The Vogue Cafe

The power of social media, honestly, was what introduced us to this cafe. Tucked in a corner near the Level 2 carpark is The Vogue Cafe, first brought to my attention by my flatmate who showed me a photo of a really outrageous looking drink on Instagram.

We chose a weekend to have a flatmate day out to try these fancy drinks. Our verdict was that the milkshake ones were like a meal on their own, the juice ones were more refreshing and would go better with dishes if planning to have a meal.

Like this glass/jar of chocolate-rimmed shake - there was nutella, passionfruit and macadamia nuts, so by the end of this, there was no need to eat.

The sugar-rimmed old-fashioned lemonade and raspberry quencher, on the other hand, were refreshing combinations to go with meals.

And of course, they do coffee there, too. I prefer their juices to their coffees, but that's just me.

Each time I visit them, I try to order different things on the menu. So far, I have only had things from their breakfast menu, like this fruity french toast topped with berry compote and greek yoghurt. Because it is overflowing with lots of compote, there is a need to eat it quickly because it would be soggy otherwise.

There is the simple TVC mix up, their creamy scrambled eggs tossed with feta and basil served on toasted linseed sourdough.

The benny dict has two poached eggs, hollandaise sauce, a sprinkle of chives served on a cibatta bread with ham and smoked salmon.

The TVC big brekky is made up of two eggs, grilled bacon rasher, grilled tomato, sautéed mushrooms, sausage, hash brown and baguette. Nat had to add quite a bit of salt so I am guessing that it was not flavourful enough.

And when a cafe has outrageous drinks, it is only apt that they match those drinks with outrageous dessert. Elaborately dressed cronuts, anyone?

The Vogue Cafe
Shop 68 Level 2, Macquarie Shopping Centre, North Ryde, NSW 2113, Australia
Tel: +61 2 9887 2570, Mob: +61 414 440 009
Daily 7:30am to 5:00pm (9:00pm on Thursday)

Moon Park

Fusion fare can be a hit and miss but reviews for Moon Park have been mostly positive. I suppose when one half of the culinary couple is Korean and the other Australian, the fusion would be pretty authentic, would it not? Well, to find out what their food was like, we had to go to try it ourselves.

This was a while back so their current menu is a different one (apologies for the super delayed sharing of this meal).

While waiting for food to be served, we chilled over some choya and munched on some nuts...

First off was the cucumber kimchi with fresh nashi and perilla. XW being the cucumber freak, loved this dish. The kimchi, apparently, was the Korean half's grandmother's recipe.

When I saw the word "ddokbeokki" on the menu, I had to include it in our order. I know we are not on the streets of Korea but hey, nothing could go wrong with deep fried rice cakes with gochujang and peanuts. I could have two plates to myself!

Spanner crab and black garlic on seed biscuit was sized to be just right for one mouthful. I loved the combination of flavours, especially the biscuit.

There was a plate of Spanish breakfast kimbap, which we thought was nice. Not wow, awesome nice but just nice.

The bossam of pork belly, anchovy and pickled celery had us all scratching our heads wondering what all those different flavours put together would taste like. Verdict - amazing!

We were expecting actual broth to come with the chilled broth of bonito and mustard with cucumber and apple and so were not sure if this was it but it was... still happy with the presentation.

The beaksuk, which is the poached holmbrae chicken with turnip and pine nuts was tender and we liked the sauce that came with it.

There was also a side order of freshly shucked clair de lune oysters for them. Me, not a big fan of oysters.

The portion of the barbecue rangers valley beef flank, pear and pine leaves was considered big, we could not finish the whole plate even thought it was tasty and juicy.

The charred eggplant, mung bean jelly, zucchini namul and cured egg was absolutely delicious, especially for the eggplant lover in me.

The mubap, a bowlful of white and green rice with mussels, radishes, sweet corn and burnt butter was not only a feast for the eyes but also the tastebuds. This was so fragrant.

And I think our favourite was the simple, sinful but oh so yummy shrimp brined fried chicken with soy and syrup.

The iced sikhe, chrysanthemum and granny smith was a refreshing explosion of sour flavours, which we all gave the thumbs up to.

The meal was capped off with the Moon Pie, an adorable plate of prune, maesil marshmallow, white chocolate pudding and ginger jelly. While it took them some getting used to, I took to it immediately because of the ginger jelly. 

 

 

Moon Park

34b Redfern Street, Redfern, NSW 2016, Australia

Tel: +61 2 9690 0111; E-mail: info@moon-park.com.au

Tuesday to Saturday 5:30pm to late

Sunday 12:00pm to 3:00pm

N2 Extreme Gelato

I have walked past this popular gelato shop countless of times but have not had the courage to find out what the fuss was all about until many years after their opening.

It looked a lot like my chemistry lab back in school - even the people working there had lab coats as part of their uniform. The use of beakers and cylinders added to that science lab feel.

