Motto Motto Japanese Kitchen, Macquarie

Date Visited: Saturday 27 November, 2021

Japanese is one of my favourite cuisines, so it’s no surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed this spread at Motto Motto. It seems many others had the same idea of dining here – the restaurant was very popular during our Saturday lunch, though not unexpected given Black Friday weekend sales. Motto Motto launched their brand new menu late November 2021, so I was definitely excited to try some of the new additions.

One of the highlights on the new menu is the kaisen donburi, featuring sashimi grade salmon from southern Tasmania, seared scallops, prawns, fish roe, avocado, edamame, and more! It was so incredibly fresh and you could really tell the ingredients were of high quality. If you love sashimi seafood you will definitely enjoy this bowl, and eating this made me feel super clean and wholesome. The side of ginger along with the miso soup also helped make this such a nice cohesive set meal.

Kaisen donburi – $19.9

I also tried the karaage chicken donburi and look how impressive it is! I love good karaage chicken and the serving portion was spot on – there’s enough pieces to make this bowl incredibly filling for the vast majority of diners. The runny egg here was absolute perfection too. Egg yolk and rice is always a heavenly combo – if you agree then this is probably the don for you.

Chicken karaage donburi – $15.9

Japanese inspired burgers are another exciting addition to the menu and this lobster and prawn number was definitely tasty. The lobster and prawn croquette went really with the yuzu Japanese mayo. The amount of mayo was super generous – almost too generous – so make sure you like mayo if you decide to order this one.

Lobster and prawn burger – $16

If you prefer something with a bit of a kick, the spicy chicken karaage burger would be a great option. Featuring hot and spicy Japanese fried chicken with spicy Japanese mayo, it had a nice amount of crunchiness and different textures to keep it interesting. It was indeed a bit spicy for me, but my spice tolerance level is extremely low – so it is probably not too spicy for most people.

Spicy chicken karaage – $14

I always love pork gyoza and these were absolutely delicious. The filling was so juicy and bursting with flavour. One of the recommended sides to order here for sure!

Pork gyoza – $8.9

We also had some good old edamame as a really nice fun snack on the side. Very good portion size and something that’s easy to keep going back to throughout the meal.

Edamame – $5

You can never have enough karaage chicken so I like that you can also get this as a side dish. I find that juicy crispy chicken always tastes so good with a little dip in the mayo. Always so satisfying.

Chicken karaage – $6

Lastly, you must order the soft serves here! They had black sesame and matcha during my visit and I loved both. The flavours were perfectly prominent and balanced well, and the amount that you get for the price is such good value. These soft serves are the best way to finish off your meal here.

Black sesame soft serve – $3.5 (left), matcha soft serve – $3.5 (right)

Also enjoyed these lychee drinks. Both the lychee soda and lychee ice tea were super refreshing, and I was told these are two of the most popular drinks here. Playing with the glass marble in the lychee soda bottle is also extra fun.

Japanese glass marble – original lychee – $4 (left), Pokka lychee ice tea – $5 (right)

Overall, I absolutely love Motto Motto – their menu has an excellent variety of classic Japanese favourites and exciting creative dishes, the ambience is super cosy and the service was prompt and friendly. On a previous visit I’ve also tried the ramen, other donburi and Japanese fries, and can vouch for these being delicious too. Would happily recommend dining at this Japanese eatery whenever you’re in Macquarie Centre or around the area, and they also have locations at Castle Towers and Marrickville Metro.

Disclaimer: I dined as a guest of Motto Motto Japanese Kitchen, but all opinions and photos are my own. Thank you to The Atticism for arranging the invite!

