Eaton Gardens, Kellyville

Date Visited: Saturday 18 November, 2017

What a spread for two! Surprisingly, I don’t eat out at Chinese restaurants very much at all, let alone Chinese restaurants that offer a more quality dining experience, so I was keen to try this place. It’s a testament to how much the locals enjoy this place that it’s pretty packed with families every Friday and Saturday night. When we arrived late past 8pm, the tables were still pretty much all full.

We first started off with some complimentary prawn crackers. I don’t have anything bad to say about this. It’s always nice when a Chinese restaurant gives these out to start with, so you can stave off your hunger while ordering and waiting for the food to arrive. We also got some Chinese tea to make it a proper Chinese meal. It just doesn’t feel right to me to dine at a Chinese restaurant without Chinese tea.

Prawn crackers – complimentary – df, Chinese tea – $2.50

I felt obliged to order a vegetable dish for a balanced meal, so we ordered the scallops with seasonal vegetables. These scallops were perfectly juicy and a nice addition to an otherwise simple vegetable dish. The vegetables themselves were cooked very well and I liked the variety. I’ve ordered this dish twice, so it’s definitely a dish I enjoy eating.

Scallops with seasonal vegetables – $26 – df

For meat, we went with one of the Chef’s Suggestions, the rainbow steak. It’s marinated fillet steak cut in strips, lightly fried and served with sweet and hot sauce. This was actually a lot of meat that we struggled to finish, so it might be a dish better shared amongst more than two people. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the flavours, and liked eating it with the steamed rice that we also ordered ($3 per person). It wasn’t my favourite dish of the night though.

Rainbow steak – $21 – df

I absolutely love fried bean curd (also known as tofu), and these were beautiful. I really enjoyed the crunch on the outside with the softness inside, and the seasoning gave it such a delicious flavour. I’ve ordered this twice on the two times I’ve been to Eaton Gardens, so it’s definitely my go to and favourite dish!

Fried bean curd with salt and pepper – $13.50 – df, v

Eaton Gardens isn’t that cheap, dirty Chinese restaurant with terrible service and no English. Instead, it’s the complete opposite. The service is fantastic, the menu is in English, the waiters and waitresses speak English and Chinese, and the food tasted very authentic. Whilst the dishes are a little more expensive than your cheap Chinese places, I really believe it’s great value for money considering the service, ambience and the whole dining experience at Eaton Gardens. I had a wonderful and enjoyable experience eating here, and I would not hesitate to recommend this place to anyone looking for a really nice dinner night. Eaton Gardens is the perfect restaurant for Chinese food in Kellyville.

Disclaimer: My friend’s parents own this restaurant and provided us with 10% off the total bill, but all opinions and photos are my own.

Eaton Gardens | 5 31/29 Windsor Rd, Kellyville | Website | Facebook

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Sprout Wholefood Cafe, Naremburn

Date Visited: Saturday 18 November, 2017

This cafe is a bit out of my usual way, so when I happened to be in the area, I simply couldn’t resist suggesting it to my friends. I have a special place in my heart for wholefood cafes because I love all the dairy free options I get. It’s awesome how the menu clearly specifies what is gluten free, dairy free, nut free, vegan, and vegetarian.

I mentioned this in my Speedo’s Cafe post, but vegan pancakes are pretty much my food weakness, so when I looked at the menu, I knew immediately what I’d be ordering: their gluten free, vegan buckwheat hotcake, served with seasonal fruit, cashew cream, and coconut syrup. It looked super pretty when it arrived and it was the perfect indulgent brunch dish. I only wish there was a bit more syrup as I felt that would have made it even better. As I wasn’t too hungry, it was a nice portion size to be just about satisfied, but as always, the bigger the better!

Buckwheat hotcake – $16.95

Three of the four of us wanted to order the hotcake.. but luckily one of my friends was nice enough to order something else so we could try more foods/be more adventurous/get better photos for the Instagram. This vegan, dairy and gluten free bowl included a poached egg, spinach, a field mushroom, pumpkin, tomato, avocado, quinoa, and tahini dressing. Whilst it looks great, I don’t recall my friend having much to say about this, so I imagine it wasn’t too memorable. It sure looks like a healthier option than the hotcake though, especially if you don’t have a sweet tooth.

