Jack K-Snacks!... Sunkist Cherryade

Alright, it's by Sunkist so it's not thaaat exotic but it has Korean writing on it and you won't see it here at coles or woolies so it qualifies for a K-Snack!

I picked this up from Conveni-8 for $1.20. It's....ok. The cherry flavour is not bad - a tad medicinal, which seems to be a real love-hate sort of thing when it comes to these kinds of drinks (think sarsaparilla, cherry cola etc). It's a little too sweet for me and a little on the artificial-tasting side. But that's cause I prefer my cherry juice straight up!

Not exactly a winner, not exactly a loser. Oh, and for the curious, what's the Korean name on the can? It literally spells out the sound of the word "Cherryade", go figure!

Hmm, maybe it needed more kiss from the sun to taste better...

What: Sunkist Cherryade
Where: At selected Korean and other asian shops. I got this one from Conveni-8 (303 Pitt St, Sydney)
How much: $1.20 is what I paid

K-Week continues... NARU Korean Restaurant

So far during this K-Week, the posts have been fairly standard Korean things. Korean BBQ, instant noodles - nothing too new there. But there are many, many other Korean foods out there and I will, over time, try to blog about many more. So I thought it fitting to introduce something very Korean this week.

Haejangguk (해장국)  is a Korean "hangover stew". Read more about it on wiki. I first had this dish in Strathfield last year and it is a really hearty dish, perfect for the oncoming winter. It's very Korean too, you won't find it at any old restaurant - here in Sydney I've only seen it at a couple of eateries and it's always the specialty dish.

And now there's a new restaurant in the city that specialises in Haejangguk. Yay! It's called NARU and I have been waiting and waiting for this place to finally open as I had walked past it many times while they were still renovating. Was it worth the wait? Most definitely.

Finally it's open! Head downstairs and it's a little piece of Korea.

It's in an inconspicuous spot amongst the other Koreatown restaurants - you need to walk down the stairs to get to the entrance. But inside is a bright space full of Korean's eating Haejangguk. The menu is a laminated A3 sheet with a few noodle dishes but the rest consists mostly of meat and seafood. The Haejangguk comes with either Short Beef Rib or Spicy Pork Rib. We got the Spicy Pork Rib ($13). It's a big serving and comes out in a hot pot - there's big chunks of pork rib, cooked chinese cabbage, eschallots, shredded fresh mint and cheoncho powder (powder from fruit skins of a citrus tree). It's all nestled into a hot, chilli soup. The flavours combine together and have a great kick. And the pork is so soft, you can't help but try to pick every last bit off the bones. They even give you a small tin 'bucket' lined with a plastic bag for discarding the bones.

Haejangguk - the tastiest hangover cure I've ever seen and yummy banchan on the side.

Check out them bones!

I thought we should order something a little different to the Haejangguk to try, so opted for Grilled Fish and Soybean Paste Stew ($12). It's very simple, the Soybean Paste Stew has only a little spice to it and is filled with cubes of tofu and cucumber. The fish looks rather plain but don't be fooled - it's so tasty and perfectly fried, not a dry bite to be found.

She looks a little plain, but mmm that is one tasty piece of fish!

Last but not least are the banchan side dishes that come complimentary (doesn't everybody just love complimentary banchan at Korean restaurants). These are definitely worth mentioning because NARU actually sells banchan, there's a fridge section near the entrance. The best one we tried tonight was the Kkakdugi (깍두기) which is kimchi made with daikon. It's tart, crunchy, chilli and cold all at the same time, just looking at the photo again I could eat some right now! But funny enough I didn't spot it in the banchan fridge for sale. There was, amongst other things, regular kimchi and white kimchi (kimchi without chilli, apparently this was the original form of kimchi before chilli was introduced to Korea).

So next time you're in the mood for Korean, consider trying NARU for something new. The only question that remains is - does Haejangguk really cure hangovers? I'm not too sure as I've only had it when I've been sober. If anyone has put it to the test, please let me know the results!

