Jack Jap Snacks - a Snoopy Valentine!

So it's the first Jack Snacks post I've done in what feels like forever (not far off I guess!) so I thought I'd choose something interesting. It's been a few months since the snack was consumed but I wanted to share it anyway.

As you may know, Valentines day in Japan is a day where the men receive gifts - usually chocolate. The ladies don't get the gifts until a month later on March 14 called "White Day". Lucky for me, Jess happened to be in Tokyo around Valentines day this year and brought me back some Valentines-edition Snoopy chocolates from Grand Four. There are so many different styles around at this time, I'd love to go see them for myself one day!

Though the flavours were a little on the sweet side for my usual taste they were very nice chocolates indeed. And the packaging! Japanese packaging tends to be excessive but in this case you can't help but love how cute it is! Who wouldn't be won over by a valentine's gift like this?

For me? Why you shouldn't have!

Ok maybe you should have :)

Hello Snoopy and Belle.... almost too cute to eat, almost.

What: Valentines Day Snoopy chocolates by Grand Four

Where: Tokyo

Ramen Zundo

I don't normally post with photos from my phone but I've been daydreaming about this ramen since I had it 2 days ago so I have to share this. It's tonkotsu ramen from the newly opened Ramen Zundo (who were also behind Sushi Fusion and Monkey Magic) at World Square and this is one good tonkotsu ramen! The soup and the pork are seriously to die for and there's bean sprouts, cabbage and seaweed for the vegie touch.

Oh and until the 12th August you can get 2 ramens/curries for $15 between 11am-4pm just by showing the voucher on your phone/printout - awesome value.

I'm already planning my next visit! Oishiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!

What: Ramen Zundo (Tonkotsu ramen baby, tonkotsu ramen!)
Where: World Square Shop 10.30, Level UG (near the 'Sushi Roll Bar' restaurant), 644 George St, Sydney 2000
How much: $11.80 for the original Tonkotsu ('white')

HaNa Ju-Rin

It's been a while (again) - I've been travelling with my family in Japan for the past 2 weeks. Jess and I certainly enjoyed all the food and we'll be posting about it as soon as we're back home! But in the meantime I'm in Singapore for a quick stopover which of course means more eating!

Meanwhile, a quick post from a meal back home, at HaNa Ju-Rin in Crows Nest. It was quite some time ago now so I can't remember all the details, apologies in advance! It was a last minute booking on a Saturday night but we were able to get a table. It's a quiet little restaurant, the upstairs level has a teppan grill and a sushi counter, both would be great seating options to watch the chefs while eating.

Teppan master at work while we enjoy our green tea, the teppan counter seating.

We started off with Mackerel Boxed Sushi ($19.80) which was beautifully presented. The rectangular pieces are actually pre-cut into halves which make them perfect for popping into your mouth. There's also a scant layer of something in the middle - it tastes like it was maybe some kind of pickled/preserved/marinated vegetable - although chances are I'm completely wrong. Whatever it was, it was so delicious. The mackerel was perfectly cooked and there was so much "mmmm-ing" from both C and myself it was like an Iron Chef judging.

Boxed mackerel sushi, mmmmm... And sushi chef at the counter.

Next up was Beef Tongue Fresh Spring Roll ($12.80). Served cold with a slice of lemon and some relish (?) which was sweet with a tiny bit of chilli, this was refreshing and light in taste but the chunks of beef tongue was substantial enough to make this a rather filling starter.

Beef Tongue Fresh Spring Rolls

Softshell Crab Roll ($13.80) was tasty too, there was less vegetable but the crab was meaty and there was enough spiciness to give it a kick. Udon Noodle with Duck in Hot Pot ($17.50) was great for the cold weather (like I said, it was a while ago hehe) - a simple and homely pot of noodles with some shiitake, naruto, seaweed, egg, spring onions and duck. The duck has a slight fowl taste which is not to everyone's liking but was fine for C and myself.

Seeing as they have their own teppan grill, we had to try some Okonmiyaki. We tried the Buta-Tama Pork ($15.00). There's a layer of egg on top which hides the pancake. There was quite a bit of cabbage in this which you could taste, though I'm not complaining cause I love my vegies!

Softshell Crab Roll, Okonomiyaki and the Udon Noodle with Duck in Hot Pot.

For dessert we just had to try some Ice Cream Tempura with Green Tea Sauce ($10.80) which was served with some fruits on the side. The batter wasn't too heavy or oily which I've found is sometimes the case with fried chinese fried icecream. The ubiquitious pairing of azuki (red beans) with the grean tea sauce gave the tempura vanilla icecream flavour. But most of all I enjoyed the Cherry Blossom Rice Cake (Sakura Mochi, $4.00). It was light and delicate in flavour and the perfect size for those who are full but don't want to miss out on dessert.

