Archive for the ‘Burgers and the like’ Category

Sydney Food list [via SMH]

March 11, 2013

Yeah I have been meaning to find a top ten of places to eat in Sydney that are real places to eat. Not ‘you-have-to-change-what-you-wear-places-to-eat’, but ‘have-a-shower-put-your-phone-in-your-pocket-and-jam-your-kicks-on-and-waltz-into-places-to-eat’.

Sydney Morning Herald have just published such a list. Which I find a lot easier than making my own, mostly due to the fact I don’t have to do it.  and this is it;

The bucketlist of bargain eats

Bau Truong
42 John Street, Cabramatta 9727 4492
Go for
 bun cha gio – vermicelli noodles with vegetables, mint and fried spring rolls

Billu’s
62 Wigram Street, Harris Park, 9687 7785
Go for
 masala,dosa

El Jannah
4-6 South Street, Granville 9637 0977
Go for
 charcoal chicken and garlic sauce

Dondon
80 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst 9331 3544
Go for 
super cheap sushi rolls

Faheem Fast Food
194-196 Enmore Road, Enmore 9550 4850
Go for
 haleem ”king of curries” made with lentils and beef

Marrickville Pork Roll
236A Illawarra Road, Marrickville 0411 167 169
Go for
 banh mi thit – pork roll

New Shanghai
B-038 Chatswood Chase, Chatswood 9412 3358
Go for
 dumplings, every which way

Paul’s Famous Hamburgers
12 Princes Highway, Sylvania 9522 5632
Go for
 a burger with the works

Spice I Am
90 Wentworth Avenue, Surry Hills 9280 0928
Go for
 ho mok – steamed fish curry with banana leaf

Silvas
1/82-86 New Canterbury Road, Petersham 9572 9911
Go for
 charcoal chicken with peri peri, and chips

as time goes on over the next few months, I am vowing to get to one of these places every month, or couple of weeks and give each one of the culinary delights a rating.

 

I will call it the ‘Panda-Michelin Man- Rating’. I have decided it will be in stars also, and find this to be only a coincidence that Michelin chooses that format too.

 

Wish Me luck.

 

 

Lok lok: yum

August 2, 2012

Who doesn’t like food. I mean seriously.
But lately Mrs Panda and I have a real penchant for dumplings. The love affair first started with ‘the dumpling king’ in Dixon street food court @dixson house.
They are amazing. $8 for 12 steamed vegetable dumplings. Crazy atmosphere and of course extreme proximity to the small window that sells ‘Emperor’s puffs’. You all know the one.

Now we have found ‘Lok Lok Dumpling House’ in Castle Hill food court.

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Amazing.
Not only do thy have the biggest range of awesome steamed and fried dumplings but they also do magical steamed buns pork and the like and it is all made super fresh by the awesome lady in the window.

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And service is great. Not sure how they put up with all the rudest whitest people in Australia barking their orders at them but they take it in their stride, and continue to make the most delicious little steamed sacks of goodness.

And if you tip it makes you sexy. Win. Win.

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I can’t recommend this shop enough on a budget or otherwise order it all. It is all such good food. Please if you are near Castle Towers go and have a bite to eat at this awesome dumpling house. You will not be disappointed.

My recommendations are the steamed prawn and chives. The steamed vegetable buns and the steamed pork buns. Amazing.

Sometimes I get very hungry

March 8, 2012

Its true you know. Don’t you ever just get very hungry?…I’ll get straight to the facts. My Sister in law is a magnificent cook. Like proper magnificent, it runs in the family but she has a particular talent. We have been thinking about pushing her against her will into a book publishing store/business to ask them to let her do a book, but alas she we be in it. But, I do have some amazing news, she with help of yours truly has started her own website. Featuring none other than ……..Her Cooking, and sometimes on a daily basis.

The Push came the other day, we had just returned to their house for a visit after some time away travelling up the north coast of NSW. We had just finished Dinner. Sister in law in question says (not verbatim) something along the lines of  - “I should russell something up for dessert, what about some apple pie?”