Motto Motto | Shop 3444, Macquarie Centre, Corner Herring and Waterloo Roads, Macquarie Park NSW 2113 | Website | Facebook | Instagram

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Quanjude, World Square, Town Hall

Date Visited: Saturday 14 March, 2020

I love a good Chinese feast with family and friends, so I was pretty keen to try Quanjude. Though I’ve been to World Square many times, surprisingly I have never seen or heard of  this place before. It’s tucked away to the side of World Square, but is actually a huge restaurant, with loads of seating, an upstairs area and several rooms for private groups. Despite being relatively new to Sydney, Quanjude has been around for more than a century, and is very successful overseas in Asia.

As tends to be common with Chinese restaurants, the menu is huge, with a wonderful variety of dishes to pick from. For newcomers, look out for the recommended dishes with the thumbs ups symbol on the menu. Of course, it’s hard to visit Quanjude without trying their signature peking duck!

It’s always amazing to watch an experienced chef slicing a whole peking duck in front of you, and I loved how Quanjude really showcased this. I’ve had peking duck many times before, but it was my first time trying some of the duck skin separately on its own with a bit of salt. It was very fatty and juicy so I absolutely loved it! The rest of the duck was cut up onto two plates that were more than enough for our group of 4. The duck was so beautifully delicious, with the right amount of natural flavour and juicy tenderness.

If you ask about the proper technique to eat peking duck, they will very kindly demonstrate the correct process, and I was really impressed with how our server was able to fold the pancake so cleanly with chopsticks. Put a piece of shallot or cucumber, ample sweet soy bean paste, a piece of roast duck and wrap it all in the pancake – such a delightful mouthful.

Signature peking duck (whole duck) – $88

I’m a big fan of san choy bao as well, which is meat wrapped in lettuce. However, it’s usually with chicken or pork so I was excited to try a duck version. Quanjude certainly knows duck well, and I loved this. Really great flavour in the duck that goes so well with the fresh crunchy lettuce.

Duck san choy bao – $12.8 (2 pc/portion)

Crispy shallot pancake is another Chinese restaurant classic. This one was very simple and there’s not much to it, so it’s a good option for picky kids or as a lighter entree or side dish.

Crispy shallot pancake – $12.8

The peking duck is the star at Quanjude, but these wok fried pipis with vermicelli might have possibly stolen the show. If you want to treat yourself, this is the best way to do it! This giant plate of pipis was polished off by our table pretty quickly, as the pipis and vermicelli were packed with delicious flavour from the X.O chilli sauce. I’d definitely recommend ordering these pipis for your table!

Wok fried pipis with X.O chilli sauce and vermicelli – $68

One of my other favourites of the night was the deep fried barramundi with the gorgeous sweet and sour sauce. I love how crunchy the fish is outside, and it makes this fish so addictive to eat. It is an amazing combination with the sauce and if you haven’t tried this before then you definitely need to. I’d have this over sweet and sour pork any day.

Deep fried barramundi with sweet and sour sauce – $58

Next up – this wok-fried chicken came out glistening and it was as soft and juicy as it looked. Chicken with cashew is also a very popular combination in Chinese cuisine and this dish was done really well.

Wok-fried chicken with vegetable and cashew nuts – $24.8

On the vegetables side, we ordered these bean curd robes with mushrooms and snowpea. I really liked the mushrooms in particular, though bean curd lovers will really enjoy this dish as there is so much of it in this bowl.

Crispy bean curd robes with assorted mushrooms and snowpea – $24.8

We also enjoyed the wok-fried lamb, which came out on a heated grill plate. I was worried it might be a bit dry, but don’t be fooled – it was so packed with flavour and is one of those dishes that tastes so much better than it looks. Definitely a great main dish to consider ordering!

Wok-fried lamb with shallot and cumin seed – $26.8

I was also really impressed with Quanjude’s drinks menu. Though of course it’s pretty traditional to have tea at a Chinese restaurant, Quanjude can absolutely still deliver the goods if you’re feeling a juice or cocktail. Their House Signature cocktail ($22) packs a punch with vodka, midori and a touch of pineapple, such a brilliant combination. The lychee mojito with bacardi is also such a treat, and I always find lychees so refreshing. The mocktails are very enjoyable too, and you may find it hard to pick between the tropical punch juice ($11) and the gorgeous pink lemonade.

