Bayside Lounge @ Darling Harbour, Sydney

Today, we are off to high tea.

And our destination is Bayside Lounge at Darling Harbour. It was a really hot day and getting out of the sun while still being able to watch what's going on outside was lovely.

We started off with a glass of fine sparkles. Lovely sparkling white wine what was fruity and flavourful. Great start and promise.

The main platter arrives!! Three tiers of loveliness! Let me break it down for you from the top:

White Chocolate Pistachio éclair, Berry Macarons and Brownie with Clotted Cream. The brownie wasn't what I expected. While it was rich, I didn't really like it that much. The berry macaron was lovely, without that sticky texture I had gotten used to in Malaysia. The eclair was perfection. The white chocolate wasn't too sweet. 

The second tier was crystal bay prawn and cucumber bruschetta and orange and vanilla crème brûlée. The prawns were fresh on a layer of crispy cucumber. Lovely! My favourite of all was the creme brulee. It was not too heavy with the right amount of citrus that balanced out the sweet. I was literally moaning through it.

The last layer was:  smoked chicken and asparagus finger sandwich and duck confit pie with eschalots and merlot jus. The sandwich was good but not particularly memorable. The duck was lovely with the duck not too stringy.

Let's have a closer look at my lovely creme brulee. I had already cracked the top a little bit with my spoon.

To finish off a wonderful meal was your choice of numerous types of coffee or tea. I chose mocha while my dining partner chose tea. 

Definitely worth a trip back!

available 1pm - 4pm wednesday to sunday

Bayside Lounge

Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre
Darling Drive
Darling Harbour

Marigold Restaurant @ Chinatown, Sydney

Here we are again and so soon. New colleagues loves the whole yum cha scene and quite honestly, in the last 4 months I've been in Sydney, I've only had one other time of yum cha. It was a restaurant in Rhodes that only allows patrons 2 hours at the table. After watching the ridiculous line building up when we left, I think I can understand why.

This time, we went to Marigold Restaurant along George Street in Chinatown. I furiously looked up reviewed prior to going there and noted they were quite famous. That is to say there aren't bad reviews thrown at them ranging from tasteless food to bad service, but overall, I was quite optimistic about what I was about to partake.

Let's start with the typical Har Gao. Well, it is typical. The prawns were fresh but I think the skin is a little thick. Otherwise good.

Scallop version of the Har Gao. I honestly couldn't taste much in terms of scallops here. Will be a miss in the future.

My favourite in pork spare ribs. I can't wax poetic enough about this. Juicy and well marinated, I whacked nearly all of it myself. Definitely will call for seconds next round.

Supposedly Lor Mai Kai, but looks like Hor Yip Fan instead,

Let's have a peek inside. Not too bad. Not exactly memorable though.

Nice lovely and juicy Siew Mai. Right mixture of pork and prawn. Lovely.

I haven't had Kai Lan with Oyster sauce in ages. This is a simple dish but it's one of those comfort food that reminds me of home. Lovely. Not to mention provides you with your daily dose of greens.

Char Leong. This was rather hard to make I feel because if not freshly made and served, the Yao Char Kwai will be soft and therefore totally disgusting. This was warm, with the Yao Char Kwai crispy to taste. Served with dipping sauce, it made for a satisfying crunch.

The egg tarts were were good, but a tad sweet. I like the smoothness of the egg and the crumbly texture of the pastry. Less sugar and it would have been a winner.

Ham Sui Kok. My colleagues loved the mochi texture of the 'skin' that had a slight touch of sweetness but not overpoweringly so. Coupled with the savoury filling, it made for a lovely dish.

This was the favourite of both my colleagues, the famed 'Durian Sou'. I expected something along the lines of Yik Kee Durian Bomb, so I was really disappointed when the result was a filling that was rather not creamy with it tasting barely like durian. 

Marigold Restaurant

683-689 George Street  Sydney NSW 2000

The start of my Australian adventure

Munchie has had a hectic couple of months. Munchie has left the warm shores to Malaysia behind and has relocated to bright (sometimes too bright), sunny (nowadays TOO sunny) Australia.

I've been going around doing the touristy things and learning about what's good in the land Down Under. This will be a collection of my foodie adventures up to now.

Let's start with something quintessentially Australian. I was taking a walk to get to know the Sydney beaches and landed in Manly. Feeling peckish, I found a cafe opposite the beach which right now the name completely escapes me. But the above is two things that I have always wanted to try: Kangaroo and croc. Yes, you read correctly, meat from the tail of a crocodile. 

The kangaroo tastes like a milder version of beef and the croc has a clean palate, like white chicken breast, thought less stringy. Definitely a must try.

After my first ever paycheck in Australia, a couple of new colleagues and I went to try Max Brenner, the almighty chocolate and dessert cafe. This one was situated along George Street right at Wynyard Station. The top was Belgian waffles with chocolate ice cream, bananas and strawberries. While I love the ice cream, the waffles was just pedestrian. It's not mind blowing and it's something that I've had before.

Have anyone ever tried chocolate pizza? This is definitely a must have in Max Brenner. Crunchy with cornflakes and chocolate cereal with marshmallows masquerading as the cheese in a normal pizza. It gave this dessert that 'stringy' quality cheese had in a savoury pizza. Fabulous and unforgettable.

This was supposedly another must have at Max Brenner, their chocolate sandwich. Chocolate (or any other flavour ice cream) sandwiched between two soft cookies... Only the cookies weren't exactly so soft. I definitely did not like this at all. The cookie was so hard to get through and ended up stuck in my teeth because it was too chewy.

This was something I tried around a week ago. There is something called the Eat Art Truck going around Sydney serving food from a brightly art-decorated truck. They had a few dishes only but the line waiting was long, a testament of good food. This was the beef with kimchi salad. The bread was soft and warm while the beef was succulent and well stewed.

Chicken wings with mayo. Very addictive actually.

Pulled pork. My colleague complained that it was too sweet but I found it fine. Very nice.

This is supposedly the best macarons in all of Sydney. Since I've not tasted any other and I generally don't like macarons, I give this my special thumbs up. 

A little box of five different flavours. Soft and yummy, not too sweet and doesn't get stuck in your teeth like the Malaysian versions I have tried. Flavours from top: Chocolate, strawberry, caramel chocolate, passionfruit (I think) and caramel.

Well, that's a short one from me for now. There should be a new post up in a jiffy!!