Kindly Yours

A collage by Ms Zoe Yu. We missed Angie in Castlehill and Michael in Nagambie.  We did continue our series of City Lunch Australia commercial outlet gatherings outside the Sydney CBD this year after gathering at Kin by US and the Kopi Shop.  The aim was to utilise the private dining room facility (PDR) at the first Tim Ho Wan outlet in Australia.  There were rules, every one had to be present at the same time before we were seated by THW, there was the usual minimum spend and we only had two hours utilisation of the room, which did not have a door.  However it was lovely not to have to queue for a change as we were shown into our booked room not long after we all arrived. Sari, Jacob, Edwin and the one with full concentration facilitating order - Chip. THW has an optimally sized menu, printed with colour and also used as a serving mat in Asian style.  Like Papa Rich, you tick against the menu dish codes and that forms the basis of a...

Durian custard puff served with Choux pastry. The outside of the restaurant may look unassuming and the location is more of light industry rather than a food hub.  Parramatta Road in near western Sydney can be confronting with passing traffic at times and yet can be a quiet neighbourhood otherwise. We were looking for the traditional dishes of Straits Chinese cuisine - and there they were.   Peranakan is an Indonesian-Malay term for "descendant" and have two main streams, Indian and Chinese.  The cuisine here primarily refers to the Straits Chinese tradition, which is a major fusion development in south-east Asia for already a few hundred years. I have not tried the Chicken Buah Keluak , a rather challenging dish to prepare.  Just like the Japanese art of getting ready the Fugu fish for  sashimi. First you have to source the fresh nuts, like what this restaurant does by importing them, from trees known as the Pangi...

Freshly made Kurtosh snacks are made using imported kitchen tools and then dipped in fine peanut sugar. The variety of flavours of Kurtosh at the Wollongong CBD markets are good, including coconut! There is nothing like good old sausages and eggs for a breakfast. Unusual blooms at the stall of the florist. The violinist can be like a Piped Piper! A fascinating choice board of various dips, flavours and condiments to add to cooking recipes. From Dean Shaw and Michael Zahra linked to YourInspirationAtHome. This store was especially popular. Kurtosh on the run.

Penang fashioned curry puffs with potatoes and chicken. More legal migrants from Malaysia have arrived on the shores of Australia in the past three years. Perhaps this echoes the growing dissatisfaction over the quality of socio-economic and political life back in their home country.  What is Malaysia's loss is the gain for Australia, especially immediately in the perspectives of cuisine!  Although more Malaysians, ex and current, settle in Melbourne than Sydney, there has been an increasing number of so-called Malaysian food outlets around the greater Sydney area, some of varying quality.  So I was happy to check out a recent one at Campsie in Sydney city's outer south-west. The label of Malaysian cuisine may be a misnomer, really there are sub-categories like Indian, Malay-Indonesian, colonial, Chinese, Straits Chinese, Eurasian and some that arise from regional hubs.  The Kopi Shop specialises in Penang cooking, with the owner-operator Alan, hailing fr...

The call of surf and sky, the sounds that lull into a sense of inner comfort, these are all ever green captivating us when we connect with the outdoors and Nature.   To have breakfast or lunch looking out at rather empty ocean and a beautiful horizon is a wish come true.  And you may have this at the Seascape Cafe, located at the end of a quiet Foreshore Road in Port Kembla NSW.  You walk up the stairs of the Maritime Police Centre.  It looks like a family run cafe but the owner and staff are as apple hearted as can be.  The menu does not echo of fancy or  unusual, but is assured you to remind you of reliability and wholesomeness that city folks often miss and yearn for. I went back to Seascape earlier this month and loved the ever reliable scenery.  The cafe is located on a vantage point within the Maritime Police Centre.  The ocean winds were refreshing and there was a wholesome crowd at lunch t...

If one has a single focused passion, the world is there to conquer. A rather easy snack, with all the stuff that reminds one of growing up, with no pretensions - and it has its veg and wedges too. The waves beckon just out there, and here we are taking in our sustenance and joy, whilst we gaze at the big blue. The Bergies is located at 216 Lawrence Hargrave Drive, Thirroul NSW Nearest cross road  - Cochrane Road Opened from Thursday to Sunday only, from 11am to 830pm. Friendly staff like people we know down the road, in a place that is mostly forever summer and young. Come up from the beach, or park by the side roads, if you cannot pull up right in front of the cafe itself. Chat up and you may find yourself on an exciting fishing trip.