sydney Archives - The Wifey's Corner

May 9, 2019May 9, 2019

Ho Jiak Sydney, Haymarket

After taking a very long break from posting on my blog, I am back! And in my first post this year is a review on a Malaysian restaurant: Ho Jiak Sydney. We have heard many good raves about this place but somehow we were never looked into it. And finally a couple weekend ago, we accidentally passed by this place and decided to give it a go.

The restaurant:

It’s location in Haymarket is just opposite of Paddy’s Market on the Hay St side towards the Sydney Entertainment Quarter end. Unfortunately, it does not stand out much that we did not even spot it right away. What gave it away was the pictures of menu on the side of its door and only then we looked up to see the name sign.

Ho Jiak literally means good eat or delicious in Hokkien dialect. Looking at the menu, you could tell this is modern twist on Malaysian Nonya cuisine and some hawker style food as well. They all look really good actually but unfortunately with just the two of us dining, we didn’t get to try many things. Never mind, we could always come back again later.

As we entered through the ground floor entrance, a lady asked whether we had reservation which we did not. She then told us to go to second floor, which you would need to exit then turn left to find the stairway to second floor seating. Upon entering the dining area, I like this retro seating area right away, it’s spacious, bright and gives out cozy atmosphere.

Ho Jiak Sydney interior — Love this retro wallpaper

Secondly, have to applaud the service which was prompt and friendly. The waiter handed out the menu and cold water then come back again few minutes later to take our order. Also, appreciated the warning on the food being spicy by default and whether we wanted to have them no spicy instead. Lastly, our order also turned up fairly quickly after ordering – sign of an efficient kitchen.

And here are what we ordered:

Ho Jiak Sydney - Char Koay Teow — Char Koay Teow (Normal) $17

I love rice noodle, be it fried or soup, therefore I knew immediately what to order as soon as I saw the menu. The duck egg variation tempted me, but we thought to try with the most basic version and see how is it. That’s how we ended up with the Normal versions on both dishes. The Char Koay Teow was good – it’s greasy (as what char koay teow should be) with wok flavor, got the spicy kick, generous with slices of fish cakes and chinese sausages. We both think this is the winner!

Ho Jiak Sydney - Nasi Goreng — Nasi Goreng (Normal) $17

On the other hand, hubby loves fried rice and he always likes to try fried rice from different places. So, of course he would do the same and ordered the Nasi Goreng here. Honestly, the Nasi Goreng was not bad at all. Compared to the char koay teow, this dish tasted slightly lack of wok flavor. Also, we think it will taste much better if the spiciness was left as default than toned down. Fortunately, they provided sambal on side which definitely helps. If we are to order fried rice again, we’d probably opt for Jumbo which has fried chicken and satay as well 🙂

To summarize, the flavor are awesome and the menu is extensive. Moreover, there are many other dishes on the menu we want to try at Ho Jiak. And for that reason, we would absolutely come back again!

92 Hay Street
Haymarket, NSW, 2000
T: (02) 8040 0252
E: hello@hojiak.com.au
Open: Mon to Sat 11am – 12midnight
Sun 11am – 10pm

Shop 33 Strathfield Plaza
11 The Boulevarde
Strathfield, NSW, 2135
T: (02) 9008 8020
E: hello@hojiak.com.au
Open: Sun to Wed 10am – 9pm
Thur to Sat 10am – 9:30pm

August 29, 2018August 29, 2018

La Floraison, Sydney CBD

The main reason we came to La Floraison was for their creative custom printing on drinks. It is located in Sydney CDB, very close to Townhall Station which is great location and easily reached. Honestly, I never heard of this place before I saw pictures of those cute drinks which then prompted me to look for their address and made the trip eventually.

So we came here on a Saturday morning only to find that they open from 12 noon. I thought this is a little odd considering this is cafe and people do get the drinks in the morning or at the very least during brunch hours. So we had to kill some time walking around Daiso (luckily just few doors away) for the open time. In that time, we noticed there was also another small family did what we did – came here way too early.

As they opened and we lined up at the cashier for order, I realised this place really must be alive mainly for their drinks. There were just a few cakes available on display, literally mean just a few. The lady in front of me was asking if they had such cake from the menu and was told they had run out. Anyway, I ended up getting a piece of cake to share and a hot drink for each of us. Upon payment, they will ask what design you would like to have on top of your drink. You can choose from numerous pictures available on the tablet and even send your picture to them as well.

Here are what we ordered:

The drinks were not bad taste wise, but the cake was dry and felt like it’s been sitting there for too long. We love how the drinks are not overly sweet and can absolutely taste the taro or matcha flavours. Also their price point is fairly expensive – but I guess you pay for the experience. After all, we enjoyed slurping the printed Gudetama and Sinchan over our hot drinks 🙂 Would I be coming back? Perhaps no, mainly because we have already experienced it and apart from the print, everything else was not outstanding.

Click here for our experience at Gudetama Cafe in Osaka, Japan….

La Floraison

Shop 21 Level 9,501 George Street, CBD, Sydney

Phone: 0411 219 338

Zomato page

July 17, 2018July 16, 2018

Rengaya Yakiniku, North Sydney

Since we tried and happy with Suminoya, I had been wanting to go to its sister restaurant, Rengaya. Located in North Sydney and has the highest price charge ($86 per adult) in the group, naturally we expected superb dining here. It certainly did not disappoint 🙂 Just make sure to have a reservation before coming here, especially during busy dinner times and weekends or public holidays.

