Archives for : western sydney

Aria – Persian Sandwiches

Anyone who is into mega sized sandwiches with options catered to the adventurous needs to try Aria in Merrylands out. I stumbled upon this place accidentally, as I never venture towards that particular side, as it doesn’t seem like much is happening on that particular end.

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Aria - Persian Sandwiches

Aria – Persian Sandwiches

Sandwiches are well priced, and very filling.

Brain and tongue

Brain and tongue

Unfortunately the final product looks nothing like the photos, but fortunately they do taste good.

Fat Panda- Canley Heights

Been a while sine my my last post. To be honest, I’ve been kinda lazy…

Anyway this post doesn’t require much explanation. Just your standard Japanese dishes.

Fat Panda is a Japanese restaurant located in Canley heights. It’s usually pretty busy, and the quality is usually top notch.

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Aaboll Cafe – Ethiopian Cuisine

Aaboll is a hands-on food experience discovered out west. It is conveniently located next to the train station for all you non-drivers.I have not been to any other Ethiopian restaurants – so can’t fairly compare. But thus far, I have really enjoyed eating here.

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Very cool decorations, and an area for a coffee ceremony.

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Above is the Aaboll combination. It includes Injera bread, Doro Wot Chicken, Lamb Tibs, Kye Sega Wot, Alicha, and Vegies.

Bau Truong Canley Heights

Bau Truong is a Vietnamese restaurant in Canley heights.. Probably one of the lesser frequented restaurants by locals. More reason to try it out 🙂

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Inside is suprisngly very clean and colourful.

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Salmon Pho with a generous amount of dill on the top. Not sure any other place in Canley heights that does this? Could be the only one 🙂

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Pennywort Drink Pennywort is a plant. Not really sure how to describe the taste. I like it 🙂 I find it refreshing.

Mazar – Traditional Afghan Restaurant

Merrylands isn’t the typical place you would chose to go out for dinner, and with the abundance of cafes and restaurants available in Parramatta only 5 minutes away it is easy to see why. However, if you venture out of your comfort zone, you will discover a place rich in culture, and probably some good food while you are at it too.

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I decided to try out an Afghan restaurant called Mazar. This first dish is called ” Mahecha Palaw”.

Tender lamb shanks combined with a delicate palawi rice topped with carrots and sultanas.

The servings are massive! And bursting with flavour.

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The mixed platter. Pretty much contains a little of everything. Definitely try the mantu dumplings.

Steamed lamb mince dumplings with a tomato, onion and garlic sauce topped with yoghurt and dried mint.

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Bulani – Afghani bread pockets with fillings such as potato, chives, pumpkin and more. (Not sure what the and more part entails…)

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Delicious bread served with your meal. Massive size.

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Finish off with a little Afghan Tea.

WP_20150522_19_30_17_ProForgot to mention the Dough. It is a cucumber and mint yoghurt drink. The restaurant next door makes it a little thicker and ‘yoghurtty’, whereas this version is little less thick and saltier. I prefer this version as it tastes a little more refreshing.

WP_20150522_19_30_50_ProThe feast. (Banana peel not included)

Mazar is conveniently located just a short stroll from the station (for those non-drivers). Some areas can be a little quiet, so bring some friends along and enjoy a traditional Afghan feast.

 

 

 

Green Peppercorn: Fairfield

It has been way too long since my last post. I have been way too busy as of late. Anyway – here is another review on a Thai Restaurant in the South-West of Sydney.

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This is Green Peppercorn, located just a short stroll from Fairfield station.

Green Peppercorn gets really busy on a Friday and Saturday night. I think we waited almost an hour on both occasions we visited.

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They make up for it though with complimentary fruit shakes. Yum!

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Some sort of Thai Salad. Can’t remember which one it was…
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Tom Yum Soup (Seafood). It was good. But nothing that was amazing.
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Lychee Fruitshake.
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Vegetarian Curry Puffs.
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Normally I get the Massaman curry with Beef. But this time I got it with lamb. Quite tasty.

And now on to the deserts.

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Sabu: Contemporary Japanese and Sushi.

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Sabu is located within the main food precinct of Parramatta.

WP_20140511_13_08_40_Pro WP_20140511_13_05_07_ProQuite nice looking inside.

WP_20140511_13_09_24_ProJames Ninja -mixed berries  and sweetened apple juice.

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GREEN TEA COOLER 
A summer infusion to refresh the body with apple
juice, green tea, mint, strawberries and cucumber.

I liked this one very refreshing.

