La Casa Ristorante, Russell Lea

La Casa Ristorante has recently relaunched with a new menu. La Casa is an Italian Restaurant with Sicilian roots. So if you are a fan of this kind of food then come by for a visit!! The food is very warm and homely. The kind of food that you really crave especially on a Sunday evening (Carb Fest baby!)

My favourite was the baked pasta (above). I thought it was such a beautifully presented dish and reminded me how delicious baked pasta can be. The perfect baked pasta has the perfect balance of pasta, cheese and at La Casa is beautifully presented.  This dish will be available in the months to come on their winter menu.

Also have you been yearning for pizza? How about a metre long pizza (from $60)? The Pizza base is nice and thin. If you can't eat that much then you can get normal sized pizzas from $19-$25.



There are tonnes of other things to try at La Casa so if you are a local, come and check it out.

Prices: $35-45 per person

Location: 271 Lyons Rd, Russell Lea

Please note: I was invited to the relaunch of La Casa Ristorante as a guest. All words and opinions are my own. I also got the pleasure of meeting Jackie, blogger of "Does my bomb look big in this?" and her eating partner in crime.

The Star Garden Buffet, Pyrmont, Sydney

My mesh plate of mussels, pizza, chips, pasta and pork crackers

Prawns! Are you ready to peel them?

The Star Garden Buffet is great for tourists or perhaps a one time a year visit for Sydney locals. You often see bus loads of Asian tourists making a stop at the Star Garden Buffet. There is such a wide range of food.  A lot of people come for the fresh prawns!

Popular with the kids are an array of pizza, garlic breads and pastas. Chips and the chocolate fountain also seem to be very popular. The pizza bases are very thin and the choices have a good variety.

Below was a thai curry option (rice is off to the side) and fish fillets. You can also make your own Tom Yum Soup and top with your own toppings. It was a good mesh of Asian fusion type dishes.

For a more modern Australian feel, you may opt for the roast type dishes which had options of chicken, carvery type meats such as beef and don't forget your roast vegetables. My favourite in dessert is ice cream from the machine topped with chocolate sauce, followed by some sneaky pieces of fruit dipped in the chocolate fountain. For fans of cakes and chocolate mousse, you will have some options too.

All the food is cooked well and considering this is mass production of food, I quite like the Star Garden Buffet. I'd only say it's a once a year visit though because of the great competition in Sydney when it comes to food!!

STANDARD PRICESBreakfast: $34.90, Child: $17.90
Lunch: Mon-Fri $33.90, Sat-Sun $39.90, Child: $17.90​
Dinner: Mon-Thur $40.90, Sat-Sun $46.90, Child: $17.90

Don't wear thongs (Flip Flops) or you won't be able to enter the Star. 

Location: 80 Pyrmont St, Pyrmont. 

Mad Feed, North Sydney

The Mad Feed is incredibly popular for lunch in North Sydney. Also known as the Mad Greek, it has an extensive menu (below) of all sorts of meals, all for $10.

The like rate of 86% on Urbanspoon is well deserved. I would only suggest you get there a touch before noon to avoid a long queue of hungry North Sydney workers.

All the food is mass produced and then is collated on plates as the long queue progresses. The game of Mad Feed is generous portions, prepared quickly and getting as many customers through as possible. 

The lamb souvaki (above, $10) comes with two lamb skewers, salad, potato and soft tortilla-like bread. It's delicious and a perfect meal to share for two women with average appetites. The meat has been well cooked but can sometimes be a bit dry. 

For a slightly lighter meal, you may opt for the Calamari ($10) with your choice of two sides. I choose potatoes and salad. This is all complemented with a side of aioli. 

I've also tried the chicken souvaki (above). I prefer the lamb but variety is the spice of life. I find that chicken tends to try be more dry than lamb.

The roast pork is very homely with gravy and a side of salad and vegetables (above). The chili beef is a generous serve of beef on a bed of salad below and my work colleague often asks for a tortilla bread (additional $1) to carb up the meal.

A cheap and cheerful place for lunch. Get in early!!

Prices: $10 per meal

Location: in the forum, 155 Miller St. Entrance is also available via stairs across from Berry Square Office Works.

Taste of Sydney Festival

The Taste of Sydney 2015 took place over 12th to 15th March. 24,000 people attended the event which took place in Centennial park checking out the pop up bars, food, master classes, demonstrations and live music.

Many of the headliners were the very popular including Sake, Otto Ristorante, 4fourteen, Porteno, Jonahs just to name a few. It's an opportunity to sample finer foods but come ready with money to spend on tokens because you could easily walk away spending $100 or more plus entry which is about $30. Get public transport as parking is a bit tough.

Everything was simply devine. Check it out

Here was my adventure:

From the Urban Purveyor Group, the Wagyu Beef Gyoza $8 for 3 Gyozas and the Texas Styled Smoked Pork Belly for $10.

