VN Street Foods, Marrickville.

Marrickville is like a little Saigon town to me and Illawarra road is like Vietnam-ville in Sydney, with restaurant side by side.  Some are slammed with folks hangry for pho', while others are not so much.  We rolled up with zero plan, so we're going with the crowd - if it's packed, it must be good, right?  So, we landed to this VN Street Foods Restaurant.  Everytime we pass around this area, this place is hardly ever empty.  The one in the corner is where you place your order, not so many tables in there but then right next door, you can find more seats and they are basically the same store.   

 

Homemade spring rolls $8

Deep fried pork sausage $8

This pork sausage was very very delicious.  Minced pork was well seasoned and then deep fried to the stage where the outer part was golden and crisp while inside still juicy and bouncy.

Roast pork from the special menu

Bun Cha - Grilled lemongrass pork with rice vermicelli and salad $14.50 

Their bun cha was absolutely delightful.  I can easily smell charredness of the meat and the broth was aromatic and flavoursome.  Eating them with some rice vermicelli and salad, it makes the dish light, refreshing as well giving my mouth a happy dance.    

Combination fried rice $15.50

Bento box $16 - lemongrass beef, stir fried kangkong with garlic, eggplant pickle and sweet & sour soup with beef

If you have too many choices in your head, want this want that and can't decide, like me.  I go with the bento box where you can design your own perfect meal.  You can choose one item each from five different sections all together, from rice, main dish, veggie, salad and soup.  They are very generous with the portion.  Taste wise, of course it cannot beat that bun cha.  But still this dish was so filling and healthy and definitely cheap.

VN Street Foods

294/296 Illawarra Road, Marrickville

PH: 02 9559 4149

Open: Everyday from 11am - 9pm

Kobe Wagyu Yakiniku, Sydney

It has been a while since me and my husband last one-on-one outing, sans children.  So, we made the most of our 90 glorious minutes, stuffing our faces at a buffet BBQ.  There is a premium BBQ buffet in town.  This place is called Kobe Wagyu Yakiniku.  If you pay by cash, you only pay $94 that includes unlimited order of BBQ menus and unlimited drinks as well.  That is more than 100 items you can choose from the menu, range from high quality cuts of meat, fresh sashimi and nigiri, bite snacks, condiments to sweets.  The entrance of the store is from Goulburn Street, through the glass door and on the second floor.  

They give us 90 minutes seating time with 80 minutes window to place orders.  The order all is done from a screen on each table and they will serve your order very quick.  We ordered almost everything on the menu to know which one better and for second and third round, we picked the best meats only.  

By the end of our 90 minutes, honestly it was hard for me to stand up, I was soooooo full, I was feeling like the food was up to my throat.  But they were delicious and definitely worth the money we spent.

 

Assorted sashimi

Truffle chawanmushi

Fried items

Potato salad

Most of the cuts, they can come as plain meat or lightly salted or Japanese soy marinated or last but not least with spicy chilli sauce on top.

Ice creams

Mango mochi

Still cannot get enough of Japanese food, we stopped by at one of Japanese grocery stores not so far from the BBQ restaurant.  You can find a wide range of Japanese products and snacks in this tiny little store. 

Kobe Wagyu Yakiniku

Level 1, 605-609 George Street, Sydney

Ph: 0406 662 268

Conveni8 Japanese Asian Grocery

303 Pitt Street, Sydney

Miss Sina, Marrickville

A little while back, this pistachio croissant video-hype kept popping up on my Ig feed.  Of course, I have to try it.  We went to this cafe called Miss Sina in Marrickville.  The tables were nearly all occupied and there were queues at the register as well.  Overwhelmed in array of choices, we surrendered with three orders.  The famed pistachio croissant, s'mores donut and cinnamon scroll.  This place is not an ordinary cafe, they are actually a vegan-friendly cafe.  You won't believe that their sweet and drinks are plant based.    

Pistachio Kunefe croissant $14 - with kunefe pastry and pistachio spread

I was thoroughly disappointed with this highly anticipated item.  While the flavour was satisfactory, the texture was overly dry, lacking the rich and creamy filling I've seen showcased in videos.  

 

S'mores donut $8.50

On the flip side, the s'mores donut was remarkably fluffy and soft, featuring an indulgent oozy creamy center.  It was delightful.

Cinnamon scroll $8.50

Then another impressive item in the house, cinnamon scroll, impressing with its softness and topped with a generous slab of icing, striking the perfect balance of sweetness.  It was truly wonderful.

Pandan iced coffee

A mishap occurred with my drink order.  Despite waiting until we were nearly finished with our desserts, it appeared that others who arrived after me had already got their drinks.  Initially, we asked the serving lady, very ignorance and just redirect us to approach the lady behind the register who obviously having a long queue in front of her.  This unhelpful response heightened my frustration because I have to jump into the queue again just to ask "how come I haven't got my drink?".  Fortunately, once I got to the counter staff, she immediately offered a sincere apology, quickly served our drinks and accompanied by two complimentary donuts. Turning an epic fail into a sweet win!

Miss Sina

132 Illawarra Road,

Marrickville 

Open: Everyday from 8am - 4pm

One Fine Day in Hunter Valley

Perhaps not a whole day, but a decent half day trip more likely.  We only visited one farm and one restaurant this time in Hunter Valley.  It was one random Saturday and already late morning when we came up with this idea of driving somewhere interstate.  We can dash out for a day trip within a three-hour radius, though things might get a little rushed to make it back before nightfall.

Lemon pepper squid with aioli and lemon $23

That squid was ridiculously tender and the zing from lemon aioli made the whole dish sing.

500g Beef ribeye cutlet $65

When you order main dishes, they come with your choice of two sides and one sauce.  We got creamy mash and smoked corn ribs, firecracker ranch sauce and chimichurri sauce to come with rib eye cutlet.  It was cooked to perfection.  No negative comment on this dish.

300g Chicken schnitzel $28

A huge piece of chicken schnitzel and we ordered mozzarella and gruyere mac and cheese as well sweet potato fries and topped with creamy mushroom sauce.  The portion was enormous, it can feed the whole town.  

Dark grape cider $10

After lunch, we headed to nearby Alpaca farm to spend the rest of our afternoon.  This farm is called Starline Alpaca, full on Alpaca here.  Entry fee is $18 for an adult and $12 for kid, however if you come as a family of 4 which is 2 adults and 2 kids, you can get a family pass for $55 that includes a bag of alpaca food too.  Their alpacas are tame but mind of their spit sometimes.  My kids had the most joyful time here.  They can feed and pat those calm alpacas as much as they wanted with hardly anyone around.  Other farm animals like pig, goat, pony and chicken can be found here too. 

Small playground in Starline alpaca

Blaxland Inn Restaurant - Steakhouse

2198 Broke Road, Pokolbin

Ph: 02 4998 7550

Open: Lunch 12pm - 3pm, Dinner 5pm - 8:30pm (weekend until 9pm)

 

Starline Alpaca

1100 Milbrodale Road, Broke

Ph: 02 6579 1081