The Pasta House, Sydney Olympic Park

Date Visited: Tuesday 2 June, 2020

Sydney Olympic Park is far from the first suburb you’ll think of for good food, but The Pasta House is definitely putting in a strong showing to change that perception. Housed at Abbatoir Blues, this historical place is a cafe during the day and pasta heaven in the evening.

The menu is fairly concise with 7 signature dishes, which I feel is a good thing for a new menu. It’s better to do a few things excellently, than have a huge menu with differing quality. Even with 7 dishes, I love the variety – there’s 4 halal options and 2 vegetarian options, with a mix between classic napoletana, bolognese, as well as creamy lemon butter and cheesy sauces. There’s also an awesome alcoholic beverages and drinks list capitalising on some of the cafe style drinks from Abbatoir Blues. I had the Egyptian rose iced tea ($7), which had a refreshingly unique taste – I would highly recommend it!

Aside from the signature dishes, the garlic focaccia and a rocket salad are the options for side dishes. I was so impressed by their garlic focaccia, which was entirely made in-house and baked in a gorgeous garlic butter. It was such a crunchy delight to eat and I’d definitely suggest getting this to accompany your pasta.

Garlic focaccia – $10

We decided to give the pappardelle ai fungi a go, one of the two vegetarian and halal options. Every signature dish features house-made pasta and this pappardelle was made so well. I really loved the generous ‘wild mushroom medley’ and the parmesan sauce added a lovely light cheesiness flavour. I thought the dish could’ve been enhanced with even more creaminess in the sauce for cohesion, but I still really enjoyed this one.

Pappardelle ai fungi – $18 (small) – vegetarian, halal

The prawn ravioli came strongly recommended and as soon as I took a bite I understood why. Perfectly handmade from scratch, the soft prawn filling went so harmoniously with the lemon butter sauce. It looks like a pretty unassuming dish but I found this to be the most addictive and the one that I wanted to keep coming back to for more!

Prawn ravioli – $20 (small) – halal

Last but not least was this classic lasagna, which definitely wowed us when it came to the table. It is an incredibly generous slab with amazing layers of house-made lasagna sheets, bechamel, tomato mix and beef mince. This plate is more than enough for the average person and filled my tummy with such happiness and warmth. Comfort food at its finest.

Lasagna emiliana – $18

For a place named The Pasta House, I definitely expected some good pasta, but I was overwhelmingly impressed with all the food we tried! The prawn ravioli was undeniably a massive hit, and the hand-made pasta brilliance was also evident in the pappardelle and the lasagna sheets. Not to mention, the garlic focaccia and iced tea really exceeded all expectations and rounded off such an enjoyable meal. Another thing I really appreciated was the portions – the lasagna was especially huge, but even the ‘small’ pastas we got were such a decent size.

The service was also so on point, so thank you for the amazing hospitality during my visit. If you plan to visit – The Pasta House is located very conveniently opposite Olympic Park train station, and street parking was plentiful considering the current lack of events. For delicious good value pasta and a soul satisfying Italian meal, this family run place is so worth a try.

Disclaimer: I dined as a guest of The Pasta House, but all opinions and photos are my own.

The Pasta House | Building C/1 Herb Elliott Avenue, Sydney Olympic Park NSW 2127 | 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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Santorini on Oxford, Darlinghurst

Date Visited: Wednesday 18 March, 2020

I visited Santorini, Greece two years ago and had an incredible time with some of the best food. I was so glad to be able to have a chance to relive my memories at Santorini on Oxford. From stepping in, I felt like I was transported back to the Greek island, with the friendly welcome and cosy vibes of the restaurant. The menu is fairly extensive with all your Greek favourites, including lots of meat, and more.

To get things started, we were treated to the seriously impressive saganaki, a very cheesy dish with a hint of alcoholic goodness. The Kefalograviera cheese was served by pouring some ouzo on the dish before lighting it up as an amazing fiery display. The presentation will definitely wow you, and if you are a cheese lover you’ll definitely want as much of this as possible!

Saganaki – $17.5

Some pita bread and dips is also a perfect way to start a Greek meal, and I loved the variety in this trio of dips. From left to right was the tzatziki, the Santorini smokey eggplant, and tarama. I think it was my first time trying tarama, which is made from fish roe, and it was quite a subtle light flavour. My favourite might have been the smokey eggplant though, perhaps because it was the strongest flavour. However, I enjoyed all three and would definitely recommend getting the trio to try the different dips!

Trio of dips with warm pita bread – $20

We also enjoyed the pita bread with this special dip. I recall that it was made from beans, but unfortunately don’t have the name of this dish and am not sure if it is even on the menu. However, it was another flavourful dip that helped our meal get off to a great start.

As if I wasn’t already wowed enough by the flaming cheese, I fell in love with these Kataifi prawns! Wrapped in kataifi, a type of string pastry, these deep fried prawns were absolutely delicious and cooked perfectly. They were beautifully crunchy and went so well with the aioli dill.

