Chefs Gallery, Sydney

Chefs Gallery! Exactly how it is titled~ When I came here to dine, it was pretty late ~9ish pm so they had cleared the middle tables and we were allocated the tables on the sides - which was pretty cool! We had a perfect view to the chefs in action. Slaving away in the kitchen, making fresh noodles, pan frying them in a huge wok. That definitely kept us entertained whilst waiting for the food.

 Look at him go~ Serious face on

Noodles with char-grilled wagyu beef dipped in Sichuan spicy soup with regular handmade noodles - $16.90 

Po's insatiable love for wagyu beef tempted him to order this dish~ Initially, it was stamped with three chilies meaning extremely hot, but the staff catered for changes and used a chicken soup base instead. The wagyu strips were extremely tender and flavoured well. The chef's hand made noodles were made with experienced hands being soft and uniform throughout.

 Shredded Peking duck with cucumber and holsin sauce rolled inside a fluffy chinese rotti - $15.90

Our Peking duck wrapped in a chinese rotti roll! I love this dish~ The crunchiness of the cucumber meshed well with the soft shredded duck, with the greasy rotti completing the piece. - best served with soy sauce.

Refreshing ice lychee green tea - $4.90 

Prawn and pork wonton noodles in a Shanghainese style spicy sauce with regular handmade noodles - $10.90 

My dish was stamped with two chilies; in which I overlooked. Consequently, I had to surrender my senses to the unbearably spicy noodle base soup. It was hot to the point where my nose was runny and beads of sweat appeared on my forehead. Chili.  Hot. Hot. Hot! Luckily, Po swapped some of his plain noodles with my chili ridden ones to even out the chili tone. It helped somewhat~ The noodles in its chili soup base form together with the prawn and pork wonton truly warms a person up from the inside! Which was good as Sydney weather has been crazy these past few days/weeks.

Chef wearing a mouth guard for cleanliness~ 

Signature 'Piggy Face' sesame bun and 'Totoro' marsh-mellow arranged in an edible garden setting beautifully presented and served with icecream - $19.90 

LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO THE CUTEST BUNS IN THE WORLD! They were so ridiculously adorable! And ever so heart-breaking to eat. Gorgeous, perfectly well rounded buns with little eyes, ears and nose that are attached. Eating these should be illegal. I want to preserve it in its perfect state forever. The pictures were endless - so many angles! A bow for the girl, and nothing for the boy~ Ms piggy and Mr piggy.

Waffle pen sprinkled with icing sugar, with two scoops of creamy flavoursome ice-cream on the sides - green tea and black sesame! Makeshift play pen is adorned with a cookie based crumbed sidewalk and Asian sweets as rocks.

He is smiling for the camera~

Say bye-bye :( 

Ruthless Po taking the first bite...

Inside the lovely Ms Piggy - we have a sweet explosion of black sesame paste~

Chefs Gallery offers an extensive range of Chinese dishes in its image ridden menu. Most dishes are presented in the form of that you would find in yumcha. Altogether, service was very efficient and flexible and the views to the chef's hard work and dedication were admired greatly! Flavours and tastes were great! :D

Chefs Gallery 

501 George St, 

Sydney NSW 2000

Chat Thai, Haymarket

CHAT THAI! Chat Thai seems to always be bustling with people. Every time I pass, there's always this huge queue in which you have to write your name, and number of guests down before being seated. Really intense. So surely it must be worth the wait...and it definitely was~ At economical prices with most things <$15 it seems to be the popular place to dine.

I came here for lunch and waited a good 30 minutes before getting seats for two. During our wait, there was an open kitchen in which chefs adorning white make their sweets to keep us entertained.

Lunch menu~ There was a huge selection of things to order; so we opted for their one plate wonder meals and a few sides to share.

 Traditional red tea with caramelised milk $4.00

Once you relish the taste of caramelised milk tea, you will never go back! I love it~ The ever so refreshing Thai milk tea; ever so rich and compelling.

 Khao mok gai - chicken and rice braised in turmeric and five spice with green chilli and garlic sauce with rice - $10.90

Po's ridiculously flavoursome dish with a crazy five spice green chilli sauce for dippings. The chicken was delicately soft and moist served with broken rice braised in turmeric - which is part of the ginger family, herb like and full of goodness.

 Grilled Pork Skewers + Chicken Satay Skewers - $2 each 

Grilled Pork Dumplings (Louk Chin Bhing) - $2 

Cannot go past these savoury starters. Grilled to a savoury sweet finished and dipped in chilli and tamarind sauce, they are an easy cheap eat to begin the meal.

Khao na bped (Roasted duck with ginger and duck gravy with sauce) - $14.90 

Juicy duck smothered in a rich flavoursome sauce bursting with flavour. Additional greens and ginger. The ginger added the extra tang to the whole dish with its spicy innards combined with the spicy/sweet sauce. The greens and rice neutralised the crazy flavours awaiting to be devoured. 

 Spicy Salad (som dtum thai) - $10 

When ordering this dish, we forgot to mention the level of spiciness; therefore resulting in a crazy hot fire erupting in my mouth! I'm weak with spices and the deadly chilli flakes douse amongst the salad made it an overkill. Po seemed to have managed fine though.

