Little H, Surry Hills
Little H is the little sister of Bar H. It’s certainly has been a long time since my last visit to Bar H. Little H is only open from Monday to Friday from 11.30am – 2.30pm and is limited to takeaway only.
The menu is very Asian centric – I have heard wonderful things about their pork burger with fennel and mint ($12), Little H’s signature dish apparently. The pork were frigging tasty, it was succulent and had a lovely taste to it. The bun I thought could be better but the fennel and mint was a wonderful complement and overall it wasn’t too bad.
The deep-fried silken tofu with caramelised tomato sauce ($13) is silky smooth, a little bit like agedashi tofu, however, I found the caramelised tomato sauce a little too rich for my liking.
I was tempted to get the deep-fried chicken wings with Sichuan pepper but thought that would be overkill and even the bbq pork with noodles sounded great. However, I knew I wouldn’t be able to finish it all which means, another visit is in order.
Dessert ($8) – sago with fresh figs and drizzled with delicious caramel. It was so hard to stop at one mouthful, it was just THAT good!
Another great option for lunch in the Surry Hills hood! Boy I am going to miss this place! Here’s the menu when I went…
GA’s ratings: 7.5 / 10
Little H
80 Campbell Street
Surry Hills 2010
Ph: +61 2 9280 1980
The Sandwich Shop, Surry Hills
The Sandwich Shop which opened just recently on Reservoir Street, near Single Origin is a very cute and tiny place, not a lot of seating area, mostly for takeaways. However, ‘The Mother’ and I managed to grab the last two tables inside.
As the name suggests, it sells freshly made sandwiches (from memory the bread is from Brasserie bread) ranging from chicken schnitzel, to rare roast beef, pulled pork and I was even told that it has one of the nicest Reuben sandwiches in town!
‘The Mother’ couldn’t resist the rare roast beef ($8.90) – seasoned rare roast beef, horseradish, fontina cheese, tomato and leaf lettuce. Oh my, it was a relatively large serving, and incredibly fresh and absolutely delicious.
I would usually order either the pulled pork or the Reuben sandwich, however, on this day, thought I would try something different – something a little healthier, like a salad! Yes, I myself couldn’t believe I passed on slow cooked pulled pork and house made bbq sauce, coleslaw on sourdough roll! I will be back for this pulled pork sandwich!
The quinoa salad with roasted pumpkin, haloumi, which I added chicken was fresh and delicious ($9.50, a little bit extra for the chicken!). All the salads are served in a takeaway container and it was the ‘healthy’ kick that I needed that day.
The breakfast menu isn’t large, there’s the breakfast sliders ($4 each) which looked good but small, spelt and honey banana bread and croissants. Sandwiches are definitely their specialty and I am definitely keen to go back and try the New York Reuben sandwich! I’m so glad that this is just around the corner, I have been looking for a ‘good’ sandwich place.
GA’s ratings: 7.5 / 10
The Sandwich Shop
44 Reservoir Street
Surry Hills 2010
Ph: +61 2 9211 8710
One Month Celebration
I can’t believe that a month has gone since I gave birth to Dragon (Ms E). Which meant that both our confinements are over (earlier for me, as I couldn’t stand being at home for 30 days, 21 days was more than enough for me!)
It is customary in our culture to celebrate a baby’s first month. Plenty of food involved of course and also with cakes and sweets. There were so much food that I really didn’t know where to start so without further adieu below are the pictures of food that was involved – if you are hungry I would stop reading now.
The nasi kuning (turmeric rice) shaped in a cone is called ‘tumpeng’ which is usually served with a side of vegetable and meat is a very traditional dish in Indonesia for celebration. One of my favourites actually – one of Mum’s friends kindly made this for us.
There were also noodles which is important for birthdays – long life etc. Gado-gado which was excellent – it’s SO hard to find good gado-gado in Sydney – although I am not sure why there are tomatoes in it! The sauce though was fantastic.
