Just Desserts

When living in England, I craved Lebanese food back in Sydney - but really my knowledge of Lebanese food is limited to Jasmins in Lakemba. I already think that Jasmins is the bomb, their freshly-fried falafals and baba ghannouj dip never failing to make me pig out to the point of being unable to stand up comfortably (I’m disgusting, I know). However, I’m sure that there must be even better lebanese food out there that is only known in Lebanese circles!

Anyway, for now, I must remain satisfied with Jasmins - a task that is not very difficult at all.

I ordered the usual standard mix plate ($15) that I’ve always eaten at Jasmins 

as well as an extra plate of Falafals ($7) - which I also always get. I swear that I will be less boring next time and order something different. I would really like to try their breakfast dishes actually - maybe I’ll drag the family next Weekend, but from experience, the place will probably be crowded.

I was never a fan of the meats on the standard plate, grilled chicken, kafta (Grilled lean lamb minced with parsley, onion and herbs, freshly grilled), shish kebab, but they seem to have improved since my last visit half a year ago. The meat seems to be less tough and more fresh, but perhaps I just came at a good time.

I have also noticed that Jasmins seems to have also expanded to Leichhardt and Auburn - which are listed on the website http://www.jasmine1.com.au/ but I’m not sure if they are affiliated with the one in Lakemba. They also seem to have expanded their catering menu to a number of dishes not available in the normal dine-in experience. I’m tempted to organise a party as an excuse to try it out.

Jasmins
30B Haldon Street
Lakemba NSW 2195
(02) 9740 3589

Driving along St Johns Rd on a rainy night, a new restaurant caught our eye. So we chucked a u-turn and headed to Twelve Spices for dinner!

Twelve Spices is really oddly located. You know your local corner store / milk bar (do people still have those these days?)? Well, that’s what this really neat restaurant is located next to, random corner stores, Home Hardware and opposite heaps of houses. It’s weird because this modern restaurant wouldn’t be out of place in Newtown!

Mixed seafood (prawn and squid) thai fried rice $12.90

Red curry with chicken $10.90 and additional rice $2 

Chicken pad thai - $10.90 

Overall, the service was very laid back (in a good way), the food was delicious and it was great value! I highly recommend this place if you live around the Canley Heights / Cabramatta West area and want a quick and flavoursome meal without driving the extra 5 minutes to Canley Vale Road.

Twelve Spices Thai and Lao Cuisine
197 St Johns Rd, Canley Heights
T: 9609 6212
Open 6 days - Lunch 11am-3pm, Dinner 5pm-10pm, Closed Tuesdays

In celebration of my lovely dad’s birthday, we loaded the family into the car and went to visit one of dad’s favourite restaurants, Gia Hoi in Canley Heights.

Why does dad love Gia Hoi?

1. I used to go tutoring next door to Gia Hoi, so my dad would spend countless hours every week sitting in front of Gia Hoi waiting to pick me up. I swear, he eventually became their official statistician, often recounting to me how many people were in there and how it differed week to week.

2. They have a 20% off special off their entire menu. At first, (a few years ago), this caused much excitment and I guess it still does, because it makes the massive $9 meals, even cheaper! (This is a much better promo than the restaurant next door’s “Buy 5 pho, get one free” where you need like 6 people who all want to eat pho to benefit).

Please excuse the crap camera phone photos and the random shadows on the photos.

My sister ordered the crispy skin chicken with rice. Crispy skin chicken is our favourite, whether accompanied with rice or with noodles. And it was great per usual. (And only $7.20!)

Mum, dad and myself ordered the seafood. This was a flawed plan because unlike the pho and bun bo hue, the seafood was not already pre-made (that’s actually a good thing) and took bloody ages! Additionally, the seafood tasted as if it was all rolled around in the same batter, so we got really sick of it really quickly.

The prawns!

The fish!

+ We also had salt and pepper squid.

So all up, 4 hungry people ate 4 mains with drinks and even took 1 plastic container of food home; with the final bill came up to be a grand total of $61. ($15.25 each). As a very thrifty (read: cheap) person, I was very happy with that!

There’s nothing better to do on a stressful Monday with a whole week’s of work ahead, then to de-stress with a greasy, Chinese lunch. With this thought, we hopped onto the bus to visit the Sydney capital of Chinese food: Chinatown!

K informed me that the Chinese Noodle Restaurant is immensely popular and usually has really long lines. However, today the restaurant next door seems to be more packed! (Oooh, competition!)

K, having a thing for handpulled noodles ordered the fried handpulled noodles with beef. The noodles were so soft, light and tasted like freaking heaven!

I was looking for my beloved shallot / green onion (cong you bing) pancakes. However, they didn’t have any, so I settled for beef and green onion pastries. It was overwhelmingly oniony! But pretty good for $3.50.

(Yup, that’s random oil on my plate)

What’s your favourite place to eat in Chinatown?