Devon Cafe, Surry Hills (Sept 2013)

So here comes our very delayed post of our first visit to Devon at Surry Hills. I must say, this is definitely one of my favourite cafes around as it's only 5-10 minute walk from central station, nice atmosphere and the food is so good! Their menu changes seasonally which is something that makes you want to keep going back and try out their new dishes and one very exciting season for Devon is the truffle season in winter. 

We were lucky enough to be seated in the courtyard on a fine day (clear plastic covering so blocks rain but allow sunlight) which means good lighting for photos, yay~ The whole place gave off a really relaxing vibe, the staff were very friendly and the fresh flowers on the table added that little bit of love.

Anyways, on to the food :) Their coffee was great and nothing beats a fresh jar of juice at breakfast, you can't go wrong with the combination of watermelon, apple and mint in the refresher. 

Cappuccino and the Refresher 

The Ultimate Toastie

I was really excited for the truffle season (luckily we made it in time before it was over) so I had to try the famous ultimate toastie and it did not disappoint. It appears to be simple sourdough topped with mushrooms, cheese, fried egg and truffle shavings, but who doesn't love mushrooms??? The runny egg yolk, tender mushrooms, slight saltiness of the cheese and the aromatic flavour of the truffles was definitely a winning combination. On top of that the serving was quite big so it was a very filling and satisfying breakfast.

Citrus cured salmon: split dill cream, apple, celery, cucumber, fennel, soft boiled egg served with brioche

The citrus cured salmon was a much lighter dish compared to the ultimate toastie. The presentation was lovely with very clean and fresh colours from the green salad, cured salmon and that amazing runny egg yolk. The citrus and dill cream gave the dish a hint of tangyness that was quite refreshing and was perfect on that warm day.The dish is a mix of classic flavour combinations with a twist, giving eaters an experience of different layers of flavour and texture. Overall, very happy.

Little Lost Bread

And of course, we did end our meal with dessert, which was the Little Lost Bread, a brioche french toast with banana, nutella, jam, topped with a scoop of peanut butter ice cream. I loved the peanut butter ice cream, however I'm not a great fan of peanut butter and jelly together so it wasn't my favourite french toast. But it was still enjoyable and finishing this off after our large breakfast has left us in a deep food coma.

Ramen Ikkyu, Chinatown

Another Friday, another one of our food adventures~

So we started our day intending to lunch at the Devon café, but as the weather got cooler and windier we thought "it's so cold! why don't we have some hot, soupy ramen instead", thus we ended up sitting in the food court of Sussex centre with our steamy bowl of ramen. (But don't worry! On the next weekend when it was nice and sunny we headed down to Devon for a BIG Sunday breakfast, post coming soon!)

What is it about this humble ramen store in the middle of a typical Chinatown food court that caught our attention?

Well, since I haven't been around for a while I didn't know about its existence until elleeee suggested going there, apparently it was some really good ramen shop owned by a chef who once owned a fancy restaurant. After a bit of research (aka google) I found that chef Haru Inukai was owner of fine dining French-Japanese fusion restaurant Blancharu, until he sold his business and decided to settle for a little store in the food court.

Now for the food! A quite wide range selection of ramen (for a ramen store) as well a side menu with rice,  typical ramen toppings such as egg, bamboo shoots etc. Price wise(around $10-$15), I can say it is standard ramen price in Sydney and quite affordable (though there is one or two items on the menu that is above $20). Also, the shop offers free kaedama! (free refill of noodles when you have soup leftover) so for those that feel like maybe one serving of ramen is just not enough, remember to keep your receipts as you need to bring that to the counter for the noodles.

  

Salmon Ramen ($14)

Jamie's Italian, Sydney CBD

So it's our 3rd time dining here at Jamie's, and I guess that in itself says something. (For our 2nd experience, click here). The food has been consistently good, and the prices are reasonable if you go here for a special occasion (otherwise, I don't really think the price and wait is thaaat worth it). On this occasion, which was around noon, we waited about 30 minutes, after which we were taken to a table upstairs. Now, after being here 3 times and being seated at 3 different locations (upstairs, downstairs near the bar area and walkway, and downstairs towards the back near the kitchen), I'd say upstairs is the worst location - dark, noisy and quite cramped. I hate having to shout at the people on my table in order to be heard, and it was also more difficult to get a waiters' attention whilst upstairs. Service-wise, some waiters were more friendly and helpful than others, so it wasn't all good or all bad, but I guess it could be improved.