Lychee mojito – $22 (left), pink lemonade – $9 (right)

This was such an incredible fulfilling meal; the best kind of food to share with a small group of friends or a huge table of family. My favourite must order dishes were the signature peking duck, the pipis and the deep fried barramundi, which are all sure to wow any table. Major kudos also to the staff, who were all so accomodating and attentive and really made this dinner a great experience. Quanjude reminds me of the Chinese restaurants back in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan with its lovely traditional decor and big tables. I really enjoyed this generous Chinese spread and hope to soon see Quanjude bustling full as it deserves to be.

Disclaimer: I dined as a guest of Quanjude, but all opinions and photos are my own. Thank you so much Alice (@alicechow_n) for extending the invite!

Quanjude 全聚德| 10.11/41/680 George St, Sydney NSW 2000 | Facebook | Instagram

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Spice World, Haymarket

Date Visited: Wednesday 11 March, 2020

I’ve never been the biggest fan of hot pot but my mind has genuinely been changed after visiting Spice World! I honestly have not had such a good hot pot experience before, and I now know why. You have to get the fundamentals right – having a great soup base and high quality meat – and Spice World definitely delivers on both. I was impressed from the moment I stepped into the restaurant – Spice World is known for their robots handing out mints, and I loved all the Chinese inspired decor, from the roof lanterns to the dragon imprinted comfy chairs.

The first thing that struck me was how many choices were available on the extensive menu! Even in deciding the broth there were so many different options. You can pick either individual or large for share, depending on the size of your group, and you can then also pick single flavour or double flavour. For an individual broth from $9.9 up, you get your own personal hot pot, which I think is extremely reasonable. However, we opted for the large for share broth as the large broths also come with a complimentary puppy or Hello Kitty, or in our case, bear! How adorable is it!

I highly recommend getting a double flavour for more variety. We ended up picking the traditional spicy broth, ensuring to select level one chilli, along with the fresh tomato broth. My spicy tolerance is extremely weak, so I found the spicy broth extremely spicy, even though it was supposedly level one of three levels of chilli. Luckily, I absolutely loved the fresh tomato broth so I definitely had a lot more of that. The broth was incredibly rich in flavour and might have been the most perfect tomato broth I’ve had. They are so generous with making sure the broths are continually topped up and I would certainly come back to Spice World for this broth.

Traditional spicy broth + fresh tomato broth (large for share) – $32.9

The spicy bear started melting once the rest of the broth was poured in, but our attention was soon captured by the Wagyu beef dressed Barbie. It’s so gorgeous – no wonder this is one of their most popular recommended dishes! I thought this dish was only popular for the novelty of it, but I was blown away by just how amazingly delicious the Wagyu beef was itself. The beef absolutely melts in your mouth, and I’m more understanding of the pricing of Barbie considering how high quality the meat is. Another must order from Spice World that makes me want to revisit again.

Wagyu beef dressed Barbie – $38.9

We also decided to try out another of the recommended dishes, the deep fried pork belly. It sounded delicious on paper but unfortunately I was not the biggest fan upon tasting it. Whilst the portion is very reasonable for the price, it tasted a bit strange to me, and wasn’t as juicy inside as I’d hoped. It was very crunchy on the outside though, but that wasn’t enough to win me over and next time I’d pick more wagyu beef instead.

Deep fried pork belly – $10.9

We also tried the fish tofu, one of their handmade dishes. These were great, and were so easy to keep eating in between the meat. I wasn’t originally planning to order this, but I’m so glad we did, as these are a hot pot staple for a reason.

Fish tofu – $8.9

For those who need more flavour with their fish tofu or want some sauce, Spice World’s self-service sauce station is the ultimate dream. There were about 20 or more different kinds of sauces, along with suggested sauce combinations. There’s bound to be something for everyone. The menu includes a $3.9 charge per person for the self-service sauce, appetisers and seasonal fruits. Considering you can help yourself to as much as you want, it’s not too bad at all.

