Getting over your holiday is probably the worst thing about being on holidays. I’m never quite ready to let them go. This week was one where I idled between being back at work and still being on holidays as Mr NQN had to go back to work but I wasn’t quite ready to give up the holiday lifestyle. Instead, I sought out my friends to play with. M and her boys love the beach and when I’d heard of Bondi FM’s cafe and radio station just off Bondi Beach’s busy promenade, we knew it would be perfect for a sunny Summer’s day – something of a rarity these past few sodden weeks.
We happen upon a miracle park just outside it on Curlewis Street which is surprisingly not charged at an extortionate rate (rare for Sydney). We follow the yellow and white thongs to the entrance and make our way past a room with a fabulous chandelier and an animal hide rug and past the radio booth where the DJ is playing music.
The man behind the counter looks at us surprised as if he doesn’t expect anyone to walk in and we walk through to the main cafe area. There are comfy worn lounges, what looks to be an outdoor picnic area where a group are frolicking, an astroturfed area and seating in many styles from share benches to tables. Radio Bondi 88.0 FM has been broadcasting since 1996 and it uses an open-narrowcast license which allows them to use less than 1 watt of power. This is why only Bondi and nearby suburbs can receive it but it has online listeners from over 120 countries.
A man smiles and lets us know he’ll be with us in a minute. Many minutes pass without event so we send the boys to get our menus. They are still serving breakfast at 12pm which I am grateful for as I have a hankering for French Toast and M feels like a salad. The boys are hot and tired and say that they don’t want to eat anything but she orders them the chocolate fondue which comes with fruit salad, marshmallows and popcorn.
Mango and Berry Smoothie $5 each
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January 8th, 2010
by Not Quite Nigella
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
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January 4th, 2010
by Not Quite Nigella
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
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January 2nd, 2010
by Not Quite Nigella
Every year around Christmas my girlfriends Gina, Teena and I get together for a dinner and present exchange. It’s usually around mid December for Teena’s birthday but this year it’s a little closer to Christmas. So the slobbery drunken Santa count and sexy, trampy Mrs Claus outfit count tonight in Potts Point is high and somewhat relentless as people in red and white felt outfits parade past us in very, very jolly moods as they celebrate finishing work for the year.
We enter Busshari in Potts Point near the famous fountain and the first thing I’m struck with is how very, very dark things are here. “Eeek!” I say to Gina “This is not going to make for good photos” and she agrees. Teena arrives a little later and we make our selections. There are curiously two menus, one a double sided sheet in a plastic sleeve and the book version which looks prettier but the double sided sheet is easier to read. There is an impressive looking sake list for the sake aficionado. I look around – apparently Nicole Kidman has been spotted eating here but there’s no sign of her tonight.
Fresh Oyster w salmon caviar & dashi vinaigrette jelly $3 each
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December 24th, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
A while ago with two of us ailing (Mr NQN and I) eating out wasn’t such a pleasure. Sure I knew the flu would hit me eventually but I don’t think I’ve ever really been disinterested in food. This flu however (and not even Swine Flu) had knocked us about and so when lunchtime rolled around I’d sip a cup of honey and lemon water and could not be bothered to make anything. That’s how I know that I am sick.
After the requisite time lying about, my sense of smell and taste returned but my throat was still sore so we thought that a Pho place would be a good place to eat. We had walked past a Pho place in nearby Kingsford so one night, we went with Rose and Ronald for a quick bite to eat.
The photo album drinks menu!
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November 22nd, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
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