Espresso and Matcha's Foodie Odyessy - Sydney - Day 3 Brunch : Mother Chu's Taiwanese Gourmet

We woke up somewhat later on day 3, with Queen V deciding that we ought to get a more traditional Asian style breakfast. With this in mind, we headed down to Chinatown to assess our options. 

With the number of people heading into Mother Chu's we considered it to be a relatively safe bet.

Considering the shop front was quite small, the seating was extensive, and considering the fact most of the other patrons were carrying quite bulky luggage, it appears to be popular with the tourists.

The menu was very extensive, and I found it very interesting that the waitresses took your order and your money at the table before bring out food. I suppose counter service would be a bit less confusing than having them walk and bring you change again.

Queen V opted for the cold unsweetened soy milk, which she enjoyed. It proved to be quite a simple yet refreshing way to start the day.

I ordered a hot coffee to start the day, and whilst it wasn't cafe quality, it did the trick, and I wasn't expecting much, so it was quite decent.

She also had the beef pie, which was not the regular type of Australian Meat Pie, but more Chinese style. It had dough akin to a cross between a bun and a dumpling, and was filled with seasoned beef and then deep fried. It was a very hearty way to begin the day.

We also shared some pan fried pork dumplings which Queen V was really keen on. Whilst the portions were generous, the skins, despite being crispy, were thick, and the dumplings tended to stick to each other and quite a number of skins had broken, and so there was very little (if any) meat juices left in the dumplings.

With their assurance of daily made bread sticks, I was very keen to order a serve. It turned out to be freshly fried, crispy on the outside and elastic on the inside, and probably the most authentic bread sticks I've had in Australia.

The other thing I had was the pork intestine noodles in soup. Whilst this doesn't seem like much of a breakfast meal, it was very homey and reminded me much of my time travelling Taiwan. I found these to be very delicious and strongly seasoned. I would have liked more garlic in the dish, but the noodles were soft, and the soup was very delectable.

Price Range: $10 - $20pp

Taste: 8/10
Value: 9/10
Service: 7/10
Environment: 7/10

Espresso and Matcha's Foodie Odyessy - Sydney - Day 2 After Dinner : Chanoma Cafe

After our delightful dinner at Din Tai Fung, we decided to round off the day by finishing off with an after dinner dessert at Chanoma Cafe in Regent Place.

The reason why we actively sought this place out was due to its extensive range of matcha drinks and desserts. We ordered at the counter, and our drinks and dessert came quickly despite the large amount of customers.

Both Queen V and I ordered the iced matcha latte. Whilst it was cool and refreshing, we found it to be nowhere near as rich and flavoursome as our breakfast at Cafe Cre Asion. I found the matcha granules to also be quite big and much more coarse than the matcha latte we had earlier on.

As we were quite full at that time, we decided to share the Matcha Parfait. It was huge, containing corn flakes, mochi, ice cream (with the cone), cream, fruits and pocky, all drenched in matcha latte. For the price of $7.90, it as definitely a steal (and very filling), but as mentioned the matcha was far more coarse than the cakes I had in the morning.

Price Range: $5 - $15pp

Taste: 7/10
Value: 7/10
Service: 7/10
Environment: 7/10

Espresso and Matcha's Foodie Odyessy - Sydney - Day 2 Dinner : Din Tai Fung

There is no way that I would ever go to Sydney (or Melbourne) without heading to my favourite dumpling place of all time, Din Tai Fung. Having been to their Westfield Sydney store, and their World Square store, I thought that I better try the one in The Star.

We soon found it in the food court, and the dumpling chefs busily wrapping Xiao Long Bao immediately caught our attention.

Whilst Queen V went to hunt down a table, I lined up to order our food.

Whilst the menu was quite consise, it covered appetisers, rice, noodles, dumplings, snacks and desserts. We checked what we wanted on the menu and handed it in.

We were given a buzzer, and before long our food was ready to collect.

Without a doubt, these are definitely the tastiest dumplings in the whole world. The skin was both thin and elastic, so as to ensure that it would not break. The fillings inside were meaty, well seasoned and had a good texture without being overcooked. The dumplings were served piping hot and fresh off the steamer, and the soup definitely reflected this freshness, with its strong flavours and delectable seasoning, I absolutely loved it.

We also shared the beef noodle soup. Whilst the beef wasn't as soft as I would have liked it, but the noodles were cooked to an almost perfect texture, and the soup was homey and nourishing. This was further emphasised by the shallots placed on top. With my strong OCD tendencies, the noodles being organised all to line up in one direction made it very delicious. 

