Phd "Pho Hai Duong" Vietnamese Marrickville

I LOVE PHO! I would say this is close to my second most favorite food after Ramen :D It is the best cure for a hangover haha!

Pho is is a type of vietnamese noodle soup, with 2 variations of either Chicken or Beef pho, and is listed at number 28 on "World's 50 most delicious foods" compiled by CNN Go in 2011

Venturing away from the city and Bankstown, we decided to visit another popular vietnamese food town of Marrickville.

Phd or Pho Hai Duong was hard to miss, with bright red sign (which says "Sup'herd Pho", LOL) and very red walls, I can say this is the most RED restaurant I've seen.

When we rocked up on a Monday night to a full house restaurant and was told to wait outside for 10 minutes, we knew it was going to be good.

Every pho dish will not be complete without some basil, lemon and bean sprouts (and chilli too, of course)

Pho rice noodle soup with special beef combination $10

Aaaaah... our order came out 5 minutes after ordering :)

TA-DA!!

mm...look at the broth glistening, the meat was tender and fatty bits were crunchy, soup was slightly saltier and oilier, but nevertheless still very tasty.

LEFT - Milk Soda with .... egg yolk! Tasted like sweet condensed milk mixed with a bit of soda.. sounds kinda gross but trust me it ain't bad.. surprisingly good actually :)

RIGHT - Ice Lemon Soda

We were informed by the owner they are opening another Phd on Marrickville Road with a bigger space. Nice to see this place is expanding, because clearly it is "sup'herd pho"!

UPDATE: SECOND VISIT 29.12.12

Today we were passing Marrickville and decided to pop by and try other dishes. 

Hot traditional spicy soup with Beef & Pork with thick vermicelli $9.5

This dish was tasty and just the right amount of spicy and sour, a nice option if you're bored of the usual pho

Grilled pork chop with tomato rice $10

This dish was quite salty and oily, but the sauce was very nice. I suggest adding chop chilli into the sauce as it works a treat with the pork chop, the rice was a tad on the soggy side, so I was disappointed as I expected this dish to go better with broken rice, adding sauce onto it only adds to the sogginess :(

If you know of any other good pho joints to recommend, please leave a comment below :)

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more yummy posts.


xx,
Chicabel

Phd Pho Hai Duong- Vietnamese
308 Illawarra Rd
Sydney, NSW 2204
Tel: (02) 9559 5078 

PHD on facebook


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Cheeky Chocolate

Last weekend while waiting to meet our friends for bowling in North Strathfield, we came across a cute cafe with a cheeky name. 

As we walked towards Cheeky Chocolate we can hear soothing Jazz tunes playing softly and I was instantly impressed. From the stylish decor of dark wood interior, velvet sofas and glamorous chandeliers that adorn the ceiling, this cafe oozes romance and elegance.

We were even more impressed at the beautifully displayed desserts by none other than Adriano Zumbo. I seriously wanted to devour them all.

Pretty candle on our table outside

Our "Caramel Hazelnut Dome" delight mm...mmm!!!

A box of 5 macarons for $15
Flavors left to right: Salted Peanut Butter, Christmas special Chocolate & Melon, Tim Tam,  Hazelnut Chocolate, Raspberry Chocolate
I find the macarons to be a little bit harder in texture and flavors are sweeter than Laduree.

Thank you for reading and stay tuned for more yummy post.

xx,

Chicabel

Cheeky Chocolate

11 George Street

North Strathfield NSW 2137

Tel: (02)9764 5766

http://www.cheekychocolate.com.au/

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Ippudo Sydney

YAY!! This Christmas month a new ramen joint "IPPUDO 一風堂" has opened up in Sydney and it has been a long awaited debut. 

"Ippudo" in direct translation means "one wind hall", and this is named because at the time, there were dark clouds over the Kyushu ramen industry, and the founder CEO Kawahara intended to "blow wind and revolutionise the era".

Hailed as the Ramen King, Chef Shigemi Kawahara (earned a place in Ramen Hall of Fame after three consecutive first place wins on a Japanese television program where ramen mavens compete to create the best ramen) brings his much loved ramen creation from the humble beginning in Fukuoka back in 1985 to 43 shops across Japan. Now Ippudo has expanded to 6 other cities across the world:

• New York
• Singapore
• Hong Kong
• Seoul
• Taipei
• Sydney

On Thursday 6th December, we went to the Grand Opening in Westfield Sydney. We rocked up and saw a massive crown gathering outside, the maitre d took down our name and told us it'll be a 1 hour wait. Good thing this place comes with a bar out front and a few tables for patrons to sit and wait.