 Coconut ice-cream - $5.50

Can't finish a meal without desserts~ Coconut icecream! Topped with roasted peanuts and glutinous drops of rice of some sort. - Food coma awaits -

This wooden clad restaurant screams authentic Thai from a mile away with its friendly staff and efficient service with an economical menu leaving you well-balanced and full. Sydney-siders clearly have an insatiable tongue for Chat Thai with all the right reasons! Will visit again; for dinner and its dinner menu (mango sticky rice - woooo)! However, dreading that ghastly long line...

Chat Thai
20 Campbell Street
Haymarket NSW, 2000

Ms G's, Potts Point

Let me introduce you to Ms. G's, where 'Asian mothers are the best mothers'~ I came here with Po for the March into Merivale $33 lunch deal - where you can pick your choice of main and dessert with your selection of white or red wine. Getting there was a royal pain for us noobies with city roads as we somehow managed to get stuck on the Harbour Bridge, then had to do a massive detour...BUT it was well worth it because Ms. G's was fantastic.

The multi-level restaurant had a street-like appeal to it, with its neon lighting outside, sensible graffiti walls and rustic interior designs with ropes and such hanging off the walls. Crazy decor with awesome food~

Selection is presented on a sheet of paper in which you tick the box with a big crayon - can't even remember the last time I held a crayon!!

The street-like decorated wall, with your typical Cabramatta style cutlery set up; with each table adorning their own chilli and soy bottle. 

Ms. G's grilled corn cob, parmesan and lime ($4) and mini crispy pork belly banh mi ($6) 

For starters we had the beautiful miniature banh mi and juicy succulent corn cob, smothered in shredded parmesan cheese. The banh mi was so miniature and made to perfection! A layer of crispy pork belly smothered in pate, mayo and cucumber with pickled carrots and coriander on top~ Bit too exxy for something so miniature though as you can probably find a similar pork roll in Cabramatta x10 its size for cheaper. But nonetheless, it was very much enjoyed. I adored the corn cob! It tasted a bit like Mexican somehow and the flavours just danced itself around on my tongue. mmmmm so juiceyy~

Complimentary white wine 

Vietnamese curry of Wagyu beef shin served with baguette $25

I chose this as my main for the $33 lunch deal. Beautiful wagyu beef curry! It was so rich with flavour and the wagyu was ridiculously tender and matched perfectly with the soft, warm baguette. Would definitely recommend~  

Egg noodles with XO sauce, braised duck, soft poached egg $18

The incredibly moist noodles slathered in XO sauce with braised duck breast and topped with a soft poached egg. The combination of flavours were amazing! The shredded cucumber gave a crunchy texture to the whole, with the poached egg thickening the noodles - drools -

Our view from outside! Can't believe we drove all the way there; got lost in circles and finally managed to come here -

Blood orange granita, lime curd, streusel 

 This dessert was really refreshing; and crazy sour. Imagine eating sour warheads - the feeling felt the same as I had the lime curd. Cringed with my eyes squeezed shut. However it complimented well with the orange granita. Definitely for the sour fans~

Pandan chiffon cake with coconut sorbet 

Pandan chiffon cake on top of miniature tapioca pearls smothered in sweet coconut; topped with a coconut sorbet and a biscuit crumbs. Completely opposite to the blood orange granita as this was super sweet. The multitude of textures were crazy! Crunchy vs. soft vs. spongey vs. creamy - party in your mouth~

Ms G's offers a wide range of oriental dishes which targets the flavours close to home in its multi-story complex Would definitely come again to try more of the menu! :D 

On a more random note: I think I saw Dan Hong in the kitchen that day!! :D

Ms Gs

155 Victoria St, 

Potts Point, NSW 2011

The Baron, Castle Hill

I love reading about new places~ The Baron was something that I saw from Chocolate Suze's site, and the Blat looked so lovely that it couldn't be looked past~ so, it was the place to go when when we ventured to the far west. It's a quirky type of cafe/bar which seems to incorporate elements from different cafes and restaurants such as the big wooden table from Luxe, tiny chairs from Circa, wooden plates from District Dining. I love the quirkiness! The chairs were almost antique in their rustic feel with makeshift tables made from big wooden boxes.

We ordered pretty much everything that was available for the lunch menu~ :D

 Mum's homemade banana bread with ricotta and honey - $7.70

Yes please! Goodness of sweet banana bread with the oh-so sweet ricotta and honey toppings. We made this our makeshift dessert as there wasn't a big range there.

 Turkey, avocado, snow pea shoots, blueberry and maple sandwich - $8.50

So good! The blueberry and maple added a nice twist to the would be ordinary sandwich by making it sweet.

Ham, gruyere and sundried tomatoes - $8.50

Your average sandwich amplified by the goodness of the crusty, toasted sourdough bread.

 Char-grilled chicken, swiss cheese and basal mayonnaise - $8.50

Didn't expect much from a chicken sandwich - but wrong again! So good is the basal mayonnaise! Changes the typical chicken mayo sandwich to something more flavoursome and rich.

