Gami Chicken & Beer, Perth

These past two weeks, everyone close to me has decided it was a great idea to jet off on a plane and leave Sydney. I mean, that’s cool – I’ll just stay here alone and appreciate this city. Cue in Eric Carmen’s ‘All by myself.’

But in saying that, I jetted off to Perth and left them all behind before – so it’s only fair, I guess, maybe. So, continuing my Perth eateries, we found ourselves sitting inside Gami Chicken & Beer for a Friday lunch and it was buzzing with people already. The weekend has sure started in Perth already.

Corn cheese $9.80

Three girls, four dishes – we can do this right? Starting with the corn cheese. Not sure if we were really hungry or this simply took us to a happy place. It is like a mac and cheese, except with corn instead. I did expect a smaller serving, but found it to be a really generous size.

The cheese was stringy, and every bit of sweet corn was smothered in cheesey goodness. There was a great amount of self-control stopping ourselves from demolishing this.

Tteokbokki $14

The tteokbokki had a mix of fix cakes, vegetables and instant ramen. Rice cakes takes up a lot of tummy space, but it was definitely a good call. I personally really enjoyed the spicy kick, however it could have been a bit too much for my eating companions. The rice cake had that great chewy bite, and was not overly cooked making it soft, the fresh vegetables allowed a nice crisp texture in comparison.

Korean style fried bonless chicken $32

BAM! Fried Chicken!  Nothing gets me more excited than hearing a crunch and being met with juicy chicken. And that was what you get here at Gami, along with a choice of two sauces. But personally, I much preferred without.

Potato heaven $14.50

Because I always eat with my eyes and forget that Miss MC has a super tiny stomach, I ordered the wedges. It was like I had something against carbs or something because this is totally potato filled. Wedges doused in sweet chilli and dollops of sour cream sat on a layer of smooth creamy mash. A little more sweet chilli would have been nice, but no complaints. The wedges were everything you expect, and the tiny ones had an extra crunch. So greedy me may have indulged on the tiny ones.

Pickled radish, honey mustard sauce and sweet soy garlic (comes with fried chicken)

We were done; we rolled out of the restaurant and may or may not gone in search for more food …  because that’s what holidays are all about, right?

Do you eat non-stop when you are on holidays, or are you much more sensible and space your meals out?

Mary's Newtown, Newtown

I’m pretty sure everyone has been to Mary’s Newtown already. But there are some that haven’t. Say for instance, Miss CC’s cousin, Miss EL, as she moved over to Hong Kong for the past few years. And when Miss CC and I were in Hong Kong in March, we had a mutual agreement that a date was to be set when she was back on Aussie soul to take her to this ah-may-zing burger joint.

“I think I’m here”

“The place has no signage”

“And bearded people standing outside”

“… and a red light”

“Which makes it look like a brothel”

Miss EL spammed us as we were making our way over, poor girl was so unsure.

My reply: “Yes, that’s exactly what it looks like”

A Thursday night and the bar was still buzzing with people, a short 15 minute wait and we got our table.

Cheeseburger $15

Our bellies rumbled, and our mouths drooled even more as our dinner was placed on the table. What I love most about Mary’s burgers is the soft bun, but then you get the slight toasty crunch before your teeth sinks into the juicy patty. And you just simply take a moment to appreciate that melted cheese, patty, and burger. And everything is all right.

Whole bird $30

We get the whole bird between the four of us, because we can totally eat it all with a growing young boy (Miss CC’s brother). Crispy batter, and succulent chicken. I do believe we were all a little silent forgetting to ask Miss EL about what other plans she has while she was back home.

Mash and gravy $5

Miss CC raves on so much about the mash and gravy, and I admit, I have never actually ordered it. I dipped my fries in and yeah, cool, it’s nice. Whatever, can we move on? No, you cannot, because you’re supposed to eat it with the spoon first. Miss EL and I did an invisible cheers with our spoons, and both looked at each other with our eyes wide. THAT MASH AND GRAVY! I have never had such an intense gravy before, it was all types of good in such an all types of bad kinda way. Like with the bite, I can totally feel how my arteries could instantly clog up, but there was no way I could turn back, because #yolo.

