NaruOne Korean Restaurant (Pitt St, Sydney)

We can only last a while of not eating Korean cuisine so last night, after shopping at Chinatown, we head down to Sydney CBD's Koreatown at Liverpool Street to have some good 'ol Korean stew and Bibimbap.

NaruOne reminds me of homely Korean restaurants in Seoul. Simple and always busy. The place easily gets filled up from 6pm onwards but we're fortunate to get a table at around 7ish. They are quite known for their Korean Fried Chicken but we weren't in the mood for deep-fried chicken last night.

I got myself a big bowl of Spicy Beef Stew which came with a lot of vegetables. I think there was about four small beef cubes so it was a bit disappointing. The spiciness was average, not really as hot as it looked in the photo. The soup was light and not as tasty as I hope. I think the soup would have been more tasty had they added more meat. I enjoyed it nonetheless as it was a cool night last night and it did gave comfort to my hungry tummy.

The Husband had the Beef Bibimbap in sizzling stone pot which was really very hot it burned the rice a bit (the ones at the bottom). They served a small bowl of soup with it so the Husband spilled some soup on the bowl to keep the rice from going dry or burning. Again this dish seemed bland, almost tasteless. Better to add lots of chili sauce for some flavour.

We're not impressed with the dishes we ate last night but we'd come back one day should we have the craving for some Korean Fried Chicken. The table beside us ordered some Spicy Chicken and it looked mouth-watering indeed. 

NaruOne Korean Restaurant
375 Pitt Street, Sydney
Phone: 02 9261 2680

Fogo Brazilia Churrasco (Westfield Parramatta)

One thing I love about Australia when it comes to food is that even in food courts, you will also find freshly-made meals other than fast food junk. And that's what we discovered at Westfield Parramatta's food court last Thursday. Fogo Brazilia Churrasco may have been there for a while but we just never noticed because whenever we are at Parramatta (which isn't really all the time) we always eat Asian cuisine. Oh well, I'm glad we did finally noticed because we enjoyed our dining experience with them.

They offer a number of main meals that consists of meat and salads plus a few burger meals. The Husband and I decided to order the Fogo Beef Burger with Chips and a bottle of water and a main meal of Gaucho Beef Chorizo with Focacia Bread, Potato Salad and Caesar Salad. Our meal only amounted to AUD$21.50. Great value for good food.

The Fogo Beef Burger was huge. It was a bit bland and dry. The salad, onion rings and chips made the whole meal bearable though so thank goodness for that.

The Gaucho Beef Chorizo was juicy and tasty. We really enjoyed this one as it was a bit spicy, perfect partner to the salad we chose.

Finding Fogo Brazilian Churrasco gave us that sigh of relief that finally we found a Brazilian restaurant  accessible to us that serves great-tasting Churrasco. We'll definitely come back to try their other meats.

Fogo Brazilian Churrasco

Level 5, Westfield Parramatta

159-175 Church Street Parramatta

Fresh Rice POP (Westfield Parramatta)

I saw this stall in Megamall (Ortigas, Pasig City, Philippines) last year because it caught my attention when I heard popping sounds from where it was. My Mom told me it was rice pops, the ones we saw in Korean dramas. The store gave me a piece so I can try them and it's liked to fish crackers only it's made out of rice.

Last Friday, I heard the familiar popping sounds again at Westfield Parramatta and when I looked, a new store called Fresh Rice POP is now open selling different kinds and flavours of rice pops.

Some flavours where salty and sweet. Some rice pops were made from wholemeal rice. There were so many kinds to choose from, it was overwhelming.

The more bags you buy, the more discount you'll get.

We bought four bags: Multi-grain Rice Pops, Rice Pops in Chicken Salt, Rice Pops in Chocolate and Honey.  

The Honey-flavoured rice pops is the same as the Philippines' Ampao which reminded us of our childhood.

The Multi-grain Rice Pops is a good alternative to fish crackers or pork crackling. I dip them into spicy vinegar and voila, instant healthy snack.

Fresh Rice POP

Level 1, Westfield Parramatta

159-175 Church Street

Parramatta NSW

Christmas Tea Time at Ladurée

I promised my friend Tintin that we will have our first Ladurée Cafe experience the moment she arrives here in Sydney. That was in September. Tintin noted that I have a very high emotional quotient when it comes to delaying gratification and I couldn't agree more. Tintin arrived in Sydney in November and it was only last week that we finally (yes, finally!) got around to sit down at Ladurée's cafe and have tea. The wait took me 3 months but it was worth it. 

While I've bought macarons at Ladurée a few times now, sitting down to have tea and savour the goodness of their macarons with a friend is a more sweet experience altogether.

Ladurée Cafe doesn't have an extensive menu, mostly just macarons, tea, coffee, chocolate and bubblies are offered. However, it is a good place to have a quiet moment, have a cup of beverage alone or with loved ones, as you have one or two macarons.

Instead of having tea, Tintin had a cup of Latte which came with a small block of chocolate. While I chose to have Ladurée's Hot Chocolate. 

We each chose four macarons: Pistachio, Salted Caramel, Raspberry, Strawberry Marshmallow, Vanilla and Chocolate.

I enjoyed my Ladurée Hot Chocolate. It's luxuriously rich and thick but brilliantly smooth. It was a bit bitter but there was no need to add sugar. For someone like me who has some kind of a limit when it comes to chocolate (I'm not really a chocoholic), the serving of Hot Chocolate was more than enough so I shared it with Tintin's son, Tom.

Tintin liked the macarons and has commented that it's better than other macarons she's  tasted. I'm so glad she enjoyed it as much as I did. And other than the yummy food, it was great to spend time with her and Tom this Christmas.

Ladurée

Level 3, Westfield Sydney

Corner Pitt Street and Market Street, Sydney