 Meatball baguette - $10.00

Meatballzzzzzzzzzz~~~ Tasted a bit like the ones you put in asian rolls. But still so goood!

Blat - bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado - $8.50

Blat!!! How good does that look?! It was a tough deal cutting the blat into perfectly portioned pieces to be shared, but it was accomplished! Crispy bacon strips, with super fresh, ripe avocadoes smothered with mayo on toasted sourdough sandwiched with lettuce and the freshness of tomatoes. If this doesn't illicit drools, I don't know what will...

 Ice coffee and ice mocha

 Vego wrap - avocado, tomato, beetroot, carrot, cucumber, persian fetta and mixed leaves with hummus - $11.00

Best veggie wrap I have had so far~ :D Everything just tasted so good together! You don't make friends with salad, you don't make friends with salad~ wooo


The Baron
Shop 461 Castle Towers Shopping Centre Old Castle Hill Rd
Castle Hill, NSW 2154

Quarter Twenty One, Westfield Sydney

The best thing to wake up to is probably the inviting smell of breakfast in the form of pancakes wafting through your nose. That's bound to brighten anyone's day up. :) For Valentines day, Po suggested pancakes in the form of hearts with chocolate dipped strawberries as dessert. Heh. Check it:

It can smile~~~~ 

Sweet smell of success :D

****

Dinner, on the other hand, was a different affair. Meet Quarter Twenty One, another one of Justin North's great achievements with its one chef hat status. It combines modern European food in its smart casual dining atmosphere. 'Feed the Soul', 'Cook for the Soul' and 'Eat for the Soul' are the mottos that embrace the restaurant with its own merchandise store next door.

Complimentary bread 

The bread out irresistibly warm and fluffy on the inside, yet hard and crunchy on the outside; served with whipped butter. Why are you so incredibly good?!  The temptation arose so high when the waiter asked if I wanted more - "I can't say no to bread, ever," he says, and a part of me dies as he walks away with the perfectly well rounded bread. I could have asked for 10 more and have been content - but unfortunately, space had to be saved for the rest of the meal.

Smoked blue mackerel, heirloom tomato, earl grey and elderflower

Hm, this fusion was a strange entree...to me anyway. The clashes of flavours were not to my fancy. The jelly was overpowering with the sorbet being the only refreshing part. However, the smoked mackerel was really fresh - and so were the tomatoes.

Citrus glazed pork belly, West Australian marron, fig and prosciutto 

 This dish proved to be more promising than the previous. The citrus glazed pork belly was amazing in all its fatty goodness with just the right amount of flavour. Thin shavings of ham presented itself neatly on the plate, having a sweet more than savoury taste. The wrapped dumpling tasted much like chinese dumplings from yumcha, and the marron was cooked to perfection.

Clay baked Thirlmere poussin, confit leg croustillant, sweetcorn, tarragon and marsala 

Presented in its simplistic nature, is the crispy confit leg, sweetcorn and tarragon and marsala sauce together with sliced mushrooms and baked potatoes. This dish presented itself hand in hand with the clay baked poussin below on a separate dish. A poussin is what butchers call their young chickens (I did research~). It was probably my favourite dish of the night alongside with the dessert. The textures and tastes of the main meshed well together with the corn adding a sweetened taste to the whole. The chicken was not the slightest bit dry, instead adopting a very moist texture and intermixed well with the tarragon and marsala sauce. Each flavour complimented each other well~

Clay baked young chicken vs Clay baked Thirlmere poussin

Whipped Bellingham blue, walnuts, balsamic jelly and grape sorbet 

 Surprise was the first thing that appeared in my mind when I scooped up the innocently disguised whipped Bellingham blue. An overwhelming taste of moldy cheese attacked my tastebuds mercilessly filling my olfactory senses with a horror I could only digest. Nah - it wasn't that bad, but seriously, if you're not a fan of blue cheese, venture far, far away. On the contrary, the nutty sponge cake and grape sorbet proved to be excellent as a pre-dessert - if only there were no blue cheese....it was so hard to scoop the sorbet and walnuts clean with blue cheese smeared on the bottom of the dish - aaaak.

Pretty lights - oh-so romantic

White chocolate, passionfruit and meringue 

 How beautiful is this arrangement? The freshness of passionfruit; crunchy in form mixed with the soft creme. Delicate jelly pieces are also sprinkled over the arrangement with miniature pieces of meringue. The crushed biscuit pieces were amazing, and the sorbet cleansed well.

The overall service at Quarter twenty-one was amazing. Staff were super attentive, friendly and efficient. Always coming around offering those beautiful bread rolls, and I also remember stifling a yawn once...or twice, and one of the waiters noticed and asked if I would like a tea or coffee - aww. And he even offered to take a photo for us to end the night - usually it's the other way around~ Thank you kind sir! :D

Hope everyone had a lovely Valentines day!

Quarter Twenty One
 Level 5, Westfield Sydney,
Cnr Pitt St Mall & Market St Sydney



(Valentines day degustation at $100 pp)