I love recommendations from readers as I know that they’re just as passionate about food as I am and I am always one recommending food to others, usually because I want them to experience as good a meal as I had. One of my longtime readers, SydneyGal wholeheartedly recommended a visit to Zenya and when I told my husband about it, he was all too eager as ramen is one of his very favourite ever meals.
Unlimited cup of Tea $2.50
Walking inside you’d never guess from the outside that the interior is done so nicely, looking a bit like a bar rather (and it’s dark!) than a brightly lit ramen joint. And a good sign is the queue. There is a crowd of people waiting for a table and one puts down their name and the number of people and tears off the numbered slip and waits for their name to be called. We look at the menu while in line and about 5-10 minutes later we’re seated.
Phoenix Organic drinks $3 each
We’re dining with M and her sons S and In and we try a variety of things from the curious e.g the raw octopus with wasabi to the staples e.g. Teriyaki Beef as well as the bento boxes and ramen. For an extra $3 you can get a serve of 3 Gyoza and a side salad with the ramen and for an extra $5 you can get a mini bowl of ramen with your bento box. Everyone grabs drinks – they stock Phoenix Organic beverages in their very own Phoenix fridge ($3 each).
Tako Wasabi (Raw Octopus with wasabi) $4
The Tako Wasabi arrives first, in a small bowl with a slimy wasabi sauce. The boys refuse to touch it but my husband, M and I try it. It’s not bad although raw squid or octopus is not my favourite sashimi texture. The strong but not sinus clearing level of wasabi is not too bad and my husband finds it too chewy but M likes it very much indeed.
Beef Teriyaki Main size with rice and miso soup $14.80
It’s a little hard to know what side dishes go with what as they’re just placed on the table so we assign the side dishes to whoever we think they’re meant to go to. In is a firm carnivore (vegetables aren’t welcome in his family he says) and so beef teriyaki is chosen for him. It’s not a huge serve although it comes with rice and soup but he does a good job finishing it. It probably wouldn’t be enough for a very hungry person however.
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January 9, 2009
by Not Quite Nigella
“Chocolate Whaaat?” my sister asks when I tell her the name of the restaurant we are going to. This will be a familiar phrase repeated also when I tell M, her boys and my husband the restaurant name. This is our second attempt at dining at Chocolate Kkomz. Last week a staff member had taken our reservation and we had shown up at 1pm only to find the restaurant closed and the staff member waiting outside for us apologising profusely for taking our booking when the restaurant wasn’t open. So when we are running 5 minutes late, M texts us that she is sitting down at our booth and let us know that “Yes, it’s open!”.
Another booth
The booths are unusual, ours is like a train dining carriage and the decor is full of dark woods. Other booths bear a more home spun look with embroidered patterned cream fabric and ties. There’s an assortment of Christmas tunes playing in the background to get us in the Christmas mood. Prices change after 5.30pm by roughly 20% .
The menu is full of reasonably priced options along with some more expensive items like the $80 Pumpkin Fondue special which is poured into a whole steamed pumpkin and needs to be ordered in advance as it takes 2 hours. It’s said to be Korean fusion and indeed some of the dishes are. The waitress is lovely and patient with our umming and ahhing but we don’t see the bell on the table which we are supposed to use to get service throughout the evening.
The rules…
One thing we do notice is the list of rules (we get a hint of these when we walk into the restaurant and see a sign that says “No Prams, No Skateboards”). They emphasise that they are not a library, school or private office. There’s a minimum of 1 dish per person rule and kids that climb under and over the tables are not permitted. The boys are a bit scared of being ejected from the premises which serves to quieten them when their volume levels reach too high. Useful! 
Appletise $4.50
Complimentary sides
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December 23, 2008
by Not Quite Nigella
After our meal at A Taste of Egypt we had a wander down the main mall area of Bankstown. Most of the vibrantly coloured shops that I’d walked past a couple of hours earlier were closed while one remained open where we introduced S and In to the concept of a Bubble Milk tea. Having never tried it before they are intrigued by the concept. And of course being Bankstown it’s incredibly cheap at $2.50 per cup. We try a Mango flavoured Bubble Milk tea, it’s mildly Mangoey flavoured and S and In try sucking up their first bubble pearls slurping up 3 or 4 in one go.
Mango Bubble Tea $2.50
We also buy a Pandan waffle with small shards of coconut throughout for the princely sum of $1. It’s not bad at all, moist with a mildish coconutty taste giving it a distinct taste from a regular waffle.
