The Cupcake craze has definitely taken Sydney by storm. When you think of how many specialist cupcake bakeries there were a couple of years ago compared to now, the humble cupcake has been uplifted from an add on at a bakery to a baked good wortht of its very own store. Shopping on Oxford Street in Paddington one afternoon I stumbled upon a new addition to the cupcake scene, The Cupcake Bakery. Finding myself without camera I made a note to revisit it soon and scarcely a week later and the lure of a new cupcake is too strong and we find ourselves, camera in hand, ready to partake of these cupcakes.

The front display shows about 8 different types of cupcakes ranging from carrot cake, chocolate, sticky date, vanilla, chili chocolate and lemon & poppyseed. But what we’re really interested in after an afternoon running around under the hot Sydney summer sun is a Cupcake Sundae. We have a choice of two sizes, regular $8 or large $12 and when she shows us the two containers, we choose regular due to the cute ceramic ice cream container (the large being housed in a glass bowl). I choose the Sticky Date Delight: scoops of vanilla and caramel ice cream with warm stick date cupcake topped with fresh cream, caramel sauce, toasted walnuts and finished with a maraschino cherry.

We go out to the back tea garden and relax in the shaded courtyard. Looking upwards there are grapevines woven through the roof trellis and flowers threaded through the side trellises, a nice respite from the buzzing hum of Oxford St.

Sticky Date Delight Sundae regular size $8

Our Sticky Date Delight sundae arrives and its as pretty as a picture. We almost don’t want to destroy it by eating it but it looks terrifically tempting too so we dig in. Underneath a huge mound of whipped cream on one side is a warm sticky date cupcake next to a scoop of vanilla and caramel ice cream. There’s lashings of chocolate topping (not caramel as on the menu), toasted walnuts and the promised maraschino cherry which completes the sweet retro look. The cupcake itself is delicious, a soft warm cupcake with swirls of brown sugary caramel which goes beautifully with the cold creamy ice cream. The whipped cream needs a little sugar in it and caramel topping would have suited it better but the toasted walnuts are a great crunch. Its so delicious its gone within minutes.

Carrot cake cupcake $3.50

We go to the counter to pay and choose some cupcakes to takeaway. We choose the carrot cupcake (primarily for the adorable mini carrot on top) and the chocolate cupcake with vanilla buttercream icing. The carrot cupcake is soft and good but is light on the carrot and walnuts and doesn’t have any pineapple in it. The cream cheese icing is soft and sweet and perfectly suited although there are tiny flecks of butter still in it.

Chocolate cupcake with vanilla buttercream $3.50

The chocolate cupcake is dense and perhaps not as fresh and less sweet with a bittersweet dark chocolate taste to it. The buttercream is incredibly sweet and the two don’t seem to go as well together as the carrot cake and the cream cheese icing. Service is a vague and a little unsure, indeed we could’ve walked out without paying. Nevertheless, the sundae was a definite winner and I’ll use any excuse to pop into a tea garden to escape the shopping hoards!

The Cupcake Bakery

438 Oxford St Paddington
NSW 2021
ph: +61 (02) 9332 3700
mob: 0430 216 424
email: info@thecupcakebakery.com.au
Monday-Wednesday 7am-7pm
Thursday & Friday 7am-8pm
Saturday 8am-7pm
Sunday 9am-6pm

“Crocodile what-what?” Tuulikki asks when I tell her the odd name of the restaurant we plan to eat at. It takes her a few goes to get the name right and even then, I’m certain she’s not convinced. But from the number of seated patrons enjoying meals, we aren’t the only ones to have noticed this oddly crocodiled theme Thai restaurant on a strip of town bursting with eateries. The decor is full of dark brown wooden tables, square stools, large sprays of tiger lilies, delicate spun straw orbed lights and …crocodiles. Everywhere. And in every incarnation you could possibly think of. Even our waitress takes our order using a Crocodile pen. We don’t know what crocodiles have to do with Thailand but they have an awful lot to do with this place.