Breakfast bowl – $18.95

The final dish was the naked breakfast, consisting of haloumi, poached eggs, avocado, tomato salsa, mushrooms, and pesto. Though gluten free and vegetarian, the haloumi in it meant I didn’t try this, but from memory, my friend enjoyed eating this. To be honest, anything with good runny poached eggs gets a solid +10 points for me, so this dish has at least got that going for it!

Naked breakfast – $19.95

Of course, we had to get some drinks on the side too. Front and centre is the sprout mocha (coffee, mesquite, cacao, vanilla, honey), one of their specialty drinks. I don’t remember much, but apparently this was good. My pick was the dandelion latte (organic roasted dandelion root), with soy, since I’ve never had such a latte before. I thought it was like a less strong version of a chai latte. I liked it, but given the choice, I’d rather order a chai latte. Lastly, probably the most exotic choice was the charcoal latte (charcoal, vanilla, honey, coconut milk). My friend wasn’t too keen on it as it didn’t have much of a taste. I can confirm that it was a bit flavourless, but still thought it was okay.

Sprout mocha – $5 (centre), charcoal latte – $5 (back middle), dandelion latte with soy milk – $5 (right)

This was another happy meal for me! Extra kudos as well for the pleasant service we experienced. I felt that the waitress was welcoming and looked after us. I also liked the spaciousness of the place. There’s a small shop at the back if you’re looking for wholefood ingredients and groceries as well, which is cool. The bottom line: I don’t think Sprout Wholefood is a cafe I would go out of my way to visit, but if I’m ever around that area and looking for a brunch spot, then this would definitely be the place I’d go.

Sprout Wholefood Cafe | 272-274 Willoughby Rd, Naremburn | Website | Facebook | Instagram

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PappaRich, Macquarie

Date Visited: Sunday 19 November, 2017

PappaRich is definitely the place I always go to when I’m craving Malaysian food. This place gets very packed and there is always a huge line outside once it’s past 6pm, so if you don’t want to wait for ages, going early is the best option. I nearly always order the curry chicken with roti canai, which is delicious and my absolute favourite, but this time around we went for something different.

The first pick was the dry curry egg noodles with steamed chicken. The noodles were definitely very flavourful, with heaps of sauce. It was a bit overboard for my taste, but I get that some people might actually prefer the noodles drowned in the sauce. Despite that, the noodles are definitely very addictive, and it feels like it’s all gone within seconds. Even though it’s marked as being a little spicy on the menu, I couldn’t taste any chilliness at all, even though I have a very low spicy food tolerance!

Dry curry egg noodles with steamed chicken – $15.50

As for the chicken, I really liked the juicy skin and the sauce it was in. Whilst it was good, I felt like the inside was a little dry. Perhaps it’s personal preference though, as I most enjoy chicken when it’s super juicy everywhere. It’s not a chicken dish that I would return to eat, but it’s a solid effort.

Dry curry egg noodles with steamed chicken – $15.50

The biryani rice with red chicken and sambal prawns is definitely not the type of food I would go for, but it was nice to try something different. I’m personally not a big fan of the flavours and it was a little too spicy for me. There were a lot of spices in the rice, so some spoonfuls weren’t that pleasant – it was a massive hit of spice and kind of felt like biting into rocks. However, don’t knock this dish down just because of my individual tastes – if you like nasi lemak or spicy food, I think that you would enjoy this a lot more than I did and probably find it delicious.

Biryani rice with red chicken and sambal prawns – $15.50

I also decided to try out a drink as I was craving something nice and cold. This was a blended ribena drink topped with watermelon balls, coconut jelly and lychee. I have nothing bad to say about this, and really loved it. I am a big fan of watermelon, lychee and jelly, so for me, it was the perfect refreshing drink to accompany the food.

