Walking with Dinosaurs - The Arena Spectacular

This post has nothing to do with food, but I thought it would be a fun way to end the month of May on this blog.  Now, if you were like me and thought watching robotic dinosaurs roaming around was going to be boring, it was actually fantastic.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and gasped like a kid in some parts too.  I had initially bought tickets to 'Walking with Dinosaurs' because Cheesecake Boy loved dinosaurs when he was a kid, but after this I  really have realised that we are both big kids at heart.

It's times like these that I really wished we had a DSLR, as flash photography was prohibited and I couldn't catch the movement with my much loved little Canon, but I still think it did an admirable job.  This was definitely aimed at the little ones.  However, the sheer scale, workmanship and robotics involved was incredible, watching this on television doesn't do it justice.  You could even see the skin wrinkle and move with each movement, including on their eyelids.  I was never good at naming dinosaurs, and will be limited to the names of the dinosaurs in 'The Land Before Time', so there was definitely an appearance from Little Foot, Sarah and Spike.

Pho Pasteur - Chinatown, Sydney

Apologies for the lack of posts lately.  Cheesecake Boy and I have been super busy, and then we both came down with a terrible bug late yesterday afternoon, so we really hit the bed hard.  We're definitely the couple that eats together, and gets sick together.  Today's post is special to Cheesecake Boy and I, so I wanted to do it justice.  You see, Pho Pasteur is where Cheesecake Boy and I started our food journey together.

Cheesecake Boy and I always think fondly of Pho Pasteur.  Besides being the place that serves Cheesecake Boy's and my favourite combination broken rice with fried egg to date.  More importantly, Pho Pasteur is where Cheesecake Boy and I had our very first friends/more than friends dinner together.  I think he bought me here, to impress me with his ability to order in Vietnamese.  I am still impressed, but probably more amused now.  There were a couple of other group dinners prior, that found us conveniently sitting next to each other every time.  However, six years ago, just the two of us met up here.  Now we're practically inseparable, truly we are. 

This place later became a regular lunch haunt for Sushi Girl, KFC Girl and I.  We would need to get our fix weekly, and eventually learnt that the abrupt waiter whom we would eventually refer to as Grump Grum, was actually a kind man who only wanted me to brush up on my terrible Cantonese.  Later he even knew our orders off by heart.  However, things change and the regular visits stopped, but I still come on occasion.  This time I had a serious combination broken rice with fried egg craving, and Pho Girl likes to get her pho fix here, so it was the perfect choice for lunch.

Snag Stand - Westfield CBD, Sydney

It was last Friday lunch time, and hot dogs were on the agenda.  I don't really eat hot dogs, but ever since I found out some of the hot dogs at the Snag Stand are served on a brioche roll, I have not been able to stop thinking of these hot dogs.  You see, at one stage in my teens,  I was obsessed with grilled German frankfurters with hotcakes and BBQ sauce.  It was the combination of salty, sweet and tangy that delighted my fatty taste buds.  However, taste buds change, but memories do not.  I was hoping a sweet brioche bun with a tasty sausage was going to take me back to those teenage years of crazy bliss.  Pho Girl was willing to put the hot dogs to the test, so off we headed to the Snag Stand to satisfied some cravings.

C'est Bon, Rozelle

A couple of Saturdays ago, Cheesecake Boy and I were definitely having a lazy Saturday.  The type where you don't wake up early, lounge around and end up eating breakfast in bed.  When you do manage to get up, half the day's gone.  However, when it's a glorious day there's nothing better than going for a stroll hand in hand, and having an awfully late lunch together.  We ended up at Rozelle Markets and it was so late that most of the food was gone.

We ended up walking to where Strudel Baron use to be, and discovered that it's now a place called C'est Bon.  However, I spied some Strudel Baron like strudel at the front and later discovered that it's still under the same owners of Strudel Baron, but they have just given the Rozelle shop a revamp with a new name, art decor interior and more French inspired goodies.

Quay - The Rocks, Sydney

Last Saturday, Cheesecake Boy and I found ourselves at Quay.  As a very special friend of mine, KFC Girl vowed to spend eternity with her now, other half.  KFC Girl and, now KFC Boy held their reception at Quay.  The picturesque outlook of Quay as some of you may know, is truly spectacular with the Harbour Bridge on one side, and the Opera House on the other.

