Thursday, 28 November 2013

MillioRe Korean Fusion Restaurant - Haymarket - Sydney, Australia.

MillioRe Korean Fusion Restaurant

 
It was the final exam for the semester and we were supposed to go Chat Thai to celebrate the end of exams as a group. One that night however, it was raining so heavily, so we decided to cancel the dinner for another day. My Malaysian friend C and I were hungry nonetheless, so we went to have dinner regardless. The queue for Chat Thai was shocking. More than 10 ten groups of varying sizes had their names on the list so we opted to go across the road to try something else. 

C loves Malaysian food as she originally from Penang, Malaysia. We usually go to ‘Petaling St Malaysian Restaurant’ as it is one of her favourite places. We were so close in going there again but since we were close to Capitol Theatre we went there instead. 

The first restaurant that captured our attention was ‘MillioRe Korean Fusion Restaurant’, bustling with young Koreans and families. Loved how they had Korean drama on the TV’s. For those who know me well, I’m a big fan of Korean drama.

 
There are many items on the menu, I emphasise many here. I don’t tend to eat Korean food as I prefer to have Japanese food but I'm starting to like Korean food much more. They have the traditional Korean dishes from rice bowls to hot pot. But one thing they don’t have here is fried chicken. 

 
 
 
 
 
One thing I particularly love about Korean food is the side dishes they bring out also called Banchan which means 'side dish'. No matter what you order or how much you order, they always give you side dishes. Even though I haven’t been to many Korean restaurants, this place definitely servers a cracker of side dishes. My favourites were the green vegetables coated with sesame oil and the kimchi. Polished it all off.


 
The ‘Soft Tofu Stew ($11.00)’ comes with a bowl of fluffy rice. The soup was bubbling away in the hot bowl as the waiter brought it out and from the picture you can see all the steam evaporating and blurring my phone camera! Perfect comfort food for cold and rainy days like these.

 
 
The ‘Prawn Rice Bowl ($15.00)’ comes out looking too good to eat. Sitting within a hot plated bowl, there are a number of ingredients including rice, mushrooms,  beansprouts, carrot, cucumber, prawns and egg. This is all mixed together with the side of chilli sauce. Very yummy and similar to making your own fried rice. A bit unadventurous but the important thing was it tasted delicious.

Honest home style cooking as you can taste the authentic flavours of their dishes. For those who want to try Korean beer or soju, it is priced reasonably well here.

Really enjoyed the food that we had and would definitely come back to try some other things. Cheap prices for  great quality food. Definitely one of the best Korean restaurants I've been to in the City.

Where?
Shop G10,
730-742 George St
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia

Phone no: 02 9212 2828

Opening Hours
Sunday - Thursday: 10:00 am - 1:00 a.m.
Friday - Saturday: 10:00 am - 2:30 a.m.


Website
http://www.capitolsquare.com.au/food-beverage/milliore_korean_fusion_restaurant.php

MillioRe Korean Fusion Restaurant on Urbanspoon
 

Tuesday, 26 November 2013

Taste of the Country - Hunter Valley Gardens Village - Pokolbin, Australia.

Taste of the Country

 
A wedding in the Hunter Valley!?! I hear the sounds of great wine and delicious desserts. Couldn't contain my excitement as this was my first time to the Hunter Valley.

A good high school friend of ours got married in the Hunter Valley and  the ceremony was held at the Hunter Valley Gardens Chapel within the Mercure Resort. The couple looked so happy and it was such a sweet ceremony.

After the ceremony at the Chapel, we were all so hungry, especially me on a empty stomach, so we thought it was best to just stay within the village and have something there. A number of options were on offer within the village but the word 'country' in 'Taste of the Country' captured our attention. I was expecting home-style food packed with flavour.

 
Once you walk in, you can't help but notice the number of clocks on one side of the wall. The interior and pastel blue walls reminded me of being at home.


An extensive menu and an all day breakfast menu is available.