A quick glance of the menu shows that prices are rather low, from $8.50-$12.00 for the most part. There are 8 different varieties of Som Tum (Green Papaya salad) which I adore so I know I shall have to choose one of these. Apparently the difference in each is the topping which ranges from tiny mud crabs (which I’ve ordered) to grilled scampi, soft shell crab and deep fried salmon. I had also read that the BBQ pork with rice although dull sounding, was good. And of course the crocodile chef on the menu just beckons you to order the Noodles Senior style where you choose the type of noodle (hokkien, egg, rice) then choose the sauce (thai basil, chili, chinese, malay or cashew nut) and then choose the topping (tofu, veges, chicken, beef, pork, roast duck, prawn or seafood). We choose the thin rice noodles with malay peanut sauce with tofu.

Looking around at the signs, there are specials that are written in Thai only so there must be a fair amount of Thai patronage. And should you want to call friends in Bangkok, they have two clocks, one set on Sydney time and one set on Bangkok time. The music is pumping and loud, especially towards the middle and back of the restaurant and the plasma screens show Thai singers singing various pop and disco songs like “I Will Survive”.

Som Tum Pu (with small mud crabs) $8

Five minutes after we’ve ordered, our square plate of Som Tum Pu (with mud crab) arrives. Its a small but pungent dish. I personally love it but know that people are usually divided by it, only being swayed when being told how healthy it is. It is indeed tangy and pungent with fish sauce and packed with tiny dried prawns, shredded carrot and green papaya and very salty tiny black mud crabs. Some crab pieces are a little too big and when you’re trying to chew them, it takes a good crunching with your teeth of the larger pieces. The salad itself is good although I must admit I find Sailors Thai Canteen’s Som Tum better (and its not just because it comes with gorgeous caramelised BBQ pork sitting on top).

BBQ Pork with rice $8.50

Our BBQ pork with rice arrives next and its a huge plate with two types of BBQ pork. One the fatty belly pork crunchy and fried to a crisp, and another like thinly sliced Char Siu. The sauce coating the dish is unusual and strong with sweet cinnamon and star anise. I don’t know if I love it as much with the sauce. One of my greatest pleasures is eating Char Siu with plain rice. To me the sauce is too mysterious and a little unbalanced and almost powdery.

Noodle Senior: thin rice noodles with malay peanut sauce and tofu $9

Our Noodle Senior arrive last and its an impressive tangle of rice noodles. Its packed with coarsely ground peanut pieces and vegetables with three fat triangular chunks of deep fried tofu and stir fried egg. I didn’t expect to like this very much as I’ve found most satay noodles drowning in the sauce but this is subtle and nicely flavours giving the right hint of Malay satay sauce but not drowning or overpowering it. Its soft noodles and crunchy peanut and vegetables are perfectly seasoned and its easily the best dish of the night.

We’re stuffed by the end of our meal and still no wiser as to what Crocodiles have to do with Thailand!

Crocodile Senior Thai

768 George Street
Haymarket (opposite Marigold Citymark)
Sydney
+61 (02) 9211 6300
Cash only
No split bills
Open 7 days from 11.30am until 10pm

A previous unblogged, unphotographed visit to Samurai several months ago left us so impressed and hungering for more that we needed a return visit. So one Saturday night we went with some restaurant loving friends Gina, Hot-dog, Teena and PeterParker. Arriving at 7pm we’re given a little pre dinner snack of simmered daikon radish and carrot. Its tasty and still a little crunchy.

We look around and admire the Japanese parasols and kimono adorning this small, neat space (there’s also an outdoor area in the back). On our previous visit, as there was such a large table of us, we just gave them a cost per head of $30 and let them bring out what they wanted. Tonight, we’re venturing into their a la carte menu picking off some of our favourites from the previous visit. Hot-Dog and my husband prefer not to share and order their own, whilst the rest of us do the caring and sharing thing (well ok just the sharing thing).

We order Okonomyaki (their specialty and something I adored last time) in both vegetarian and seafood versions, Salmon Tataki (also a firm favourite), Kakuni (beef on spinach), assorted sushi rolls, Korokke and spying the two blackboard dessert specials, Wasabi ice cream and Sake pear with green tea ice cream and red beans. Hot-Dog orders Beef wrapped in asparagus and salmon sashimi and my husband orders a prawn roll and seafood ramen and they both order a California roll to share.