What: NARU Korean Restaurant
Where: 375 Pitt St, Sydney. The times on the opening banner said Mon-Sat 11am-Midnight, Sun 3pm-10pm but on the glass window it says Mon-Sat from 8am, Sun 11am-9pm. Take your guess I suppose!
How much: Dishes range from $10 to $45. Our meal cost only $25 for 2 and we were more than satisfied!

Jack K-Snacks!... 쵸코 플륫 (Choco Flute)

One thing I've noticed is that Korean snackage is fairly easy on the wallet. The weird thing though is that quite a few of the Korean grocery shops in the city don't have prices on the shelves - this annoys me somewhat as I like to know how much something costs when considering my purchases. So I don't really know exactly how much this Lotte Choco Flute was, but it's roughly in the $1/$2 range.

Choco Flute is a packet of 3 chunky 'flutes'. My limited korean can figure out what 3 of the 4 layers (or 'quartet' as the pack seems to say, nice pun from Lotte) are - caramel, peanut and chocolate. The last one I don't know the korean for but obviously it has to be the wafer. It's pretty nice, I'm not really a caramel lover cause I don't like food that sticks to my teeth but I managed to scoff all 3 sticks in no time at all. Kinda like a lighter, more musical version of a Picnic bar!

Choco Flute - 4 'quartets' of caramel, wafer, peanut and chocolate.

Not as ugly as a picnic bar but pretty tasty!

What: 쵸코 플륫 (Choco Flute) from Lotte
Where: You'll find it in selected Korean grocery shops
How much: Somewhere around the $1-2 mark.

Jack K-Snacks!... 맛있는 라면 (Delicious Ramen)

Korean snacks feature highly in my snack-diet. But today's K-Snack is one of those foods that can be a snack or a meal. That's right, I'm talking about the ubiquitous instant noodle!

But 맛있는 라면 is not your average instant noodle. It's name translates as "delicious ramen" and it really is delicious in my opinion. It's very much like the majority of other Korean instant noodles with a bright red super spicy soup - yum! It's got some dehydrated vegetables including mushrooms, carrot and even broccoli - yum again! So why do I like this one better? It's got no MSG. Say what? Instant noodles without MSG? Yes, such a thing does exist! So it's probably about as healthy as instant noodles can get and it really does taste good. You can get the cup noodle size for a snack, bowl noodle size for a small meal or you can buy the packet one and cook up a proper meal. I've had all three and of course the packet one is the best but the other two are also good for emergency eating or late night snacks. Delicious!

No MSG, dehydrated vegetables - healthy instant noodles?

What: 맛있는 라면 (Delicious Ramen)
Where: You can get it at most Korean grocery stores
How much: The cup version costs about $1.00, bowl version is around the $2 mark and the packet noodles comes in a pack of 4 for $4.00

Welcome to K-Week! First up - Kozy!

Happy Easter to everybody! Hope you are all enjoying a well-deserved break. For me, this means catching up on sleep (I have a HUGE sleep debt) and just as importantly, finding time to work on the preciousssss. Not that 'ring' precious, but 'this' precious - our blog!

So welcome to K-Week! This week of posts from me is all about a cuisine which I love loads and eat loads of - Korean food! To some it may seem there's not much variety, the stereotype of Korean food is Kimchi, Korean BBQ, Bibimbap and Bulgogi. I do love all those things, but there is so much more, and the variety available in Sydney these days is getting better and better. Let's get to it!

First up, what is this dark alleyway??? Where exactly am I taking you?

Err.. where are you taking me?

Don't be scared! I'm not going to threaten you with a knife and demand your money! No, no, nothing like that. In fact, this is my absolutely favourite Korean BBQ restaurant in the city. Yes, there are many good k-bbq's around, but there are many reasons why I like this one...

One night many months ago I was on my way to O Bal Tan (another very good Korean BBQ place in a city laneway). But on my way I came across this laneway, and my tummy told me I should go and have a look-see at what was down there. Lo and behold I found Kozy, a Korean barbecue restaurant. I peered through the doorway, took a squiz at the menu and decided this was our new destination instead. It was a fantastic meal and ever since that night I have returned many times. It is the only k-bbq restaurant I have eaten at ever since.

