Traveling Tummy-Sydney: Feel at HOME

My taste buds sometimes lock in on one type of cuisine and its all it wants for a period of time. At one point in was Indian food, another, Japanese. These days, it's Thai. All I want are the flavors of lemongrass, chili, shallots, garlic...all fused together into a medley of yumminess in my tummy.

So my dinner with friends here in Sydney finally pushed through (I had to cancel last time because Ananda was sick) and my friend Geraldine suggested HOME, a Thai resto somewhere in Bathurst and Sussex streets in the city. She warned us that we may have to line up, and that it gets packed. Sure enough, we were given a table for only an HOUR...and when we walked out, there were so many people!

Sticky rice vs regular rice. Sticky rice is the same kind they use for the mango and sticky rice dessert. Keep in inside a container like this because once exposed, the rice can go from hot and sticky to cold and bleh real quick.

Soft shell crab salad--this was yum!

Kao rad pad pik sod---crispy pork belly with garlic, chili, basil, onion and lemongrass. Holy!!! This was so good! I'm not big on pork but when it's crispy like this , with flavors that just start a party in your mouth, I can't resist!

The one thing I didn't enjoy too much, the Kui Chay---dumplings stuffed with chives and garlic. it sounded good in theory, but in real life it was weird. Not bad, just weird, in a way I didn't like.

The day after I would not have minded going again to eat that pork dish (no. 38 on the menu--do it!)

Home is located at 299 Sussex Street Sydney NSW 2000, Contact: T: 02 9261 5058. E: info@homethai.com.au

Traveling Tummy: A Lebanese Chicken Blind Taste Test

Whether I am in Sydney or Manila, I go on and on about my favorite chicken in the world- El Jannah. A little hole in the wall joint in the predominantly Lebanese suburb of Granville. I first tried it at a party, and it has since then been a staple in our home and has become my traditional first meal every time I land in Sydney.

My friends were convinced that I would never be able to tell the difference in a blind taste test, mostly due to the fact that my friend Pete brought Lebanese Chicken to our cupcake party and no one was wise to his little Awafi-El Jannah switcheroo. To be completely honest, I couldn't tell too much with the chicken that it wasn't El Jannah, but I knew something was different about the garlic sauce.

On my last night at Sydney, I was put to a test.

I couldn't tell which was El Jannah and which was Awafi by sight alone. Habib's looked completely different.

Habib's had less of a charcoal taste. I feel like it wasn't grilled enough, or at least not to my liking. The chicken itself was tender and good but for me it's all about the garlic sauce, and Habib's left me hanging in that department. The garlic sauce just wasn't garlicky enough and the over all too mild flavor of everything made me rank it 3rd place.(According to Lisette, the Lebanese prefer this, but I'm not Lebanese, so I disagree. haha)

Awafi? or El Jannah? I can't tell by looking at it but let's just say it's Awafi for now. Awafi had good chicken. They also had good sauce. It is actually very similar to El Jannah and I think they reason for this is that apparently the owners of both establishments are cousins (Can someone confirm this?) They ARE down the street from each other so I wouldn't be surprised. Anyway, Awafi has little bits of El Jannah elements in it, but the difference is in the sauce. Awafi's garlic sauce is more canola oil tasting while El Jannah's has a stronger garlic taste. I would go to Awafi if El Jannah was closed and I really wanted Lebanese chicken. Otherwise, El Jannah still gets my vote.

Lastly, El Jannah. No complaints. I've said it a million times and I will say it one last time (Until I eat it again) It IS the best! ;p

And guess what, I got it right! i am the queen of Lebanese Chicken.

And El Jannah should start giving me free chicken for life with all this free advertising they are getting from me. (In case you guys read this, I'm only half joking)

Traveling Tummy: Grill'd

Grill'd in Darling Harbour (They also have other branches)

Ala's cheeseburger with bacon in a traditional bun

My burger- exactly like Ala's but in a different bun

Hand Cut Chips tossed in salt, pepper and oregano I think. So good!

The words "Healthy" and "Burger" are never to be spoken in the same breath, and those that do are probably lying. Seriously, how can a quarter pound of ground beef, gooey cheese, bacon and condiments be healthy? No matter though, because for people like me, it's all about the flavor and general satisfaction food gives me. At my age, I should probably be more conscious of the health benefits I get (or don't get) from the food I eat, but before you crazy fitness freaks start preaching--I DO have my share of salad and fish marinated in nothing but lemon, pepper and garlic, but WHY would I write about boring things like that?

