Pancakes on the Rock

Pancakes on the Rocks is strongly advocated by most of the on-liners from forums who had been to Sydney. Out of so many outlets they have, we visited the one near to the tourist attraction which is located in Harbourside Shopping Centre.

Pancakes on the Rocks

Upon hearing the word "Pancakes", it excites my taste buds. To put pancakes together on the rock was something out of my imagination. I wonder is it enjoying Pancakes on some rocks?

Trading Hours

Pancakes on the Rocks is a family restaurant that offers a wide selection of dishes, not restricting to just their legendary pancakes but also their mouth water BBQ Pork Ribs.

Menu

As expected, queues were form gradually during dinner times and we waited quite a while to be seated.

Please Wait to be Seated

Restaurant might look empty but those were meant for those who did reservations.

Interior

Interior

Cutlery

Cup of  Marshmallow Cocoa was rather soft but level of cocoa was rather concentrated with the sticky marshmallow foam.

Marshmallow Cocoa - $3.50 (AUD)

Tandoori Chicken Pizza? It's kind of amazing to see such combination. Tender pieces of chicken breast were marinated in Tandoori style. With spanish onions, sweet potato, cashew nuts and mozzarella cheese, topped with mango chutney, minted yoghurt and coriander. Surprisingly, the base of the pizza was soft and fluffy, giving another level of experience in enjoying pizza.

Tandoori Chicken - $17.95 (AUD)

 Served with golden potato wedges and mixed lettuce, the dish is definitely filling to the stomach with such generous rack of pork ribs grilled with the choice of marinade, barbeque, teriyaki or even honey soya. Yummy!

Pork Ribs - $29.95 (AUD)

It's hard to leave the place without having pancakes in the stomach. Thus we had their famous pancake stack - the short stack. There were choices of one pancake to four pancakes to choose from, namely Single Pancake (one Pancake), Short Stack (2 Pancakes), Regular Stack (3 Pancakes), Long Stack (4 pancakes). The pancakes come with a choice of whipped butter, cream or ice cream served with Maple Syrup. Since they were known for their pancakes, I would say there is no doubt on their pillow soft stomach filling pancakes dressed with icing sugar.

Short Stacks - $7.95 (AUD)

As a tourist, I have checked one more item off from my visit listing. The experience dining in Pancakes were of average. Environment was nosy and packed with people. I dont mind visiting them again if I happen to be back in Sydney again.


Rating: 3.5 / 5

Pancakes on the Rock
Location: Shop 230 Harbourside Shopping Centre, Darling Harbour
Operating Hours: Sunday to Thursday 7:00am - 11:00pm
                                Friday / Saturday : 7:00am - Midnight

Website: http://www.pancakesontherocks.com.au

The Little Snail

Being a tourist in Sydney, its hard not to get hook on popular food in the City especially when you are a foodie. I would say that The Little Snail is one of the best meals we had in Sydney for lunch. We got to know of this place through Trip Advisor Mobile Application as we were touring around the area for sight seeing and luckily such recommendation didn't go wrong.

The Little Snail

The restaurant is quite accommodating in the sense that it was actually full house and we got our tables without any reservation. Environment was a bit noisy with chattering from the tables, however I do enjoy such French Culture Dining Restaurant with bright and airy ambiance. What's the best part was that we had some glimpse of afternoon sun shining onto our table which really warms up the Winter Season.

Wine Menu

Food Menu

Since it was lunch time, we took up the 3 courses set meal at $38 AUD. For the entree, one of us have King Prawns. The 2 pieces of prawns were we coated with batter and deep fried served with lemon mayo and sweet chilli. Since we already knew it was a French Cuisine, we already prepared for the portion of food served.

King Prawns

Sides like breads can be order at an additional amount and we totally love the fragrant and well toasted Garlic bread as well as the french Baguette.

Garlic Bread $4.50 (AUD) & French Baguette $2.50 (AUD)

If you are worry that French Cuisine might not give the enough energy, do order side like their Creamy Mashed Potato to fill your stomach.

Creamy Mashed Potato - $6 (AUD)

 Another Entree we had was Pate Maison with armagnac (a distinctive kind of brandy) flavoured duck liver pate with marinated champignons, date chutney and port vinaigrette. Since it was served in a paste form, the best to enjoy them maybe spreading them on top of the bread.

Pate Maison

Perfectly cooked salmon was delicious and juicy served on sweet peas risotto and sauce vierge.

Citrus Marinated Tasmanian Salmon

Succulent Beef Tenderloin was more than what we asked for! Serving in red wine jus for $3 surhcarge was simply justifiable as such combination was really heavenly. Other than that the dish was served with potato millefeuille which caught my total attention especially on thin layer of slice potato stacks that made up such dish.