Ribena melon – $7.50

It’s no surprise that PappaRich has branches around Australia and worldwide. Their business model is clearly working for them, with extensive variety and choice on their menu, and an affordable offering of delicious food. Service has generally been pretty good, even though it does get busy and sometimes I have to ask twice for table water. It’s nice that they have a little bell on the table that you can ring, just like in many Korean restaurants, so you don’t have to waste time trying to catch the waiter’s attention if you’d prefer not to.

I’ll definitely be back sometime so keep a look out for an update on this blog post, as I need to add in the curry chicken with roti canai! I feel like Malaysian food isn’t really one of the main cuisines like Japanese, Korean and Chinese that people think of when they’re going out to eat, but Malaysian food is so wonderful that it should definitely be at the forefront of more people’s minds.

PappaRich Macquarie | Shop 449, Upper Level 3, Macquarie Centre, North Ryde | Website | Facebook | Instagram

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Coco Rice Thai Restaurant, Ryde

Date visited: Wednesday 15 November, 2017

I love discovering new restaurants so I was really happy to get the opportunity to try this place. It’s in a fairly quiet area, so there were quite a few parking spots available. I’m assuming it was because it was a Wednesday night, but the restaurant was empty. The good thing is that it meant the waiting time for the food was quite short.

I saw that they had pad thai soft shell crab and decided to try it. I’ve never seen this on a menu anywhere but it sounded intriguing and I love soft shell crab. Luckily, it lived up to my expectations and I really enjoyed it. It doesn’t look like much but the portion size was way more than enough for me and there was a very decent amount of 8-9 pieces of crab in there. The crab actually went really well with the pad thai, which thankfully had really good authentic flavours too! The menu said that it was $21.90, but when the bill came, it turned out to only be $19.90, so that was a bonus.

Pad thai soft shell crab – $19.90

When eating out at a Thai restaurant, ordering a curry is always a solid choice. I was eating out with a group, and someone decided to order roast duck curry while another picked the pineapple curry with BBQ roast duck. Turns out that it’s probably the exact same thing. The catch is that on the menu, the roast duck curry was meant to be $19.90, while the pineapple curry with BBQ roast duck, $18.90. However, when the bill came, the roast duck curry was only $17.90, so you can save a dollar depending how you order it..

Anyway, the curry was really good and I enjoyed the lychees and pineapple. There was actually a very generous amount of mixed vegetables and duck, definitely a lot better than some other Thai restaurants I’ve been to. You have to order rice separately, which is standard in Thai restaurants, and here it was $3 per person which wasn’t too bad.

Roast duck curry – $17.90; pineapple curry with BBQ roast duck – $18.90, rice – $3 pp

Pad se-ew is also always a great choice at Thai restaurants, although this one was pretty average. Average isn’t bad though, it’s still great tasting food, just on par with other Thai restaurants I’ve eaten at. Serving size seemed a little smaller than the pad thai though.

Pad se-ew with chicken – $15.90

One of the Coco Rice specials was this eggplant chilli jam (deep fried eggplant with home made sauce). It was a surprise winner, and the outside crunch with the softness of the eggplant inside was so good! It wasn’t too chilli, even for my low intolerance of spicy food. For the amount of eggplant, I thought this was a great value dish. I can see why this is a special, especially since I don’t think I’ve seen this dish at other Thai restaurants.

Eggplant chilli jam – $16.90

Finally, to end things off, sticky rice is a common Thai dessert. Here, they served it with mango or Thai custard. I have nothing bad to say about these desserts as they were both delicious. Even when you’re full from dinner it’s so easy to keep eating these because of how tasty they are!

Sticky rice with mango – $9.90, sticky rice with Thai custard – $6.90

I’m really glad to have found this restaurant, and I know I will definitely be back soon. I love how they have one or two unique dishes that are not common in other Thai restaurants, and actually do it really well. I definitely enjoyed all of the food and it’s such a good restaurant to eat out at with family or friends since the atmosphere is pretty quiet and nice. This is probably one of my new go to Thai restaurants around the Ryde area.