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CHERRY BLOSSOM
This lush blend of fresh pink grapefruit and
cherries served tall with orange and mango nectar
will help you kick those shoes off and unwind.

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Mixed Vegetable Tempura
Mixed seasonal vegetables with blue cheese espuma.

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Scallops
Seared scallop with pickled seaweed, shiitake and rich dashi espuma. 2

I think the sauce was overbearing. Way too much of it. The scallops were okay, but would have been better if they were a little more seared/browned on the outside.

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Mushroom Skewers
Mushroom and zucchini skewed with truffle mayonnaise and tarragon.

Sauce was nice. Vegies were a little overcooked though.

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Pork Belly
Slow cooked pork belly, carrot purée, pop pork skin, cumin crumble and ginger
glaze.

The carrot puree has quite a sweet flavour, which is quite a common pairing when it comes to Pork Belly dishes. In this instance, it did not work for me (subjective). The Pork Belly was okay.  It could do with some sides to balance to dish a little better.

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Kasuka

Crispy brick pastry with strawberry Ice Cream, chocolate soil, assorted nuts and rasberry anglaise shot.

Quite a unique and pretty looking dessert.  Could do with a little more strawberry ice cream, to compensate for the generous chocolate soil provided. Could do with a little more fresh berries.

Overall

The staff are super friendly and helpful, however unfortunately I do find the food does need a little refining. I think simplicity is the key in this instance. I would rather eat something basic and well cooked rather than something that is confusing and complicated…

Perhaps my experience will be different next time round, but for now it was just okay.

 

 

 

 

Paparich: Parramatta

Finally Paparich opened a restaurant in the Western Suburbs of Sydney.

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Expect to wait a while to get in. So make sure you dress warm.

WP_20140801_20_20_58_ProPaparich uses a buzzer style system of ordering accompanied with a sheet of paper.

WP_20140801_20_20_45_ProBasically you write down the menu number (which is listed on the menu) , quanity, table number, and number of people, press the button and a server comes and collects it off you.

WP_20140801_20_28_11_ProMango Mania. Basically a fruit Frappe, with Lychees on the top.

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Ribena Melon. Fruit frappe with fresh lychees, jelly, and melon balls.

WP_20140801_20_46_04_ProWe started off with Hainan Steamed Bread & Kaya. Kaya is a sweet creamy, coconut spread. Nice dish, wish it was a little less soggy though.

WP_20140801_20_46_18_ProVegetarian Dim Sum.

WP_20140801_20_39_40_ProRoti Canai, Tandoori Chicken. Delicious. Should’ve gotten another serve of Tandoor Chicken.

WP_20140801_20_42_40_ProBiryani Rice with  Vegetarian Curry Mutton..

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Biryani Rice, Grilled Prawns, Fried Chicken, Sambal Eggplants. The Sambal Eggplant is delicious.

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Macha Soya, red bean, and green tea ice cream. Classic combination of asian flavours. Very nice.

WP_20140809_20_44_43_ProIce Blended Bandung with Glass Jelly. Banddung is condensed milk and rose cordial.

WP_20140801_21_28_28_ProWe finish off with 2 plates of Banana Fritters. We were stuffed by the end of it, and realised we should have just ordered the one plate. They have an option to get the ‘premium’ ice-cream. The standard option is more like a soft style ice cream.

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Loving Hut #3

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Heavenly Salad. Very evident South Eastern flavours. The prawns (vegan) actually taste like prawns. Served with Vegan Prawn chips. yummy. Quite a lot of salad for a side dish.

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Sweet and sour soup. A light style of dish. I recommend to have it with rice.

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Braised fish pot. I quite like this. Tasted a lot like fish. The only criticism i have is that it should have been a little more flaky to mimic the texture of fish. Otherwise a nice dish.

Twelve Spices Lao & Thai

Heaps of people are flocking to Holy Basil within the South Western Sydney Region for some great Thai food. But if you want to avoid the crowds and have something just as good – I would suggest driving about 5 minutes up the road and trying out Twelve Spices Lao & Thai.

rawprawnsalad

 

Raw Garlic. Chilli. Garlic. Mint. Fish Sauce. Served on fresh cabbage, onions, carrot. Very intense flavours. The prawns aren’t really overpowering at all.

 

Padseeew_vegies

 

Pad See Ew Vegetarian. Must have at every Thai Restaurant I go to. Pad Thai seems to be the go to dish for most people, but i think Pad See Ew is much better.

Strawberry_Fruitshake

 

Strawberry Shake. Quite Tasty.

Part 2 review coming soon.

Address

197 St Johns Road , 2166