Satang Thai Takeaway, Haymarket

Satang Thai in Haymarket is an old established Thai takeaway restaurant in Sydney and their first original store. I remembered when I was still a Uni student and every time I miss the authentic flavour of Thai dishes, this place is to go for.  Their stir fry basil and pad thai are absolutely fabulous.  Their price is pretty reasonable too yet they're very generous with serving portion. 

Krapow Kai dow Giant - Stir-fry pork basil with fried egg $17.90

For me, this is the best dish in the house.  It tastes as good as we can get from street food stalls in Bangkok.  They are very generous with the minced pork.  The flavour is just spot on, very fragrant and spicy. 

Pad kratiem giant - Stir-fry pork with garlic and pepper sauce and fried egg $17.90

This is the way I like a garlic pork dish to be served.  Dry and to the point, just like a classic garlic pork normally served in Thailand.  Basically, a genuine garlic pork dish is just meat pieces stir fried with heaps of garlic, sauce and pepper.  No need to add something like carrots, paprika or other things, just like some restaurants do to make it more colorful or looking somewhat bigger serving.

 

Sweet chilli ling fish $19.90

It was a fine piece of fried fish, nicely cooked to a golden-brown battered fish.  However, the sauce was quite a let-down.  It didn't give me any punch, just plain sweet chilli kinda sauce. 

Pad Thai with chicken $13.90

Satang Thai done this dish perfectly, they don't let me down at all.  I can smell the char aroma from the wok hay, not as much as in char kway teow though.  But it was good enough to tickle my tastebuds.  And I like the tanginess from tamarind and sweetness from their sauce too. 

Ladna pork $13.90

Their ladna dish was pretty mediocre.  Good broth but the greens were slightly undercooked. 

Satang Thai Takeaway

20 Quay Street, Haymarket

Ph: 02 9280 0956

Open: Daily from 11am - 10:30pm

Epicurean - International Buffet Restaurant at Crown Sydney

Speaking of the best buffet in Sydney, Epicurean would certainly be on top of ladder.  Their food shine because of its finest and freshest ingredients.  You would feel spoilt by choices from their great varieties of menu items and dishes.  Especially, most popular seafood items like lobster tails, spanner crabs, Sydney rock oysters and fresh sashimi.  Comparing the price and value, it is surely worth the penny we paid for. 

Advance booking is a must. Once you arrived at the restaurant, you still need to queue or wait to be seated.  One of the waiters/waitresses will lead you to your dining table and normally they will politely ask whether you've dined here previously.  Then they will offer to show you around the dining area and food sections.  Otherwise, you can choose to go to your seats right away and get down to your eating business. 

Chocolate fountain - see you later after meals

Crabs and oysters will be the thing that most people aiming for but no worries, they keep topping this giant serving bowl up with more and more fresh oysters.

Their seafood is super duper fresh, I can't stress it enough in words but trust me, those oysters, crab and also salmon sashimi are extremely fresh.  

I like to have my oyster raw with a splash of lemon only, nothing else

Shucked clean

Salad and dressing

Sashimi

Varieties of nigiris

I can totally tell that they serve top quality of fish here.  To me, the scallop nigiri is soooo good, the meat is very plump and juicy, again it's so fresh. 

The roast sections

Pizzas

In this Asian section, you can find ranges of dim sum, hot cooked dishes, spring rolls and made to order noodle soup. 

 

Fresh spring rolls

Roasted duck and BBQ pork

Indian food section

Papadums with chutneys, pickles and sauces

Make your own Peking duck wrappers

Group of cheeses

Smoked or dry-cured meats

Now, come down to their dessert, again so many bits and pieces to choose from.  They are all very pretty and colorful.  Very impressive.  There are macaroons, tarts, cakes, panna cotta, ice creams, and plenty more.  Oh yeah.. and that non-stop flowing of runny chocolate tap, it definitely goes very well for my ice cream tops.  As much as I look forward to their fresh seafood selections, their dessert is also my top list to try.  And no matter how full I am, there is always room for desserts.  I wanted to try every single piece, but maybe only 80% of them I had that night, I did my best though.  

Their macaroons and lemon/mango tart were good.  And I love their coffee ice cream with chocolate sauce on top, it was splendid.  The best way to end the great meal.

 

Bread butter pudding

Fresh fruits

Epicurean Buffet in Crown Sydney 

Level 5/1 Barangaroo Ave, Barangaroo

Ph: 02 8871 7171

Lunch: Monday - Friday 12pm - 2:30pm

            Saturday - Sunday 12:30pm - 3pm

Dinner: Monday - Thursday, Sunday 5:30pm -10pm

             Friday - Saturday 5:30pm - 11pm

Click here for price lists.

Mr Meng Chongqing Gourmet, Haymarket

 
Mala is like Asian peppercorns or Sichuan peppercorns to be exact where it will give you some numbing after-taste on your tongue.  The precise origins of mala in dishes are unclear.  However, Chongqing cuisine has a strong characteristic of Sichuan cuisine featuring mala in many of their dishes especially in hotpot menus.

Chongqing spicy noodle with stewed beef $15.80

Here in Mr Meng restaurant, you can find great ranges of noodles dishes that highlighting mala.  They also serve other menus to suit kids or other people palates who might not into spicy mala thingy.  Their noodle is cooked to al dente.  The soup is rich and piquant.  However, finishing the whole bowl of noodle on my own, there're too much mala to handle.  So, we ordered a couple of their dessert to cool down my burning tongue.