The 'Banana Pancakes ($16.00)' were much smaller than anticipated. A stack of pancakes, more like pikelets, were served as a stack and topped with banana, strawberries and maple syrup with a side of cream. Unfortunately, the pancakes were dense and not fluffy like how they should be. Nevertheless, I was still hungry so finished it all.

 
The 'Beef Burger ($16.00)' was huge. A large party of beef mince enclosed in Turkish bread together with beetroot, tomato, lettuce, onion and cheese. JJ struggled to eat it, cutting it up into four messy portions. She found it mediocre and it actually looked better than how it tasted. The addition of shallots was odd.


The 'Fruit and Nut Delight ($11.00)' was the best value of the lot. A heap of banana and strawberries on top of a toasted fruit bread and then drizzled with maple syrup. Lulu found it nice at first but then it became sickening and a bit too much for her.


'Large Soya Latte ($5.50)' came with a Tiny Teddy. Liked this little addition.

 
Service was decent and wait time for the food wasn't too long as we did go during non-peak lunch hour. Was expecting better for a first lunch in the Hunter Valley but this turned out to be quite disappointing. An average lunch overall but had a great time catching up with my lovely friends.

Where?
Shop 11, Hunter Valley Gardens,
Broke Rd,
Pokolbin NSW 2320
Australia

Phone no: 02 49986605

Opening Hours
Monday - Thursday: 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Friday - Sunday: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

Website
http://www.tasteofthecountry.com.au
 

Monday, 25 November 2013

Dew Drop Inn Tea House - Berkeley - Wollongong, Australia.

Dew Drop Inn  Tea House- Nan Tien Temple

I'm back.

Don't worry, I didn't starve myself over the past month. I still ate at a few new places which I'll be blogging about shortly.



 
Before I went into intensive study mode, we headed down to Wollongong for a day trip.

 
It was a nice and sunny day in Sydney, so my family decided that it would be fun to head down to Nan Tien Temple in Wollongong. I took on the driver’s role as I love opening the window to let the breeze go through, while zooming at over 100km on the highway. It didn’t take very long to get there, just about 40 minutes from the Sutherland Shire.

 
I previously blogged about the lunch we had at the canteen. On this occasion, we went to the ‘Dew Drop Inn Tea House', which is located at the base of the front temple.


There are many items to choose from and we have trouble deciding what to have. Mum insists we order two plates of spring rolls, saying how my brother loves it spring rolls and will eat it all. I, on the other hand believe it’s too much. We end up ordering one plate and I will let you know what happened later into this post.

 
The ‘Spring Rolls ($8.00)’ is perfectly fried to a golden yellow colour, making it extra crispy on the outside. It is filled with a combination of rice noodles and shredded vegetables, served with side of sweet chilli sauce. Brother decides he doesn’t want to eat anything fried so doesn’t even have one!


The ‘Chao Shao Noodle (Dry) ($12.00)’ looked fairly small when it was brought out but once you mix everything around, it isn’t as small as it looks. Egg noodles are topped with vegetarian BBQ flavoured meat and some vegetables. I try a bit of the mock meat, and find it quite chewy. 


The ‘Auspicious Noodle Soup ($12.00)’ is a clear egg noodle soup served with vegetarian balls, vegetables, and vegetarian mince. This is actually much better than I expected, as I was expecting the soup to be bland.

 
The‘Curry Rice ($12.00)’ is a mix of tofu, mixed vegetables and broccoli in a curry sauce. I like the curry sauce but find that there is way too much cabbage and potato, and not enough of the tofu.  Think I will choose to have something else next time I’m here.

 
Vegetarian food here is decent but I still prefer the food at the canteen. Though, the wooden interior is lovely and sitting there is so peaceful and tranquil. For those tea lovers out there, they have a range of teas on offer.

Where?
180 Berkeley Rd
Berkeley NSW 2506
Australia

Opening Hours
Tuesday - Friday 10:30am - 4.30pm 
Saturday - Sunday 9:30am - 4:30pm

Website
http://www.nantien.org.au:88/en/facility/dew-drop-inn