Coco Rice Thai Restaurant | 117 North Road, Ryde | Website

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Sea Bay Handmade Noodle Restaurant, Eastwood

Date visited: Saturday 17 March, 2018 and Saturday 11 November, 2017

This is one of my favourite places for a feed in Eastwood. I have been here a few times since they opened up a few years ago, and I always enjoy the food. The restaurant is situated within a narrow corridor, but they do have more space than it looks like from the front, with more tables towards the back of the corridor space. The menu has a lot of affordable options, and it only seems right to order their handmade noodles, given that it’s in the restaurant name.

A very classic choice is the beef soup with hand made noodles. It’s simple and light, but done well. The soup is quite tasty and the noodles have a good balance between being too soft or too hard. I kind of wish there was some veggies in it though, just to get the daily greens in, but it’s still a very good dish.

Beef soup with hand made noodles – $11.80

My absolute favourite go to are these fried hand made noodles. I order them every time without fail. There’s just something about them that I can’t resist, and they are the ultimate comfort food. I’m pretty sure I’ve tried these fried noodles with every meat: beef, lamb, pork and chicken, but to be honest they taste the same to me and I enjoy them all equally. The noodles always have great flavour and the portion size is very generous for me personally. There is enough for me to eat over 2 meals, so for $13.80 it’s a total winner. The nice thing as well is that I don’t think the place charges for a takeaway box (well at least last time I didn’t have to pay for one)!

Fried hand made noodles with lamb – $13.80

During another visit, my mum ordered the chicken soup with hand made noodles. The chicken soup tasted full of flavour, and didn’t seem too different from the beef soup. I think I prefer the beef soup noodles simply because I enjoy eating beef more than chicken. However, this chicken soup gets extra points for including cabbage, so it felt more balanced and healthy.

Chicken soup with hand made noodles- $11.80

Lastly, as an additional side dish to share, we ordered the fried chives egg buns. I’m not really sure why it’s called buns, because it’s definitely more of an Asian pancake. These were deliciously fried and crunchy, and I loved the chive flavour with it. It’s expensive considering it’s not very filling, and is the same price as the chicken noodle dish above. However, it does taste really good, good enough that I would consider ordering it again.

Fried chives egg buns – $11.80

This restaurant epitomises what fairly cheap-ish and hearty asian food is all about. Although Sea Bay specialises in their handmade noodles, they also serve other foods such as dumplings, buns and vegetable and meat dishes. I have had their dumplings before and they’ve been good, although generally the wait time stretches a bit longer past 15 minutes. Overall, service is average, but you can’t expect much in Eastwood and it’s good enough when all you need to do is order your food. I am always happy to eat out here!

Sea Bay Handmade Noodle Restaurant | 148 Rowe Street, Eastwood | Website

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Sushi Hotaru, The Galeries

Date visited: Thursday 2 November, 2017

I feel like eating at a sushi train is one of the best ideas for a fun dinner date that doesn’t break the bank. You can eat as much or little as you want and you have the added excitement of getting to pick from many options. Quick disclaimer, this may be a bit paradoxical, but I actually don’t like raw fish very much, so that’s the reason why I haven’t reviewed any salmon, tuna, etc. sushi, except for one.

This place is always packed, but we were lucky enough to grab one of the few remaining seats at the sushi train at 6pm. Within 10 minutes, the line was already starting to form outside. To start off, soft shell crab has long been one of the sushi types I most enjoy, so that was an easy first choice for me. I have nothing bad at all to say about this one, and I could happily eat a whole box of these tasty crunchy rolls.

Soft shell crab roll – $3.50

Probably my favourite of the night was the LOL roll, and yes, that was its actual name on the menu! It included prawn katsu, avocado and a special sauce that seemed to be some kind of Japanese mayo. I really loved this because of the crunch, and whatever was in the sauce gave it a really good flavour. I liked this roll so much I got a second plate of it.

LOL roll – $3.50

The other highlight was the okonomiyaki. This was the first time I’ve had it served on a stick, but I really like the presentation, and found it did actually help make it easier to eat. It tasted just as awesome as any other okonomiyaki I’ve had. I always love the flavours and the soft texture.