The only problem I believe everyone has covered is, it is a bit too dark. But meh, I’m there for the food – the lighting can suffice.

What is the first place you would take a friend from overseas to eat? The most recommended, as I would also like to keep a list as we have totally crossed Mary’s off, if we didn’t make Miss EL have withdrawals back in Hong Kong…

Mary's Newtown

6 Mary Street,

Newtown

The Fish Shop, Potts Point

‘Tis the season to be jolly,

Fa la la la la,

La la la la …

I can’t sing, but I like to, and that’s why you get these random songs every now and then in my posts. At least I’m not making a video and having you all sit through it – if you even dare to click play to begin with.

Coconut water $9.50

Following our ritual, Miss CC organised yet another great Christmas get together and this year at another of Merivale’s baby, The Fish Shop with our group of friends, those including the girls from Next Stop: Food. We were slightly confused with the signage saying ‘Fish & Chips’, however stepping in you will not miss the Merivale feel you get across their branches.

Snapper $21

Most had their eyes on the snapper ceviche from the daily specials board, and unfortunately it lacked that zing and pow, it was rather bland in taste. That’s when I see the bottle of Tabasco sauce and add a dash, and it instantly brings this dish back to life with the peppery kick.

School prawns $19

The school prawns caught my eye from the daily specials; the prawns were crispy and seasoned perfectly. They were just what I needed to help enjoy my chilled glass of apple cider on a hot summer’s day.

Salted barramundi croquettes $11.50 

Croquettes never go pass us at all, usually served as three, we were lucky enough to have four in our serving as we had a party of seven. I feel that slight crunch as my knife goes through, the fish is cooked to perfection and I love adding the spicy salsa to give the croquettes an extra spicy tomato touch.

A break is met between our meals, so we take advantage of this time and have our gift exchanging. Miss CC attempted to have us do evil secret santa, without really going through the ‘rules’ we realize midway that all had a different set of rules on how this worked. But no fear, I believe most people got what they wanted. And I got a cheeseboard, something that was rather popular at the Food Blogger’s picnic this year.

Dan's famous cheeseburger $18

Miss CC and I jump between meals and weren’t sure what we wanted… well, we knew what we wanted. The cheeseburger, but we’re in a fish shop – why would you order that? YET it was highly recommended, because it apparently beat Mary’s burgers.

Ok, the burger is good yet I probably wouldn’t make the call that it was better than Mary’s Newtown. Personally, I much prefer Mary’s. Don’t get me wrong, the burger is nice, the patty was cooked well, we noticed a consistency of the way it was cooked. The cheese was slightly melted, and there’s BACON!

Crumbed fish, bacon & chilli burger $19

Yes, Miss CC and I decided to share our burgers thus they are cut in half in the photos. And yes, the cheeseburger is unfortunately better than the fish burger.

There is something about the bun not working so well with the fish than it does with the patty. I did love the crumbed fish with the chilli just not in the bun, it felt like a KFC sesame bun – and I don’t know why I don’t feel the same about it on the cheeseburger when it is exactly the same bun. Perhaps it just did not work together so well…

Fish schnitzel, jalapeño salt and coleslaw $21.50

Mr TR ordered the fish schnitzel and it did look good, guess Miss CC and I should have ordered this over the burger. It was a bigger piece of crumbed fish to be shared!

Fish 'n' chips $22.50

Miss ES ordered the fish and chips but asked to have the chips changed to a salad. I believe Miss CC took a piece of fish, and was simply having a wave of bliss wash over her (geddit?) with the soft fish covered in light batter.

Quinoa and feta tabouleh $7

We’re not sure why, but our sides came out much towards the end of our meal. The quinoa and feta tabouleh was nice, but I do much prefer one’s like Arabella where there are filled with more zing with lemon, as I found this was a little on the palate.

