savory-bites » Top Picks in Sydney

Max Brenner, Down Under

Jessie — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 03:57:27 +0000

vs.

Like what?? You can obviously tell which dish is the one from the Max Brenner in NYC. Even our chocolate dishes have to be flamboyant and attention catching…”

During the first day of tutorial for Globalisation, my tutor, Adeline, asked us to introduce ourselves; to tell everyone what we liked, disliked, and so forth. Well, Dan Sikora, after introducing himself, randomly blurted out, “I HATE CHOCOLATE!” Adeline gasped and drew back, making this weird face. “Are you sure? Maybe you’re just not trying hard enough…”

(I’ve managed to capture an orange essence from the cancerous rays of sunlight.)

While chocolate has its own following down under in Australia, I was surprised to find so many Max Brenner’s in Australia considering how there are only two in the US (both in Manhattan, about a mile apart!). I mean, what country could love sugar and bask in gluttony other than the Americans? But in Sydney alone, I found eight Max Brenner’s, two of which were in CBD. Though the name and chocolate may appear the same, there is a noticable difference between the Aussie Max Brenner and American Max Brenner.

The Australian branches seem to focus more on the concept of chocolate whereas in the US, Max Brenner serves anything from a savory brunch to a supper sized paella. The menu is thick with conconctions of choco-tails, crepes exploding with varying fruit/chocolate, chocolate based desserts, and well, you get the point. But in Sydney, not only is Max Brenner more of a self-serve spot where you place your order at the counter and grab a number, the menu is so small that it fits on the board behind the employees on the counter. So, you’re limited to waffles, cake, and chocolate drinks…

There is something called a Chocolate Lick (pictured above), which I wish was on our menu. It’s basically a “shot” of chocolate, but you’re given a tiny spoon from which you lick the chocolate from. It’s well portioned and seems to do the trick if you’re looking for a bit of a chocolate fix.

Pictured above is the hot chocolate with crunchy balls that Kirstie got. After our dinner at Chat Thai (and an afternoon at Manly Beach where I ate that epicially giant and once dropped ice cream cone), I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to shoulder any more solid food. I went ahead on got the White Shake made of lychee and coconut. What a disappointment! Stick to the chocolate, Max; it’s what you do best. Well, at least it was in a cool looking/named cup- the Alice cup…

Oh, but Clement, who can eat anything and everything and watch his weight evaporate into thin air as he swallows, ordered a fondue (meant for two). With it came banana bread, marshmallows, strawberries, bananas, and 2 types of chocolate for the fondue. There was so much fondue that I overestimated Clement’s ability to eat all of it. Thus, we reaped the benefits and gorged on divine chocolate. The funny thing is- the chocolate isn’t even that outstanding. I think it’s really the nonchalant and mood that the restaurant creates that makes me love the place so much. This specific love for chocolate that brings everyone together creates an experience that can only be elevated by chocolate.

(Pink marshmallows???)

But, I do want to emphasize one thing that the Max Brenner in New York City lacks and that’s the Belgian Waffle. Yes, a real Belgian waffle- the kind that crunches under the pressure of the inital bite yet retains its soft and chewiness as you continue to chew. What a divine bite that waffle was!

So, while the Max Brenner in Sydney is smaller, offers less variety, and gives smaller portion sizes (not to mention, they don’t give you a vial of chocolate for your pouring pleasure), it’s definitely worth going for their waffles. I’ve also always found it fascinating in the ways that companies, particularly restaurants, attempt to adjust to other cultures when they expand. I took one friend who frequently went to Max Brenner in Sydney to the one in Union Square and she was absolutely in shock at how different the two places were. They serve the same product, but dress it up differently.

Shop MG 24, Metcentre
273 George Street
NSW 2000,
Phone Number: +61 2 9251 7788

Other Locations!

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Pancakes on the Rocks

Jessie — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 23:30:08 +0000

IHOP, I’d like you to meet Pancakes on the Rocks.
Most Americans probably don’t realize this, but it’s ridiculously difficult to find a restaurant that’s open 24/7 in another country. Even if we live in the suburbs, there are always diners to fall back on when we’re hungry at 3am. Unfortunately for me, one of the few 24/7 places in Sydney was about a 40 minute bus ride away from Coogee.

The bunch of us could never agree on when to go to Pancakes on the Rocks. Jenny felt it’d be great food for the drunk, Angela thought it’d complement a view of sunset from Macquerie’s Chair, and I wanted to catch an early breakfast after watching sunrise at Circular Quay. It didn’t matter because we were running out of time to decide. We ended up going after the UNSW International Exchange Goodbye and having heaps of this really dense and fudge-like cake I had baked for Dani and Fern’s birthday.

