Sweet City

After our gastronomic feast in Jasmin 1, we visit the next door for dessert.



Mountains of baklava awaiting for us. Baklava is a type of rich middle eastern dessert, made of many thin layers of filo pastries filled with nuts, either pistachio, cashew or walnuts, sweetened with sugar syrup or honey, often infused with rose water.


All baklava sold at $14 per kilo



Sweet city also offer huge range of other Lebanese sweets such as various mamouls, ice-creams....which I shall blog in future. Right now, we're all for baklava!


7 Baklava $4

We bought 3 pistachio and 4 cashew baklava



oh Yum!!

Din Tai Fung

So the news is that after landed in Taiwan, Japan, China, Singapore, Indonesia, Korea, US and Malaysia, Din Tai Fung have arrived in Australia! The history and their specialty can be found in here, apparently, they're very famous!

I've never heard of the name before, but everyone that have been to their chain in Singapore, Malaysia or Taiwan have prise them. So, we decided it's time to go and try it out ourselves.

The first time when we decide to go, the queue was too long and we just don't have the patient and took off. ( apparently, this does not apply when queueing for sushi! ).

After that, it was months before we attempt to try again, and this time, we went there with a group of 15 friends, and we book for an early dinner, which makes it easier for us to get a table because there are special big table reserve for such huge group.

When we arrive at about 6, there are a lot of people queueing to get a table already, but when we told the waitress that we have a group of 15, we were immediately invited inside. The only condition was that we have to finish our dishes before 8 because another big group of guests are coming at 8. Though, i do not understand what power they pull to get a reservation since they don't normally took reservation on weekend! But, we assure them that we can finish before 8 if they can have their dishes out fast enough!



Cold Appetizer (glass noodle, seaweed, been curd dress in Asian vinaigrette)


As this chain originate from Taiwan, so most of their dishes are famous Taiwanese dishes.
Taiwanese is obsess with street food, so almost all of their dishes are small/side dishes. Din Tai Fung is also famous for their Siaw Long Bao. Saiw Long Bao is not like the normal bun that we encounter from Asian bakery or Yum Cha, in fact, it's more like a soup dumpling. It have the same skin of the dumpling, but when bite into it, it'll have the bursting of soup into your mouth. Quite addictive to eat, in fact, it's impossible to stop at just 1. I must shamelessly admit that i could finish the whole steamer basket myself, or even 2 !!




Drunken Chicken

We decided that we'll each order one main each, and share the small/side dishes. The small/side dishes that caught our attention were drunken chicken, century egg with tofu and shredded pork, shrimp and pork wonton with spicy vinaigrette, stir fry garlic shoots with prawns, shrimp and pork parcel ( Sao Mai )and their famous steam crabmeat and pork siaw long pao.
Because of the gossip to catch up, I didn't notice what everyone else were ordering. Me and husband however, decided that we should share a Za Jiang La Mien, which is handmade noodle with pork and spicy bean sauce.


Century Egg with Tofu and shredded Pork

The dishes as promised, came out rather quickly, and almost all together. Which is a good thing because everyone pretty much got their food together, save the hassle of food being left cold for those who felt embarrassed to consume first.
But be warned, their side/small dishes are really tiny portion! In fact, when the appetizer came, it was sized like it should be a complimentary dish. We think it's rather expensive, but it was nevertheless, very delicious, cold and tangy, very appetizing indeed.
Next up was the drunken chicken, also, in very tiny portion, was rather disappointing. The chicken was cold, ( i didn't expect it to be a cold dish ), and overpower by the wine.
The century egg with tofu and shredded pork was really nice. It's ironic but the century egg was really fresh, and the shredded pork add texture to the smooth tofu. Yum!
Another good side dish was the stir fry garlic shoots with prawns. I really like the crunch of the garlic shoots, and the prawns are plum and juicy.
The shrimp and pork wonton arrived rather unimpressively, about 8 wonton swimming in a big pool of black vinaigrette. However, it was tasty enough.




Stir Fry Garlic Shoots with Prawns



Shrimp and Pork Wonton witn spicy Vinaigrette

We're all very excited when the waiters arrived with baskets after baskets of xiao long bao. This is their house specialty, so we had very high expectation with them. All the xiao long bao arrived in their steaming basket, and looking smokingly impressive. The skin of the xiao long bao were perfect, not too thick and yet thin enough that there were no breakage. I was too eager to try them, i burnt my tongue when the hot soup burst upon first bite. Hence, my advice for eating these little babies is to be patient. The flavour of these xiao long bao is also very good, we can actually taste the crab meat in them. In fact, it was so good we end up re-order another 2 baskets.
The Ooh and Aahs became louder when the shrimp and pork parcel arrived, in their steaming basket of course. Theses are also called sao mai in Mandarin, but it's no ordinary boring looking sao mai that you got from yam cha, these little babies are tall and elegant, shaped like a vase, and top with a small juicy prawns. They are very delicious, as well as very pricey. I think it was priced at $9.80 per basket ( 4 sao mai per basket ).