Coleslaw $7

It was cute to see the coleslaw being served in a lettuce leaf, our waiter does not usually like coleslaw and had recommended this. As I personally do like coleslaw, I again found this a little light in flavour, it seemed to miss that subtle sweet yet sour like kick.

Cute plates

The things we observe while waiting for our desserts to arrive is always interesting. Miss CC had mentioned the latitude and longtitude markings inside a hanging light from the get go, but it seemed the rest of the gang did not really hear her and were amazed once they noticed it.

Light hanging above our table

“I wonder where it indicates…”

“It’d be so cool if it was right here!”

“Let’s google it, read me the coordinates.”

I repeated myself two or three times for Mr TR, but low and behold…

“Wait, what street is this? Challis? It is here!”

Coconut tapioca & pineapple sorbet

Miss FC, Mr TR and I dig into the one tapioca dessert before the sandwich (which is recommended) and were surprised with how much we loved it. Only because it was not as recommended by the staff, the lightness of all the components were very comforting along with the subtle sweetness from the coconut sorbet which was very refreshing.

Ice cream sandwich & salted caramel $10

We had ordered four servings of the ice cream sandwich, and I am instantly eye wide at my first spoonful. The sweetness was a little overwhelming after having the tapioca, although it should have been expected from salted caramel being drizzled all over. It’s a nice dessert if you are an absolute lover of all things sweet, it reminds me of a morocco bar with a very generous drizzle of salted caramel. The ice cream had bites between, I assume this is choc chips?

Pipsqueak apple cider $7

This isn’t the first time I have been surprised that I liked a dessert that I believed I wouldn’t like. I have found that sometimes when you see all things good in one dessert, does not mean that it works all that well together and are better off alone or suited with something else. So, tell me, have you ever had this discovery yourself and what were these discoveries?

Hit: Dan's famous cheeseburger

Miss: Coleslaw

The Fish Shop

22 Challis Street,

Potts Point

1. 

Jonkanoo, Surry Hills

A dessert must be had when at Jonkanoo,

It had me spinning in my tutu,

And my stomach was going boohoo,

But my taste buds were screaming woohoo!

After popping over at the Connoisseur launch for their new collection, Miss CC and I made our way over to Jonkanoo. She had told me about this Caribbean joint recently and it was unfortunately closed when she had planned to go, thus she made sure when we visited it was open.

(R - L) Cliff Hanger $17 Where is the love? $17

We start our Wednesday night with some cocktails, it seems like hump day is a must for us with some hump day drinks. Maybe because I do have work that day and feels more legit for me to… you know, have a drink after a long day.

I ordered the Cliff hanger, I’m not too sure whether I like it or not however you wont miss the strong rum in this concoction. It is a mix of Sailor Jerry, crème yvette, fresh watermelon, ginger and lime.

“Where is the love?” The bartender asks.

“Right here.” Miss CC smiles happily, a little too happily with her little smart reply.

This was amazing, the mix of sweet pineapple and the subtle hint of lime had me in cocktail envy! From that point, I knew I didn’t like mine as much as I thought I might have…

Accras lan mory salted cod fritters, lime aioli $18

Food! I am famished for not having a very big lunch that day, due to pure laziness to pop out and buy something. But anyways we order some of the ‘small tings’ from the menu, the salty cod sure lived to its name! I loved how there were all different textures that worked so well, the slight crunch with the mushy innards that offered a nice elasticity like bite. The lime aioli helps give the cods a nice little zing to kill some of that saltiness.

Souscd mackerel, ginger ale & sweet potato chips $19

Sweet potato chips! Miss CC was already ready to order this. But I had a feeling she read chips as fries. But no fear, we simply enjoyed this so much. The dressing complimented the mackerel so well, I simply loved the zing it offered and the cucumber allowing you to refresh your palate

Jerk chicken (1/2 pound $14 | 1 pound $28)

We decided to skip on the bigga tings as we wanted to the jerk meat and dessert. So ½ a pound is a serving for one, which settles a lot for us, considering there is only two to choose from. One of each thank you very much. The jerk chicken is spicy, so beware non-spicy takers this one can be a killer. As I do love my chilli this one to me was rather spicy too, but I do love the subtle charcoal on the chicken, but apart from spice there is unfortunately not much else we can taste.