Self-service sauce station

Our waitress also recommended the mashed shrimp with fish roe, which was quite an unusual looking dish. A brilliant recommendation because this ended up being one of my partner’s favourites! Our waitress was so helpful and came by to help scoop the shrimp into our broth. I really enjoyed this, the fish roe added such a lovely texture and it was another easy thing to eat.

I usually want some rice or noodles to accompany lots of meat, so we also ordered udon noodles. At $5.9 it’s a big price discrepancy compared to a pack of udon from the supermarket, but there’s bound to be a premium to pay in a restaurant. Pretty standard udon noodles, but a great way to add some variety to the meal.

Mashed shrimp with fish roe – $16.9, udon noodles – $5.9 (back left)

We were also lucky enough to treat ourselves to these scallops. Admittedly the scallops didn’t wow me that much as they have no flavour and rely purely on the broths. However, the scallops seemed fresh and I loved how they presented them in their shells on the bed of ice.

Scallops on shell (6 pieces) – $18.9

Our last meat pick was the lamb slices served on the 1m plate. I might have ordered this for the novelty of it, but like the Wagyu barbie, I was awed by how good the meat actually tasted as well. This was definitely not your regular lamb slices from the Asian supermarket. The lamb was so high quality and even though there were so many slices on the 1m plate, I wanted to never stop eating this. I would highly recommend these lamb slices!

By then we were absolutely stuffed but we still had some dessert to end the feast. We tried the deep fried handmade rice cake with brown sugar, as it was one of their recommended dishes and I’d had something similar before that I had enjoyed. This was a nice treat but pretty average and there wasn’t anything to really wow me.

Lamb slices served on 1m plate – $25.9 (left), deep fried handmade rice cake with brown sugar – $7.9 (right)

Last but not least were these beautiful swan cakes. The two black ones are purple sweet potato while the other two had a durian flavour inside. Whilst we preferred the purple sweet potato, the durian ones were pretty good too, even though I’m not a huge durian lover. These were so enjoyable to eat and I loved the unique and unusual flavour profiles.

To keep myself refreshed throughout this feast, I enjoyed a mixed fruit iced tea from the Moment for $8.5. It’s so cool how you can order bubble tea or milk tea or fruit tea and it’s delivered promptly to your table from The Moment. Such a great idea!

Swan cake – $16.9

I expected that I would enjoy Spice World, but even so, I was pleasantly surprised by how much the experience exceeded my expectations. I absolutely adored the tomato broth, the Wagyu barbie and the lamb slices and I know it won’t be long until I’ll need to visit again to satisfy my cravings. The service was also impeccable, with constant help topping up the broth and ensuring that you have everything you need. I never knew dining out at a hot pot restaurant would be this much fun, and I would definitely recommend trying it out yourself at Spice World!

Disclaimer: I dined as a guest of Spice World, but all opinions and photos are my own. Thank you Get Social PR (@getsocialpr) for arranging the invite!

Spice World | 405-411 Sussex St, Haymarket NSW 2000 | Facebook | Instagram

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Hello Auntie, Darling Square, Haymarket

Date Visited: Wednesday 22 January, 2020

Darling Square is the newest place to be, so I am slowly trying out all the wonderful new restaurants in the area. I’ve heard of Hello Auntie in Marrickville before, but it wasn’t until recently that I learnt about their new Darling Square space. For anyone else working in the city, it’s so much more convenient to pop by Darling Square for dinner. What gets me excited is that Hello Auntie isn’t your typical Vietnamese restaurant! Whilst they have all the wonderful classics including banh xeo and pho, I love how they’ve added some unique twists to the menu and brought new life to Vietnamese flavours!

