Sushi Boat - North Sydney (Closed)

Sushi Boat is my favourite sushi train in North Sydney.  I like the variety, freshness of the sashimi and pace of the sushi train.  I'm glad they have simplified things and now most plates are just $3.50.

My favourites always include the seared salmon sushi roll with naughty cream cheese and avocado. I love the contrast of the seared top and the raw bottom of the salmon dipped in a wasabi dominate soy mixture.

I can never resist the seared scallops either! They are juicy, beautifully seared and melt in your mouth.  I love it!  To top off my light lunch, I also choose the plate of Sashimi at $5.80.  It's fresh and delicious. 

There's another sushi train across from the station which is very dear and mostly rice filled sushi.  There's one in Greenwood but is jam packed in the food court and I think the quality is not as good as Sushi Boat.  My top Japanese eats in North Sydney are non-sushi trains at Sakura and for my favourite Sushi boxes, I go to Sushia .

Prices: $3.50 per plate, $5.80 for sashimi plates (I started eating the sashimi before I took the photo)

Taste of Shanghai, Eastwood

Another challenging week at work calls for another visit to my local Taste of Shanghai.

Egg pancake with hoisin sauce. Think crunchy, cripsy textures in a slightly oily bite.  A nice texture to mix with soupy noodles though! The noodles were beautiful and spicy.  I love the noodles! The broth is warm and homely.  And of course who can visit Taste of Shanghai without the soup dumplings - Xiao Long Bao!

Prices: $About 30 all up for three dishes below.

Zha Jiang Noodles in soup

Iron Chef Chinese Restaurant, Cabramatta

 Iron Chef is famous in Cabramatta.  My work colleague who lives in Bondi drives all the way to Cabramatta to eat the infamous crab.  Iron Chef is bustling and full of customers at 11:00AM. I love yum cha and the whole experience of trolleys coming around, stamps on your card and drinking bottomless tea.

I went to Iron Chef for the first time to try their yum cha.  It was a nice experience and the highlights for me were the calamari.  It was perfectly crumbed with a nice sprinkle of chili and spring onion.  The dumplings were good but not a highlight.  I'm not sure if they quite compare to the city restaurants.

When the little cart came around offering up duck pancakes, I couldn't resist. The duck looked and tasted equally amazing.  The duck meat was juicy with tasty glazed skin.  I had a nice chunk of duck which would was very tasty.  The duck pancake would have been perfect if they just cut the duck a more thin to my liking and the cucumber thinner to my liking.

The BBQ pork rice rolls were very generous in filling and very tasty. The rice noodle was very thin though. I would have loved another layer of rice noodle goodness. So tasty. So very tasty.

Check out Iron Chef if you're looking for a yum cha in the west. My other yum cha favourites out west include The Dynasty in Belmore or North West in North Ryde at the Emperor's Table.


Prices: My brunch for two included 6 dishes for $40 with free tea

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The Bowery, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane

For a rustic, wood log cabin vibe with access to foreign beers... come into the Bowery. After a long and hard day in the office; you may want to pop by with some good friends for a sneaky drink.

If you're a fan of pale ale, I can certainly suggest the East India Pale Ale.  It was my preference over the Vintage Coopers and the White Rabbit.  I don't mind the dark ales but it just isn't as refreshing as the pale ales.

I do like the wheat beers too. The sparking wine was bubbly and dry.  This tasty sparking wine was very easy to drink.

Location: 676 Ann St, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Queensland

Din Tai Fung, North Sydney

Xiao Long Bao $5.8

Ding Tai Fung (DTF) is the place for amazing dumplings at a premium price in North Sydney's Greenwood Plaza. Expect to pay more than $20 for lunch but it's worth it for your dumpling hit. Picture the soup filled dumplings that burst into your mouth. A must order at Ding Tai Fung is definitely the Xiao Long Bao (4 pieces for $5.80) dipped in vinegar, soy and chili. It's impossible to stop at 4 dumplings unless you move onto other tasty types.

My second most popular order at Ding Tai Fung are the prawn and pork wontons with spicy sauce (it's a chili but slightly sweet sauce) for $6.80.  The sauce can give you a bit of a chili hit but I can't resist ordering those slinky skinned dumplings with chunks of prawn and pork inside.

Prawn and Pork Wontons in chili sauce $6.8

For a third dimension of texture of naughty cripsy and crunchy, order the fried prawn and pork wontons with mayo sauce. Yum.  For another asian flavour to wash this all down, order the soy bean drink for $3.

Location: Blue st, Greenwood plaza, North Sydney

Price: $22 for the 12 dumplings below and a Soy Bean drink

Tognini's, Spring Hill - Brisbane

If you're staying at the Meriton or the Mantra and you're going to have a massive work day ahead of you then you should have breakfast at Tognini's.  The customer service can be a slight let down as they get busy. I asked for water three times but the food was good and it was just what I needed for the day ahead.

I always order a chai latte to start the day which warms me up.  It was very generous in its tall serving glass and I ordered the poached eggs with toast ($10) with an additional side of half of an avocado ($4). This is my ultimate breakfast. My manager ordered the muesli which looked tasty.

The food on their screens looked amazing so I would be tempted to go back and try the Italian food for dinner. Check it out! I think the current rating of 61% on urbanspoon is probably slightly harsh. I would give them a 70 percentile or so. It was still a decent cafe to eat breakfast in.

Ngoc Duc, Cabramatta

For those who are not familiar with Vietnamese drinks, you must try the sugar cane drink (nước mía) for a refreshing hit at $3.50 at Ngoc Duc which is located on the main strip of John St in Cabramatta.  

If you are looking for something more filling then you could try the strawberry brewed tea with pearls at $3.50.  It tastes like a strawberry milk with a tea twist and the drink becomes surprisingly chewy when those pearls come through the straw.  It's a very sugary drink though.  So take your pick, the sugary cane drink or the sugary tea drinks!

Cabramatta is full of delicious food so naturally you will have a trail of food bloggers. In a small world of coincidence, my fellow food bloggers 'The Random Foodie' and 'Polyphagia' were also in Cabramatta on the Sunday just gone. Come to Cabramatta for food adventures my darlings!