Crazy queue!

The bar out front

I ordered a Maiko cocktail which is a sake mixed with cranberry and orange juice while the boys ordered beers. I even had time to venture downstairs and got myself a box of 8 macarons from Laduree :D 

As we moaned and groaned about how hungry we are while slowly eating away our macarons, 1.5 hours later we hear our names being called! We cheered "HOORAY" and got up simultaneously as if we had just won a trophy for our team LOL!

Service was great and very efficient, as you walk in you hear a loud welcoming greet from all the staff which is always a treat :)
They are happy to take the time to explain the menu and answer any questions, very friendly and even told us which ramen is their favorite.

You can choose from 4 different types of "hardness" for the noodles:

1. Hutsuu (Normal)
2. Kata (hard)
3. Bari Kata (very hard)
4. Harigane (Hectic hard? LOL). 

The waitress recommended the Bari Kata to me and it was chewy enough to gobble down quickly, plus I love to taste what I eat and sink my teeth in every bite so I found it to be PERFECT!

CEO and chef Kawahara!

Edamame

The awesome and interesting pork buns $4 each (no takeaway)

so yummy!!

But here are the REAL stars:

SHIROMARU MOTOAJI (Classic hakata style ramen)

IPPUDO original tonkotsu broth served with thin noodles, pork loin, cabbage, black mushrooms and shallots (with egg) 

$17

I only tried the broth for this one, and I can see why it's the most popular. Soup is light yet still has that rich porky flavour.

AKAMARU SHINAJI (a refined modern style ramen)

IPPUDO original tonkotsu broth enhanced with special blended miso paste and fragrant garlic oil. Served with think noodles, pork belly, black mushroom and shallots (with egg) 

$18

Noodles were super thin, soup broth was light but packs a punch full of flavours, with very generous size of pork pieces. And I love that they have the black mushroom which add a crunchy texture with the noodles.

IPPUDO KARAKA MEN

IPPUDO original tonkotsu broth with special spicy miso & ground pork (with egg)

$19

The noodles were curly and reminded me of instant noodles LOL. This was the least favourite amongst us.

At the end of our meal, we went out and sat along the bar, drank wine and had a chat with IPPUDO's operational manager who was a lovely gentleman. 

Do not compare with other ramen joints as each is to their own, I personally love this one and will be coming back for more :) Just hope the line will die down a bit.

Stay tuned for more yummy post.

xx,
Chicabel



Ippudo
Level 5 Westfield Sydney 188 Pitt St
Sydney, NSW 2000
(02) 9573 0011

https://www.facebook.com/ippudo.syd
http://www.ippudo.com/index.html


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Menya Noodle Bar

Another RAMEN post LOL! Sorry, I am obsessed.. I have a problem, I know.

I am no stranger to Menya Ramen and tend to go back there again from time to time. It's an old favorite of mine and with a location so conveniently close by, I am a loyal fan.

Usually we tend to visit the Chinatown branch, however this time we ventured to the one closer to CBD area. The restaurant looks similar enough to the Chinatown branch however it is quite hidden and tucked shyly behind Shelbourne Hotel.

Mind you, this establishment accepts CASH ONLY! Luckily, you can access Shelbourne Hotel next door for the closest ATM.

(Click on picture to enlarge)

No. 15: Dragon Jya-Jya men
Described as Dynamite Hot!! It wasvery tasty, super spicy and reminds me of Mie Goreng LOL!
I wanted the egg to be softer though, this egg was close to a boiled egg. W
Would've been nicer if it was cooked outside (egg white) with the yolk still runny.

No 12.:  Karami Tonkotsu Ramen 
I always order this when I go to Menya. Very YUM!

A La Carte menu

Noodle Menu

Summer Menu

Enjoy, and stay tuned for more yummy post.

xx,
Chicabel


Menya Noodle Bar
Shop 2, 1 Market Street
Sydney, NSW 2000

Tel: 9267 4649
Sun: Closed
Mon-Sat: 12-3pm, 6-10pm 

www.menya.com.au/

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