Fillet Of Beef Tenderloin

Desserts aesthetics were too pleasing to the eyes that I couldn't bear to eat them but on the other hand if I drag on, the large scoop of hazelnut and praline ice cream will melt soon. Its base was made up of a layer of crunchy shortbread topped with the ice cream and topped with Grand Marnier Caramel.

a layer of crunchy and crumbled shortbread topped with a large scoop of hazelnut and praline ice cream and sugar coated on top of the ice cream placed with squiggled grand mariner caramel. Yummy!

Chef Churned Hazelnut and Praline Ice Cream

Just can't stop praising about how excited I was to see such sweet little stuff on the plate. It looked like a bar of chocolate standing upright on the plate topped with Strawberry, well, the chocolate was actually hollow and acts like a wall, filled with savoury mousse. Unique and give a little surprises to diner like me.

Kahlua Infused Chocolate Mousse

Dont be fooled by such deceiving small servings of the French Cuisine as they can be very filling to the stomach.

If you are looking for some French Cuisine in Sydney The Little Snail’s repute for an authentically French culinary experience will definitely stands up.

Rating: 4 / 5

The Little Snail
Location: 50 Murray Street Pyrmont NSW - Sydney
Website

Da Jie Niang Dou Fu

Besides being Halal which is suitable for all races, what's so special about Da Jie Niang Dou Fu is that you will get to enjoy a variety of styles and soup based which includes, Ampang, Hakka, black bean, laksa, tom yum and the plain healthy soya beans soup. Wouldn't it be nice that you get so many options just from one stall?

Da Jie Niang Dou Fu

Comparing the variety available, I would say there are more selection from Da Jie's and being so, they have recommended food items indicated with "Thumbs Up" Signage. Do note that the food items price is different from the default. It ranges from $1 and above.

Barley Drink

 Dishes are not limited to the Niang Dou Fu Items and instead they offered over 60 typical Chinese dishes like chicken, fried rice, hor Fun etc.

While waiting for your order to be served, Sweet sauce, chilli as well as utensils are of self help at the self serving station.

Sweet Sauce & Chilli

If you like Laksa, do try them out with your bowl of Niang Dou Fu. The laksa is light not thick and aromatic. Simply tasty!

Laksa Style

Having said so, you can also try out their Ampang style for a good experience as it is not commonly available in the hawkers. Selected food items will be deep fried into crispiness and drenched with  braising sauce. The braising sauce was kind of home made and does not have any distinct taste, in short it wasn't too addictive.

Ampang Style with Braised Gravy

Fried Niang Dou Fu

For those who choose to remain healthy, going plain with their healthy soya-beans soup base just wont go wrong.

Plain Soup Style

Price generally depends on what we had chosen with average item of $0.60 per piece and there is a minimum requirement of 6 piece per bowl. Overall, I find that ingredients were generally fresh and it's a good place to have your choice of Niang Dou Fu Fix.

Rating: 3 / 5

Da Jie Niang Dou Fu
Location: 354 Clementi Ave 2 #01-253 Singapore 120354
Website

Mother's Chu Taiwanese Gourmet

Strolling down the streets in China town of Sydney, I'm rather surprised that we had chosen Mother Chu's Taiwanese Gourmet as our dinner. Just that such thought had never come across my mind as I thought we would have some western or Australian food for the first night.

Zhu Ma Ma

Perhaps I was convinced by the crowd and the facade of Mother Chu's. The helpers were rather friendly and welcome us into the eating place.

Mother Chu's Taiwanese Gourmet

 Interior of the restaurant is rather different, there are tables surrounding the perimeter of Mother's Chu Taiwanese Gourmet Kitchen.

Dining Area

Menu was simple and nothing fancy with a book with different pages of Taiwanese Cuisine.

Menu

With 3 oysters in a bowl and condiments like vinegar, coriander and pepper, the taste of a bowl of authentic Oyster Mee Sua in Sydney is definitely not a dream. Mee Sua was quite tasty in its sauce.

Oyster Mee Sua

Salted Soya is something we dont get to have often in Singapore for Taiwanese Cuisine. I'm rather amazed by its availability. Soya bean drink was on slightly on a saltish side topped with spring onions as well as You Tiao. Though it is special, I find that I still prefer the old usual sweetened soya drink.

Salted Soya

Beancurd has all the characteristics of what it supposed to be. Smooth and silky to be enjoyed with a sugar syrup.

Beancurd

Simple yet satisfying dinner in Sydney for our first night there.It's quite interesting to know that we still can enjoy some heartland food back from home in Chinatown of Sydney.

Mother's Chu Taiwanese Gourmet
Location: 1/84-88 Dixon St, Kien Hay Centre, Sydney NSW 2000

Central Station Hotel

Throughout our 6 days stay in Sydney, we were staying in Central Station Hotel. The experience of the stay was rather pleasant with welcoming and friendly service staff who never fail to impress us with their detailed elaboration of the vicinities.

