuki Bean Waffle w/ Green Tea Ice Cream

Although the prices are rather average, the portion size of this one was quite small but I quite like the texture. If you like your eggettes that are crisp on the outside but light and fluffy on the inside (which is kinda my thing), then you'll enjoy this. The azuki was really sweet and seems like canned ones and the matcha ice cream had a strong taste of matcha along with that bitterness in the aftertaste. I don't mind that so it was rather refreshing with the sweetness of the azuki and the plainness of the waffle. Overall, it was a solid basic dessert but nothing outstanding. 

Mango Serradura Pudding & Hong Kong Milk Tea w/ Polar Bear Marshmallow ($6.50)

I didn't and am still quite unsure what a serradura is but it tastes like shaved ice with bread or biscuit combined together to make up this mashed up iced pudding. Not sure if the icy taste to it is because it came from the fridge or because it's a part of the taste but honestly, I didn't like this at all. Lacked real (or any) mango flavour and not a fan of that texture. 

Isn't the milk tea cuteee? I guess that's the highlight of these hot chocolates and milk teas here since there are these cute marshmallows! Honestly. I'm not a fan of marshmallows but they are rather soft and a bit powdery. It melts rather quick though so take a photo quick. Personally, I prefer the milk tea over the hot chocolate since it has a really strong and nice tea flavour to it with a bit of milk and sweetness. It's not too sweet so that was great~ I would recommend it, but it is rather expensive for how small the cup is and there are other places that are better and cheaper.

Hot Chocolate w/ Kitty Marshmallow ($6.50)

So adorableeee! As stated above, cup is very small for the price. As for the taste, I really didn't like it, didn't taste milky or creamy at all, it was more like a hot chocolate made up of mostly water and chocolate, it was quite watery so I wasn't very impressed.

Overall, I think if you're in for the gimmick of the cute marshmallows, then by all means the presentation will not disappoint you but in terms of taste of their desserts, can't really say I'd recommend the ones I tried because they honestly weren't that great besides maybe the eggettes. Maybe I'll try other desserts to see if there are hidden gems but otherwise, nothing special~~

Hong Kong Bing Sutt, Burwood

Knowing that a new HK cafe/restaurant opened quite recently, I decided to venture to Hong Kong Bing Sutt (17 Deane Street, Burwood) with my sister after checking the photos on Instagram (as usual haha).

We went there around 6pm or a bit later and we had to wait for around 15-30 minutes for 3 people~ The atmosphere is really nice in that it kinda looks like a HK cafe you would see in TVB LOL and service was relatively quick to take orders and serve the food. I don't remember the prices but they were fairly average but more on the just a bit more expensive than the average HK cafe scale.

Hong Kong Milk Tea

This seems to be the most popular ordered drink here so we had to try it~ If you like your milk tea with more of a tea taste and slight sweetness to the point where it probably wasn't even sweet at all, then you'll like this. Personally, I didn't mind it but I do enjoy my milk tea more on the sweeter side. I'm not sure how authentic this is to HK milk tea since I've never tried it in HK but people have said it is.

Baked Pork Chop Fried Rice with Tomato Sauce

If you're a fan of this dish, then it won't disappoint you but it won't wow you either. It's a pretty standard and reliable dish but it is definitely more on the tomato-ey side of things and relatively cheesy. If you like a mush of pork, tomato rice and a bit of cheese, you'll probably enjoy it :D

Curry Beef Brisket

This was my favourite of the bunch! It wasn't too spicy and the beef brisket was extremely soft and soaked in the sauce very well. If you're fond of the curry taste but can't take spiciness very well, then this will be perfect~ It was really good with the rice and we literally cleaned up the whole thing! XD

Soft Shell Crab w/ spices

Honestly, I really didn't like this. The spices, the oil and the lack of meat in the soft shell crab made this whole dish felt like eating a pile of shell with weird smelling spices, so I really didn't like this at all and wouldn't recommend it.

Overall, I don't think this restaurant is particularly special considering the long wait time but it is decent that I guess it's worth a try if you're curious. However, it's not somewhere I would recommend or feel the need to return to. The food isn't bad, it's average but nothing outstanding.

