It's the last week of Winter, as the weather warms up it's time to shed the layers we have on and let our skin breath a bit. Spring is the time to break out your pretty pastels and feminine prints. I personally own very few pink items, I prefer monochrome but I do find myself liking pink more these days. Break up the pink a bit with black leather shorts, they'll add a bit of edge to a very girly outfit.
You can easily pair a variety of shoes and accessories with these, heels for sexiness, flats for comfort cool, vans or converse for casual chic. Make sure to dab on some pink or coral blush!
I'm heading off to Melbourne for a day just so I can shop at H&M in mid September. Even though it's only for a day, I'll still have oodles of fun, lots of stuff to do and yummy food to eat. Will try my best to fit as much things in my stomach as possible in the little time I have. I have been working 7 days a week for the last 2 months and it's been taking a toll on me I think, so I guess a break is a much needed relief from headaches and stress.
If you want to go to a fancy schmancy restaurant you'd have to head to the city these days but I happened to stumble across this place called "In Asia". Of all places on Concord Rd too. If you haven't been to Concord Rd, it's mostly Indian and Thai eateries and all the big Pizza names on the one road. So when we saw how fancy this place was I was truly surprised. The type of cuisine is Fusion, from the menu it seems like fusion between Chinese, a bit of Japanese and Malaysian cuisines.
The decor is pretty funky, some kind of tree with hanging yellow flowers are placed in between the row of booths. The space feels big but also intimate at the same time.
So we got:
Caramelised twice cooked pork belly, crispy panko egg, sweet tamarind sauce
Chargrilled wagyu rump with chilli flake and lime sauce
Chicken thigh marinated in pandan and sesame
Barbequed pork neck marinated in palm sugar and garlic
Red curry of duck breast, lychee, cherry tomatoes, lime leaves
Roti
Popcorn Parfait
The pork belly came first, the panko eggs looked like they were cooked to perfection, the yolks still runny. The pork is crispy on the outside and soft and meaty on the inside, it has retained its crispiness whilst being covered in sauces. The sauce is sweet and fragrant with a hint of sourness from the tamarind which went well with the sweetness of the pork. The eggs don't really have any tastes to them which is a shame because a little saltiness would work so well. The curry and meats on sticks came next. The curry was very creamy, the lychee added a nice refreshing zing and texture to the richness of the duck, again, very good dish. The side of roti was also excellent, soft and a bit chewy.
Of the three skewers I liked the pork neck the most, the pork was caramelised and the fat is almost translucent. The meat was well marinated and grilled just right, not tough and chewy at all.
Then came the dessert, we went with the very original popcorn parfait which consisted of caramel popcorn, crushed corn flakes, grilled sweet corn and caramel jersey cream. When it first came out I noticed what looked like a stick of butter but in fact was the caramel jersey cream, I took a spoonful imagining it to be butter but in fact it was creamy, sweet (but not overly sweet) and melt in your mouth goodness. It reminds me of semi frozen whipped cream if that makes sense. The rest of the elements were ok, lots of crunch and bite which went well with the soft creamy jersey cream. The taste overall is just so so but I give them extra points for originality.
I like the fact that this place opened in the suburbs, it not only brings something different to a place that isn't normally associated with anything fine dining but also gives people somewhere to go without sitting through traffic and dealing with expensive parking tickets. The food and atmosphere is great and so are the staff. I would definitely come back here again.
In Asia
181 Concord Rd, North Strathfield.
Moo Burgers
It's Friday night and I was planning to spend the night at home cleaning but my friend Annie suggested we go out on a "date night". After much debate where we should go, we settled on Newtown.
It was especially cold and walking around King St looking for a place to eat was not exactly what I had in mind. She suggested "Moo Burgers" which was a gourmet burger joint, I'm not really a big burger fan to be honest but I was starving and anything would've been nice and in we went.
The place is quite cosy, the walls are decorated with kids' drawings of cows. As soon as you walk in the smell of grilled bacon hits your nose and I immediately felt my stomach start to grumble. The menu is quite simple, the normal cheeseburgers with some gourmet selections but one burger caught my eye, the "Duck and Bacon". Duck you say? Oh my I just gotta try this! Annie got the wagyu burger and we also ordered a cheesy bacon fries with their homemade sweet chilli jam sauce to share.
The burgers looked standard enough, pattie & veggies with sauce sandwiched between two buns. The taste however, is quite phenomenal.
The duck pattie was so soft and fragrant, filled with spices and sooooo juicy. The sourdough bun is just perfection as buns go, slightly crunchy on the outside and super soft on the inside, making each bite hugely satisfying. The tomato and lettuce are fresh and crunchy but my favourite element would have to be the orange jam on top of the duck pattie. It just takes everything to another level, sweet and a little bit tangy, oh my god I want some more now. The wagyu was just as awesome, the brie and the caramalised onions paired with the juicy wagyu pattie, again is just perfection.
You know the food is good when there is no talking and trust me, we talk a lot lol. Ah "Moo Burgers", my new favourite burger place for sure!
Chocoloco
It wouldn't be a complete meal without desserts. After searching the streets to find a proper dessert place we came upon "Chocoloco". On one of their walls I found this quote, "Stressed spelled backward is desserts". Instant mind blow!
I didn't want to just get your standard chocolate pizza or banana split so I went all out and got their "Chocolate Supreme Belgian Waffle Cookie Brownie Sundae".
Yes it's quite a mouthful and literally too. The sundae was huge, pieces of oreos, brownies, waffles topped with whipped cream on a mountain of chocolate ice cream. The taste was great though, the whipped cream helped to cut some of the richness from all the other elements, oh and one thing to note is that if you get desserts here they give you free coffee. Not bad right?
In the end, I'm glad I came out despite the bone chilling wind :D
https://www.moogourmetburgers.com.au/