(Strawberry Patch)

Luckily, Angela had decided to follow her whole watching the sunset regime before having pancakes so she was able to reserve us a table by getting to the restuarant early. By the time we got there, it was around 8:30pm (on a Thursday night) and the place had heaps of people with more queuing through the door. It would have been a long wait especially since we were a party of 5.

All of us ordered pancakes even though they serve everything from steak to nachos to salads. The only question was which pancake to get. I was really happy with the prices. All of the pancakes were under $13. You have the option to get 2 pancakes or 4 crepes or even 1 pancake and 2 crepes. That’s what most of us ended getting.

(Blueberry Heaven)

I chose the Blueberry Heaven, which ended up being phenomenal. With the vanilla ice cream, it tasted like one giant plate of dessert. I was more partial towards the fluffy pancakes, but mostly everyone else preferred the crepes. It’s not that I didn’t like the crepes. I just felt it didn’t give me the same satisfaction as the pancakes. My only complaint is that the blueberries are laden in this over sugared syrup, which was almost like a jam. It wasn’t exactly the most athestically pleasing dish on the table either. At least they gave me heaps of blueberries!

(Devil’s Delight)

(Chocolate Jewel)

(Vanilla & Choc Surprise)

However, I think the best dish of the night was Angela’s. The Devil’s Delight is described, word for word from their menu, as “To die for…Our chocolate pancakes with strawberries, cream, chocolate ice cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce.” Need I say more?

You might want to check out the menu before you go so you don’t spend heaps of time deciding (because everything just looks so damn delicious). You can now get your pancakes at the following locations:
THE ROCKS
4 Hickson Rd, The Rocks, Sydney
Trading Hours: 24 HOURS, 7 DAYS A WEEK
Phone: 02 9247 6371 | Fax: 02 9252 2900
Email: therocks@pancakesontherocks.com.au

NORTHMEAD
100 Briens Road (Corner of Redbank Road) Northmead
Trading Hours: Sunday to Thursday 7am-11pm | Friday and Saturday 7am-Midnight
Phone: 02 9683 4322 | Fax: 02 9683 7587
Email: northmead@pancakesontherocks.com.au

DARLING HARBOUR
229/230 Harbourside Shopping Centre, Darling Harbour
Trading Hours: Sunday to Thursday 7am-11pm | Friday and Saturday 7am-Midnight
Phone: 02 9280 3791 | Fax: 02 9280 0467
Email: darlingharbour@pancakesontherocks.com.au

CAMPBELLTOWN
Centric Park, 4 Hyde Parade, Campbelltown
Trading Hours: Sunday to Thursday 7am-Late at night | Friday and Saturday 7am-Midnight
Phone: 4627 5656 | Fax:4627 8086
Email: campbelltown@pancakesontherocks.com.au
PARKING AVAILABLE underneath, entrance just past Gloria Jeans

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Rock in Burger

Jessie — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 03:56:31 +0000

(The Roo Burger!)

What makes a burger good? Is it the soft, fluffy bun capped with sesame seeds? The tender meat with juices flowing out of each and every bite? The crunch of fresh lettuce? The tangy sauce? A burger is so simple; it’s just layers upon layers and yet when each ingredient is perfect in its own form, the burger becomes this explosive complexity of flavors that you crave every once in awhile.

The moment I saw Rock in Burger, I knew I’d come back. I was actually eating my meal at The Rocks Cafe when I noticed this blunt white stand in the middle of the street. It was a shame I didn’t see it earlier because we could have had a great lunch for half the price. We ended up actually coming to this place for dinner a couple of weeks after.
It took one look at the menu to win me over. The only problem was, I didn’t know what to get. I was torn between the Texan an the Kangaroo burger. I mean, to order a Texas burger in Australia is blasphemy especially if the alternative is something you can only get in Aussie. But thank god for Angela, who is a bit more adventurous than I am, and she agreed to give me a bite (or two) of hers. So, I got the Texan and she got the Roo.

The reason why I didn’t want to get the roo is because roo meat tends to be a bit drier than beef. Add the bacon and BBQ sauce that the Texan came with, and the choice was almost made for me. I’m a sucker for bacon and the roo burger didn’t have any, so…. Anyway, the Texan ended up being painfully delicious because afterwards, I was so full I almost regretted eating the whole thing.