Anyway, this burger joint Grill'd in Sydney claims to have healthy burgers. Whether or not this is true really doesn't matter to me. They have yummy burgers in creative flavors like "Kung Fu Fighter" (with shredded carrot, satay sauce, herb mayo and coriander) and "Hot Mama" (with roasted peppers, tzatziki, cheese, salad and harissa paste) as well as a wide selection of Lamb, Chicken and Veggie burgers. You can even choose between a panini or traditional wholemeal bun and please don't miss out on their hand cut chips- they are awesome with the herbed mayo dip.

More on Grill'd here---http://www.grilld.com.au/

PS. To be fair, both my sister and I agreed that the burgers didn't give us that sick feeling after we ate it and it wasn't oily...I still don't know about "healthy" but I would go back :)

Traveling Tummy: Bacco

Prosciutto

Taleggio, dried apricots, walnuts and honey

Italian Meatballs---SUPER spicy

Italian Rice Balls

:)

One of my favorite people in Sydney asked me to dinner a couple days before I left for Manila. We went to a Wine Bar named Bacco located on the top floor of QVB in the city. We ate good cheese and prosciutto and ordered way to much food and drank too much wine. It's about 30 minutes on the train for me to get home and I had to pee the whole way home. Haha. Worth it though. Good Times, Good Food, Really nice server--he let us stay until QVB was practically locking their doors.

Traveling Tummy: Hill Station, Baguio

My ex co-worker and friend Andrea got married to her boyfriend of FOREVER in Baguio last Thursday. She asked Ananda to be one of her flower girls months ago so we drove up the mountains last Wednesday with 7 other friends to hang out, enjoy the cold air, have Christmas dinner and to go to the wedding (some of us, at least)

Since we were all there together, we decided to have Christmas dinner and do our Secret Santa gift exchange there. Our usual Baguio haunt is Cafe by the Ruins but this time, we decided to try Hill Station at Casa Vallejo instead.

What we ate:


Complementary bread with olive oil and dukkah


Chorizo with bread...mmmmmmmm....super yum.


Tuna Tataki


Spinach Artichoke Dip (Good but I've had better!)

Our Mains:

Sarah and I had the Cocido Mexicana, a hearty beef stew with cinnamon and fried bananas on the side. It hits the spot when paired with mashed potatoes!


Abdul had the Short Rib Ragu with Fettucine---with shaved bittersweet chocolate on top.


Margaux had the baked salmon

Sorry, we started eating after and I didn't get to take any more photos! haha! The food was generally good, although service was a bit slow, considering the place wasn't even packed. I liked the whole look of the place- it fit December in Baguio perfectly.

The rest of the time, we:


Exchanged Secret Santa Presents!


Went to a pre-Wedding Barbeque


Went Ukay-ing!


Went to Andrea and Darwin's wedding


Group photo!

Baguio again in January, but first, Sydney for the Holidays!

Restaurant Rave: The Balcony

This was actually my THIRD visit to The Balcony, the new Gastro-pub along C.Palanca in Legazpi Village in Makati, but my first time to actually go there to eat. The first two times were to meet and catch up over (more than) a few drinks with friend and fellow blogger Dane (trustme-itsparadise.blogspot.com) so this third visit's mission was purely to FINALLY try out all this yummy food I have been seeing photos of on Facebook.

Met up for dinner with my cousin (and amazing young woman) Vicky Herrera who was up for a "pig out" session with me. She was starving and had already ordered when I arrived but I managed to get her to share an order of Sisig with me. I'm not really one to immediately order sisig. In fact, it took years for me to finally even try it and I am still VERY picky when it comes to Sisig and through the years have only eaten the one at Aysee's near Ultra and Ken Afford along Katipunan.

And then this came into my life. See, the thing is with sisig is it needs to be crunchy- no excuses and no other way to eat it. This is the same reason why I can't get into chicken or fish sisig- they completely miss the entire point of the whole dish. They can't get the crunch, or even the exact flavor of real sisig. This one at The Balcony is pre-marinated, super crunchy and gets ten million extra points for its addition of AIOLI that is mixed into the dish. Say what you want about fat content and heart attacks, but I say if you are gonna eat sisig, you might as well go all the way.

I have also heard a lot about their Twin Mac n' Cheese. Being a sucker for anything with carbs and O.D.-worthy amounts of cheese I had to order this. Pretending it was for my daughter, I knew I would be able to eat some because there was no way she would be able to finish the two bowls by herself.