Seafood Okonomiyaki $11.50

Vegetarian Okonomiyaki $8

A short time later our dishes start to arrive. Our Okonomiyaki is first and its a round mayo and tangy Okonomiyaki sauce lattice patterned delight. Cutting it into quarters I try the vegetarian one first. The texture is soft and crispy with hidden vegetables and the taste tangy and creamy all at once. The seafood one has the added taste dimension of prawns and octopus and out of the two, I prefer this one although the vegetarian one is by no means one to be sneered at. I can see why they are so well known for this.

Korokke - $7 for 5 pieces

Our long boat of potato korokke is next, 5 round crispy panko crumbed balls. The potato inside is soft and deliciously sweet, much like the slighty sweet Japanese potato salad. Piping hot and freshly cooked, they’re devoured as quickly as one can devour freshly deep fried food-that is with a lot of puffing with rounded lips trying to cool the food while in the mouth.

Salmon Tataki-$17

My favourite dish, the salmon tataki is next and its as delicious as I remember it to be. A row of rectangular shaped salmon sashimi sits seared on the outside atop a bed of onions and covered in Samurai’s unique mayo miso sauce (mental not to self, make this myself!) and scattered atop are deep fried noodle shards. The sauce on this dish cannot be beaten, if I would ever lick a plate, its with this dish. The salmon is soft and the noodles crispy and the sauce liberally doused on it so that its flavour upon soft crispiness. Lovely!

Assorted sushi $18

Our assorted sushi is next, I try the eel sushi and the raw salmon sushi. Its good and thankfully they’ve left the wasabi on the side. It’s a nice selection covering the best inaris.

Kakuni- scotch fillet braised in ginger and soy sauce $17

Last of our mains to arrive is the Kakuni and its gloriously soft and simmered and deeply flavoured with ginger and soy. The stewed scotch fillet literally melts in the mouth and is perfectly accompanied by the wilted spinach. A small but tender and flavoursome dish.

Asparagus wrapped in beef with wasabi and mayo sauce $17

Hot Dog’s selection of the beef wrapped in asparagus was not as well received. Its not something that I personally enjoyed last time and he ends up handing out spears of beef wrapped asparagus and regretting that he didn’t order the Kakuni.

Seafood ramen $12.50

I do get to try some of my husband’s Seafood ramen and the noodles although very good and quite firm, are not in the same league as Ryo’s simply because they aren’t a ramen specialist (although I prefer Samurai’s noodles to Kenta and Rahmen Genki). However the smaller bowl is deceptively packed with noodles, there seem to be almost as much as in Ryo’s larger bowl. The soup is another thing, its fabulous. The sweet seafood and sesame scent heady and intoxicating. I find myself reaching over for more and more of this.

Wasabi ice cream (on the right) with vanilla ice cream $5

After a short respite, our desserts arrive. The Wasabi ice cream comes in the palest green hue with a small scattering of black sesame seeds on top and is paired with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. If you’re wondering why a wasabi fearing person like me would order this, I have no answer for that aside from morbid curiosity. After a first taste I am glad I ordered it. There’s a light wasabi tingle as an aftertaste, much like good chili chocolate, but the proportion of wasabi in it is just right. Nothing nose clearing about this creamy confection.

Sake pear with green tea ice cream and red beans $7.50

The Sake pear arrives looking gorgeous with a paper umbrella and manages despite this to look adorable rather than tacky resembling a lady sitting under a parasol at the beach. Teena reports that the sake pear was not particularly sake-ish, tasting more like an unspiked sweet simmered pear.

California roll $8 for 8 pieces

Spoons down, we’re again enamoured of this little Japanese cafe and their food combined with Adriano Zumbo down the road makes me want to move from my lower north shore enclave to this inner west paradise tout suite!

Prawn rolls-$8 for 8 pieces

Samurai Japanese Cafe

493a Darling St
Balmain NSW 2041
Phone (02) 9810 1426
Open for dinner Tuesday to Sunday from 6pm

Salmon Sashimi $9

For the staunch carnivore, the Green Gourmet must be a bit of a joke. A Chinese vegan place you say that doesn’t use garlic and onion and still claims to be tasty? Pfffft! Nonsense, I hear you say! But the proof, as they say, is in the tasting. Green Gourmet was opened by the former owner of Gourmet Inn when he became a vegetarian and uses mostly gluten products and tofu to replicate the meat texture and taste.