You can get a burger for under $10, but fries and drinks are counted separately. Still, their burger is definitely worth it if you’re in the area. Plus, the new Guylian cafe opened across the street. The perfect dessert for the perfect burger.
140 George St
THE ROCKS
NSW 2000 Australia
T: 9241 2883

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Sands on Coogee

Jessie — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 02:38:31 +0000

This was hands down my favorite place in Sydney and in all the places that I travelled to when I was in Australia. It’s located right on Coogee Bay Road, but it’s such a shame because if it was just better marketed and better designed internally, it could do so much better! For $38 (tip not necessary!), we had a six course meal, catapulting us into the realm of fine dining in an informal ambiance. Seriously, a steal.

The deal is part of their 6 year anniversary special menu. This is how it looks:

Ume-shu (Japanese plum wine) with garlic bread

Appetizer: Pumpkin Soup

Japanese platter: Sashimi, Raw Oyster, Tempura Shrimp

Entree: Choose either
Spaghetti with Squid Ink
Grilled grain fed lamb loin, walnut, gorgonzola and wild rocket

Main: Choose either
Paper bag seafood (salmon, prawn, mussel, potato, spinach)
Wagyu beef skwered

Dessert: Creme Brulee

—-

I don’t even know how to begin describing the food so I’ll just list my favorites. Actually, they were pretty much all on the same level. Well, I guess I’ll just explain each course.

Ume-shu (Japanese plum wine) with garlic bread

The Ume-shu comes in a shot. Sweet and just slightly alocholic, its fantasmic. Unfortunately, you only get one piece of garlic bread, but hey- with so much food left, who needs more carbs?

Pumpkin Soup

I hate soup, but this soup was bearable- maybe because it was cold. Angela ended up finishing most of mine though

Japanese platter: Sashimi, Raw Oyster, Tempura Shrimp

This dish made me feel as if I were in top chef. It’s served on a long platter. The raw oyster! Oy! I’m afraid of that stuff, but this- man it was so good. I never knew that seaweed salad could do the trick.

Grilled grain fed lamb loin, walnut, gorgonzola and wild rocket

Served on a bed of rocket salad. I’ve never had Gorgonzola with lamb and it was surprising how refreshing the combination is!

Paper bag seafood (salmon, prawn, mussel, potato, spinach)

So if I absolutely had to choose, this would be my favorite. It comes in this pasty looking like shape in parchment paper. The server cuts it open with scissors and steam starts floating out. It was such an unique dish and the flavors all delicately combined. I loved the Tasmanian salmon!

Wagyu beef skwered

Tender juicy beef. Need I say more? But if you do get this, make sure you order it medium rare. It just literally melts in your mouth.

Creme Brulee

It was a tiny creme brulee served with fresh berries and compote. Not too sweet- the perfect ending to the perfect meal.

The service in this place is great. I mean, I almost felt compelled to tip. They do offer a wine menu that complements this particular menu for only $20 more. They also offer BYO.

242 Coogee Bay Road
Coogee, Sydney, NSW 2034
Ph (02) 9665 4924

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Guylian Belgian Chocolate Cafe

Jessie — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:38:16 +0000

If you can’t go to Belgium to eat Belgium chocolate, then have the Belgium chocolate come to you. When I think about Guylian, I think about those seashell chocolates that you buy at Costco. But one day, we were walking around the Quay and Angela gasped, “Oh my god, look! Guylian has a cafe!”

We thought that the cafe would be fitting after our Korean food excursion with Rosa. We were promptly seated outside where we had a wonderful view of the Opera House, CBD skyline, and sunset. It was quite lovely.

We knew right off the bat that it’d be an expensive dessert. All of their cakes are at least $11 and above. After some hard decision making, I finally decided on their dark chocolate cake layered with a chocolate ganache. Had Angela not decided to get the raspberry cheesecake, I definitely would have gotten that. Even though the chocolate cake was good, I was a little bit disappointed. In the end, chocolate cake is… chocolate cake. It was dense and rich, but not as dense as the Lindt chocolate cake we had before.

But Angela’s cheesecake was fantastic! I’d definitely recommend getting that and it’s cheaper than the chocolate cake. However, if you’re really in the mood for chocolate, I’d get their Menage a Trois- you get a few biscotti and 3 small bowls of white, milk, and dark chocolate to dip them in. It’s actually the cheapest dish.

So having gone to Lindt and Guylian, I like Guylian better even though it was more expensive. I felt Guylian’s portion sizes were a bit bigger (don’t expect slices of cake, but rather small petite bites) and the location next to the Opera House does give it an advantage. Both cafes do charge a service fee. They’re opening up a new Guylian location on the Rocks, so plenty of opportunity to go check out for yourself!

East Circular Quay
Shop 10, Opera Quays
3 Macquarie Street
Sydney NSW 2000

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