Holy Fucking Shit.

After about 20mins of her and partner walking around as she likes to say to me ‘with the broom up their arses’ – alluding to the fact they have committed to too many tasks at once, out walk my sister with an apple pie. Not any ordinary apple pie mind you. A crazy apple pie. Perfectly stewed sweet apples glazed with the essence of brown sugar and southern american dreams, spread out on a most perfectly no perfect star shaped pastry. It resembled a beautiful Apple star like false god of deliciousness.

Here is a picture. We did not have time to take one at the start as it was too edible. We scoffed (?spelling) it.

Looks good huh?

This picture gives you a little bit of a reference point for how the whole tart/pie/thing was served up.

It was after we finished eating this (2 mins later  - I set my mouth to ‘Dyson Mode’) that Mrs Panda piped up “You should so start a food blog!”, the reply was “yeah maybe, do you think?”

It was all I needed, if she wasn’t about to do – Pandainabattlesuit.com would surely facilitate it, and so we did.

Please drum role – I would like to now redirect you all (after you finish reading my hilarious anecdotes of course to my sister in law’s new site.

I just <3 Food 

This amazing blog will tempt you, and make your hunger worse and your taste buds swell and engorge. Best thing about it, is I get to eat a lot of it.

Please head over their and check it out, whilst it is only fledgling at present, it is sure to be great in the not too distant future.

Oh and here is some other pies I have had recently, whilst on leave.

All from an RSL club. Exquisit. soon to come I will post a bit of a photo montage re: the lovely surrounds of another trip (quite touristy) to Coffs Harbor

Some nice food to eat

February 23, 2012

We are on one of our lovely regular getaways to the beautiful city of Coffs Harbor. Whilst here we stay at our relatives’ house near the beautiful and fast becoming boutique village of Sawtell.
Whilst here you cannot go past this café – Café Treeo

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We stopped here as the menu was by far the best on the strip (today on first avenue) and seemed to have the most delicious, least pretentious, sharp but minimal atmosphere of all of the cafes.

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We ordered the baked pear and caramel pancakes (yes for breakfast) and the corn fritters. Both were to die for and I could not recommend this spot more.

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So many cafés open up in smaller towns and villages like this and proceed to overcharge under cooked and all over act like dick heads to make their patrons think they are getting a slice of Newtown or Lygon street. They forget that most of their clientele won’t be seasonal families. It will be joe neighbor that loves a good all day breakfast.

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Why Not for Adults?

January 19, 2012

Just the other day to treat ourselves we ventured to Wagamama’ s on Lime Street (Cockle Bay) in Sydney.  We frequent here a bit, it is like the McDonalds’  of Ramen/Japan fusion restaurants. Yep sure it is not the best Ramen/Chicken Katsu in the World, or even in Sydney I love you Gunshara*Whispers* But it certainly is tasty and the Moyashi Soba is great, big, and great, and the curry sauce for the katsu is also delicious.

However, this is not a food review, although it turned into one right there, about eleven words ago.

Mrs Panda raised a really good point. As we were seated, with team Turtle Small Fries’ they gave the kids colouring in paper, with cool pictures to colour and a whole jar of crayons.

“I don’t know why they don’t give these to adults”, she stated

Why don’t they give these to adults?

Probably the best question asked of 2012 already looking like a contender for the whole year.

I would definitely frequent a cafe/restaurant if they supplied paper and pencils/crayons/pens for your creative delight.  It would definitely be a great way to decorate. When you are at dinner, sure the conversation is good, and the company is great, so why not also have a little bit of creative fun.

It raises the question. Why?, or more so when?, do humans deem it fit not to be eligible for crayons and colouring in pictures of princesses and pirates. When we are 15 and too cool for anything other than Nintendo DS’ I am sure I would still like to draw my boyfriend/girlfriends name in a pretty heart, perhaps inspired by the latest art work on my favourite bands CD, and leave it on the table to display my love for them as a protest against the ‘man’ for not letting me buy the latest Dream on Dreamer CD.