Central Station Hotel is strategically located 600m away from Central Station which is about 5-10 minutes of walk and what's more 5 minutes from the bustling China Town. We visited Sydney during Winter and it's rather cooling walking around the area.

Central Station Hotel

As a traveller, it's hard to do without WIFI in my accommodation.Rooms are air-conditioned and equipped with flat TV screen set with free cable channels.

View of the Room

 Unit may seems small but its spacious enough for 2 occupancy and the rooms are serviced daily, with fresh bed linen and towels provided.

Queen Bed

Facilities include refrigerator, suite bathroom with hair dryer.

Toilet

Even ironing board and iron are provided in the compact cupboard.

Cupboard

The tour desk can book whale watching cruises and trips to the Blue Mountains. The property also offers a guest laundry and luggage storage facilities. Airport transfers are available upon request.

If you are in Sydney as a tourist, look no further.

Central Station Hotel
Location: 75 Wentworth Avenue, Sydney

Swensens

Swensens on birthday? Not a bad idea as the birthday girl/guy will receive a complete birthday treat over the firehouse flame.

Let me think... It had been quite a while since I "claimed" such offer from Swensens and this idea came in after my birthday dinner when my siblings mentioned that they still have stomach for something sweet.

Firehouse

Lighted Firehouse

 In the past, I used to get birthday songs from Swensens staff but it seems such tradition no longer exists. By default the firehouse comes with Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry Ice cream topped with cherries, pineapple and chocolate fudge toppings but I had the ice cream flavors replaced. Instead of having vanilla ice cream, we opted for durian with little candle stuck onto a portion of the banana in the middle.

And for the sweet tooth, we had the banana crumble on its sizzling skilling with caramelized fresh banana slices, topped with an old fashioned vanilla ice cream drenched in butterscotch cream sauce.

Banana Crumble

Rating: 3 / 5

Swensen's
Location: Jurong Point, 1 Jurong West Central 2 #B1-64 (JP2) Singapore 648331

Ichiban Boshi

I have never been to any Japanese eateries ever since its renovation of Shokutsu Ten (Japanese Street) in Jurong Point. The new outlook from the transformation portrays a very clean, bright and modern Japanese street with Japanese Cart Stalls by the sides. Not only so, the air along the street was much more better than before.

Shokutsu Ten

Hot Green Tea

As usual Ichiban Boshi still attract a snaky long queue of crowd, with their fans waiting patiently to secure a seat in the restaurant. The contemporary Japanese dining restaurant was seemed more spacious now where by you get to buy sushi off the shelves on the left and dine in with a cosy , relaxed and better ambiance.

Entrance

Having the Chef Recommendation just won't go wrong for me I felt. I had the Gyu Koumiyaki Gozen Set with slices of juicy Premium beef placed on top of the potato salad & radish in their house special sauce. Dishes like scallop with cod roe mayonnaise and cheese, half seared tuna with homemade sauce, chawanmushi, rice, miso soup, appetizer and fruit completed the meal. Yum Yum!

Gyu Koumiyaki Gozen - $25.90

Premium Beef

Half Seared Tuna

Scallop with Cheese, Yummy

 The tantalizing chicken cutlet was attractive in its golden crisp color added with sides like vegetables, tomatoes and cucumbers enhancing its color. The meal is definitely value for money with fresh slices of salmon sashimi, soft shell crab tempura, rice, miso soup, appetizer and fruit.

Chicken Nanban Wazen - $18.90

Nanban Chicken

Tempura

Can't take my eyes away from the thin slices of beef for Sukiyaki. The set comes with a pot of vegetables put to simmer in the broth loaded with tofu, mushrooms, vegetables. Having said that the best way to enjoy the Japanese meal is by dipping the meat into the broth to cook then into the raw egg. The meal includes Udon as well as rice to pair along with the broth and meat. Miso soup, appetizer and salmon sashimi were included too.

Sukiyaki Wazen - $21.90

Vegetables

Sliced Beef & Appetizer

Salmon Sashimi

Tori Curry Cheese Wazen was another variation of the Chicken Cutlet. Instead of pairing it up with mayyonise, the fried cutlet was immersed into the shallow pot of sweet savoury curry topped with a square size cheese and chopped spring onions. The exterior of the cutlet maybe soften by the curry gravy but having said so, the meat was not soggy at all. Ebi tempura and ladies finger tempura was part of the meal too with miso soup, rice, appetizer and fruits.

Tori Curry Cheese Wazen - $16.90

Thanks Mum for the birthday meal. In short, at the look of the queue Ichiban Boshi attracts during meal times, it speaks best. There is no doubt about the quality and standard of food. To emphasize further, portion of food on their set meal was big enough for 2 to share and you wont get disappointed. On the other side, the service was abit lacking as its hard to grab the servers attention in order to order something.

 Rating: 4 / 5

Ichiban Boshi
Location: Jurong Point, 63 Jurong West Central 3 #B1-75/76 (JP2) Singapore 648331