PROSCIUTTO, PEAR & PECORINO ($19.50)

Home Thai, Haymarket

We have an interesting situation here where this eatery is a cafe-slash-Thai-restaurant. I mean, of course a lot of cafes also have a lunch menu, but that normally consists of standard cafe fare, like sandwiches, pasta, salads etc. Meanwhile, this cafe/restaurant hybrid gives out full restaurant menus for lunch and dinner, with very similar offerings to their sister restaurant, Home Thai located on Sussex St (although with a slightly smaller selection available - hardly noticeable though, because the menu is still quite extensive).

We dined here for lunch, and were seated upstairs at a table right next to the kitchen area. The delicious smells coming from the kitchen were very, very tantalising, and luckily, the food itself didn't disappoint either.

Pad thai with pork ($10.90)

Japan: Lai Shiang Song Shu-ka

Greetings from Japan~!

It has already been six months since I've been in Japan and it's about time I made my first food post, never too late to start! And I hope I will come across more food adventures while I'm here. Even though I am in Japan my first post will be on Chinese food :P since I recently made a trip to the famous Yokohama Chinatown.

Chat Thai, Westfield Sydney

We love Thai food so here’s another one of our Thai spottings!


This little Thai restaurant has rapidly spread itself across Sydney with restaurants in Haymarket, Westfield Sydney, The Galeries Sydney, Manly and Randwick. You’d be amazed at the long lines outside the restaurants during lunch hour every day. There is very limited seating so if you’re eager to try it out, be sure to get there early!
Luckily, the queue wasn’t so long when we got there so we only had to wait for about 5 minutes.

Encasa Deli, Sydney CBD

So firstly, Encasa Deli is literally a deli (or delicatessen) .... I know, this is something that should seem obvious to most people, but for some reason, I thought "Deli" was a name (not actually thinking deli referred to the noun "deli" which are those stores and also section of the supermarket which sells processed meat, pickled vegetables, cheese etc.).

I had never dined in a deli before, so this was a novel but pleasant experience for me. Basically they had their front counter section to one side, with a large fridge displaying their cold deli items and sausages dangling down from above. Towards the back of the store, were shelves lined with long-life items such as cans of vegetables, jars of pickles, sauces etc.

The front counter, where you can order your food and purchase the deli items

Fish Market Cafe, Pyrmont

Our first food adventure of 2013 involved a trip to the renowned Sydney Fish Market! We hopped onto a tram at Central Station and were met with a crowd of people at our destination - but it was the good kind of crowd, one which made the market feel lively and bursting with energy. We chose to eat at the Fish Market Cafe, drawn in by the delicious and extensive display of cooked seafood.

The impressive array of ready-to-eat seafood at the Fish Market Cafe.

2013 - Food blog comeback!

Hello everyone!

I know this food blog has been a litttttttle inactive over the past year, but I assure you, we Hobos haven't died of hunger just yet! 

We have continued to have food adventures in 2012, but unfortunately haven't really had the time to blog about them. However, we did continue to take lovely photos of what we ate, so we will proceed to post those pictures up and write short posts based on what we remember of the food and our dining experience. 

Also, one of our fellow Hobos, Coral-Ma, has gone on a student exchange trip to Tokyo, Japan! Hopefully she will be posting about her international eating adventures on this blog as well :)

New food posts from 2013 will be posted too, so be sure to check back here regularly!

Happy eating!

Ippudo, Westfield Sydney

Ippudo is a famous Japanese ramen franchise, and its first store in Australia is proving very popular among the Sydneysiders. We dined here 3 weeks after its grand opening, and clearly the hype was still there, because there was a queue when we decided to dine there for lunch. There were about 10-15 people in line before us, but the wait wasn't too bad. The staff was courteous, and we were given menus to browse through and decide what we wanted to order. Then after about 15-20 minutes, we were brought into our table. (Note: we were a group of 5, so it took a bit longer for us to get a table, compared to individuals or people in groups of 2 or 3, who could more easily be seated at the communal table or smaller tables).

Say cheez!! :D

The lighting of the place was rather dim, with polished wooden furniture and a cool, wavy ceiling, creating an intimate and somewhat "fancy" dining environment. But I guess this is to be expected, since it's located in Westfield Sydney, a shopping centre that pretty much screams "classy".

Ippudo pork buns ($4 each)