The Balcony's Twin Mac n' Cheese consists of a bowl of macaroni with cream cheese, truffle oil and bacon bits, and another of macaroni with cheddar and fontina. It's good for sharing as it is VERY rich and the price is pretty nice also at only over P300 for both bowls. Vicky and I ate some of this when Ananda was done eating- and I STILL brought home left overs. Not because it wasn't THAT good, but mostly because I ordered this too...


Sheperd's Pie. I was so famished, and when I'm hungry, I just want uncomplicated things I can shove in my mouth (don't even go there- I know what you're thinking) This particular uncomplicated thing consists of beef, mashed potatoes and cheese. I mean seriously, how can you go wrong with that...ever? This dish has a strong oregano taste from the beef and I managed half of it before I threw down the towel (or fork) I was so full from this, the sisig AND the mac n' cheese. They made awesome next day left overs, by the way.


This is what Vicky had. I didn't get to try it but she seemed to finish it in all of 30 seconds so I'm guessing it was good. To quote her: " I love chicken. Any kind of chicken. I'll eat any chicken."


Visit The Balcony at 110 C.Palanca street, Legaspi Village, Makati

Restaurant Rave: Charlie's Grind and Grill

Ok, first of all, let me get it out of the way that I have always been a big fan of Charlie's burgers. I ended up at Ronac Art Center last Saturday, a new 4 story building along Ortigas Avenue in San Juan that houses many independent brands, an art gallery, a basketball court, Charlie's and Yoggle, a pay by weight Yogurt spot. After my shoot with one of my bestests, Sarah, we quickly proceeded to go to Charlie's for my first meal of the day at 4 pm.


How cute is she?


My attempt at being artsy


At the Deck of The Ronac Art Center

Ok...let's finally get to the point. Charlie's.


Sarah's Charlie's Burger

What's interesting about their burgers is that they do not serve them with ketchup. Everyone on the table was wondering why ketchup was not available at the restaurant. When I was googling the history of the Hamburger last night (i know, i know!) I read that the first burger was created by Louis Lassen in New Haven, CT in 1900, and he served it sans ketchup. To this day, his diner still serves their burgers without ketchup and you will be frowned upon if you ask for some.


But! They do have a selection of other sauces you can choose from. I drowned my burger in Aioi. Hate mayo but can't resist it when it has garlic.


We also ordered Cheese Fries and...

Buffalo Wings

Everything was extremely YUM...as you can see.

Sorry, Sometimes things are too good to wait. I remembered to take photos long after everything was gone.

Finished our meal with:

Dead Guy Ale. "Tastes like New York"--Sarah Meier-Albano


<3 this girl! xo

Check out Charlie's Grind and Grill at Ronac Art Center along Ortigas Avenue in San Juan. While you are at it, check out the stores there too! The place is Dope!

Restaurant Rave: Shang Palace

I love Chinese food. Something about it is always comforting to me. It's probably the familiar tastes of my childhood and memories of my late grandmother Alicia, who I was so close to, I named my daughter after her.

Shang Palace at Shangri-la Makati has been a regular place for family get-togethers on my mom's side. More often than not, we order the same food and enjoy it each time like it's our first time there.

Here are some of my favorites:


Hot Prawn Salad. Incidentally, this was also my grandmother's favorite dish. I used to hate it when I was young but now I take pleasure in each crunchy bite.I can't eat more than two in one sitting though. The prawns are huge and the oil can sometimes be overwhelming, especially for someone with a delicate tummy like mine!


Pan Fried Cod Fish in Barbecue sauce. I love Gindara in all forms, but this is a particularly good one. Be careful not to eat too much thought because Gindara is already a very oily fish. Pair it with frying and they become little fat bombs. Delicious ones though ;p


Who doesn't love Buchi? When I was younger, I used to scoop out all the filling and eat only the shell. I've since learned to enjoy eating even the bean paste but my favorite buchis are the kind with the black sesame paste filling and peanut.

Other things on the menu that night:

Minced Seafood and Crabmeat soup with Coriander. They had me at Coriander. I like anything with it.It was a simple soup that because special because of that little addition.


Deep Fried Pork Ribs with Fragrant Garlic. Only had a bite of this, not a big fan or pork unless processed or cured (Read: Bacon, Spam and Prosciutto) Meat was tender and anything with garlic is always a win.


Braised Broccoli with dried scallops and black mushroom. Because we need our veggies. I can appreciate nice, big, green broccoli though. Sometimes the ones in the supermarkets here look sad.


This was the only weird thing on the menu. It was mango pudding shaped like a fish with vanilla ice cream. The ice cream was fantastic, the pudding not so much. it wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great.

Tomorrow is margarita and grill night with my mom, some relatives and friends. Can't wait!