We arrive at Green Gourmet on a Wednesday evening at about 6.45pm. There are actually about 6-7 tables full already mid-meal and some waiting for people to arrive. We let them know that we have to leave in about 45 minutes for a movie and the waitress lets us know that it won’t be a problem. We decide to do our own vegan yum cha at night and choose a selection of their dumplings but as my husband, as always, is hungrier, he orders a noodle dish and as Tuulikki is getting over a cold so she orders soup along with her dumplings. The decor is full of bamboo coloured wood and green and there are healthy food charts on the wall and we feel like we’re almost back at school learning the food pyramid. Scarcely 5-10 minutes later our dishes arrive in quick succession, piping hot and fresh.

Satay soy skewers 4 for $5.60
First up is the Satay Soy skewers. In a eerily accurate imitation of satay chicken, they’re on needle thin skewers with a gorgeously rich and spicy satay sauce. A definitely contender for chicken I’d say. I want to order more.

Eggplant parcels 3 for $4.50 and Better than Oyster Fritters 4 for $5.20

Then our Eggplant parcels and the Better than Oyster Fritters arrives. The Eggplant parcel is stuffed with taro paste and its gloriously soft and flavoursome inside with a crispy deep fried outer. Absolutely delectable and I would’ve ordered another if it weren’t for our time constraints. The Better than Oyster fritter is less successful. There are whole semi raw mushrooms inside wrapped in seaweed and they’re not particularly oysterish or flavoursome. I’m with the carnivores on this one.

Kumera Ginger Purse 2 for $4

Our Kumera ginger purse arrives and its more like a semi circle filled with soy beans, sweet potato, shiitake mushrooms and other vegetables and strongly gingery with a thick toothsome deep fried outer. Ginger lovers will love this, its a pity there are only 2 so we only get half of one each.

Steamed BBQ Not Pork Buns 3 for $3.30

The Steamed BBQ Not Pork buns arrive and they’re slightly smaller than the usual BBQ Pork Buns and therefore the skin is less fluffy which is actually the way I prefer it as I don’t like the white bun part. Biting inside, the BBQ Not pork is a dead ringer for BBQ Pork filling. I’m not usually a big eater of BBQ Pork Buns because of the large amount of white bun to filling ratio but these are the perfect ratio to me.

Steamed Gow Gees 3 for $4.80

Our Steamed Gow Gees arrive and they’re very much like the prawn and spinach gow gees from regular yum cha. I can’t tell if there’s imitation prawn in it but the result is very tasty and very much like the seafood version with the delicate translucent skin and the soft spinach interior with crunchy water chestnut.

Soy Drumsticks 3 for $4.80

The not chicken drumsticks arrive-the drumstick bone is half a paddle pop stick around which gluten is wrapped and then deep fried. The taste is great but the texture is not quite chicken-y but the outer is deep fried fresh. Very tasty but not quite as successful in replicating an actual chicken drumstick although points have to be given for the “chicken bone”

Nori miso soup $4.80

Tuuliki’s Nori Miso Soup arrives and whilst she adores it, I am not a fan. It tastes almost like there are too many flavours that don’t work harmoniously, like three different soups combined. However that seems to be personal taste as she is happy with it.

Three Treasures Chow Mein $12.80

My husband’s Tree treasures Chow Mein arrives complete with faux egg noodles. He happily digs in and upon tasting declares it “Just like regular chow mein”. I taste it and indeed it is very much like regular chow mein, it even has imitation char siu pieces and imitation chicken pieces although the imitation char siu is a little softer than real char siu.

The overall verdict from the meat eaters was that it was a pretty damn good imitation of meat, some were better than others and that the only real difference was in the texture as the gluten and tofu are softer than regular meat.