Pho Toan Thang, Flemington

Back in early April on our way up to the Hunter Valley, I was reading a post on Pho Toan Thang by Gastronomous Anonymous, and it made me feel quite nostalgic.  When I was growing up I really had the best of all food worlds, a father who would take me to noodle shops and hidden eateries  and a mother who would indulge me with her love of cakes, pastries and cafes, and to top it all off, they were both excellent cooks in their own right.  It was one of those days with my father in Flemington that I tried my first combination pork chop rice.  It was love at first bite, and I have never looked back.

After coming back from the Hunter Valley, I was a bit rice deprived.  You see, I am one of those people that need to eat rice at least a couple of times a week.  Otherwise, I don't feel quite right, which is  probably why my mother, when I was younger would call me 'rice bucket'.  Basically, if there was rice, I was there.  Cheesecake Boy could see I was needing a rice fix, and since he is obsessed with pho, it didn't take much convincing to end up at Pho Toan Thang.

The last time I was at the same spot where Pho Toan Thang is, was about eighteen years ago.  It was opening week for a Vietnamese restaurant, but if it's been the same place for the past eighteen years then I'm not sure.  However, I do remember having to queue, and eighteen years later I was doing it again. 

Billy Kwong, Surry Hills

I was having quite a day on Monday, that feeling of being overwhelmed for no reason, bad luck and silly mistakes happening left, right and centre, and you just wished you could duck back under your covers.  I couldn't be happier when dinner time was around the corner, and I was meeting my friend K for dinner at Longrain.  It had been a while and everything was starting to look better,  as I was dreaming of cocktails and dessert platters.  Unfortunately, when I got to Longrain it was closed for a private function.  You can't book, especially for two, but when you get there you become stranded.  Note to self, just call next time and make sure there is no private function, lesson learnt.

Unbelievable, my day was just getting worse, as I was looking up other restaurants of interest and one after another was closed on Monday.  K mentioned Italian and something hearty, so Pizza e Birra sprung to mind and a call confirmed that they were opened.  K was driving down Crown Street, and I noticed Billy Kwong and a tiny queue outside.  I remembered an article written by Terry Durack from a while back on 'the 50 things every Sydney food lover should try', and on that list was was the fried egg dish at Billy Kwong's.  I had to know if the fried egg dish compared to my grandmother's, so a convinced K was willing to give it a go, especially when she got a glimpse of Kylie Kwong in the kitchen, so that's how we ended up at Billy Kwong's.

Reuben & Moore - Westfield CBD, Sydney

The other day I was in the city and as Cheesecake Boy had been off his feet the last few days, I decided to bring him some lunch.  I settled for a couple of sandwiches at Reuben & Moore, formerly known as Eat.Deli.Kitchen at the food court in Westfield.  I made sure I got there just before noon to beat the lunch rush.

Kam Fook, Chatswood

Wishing all mother's and people who celebrated Mother's day, that you all had a lovely Mother's Day. My side of the family have a Mother's Day tradition, where we always have yum cha at Kam Fook in Chatswood. Since, Chatswood is a good midway meeting point for all three families involved. With Dumpling Mummy and siblings, my aunties and their families at 10am we managed to get a table for the fifteen of us, as no bookings are permitted for yum cha.

Sweet Infinity - The Strand Arcade, Sydney

Last month, Lord High Tea and I purchased a couple of Jump On It vouchers offering 6 macarons for $9 from Sweet Infinity.  I couldn't say no to a macaron deal.  Actually, it was really a good excuse for me to visit Sweet Infinity again, as my last visit was years ago at their Woolloomooloo shop.  This is how Lord High Tea and I ended up at Sweet Infinity in The Strand Arcade yesterday. 

 

 

Jimmy's Recipe - World Square, Sydney

Everything is back to normal as my month of April holiday's just flew by, so I'm going back to my routine and the weekly Friday lunch catch ups are back on track.  I was in the mood for Malaysian and thought Jimmy's Recipe would hit the spot.  I've never been to their Galleries Victoria store near the Art House, but some of my Malaysian friends think that their laksa is better at the World Square premises.  However, I'm never up for laksa when I visit and this time was no different as I was feeling a bit under the weather.

Becasse Bakery and Din Tai Fung Dumpling Bar - Westfield CBD, Sydney

Dumpling Sister and I decided to get up early this Sunday and hit the shops before the afternoon crazy peak hit town.  However, we were in need of some sustenance, before we could do some serious shopping.  We decided to head up to the Westfield food court, and see if anything tickled our fancy.  The escalator lead us straight up to Becasse Bakery.  Once, we saw the selection on offer, we knew this was what we had been looking for.