The most important thing at k-bbq? The meat! Kozy's got all the must-haves and it's very, very good quality. I always order Wagyu Flapmeat ($24) and it is worth every dollar - so meltingly-tender and flavoursome. Even if you accidentally over-cook some it's still soft (seriously, it is! I know cause I've done so). I also really like their Pork Belly ($17). There's a variation, Wine Pork Belly ($18). Both are good, but taste wise I have to admit I can't really taste much difference with the wine. The wined-pig's crispiness was a little better but maybe we just happened to do a better job of cooking that particular night, I'm not too sure. Another favourite is Beef Tongue ($18), not everyone likes tongue (yes that sounds wrong) but I do like it's lean, slightly chewy texture. It all cooks exceptionally well because Kozy uses real charcoal. And here they change the metal grill-plate for you regularly - you don't have to ask them and you don't have to pay. I couldn't ask for more. Well I could actually - one of the best things about k-bbq is that it's not an overly meat-heavy affair when eaten properly. You get fresh lettuce leaves - place a piece of meat in the middle and some dipping sauce. The standard offerings are sesame oil with salt and pepper, and korean style miso based sauce. I love both and they complement the meat really well. Wrap it all up and it's a great balance of flavours. We get as much lettuce as we like here at Kozy, and there's also fresh garlic and green chilli too.

The 'banchan' side dishes are a good standard, if you ask nicely I'm sure they'll refill them for you. On one occasion that I ate at Kozy, it was my birthday celebration with all my girlfriends from school and we went through a lot of banchan, our waiter was very kind and kept refilling it. Maybe it's cause we went through it so quickly and with such gusto, like a banchan-hungry mob.

Meat is always on the menu at a k-bbq.

Banchan side dishes and dipping sauces on the left, big thumbs up for charcoal on the right.

Pork belly, wagyu flapmeat, wrapped up in lettuce. OMG I am in heaven everytime I eat this. Seriously!!!

They also have those hot pot soups, the prices range from $12 to $15. All the ones I have tasted so far have been good - Gom Tang (thick beef-bone soup with sliced beef and vermicelli in hot pot), Hae Mul Silky Tofu Stew (spicy silky tofu stew served with mixed seafood and vegetables in hot pot), Kimchi Cheegae (kimchi stew with tofu, vegetables, and pork served in hot pot), Duen Jang Cheegae (Korean style miso stew with beef and assorted vegetables served in hot pot).

So far so good - good food, good service. But there's one last, fantastic surprise.... wait for it.... cheap Soju!!! That's Korean distilled beverage for the unfamiliar - in other words - alcohol. It's super cheap because for every $30 you spend you can have one bottle of Soju for $1! Yeap.. one dollar!! I think it's a minimum spend of $10 per person or something like that, I can't quite remember. But in any case, the cheap Soju is awesome value. My girlfriends loved this bargain as much as I do. Does that make us a banchan-hungry mob of Soju guzzlers?

Don't get me wrong soups are good... but $1 Soju is even better!

Do you still need another reason to check out Kozy? I would say no. But perhaps I haven't convinced everyone. During the day, there's no bbq to cook at your table. Instead there's a lunch special for only $7.99. You can choose from numerous options - a bowl of noodle soup or maybe rice with a dish of meat. You get some banchan side dishes too. All for $7.99! I've had the afore-mentioned Hae Mul Silky Tofu Stew with rice, So Bugolgi Set (Korean sizzling bbq beef marinated in soya sauce served with rice) and the Jan Chi Guksu (Korean style noodles with kimchi and vegetables in seasoned soup). The stew is hearty and makes for good comfort food, the bulgogi beef is soft and flavoursome which goes well with rice, and the noodle soup is light with a little kick of kimchi. All are generous serves that come with banchan side dishes and make for a very filling lunch. Awesome value!

Lunch special Hae Mul Silky Tofu Stew with rice and banchan. Only $7.99! And it don't look so dodgy in daylight.