What made it more Einstein-ish was the smoky effect from the evaporation of liquid nitrogen, the main ingredient in what first made them a hit in Sydney, as liquid nitrogen is what makes it achieve its ultra-smooth texture.

I decided to start my N2 experience with their signature flavour, the Ferrero Reveal. It was an overflowing cup of chocolate hazelnut gelato jam packed with chopped hazelnuts and rice bubbles wrapped in more rice bubbles dipped in chocolate and finished with a warm chocolate ganache syringe.

I loved the flavours and good balance of opposite textures. Although I appreciate the extra chocolate in the syringe, I could hardly get any of it out, as it was all frozen in the syringe!

N2 Extreme Gelato
43/1 Dixon Street, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
E-mail: sydney@n2extremegelato.com.au
Daily 1:00pm to 11:00pm 

Burger Project

I am not much of a burger person but because this is by Neil Perry AM, I thought perhaps I should give it a go. And so, with a group of friends, I did. 

The place was rather easy to find, as it was next to Din Tai Fung in World Square. Nothing really fancy about it, either, just simple clean lines and fuss-free dining spaces.

Well, obviously, we would have to have burgers at a burger place. And so we tried several:

Chilli Cheese ($10.50) - grass-fed beef, cheese, jalapeño, onion, pickles, tomato, lettuce and secret sauce.

Spicy Fried Chicken ($10.50) - free range chicken breast, lettuce, tomato, cheese, jalapeño and rose mayonnaise.

Magic Mushroom ($10.50) - crumbed confit mushroom, cheese, onion, pickles, tomato, lettuce and secret sauce. 

We also tried their Crispy Hot Wing (1 for $3.90, 3 for $9.90). These whole chicken wings with Sichuan pepper and salt were finger licking good!

We also ordered chips (small for $2.90, large for $4.90) to share, and for little Jayxen, who loves chips.

Jen ordered a Strawberry Shake ($6.50), apt for the hot weather.

They recently opened in the food court of the MLC Centre.

Burger Project
Shop 11.06 Level 1, World Squre, 644 George Street, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
E-mail: info@burgerproject.com
Daily 11:00am to 9:00pm 

NaruOne Korean Restaurant

Did you know that there is a "Koreatown" in the middle of Sydney city? Well, if you head down Pitt Street from Town Hall in the direction of Central Station, you would be walking through it.

Needless to say, Korean food would be aplenty. One of the Korean places some of us like to frequent for their (very crunchy and addictive) fried chicken is NaruOne Korean Restaurant.

As they are located on the lower ground floor and is only accessible by stairs, I would imagine that they do not get many visits from families with babies in strollers. And depending on whether patrons arrive during peak meal hours, the queue could get pretty long.

We were lucky that we had a table as soon as we arrived. Customary of all Korean eateries, they had their little appetisers served as soon as our orders were sent to the kitchen.

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We were here because of their KFC - Korean Fried Chicken. The boneless fried chicken gangjung or the boneless fried chicken gangjung with sweet and spicy sauce ordered individually are $33.00 per plate but we ordered half and half ($35.00) so that we could try the chicken in its original version and the version with the sauce.

If I were to visit again, I would just have these little crunchy babies with a bottle of soju or beer and go home happy.

We kept up with the chicken theme for soup, too, and ordered a ginseng chicken soup (half $16.00, whole $24.00). Hm, I have had better (especially in Eastwood).

If you come here often, perhaps you could tell me what else to order besides the KFC.



NaruOne Korean Restaurant
375 Pitt Street, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
Tel: +61 2 9261 2680
Sunday & Monday 11:00am to 10:00pm
Tuesday to Saturday 11:00am to 3:00pm

Toby's Estate, Chippendale

Named after its founder, there are four Toby's Estate owned and run cafes in Australia - two in Sydney, one in Melbourne and one in Brisbane. They also have one cafe in Singapore and another one in New York.

After 11 years in Sydney and passing this cafe countless times, I finally had the chance to try their coffee all thanks to my ex-DLC bestie, Jennie, who was re-visiting Sydney from HK. We were doing touristy stuff across the road on the grounds of the University of Sydney, so we had to refuel with some chow.

After some time of renovations, now we could see their roastery through a panel of glass.

Since I had a mocha over at Dave's, I ordered a cappuccino ($3.80) here and was very happy with it. Just like what Peter (my PhD supervisor, who is also my occasional coffee advisor) said, they have good coffee here.

Peter also recommended their french toast because he said it is unique. And so I ordered one to share with Jennie. Mmmm, their french toast with spiced poached pear, strawberries and chai anglaise ($13.50) - yummeh! However, we felt that we could have had a tad more anglaise.

Jennie wanted to be 'health-conscious' and ordered a Botanica cold pressed juice ($8.50). A very green one and she enjoyed it. She even kept the jar.

Toby's Estate, Chippendale
32 - 36 City Road, Chippendale, NSW 2008, Australia
Tel: +61 2 9112 1131
Weekdays 7:00am to 4:00pm (Takeaway from 6:30am)
Weekends 8:00am to 4:00pm