Perhaps when we reach 25 we are too interested in our twitter TL (timeline) or our our face book TL to be creative. Perhaps this is why we are obsessed with social media, because all the iphoneography and funny status updates, is our way of being creative.

I was overjoyed to colour in and ‘doodle’ all over the menus and place mats at Wagamama’s. Why, I even helped the children draw a little.

I think if restaurants offered this to adults, they would love it. I am sure there is some restaurants already doing it that I don’t know about,  but also keep in mind, I don’t want to have to order a triple shot soya chino, with fair trade dust sprinkled on the top. Just to draw my version of batman crossed with a whale shark.

It is hard not to stray onto the topic of where do we lose our youth, some people never lose it, but in a way that just makes them 30 year old fuck ups.

I wish I could definitely say I still have mine, at the beating centre of my chest like some sort of freedom power source akin to Iron Man’s failing nuclear powered heart.

But I am ‘serious’ now, a dad, I like tech and sneakers, but trampolining has turned into something kids do, and pushing someone on the swings, although fun is now one of my functions.

Please restaurants, re introduce adult colouring in. Mrs Panda is full of great ideas, please utilise them.

Coffee from a cardboard box

June 7, 2011

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It is finally finished. What started out as a need to create a space that was functional and moved the temporary coffee cart out of a main thoroughfare has turned into an off the design drawing realistic box that serves coffee.

When plans were displayed suggesting that the designers were just going to get a large cardboard box and cut it open. Then with sticky tape, fashion a beverage serving outlet that is waterproof.

The result a great little permanent building, resembling a giant cardboard box. Complete with the little ripples exposed when you cut the box open.

I like it. Very cool from concept to final build.

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Corporations killing the planet

April 2, 2011

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I don’t get it. Where is it coming from. How many companies and people, come on hands up, have known about recycling prior to 2011. Yet perfectly ok for Kentucky Fried Chicken to only recycle ‘soon’ and yet brought to my attention by an as equally disturbed friend – they have the money to print a posh splash vinyl to say recycling coming soon.

Ok quick math lesson

One hole for recycling + one hole for normal garbage= two holes.

If x equals recycling we can say x + normal garbage hole = one bin for recycling + one normal garbage hole.

Therefore. Just put a fucking bin under each one you ‘lazy fucking under paying minimal wage to your people’ bastards.

What’s so hard. KFC know that everyone else is already recycling right?

So maybe instead of coming up with a way to market a bunless burger less offensively to the health food hippies. You should maybe just duck down to ‘Bunnings’ – pardon the pun and buy another bin.

Just sayin.

Charged to your:cash

March 27, 2011

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Maybe I am reading a little too much into this but does any one else think this picture is a little weird. Like they couldn’t have adjusted the syntax a little for the invoice depending on payment type. Oh well guess my cash will be angry when it realizes that it is paying for the coffee this week.

Catchup. Ketchup. Sauce

March 8, 2011

[via Gizmodo]

Totally cool sauce idea for your chips or sausage roll. And cute to boot.

Who wouldn’t want this in their lunch or bento box.

Even Complete with Mini Burger.

 

 

 

Don’t hate on me [cherry/grape/agedvanilla]

March 6, 2011

When in japan there is only a couple of beverages that we don’t get here that are an absolute must to have in copius amounts, that is besides there awesome beer. Up in the top 5 I would say the following

  1. Grape Fanta
  2. Pocari ‘Sweat’
  3. Boss Iced coffee
  4. Blendy Iced coffee
  5. Kirin Ginger ale

I just got back from my local IGA.

and looky looky

grape Fanta

cherry coke

Cherry Dr Pepper

A & W Root Beer. Oh with ‘aged vanilla’ it tastes like the vanilla is about 65.

I especially love the can on this one. This root beer is as delicious as the can portrays.

Yes be jealous. they all taste amazing. I am re-addicted.

 


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