We also shared a pork chop fried rice. Close friends will know that I'm definitely not a fan of fried rice. However, when I go to Din Tai Fung, fried rice is always one of my must haves, purely because they make one of the best fried rice ever. Each rice granule was cooked to a perfect texture, being not too firm or not too soft. The egg and shallots were a good seasoning for the fried rice, being light enough to accompany the pork chop. Speaking of the pork chop, it was thinly cut and perfectly fried without excessive batter.

Price Range: $15 - $25pp

Taste: 9.5/10
Value: 9/10
Service: 8/10
Environment: 8/10

Espresso and Matcha's Foodie Odyessy - Sydney - Day 2 Afternoon Tea : Gelato Messina

Along our stroll to walk off our lunch, we had initially not planned to grab afternoon tea, but once we stumbled upon Messina, we knew we had to adjust our plans.

Whilst it is slated to come to Brisbane by the end of the year, we had to jump at the opportunity and try it out for ourselves to see if it really lives up to its hype.

  

In an effort to try and be good, Queen V and I shared a two scoop together (rather than getting any more). We were really struck by the rich smoothness of the gelato. Indeed it was probably one of the smoothest that we've ever had! On the downside though, I found the coffee and matcha tastes to be rather muted by the overwhelming sweetness of the sugar. When Messina does eventually open its doors in Brisbane though, I would still definitely be keen to try out their ice cream cakes.

Price Range: $5 - $10pp

Taste: 7.5/10
Value: 8/10
Service: 7/10
Environment: 7/10

Espresso and Matcha's Foodie Odyessy - Sydney - Day 2 Lunch : Peter's Seafood

After our intense breakfast, Queen V and I decided to have a lighter lunch at the infamous Sydney Fish Market, which has been highly endorsed by numerous colleagues of mine. Again, we underestimated the long hike from Cafe Cre Asion, and ended up only arriving at around midday, to find it packed to the top with visitors and tourists.

There was quite a lot of fresh seafood for sale in addition to cooked food, but of course our attention was drawn towards the sushi and sashimi.

There was a large variety of sushi packs which were all $10 each. It took 20 minutes of lining up before we were able to get two packs.

The sashimi store, being just next to it, had a parallel line next to the sushi line. After lining up for the sushi line, I waited another 20 minutes in line to make a first attempt to order sashimi. After getting to the top of the line, the employees thought that the lines with the sushi store had gotten mixed up, and myself and a couple of customers were told to get back to the end of the line. Not wanting to make a scene or ruin a good day out, we begrudgingly got back to the end of the line. After another 30 minutes or so of lining up, again we got to the top of the line, and for some reason the employees tried to tell us to get to the end of the line again. Having lost her patience, another customer angrily told the staff that we had actually already lined up for sashimi twice. It was only then that we finally got served (even though it was still in quite a rude manner). Needless to say, I was quite shocked and disappointed that the service in such an iconic tourist attraction could possibly be so bad.

Being greeted with an abrupt "what do you want then?" I was finally able to place my order for sashimi. The staff then sliced the sashimi in accordance to the amount you had ordered.

Roe, ginger and soy sauce was provided on the side for extra charge.

After battling our way in, battling our way to get served, we had another fight to find appropriate seating to eat. In the end, we were unable to secure a table, and settled on eating on a third chair between the two of us.

Despite the environment and bad service, the spread was still very impressive.

Queen V had 100g of Salmon, and 100g of tuna, accompanied by premixed soy sauce with wasabi. She really enjoyed the freshness of the fish, and said that the tuna was one of the best she'd ever had.

On the other hand I had 200g of salmon. Despite all that had happened, it was still probably one of the freshest, tastiest sashimi that I've had before. For the price of $10, I had close to 20 decent sized slices, which meant it was also great value for money. Topping it with tobiko meant that there was an added crunch to the texture of the fish.

Being the salmon addict that I am, I also got a salmon avocado roll. Despite the fact it was chilled on ice, the large turnover of people ensured that the rice and fish were still very very fresh, and the sushi was sold well before the rice was allowed to harden. The toppings were fresh and ample in quantity, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Our set of assorted nigiri was also very delicious. There was an assortment of shellfish, prawns and grilled fish, seasoned with mayonnaise and tobiko. I enjoyed the added condiments on the sushi, especially after the sashimi, and the grilled bits on the rice were also crispy and tasty.

Price Range: $15 - $25pp

Taste: 9/10
Value: 8/10
Service: 2/10
Environment: 3/10