Sunday, August 26, 2012

Gumshara

THE. BEST. RAMEN. IN SYDNEY!!!!

I feel so blessed and lucky sometimes that I have so many good things in my life that just happens to make itself appear before my eyes. And Gumshara is one of them.
Located SO close to my work, it is ridiculous how blessed I feel during lunch hours.

Oh, and did I mentioned, it's the best ramen in sydney :)
I know in my previous post I was praising Ryo's nooodles, but don't get me wrong, Ryo is definitely right there on top of my list, but boy oh boy, Gumshara takes it to a "WHOLE. NADA . LEVEL'



The soup base is very thick which some people may find it too intense or salty, and can't handle it due to it being so rich. But I LOVE it, you can't find this anywhere else. And they do offer to make the soup thinner if need be, but I wouldn't recommend that.
The charshu pork slices are jam packed full of flavours and SUPER tasty! So tender and juicy, it really is a mouth watering treat. All this fits perfectly well with the chewy ramen noodles and don't forget to ALWAYS order extra eggs. Ramen is not the same without eggs! You want the yolks to still be runny.


GARLIC TONKOTSU


TONKOTSU 


The following video is taken by Grabyourfork so you have more of an idea of how much effort it goes to make such awesome tonkotsu broth!


Next dishes to try: 
  • Pork Rib 
  • Mega Ramen

Will update again soon so stay tuned for more yummy posts.


UPDATE  21.10.2012

Today I had a massive cravings for Gumshara... and Boy oh boy was I a satisfied lady bahaha! I finally tried the PORK RIB ramen and it was H.E.A.V.E.N.L.Y !!!!!!!
Juicy and tender pork rib with MELT in your mouth fat, chewy yummy noodles immersed in thick tonkotsu soup base .... far out I am HUNGRY AND SALIVATING just typing this!!

I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking:


PORK RIB RAMEN 



Enjoy :)

xx,
Chicabel


Gumshara
Eating World Harbour Plaza Shop 209/ 25-29 Dixon St
Haymarket, NSW 2000


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Thursday, August 16, 2012

Ryo's Noodle

Ahh.. finally I have the chance to share with you the best second best ramen in Sydney! YUMMMM!!!!

I was informed about Ryo's Noodle a while ago and have had the privilege to try it but always forgetting to bring my camera. I have been so impressed with their ramen but due to its location in North side of Sydney (I rarely go that way) so I haven't had the chance to visit in a while, until a couple of days ago :D

Since it was a Tuesday night, we were very fortunate as it wasn't so busy and we didn't have to wait to get a table. Last time we waited in a 6 meters queue for 20minutes. But for Ryo's ramen... it certainly is worth the wait! 

(Click on picture to enlarge)


As you can see, the decor is rather kitsch, which I quite like. It definitely stands out from the other ramen joints in Sydney. I love how they have the menu all over their walls and written in Japanese also, makes you feel like you're having a 'lost in translation' moment, but fear not, the menu is written in English too.

I apologise for the glare in this picture, so unprofessional of me I know :(


MAKE SURE you try one of these!! Can't go wrong with any of them really. 

LO AND BEHOLD!!!!
 Mr Panda's Soy Sauce bases tonkotsu or No.1, with extra egg and corn!! Maybe it's just me, but I think corn and Ramen are meant to be together... they just go so well! or maybe I just love corn too much.. hmm! Anyways, I ALWAYS have corn toppings.. simply deliciousness!


aaahhh... my SUPER-DUPER-DELICIOUS-AWESOME-DROOL-WORTHY ramen dish.. the spicy tonkotsu or No.2... the best!!


 My friend's Tokyo Style Soy Sauce (minus the chashu pork) or No.3


Cod Roe Rice Ball


EGGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can't have ramen without eggs!!!


SOOO GOOOD!!! Can't wait to go back there again :)

Ryo's Noodle
125 Falcon Street  North Sydney New South Wales 2060
(02) 9955 0225 
12pm-2pm for lunch
5pm-9pm for dinner
Closed on Wednesdays.


