The view during our drive to Orange

Our arrival to Orange was under the cover of darkness – not deliberately so but by the time we got ourselves together and made the 4 hour drive down to Orange (and there were the obligatory stops along the way), the sky was pitch black and out in the country away from the city lights, it gets very dark indeed. It was close to 10:30pm on the Friday night when we arrived in our borrowed Toyota Prado Kakadu 4WD thanks to the nice peeps at Toyota.

Our Toyota Prado Kakadu

I’m normally rather ambivalent about 4WD’s – you see I used to live in Mosman where I am sure that 99% of the 4WD’s there had never touched a speck of country dirt but for country driving, and particularly after this drive, I’d definitely rather go in one given the gravelly dirt roads. Apart from the suspension, from an amenity standpoint, it has a cool box to keep drinks and food chilled and the sound system in it is excellent (apparently the result of their sound engineer in Japan being somewhat of a sound aficionado) and if you happen to have children, it keeps them amused with DVD screens and headphones. And then there’s the lack of rattling and rocks hitting the car when driving on country dirt roads (it was so quiet and smooth I fell asleep several times).

The Black Sheep Inn: a converted shearing shed

We arrived at the Black Sheep Inn, an award winning Inn just a few minutes outside of the city of Orange. As planned, our key was waiting for us in the door and the other guests were close to retiring. So we did the same and awoke the next morning to a lush breakfast prepared by Helen, the owner of Black Sheep Inn.

Rhubarb and strawberry compote with Greek yogurt and pine nuts

Read More

It has been a long time between catch ups for me and M and her boys and when she suggested a meet up before they left for the gorgeousness of a Tasmanian holiday I suggest La Cumbia, a South American restaurant in Kingsford. M is Austrian but her boys are half Peruvian and she takes great care to ensure that they are aware of their heritage on both sides.

We arrive at 6pm for an early dinner. Inside it looks markedly better than perhaps the outside. There are wrought iron chandeliers with glowing candles inside and large comfortable seats that look like they belong in the dining room of someone’s home. M has Colombian friends who frequent La Cumbia and indeed apart from another table and we gringos, the rest of the patrons are South American. M also comes armed with a list of must eats. One item that they recommended the Bandeja Paisa which is said to be big enough for people to share. We start with the array of drinks as they have a lot of South American drinks here and we choose a Manzana and a Pony Malta . The menu is divided into Mexican, Colombian and Spanish cuisine but since this is a predominantly Colombian place, we go for the Colombian choices.

While we are waiting M and I have a look at the shelves of the small shop they have towards the back of the restaurant. There are all sorts of goodies there including an array of tinned beans, chilli sauces, chocolate to make Mexican hot chocolate, brown sugar cane which is mixed with water and lime juice to make a version of lemonade, guava pastes and tinned as well as fresh dulce de leche in the fridge.

Arepa Choclo $4.50

Read More

Mr NQN, Queen Viv and I were grateful that Wow Bulgogi has such a distinct and eye catching name. Miss America is even more grateful for it too. This steamy hot Summer evening, we were supposed to meet at our new place as Miss America had yet to visit our new digs. Not for lack of trying. You see on Hallowe’en he couldn’t find our house having gone to the wrong street entirely and not possessing a mobile phone, he rang us from his home at 10pm distressed at wandering the streets of my suburb unable to find us. Tonight, the meeting time passes and he still hasn’t turned up. We leave a note on the door and go to Wow Bulgogi wondering what fate might have befallen him this time. We sit down and peruse the menu and then who should emerge from a taxi but Miss America!

“I don’t want to talk about it” he says distraught at the heat and another goose chase around the Eastern Suburbs. We prod him further and he tells us “I remember the name was ‘Wow’ something and I rang directory assistance and they told me this place”. Turns out he had written down the wrong street number for us and the distinct name of this restaurant was the only thing that lured him to the right spot. He was living the 2009 version of the Scorcese comedy “After Hours”.

Onto the food – and the heat. Some might say that we are crazy having bulgogi during a heatwave and you may be right. We were seated near the open windows and even though there was an air conditioner at work, it didn’t feel like it once the hot plate was turned on. The menu explains that it’s called Wow Bulgogi as they want people to say “Wow!” when they taste the food.

Drinks from left to right: 17 cha, Aloe vera drink, chorok maesil and sikhye (rice punch) $4 each

The Aloe Vera drink is the favourite with its sweet, almost faux grape flavour taste. The Sikhye or rice punch is sweet with little bits of rice floating in it and the chorok maesil is a pleasant, fruity flavoured drink. The 17 Cha is a plain unsweetened green tea and is quite dull in comparison. We get our complimentary assortment of accompaniments including potatoes, marinated tofu strips, kim chee, beansprouts and coleslaw with the tastiest being the sweet soy potatoes and the marinated tofu strips.

Sam Gyubsal Pork Belly $16

Read More