Hello Auntie also stands out with their huge beverages menu with some seriously inviting cocktails, and the Asian-inspired flavours especially appeal to me. Auntie’s Happiest Hour is 5:30pm-6:30pm on weekdays and 6:00pm-7:00pm on weekends, and is such a great deal, with selected $10 cocktails, $15 sake, $10 wine and $8 spirits. I loved the sound of the Pandan Summer cocktail with pineapple, coconut sorbet, campari and pandan rum, so I had to give it a go. First time I’ve ever had a cocktail with pandan flavour. I’m a big lover of pandan, so I easily enjoyed this refreshing and sweet concoction.

I was also lucky enough to try the Red Pocket, a special cocktail from Auntie’s Chinese New Year menu. It’s inspired by a Vietnamese tradition of bringing home a watermelon, with the more red it it is when cut indicating how lucky the year will be. I loved hearing about the story behind the drink and learning something new about Vietnamese culture! This was another cocktail first, as I’ve never had a watermelon cocktail before, but it worked perfectly with the vodka, lime and mint – so perfectly I don’t know why this isn’t a more popular combination. This one tasted stronger than the Pandan Summer, but would definitely be perfect for those looking for a fruity hit with summery vibes.

Pandan summer – $19 ($10 during Happiest Hour) (left); red pocket – $19 (right)

A recommended small dish to try was the beef tartare. This was such a lovely entree with the flavours being fairly subtle and light. I felt that the crunchy texture of the purple rice chips accompanied the tartare excellently, and all the ingredients in this were well balanced. I wouldn’t normally expect to see a tartare dish on a Vietnamese menu, but this was a very pleasant dish to start off with.

Beef tartare, parmesan, chives, crispy shallot, caper, cornichon, purple rice chips – $25 – gluten free, dairy free option

If I see sashimi anywhere, my mind is usually set on ordering it, and this was no different. The kingfish sashimi was beautiful, and the radish pickles and grapes went surprisingly well with it. I would have expected this dish to be on the lighter side, but the wasabi vinaigrette made this feel a bit heavier. The wasabi vinaigrette felt like most of the flavour kick in this dish, and was a little bit strong for me compared to all the other natural elements. It was an unusual combination of flavours that still held my attention and a dish you’ll especially love if you enjoy wasabi.

Kingfish sashimi, wasabi vinaigrette, radish pickles, grapes, chilli oil – $25 – dairy free, gluten free

One of the highlights of the meal was the Banh Khot. I absolutely adored these Vietnamese pancakes and would really recommend this to everyone. They tasted even better than they looked, and wrapping them in the lettuce and dipping them in the sweet chilli sauce was the happiest flavour explosion in my mouth. I also loved the touch of roe, which I don’t believe is a standard ingredient in this Vietnamese dish (correct me if I’m wrong). This is one dish that’s well worth the price and a dish I’d come back for again and again.

‘Banh Khot’ coconut and turmeric pikelets, prawn cutlets, smelt roe – $29 – dairy free, gluten free

Another star dish was the rigatoni and after one bite I fell in love with this Asian inspired pasta. With prawn, scallop and smelt roe, it’s a luxurious main that I couldn’t get enough of. Every spoonful was heavenly and packed with flavour, maybe caused in part from the added sumac. I had to Google this, but sumac is a flowery plant that can be made into a tangy lemon spice, which clearly does wonders for flavour. I was a bit apprehensive on how good this rigatoni would be, but safe to say, I was very impressed and satisfied.

Rigatoni, XO sauce, prawn, scallop, parmesan, tomato, smelt roe, sumac – $36 – dairy free option

The last main were these thick and chewy noodles that reminded me a lot of udon. I love my udon and onsen egg so this really appealed to me. I loved poking the onsen egg and mixing all the yolk, but it wasn’t noticeable in the overall flavour. The menu was not lying when it said it was tossed with fermented chilli, as this was probably the main flavour of the dish with some cheesiness added in. I didn’t enjoy these noodles as much as the rigatoni, but the rigatoni set an extremely high standard and chilli isn’t my usual go to. However, I still found these noodles addictive and it’s certainly another set of uncommon and inventive flavours.