Not to mention these fantastic bakso goreng (fried pork balls), which was brought from Pinangsia. Mum was going to make her own bakso goreng but she ran out of time!
The MiL made glutinous nasi kuning (turmeric rice) with chicken curry as well as suckling pig – YUM!
Dyed red eggs are important part of the full month celebration as it symbolizes happiness and the renewal of life, as well as announce the arrival of a newborn baby.
Also, my favourite, Ang Ku Kueh (‘red turtle cakes’) – the dough of the cake is dyed red for good luck and the kueh also signifies longevity as turtles have long lives. These were ordered from Istana and they were delicious!
Another favourite of mine – onde-onde as they are called in Malaysia, but in Indonesia they are called ‘kelepon’ and they are infused pandan juice and filled with palm sugar and then rolled with some fresh grated coconut. The palm sugar usually burst in your mouth and it is SO hard to stop at just one! Trust me, I think I ate half a dozen or a dozen on my own!
Then these fish-shaped pudding in a puddle of condensed milk which has rockmelon inside made by one of my aunts were incredible!
There were also quiche, salad and potato salad to mix it up a bit.
People also got to take some goodies home, a box full of different types of things from top left, red egg, sepiku (one of my favourite Indonesian cakes – it’s the 30 egg cake, each layer is made with 10 eggs! Mum didn’t make this but hers would include 30 eggs!) and rissoles. Bottom left, croquet, ang ku kueh and lemper (chicken rice).
The highlight (not that the above food weren’t highlights), however, Dragon’s birthday cake which was made especially by Oni from I eat Sweet. RED VELVET CAKE! I was impatiently waiting to eat it but not after we had photos with the birthday girl! Pity she couldn’t eat any of it, as it was EPIC! Thanks Oni for making the cake in such short notice! LOVE!
To my dearest Dragon – Happy One Month! I am sure there will be many more celebrations to come!
To all my friends and family, many thanks for celebrating this special moment with us. We truly do appreciate it and look forward to many more celebrations and gatherings! x
Katsu Yachiyo, Surry Hills
Katsu Yachiyo is the sister restaurant of Sushi Yachiyo in Darlinghurst. To be honest, I have never been to Sushi Yachiyo but was extremely keen to try Katsu Yachiyo – the word ‘Katsu’ really attracted me to it – katsu being deep fried.
Tucked away on Devonshire Street, the restaurant is quite small, and only opened late last year. Specials of the day and different types of imported sake on offer are written neatly on the blackboard.
I was catching up with the lovely M for dinner, everything on the menu sounded wonderful – some interesting things on the menu that we just couldn’t resist. We started with Nasudengaku ($12.80) – two different types of braised white and red miso reduction on top of fried eggplant. I love eggplant with miso, however, I thought the eggplant could have been cooked a little longer making it more moist.
Now yachiyo is known for their ‘fried’ stuff. We ordered two servings of kakifurai ($3.50 each) – fried oysters and they were fantastic! Crispy crumbs, it was light and not sickening. Pity the oyster was tiny, it would be juicer and plump if it was bigger.
Wagyu cheek ($4.50 each) – 2 days braised wagyu cheek covered in crisp bread crumb with red bean miso reduction was amazingly good! The braised wagyu cheek was tender that it just melted in my mouth and the bread crumb again light and not sickening. We had the last one, and shared this, I am sure we could have eaten one each.
We also ordered another katsu special – pork with cheese ($3.50 each) it was good but the wagyu cheek was infinitely better!
The most disappointing dish we had was Yachiyo Chicken Karaage ($17.80) – fried chicken marinated in soy sauce and miso. The batter was all so wrong, it was like fish and chips batter, and the cut of the chicken also I thought was wrong. Oddly though, I saw a few tables ordering this. I was looking forward to a good chicken karaage and this was totally a bit disappointment.
