wok noodle bar @ willoughby rd., crows nest

A few of my weekends in December were spent either in Crows Nest/St. Leonards. I can't remember the reasons exactly but it was either spending time in Victoria's Basement finalising the Christmas shopping or idling in The Essential Ingredient, debating which colour the Kitchen Aid food processor looked better in. And no, I haven't bought myself a Kitchen Aid food processor, though I'd like to and the I think it does look nice in Cream. Need to do some saving up!

So in amongst the loitering in Crows Nest, J&I stopped by for lunch at Wok Noodle Bar on Willoughby Road. J has been quite good lately and reminding me to pick out vouchers from the Entertainment book when we go out and Wok Noodle Bar happened to be in there with a 25% off voucher.

Pad Thai (chicken & prawn) @ $13.50.

Coco chill noodle (seafood) @ $13.50 - mild chilli & creamy noodle dish with big rice sheet noodle, egg and vegetables. The creamy chilli sauce is almost like a curry and the big rich sheets soak it up, leaving you with quite a heavy dish. You can probably share this one between two.

Given we had the voucher, we added a Thai Beef Salad @ $7.50 to share. The ingredients in this salad were fresh and reminded me of my trip to Thailand last year!

I really enjoyed lunch and thought it was a bargain with the Entertainment book voucher. Even without the voucher, the prices are reasonable, the servings are large and service is quick and friendly. Whilst we were there, people were coming in and out, eating in, grabbing takeaway. From what I could tell, it seems like a popular place with the locals.

Anyway, check it out and see what you think. If anyone has a Kitchen Aid food processor, do tell me what you think? I'm keen to see if it's worthwhile getting one.

meeting beansprouts cafe @ din tai fung, world square

At long last, I got to meet the lovely Ja who happens to live close to where I work. It took us a couple of times to get dinner organised and finally on the day, I was still frantically texting her an hour to dinner time letting her know that I was stuck at work and running late. Sorry Ja! We'd originally planned to meet outside Din Tai Fung (where we were having dinner) but ended up meeting at the main bus stop near by work to catch the bus down together. I nervously waited and was glad to see a big smile that greeted me (like Chef Gena from Sweetness had told me - Ja is so petite and dainty and such a lovely girl!)

Ja had suggested Din Tai Fung and I was keen; it'd been awhile since I last went (probably a good couple of months/half a year). And well to top things off, Din Tai Fung is also in this year's City Entertainment Book so I was armed with a 25% discount voucher to spend.

Xiao Lung Bao (Steamed Dumplings), Drunken Chicken and a Vegetarian Tofu Salad (these are all recommended dishes on the menu). I've actually had two of these before but really, the oldies always turn out to be the favourites!

Spicy Pork & Vegie Dumplings with Noodles. You can also get the dumplings without the noodles. I liked how spicy this one was and it was good to know that Ja also shared a fondness for anything spicy.

Dessert - Steamed Taro Dumplings.

Inside a steamed taro dumpling. I was saying to Ja how this one could've tasted better with chunks of taro rather than the paste. For me, these dumplings also smelt overly of flour which could be improved.

Me & Ja. We set at a shared table (which was the only way to get in quickly and avoid the huge queue) and more than once, we attracted the odd glance/smirk of fellow diners when we whipped out our cameras to take pictures of the food. Bah!

And guess what, chocolate and caramel frosting cupcakes made by Ja for me to take home! Guys and girls, watch out for this girl - she is going to be an up and coming baker for sure! Testimony to this is that I got home late and the next morning, I had mum waking me up telling me how good these cupcakes were and asking me questions about who made them. These cupcakes weren't overly sweet which mum thought was fantastic and actually ate for breakfast which is not something she usually does. I had one later that day and as mum put it, these cupcakes were fantastic! They were moist inside, the icing wasn't overly sweet. They looked just as pretty as they were to eat. Tops Ja!

The conversation that night at the restaurant resolved heavily around food, from food at home, our respective time at LCB, our plans, our blogs, MasterChef, the restaurant, I'm pretty sure everything food related we managed to cover. I was overwhelmed to hear from Ja that she'd been inspired to study at LCB after reading my blog and well, a year on, she's actually gone even ahead of me and finished the whole LCB Patisserie Course. Would love you to stay in Sydney Ja and I'll have an eating buddy for life! Lol, anyway, I know you need to go home at some point but let's go a few more foodie adventures before then!

Great to finally meet you Ja! I thoroughly enjoyed dinner and I hope you did too!

ajisen ramen @ liverpool st., world square

I'm almost a month late getting the 2009/2010 Entertainment Book but thanks to A, I got my hands on one this week. And being the eager beaver that I am (and considering I've already lost most of a month), I thought to myself, why not make a start to using it straightaway. It probably took me a good hour or so to pour through this year's selection of restaurants/cafes that are offering specials and discounts and come Thursday night, I was still pouring over it till the last minute, figuring out which place to go. Yes, I'm a bit of a dag and brought the book with me to work (it weighs a tonne) but better to have the entire book with me than not to have it all!

There's a good few additions to this year's Sydney Entertainment Book and the restaurant that I ended up picking for Thursday night was one of the newbies - Ajisen Ramen on Liverpool St., World Square. There's been an Ajisen Ramen in Haymarket for some time but for some reason or other, I never got round to going there and it seems like they've opened up another one quite recently at World Square? Anyway, World Square was probably halfway for J&I to get to from work so it was the most sensible choice (for those interested, the 25% discount is available at both branches).

After dissecting the menu J&I decide it was cheapest to get the 'Couples Set' for $50 (with the voucher, the meal ended up being $37.50). The set included 2 ramens, 2 entrees, 2 drinks and 2 desserts; the awesome thing is that they don't restrict you to certain items on the menu. Here's the Spicy soft shell crab. It's not a huge serving but with all the other food in the set, it's definitely more than enough.

Takoyaki. 

Whilst eating our entrees, I think J was silently praying that his ramen wouldn't come in a heart-shaped bowl (as pictured on the menu). I was laughing so hard when the waitress walked our way and the distinctive heart shaped bowls were in sight. J went visibly pink in the face and with me cackling like a crazy women, the girls at the next table couldn't quite help laughing along. I remember when one of my guy friends were telling me about how embarrassed he was also when he went with another male friend to an Ajisen Ramen overseas - and again, it was the distinctive heart-shaped bowl. Anyway, J gets the 'Volcano Ramen' and I have the 'Tontoro Ramen'. Here's also my Moca Jelly Frappe (hard to describe this one - it's almost like a sweet iced coffee with jelly pieces in it).

Melon Calpico Soda.

Our desserts - What resembles an Ice Kachang with Lychee jelly, Vanilla ice cream with green tea mochi.

Whilst the entrees were great, the ramen was very average. J's 'Volcano Ramen' had quite a big scooping of chilli oil in it and the soup in mine lacked flavour. For a total of $37.50 though, it was an extremely decent meal and both J&I were walking out of the restaurant with a full belly. 

There's plenty else on the menu for those that aren't keen on Ramen. The restaurant isn't all that big to cater for big groups so better for small groups up to 4. It's mostly indoor seating although there's two tables outside for those keen on braving the cold. There's one of those buzzers at the table so service is as you like it. Once you're ready, press the button and you'll have a waitress swing your way.

I'll probably come back to check out the rest of their menu but otherwise, need to get cracking with the rest of this year's Entertainment Book!