Thick and chewy noodles tossed with fermented chilli, pork, smoked tasmanian cheddar, onsen egg, katsuobushi – $27 – dairy free option

Lastly, I will never say no to ending a meal with dessert, and this passionfruit crème brûlée tart easily exceeded my expectations. The balance of the passionfruit custard with the smooth vanilla cream and pistachio crunch was sensational. I was so full after all the dishes I’d already had but had no problems cleaning up this dessert plate. Hello Auntie often switch out the tart flavour to keep things interesting, and I’d certainly love to try some of their other flavours as well, such as yuzu or durian!

Passionfruit crème brûlée tart with vanilla cream – $15

It’s very easy for me to say that I was super impressed with my visit to Hello Auntie Darling Square, and thoroughly enjoyed the whole dining experience. The service was so accommodating and incredibly friendly, with the waiters and waitresses being very patient with my slow decision making and also being more than happy to offer suggestions. The highlights and must orders for me were the rigatoni, Banh Khot, and the crème brûlée tart. Definitely some amazing food to be had, and I would highly recommend that you #payyourauntieavisit for a memorable meal!

Disclaimer: I dined as a guest of Hello Auntie, but all opinions and photos are my own.

Hello Auntie| Shop 2/16 Nicolle Walk Darling Square, Haymarket NSW 2000 | Website | Facebook | Instagram

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Celsius Coffee Co, Kirribilli

Date Visited: Sunday 18 March, 2018

I feel like Celsius Coffee Co is one brunch place that almost everyone has heard of. Known for its beautiful location on Kirribilli wharf, where you can eat with a view of the sea, as well as for its stunning waffle, it’s taken me far too long to get here. When we arrived on Sunday morning, there was already a lot of people milling about outside waiting for a table. We put our names down and waited about 15-20 minutes before getting seated. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a table next to the sea, but rather one of the inside tables, but we could still appreciate the view, just from a little further away.

Obviously, we had to order the Celsius waffle, as it is any food blogger’s dream. Also, have you really been to Celsius Coffee Co if you don’t try the waffle? One of the most beautiful cafe dishes out there, it also tasted amazing. Definitely one of my new favourite waffles, and it was pretty perfect, even though I stayed clear of the peanut butter cream. Upon first glance I was worried it would be a bit dry, but the waffle had the right amount of maple syrup soaked into it, and combined with all the lovely fresh fruit, every bite was a delight. I can see why this dish is so popular, and if I return to this cafe again, it’s an absolute must order.

Celsius waffle with berries, maple syrup, toasted nuts and peanut butter cream – $19 – v

Lately, I have also been quite into healthy vegetarian or vegan inspired dishes, so the super greens breakfast caught my eye. This dish included sautéed kale, asparagus, lime avocado puree, poached eggs, seeds and nuts on sourdough. This was also such a stunning dish, and I loved the presentation of it – it was definitely super green indeed! The mix of all the flavours wasn’t quite right for me, but it definitely ticked the box for making me feel healthy. The avocado puree was a bit strange and didn’t seem to complement the vegetables that well. I love that there was a poached egg in this though, as any dish with one instantly gets extra kudos.

Super Greens Breakfast – $18 – v

For drinks, I had one of their botanica cold press juices, and ended up picking the watermelon, apple and lemon one. $7.50 for juice isn’t the cheapest but it was really refreshing on the hot day. You can see a photo of my juice in the first flatlay photo above. My friend opted to try their cold brew coffee, which was a nice drink with a light caffeine boost that went well with the meal.

Cold brew coffee – $6

There are often really high expectations for insta-famous cafes like Celsius Coffee Co, but I felt like this was one cafe that really lived up to its reputation. I absolutely loved the waffle, and both that and the super greens breakfast was quite filling. Despite how busy it was, the service was also really good, and we did not have to wait that long to order or to catch the attention of a waiter/waitress.