Thankfully our next dish made up for it! Kurobuta Yawarakani ($22.50) – pork spare rib and belly braised in soy sauce stock for 2 days was fabulous! The pork spare rib was so tender that the bone was definitely eatable! The pork belly melted in my mouth – it was divine!
I hear the sake is imported direct from the producer. Overall the food was good, it’s a shame that the chicken karaage was SO disappointing! Would definitely be keen to try their sushi or their sister restaurant in Darlinghurst.
GA’s rating: 7 / 10
208 Devonshire Street
Surry Hills 2010
Ph: +61 2 9690 2424
Chiswick Restaurant, Woollahra
Chiswick the latest addition to the Matt Moran’s empire! Located on Ocean Street in Woollahra, the place was spacious, lots of front of house and kitchen staff. There is a150 square metres of garden linked to the kitchen. Unfortunately it was dark when we rocked up for dinner, it’s quite a shame as I think it would be quite lovely during the day and lunch time.
The place was busy and buzzing when we rocked up. It took a while to get a reservation, the earliest time we could get was at 6pm but we had to give up the table by 8pm. The menu at Chiswick is divided into into sections, nibbles, small plates, mains, to share and sides. I was dining with two other girls, and thought we would get something from each section.
We started with the rosemary flat bread ($5) – oh my, the smell and aroma was incredible. We devoured this quickly, it was crispy and absolutely delicious.
The presentation of the sliced kingfish, breakfast radish, lemon aioli, parsley ($19) was beautiful, albeit small serving. The kingfish was fresh and the radish and parsley a wonderful complement. The lemon aioli was a little bitter but in small doses was actually quite nice.
We all couldn’t go past the crisp butter milk chicken, cabbage, harissa, mayonnaise ($20). The skin was very crispy and it is a healthier version of the KFC. Although I have to admit though, I do prefer the fried chicken at Ms G’s.
We thought we would be healthy and got the salad of rosa radish, marinated cucumber, mint and goats curd ($16). It was light and refreshing, and the goats curd really was wonderful.
The famous wood roasted Moran family lam, chick peas, mint ($59), I am not usually a fan of lamb but have heard wonderful things about it and we HAD to order it! It was HUGE serving, enough to feed a 3 hungry men, instead of 3 hungry women! The lamb was incredibly tender that it just fell apart. It didn’t have that lamb-y taste which both M and I dislike. Surprisingly, we both enjoyed it and had more than a couple of mouthfuls!
S couldn’t resist the hand cut chips, thyme, black garlic aioli ($9) – the chips were good but I think it could be a lot more crunchier. I wasn’t a huge fan of black garlic aioli, it had this earthy flavour which I can’t really explain. S enjoyed it though.
Unfortunately we didn’t get to have dessert, we finished our mains by 7.50pm and was told by the waiter that he couldn’t serve us dessert as they needed the table back by 8pm. He suggested that we ‘could’ sit at the bar ‘if there were room for us’. It was just too difficult so we thought we would skip it – save calories as M said!
Service was friendly but a little bit of a hit and miss – they did forget our bread at the beginning as we had to ask for it. Food was nice, it has been a while since my last visit to ARIA so I can’t really compare. It is definitely more casual and more relaxed than ARIA. Can’t believe how busy the place was, even for a Wednesday night!
GA’s ratings: 7 / 10
Chiswick Restaurant
65 Ocean Street
Woollahra 2025
Ph: +61 2 8388 8688
Watts on Crown, Surry Hills
Watts on Crown is a relatively new restaurant located on where else but Crown Street, opposite Xage. From memory, Chilli Alchemy used to be here but I never got around to check it out. The chef behind this new-ish establishment is Hamish Watt (ex Rockpool and Kensington Place in Britain) and wife Tiffany who is from a hospitality background.
I was catching up with the lovely E, it was my first time out in three weeks. Yes, I was confined by own Mother! I never thought I would have to do the confinement after giving birth but she forced it upon me! I was beyond excited to go out, smell the fresh air and start eating delicious and tasty food instead of just bland confinement food!
