Oliver Brown Chocolate Café, Top Ryde

It’s been a nasty 10 months, and I hang my head in shame for neglecting my beloved food blog for so long. Spent the last six and a half months in Paris & travelling Europe, dining on good bread, fine wine, and ….reindeer !

More about that later, though …
Because the call of food photography and dessert has coaxed me out of my lazy shell to blog about what may possibly be the best thing since sliced bread – Oliver Brown !!

In my humble opinion, dessert ice cream is quite possibly the greatest invention known to mankind. So you can only imagine my excitement when my darling friend told me about a cheaper Max Brenner-esque place, with delicious waffles and tasty ice cream!

Hot Chocolate (dark) – $ ? 

As an avid non-drinker of hot chocolate, steering clear of dark chocolate as well, it is a testament to how delicious a dark hot chocolate is if ….I can stand drinking it. Either that, or it’s very sweet.
And I have a sweet tooth … sooooooo..:)

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Belgian Waffles for 2 – $14
Waffles, banana slices, strawberries & whipped cream with melted chocolate 

After visiting Belgium and feasting on Belgian waffles for three days’ straight, you can imagine my reluctance to try Australian-Belgian waffles again…

Unfortunately, Belgian waffles are renowned for a reason, and despite this café’s claim to be a Belgian chocolate café, one does well to remember that chocolate ≠ waffles.

But that’s okay !! Crusty, crunchy warm waffle (a bit on the dry side) drizzled with delicious hot chocolate, fresh bananas and strawberries …with a side of whipped cream (eek)!

Nevertheless, it was still good enough to seduce me into coming back just under 2 weeks later, and boy am I glad I did !

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On my second visit, the first beauty we saw was this :

A friend’s dessert – $ ?? (to be updated)
Vanilla, strawberry and mint ice cream, with Oreos, fruit loops & a wafer stick 

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And although this dessert is a sight for sore eyes (and I can only imagine how delicious), the real kicker is below ..:

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Ice cream fondue for 2 – $18
Strawberry, vanilla and mint ice cream; marshmallows; bananas; strawberries; and two dipping pots of dark and milk chocolate

Orgasmic! The very first time I saw ice cream fondue was at Häagen-Dazs on the Champs-Elysées ..and from that point in time, I vowed I’d find somewhere in Australia to try it. And whaddya know !!
I don’t know about you, but all the other fondues I’ve had just aren’t as …amazing as this one. The fondue stays warm with a small candle burning merrily away underneath, but I must say I do prefer the milk. :)
You use one of those long-stemmed utensils with a spoon on one end and a fork on the other (anyone know the name ??) to dip your ice cream in the chocolate fondue ….which hardens within seconds Ice-Magic-style :).

And of course, this was so delicious, I just had to go back less than a week later.   

Ice cream fondue for 2 – $18
Vanilla, chocolate, and mint ice cream with strawberries and bananas (no marshmallows!!); with milk & dark chocolate fondue

Helpful hint: don’t leave the ice cream next to the burning candle if you’re going to eat another dessert first. …unless you like ice cream soup.

 

Belgian waffle for One & ice cream – $9.50

And of course, who can resist another waffle if there’s a side of ice cream ? :)

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Oliver Brown Chocolate Café (visited 20/04/11, 01/05/11, 06/05/11)
Top Ryde City Shopping Centre
Level Street, Shop F1, Cnr Devlin St & Blaxland Rd
Ryde NSW 2112
Ph: (02) 9809 7007

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Tequila’s on Main, Rouse Hill

Blogging on three hours of sleep – had an exam today :(. Still have a major backlog of blog entries so not posting in any kind of chronological order.

So the occasion was my sister’s 22nd, and the food was Mexican (coincidentally the same restaurant we came for either my eighteenth or nineteenth birthday).

 

Tequila’s on Main!

How cute is that little ..grub, thing, wearing a sombrero?

Not sure if Mexican restaurants always gives you gargantuan servings, but last time we had large portions of everything, so only ordered one ‘entree’ this time round.

 

Curly Chips – $6.50
The potato tasted fresh and crispy, just like Hog’s Breath Cafe fries, with salt and pepper shakers on the table so you can add as much or as little condiments as you like.

 

Tostada Compuesta – $22.50
Like two Aztec Pyramids, a crisp whole corn tortilla, one with beans and chicken, the other with beans and beef on a mound of lettuce, diced tomato, shredded cheese and a dollop of guacamole and salsa

This was under the ‘Specials’ section of the meal, and is literally IMPOSSIBLE to pick up and eat – you don’t even know where to begin!