Chongqing spicy noodle with pork mince and corn $14.80

Clear noodle soup with stewed beef and tomato $15.50

To be honest, this clear noodle soup with fresh tomato were more like my cup of tea.  We ordered this for the kids.  But it tasted very light and refreshing.  Maybe I'll go with this dish next time.

Deep fried crispy pork $9.80

Deep fried brown sugar rice cake $7.80

We were contemplating between this rice cake or sesame balls at first.  But the waiter recommended this rice cake, so we went along with it.  It was really good actually, lucky we trusted him.  The rice cakes were having this nice crispy skin on the outside and still soft inside.  Dipped into melted brown sugar, they went well together and not so sweet at all.  Though, be careful of the piping hot from the inner rice cake.  

Ice jelly with brown syrup $5.50

This jelly dish didn't look appetising to me at all but to be honest I can't stop eating them.  It soothed my mouth from lingering mala taste.  I don't understand how come this simple dish can be so good, it was only a clear jelly served with brown sugar, peanuts and something like haw flakes. 

Mr Meng Chongqing Gourmet

Market City, Level 3, Hay Street, Haymarket

Open: 11:30-20:30 (Fri, Sat, and Sun close at 21:00) Tue closed

Auvers Dining, Darling Square

 

Auvers Dining.... Most of you Sydneysiders probably ever heard or dined in this cafe already.  They have been around since 2016, so quite a few years ago.  But I only had a chance to dine in this place last weekend.  I'm pretty slack, I know.  Many people recommended this place for their delicious food and beverages and instagrammable platings.

So, let's go and take a look of what we had that night and Octie Appetie, guys...  But before I start, my apologies for the pictures in this blog.  Some are quite dark and some maybe a bit blurry.  Because we were sitting outside and there wasn't enough lighting (just an excuse from my poor photography skills hahahha).  However, those dim lightings created a romantic atmosphere though.  

Egg noodle with edamame and grated parmesan $12

This simple egg noodle dish served with edamame and a handful of grated parmesan cheese.  Surprisingly, this dish was absolutely clean and delicious.  It is also made a great vegetarian dish.  Kids like this and adults absolutely love it too.

Karaage and chips $14

Nothing much to comment on this dish though.  The name and its look are purely justify itself.  It is what it is.  

Bone marrow with brioche and shio garlic butter $21

I am a big fan of bone marrow.  Whenever I see bone marrow in a restaurant menu, I will definitely order it.  Yet this place didn't disappoint me at all.  Rich in fat and buttery texture with a hint of garlic flavour, this roasted bone marrow paired perfectly with toasted brioche as well.  This dish is insanely satisfying. 

Salted egg calamari $18

Crispy calamari enveloped in the house's salted egg seasoning and lemon curd.  It was a good dish.  The calamari meat was chewy yet tender at the same time.

XO crab meat $20

Another great dish here, XO crab meat served with ikura or salmon roe and some puff balls.  That balls were like we normally get from Indian restaurant, called pani puri dish.  The XO sauce is just right, not overpowering at all.  With those crispy balls, it was surely the best way to enjoy this luxurious crab meat.

Salmon and watermelon salad $23

This smoked salmon served with fresh watermelon and other healthy goodies, like radish, cherry tomatoes, mixed greens, goat curd, lemon curd and salmon roe.  This salad came with sesame dressing.  So many things on one plate but all flavours complement each other.  The crispy wonton gave an extra crispiness in the sense of texture.

Burn miso duck $42

Burn miso duck came with butternut puree, red wine jus and lentil crust served with a generous block of potato gratin cooked with duck fat.  The flavour combination was spot on.  Especially, that potato gratin, it was amazing and not soggy at all.  I haven't had any potato gratin this good until tonight.   However, the duck itself was quite a let down.  The meat was too chewy to my liking. 

XO molluscs spaghetti $38

Beautiful colored dish, nicely presented.  This squid ink al dente spaghetti served with different type of seafood.  It got some pipis, clams and tobiko or flying fish roe.  With crunchy bits on the top that made from typhoon shelter garlic crumb.  Typhoon shelter is actually a style of cooking that featuring tossing oil with garlic and panko breadcrumb until they all become golden and crispy.  This menu was brilliantly delicious.

Sousvide sirloin steak $38

The medium rare sirloin steak served with charcoal celeriac puree and mustard jus.

Auvers pancake $26

Their matcha pancakes were soft and fluffy covered with matcha glaze, not too sweet which is great and it also came with red bean paste and raspberry sorbet.  I'm not so sure whether raspberry flavour is the right partner to this pancake dish, however its sweetness counteract the bitterness from matcha pancake itself. 

Pandan brulee $12

We finished our dinner on a high note and thanks to this pandan brulee dish.  I can strongly taste a Southeast Asian flavour in this dessert.  Pandan custard on the bottom was smooth and creamy.  The sugar crust on top, they used palm sugar instead of white sugar.  My tongue was doing a happy dance from this delight.  By the way, we went for a second brulee.  One was obviously not enough. 

 

Hot chocolate

The Queen in red $9

It is a mocktail drink that made of strawberry, pomegranate, passionfruit, pineapple, lemon Juice and tonic water.

Yuzu x Sakura $23

Yulli's brew Amanda mandarin IPA NSW $14

#They are opening up another dining in Rhodes Waterside location next Thursday, 21 September 2023. If you were in the area, why not give them a shot.

Auvers Dining, Darling Square

Shop No.04, 12 Nicolle Walk, Haymarket

Ph: 02 9188 2392

They open for brunch daily from 8am-3pm (on weekend, opens at 9am)

For dinner, Sunday - Wednesday from 5pm-8pm, Thu until 8:30pm

On Friday and Saturday dinner, they close later at night.