Australia is not the kind of place that you think of when you think chocolate, our weather is mostly too warm for it I always feel (although it doesn’t stop me from consuming it). I always think of somewhere cold with falling snow for chocolate. But here in Australia we have the Max Brenner chain, the Lindt cafes (the only ones in the world apparently) and now the newest addition, Guylian cafe at East Circular Quay. Situated in a prime tourist and eating location, it’s right next to the Dendy Opera Quays cinemas and is so brand spanking new, it has only been open since last Wednesday.

Counter

Cake display

Despite its relative newness, the only telltale sign is the sign saying that the credit cards facility is not working. It’s still packing people in and the service is noticeably enthusiastic. When we enquire about seating the girl behind the counter comes out and shows us the range of cakes, chocolates and breakfast pastries and is more than happy to answer our questions and give recommendations.

Hot chocolate powder, Seahorse bottle of liquer, praline, fondue dip and chocolate tablettes

There are displays of hot chocolate powder ($10), clear bags of individual chocolates ($12) and a large seahorse shaped bottle of Guylian Liqueur ($60).

There are plenty of seashell seahorse motifs adorning the space.

Cakes and biscuits on display

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I tend to keep my head in the sand about festivals. Don’t get me wrong, I love them but I often miss them, too busy working or scouting out restaurants, cooking or entertaining. But when a NQN reader Doro emailed me a month ago saying that she was part of the committee organising the Malaysian Festival I could hardly plead ignorance. And I was only too pleased to have a look see as I love Malaysian food.

Today, the weather is quietly foreboding with a forecast saying “Clearing showers” but with that impending rain scent pervading the atmosphere. Still I am looking forward to a family outing with my in laws and getting to sample some of the Malaysian goodies on offer.

We arrive in the afternoon and there are several stalls offering food as well as a marquee where we witness an array of dancers and singers from all over the world. There are people in Malaysian dress and there is a convivial and friendly atmosphere. The lines are long at some stands and we notice Mamak and Sydney Kopitiam Asian Cafe have a stall, two places I’ve yet to eat at but I’ve always meant to. Prices are reasonable with items starting at $2 to $10, a steal really.

Tuulikki, Cuddlepie and I have a look at our food options. We like to have a look at everything before we make a purchase and we always figure that the long queues mean that the food is better. We line up at the long queue at Mamak and I buy a Nasi Lemak $6.50, Anneli buys a Roti Telur with a vegetarian curry $6 and Tuulikki buys a Roti Canai without egg $5.00.

The long queue at Mamak

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You know a place is hot when it’s relatively early in the evening and there are crowds standing outside. When you walk up the stairs there are also crowds at the front desk and a crowd waiting.

The touchscreen on which you order

The reason? A Japanese restaurant that offers Touchscreen technology-instead of placing your order with the waitress or waiter, you simply press the items desired on the touchscreen tv and it will be delivered to you before you even know it.

The interior is all stone and wood with large sake bottles displayed on one wall as well as minimalist touches in the decor. Queen Viv, my husband and I are seated at a wooden booth with a touchscreen at our side and we’re also given a laminated food and a drinks menu. The service is very polite and friendly and the waiter asks if we’ve ever ordered via the touchscreen before. We suppose that we can figure it out, after all it’s just pressing and probably easier than ordering with a human and we set off to scour the 362 item menu to see what catches our eye.

There are also some rules to follow!

Step 1: Press to select quantity of item and order

Step 2: Press to confirm

Step 3: Order confirmed and sent!

After sifting through the various sections (Entrees, Grilled & Fried, Sushi and Sashimi etc) we touch the screen and order each item. As you press an item you confirm the number and then confirm it again and it sends it to the kitchen. You don’t decide your whole menu and then send it to the kitchen all at once, it’s done one dish at a time. Which is good if you’re organised but bad if you want to retract an order if you see something better later. Even water for the table is ordered through the touchscreen.

The menu is very reasonably priced with most dishes under $10, with some seafood items the only ones above but there is also room for those seeking to spend more with lobster done in various ways (sashimi, grilled etc) at over $100. There are four languages: English, Japanese, Chinese and Korean and the non alchoholic drink section includes cocktails named after the gemstones for each month.

Sushi Roulette $8.50

The item that had us most intrigued was the Sushi Roulette. A Roulette Wheel of 6 pieces sushi arrives, 5 pieces have a normal level of wasabi whereas one is stuffed full of the stuff. Should you be the person to get the said piece, eye watering and sinus clearing should follow. For someone like me that doesn’t like Wasabi it’s an interesting proposition. My husband gets the piece with the wasabi although he assures us that despite its fierce look, the wasabi is milder than the wasabi that he has at home. I had read a hint as to how to tell which is the telltale piece and should you wish to be privy to this, read on, otherwise you should skip to the picture of the next photo after the Wasabi laden piece.

According to Here Comes the Food the pieces that have wasabi smeared on the outside are the normal ones, the piece that looks like it hardly has any wasabi on the outside is THE sushi bomb! They’ve also suggested an ingenious mind game to play with your friends “…You can play certain ‘mind-games’ (which I was unfortunately the victim of!) at your own risk: be the first person to take the plunge and opt to choose the first sushi, pretend you’ve got the ‘doomed’ piece (which hopefully you don’t have) and writhe in agony for a few moments before composing yourself. Afterwards, the group which you’re with will feel safe about eating the rest of the pieces and may even opt to add further wasabi to their personal preferences. Sit back…and watch in eager anticipation as one of your group members suffers to their own disbelief and dismay.”

Chicken Nankotsu $6.50

The rest of our food arrives in quick succession, in the same order that it was punched in. The Chicken Nankotsu, one of my favourite dishes made of deep fried crunchy white chicken bone, is quietly crunchy and seasoned with salt and pepper. The pieces are cut into small squares and it’s good nibble food.

Eel cheese spring roll $6.20

We chose this dish for it’s unusual ingredients as we’ve never tasted eel with cheese. Whilst it wasn’t bad, we probably wouldn’t order it again, the eel is rich, the cheese is rich and deep frying the whole thing in pastry seems like the quickest way to give yourself a heart attack.

Lightly grilled salmon and scallop box sushi $11.90

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