M spies a Lebanese Sweets shop and as these are some of her favourites kinds of sweets we go in. It’s air conditioned to a cold fridge temperature inside and its glass display cabinets house all manner of sweet honeyed treats dusted with green ground pistachios and nuts. I choose a Baklava, not exactly adventurous but always my favourite. My husband declines a sweet as he prefers fruit to pastry and he’s too busy with the Bubble Tea but we also get some deep fried cream filled syrup drenched rolls, a Eish El Boulboul (Bird’s Nest) and a Burma Pistachio.
Baklava $1.30
I take a crunchy syrup soaked bite into the baklava and it’s delicious, and despite the sweetness from the drenching in syrup it never appears too sweet. Even my husband likes this and tries to eat the rest of my piece (no luck!).
Bird’s Nest $1.30 (front) and Burma Pistachio (bacK) $1.30
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October 25, 2008
by Not Quite Nigella
I am woefully tired nowadays. I envy those that only need 5-6 hours sleep. My tiredness is a result of a combination of drinking a Red Bull several days ago and subsequently not being able to sleep for 3 days as well as having little sleep due to the roadworks outside. As I live on a main road they start the roadworks at 11pm and finish them at 3am. Yes sometimes this feels like the outer ring in the Seventh Circle of Hell. So much so that when we saw them park the huge contraption that creates the noise on our street, I seriously considered taking a picture of it and selling it on ebay. My auction would read like this:
Road ripper up for sale. Pick up before 10pm at night. No key for this so you will need hot wiring skills. In very good and hellishly loud working order. 99c buy it now.
So what was my point? I’m tired and rambling now. Oh yes my point was that because of this we are meeting my friend M and her sons S and In at a rather early time of 5.30pm so that I can get back in bed by a normal hour. So at 5.30pm we are seated at the Taste of Egypt on Greenfield parade in Bankstown, staring at their huge chalkboard menu of Egyptian goodies. I spy some intriguing sounding dishes and we immediately order them with our friendly waitress who we guess is the owner of the business. She tells us a little about the dishes. Tonight unfortunately they are out of Koushery the rice dish with fried pasta and lentils and topped with onion rings. A 1000 year old dish that is usually served after breakfast or for lunch. She reads back our order and tells us that what we have is a lot but a good range of Egyptian food.
Mango nectar (left) and Guava Nectar (right) $2 each
We help ourselves to drinks from the fridge and try the Mango, Fruit Cocktail and Guava nectars, all deliciously sweet with the mango being particularly thick and almost gelatinous in the bottom of the bottle.
Fruit Cocktail Nectar $2
There is a strong takeaway trade with people buying takeaway chicken, kebabs and dips but when we smell the scent of our meals being cooked we get ravenous. Our meals come out and the boys are itching to eat but are patient while the obligatory photos are being taken.
Mozah (lamb Shank with rice) $13
This is absolutely gorgeous, the Lamb shank falling of the bone after a gentle nudge while the sauce, a strong and flavoursome mix of tomato, chili and garlic is the perfect accompaniment.
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October 22, 2008
by Not Quite Nigella
Sydney is a place spoiled for Lebanese food. There are so many places to enjoy this cuisine and some fairly close to us. However urged by M’s reliable food taste, we’re lured to somewhere a little further afield, in Greenacre. It’s a hot 33 degrees today in Sydney and all we can say is thank god for air conditioning on the drive. We are hungry, made hungrier by the knowledge that delicious food will soon touch our lips and settle in our stomachs.
It’s on a street lined with Arabic signs which M reminisces reminds her of a holiday to the Middle East. We’re visiting in the bright sunshine of midday and walking into the simply decorated restaurant we see crowds of not just Lebanese but other nationalities, all enjoying their food.
The menu is large with some pictures of the platters but of course we steer away from the fish and chips and calamari and chips and go for more traditional Lebanese fare. I leave the ordering up to M as she has been before and whilst we are waiting, we are offered a large plate of complimentary pickles, freshly sliced tomato and olives to go with the thick sheaf of complimentary fresh Lebanese bread stacked like crepes.
Complimentary pickles and bread
We’re pleasantly surprised at these additions, surely it must make one fuller and therefore order less. Still, we enjoy the plate of pickles and the salty olives, M and my husband particularly enjoy the zingy yellow chili.
Baba Ghanouj $6
It’s not long before our selections arrive. First come the dips, the smokey Baba Ghanouj is lovely, even though I usually find Baba Ghanouj too smokey to my taste this one is delicious with the oil, parsley and tomato in centre an inspired touch.
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October 2, 2008
by Not Quite Nigella
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