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Sunday, August 12, 2012

Zen Q: Sydney City Branch

Zen Q offically opened last week in the city on George Street, on 8th August 2012 to be exact. It is from the same parent company as the famous bubble tea joint Chatime, hence the location is in the same store.
My girlfriend and I decided to try this 'Taiwanese dessert house' before watching a movie so we only had half an hour to kill. We ordered the Strawberry honey toast which cost $16.50 and it mentioned on the menu that the dish serves two.
It took 15 minutes for them to make this, we were so worried that we were going to miss the movie.
The staff kindly told us to take as many photos as we like before he cut it open for us.

(Click on picture to enlarge)

 The menu - so MANY pages I couldn't be bothered taking a photo of them all. But you can check them out here http://www.zenqdesserts.com.au/menu_list.html




Step by step guide


It looks so PRETTY!!!
Comes with a side of honey syrup!

VIDEO: The staff showing us how it's done LOL!
(Don't mind the annoying/judgmental voice coming from the table next to us. Some guy was wondering why would they put so much effort in making the dish look nice only to take it apart. Geez what a kill joy!)

 Yup! Don't think we'll be needing dinner after this!

Overall verdict: The honey toast was crunchy and yummy. Goes really well with the syrup and ice cream. It also had custard and cream as well. So much was going on in that dish LOL!

I'll definitely come back again just to try out other dishes from their HUGE menu. Besides the toasts, they also have similar dishes to Meet Fresh e.g. grass jelly, taro, pearls, red bean, sago, etc.
But I am keen to try their Snow Ice which is basically layers of shaved ice.


UPDATE: Second Visit!!

This time I took Mr Panda with me and my girlfriend. We went on a Friday night so the cafe was very busy and we had to wait in line for 15 minutes. Staff all looked a bit distressed and at times quite blur.
For example: The waitress told us to sit at a table with 2 chairs and brought us an extra chair, meanwhile 2 minutes after sitting down, a table which can fit 4 became available, so we asked them if we can move to the bigger table since we felt quite squashed. The waitress instead gave the table away for a couple that had just arrived. But later was reminded by another waiter she was meant to swap our tables.

Mr Panda and I ordered the Mango Honey Toast to share. They only gave us like a tablespoon worth of syrup, and for this HUGE size dessert, definitely wasn't enough.




My Friend's chose to have the "Create your own" dessert and have it served either hot or cold.
She chose Hot Red Bean Soup with Q ball which consists of Taro, Sweet potato and Matcha.


I must point out, the soup was not 'Hot' at all, the bowl it came in with was warm, and the soup itself was below warm. We asked the waiter to warm it up and they said 'No we do not have a microwave'. NOT IMPRESSED!!!!
But apart from that, the soup and sago tasted nice and smells great, and I like that it wasn't too sweet.



xx,
Chicabel


Zen Q 
181/569 George Street  Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9267 9880

http://www.zenqdesserts.com.au/index.html

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Kappa

Travel Blog: New Zealand

When we were in Queenstown last month, we were recommended by my brother to go to Kappa for authentic Japanese cuisine.  

This place was pretty packed when we arrived but luckily there was 1 table available for us YAY!! They have the normal seating area and also a sushi bar.

While talking to the waitress, she mentioned to us that Kappa is owned and managed by Japanese people but the other Japanese eateries in town are owned by either Chinese or Korean. Can't get more authentic than that I guess.

We were sad to find their bluff oysters have sold out (but all good as the next day we had some delicious bluff oysters at another restaurant but more on that in the next post).

We had really great sashimi especially the tuna. And the teriyaki chicken was really nice, tender chicken with great teriyaki sauce. They also served a variety of Japanese Beers that are hard to find in other restaurants.

(Click on picture to enlarge)  






Agedashi Tofu

Edamame





Blue fin Tuna sashimi - DELICIOUS!!!

Kappa
36 A The Mall
Queenstown
Phone: 03-441 1423


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