We booked for early dinner and when arrived, there were only few other tables occupied. The interior and service felt more upper class compared to the other sister restaurants. It had been a while since we went to Suminoya, so perhaps it has changed as well. The ordering system at Rengaya is by putting your order yourselves via the tablet they handed to each table. Whereas, at Suminoya while we were there, we had to call out to the waiter for order.

The other good thing at Rengaya was the unlimited order for ox tongue (the best!!!). We ordered so many portions of these super thin slices of ox tongue 🙂 Hubby was a little disappointed that they do not offer unagi rice bowl here, but the other options here kept him happy. The meat quality were excellent – I love how the Japanese style BBQ usually have their meat in thinly slices and their marinate is usually very subtle.

Here are what we had. By the way, these were all for four people 🙂

The verdict

I think the place is good for special occasion for that kind of steeper price compared to its sister restaurants and its up class setting. But then again you do get the unlimited order of ox tongue which is such a delight. There are a few options I love at Suminoya which are not available here, such as unagi rice bowl and gyoza. I also heard that it is actually better to dine here a la carte, since some of the nicer meat cuts are not available on buffet options. So, perhaps if we do come back here again in the future, I’d try the a la carte dining.

Rengaya

73 Miller St., North Sydney, NSW 2060

Tel: 02 9929 6169

Website

January 30, 2018

Sakae Yakiniku House, Eastwood

We had heard about Sakae Yakiniku House a while ago but never had the chance to try it out ourselves. And finally the chance came up a few weeks ago during the holidays. I think it is more known for its buffet package; but since we came without a reservation ahead, we could only get the a la carte dining and were only limited to 90 minutes. By the way, we went to one in Eastwood and they apparently have another outlet in Marrickville as well.

Sakae is Japanese style restaurant which I thought similar to Suminoya in the city. Their buffet menu is also somewhat similar to Suminoya’s. But since we didn’t do the buffet package, I wouldn’t know how the meat quality here in comparison to the others.

The Food

Without further ado, here are what we ordered for dinner. Mind you, these were all for 6 people hence a lot more food than usual 🙂

They provided four types of side dishes. From top left pictures: kimchi, edamame ($5.80), spicy seaweed cucumber salad, tangy lettuce salad, and pickled tofu skin. They all tasted delicious and flavoursome.

These are what we ordered, pictures from top left: tuna almond salad ($8.80), vegetarian spring roll ($7.80), eel $16.80), and deep-fried soft shell crab ($15.80).

sakae3 — Karei Karaage – deep-fried flounder ($18.80)

sakae4 — Wagyu Beef Platter ($80 for 2 people)

We felt some of the dishes were hits while some were misses. The servings were generous, for example the eel were in thick slices and hubby said they were delicious. There are some cuts on the meat platter that were quite tough and chewy – but others were really tender and juicy. The deep fried flounder was nice and crispy yet succulent meat. Overall, the meal was ok for the price – probably not that good that made us look forward to go back to.

Sakae Yakiniku House

1/6 Hillview Road, Eastwood 2122

Phone: (02) 9874 2277

www.sakae.com.au

October 18, 2017October 17, 2017

Jeans Chilli Chicken, Eastwood

Another late post on Korean food, again! We went to Jeans Chilli Chicken about three months ago, right in the middle of winter. I took pictures of our meal and thought to do a post. Then we go busy with moving, etc and I had totally forgotten about it. Until I browsed through pictures on my phone and reminded of the super late post. Anyway, here go our review on Jeans Chilli Chicken.

Located within Eastwood Hotel on the corner of Rowe St and Railway Parade, you may miss this place. Especially it surrounded by many Korean restaurants nearby! As the name suggests, it is famous for its chilli chicken with generous melted cheese on top. And they really live to the its name, those chicken are hot! They are served piping hot on hot plate and also spicy hot. On first bite, they may not feel that spicy; then as you eat more, your tongue will start to feel that burn.

The other highlight of Jeans Chilli Chicken is their sesame seaweed rice with bits of tiny chicken pieces. This comes in a package with the chilli chicken, but you can always order more. It comes with plastic gloves, where you use to mix the rice well and make bite size rice balls. When mixed together with the sesame and seaweed seasoning, it is really delicious. I guess there might be mix of glutinous rice in it as they are fairly sticky in texture compared to the ordinary rice you would have in other Korean restaurants.

The package also comes with three small side dishes: kimchi, pasta salad, and pickled radish. We have had much better Korean side dishes else where, but they somewhat relief the burning tongue from that chilli. The pickled radish is quite nice, actually – but sometimes they are lack of taste than other times.

Overall we really enjoy the chilli chicken and the tasty rice. And even that spicy burning feeling on our tongue, we still keep going back (and it has been for few years now). The chicken pieces are tender and well marinated. There is a distinct smoky taste/smell to the chilli chicken that we cannot replicate at home. Hubby has tried cooking chilli chicken at home, but we just cannot get that right. Once we do, we’ll definitely share it with you Readers so stay tune 🙂

Jeans Chilli Chicken

115 Rowe St, Eastwood NSW 2122

Phone: (02) 9874 1100

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