We rocked up just before lunch time, and the breakfast menu was over. The lunch menu was good, it had one breakfast dish, some lunch dishes and small plates to share. E and I thought we would get some small plates to share.
We started with the stuffed zucchini flowers with goat cheese and romesco sauce ($11). I love zucchini flowers, they were well cooked and crispy and the romesco sauce a wonderful complement, however, E thought the goat cheese was a little over powering.
The chicken liver parfait, red onion marmalade and toast ($12) was deliciously yummy and a generous serving at that.The chicken liver parfait was smooth and creamy with a nice red onion marmalade on top. It was hard not to smother the bread with lots and lots of chicken liver parfait.
We both couldn’t go past the scotch eggs with mustard mayo ($5.50 each) – one each and what a large scotch eggs it was. I thought the yolk was a little over cooked, but the meat was nicely flavoured and the mustard mayo was a wonderful complement albeit a little too subtle. My favourite scotch eggs would have to be at Orto’s.
Lastly, the grilled quail with chorizo, braised eggplant and crisp basil ($14) was tender but I really couldn’t taste the chorizo. I did enjoy the braised eggplant though, it was delicious.
We didn’t try any dessert, we were totally and utterly stuffed! The breakfast and dinner menu looks good. Definitely keen to try their breakfast menu – the Shiv’s brekkie burrito, scrambled eggs, avocado, sour cream and salsa sounds great!
It was quiet when we were there, the food came relatively quickly and it was quite relaxing.
Thanks E for for spending the first meal out of confinement with me! It was definitely great to be out and there will be more outings after this. Poor dragon will not be able to join me until she has completed her 30 days! aw…
GA’s ratings: 7 / 10
368 Crown Street
Surry Hills 2010
Ph: +61 2 8068 0461
Freda’s Chippendale
There seems to be a lot of warehouse type restaurant opening up in Sydney, and Freda’s is one of them. Found on the busy street of Regent Street, near Cleveland Street. I was told to ‘look out for a giant red tongue of the PR agency nearby’, an alley way which will lead you to Freda’s.
Opened by Simon Cancio (ex Sean’s Panorama, Onde, Luxe and Bourke Street Bakery), ibrahim Kasif (ex Fish Face) and Marty Campaign. The three has opened this wonderful establishment – it’s very spacious, very cool and very NYC like.
I was catching up with the wonderful S, this was prior to me giving birth, a couple of days to be exact! We walked from Central Station – it wasn’t a long walk, probably about 10 – 15 minutes. Menu is written on the board, and food can vary daily. For dinner, there’s salads, some sort of protein and desserts.
We started with the pickled eggplants – thinly sliced, they were extremely sour but extremely good. It was incredibly tender and had the right amount of tang!
We were also given complimentary bread which was perfect to dip into the tangy sauce of the pickled eggplants.
I couldn’t go past the beef tongue – it was a generously large serving, more like a VERY large tongue which was served with salsa verde, onions and pickles. The salsa verde was a wonderful complement, I loved the pickles and the beef tongue was incredibly tender it just melted in my mouth. It was seriously tasty!
Now what we both wanted – the suckling pork was uber tender that again it fell apart. I was a little disappointed about the crackle though, I was hoping that it would be crunchier but no, it was quite soggy. The meat itself was wonderful, pity about the lack of crackle!
Unfortunately we were both way too full for dessert, they had chocolate cake but we really couldn’t fit anything else. I am keen to try their lunch though, their lunch sounds wonderful – pork, pickle and salsa verde, or even the duck, arugula, beetroot relish, or even meatballs and reggiano – YUM!!!!!
Definitely a cool hangout place, even if its just for drinks! Will be back to try their lunch menu.
GA’s ratings: 7.5 / 10
Freda’s
107-109 Regent Street
Chippendale 2008
Ph: +61 2 8971 7336