Jan Chi Guksu in the foreground, So Bulgogi Set at the back - both $7.99, I smell a tasty bargain...

In summary:
I love small eateries in little laneways.
I love authentic Korean bbq.
I love a $1 Soju bargain.
I love a $7.99 lunch special that is filling and tastes good.
So it's easy to see why I love Kozy so much, it really is one of my favourite places to eat in Sydney!

What: Kozy Korean Barbecue
Where: 7 Wilmot St, Sydney (02) 9267 3533
How much: Lunch special $7.99 (regular lunch menu also available), BBQ meats in the $20 range, many more items available on the menu. Aaaaaand don't forget the $1 Soju!

Jack Snacks!... Conveni 8

I really love places like Coveni 8. I discovered it on one of my lunchtime wanders some years ago, hidden in the woolworths building/centre in the city. It is, as it's name suggests, a Japanese convenience store. Hidden in a quiet corner next to the Pitt St entrance to Woolworths, it's a small space but with loads of things crammed in. Or in my eyes, a little corner of heaven. It's mostly Japanese and Korean goods - cold drinks, some frozen foods, instant noodles, basic cooking ingredients, a few 'ready to eat' items AND most important of all, a sizable range of snacks and lollies!

A little corner of happiness.

Sometimes I go and just wander around looking at all the different items, scanning for 'unique' foods, i.e stuff I haven't seen in other shops. They probably think I'm stealing cause I hang around for so long and don't really buy much! But today, I went crazy and bought FOUR items. That's right, Jack was feeling good and decided to splash out!

First up, one thing I've always liked from Conveni 8, the steamed buns. There's usually bbq pork and I think chicken as well but the one I like best is their red bean bun ($1.20). It's best to eat it straight away cause it might sweat a little in the plastic bag. The outer-bun layer is less dense than the usual kind and doesn't taste as lard-laden as some others. The real enjoyment though is from the red pean paste inside. It is good - not too sweet, good red bean flavour and smooth texture. Everytime I eat it I think "oh this my favourite red bean bun!".

'tis good red bean paste.

Now for the second item. "Cheese bokki" instant noodle bowl. Hmm. What on earth was I thinking? Clearly I wasn't. I have to admit it did look appetising, somehow all those cheesy looking pasta/noodles things always do but then I realise I really don't like the powdered-cheese taste. But cheese bokki tricked me into believing I was going to like it, with it's "kok! kok! kok!" antics - there were 4 spaces marked out where you could "kok" the lid with your chopstick to create water-drainage holes to pour out the water once the noodles are cooked. Cool! Well it was all fun and novelty, firstly I did the "kok! kok! kok!" (the "kok!" words are the ones in big yellow characters and also on the white spaces where you punch the hole). Then I added water, closed the lid again, waited to pour out the hot water. So far it's fun! Then it's all downhill. I opened the seasoning packet and started pouring the contents - urgh! - the smell and the taste!! Overly cheesy could be an understatement. Don't get me wrong - I love cheese. But not this kind of powdered, artificial tasting cheese. I will NOT be buying it again, it just ain't for me.

Don't be fooled by the 'kok'!

Items three and four, however, were right up my alley. "Okinawan Kokuto Sweets - Muchimuchi". They were expired so discounted down to $4.40 a packet. I know what you're thinking - "expired??". I eat expired food all the time provided it's something like candy or chocolate that can keep well. Wafers, for one, do not keep well as one would expect but that's another expired-food story. Conveni 8 discounts items that are about to expire/expired or have some minor problem with them. One item had a little sign saying "stick together". Hee hee. As in the biscuits were stuck to each other in the packet. I bought two packets of the expired "Muchimuchi" candy which is actually made of brown sugar. In one packet they were coated in kinako flour (soybean flour) and the other in green tea powder. YUM!!! It tastes so good! There's something about brown sugar in Japanese food, they make it awesome. And in this case it seems to pretty much be just pieces of actual (high quality) brown sugar. Both powder coating flavours are good but green tea is the better - the pure green tea powder is strong and it's tea-bitterness balances out the brown sugar sweetness. It's so good that I've been back to buy more even though it's expired (it's just sugar right?). So if you're around the city and need a snack, Conveni 8 is sure to have something interesting.