Skewer from Movida below

Chef preparing the Purple Potato Gnocchi from Popolo with mixed mushrooms, chili, pinenuts and salted dried ricotta at $12 (Chef above, gnocchi below).

Cooking demonstration anyone?

Delightful mustards from Maille. I also got a taste of their prestigious truffle mustard. Below is the
Keskul - pistachio and almond pudding pomegranate and vanilla pashmak from Efendy.

Delicious pork with red cabbage below. What a day! All the dishes were delicious and very enjoyable to eat. I could easily go broke going to this festival.

Note: I obtained complimentary entry. All food was purchased and photos, opinions are my own.

The Vietnamese Eatery, Bankstown

Australian Vietnamese locals will often cite Cabramatta or Bankstown as the best suburbs for value, authentic Vietnamese meals. The Vietnamese Eatery is often bustling with a restaurant full of customers and amazing food that looks fresh and delicious. Expect lots of dishes full of fresh herbs and greens!  The dishes I ordered were perfect to share!

The platter above is accompanied with rice paper. You soak the rice paper and wait 30 seconds as the paper softens. You then grab some of the fresh herbs, vermicelli noodles, radished carrot, cucumber, pork meat and crispy stick and roll away.  If you are looking for tips on how to roll.. check out this video.

The rice cake dish (below) is absolutely beautiful! The rice cake dish called "Bánh Bèo" in vietnamese are steamed rice cakes with crunch bits, shallot, pieces of pork roll also known as "Chả lụa" and radished carrot. You pour a fish based sauce over the rice cakes and share with your fellow diners. 

The Spring Rolls are served with plenty of herbs and radished carrots. They are a regular favourite that everyone enjoys. I'd suggest you get a lettuce leaf to wrap around the spring roll and then dip in the sauce.

A regular favourite for me is the savoury Vietnamese pancake (named Bánh xèo in Vietnamese). A bright yellow crunchy bits which hides pieces of pork, bean sprouts and the rare prawn. I suggest you put the pancake into the ricepaper into a roll. It's my absolute favourite!

I really enjoyed my meal at The Vietnamese Eatery and definitely suggest you come along for the food. Point if you have any language barriers but the Viet staff are very friendly.

Prices: $10-15 per person

Location: 1/324 Chapel St, Bankstown

Brewtown Newtown, Newtown

Holla! Brewtown Newtown one of the most blogged cafes in Sydney has drawn me back to experience what breakfast has to offer and a sneaky Cruffin (Cross breed of a muffin and croissant). Your breakfast options vary from $8.50 to $16.50 as per the menu pictured below.

For those who haven't been to Brewtown Newtown, it's about a 5 minute walk from the station off King st on O'Connell St. There's normally a bit of a queue outside unless you get there early. They are very well known for their cronuts (which are called brewnuts) so you should definitely order a glazed brewnut if it's your first time!

For breakfast, I ordered the baked polenta (above) with poached eggs, walnuts, tomato and goats cheese ($16). It was a very homely cooked meal. I found the polenta a bit heavy and bland but I do have a natural bias against large amounts of polenta. Everything was seasoned well with big tomato flavours.

I much preferred the Salmon with cous cous, greens and topped with a poached egg. There were small chunks of smoked salmon in this risotto like breakfast ($16.50). Both dishes would be great for brunch.  I thought Breakfast was lovely! I'm not sure if any breakfast is worth a long queue (because you're always so hungry in the morning) but definitely give it a go if you are awake early enough.

Skip the queues instead and grab a brewnut (cronut) or cruffin (cross between muffin and croissant) from the pop up store upstairs or by the coffee machine in Brewtown Newtown. This cruffin below was a caramelised popcorn themed. I prefer brewnuts but this creation was beautiful. Give it a go!

Prices: Breakfast for $16ish, $6ish for Brewnuts or Cronuts

Location: 6-8 Connell St, Newtown

Cow and the Moon Artisan Gelato, Enmore

Cow and Moon Artisan Gelato is a family run business which has the goods when it comes to gelato. The best in the world actually. A few weeks after Cow and Moon Artisan Gelato won the best gelato in the world at the Gelato World Tour Title in Rimini, Italy; I was eager to try the gelato but was terribly turned off by the massive crowds. 

The award winning, best gelato in the world is a recreation of the classic affogato. This award winning gelato combined caramelised almonds (From Italy apparently) with roasted coffee shots on a Madagascan Vanilla base gelato. Now that the hype is now over, I jumped at the chance and tried the Almond Affogato. 

I can definitely see the magic that is the Cow and Moon. The award winning Affogato is creamy, with delicious and strong flavours of caramel and more subtle flavours of coffee. I also tried the berry flavoured ice cream which was creamy and delicious. A great time to enjoy life and ice cream.

Prices: from $4.5 to $ 7.4

Updated: I came back here recently at 7:30pm in late 2015 and it was less crowded! There were still about 10 people in the queue though.

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