Patacones con hogao $9

We could not choose between the patacones or the papas fritas but the waitress recommended the patacones. So, who are we to argue? This comes like potato scallops, a crunchy exterior with thin potatoes inside, I found this a little sweet and use the salsa to help balance the flavours however Miss CC preferred without the salsa.

Jerk pork (1/2 pound $16 | 1 pound $32)

The jerk pork is not as spicy as the chicken, but there are still hints of it, and that’s cool. I do much prefer the pork, but that could be because we are pork lovers in our own senses. Miss CC seemed to be unlucky and got all the fatty pieces where as I seemed to be all confused when she claimed there was so much fat. Oppss? We did find the slaw lacks a bit of kick, perhaps a little more tang in it would give us that kick – it was a rather healthy slaw… and we all know slaw is debatably not considered healthy, right?

Papas fritas con chimichuri $9

Um… yeah, we also were too not sure who we were kidding when we chose one side. It totally was not our style, so we decided to add the papa fritas after our dishes were placed. We enjoyed these just a fraction more than the patacones only because they were seasoned well. They were sort of like roast potatoes but only that the potato skins were slightly crunchier than your average roast potatoes. The chimichurri on the side is not required for sure.

Chocolate banana fritter, grilled pineapple, vanilla ice cream $12

Dessert? Didn’t we already have that before dinner? Stix is also across the road. But come on, I can’t come here and not give you something sweet to walk away from right? So, I saw these little pot like things walk past with something that looked like crumble so naturally, I was like,  “I want the ginger cake crumble!” looking up Miss CC was “sure” but she had another look, and yes, I also wanted the banana fritter too…

Spiced ginger cake, crumble, chodo, ginger syrup $12

So, I may have looked at the wrong dish and felt a little guilty when this was placed. BUT have no fear, because this is so freaking amazing! It is the perfect winter dessert, ok, winter has left but the cold chilly nights haven’t per se. The cake is warm and decadent, each spoonful needs to have some crumble with the chodo and ginger syrup to help give you that spice like kick. Yum! Just thinking about it warms my soul right now.

chocolate banana fritter innards

We were warned to be careful of the banana contents, as it was very hot. Yes, this was a good dessert but was unfortunately already overshadowed by the ginger cake crumble. The warm chocolate hiding between the fritter, we find it hard to find banana pieces, however you do get the subtle hints, just not enough? The grilled pineapple is sweet and the slightly burnt pieces offer you a nice textural bite along with the refreshing ice cream to break up all the sweet chocolate. What makes me happy is to see the hint of vanilla beans within the ice cream.

Miss CC said, the lead up to our meal was jamacian us hungary! The puns began from that point...but that point aside, perhaps that's why she said, "Maybe after we go to coles, we can fit in Stix!"

The reply she received was a silent one with a raised brow...
It's safe to say, the silent responder was right.

I guess my mistake was a good one, have you ever ordered something believing it was one thing but turns out it wasn’t? And what was the outcome, a winning or losing one?

Hit: Salty cods, ginger cake crumble
Miss: jerk chicken

Jonkanoo
583 Crown Street,
Surry Hills

Opening hours
Monday & Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday - Thursday: 5pm - 10pm
Friday - Sunday: 5pm - late

Hotel Centennial, Woollahra

Hotel Centennial is the place to be,

As this is totally my cup of tea,

For when in there I felt so esprit,

I may have portrayed the infamous Queen B…

Queen B? Yes, I felt like I was in the upper east side of Manhattan (despite the fact that I have never been, through Gossip Girl, I have lived through the television screen) once I first stepped foot into Hotel Centennial.

