Viet's Pho, North Sydney

Viet's Pho is located in the Eatery Forum in North Sydney on Miller st.  I've come here a few times and tried their vietnamese rolls (chicken is my preference). On this occasion, I ordered the spring roll, vermicelli salad for $10. 

The spring rolls were crunchy and plentiful at the top. The ratio of vermicelli to bean sprouts was not quite right with a large dose of bean sprouts dominating the dish compared to a small handful noodles. 

Prices: About $10

Location: In the forum on Miller st, 155 Miller st, North Sydney

Night Noodle Markets, Sydney, 2014 Part 1

The annual Sydney Noodle Markets are on in Hyde park in Sydney as part of SMH's Good Food Month from October 10 to 26th. Last year's highlight attraction at the Noodle Markets was the Ramen Burger. This year, I thought I would give the new Woofy's "pad thai" hot dog a go at $9.  Pictured above is the pork hot dog topped with vermicelli noodles, peanuts, onion flakes and coriander. There is a satay spread which is lightly spread to the sides. This hot dog is in dire need of a sauce. It was a hot dog which was a bit different but I don't think it matches the hype and deliciousness of the Ramen Burger.  

I also tried the $6 satay chicken roll from Chinta Ria.. Temple of Love (pictured below) which was full of satay chicken, cucumber and topped with more satay sauce.  It was a nice chicken roll.  The satay could be a touch more spicy. A more for value roll for you satay lovers.  Stay tuned for more Noodle Market adventures.

Prices: Most main dishes are about $12-$15

Location: Enter via Corner of Park and Elizabeth st or Market and Elizabeth streets, Sydney. If you are looking for the Ramen Burger from Ramen On then enter via Park St and Elizabeth St entrance.

Opening hours: 

Mon – Tue 5pm – 9pm
Wednesday 5pm – 10pm
Thursday - Fri 5pm – 11pm
Saturday 4pm-10pm
Sunday 4pm – 9pm

Chef's Gallery, Sydney City

Chef's Gallery is clean Chinese with an edge. There are some things on the menu which are very unique.

The very popular Macanese Style Mini Burgers (above) at $15.90 was very different. It was filled with a pork fillet, pork floss, lettuce with a sweet chilli mayo dressing on a sweet bun on a bed of sprouts. It was an intense deep fried bite into crunchy but sweet goodness. You should definitely try it.

The chicken and basil dumplings (below) at $10.90 look like mini brains. The dumpling skin is thin so you can really taste the chicken and basil filling. The sauce was not bad but may be better eaten without the sauce.

I absolutely love hand made noodles. I loved these hand made thick noodles which were wok fried with shredded pork, Chinese cabbage with black fungus, carrot and egg pieces at $15.90.  There wasn't much pork to be honest but I loved the noodles.

Below are the steamed pork buns at $5.90. They don't look like your traditional pork buns but the inside flavouring will bring you back to traditional roots. Delicious!

Prices: About $25-30 per head

Location: 501 George St, enter on Bathurst St.  Get there early for a seat. 

Brewtown, Newtown

Brewtown in Newtown is profound. Brewtown from the outside looks like a massive queue to a big department sale. There are lots of people waiting with desperation in their eyes.

They are willing to wait for the delicious goodies within Brewtown. The Brewnuts (same same as cronuts which are a cross breed between a crossiant and a donut ) are what most people are after.  However some are also waiting for the Cruffins (Croissant crossed with a muffin).

For those who do not want to wait. You can get take away from downstairs or upstairs in the pop up store.

The Cruffins are $6 in the pop up store upstairs and come in three flavours of Rocky Road, Orange Blossom and Nutella Crunch.

The Brewnuts (same same cronuts) vary from $4.50 to $6.00. The tempting options to me were the glazed brewnut and the chocolate crunch brewnut. See the photo below for all the options.

I opted to get away and with a short stroll to the nearby park, I was ready to consume my Cruffin - Rocky Road (above) and my glazed brewnut (below).  The Cruffin was oozing of chocolate and other goodies, with layers soft flakey pastry at the top and mostly in the middle (the good qualities of a croissant with moist cakey bits (the best qualities of a muffin) at the bottom and in the middle. It was a very rich chocolatey treat.  A big thumbs up for you dessert / sweet tooth fans.

My preference was the glazed cronut, which steals the best bits of a Krispy Kreme glazed donut but feels like a much lighter experience.  As you bite into the Brewnut, it's light, fluffy but full of that krispy kreme donut taste. It's hard to describe but if I had to choose one word it would be heavenly.

Another popular Newtown cafe, get there early, be really patient or get take away!

Prices: Approximately $6 per pastry

Location: 6 O'Connell St, Newtown (beware of nearby bins on the street)

Chat Thai, Pitt St Food Court

A lot of people say that Chai Thai is the best Thai in Sydney.  This is probably why the chains have been so widely popular and successful.  Whether this is the best Thai in Sydney is debatable but what I can agree with is that I do like eating at Chai Thai.

I stopped by at their new Westfield chain in the bottom of the Pitt St Food Court.  I ordered the Beef Pad Thai ($12.50) and also a soy bean milk drink ($3.50).  I really wanted the prawn pad thai but wasn't willing to pay the extra $5 for it.