Though Celsius Coffee Co is not the most conveniently located, it’s worth it for its unique ambience. The view below emphasises how it’s the perfect catch up place for any sunny day, and I feel like it won’t be long till I am back.

Celsius Coffee Co | Kirribilli Commuter Wharf, 1/2 Holbrook Ave, Kirribilli | Website | Facebook | Instagram

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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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The Missing Piece Cafe, Macquarie

Date Visited: Saturday, 5 May 2018

Located right outside Uniqlo, the Missing Piece Cafe is a place I’ve known about for awhile. I’ve tried its more famous cousins before (Hattrick and Vogue Cafe), so I was happy to finally get a chance to try this cafe. It was very busy when I went for an early Saturday lunch, but we were seated quite quickly. The waiters were nice enough to move us to a table when I asked (better flatlay opportunities you know), as we were initially sitting at the bar.

When it came to ordering, the ‘air’ dish caught my eye as I feel like it’s quite rare to see a salad with duck at a cafe. Alongside the confit duck fillet was beetroot, baby spinach, rocket, parsley, walnuts, chickpeas and orange slices. The duck was really tasty, and went really well with everything. I really enjoyed the flavours in this one, but I feel like more orange and walnuts would have made me love it even more. The presentation of this dish was a little messy, and I feel like there would be a way to plate it in an even nicer way. One of the best things about this though was that the serving size was massive, and there was so much duck, spinach and rocket that it will definitely fill you up.

Air – $19

Next to be ordered was something a little different that other cafes might not have, but also something kind of healthy. The ‘sea’ dish caught my eye, as I haven’t really had many salmon salads before. What especially won me over was that it had a poached egg in it, while a lot of the other breakfast or main dishes didn’t.

This was a very refreshing dish, and I loved how generous the serving size was. There was a plentiful amount of the in-house smokehouse marinated wood-smoked salmon, mixed with a lot of kale, quinoa, chia seeds and almonds. There wasn’t an extra punch in the dish that really made it stand out, but I did really enjoy the natural flavours of all the ingredients. When I cut into the egg it made for perfect yolk porn and I especially liked how I had an almond or two in every spoonful, as it added a crunchy texture to the salad.

Sea – $19

We both couldn’t resist ordering a smoothie, since they make some very aesthetic ones. I was interested in trying their dairy free cacaonut smoothie, which consisted of cacao, coconut milk, organic maple and maca. This smoothie was exactly as described, but I think it reaffirmed for me that I’m not a big fan of cacao. Hence, I personally didn’t enjoy it that much, but I’m glad I tried it and my friend thought it was really nice. The other smoothie he opted for was one of the weekly specials called the superfood slam, which included raw cacao, banana and peanut butter. Apparently, it tasted great as well, with a stronger cacao flavour than mine, but it was also a tad thick, making it hard to finish with the straw.

Cacaonut smoothie – $8 – df, gf, v (front), superfood slam smoothie – $11

Whilst both dishes we had were salads, we left feeling incredibly satisfied! I struggled to finish my salad, and we both ended up leaving a bit of the greens behind. Having the two smoothies probably accelerated the process of getting full, but the food was definitely worth the price. The dishes were two of the most filling salads I’ve ever had, with tasty natural flavours and a very generous serving of duck and salmon.

Additionally, even though basically every table was filled when we went, the service was very prompt and attentive. I love it when I don’t have to use any energy trying to catch the eye of a waiter or waitress. I counted about 7 waiters and waitresses, and at least another 7 in their small kitchen, so the cafe definitely seems like a well oiled machine. I think Missing Piece Cafe is an awesome spot for food before or after shopping, and is a fantastic staple cafe within Macquarie Shopping Centre that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend.

The Missing Piece Cafe | Level 3, Macquarie Centre, North Ryde | Facebook | Instagram

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