The tortilla is also impossible to find because it’s covered by a mountain of toppings .. which they are clearly verrrry generous with (see if you can spot the tortilla).
Chicken (on the left) had a good flavour but the texture was a little stringy, and the beef (on the right) was like mince. I liked the chicken better, just because there were onions on the beef side, which cleared out my nostrils …and I don’t really like onions, either!
Also, the servings are huge! It doesn’t make you stuffed (or it didn’t make me stuffed, haha – but then I eat quite a bit), but for the price, the servings are unexpectedly large. Photos don’t really do it justice, but if you come here and you’re partial to leaving food on your plate, it’s suggested you share with a friend – because I’m betting the both of you might only just be able to finish it. ;)

 

Closeup of the beef  and beans ‘tortilla’

Looks like a messy lump of ..tomato, lettuce, and cheese on beef. Haha

 

 

Half an hour later and my sister’s plate still looked untouched. Succch a look of pain on her face! She didn’t end up finishing hers :(

 

Mango Delight – $24.95
Char grilled whole chicken breast damped in black peppercorns and covered in mango sauce.

Tried the mango sauce, which was a little watery with a mango-y aftertaste – peppercorns weren’t peppery at all (which in my opinion, is a fabulous thing – unless, of course, you’re a pepper fanatic). Chicken was pretty chunky, and noo idea about the rice.

 

Rump – $27.50
All steaks are served with creamed potatoes and fresh garden salad

For less than $30, I’d say this is pretty cheap. You also get your choice of either pepper, dianne, mushroom or adobo sauce.

 

Not only is Tequila’s on Main a very aesthetically pleasing place, but they don’t skimp on the serving sizes either! There’s a dedicated bar where you can wait it out if the lines are long, and they have a somewhat extensive selection of cocktails on offer. 

The staff are also friendly and helpful, and I can imagine people coming here for the service and serving quantities rather than the quality of the food. Food wasn’t drop dead amazing, but worth a try if you’re hungry and in the area.

 

Tequila’s on Main (visited 28/10/09)
Shop GR082 Main Street
Rouse Hill Town Centre
Rouse Hill 2155
Tel: (02) 9629 5055
Fax: (02) 9629 5355
http://www.tequilasonmain.com.au

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Pimarn Thai, Castle Hill

Castle Hill is probably one of the last places you’d go to if you were looking for authentic Thai cuisine – but multiculturalism is a great thing if you can even find Thai food in the most un-Thai of places :)

 

Despite an amazingly dark interior, Pimarn Thai has an interesting colour scheme: fuschia pink panels set against bright blue walls, something which clashes with the warm smell of tangy lemon that infiltrates your nostrils the second you step inside.

 

The menu – self-proclaimed ‘Authentic Thai Cuisine’

 

Green tea

 

I’ve had an on-and-off craving for pineapple fried rice ever since I got fried rice in a giaaaant pineapple at a Thai place in Capitol Theatre. I’m guessing their English at Pimarn Thai isn’t very good, though – before I ordered the pineapple fried rice here, I asked if it came in a pineapple – she said yes, but it didn’t :(

 

Pineapple fried Rice with egg (not spicy) + chicken = $12.50
Choice of either chicken and vegetables (12.50), prawns (16.90) or mixed vegetables (12.50)

After I got over the initial disappointment of my fried rice being on a plate rather than in a pineapple, I found the food itself pretty good. Although you can’t see it in the photo, there’s actually a sole slice of tomato in here ! ..not usual affair for a plate of fried rice.

 

Pha Ram Long Song – $13
Spinach, chicken breast fillet and beef topped with peanut sauce

When you think ‘peanut sauce’, you’d think ‘peanut’, right? The weird thing was, I could’ve sworn that there was a hint of mango in here :s This dish was really good though ! The sauce wasn’t too thick and didn’t have a sandy texture like some Thai places – Crunchy peanut pieces and spicy ‘mango’-flavoured chicken makes for a tasty dish :) Probably better with rice though, but you can always order it on the side – some Thai places include it with (or in) your order.

 

Pad See Eu – $12
Rice noodles stir fried with vegetables, egg and soy sauce
Choice of chicken or beef ($12), prawns ($16.40) or mixed vegetables ($12)

Weren’t the best rice noodles around and were super oily, but looking at the greens right now is making me hungry :(

Although I can’t vouch for the authenticity (seeing as I think the owner was Chinese), the food was good enough that I polished off the remains of the 3 plates by myself (but then, when don’t I ever?). Don’t know if I’d ever come back just because it’s so out of the way, but it’s definitely worth a try. :)

 

Pimarn Thai (visited 24/06/09)
1A, 19 – 21 Terminus St
Castle Hill, NSW 2154
Ph: (02) 9899 7199

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Cafe de Hong Kong (香港茶餐廳), Carlingford

As per request, there is a new email subscription service thatta way –>
that will send you an email every time this blog is updated ..but who in the world would use it, anyway! LOL but if you guys have any more suggestions on how to improve (the navigation of, or anything else of) this site, drop us a line & we’ll see what we can do ! :)

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The only time our entire family has been together since Mother’s Day, plus a hankering for Chinese food (and a laziness to cook) ,saw us eating at Cafe de Hong Kong, a Hong Kong-style cafe in Carlingford Village (the Asian version of Carlingford Court). It was an accident that we ended up here, but I guess Cafe de Hong Kong gets a lot of customers that way …being situated at the mouth of the carpark stairs & all.

