Sambal

Sambal is a Malaysian restaurant located in the Sydney suburb of North Ryde. It is not new to the Sydney food scene and in fact, it has been established for many years now. Unfortunately I cannot remember the year I first dined at Sambal. At that time, it was just weeks into its opening.

But over the years I have been here for lunch and dinner with different groups of friends and have also had the occasional take away. But this is the first time I am blogging about it. And about time too!

My friend, SB was in town with his family. Since they were staying in North Ryde, it was the perfect venue to meet up.

When I arrived, it turned out that there was a slight mix up with my reservation. Andrew, one of the owners, forgot to write my booking down in the Booking book. Fortunately, this time, I did the reservation by email and my wonderful smartphone saved the day as I was able to prove my reservation confirmation by showing the reply confirmation email from Andrew. Luckily they found a small table at the corner near the main entrance for me. Poor Andrew was so apologetic but I shrugged it off as a genuine oversight. These things happen and I was only too happy they found me a table. Believe me, the restaurant was packed for a Friday night!

I was excited to show off my heritage cuisine to my friends from Melbourne. SB loves trying out different cuisines but I knew that for his wife and kids, spicy food was not something they would want to venture in.

So these were the dishes we had:

Loh Bak - a classic Penang dish. Minced meat seasoned with 5 spice, wrapped in bean curd rolls and deep fried.

Chicken satay - skewers of grilled marinated chicken served with a peanut sauce and servings of cucumber.

Inchee Kabin - beautifully deep fried chicken marinated in a host of spices.

Hainan Chicken Rice - poached chicken served with rice cooked in chicken stock with garlic chilli sauce.

Auction Rooms (Melbourne)

When I was in Melbourne recently, while at dinner with my nephew and his girlfriend, I was talking about my plans to check out places for good coffee and good breakfast/brunch. They both suggested I try out Auction Rooms. I had not heard of it before and was only too happy to take down suggestions from locals.

So that Sunday morning, I woke up feeling a little ill and I could feel I was coming down with a cold and sore throat. But the thought of having a decent cup of coffee and a good brunch kept me going until I found a pharmacy to get some Codral (after returning from Auction Rooms).

Auction Rooms is located in North Melbourne. It is housed in an old WB Ellis auction house, hence the very apt name. Never having ventured to this suburb before, I was interested to have look around the place. I took the Tram #57 from Elizabeth Street and stopped off at Tram stop 12. Then it is literally a short walk to Auction Rooms.

As I approached the cafe, I could see many people milling outside and there were also outdoor tables filled with diners. It was a bright and sunny morning in Melbourne, a perfect way to enjoy a meal by sitting outside.

I stepped in and was immediately greeted with a large loft filled to the brim with diners, there were lots of noise with all the conversations going on and a queue of people waiting for a table. Oh dear! I wondered how long it would take for me to grab one.

I had deliberately set Sunday as my day and I had not made any prior social engagements, which was a blessing in disguise what with being sick and all. So it was a table for 1. Hurray! I was lucky, I got a table straight away.

I loved the vibe. The place was buzzing and being there perked up my spirits! I couldn't wait to have my meal. I started with a skim cappuccino which by default is their in house blend called Candyman. They also have a coffee bar where I could see syphons, coffees from Kenya, Costa Rica, and Ethiopia displayed on the shelves. Serious stuff!

My coffee was very good. Smooth and creamy. I so wanted another cup and would have ordered more but refrained until I finished my meal.

The juice of the day was Watermelon, strawberry, with honey and mint. Delicious!

Top Paddock (Melbourne)

Top Paddock is a relatively newcomer to the Melbourne food scene. And yet this place is packed every weekend. Now how would I know that since I am not a local? Well, I met up my friend AK for lunch. She is a recent Sydney sider who moved to Melbourne a few weeks ago and she brought her friend, a Melbourne local who lives 5 mins away. And according to S (the Melbourne local), this place is full, full, full on weekends!

They didn't accept bookings so when we arrived, we put our names down on the list and waited for about 15 minutes for a table. Not too bad actually considering the place was full to the brim.

There is a openness to the cafe. The venue is surrounded by floor to ceiling glass windows and I think it definitely brightens up the interior. There were indoor and outdoor tables.

AK felt like something sweet so she ordered the Ricotta hotcakes with blueberries, maple, seeds and organic mascarpone. It looked so delicious on the plate and apparently tasted just as delicious as it looked. AK finished it all! :-)

S felt like something simple so she had the House made muesli with poached fruit. She seemed to enjoy it very much.

Manchester Press (Melbourne)

I was in Melbourne and in dire need of a good cuppa coffee first thing on a Saturday morning. All the good coffee places that I was aware of were closed for the weekend. Panic sets in! So I desperately turned to Google for some help.

Lo and behold, I decided to check out Manchester Press. Initially I couldn't even find Rankins Lane. I walked past it without even knowing I had overshot. Fortunately my phone's GPS steered me back to the right course.

PF was in Melbourne too and she found out I was in town through twitter so we decided to meet for coffee that morning. I really liked the look and feel of Manchester Press. It had a warehouse/loft like feel. There was a grunginess to this place. Quite cool actually.

When we arrived, it was just after 9.00 am and there were only a few patrons. But the place filled up half hour later.

Looking at the menu, I could clearly see that their breakfast specialty is bagels. There was bagel with raspberry jam, bagel with smoked salmon, BLT bagel, Chorizo open bagel; and the list goes on.

But what did I order? No bagels for me. I had a lunch to go to in a few hours so I had to pace myself and ordered a coffee and a Passionfruit and Poppyseed cake. The coffee was quite smooth and the cake was delicious. It had a nice passionfruit punch and had a good density.

Meat & Wine Co (Southbank - Melbourne)

When I was in Melbourne, I met up with K and S at Meat & Wine Co in Southbank. As I was walking along the promenade, I noticed how busy the place was. It was full of life and activity. Every restaurant and bar along the strip was packed with diners. I guess it helps that it is a Friday night and the weekend had kicked off!

Believe it or not, this is my first time at a Meat & Wine Co restaurant. K chose the venue as he had a craving for pork ribs. I went along to check it out. Plus he was buying me dinner so he gets to choose the venue. :-)

I had the 130 day aged 300g fillet cooked medium rare. My sauce of choice was the green peppercorn sauce.