Steam Crabmeat and Pork Xiao Long Bao

Shrimp and Pork Parcel (Sao Mai )

Za Jiang La Mien

The Zha Jiang La Mien that was shared between me and husband were OK. I've tested better one before. I think the sauce was quite bland, but the handmade noodle was good. Others that had noodle dishes as mains such as Dan Dan Noodle or Wonton Noodle soup...tend to agree with me that their handmade noodle were very good, but otherwise, quite ordinary.

Their fried rice dishes however, got rave review from many. I got to taste some and it was indeed fabulous. It was fragrance, with a distinctive egg aroma. Fried rice dishes either came in plain, or with chicken cutlet. I was lucky enough to share the chicken cutlet with a friend, it was so good. The cutlet was deep fried to golden, and the crunch when biting into them makes me ask for more!

Fried Rice with Egg and Prawns

Fried Rice with Chicken Cutlet

Din Tai Fung is also very famous for their dessert, their shave ice were really good, but because of some miscommunication, we didn't order any! Also because we need to finish our meals in 1 hour time, so we didn't bother to re-order them. Despite that, we manage to try some in house Taro ice-cream, mango pudding and the golden red bean bread.

My favourite among the 3 will be the golden red bean bread, i think that's because i love all thing crunchy!

Taro Ice-cream with red beans


Mango Pudding


Golden Red Bean Bread with Sesame seeds

We left with a big bill of $450, and still wanting a bit more.

It's quite an upclass restaurant for cheap street food like Xiao Long Bao. However, it's worth the trip if you want to impress your guest and introduce them to Xiao Long Bao for the first time. The ambiance of the restaurant is really presentable, and there's even is a "transparent" kitchen, where one can enjoy the whole making of Xiao Long Bao. But for people like me who just like to enjoy good food with good value, I'm sure there are more "down to earth " places to enjoy these little soup dumpling!

Din Tai Fung

World Square Shopping Centre

644 George St, Sydney

Tel: 02-92646010

Sushi Bar Makoto

Everyone know, I'm a big sushi lover! I'll travel for good sushi, I'll pay for fresh sushi, I'll photograph creative sushi, I'll stand in the rain and queue for a perfect sushi, I'll gain weight for special sushi, but, I'll also loose my temper over bad sushi!! I've tried a lot of sushi in Sydney CBD and surround, but nothing can beat the sushi at Makoto. Their sushi is always fresh, and the chef is also very creative and there are always new sushi, new flavours everytime we visit. The only downside to dine in Makoto is that I always come home heavier and my wallet, lighter!

I'm still waiting for one day, there will be a thing call all you can eat sushi train! ( I've tried the all you can eat Japanese buffet at Yutaka, but sushi is not a main theme there, and i haven't return since! )

In Makoto, the price of each sushi is according to the colour of the plate, it's very standard sushi train style. We discover that most of the colour plates circling around the conveyor belt were blue and red. More exotic sushi will be placed on a black colour plate, and more simple one will be place on the cheaper colour plate ( light yellow ). A La Carte and handroll menu also available.



We almost always have to queue for at least 10 mins before there are seats available. ( Sydney siders do know their sushi! ). During winter time, there are also free hot green teas available for us, who queue outside the bar waiting to be seated. Just for the records, the longest we've been waiting on queue is about 30 mins! But it's well worth it, and I'll let the pics do all the talking!


Squid Roll stuff with rice


Fried Fish of the day ( Kisu )


Takoyaki ( Octopus Ball )



Grilled Salmon



Abalone Ship


Handroll : Omelet of Scallop


Handroll : Tasmania ( Salmon, Salmon Roe, Scallop )


Handroll: Chicken Teriyaki


Salmon Lover


Dolphin Roll ( Tuna sushi top with prawn )


Seaweed Ship


Unagi ( Sweet bean curd skin with rice )


Mackerel


Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab in Vinaigrette


Squid with roe


Rainbow Roll ( Vegetarian roll of beetroots, carrots, pickles, cucumber and flakes of seaweed )



Ark Shell


Grilled Cheese Chicken Roll


Salmon Kara age


Greentea Cheesecake


Greentea Mousse


Duo of Ice-cream ( Greentea and Black Sesame )

Makoto Sushi Bar

119 Liverpool Street (Cnr, Pitt & Liverpool St.)Sydney 2000

Opening Time:Monday to Friday: (Lunch) 11:30-14:30, (Dinner) 17:30-22:00

Saturday&Sunday: (Lunch) 12:00-15:00, (Dinner) 17:30-22:00

Jelly Fish

JellyFish cafe Manly is located directly opposite the beach at North Steyne.
It is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We went there for a romantic dinner in a cold, stormy night. There were free,off street parking directly opposite the restaurant, and we brave the rain and wild wind, dashing into the little charming restaurant.