Muchimuchi I love you much-y much-y!

What: Conveni 8
Where: 303 Pitt St Sydney, Mon-Fri 8am-7pm, Sat 9am-5pm, closed Sun
How much: Red bean bun $1.20, Kauhou Okinawa Muchimuchi $4.40, Otogi Cheese Bokki was on special at $1.40

3 Spanish picks dedicated to Jack

Like Jack I've been busy with work so have missed my weekly post but I'm back and ready to live again. Jack is the true Spanish lover amongst us - from the language to the food, she's the expert. So whenever I am eating Spanish I always think of her and wonder what she would think and how she would order the dishes in her perfect Spanish. This post is my pick of 3 excellent Spanish places in London and is dedicated to Jack. Apologies for the lack of pictures but I promise this won't happen too much in the future now as I have started carrying a camera with me everywhere like a true blogger.

Lola Rojo
One of my top 3 local picks, Lola Rojo on Northcote Rd was the first restaurant I wanted to try when we moved to Clapham. We weren't disappointed - the food is modern tapas with dishes such as cod with black pudding (my favourite) or chorizo lollipops, and traditional dishes such as the very nicely done patatas bravas. The smallish restaurant is always full at dinner and there are some outdoor bar seats perfect for a nice bottle of Spanish wine and some manchego cheese. I promise you will love it!

Camino
I went to the Kings Cross branch of Camino (the other one is at Canary Wharf) - it's in a great space perfect for a bit of a party and night out. I went with a work group on recommendation from Laura, a work colleague from Madrid. Based on this I knew the food would be good and it was. The jamon, chipirones and chuleton a la panilla (Basque style rib eye steak) were all tasty with some very reasonable prices. Add to this a lively atmosphere with a busy bar and DJs on the weekends, Camino is a great choice for a fun night with fab food to match.

Barrafina
Barrafina is a small tapas bar in Soho which features daily specials of fresh seafood that you can see on display before it is cooked for you. The jamon is also sliced is straight from the leg in front of you and is up there as some of the best I have ever had. We had the platter to share which was all good although the lomo did stand out. We also had the biggest, and most expensive at £7.80 EACH, fresh prawns and a lovely soft shell crab which was so fresh. Chorizo and potato was a filling staple and the chipirones was light and tasty. Along with a great bottle of white wine and some desserts, Barrafina is worth visiting if you can brave the queues (and some of the prices). Note: there is only bar seating at the bar so the maximum group size is 4 with no reservations.

What: Spanish tapas at Lola Rojo, Camino or Barrafina
Where: Battersea or Fulham; King's Cross or Canary Wharf; Soho
How much: Barrafina is the most expensive, marginally more than Lola Rojo, Camino is best value.

Supper Nights - Masthai Seafood Restaurant

Argh! I haven't blogged in waaaay too long. Work is getting in the way of life. Sometimes one needs to be reminded: trabaja para vivir, no vivir para trabajar. I really must remember this and I do apologise for the long gap between posts. So without further ado, onto it!

Welcome to Supper Nights! What is it? A group of friends who went to uni together, they meet up one night each month for a late-night 'supper' meal or late-dinner. If dinner's too early some of us struggle to make it in time due to work so a late dinner works out well. And we get to try out some late night dining options too. We started supper nights in 2010 and I for one really enjoy them. So welcome to the first 'Supper Nights' post at Masthai Seafood Restaurant in Beverly Hills.

I've been coming to Masthai with my family for many, many years - proof of this is the fact that I have a print out of their menu which I found online back in 2004. Yes, I still have that printed copy. The prices have increased a little (inflation anyone?) but the dishes remain the same. And that's a good thing, because they have a lot of really good dishes here. Another good thing is that 'supper' starts at 9:30pm and that means we can order congee!!!! Yes, I love congee!