Icecream Tempura with Green Tea Sauce and lovely Sakura Mochi.

We enjoyed our meal thoroughly and I'd definitely return sometime to try out the other dishes. But of course we'd have to order the Boxed Mackerel Sushi again. Maybe 2 serves....

What: HaNa Ju-Rin
Where: Shop 1, 300 Pacific Highway, Crows Nest (02) 9966 5833. Website with menu here
How much: Check menu for prices

Yakiniku Kashiwa

Aki's birthday was two months ago so this post has been waiting to be written for a while. A little bit like how I first read about this on hungry.digital.elf back in January 2010 and just knew I had to come and eat here. Yes - it took a while!

I was the last to arrive as I had been trying to find parking (parking at dinner time in Crows Nest is like winning the lottery). So the dishes had already been chosen and it was just a matter of waiting to eat! First they brought out the 'pots' of charcoal and placed them underneath the big exhaust pipes and just by looking at this we knew we were in for good bbq. You just can't go past real charcoal in my opinion.

Wagyu beef rib ($9.80) is tender and juicy just as the menu promises. The marinade is tasty as well, I find that I don't need to add any more sauce once it's been bbq-ed. Ox tongue ($9.80) is sliced thinly and good quality - so good that we order a second serve later on Apparently tongue is cholestorol-free so that means I can eat as much as I like without feeling guilty!

Wagyu beef rib - YUM! Ready to bbq, guilt-free ox tongue!

LA Short Rib (I think? I can't remember the price either) is good too, it comes in slightly thicker slices with a sliver of bone. There's a detour from cooking in the form of yukke, raw beef strips mixed with an egg yolk and sauce which is refreshing although aki and I eat most of it as not everyone is keen on raw beef.


LA Short Rib (i think), cooked meat on the grill, raw meat in beef yukke.

For non-beef dishes we had chicken thigh fillet ($8.80) which was juicy but well, it's chicken and nothing to get too excited about when there's.... pork neck! This came out to the table and I had been manning the tongs at the time. By the time I was ready to take a photo half the pork was already sitting on the bbq mesh! Pork neck ($9.80) is a fatty and juicy cut of meat so it cooked up really nicely. And we better not forget about the plate of vegies ($7.80) which was OK but nothing too exciting. BBQ cabbage? Can't say I'd ever had that before, but hey each to their own.

Chicken thigh fillet is juicy, vegies are alright (cabbage?) and gloriously fatty pork neck.

Corn (can't remember the price sorry) came in a little metal dish with a few slices of butter which is pretty cool but I didn't get to taste it, it wasn't a huge serve and we only ordered one.


Corn and butter, more ox tongue, the pork neck is on fire! Save the pork neck!

Last but not least. The waiter said that if we were bbq fans then we should try the 'Pork Tube' ($8.80). It's pork intestines cut into short little sections. I love the name! The consensus down our end of the table was that it was a bit chewy. But the other end said it was OK, maybe we weren't cooking our ones right. I'd be willing to try it again, along with all the other meats we didn't get to try. I liked that the serves are smaller portions with a proportionate price tag as it means you can try a lot of different menu items without getting a meat coma.


Pork tube, cute name but it was too chewy. I'm going to cook it right next time!

 
I should have come sooner. It's even better than I hoped and already I can't wait to go back again. But I really enjoyed trying it out for the first time with my Supper group friends as we always have a great time trying out new goods together. Aki - I hope you had a great birthday my friend!
 
What: Yakiniku Kashiwa
Where: 7A Falcon Street, Crows Nest. Check their website for phone number/opening hours and menu
How much: Meats are around $10 a plate

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

Makoto Salmon Sashimi

Wednesday was the seventh day of Chinese New Year. Known as "Yan Yat" in Cantonese (人日) it is considered to be everyone's birthday and for those of us who are Chinese Malaysians, it's a day to "Lao Yusheng" for good luck. Literally this means to mix or toss raw fish. The "Yusheng" is a salad that includes raw fish, vegetables and sauce. Unfortunately you won't see any of that in this post! As it's only mum and me we usually just get some salmon sashimi for our own simple version of lao yusheng. I got this takeaway salmon sashimi from Makoto. It was fresh and came with some seaweed salad, a tasty substitute indeed.

It's not quite Lao Yusheng, but at least it was tasty!

What: Small Salmon Sashimi
Where: Makoto sushi bar, 19 Liverpool St, Sydney
How much: $15 for 10 slices and a little seaweed salad on the side