Jellyfish live up to it's name and location. The entire restaurant was decorated with very simple, yet chic oceanic theme, with sandy and light blue as the main colour. There are also white seashells, and lot's of candle throughout the whole restaurant. It was very warm and comfortable in here,and for a moment, we forget that it was actually pouring heavily outside.
We were being seated immediately, and drinks menu were offered.
While husband was eager to drink something, i was happy with the just the water offered.


Mix Berry Frappe ($5)

It was just after 6pm, and people are slowly filling in those empty table around us. Mainly couples. There were only 2 large group of guests insight, 1 group was obviously celebrating a hens' night, with 10 moderately loud ladies, having a good time, and the other group seems to be a very low key wedding dinner, consist of mainly family members of about 10, including 2 children. The restaurant was almost full by the time the drink arrive, but the ambiance is still fairly quiet and intimate. Conversation can be easily made, and our privacy is being respected too.
The mix berry frappe arrive in an unattractive glass, with a straw. But sipping the thick berries blended with crush ice, send happiness into our spine, and who minds the glass?!


Seafood Testing plate ($32)
front to back : deep fried softshell crab with Asian Herb and bbq lemon, grilled kingfish fillet, Seared trio of scallops on bead of green salad with tangy dressing and pan fried Atlantic salmon fillet top with salsa Verde.

The dinner menu was offered, and the excitement begins.
Husband was craving for thick slices of sourdough dipped in flavoured olive oil, so we choose the sourdough to start. I wasn't into the whole oil dipping business, and decided that we could also order an entree to share. After careful choosing, we both agree to try their salt and pepper squid with chili, lime and coriander.
Despite their oceanic theme restaurant, located by the beach, and being named JellyFish, their signature dish is actually lamb!! It's even stated in their menu that it's a house specialty for over 20 years! How ironic, and how exciting for a lamb lover like husband.
On the other hand, i opt for the seafood testing plates, which consist of 4 entree size of seafood dish.


seafood testing plate: Atlantic salmon, scallops, kingfish and softshell crab

We waited for a good 20 mins and nothing arrive, not even the sourdough. Finally, just before i was about to ask them about our orders, the seafood testing plate arrive. It was a serve in a glorious longish plate, with 4 good sized seafood dish. Before i could take a pic, the lamb and squid arrive together. I guess, the waiter must be mistakenly assume that we were to share the seafood testing plate, as he re-arrange the seafood testing plate in the middle, and place the squid infront of me. So be it. After extensive photos taking, we realise the bread was never going to come, but with so many food infront of us, we decided to leave it, and ready to dig in.


Salt and Pepper Squid with Chili, Lime and Coriander ($17)

The squid is tender and juicy, with great flavour.
There are actually 3 pieces of deep fried softshell crabs, they are fried to perfection, with a crispy crunch, and surprisingly meaty and juicy inside. More often i find myself encounter with very dry softshell crabs which are mainly shells than crabs. But these were good value. The kingfish was sweet and tender, scallop was just lightly seared and and incredibly fresh. My fav of all the seafood was no doubt the Atlantic salmon fillet. The skin was pan friend to crips, and yet the flesh was still raw and pink, it was absolutely delicious, pairing with the salsa Verde.


BBQ backstrap of lamb with asparagus, roasted eschallots & garlic, red wine eschallots reduction and a spring of rosemary ($27.50)

While husband enjoy my share of seafood selection, he is totally blown way by this signature lamb. It was so soft and tender that it fall off the bone. Every mouthful is of euphoric effect. I can't stomach lamb so i let him enjoy the whole dish but i did nip on the eschallots and red wine reduction, it was indeed, very good. In fact, good was such an understatement that we order the sourdough that was never arrived again, to mop up all the juices.


Sticky fig pudding with a vanilla toffee sauce, garnished with a balsamic
fig & vanilla ice cream. ($12.00)

It was still raining heavily outside when the last drop of juice was devoured.
We're in no hurry to leave, so we decided that we could still do with dessert. ( Who couldn't?)
We're happy to share the fig pudding, and i ask if they could give me chocolate ice-cream instead of vanilla. Unfortunately, they don't have chocolate ice-cream, but they can drizzle chocolate sauce on it instead. I figure i will survive, and the dessert came less than 5 mins later.
The fig pudding was just about the right size, warm, and fragrance, top with vanilla ice-cream with the promised chocolate sauce, and the whole pudding was soak in sweet, sticky toffee sauce.
It's a very sweet way to end an incredibly sweet night.


JellyFish Cafe Manly
Shop 5
93-95 North Steyne
Manly 2095 Australia

e: jellyfishmanly@optusnet.com.au
t: 02 99774555
f: 02 99775400