The Pad Thai was really tasty.  I love the sides of sugar, chili and crushed peanuts that you can mix in with the noodles. You can control the right flavours of sweetness, chili and peanut taste! The noodles are perfectly cooked and flavoured and there are just enough bean sprouts for that difference in texture.  The soy bean drink was milky, sweet and provided relief from the chili. It was the perfect combination!

Prices: $13ish for a main

Location: Bottom of Pitt St food court, Westfields Sydney

Ko & Co Soju Bar, Surry Hills

 Korean and Mexican food with alcohol. Have you tried this mix? At Ko & Co Soju Bar, you must prepare for the fushion fun of Mexic-ean or Korea-ican food.

Located towards the Central Side of Surry Hills, on a Thursday night I was told it was happy hour 2 for 1 cocktails at Ko & Co Soju Bar.

(left) Complimentary corn chips side by side Asian cutlery.

 The cocktails (left) were the Batanga which had Mezcal, coca cola, Mccol Cola and lime which is Ko & Co's take on the Don Javiet Delgado Corona's best known creation.

The right cocktail was the Yuzu Margarita which had tequila and honey Yuzu tea shaken with lime juice.

Yummo

The Ko & Co Soju Bar is quite small. The space had tables and stools with smaller crate-like tables on the edges of the room.  The feature wall is beautiful with a picture of a fierce lion.

With a small bar menu, if you are in a group, I suggest ordering everything!

 Tacos options include Spicy Pork Belly, Beef Short Rib, Korean Fried Chicken or Spicy Mushroom at $6 each.  They were nice.  I love El Loco's Tacos though! The fusion of Korean and Mexican flavours surprisingly worked.

The Bibimbap Burritos at $12 were good. Imagine a Korean rice bowl with mixed vegetables, fried egg and gochujang (chili korean sauce) with chili oil wrapped in a flour tortilla with your choice of protein (Pork Belly, Beef Short Rib, Korean Fried Chicken or Spicy Mushroom). A more filling choice than the other options.

The highlight for me were the sliders (2 for $12), the beef short rib slider was amazing! The spicy pork belly slider was very tasty as well. If you only have so much stomach room, make sure you order these - particularly the beef short rib slider!!! The meat was so succulent and the flavours were magical.

The Kim Chi Chips were tasty too at $9.  Another choice I'd probably choose if I had to shortlist my choices. There were french fries, topped with 'westernised' kim chi, cheese and salsa. It's hard to beat cheesey fries.

"Not" Jake jokingly said the Korean Fried Chicken ($15) was like heroin. I'm not sure I agree. It was good and this would be a good dish to share but the sliders were closer to heroin! Served with sides of kim chi mayo and the pickled cabbage the Korean Fried Chicken was a solid dish.  It's hard to beat fried bits of chicken.

Another safe bet is the Quesadilla, toasted tortilla bread with your option of kim chi at $10 or chicken at $12 melted with cheese.

Love this place overall, something new, funky fresh, Korean, Mexican and Booze. Wowzer.

Price: Sharing a few dishes will set you back maybe $15 to 20. Drinks are great if you catch the happy hour

Location: 6 Hunt St, Surry Hills.  Towards Central way!

Ippudo, Central Park, Sydney CBD

Ippudo in Westfield CBD is very popular but the new Ippudo restaurant in Central Park on Broadway has some very exciting new menu items that Westfield does not have.  There are just some things you can't get at Westfield Ippudo!

The ambiance has a very familiar Ippudo vibe, though adds a touch of class with a breathtaking feature wall of white soup spoons contrasting against the black Ippudo name - elegant and modern.

The Seared Salmon Sushi ($13, below) were quite generous portions of fresh salmon and creamy avocado wrapped around a bed of rice with tasty mentai sauce on top. The sauce was perhaps a tad too generous and overpowered the gorgeous salmon but it was still the absolute highlight dish of the night. 

Ippudo's Japanese interpretation of fish and chips was very unique (below).The fried salmon fillet with chunky chips and fried egg had two new sauces - spicy ketchup and a sour cream mayo. The spicy ketchup packed a solid flavoursome punch, and the sour cream mayo a moreish depth - this duo was sensational when mixed together! You must try this!!!!! 

Ippudo offer a choice of noodles in soft, medium and hard. The below picture is of the special miso tonkotsu ramen in medium noodles ($25).  The ramen had flavoured egg, simmered pork belly, roasted seaweed, fungi strips, bamboo shoots and spring onions. 

The special ramen (super sized) means you are pretty much ordering all you can eat ramen and will eat like a king! You will receive your ramen served with a separate plate containing a rather generous combination of extra condiments, that if you added all to your bowl, you will have to dig deep to discover your precious ramen noodles.  

The Akamaru Ramen (above) was exceptionally tasty! Between the wavy medium noodles and the straight hard noodles which had a bit more al dente bite - it was a hard choice. 

All in all, Ippudo Central Park has retained much of its signature menu, friendly service and ambience. What it also brings to the table is a bit more of a classy interior and really interesting new side dishes that's definitely going to tempt your tastebuds!

Really enjoyed the new menu, and look forward to visiting again to try a few more new dishes.  My most recent Ippudo experience was dramatically and significantly more awesome than my last experience.

Opens: Ippudo's second Sydney restaurant at Central Park opens on 2nd October 2014.

Location: Level 1 RB07, 28 Broadway, Chippendale NSW 2008

Note: Please note I dined as a guest of Ippudo. Thanks to Sana, Marketing Manager and also my mysterious ghost writer who wrote the majority of this post.  She's very good at eating.