Kataifi prawns – $20

We also enjoyed this fresh Greek salad, with a variety of mixed leaf, carrots, tomatoes and cheese. I’m not usually the biggest fan of salads, but I actually really liked this Santorini salad. Everything was really well balanced and I found myself eating more of this than I thought.

Santorini salad – $18

The star of the Greek feast was this mixed meat grill plate. Souvlaki is definitely a Greek classic, and we demolished the two lamb souvlaki skewers. The lamb souvlaki, lamb loin chop, chicken thigh and loukaniko (Greek sausage) were all hot off the grill and full of so much flavour. Served with haloumi and some salad on the side, I guarantee you will be extremely full and satisfied after sharing this meat platter!

Mixed meat grill plate – $40

I really enjoyed my meal at Santorini on Oxford, with the highlights being the flaming saganaki, the amazing Kataifi prawns and the fulfilling mixed meat grill plate. This was one of those restaurants that really made me feel like I was eating traditional authentic Greek food made with lots of care. If you haven’t visited Greece before or if you want to time travel back to your Greek holiday, it’s time to visit Santorini on Oxford!

Disclaimer: I dined as a guest of Santorini on Oxford, but all opinions and photos are my own. Thank you Milk and Butter Media (@milkandbuttermedia) for arranging the invite!

Santorini on Oxford | 217 Oxford St, Darlinghurst NSW 2010 | Website | 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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The Rotisserie House, North Ryde

Date Visited: Saturday 30 November, 2019

I was really excited to check out The Rotisserie House because there’s nothing more satisfying than some delicious fresh meats. Walking in, I loved how modern and nice the place was. Though it seemed like there was a lot of takeaway orders, probably from locals, the space is seriously so lovely to dine in with family or friends. There’s an amazing selection of tasty meats from the rotisserie and I could not wait to get started!

It’s been a long, long time since I’ve had a whole fresh chicken, and now I know exactly where to go when I’m craving one. The Rotisserie House’s full chicken was absolutely amazing and so juicy, not dry at all. The meat was cooked to perfection and full of so much flavour on its own already, though it also comes with complimentary sauce. Honestly, this chicken was so satisfying and something I’d return back for.

Full chicken – $16.90

The dish that really pleasantly surprised me was the lamb souvla, with 250g of lamb served with pita bread. I’m always worried about meat being too dry, especially when it’s cut into pieces, but the lamb souvla here is truly divine. Cooked to perfection, this was basically everyone’s favourite dish of the day as the lamb is deliciously flavoured and really might be the best lamb you’ve ever had.

Souvla portion (lamb) – $14.90

I also really enjoyed these chicken pieces, but it was the chips that really impressed me. I have not had such delicious chips in ages and I know that I will be craving these again soon. They were so crispy and if you’re someone like me that adores chicken salt, this is the place to get it! I have to say I found the chips more addictive than the chicken pieces, so if I could only pick one chicken dish I’d definitely go for the full chicken, which was more juicy and flavourful.

Chicken pieces and chips

I also had the chance to try the pork belly and it was so, so satisfying. The pork was incredibly succulent with the natural pork juices filling my mouth with happiness. Definitely the perfect indulgence every now and again. If you’re a fan of super crunchy crackling, you’ll love this one. The crackling was so crunchy that it was a bit hard to cut with a knife and don’t be surprised if everyone at your table can hear the crack!

Pork souvla

The Rotisserie House also does such a wide variety of burgers! The Rotisserie House burger featured 100% aussie beef with classic burger ingredients of lettuce, tomato, grilled onions, cheese, aioli and tomato sauce. It was a great burger, one that would be great to get with a side of fries, but it was kind of a standard burger and not as impressive as the chicken or lamb souvla.

Rotisserie house burger – $9.40

If you’re craving a chicken burger, the chicken schnitzel with lettuce, tomato and a very generous serving of mayo is a good choice. Though the chicken is cooked well, it’s missing the wow factor, and most of the flavour feels like it’s the mayo sauce.

Chicken schnitzel burger – $8.50

Aside from chips, I really enjoyed the huge spread of fresh salad options that were so tasty on their own. I really enjoyed the pesto pasta and the mixed vegetables, and there are so many great options to choose from there’s something for everyone! There were also a few potato salads for the potato lovers out there, from herb and chilli potatoes to cream potatoes and lemon potatoes. The salads are the perfect healthy sides to complement the meats and can be ordered as small ($7.20), medium ($9.20) or large ($11.20).

Assorted salad dishes – $7.20 (small), $9.20 (medium), $11.20 (large)

It’s safe to say I really enjoyed my meal at The Rotisserie House and will be back for sure! It felt like an absolute local gem and I’m so glad I now know about this place. I would highly recommend all the rotisserie meats – as the name suggests, it’s what they do best, and the full chicken and lamb souvla were definitely the highlights. Please do yourself a favour and try this place out for some delicious, high quality, fresh food!

Disclaimer: I dined as a guest of The Rotisserie House, but all opinions and photos are my own. Thank you for the invite!

The Rotisserie House | 16 Blenheim Rd, North Ryde NSW 2113 | 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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