The Smelly Cheesecake Cafe, Lidcombe

Mini update on life

It's been two whole months! Apologies for the MIA but I guess I always disappear around this time...and as per usual, it was because of uni. Basically, International Law and Company Law were quite tedious and I had to concentrate on studying, but I didn't stop eating lmao so I have quite a few posts coming up! (around 7~) I even stopped reading manga aiyaa, gotta catch up on that too T_T Next semester will be the last semester of my JD and my sister's wedding will be coming up in December as well, so if I disappear again, forgive me. But I'll try to keep this up somehow, I have some visual novels I would like to recommend after all!

Back to the cafe (17A Joseph St, Lidcombe)! I've been here quite a few times for cake (which I definitely recommend!) and the service is pretty quick and the environment spacious. Great for lunch and dessert but I believe it's more busy in the evening. I'd recommend this place for a nice chill chat with cake lovers~

The Smelly Big Breakfast ($16)

crumbed eggs, butter, avocado, mushrooms, kransky, bacon,  mac and cheese, roasted cherry tomatoes, polenta chips & sourdough

I didn't realise that they had a big breakfast and it's cheaper than other cafes! So, of course I had to go check it out as a big brekkie lover~ The thing that I was most impressed with on his plate would have to be the kransky sausage, I've had so many cheap crappy sausages from other cafes so I was very happy that this was a nicer one! Bacon was pretty crisp but soft as well, which I enjoyed and the bread wasn't too hard. The avocado was mixed with boiled egg or something and was very smooth and fresh, so that was an extra plus! There was only one piece of mushroom but it was juicy and soft!

The crumbed egg is basically a scotch egg and I've never had one before so can't comment much about that but I do prefer my usual scrambled eggs instead of this. Polenta chips were rather weird with the mushy texture that seems like a chip but tastes rather like raw potato or something, it's hard to describe but I didn't like it. Don't like cooked tomatoes so that was a no and the mac & cheese was too creamy for me. Another minus would be that plastic paper under all the food that broke when I was cutting my food and needless to say, I do not enjoy eating random bits of paper/plastic.

Overall, it was a nice brekkie but I only liked half of it so I can't say it was the most enjoyable. To this day, I think the big breakfast at XS Espresso in Wetherill Park is my favourite, it was perrrfect! I might have to try it again to see if it is still my #1 hahaha~

Green Tea Cheesecake (~$7)

This is probably the most popular cheesecake in this shop so I really wanted to try it~  This is probably the most desirable texture I want for a cheesecake. For me, Uncle Tetsu's is too fluffy that it tastes like a cloud and as if I didn't eat anything at all. Whereas, normal cheesecakes are very heavy and although I like it, I'm not the most fond of it. As for this cheesecake, it has the best of both worlds (for me anyway~) It's light and fluffy on top but it still has that creamy cheesecake taste that is dense but not heavy on the bottom. So when you eat it together, voila! It's perfect LOL. Honestly, I don't know how to describe it any better but I'd definitely recommend trying this. It has quite a strong green tea taste accompanied with that slight bitterness though so you might wanna try a different flavour if green tea isn't your thing.

Mango Cheesecake

Same texture as above that I like but mango flavour! More than a sweet taste though, it has that sweet and sour fruity taste to it. I think I would have liked it more if it was sweeter but it was still nice~

White Chocolate Cheesecake

I reallyyy love this one! It's heavier than the other two but it's just so smooth and creamy with a aptly sweet chocolate taste that I can't help but enjoy it. The biscuit crumbs on top add to this without being overly sweet and gives it a nice crunchy addition. It was paired nicely and I really enjoyed it~ I've eaten it twice already hahaha~

Flat White (S $3.50)

Just a photo of this! I've actually never tried a flat white before and I forgot to take a sip of it from my sister haha, think it was average~ She was sad that there was no lactose-free milk though.

Mocha (S $4,20)

My mocha was pretty nice. Nice balance of chocolate and coffee with a light tinge of sweetness. I usually don't like it too sweet or too bitter so this was just right~!

Overall, coffee is not bad and breakfast was okay but the highlight is most definitely the cheesecake! Even if you don't have anything else, you definitely have to try the cake! There's one in Strathfield and Lidcombe so I'd recommend trying one of them~

Haven Tailoring Coffee Joyously, Surry Hills

My sister gave me a voucher to come here (a while ago LOL, such a late post) and so I came along to try the beautiful instagram-worthy egg waffles for my breakfast haha. It's located very near to Central station at 30-34 Chalmers Street, Surry Hills and I didn't need to wait in line on a Friday around 10:30-11am. Service was quick, nice and attentive. Chairs weren't the most comfortable but it was okay haha.