Repeat - I love congee. Especially the 'Preserved egg and salty egg congee' which is the best congee at Masthai. Preserved egg (a.k.a century egg) and salted egg (a.k.a salted duck egg). Two simple ingredients that give the congee a depth of flavour - fantastic comfort food and a must-have at supper. Another menu item here which is great for supper is  'Deep fried pigeon'. Oh boy, it is good! In my opinion, Masthai's pigeon is one of, if not the, best in Sydney. For the unfamiliar, pigeon is like eating duck - only it's smaller, more flavoursome and with much leaner meat. It's messier cause it requires one to use their hands but I think it's well worth it. A dish of 'Fried soft yifu noodle' rounds up our "supper staples" - it's a simple dish but it's tasty and goes well with congee and pigeon.

Congee, pigeon and noodles - 3 of the best comfort foods ever!

Then we kind of got a little crazy and ordered a few not-really-supper-dishes. Starting with 'Stir-fried tofu with dried scallop'. This was my request cause I love, love, love this tofu dish. The chequer-piece shaped tofu is soft and silky inside, the fried exterior gives it a nice flavour along with the dried scallops and vegies. The flavour is probably a little strong for supper, i.e you need rice. But not so with our other vegie dish of 'Kangkong with preserved tofu and chilli'. This was good! It's a very standard dish but the vegetables themselves were really fresh and not over-cooked.
 

That's right kiddies, vegies that taste really, really good.

'Pan fried bitter cucumber with egg' is another good supper choice. Well, for those of us in the group that like the bitter taste!! The egg is cooked through with lots of pieces of bitter melon. To top it off we got a 'Steamed eel', there's a choice of sauces and from memory this was garlic with something (maybe shallots? ginger? I can't remember now.). It was steamed nicely, the pieces of eel had a bit of bounce when biting into it, it's texture firmer and not flaky like regular cooked fish.
 

Bitter melon for the bitter folks and eel for the seafood-adventerous.

And the best end to the meal? Well of course it's dessert, which is complimentary at Masthai and usually comprises some cut fruit and tong sui (糖水). Yum!!! I love tong sui so I always look forward to this and they have a few different ones, all of which they make really well. Today's is red bean soup complete with peanuts and a black sesame glutinous rice ball. A warm and sweet ending to a very nice meal shared with very good friends.
  

Sugar and heat, it makes my heart sweet!


What: Masthai Seafood Restaurant
Where: 495 King Georges Road, Beverly Hills (02) 9580 5609
How much: Apologies but for some reason I didn't write the prices down before they took the menu away! Pigeons are $19.80 each, the total bill came to $153.30, which gives an average price of $20 for the dishes.
Need to know: Bookings are definitely recommended, especially if you're coming for dinner. You should also pre-order pigeons to avoid disappointment as they often sell out fast! Supper starts at 9:30pm and the restaurant stays open til around 2am in the morning.

Jack Snacks!... Azuma Cafe - Iced Matcha and Green Tea Chiffon Cake

I've been a regular visitor to the Regent Place shopping complex ever since it opened. And that most definitely includes Azuma Cafe. It has two things that I love - one is green tea and the other is cakes. Yes, I'm afraid I'm talking about green tea goods foods again - I just adore green tea everything.

The Iced Matchas and Iced Matcha Lattes usually have a really good matcha flavour, nice and strong. But for some reason, on the one day that I am taking photos for the blog, the Iced Matcha ($4.50) is substandard. It's usually really good with a strong matcha taste and if you ask nicely they give you some sugar syrup so you can add as much or little as you like. But today it tastes a little bland and watered down. And I asked for the sugar syrup but instead of serving it on the side they added it in, barely enough as I couldn't taste much sweetness. But I'll go back sometime and order it again to make sure everything is back to normal. There's also green tea lattes and cappuccinos, a selection of hot and iced teas too.

Was the regular drinks maker on holidays? No star from me today, no siree.