Putting ‘Hong Kong’ and ‘Carlingford’ in the same sentence might already give you some idea about what kind of place Cafe de Hong Kong is like, but who knows ? You might be pleasantly surprised one day. :)

 

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I never have any qualms with drinking that tea-coloured hot water that you always get at these places. My mum and my sister think otherwise, though – they only ever use the tea as washing water for cleaning their chopsticks/bowls (as you do in HK) – and think I’m dirrrrty for even wanting to drink it. :(

I know a few people who’ve been here think that the service is lousy, but I definitely say that for dinner, it was super duper fast service! :) The waiters don’t really seem to do more than serve you, though, and I was banged into a few times, but I don’t mind :)

 

Hot lemon tea – $2.80

The sweetness is at your own discretion >=) You’ve got the power ! Free to control your honey/sugar intake for those with sweet tooths/watching their weight or just plain diabetic ! (and note the chip on the cup .. looool)

Although I’d say my favourite honey lemon drink EVER is at the Sunshine Crepe cafe in Broadway – honey lemon juice :) sooo good !!

 

Hainan chicken rice – $8.80

My dadsy ordered this, & he said the chicken wasn’t fresh ..but seriously, how can you tell ? It tasted fine to me, a bit oily, and soft and fleshy the way I like it >=) But then againnn, since he used to own his own restaurant so I guess he’s in a better position to say than I would be o.o …especially on account of my having practically no tastebuds and all -_-

 

Hainan Chicken Soup

This is the soup they give with your Hainan chicken rice …and ooooomg it was disgustinggg. It tasted like what you would boil your chicken in, sooo oily (actually on second thought, I think that’s what it actually is). After a sip, I was grossed out ..seriously. It just tasted like diluted oil & cinnamon
Serving this to your customers is a big mistake, it’s like you’re asking them not to come back. Can you SEE the layer of oil on top (and all the way through -_-) ?

 

Stirfried spaghetti with 3 kinds of meat and vegetable – $7.60

This was pretttyyyy oily as well (oily in the sense that the noodles were actually glistening in the bulblight), but still good nevertheless ! And really good value for $7.60.
I’m hazarding a guess at the three kinds of meat and vegetables here: BBQ pork, ham & chicken breast; and capsicum, mushroom & beansprouts ?? Plus the usual onions/shallots/egg/blah dee dah

 

Iced taro milk with pearls & Iced milk tea with pearls – $3.80 each

The taro milk tea was just as sweet as the Easyway taro milk tea :D but the milk tea was pretty bitter. If you’re not a fan of the overly sweet Easyway milk tea (which I looove), then you’d probably like this one ! Authentic Hong Kong style milk tea, though I like it sweeter.
Pearls are rubbery, not very chewy and not much flavour – but Cafe de Hong Kong is pretty generous with their pearl servings – and since when did tapioca starch ever have flavour, anyway (aside from added sugar)?

 

Beef and onion in black pepper sauce with rice – $6.80
Onions, orange chilli, and capsicum from all colours of the spectrum ! (Except blue), as well as shallots

Haha, I love how this dish looks like the cook just splashed the sauce on top – not helped, of course, by the telltale sauce marks on the edge of the plate.

It was REALLY spicy, though, with lots of black pepper! I already thought it was too much after the first bite (then again, I have a terrible chilli/spicy thing tolerance), so if you can handle pepper reallyyyy well, then this is the dish to get !
 

Baked seafood with rice – $10.80
egg whites, prawn, squid, mussel, fish, onion, shallot, crabstick, & cornflour on rice

I wouldn’t have ordered this, but I’m glad my mum did ! It was sooo good, a cornflour & egg sea of seafood on rice, swimming in a shell-shaped bowl XD nice nice

If you’re not a picky eater, then Cafe de Hong Kong is probably a place you’d loooove ..good value for money if you don’t have the VERY HIGHEST quality standards ..but I don’t think anyone comes here expecting five-star degustation, anyway.
Cheap food, sizeable portions, good service, oily taste. Whooo (don’t have an aversion to things TOO oily)… And kudos for their attempt to French it up ;) haha

 

Cafe de Hong Kong 香港茶餐廳 (visited 24/05/09)
Carlingford Village Shopping Centre
Level 1, Shop 2
372 Pennant Hills Rd
Carlingford NSW 2118
Ph: (02) 9871 1878

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