Okonomiyaki – $5

Other sushi we ordered included this mysterious fish sushi, and the grilled eel sushi. I’m not sure what we ended up picking off the sushi train, as I’m extremely unknowledgeable about raw fish, but if you can identify it, please let me know! Since I’m not a raw fish fan, I’m not going to judge this one, but I really enjoyed the eel sushi. It was covered in a delicious sauce, so it had a very strong flavour.

Raw fish sushi – $3.50, unagi (eel) sushi – $3.50 (right)

Unfortunately, I didn’t get photos of it, but we also got takoyaki (octopus balls). It was comparable to takoyaki I’ve had at other Japanese places, and was pretty delicious. In total, the bill was $33 (8 plates of sushi at $3.50 each plus the $5 okonomiyaki). Although my boyfriend wasn’t very hungry, meaning he didn’t eat much, I still feel the price is very reasonable. I, for one, was definitely very satisfied after the meal.

Onto other comments – we actually ended up ordering 6/8 plates of sushi from the iPad ordering system set up in front of us. The sushi on the train didn’t seem very fresh, and there wasn’t much variety. The menu was very helpful at showing all the options, and the food didn’t take long to arrive after ordering. I really like how you can order the sushi one at a time, at your own pace. I can’t think of any other sushi trains I’ve been to in the city, but I still feel confident enough to say that Sushi Hotaru is worthy of being my go to place.

Sushi Hotaru | Level 1, The Galeries, 500 George Street, Sydney | Facebook

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Pho Gia Hoi, Eastwood

Date visited: Sunday 5 November, 2017

This is my go to place for pho in Eastwood. I have been here to Pho Gia Hoi so many times, so it’s no surprise that I’m finally writing about it. Aside from pho, the main association I have with this place is orange. There seems to be orange-ish lighting, the tables are orange-ish, and their small bowls are definitely orange.

Anyway, you can always count on Pho Gia Hoi to deliver a wonderful bowl of pho that gives you all the warm and fuzzy feelings you need, especially on a cold rainy day. Personally, I find the portion size to be super generous, and I always really struggle to finish everything. I love the beef and the broth, and so I can easily confirm that Pho Gia Hoi does indeed deliver great pho.

Raw beef noodle soup – $13

When I’m not in the mood for pho, then my go to is usually crispy skin chicken. I prefer it with dry egg noodles, although you can also order it with soup noodles or rice instead. It’s exactly as pictured – the skin is indeed crispy and I like that it’s generally always juicy. Even if you do happen to get the short straw and find your chicken a bit dry, it’ll be boosted up by the sweet sauce served on the side.

I find the dry egg noodles complement the chicken well and is refreshing to eat in between bites of chicken. They have some bean sprouts in there and some sauce and it’s simple, but is flavourful enough for me. It’s also a very large serving and I’ve never been able to finish the whole bowl of noodles myself.

Crispy skin chicken with dry egg noodles – $13

An alternative to crispy skin chicken, I enjoyed the grilled chicken just as much. I was pleasantly surprised to find it was also fairly juicy, and that it didn’t taste dry at all, especially with the sweet sauce. If you’re a super lazy eater like me, the grilled chicken has no bones so in a way, it’s easier to eat than the crispy skin chicken. Both this and the crispy skin chicken dishes also come with soup. My parents always tell me it’s just MSG and advise me not to drink it. From the one or two sips I’ve had, the soup does taste good in an indulgent way, but I would feel unhealthy having any more of it.

Grilled chicken with dry egg noodles – $13

For an Eastwood restaurant, the service is pretty good, and from my many experiences, the food has always come very promptly. I feel like on average, the wait time for the food is only 5-10 minutes from ordering. The value of this place is even better. For less than $15, there are so many options to choose from, whether you’re feeling pho, dry noodles, rice, beef, chicken, spring rolls or squid. I always leave Pho Gia Hoi with a very full stomach and a sense of contentment.

Pho Gia Hoi | 219 Rowe St, Eastwood

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