Cake on the other hand hasn't let me down so far. Especially the chiffon cake - it's super light and airy with really good flavour. Green tea tastes like green tea, earl grey tea tastes like earl grey tea, chocolate tastes like chocolate - it's awesomely lovely. It's simple, fluffy, homely goodness. You can get one piece for $4.90 takeaway or you can call up and request a whole cake too (around $32 or so from memory). I've also seen a mini-chiffon cake which looks oh-so-cute. Other goodies available at Azuma Cafe are tarts (the chocolate tart is rich and dark, I haven't tried the green tea yet but I'm very curious), macarons, panna cotta, other cakes and green tea frozen yoghurt (I am not a yoghurt lover so I can't comment). My only complaint about the cake offerings? In the beginning they used to make Soy Milk Pudding and it was sooooo fantastic - milky-silky with a brown sugar jelly on top. So Azuma-san, if by some miracle you are reading this - please, please, please bring back soy milk pudding cause I do love it so. Pretty please!

Light and airy, this cake is fit for a green tea loving fairy.

What: Azuma Cafe
Where: Ground Floor, Regent Place, 501 Greorge Street, Sydney (from memory they close at 10pm Mon-Sat, 8pm on Sundays)
How much: Iced Matcha is $4.50 and Green Tea Chiffon cake is $4.90 takeaway

Stonhouse

A recent addition to the list of local hangouts is Stonhouse, a pub and restaurant just near the Clapham Picture House in Clapham. The place has a nice, relaxed feel to it and the food is excellent value and very good which is why it is one of Matt and Tom's favourites. Service is also very good and there is a good selection of drinks given it is a pub. On this visit we were without Matt as he was in Malaysia for work so it was just the three of us for a relaxing Friday night dinner before the movies.

To start with, Dave had the potted confit duck which was very tasty, whilst Tom and I shared an antipasti plate which was very generous and definitely enough for sharing. For mains, Tom had the four cheese gnocchi which was very rich but yum; Dave had the spit roast pork belly with plenty of crispy skin which is never a bad thing; and I had a steak and ale pie with mash. The meals were huge and for the price (£11-13 for our dishes) it was amazing value. Unfortunately as we were so full, we were unable to squeeze any desserts in so I will definitely have to come back again to sample more from the menu. Good pick Matt & Tom!

What: The Stonhouse

Where: 165 Stonhouse Street, Clapham SW4 6BJ

Cost: Entress £6.50, Mains £11

Market City Foodcourt - McLucksa - Closing down soon!

McLucksa has been at Market City foodcourt for many years, and is a very popular stall there due to it's authentic Malaysian food. We hadn't been in a while and decided to have lunch there yesterday, but in addition to lunch there was some bad news - McLucksa will be closing in 8 weeks time! They will be looking for a new location but until then, you have 8 weeks to get your McLucksa fix!

My mum had the Singapore noodles ($9.00) and I had the Char Kway Teow ($9.00, I think? or $9.50), both had a good "wok hei" (breath of wok) and weren't overly oily. Char Kway Teow is one of those Malaysian dishes that I never get sick of - well I am Malaysian so I guess that helps! But who can say no to a combination that has rice noodles, chinese sausage, egg and bean sprouts to name a few? The serving sizes are quite generous too. So if you ever eat at McLucksa, be sure to visit before they close!

McLucksa - I'm loving it! But only for 8 more weeks.

What: McLucksa
Where: Market City food court, Chinatown
How much: Singapore noodle $9.00, Char Kway Teow $9.00 or $9.50

Jack Snacks!... Teamo Teapresso Iced Matcha Latte

Another Teamo - thought I'd try another flavour. This time it's the Iced Matcha Latte. I like that they give it to you with the matcha layer and milk layer still separated - it's visually appealing and fun to mix it up yourself. It's got good strong matcha flavour, I like it. And because it's not too sweet I can drink the whole thing without feeling sickly by the end. The guy who served me recommended that I try adding red beans next time, saying that it goes well - I've marked it down on my list!

Matcha! Latte! Mix it up! Yeah!

What: Iced Matcha Latte
Where: Teamo Teapresso Shop LG 08, 580 George St, Sydney (Adjoining Citisuper asian supermarket)
How much: $4.30 for regular size