Dragon's Breath

I think that's what it was called, it's been a while so can't remember the name of the drink haha. But, I assume it was the oolong tea with apple and honey. My bad memory can probably be attributed to the fact that it didn't have a strong taste of any of those and was rather watery as time passed. It was more of refreshing subtle blend of everything. A tad sweet but near non-existent, a light and refreshing drink paired well with the sweet egg waffle.

Zucchini Hotcakes w/ Truffle Oil ($16.50)

Green peas & zucchini hotcakes, sugar snap, carrot stir-fry, fresh chilli, feta crumbs, black truffle oil, fluffy yoghurt dressing

Friend really enjoyed this. Especially the zucchini and truffle oil. I ate a bit but was too overwhelmed by the zucchini and dressing that I couldn't take more than two bites. Don't think I like savoury hotcakes with zucchini or corn or whatever.

Tiramisu Egg Waffle ($16.50)

Espresso infused marsala reduction, whipped cream. mascarpone mousse, dark chocolate baked cream, fresh strawberries, classic plain waffle

Waffle was very nice and soft with a bit of chewiness. It paired well with the cream, mousse and baked cream. Didn't like the cocoa lol and strawberries were sour. Wasn't overly into the mousse since it was quite sweet but that dark chocolate cream, although baked was really nice with the waffle.

Nutty Cold Brew ($6)

Friend enjoyed it, I hate bitter stuff so it just tasted like bitter water to me LOL

Overall, really enjoyed the atmosphere and service here. It's so close to Central station as well so that's a plus! I really wanna try the other egg waffles, I think that was the main highlight for me hahaha.

One Tea Lounge & Grill, CBD

Long overdue post as usual~! I went to One Tea Lounge (73 York Street, CBD) for our 20th friendversary and we got a bit lost because someone was blocking the door LOL zz. We also promptly rushed to see Aladdin by riding an uber back to Capitol Theatre hahaha! It was a good day.

As for service, it was swift and prompt. I didn't even need to really book a table since when I went on a Thursday night, there were a few empty tables. I was happy that the food came fast~

Cookie Shots (2 for $16)

Choose cookie (matcha, chocolate brownie, red velvet or taro) + choose beverage (matcha latte, nutella latte, red velvet latte, taro latte)

Chose matcha and chocolate brownie w/ matcha latte. Matcha latte wasn't sweet at all and retained a light bitter taste of matcha that I surprisingly enjoyed. It paired well with the cookie since the cookie has all the sweetness and the latte makes it soft and easier to eat. Quite hard by itself but very nice together! They're smaller than I thought but that's okay~

Matcha Volcano Cheese Sizzle ($25)

Fusion of koshikari sushi matcha rice w/ wagyu beef, stir fry, red radish, egg and matcha cheese on a sizzling hot plate

So good. Totally recommend this. Everything cooked to perfection on sizzling plate. Looks disgusting when mixed but has a good subtle matcha taste with tender wagyu beef that melts in mouth. Such a weird but good fried rice.

Peking Duck Waffle Fries ($17)

w/ housemade spicy hoisin and fried shallots

Too spicy for me but the waffle fries were nicely crisp. A different and interesting dish but not my type.

Popcorn Curry Chicken w/ Matcha Mayo ($11)

Pretty nice, could have been more tender but still good. Didn't really like the curry flavour with the matcha mayo and matcha mayo overpowered everything anyway lol. Tasted a bit more like wasabi mayo instead. All right dish.

Left: Japanese Highballer ($18) a twist on a classic whisky highball. kakubin whisky topped with house-made matcha soda for refreshing & sophisticated edge with notes of apricot, honey & vanilla

Right: Splice up your Life ($18) a green tea twist of the iconic midori splice cocktail that so many love. midori topped with green tea infused pineapple juice finished with a sweet decadent layer of whipped cream. It’s sweet and creamy and the perfect drink for the ladies! (from website)

Left definitely tasted better but right still good. Kinda creamy and sweet whereas the left was just nicely balanced and had a nice mix of everything to make it very sweet and refreshing.

Overall, I think the food is kinda pricey for what it is but still worth a try! I mean, they do have rather interesting things on their menu and I thought there might be a matcha overload, but surprisingly, there wasn't, which I am very glad for hahaha. Atmosphere is nice for a good chat over some matcha themed food.