A glass of wine in hand, a classy ambience and prestige furnishings completed that inner girly me.  

White: 2013 Cape Mentelle Semillion/Sav Blanc WA $14
Red: 2011Artadi Tempranillo, Rioja Spain $13

“Should we just put a tab on?”

“Sure.”

Not sure if this was the best decision ever or … not?

But knowing the way Miss CC and I go, I guess tab or not – we would have spent our money as if we were Queen B and S regardless.

Here at Hotel Centennial you are spoilt with choice. You can either go to the restaurant (reservations required), the bar, or join the high table (much recommended to reserve a table as there are limited seats).

What is the high table?

Every Monday – Thursday head chef, Justin North, will have a daily dish prepared for the evening with sides to share on a communal table for 30. This comes at a price of $24 and if you want dessert with tea and coffee, all you do is add $10 on top! You can check their tumblr website for their daily updates. It's a pretty nifty and awesome price for dinner if you ask me! 

But on this fair night, Miss CC and I decided to go with nom-ing our night away with bar food. We will definitely be back to try the high table! (They had our beloved pork belly that night!)

Hummus, olives, garlic and flat bread $12

We start the night with flat bread and olives with hummus. The flat bread is nicely toasted; dipping into the humus gives you that great satisfaction with its smooth like texture. With a glass of wine, what a perfect Wednesday this was.

Sweet potato fries with pickled chilli mayo $8

Sweet potato fries! We absolutely loved the dry, crunch exterior versus the soft, fluffy innards. Dipping into the chilli mayo was a way to help counter balance the sweetness from the sweet potato with the subtle chilli and mayo.

Fries with celery & herb salt $8

We decide to rest, but not for long as we ordered our next round of food. The food here really is served fast! We get the fries, because it’s normal potato and not sweet potato. However, they did require a dipping sauce, so we asked for more chilli mayo for this.

Manchengo & prosciutto croquettes with smoked paprika mayo $8

Croquettes!! The cheesey goodness from the manchengo mixed with the saltiness of the prosciutto offered us a squeal with deeeelight. “Oh my, it’s so crunchy!” Miss CC stopped and looked at me puzzled, apparently she thought I said it wasn’t crunchy enough and was wondering how much more crunchier I wanted it. But that smoked paprika mayo brought out the manchengo's cheesy-ness all the more, mm~

Please sir, can I have some more? Must Queen B and S ask that? They merely bring their blue card up  to the bar (your tab number) and order some more!

Bring on the burgers. Well, we were going to have one. But were told they were bar sized, I was puzzled.

“So, like a slider?”

“A little bigger than a slider.” Was what the lady told me.

This is when I decided to go for one of each. But this is when Miss CC and I both had different slider portions in our head… what is the correct size for a slider?

Dry aged beef burger with caramelised onions & fontina $14

The beef pattie was soft; the caramelised onions were sweet, sending my taste buds in a happy dance.

Roast pork belly burger with winter slaw and apple sauce $14

Pork belly always wins our hearts, the winter and apple slaw holds that nice tang making that pork belly slide down all the easier. The pork belly was tender, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. CRACKLE was also present, and we all know how much crackle can make Cassie a happy girl!

By now, we were hugging our stomachs. Walking is classified difficult. And our second stomach was already full, there was no room for dessert. However, as I had been to the dining side of Hotel Centennial previously for work’s EOFY dinner, the waffles are to die for! "It's like eating air" Was what I was told, and low and behold - it was!

As we left, we were introduced to head chef Justin North, honestly, this night could not get any better! However, being a little in shock, and Miss CC in her star struck mode – we completely had missed a photo opportunity… until next time perhaps?

Yet before I sign off … let me shoot you another question Miss CC brought up: Do you have the pickle before or after your burger?

xoxo
Gossip Girl

Hit: Sweet Potato fries, croquettes
Miss: Fries

Hotel Centennial
88 Oxford Street,
Woollahra