And the verdict from the vegetarians? They were over the moon as it was delicious and they loved the fact that they didn’t have to constantly ask “has this got meat/eggs” in it. And just like a regular Chinese restaurant we received orange slices at the end of the meal. The service is personable with the owner thanking me using my first name (as seen on my credit card). A lovely touch to a lovely non meat meal!

Green Gourmet

538 Pacific Hwy, St Leonards
T: 9439 6533
F: 9439 5993
Lunch: Tues-Sat 11.30-2.30pm
Dinner: Tues-Sun 5.30-9.30pm
Friday and Saturday open until 10.30pm
Closed Mondays

Also Green Gourmet in Newtown
115-117 King St, Newtown
T/F: 9519 5330
They also run Vegan’s Choice Grocery
113 King St, Newtown
T: 9519 7646

Its early on a Sunday night when I decide that I just can’t be bothered cooking and that the time has come to try another Ramen restaurant. There aren’t an awful lot of good Japanese Ramen restaurants and a lot of them are concentrated on the North Shore but I’ve heard a few recommendations for Rahmen Genki in Artarmon which is near Artarmon train station. Its a lot bigger than we expect and very brightly lit with photos of the dishes displayed on a board and there’s an outdoor seating area or you can sit inside under the fluorescent lights. Patrons order and pay at the counter and take a number. Looking around us, there are a lot of young students slurping noodles and forking up great scoops of curry and rice.

We order one special Genki set dinner : Miso Ramen, 3 pieces of Gyoza, salad, Combu and Rice for $12.50 and one Katsu Curry $12 and an order of Gyoza to start $5.50 and take out seats with the numbers. We notice that they too have an autograph wall but we don’t ask who the celebrities are as all of the people working there are rushing around hurriedly. As more people come and sit down, our orders arrive 10 minutes later.
Gyoza $5.50

The Gyoza arrives first, 5 slickly oiled pan fried dumplings. Biting into them, we taste a lot of cabbage but not a great deal of pork. The skin on this gyoza is a little firmer and there’s an oily surface on them from being pan fried. They’re not bad but I’ve definitely had better gyoza and the cabbage taste is a little too pronounced in these. One is unpleasantly burnt and tastes that way too.

Katsu Curry $12 (beef curry with crumbed pork fillet on rice with side salad)

Our mains arrive and the Katsu Curry sits on a huge oval plate. Its an enormous pile of rice with salad on the side and a Pork Cutlet on atop a large pool of curry. I bite into the Cutlet and its beautifully crisp, even the parts that are coated in the curry. I lament that there are only 6 pieces of this and enjoy every bite. I’m not a huge rice eater so I leave most of this behind for my husband. The curry itself is a beef curry with small pieces of beef flecked throughout the curry. If you’re unfamiliar with Japanese currys, they’re different from other curries in that they’re milder and they taste less creamy and almost a little powdery.

Miso Ramen, part of Genki set with rice, side salad and 3 Gyoza $12.50

The Miso ramen has two pieces of soft thin BBQ Pork floating on top and a jumble of assorted vegetables lurking subterraneanly in the huge bowl. The soup is rich and delicious but alas the ramen is tangled up with bean sprouts and isn’t particularly plentiful. The bean sprouts don’t allow you to fully appreciate the toothsome texture of the ramen by itself but separating small pieces of ramen shows that its softer than I’d like. I’m not a huge bean sprout fan and they remind me more of a Chinese noodle soup dish than a Japanese ramen dish.

Condiments

Out of Ryo’s in St Leonards, Kenta Ramen in Neutral Bay and Rahmen Genki in Artarmon, both my husband and I definitely preferred Ryo’s as their noodles are unfailingly the perfect consistency and you just cannot beat the Miso Bolognaise. I however loved Rahmen Genki’s Katsu Curry’s crispness (if only there was a bit more cutlet) whereas my husband preferred the proximity and prices at Kenta!

Autograph Wall

Rahmen Genki

6 Wilkes Ave
Artarmon 2064 NSW
Phone: (02) 9410 3777
Wed-Mon 11.30am-2.30pm, 5-9pm
Cash Only

P.S. Across the street there is the cutest vintage store with a window that fascinated me for a good 10 minutes. It reminded me of a shop window from a Christmas fairytale!