Only in Bangkok 2011

These are quite a yesteryear random photos collection but I had a great time in Bangkok last year & I just want to share my snaps =)

Tuk Tuk - Bangkok style rickshaw, bargaining is a must

Neon bright pink taxi - think about all the benefits, you can easily hail them and will not miss them when they pass by on the road. They are super strikey under the scorching sun

Bangkok traffic jam in CBD - around 8-9pm on a weekday. Spot the OZ theme taxi ...I think Sydney's traffic is bearable compared to Bangkok.

United Kingdom of Fakeys ..Gucci, Prada, Coach, Chanel @ floating market

Warning sticker on taxi's window - I translate it as... No Goat, No Gun, No XXX, No Dog, No Alcohol and No Durian. Seriously...who will carry a goat to a cab?

Hand Made Robot from Recycled materials @ Chatuchak Market (aka JJ market)

Money on string - donating money to the temple by stapling the money to the string @ Golden Mount temple (roof top).

Baby pineapple - super sweet - sweetest pineapple ever, about the size of an apple. More expensive than normal pineapple according to my friend who is a local. How to eat? Hold the green bit & eat it like popsicle.

Mobile vendor - selling traditional crackers

Various types of eggplants - purple, white, round, oval, green, etc. I thought there's only 2-3 kinds of eggplants in the whole eggplant family.

Street Food Vendor - this lady is awesome, she made fresh papaya salad/ cook fresh noodle/ fresh stir fry (in front of the Palace). Really well equipped.

Cara and Co @ Westfield Sydney

Friday, 06/01/2012

Okay peeps, I have finally decided to post Cara and Co after contemplating for several months. Slap my selfish-ness, initially I was not keen to post it coz I dont want Cara to get popular too soon (Cara please dont crucify me). Imagine if they starting to intro '1 month to book a table' policy. What a nightmare.

Oh well after all I am not a heartless soul and I am more than happy to tell the universe how AWESOME Cara and Co is.

Cara & Co is located on level 4 of Westfield. How easy to find Cara? It is easy but tricky. Here's my story. Let's start with my bad habit that I always carry across regardless the country, timezone, or place ... as usual I left everything to last minute to find the exact whereabout. Feeling helpless & lazy to walkaround Westfield, I went to 'INFORMATION' hoping for some miracle.

Me               : Hi, I am looking for Cara and Co.

Concierge 1  : Sorry...what's the name again? what is Ca_ _ and...?

Me              : Cara & Co, C_A_R_A (I had to spell it), Fashion store and restaurant, the restaurant is  inside the clothing store

Concierge 1 : Sorry I dont know, what's the name again let me ask my collegue' (helllo...INFORMATION desk were you there for real? Did you pass training program?)

Concierge 2 : Excuse me, are you looking for Cara & Co, Oh yeah ... Cara and Co, level 4, next to Sambag, on the top of Mulberry'.
Ahaaa now we are on the same page, what a life saver. Quest sorted.

Found it ...Cara & Co shop the clothing store, the restaurant supposed to be inside the clothing store. I stepped in & still trying to find the restaurant...till I saw the 'Restaurant' signage at the really end of my right side. Hhmm I still had the weird feeling (in a good way though) to know the restaurant is inside the clothing store. Anyway as I stepped towards the restaurant, my eyes really wander around the store (pretty massive store) enjoying all the tiny bits of decorations, toys, retro games, accesories or anything funky and edgy. The shop looks more like a showroom to me, spacious, tasteful, and entertaining.

Reached the restaurant, we were greeted by the friendly waiter - who end up recommending good champgane to us. Pity I cant remember the brand of the champagne. It was not Moet, 1 level down from Moet. Menu - very simple and clean, not much description on each though, they had catchy names for the dishes, e.g. Caesar in disguise, In tune with tuna, Fish united etc. We had the summer menu, ordered 3 course dinner and each of us tried to order different stuff, please enjoy my photos ...

Cara & Co shop front...hope this help finding the restaurant

Entrance to the restaurant, 'Restaurant' sign in neon lightings

Pre-Starter - Cauliflower pure with eggyolk - silky smooth, subtle with mix of textures - grainy yet smooth from the yolk & cauliflower pure, plus crunchiness from the little cracker - well combined

Can I have all 4 for myself?

Pre-starter - Seaweed rice crispies with ?? Sorry I forgot the details

My Starter - 'Smoke a Crab Cigar' - crab cigar with spinach cream, basil oil, parmesan jelly and nitrogen grapefruit. Crab cigar is such an awesome starter, light, thin crunchy cigar, generous crab filling with well balanced sauce. Who need real cigar really? Time to convert.

Friend's Starter - Caesar in Disguise - Green gazpacho, glazed chicken oyster, parmesan crisp - Awww so pweeety, parmesan crisp was delicious, chicken was moist and succulent, the color of the sauce is quite misleading..hehe...it looks strong and thick but it was mild and not overpowering at all.

Friend's starter - 'In Tune with Tuna' - tuna, different types of tomatoes, cream of verbena, puffed wild rice. My friend raved about it, according to him 'really fresh tuna & tasty tomatoes'. Pretty looking and resembles a garden.

Friend's Main - Beef Story - fillet tartare, slowly cooked sirloin, glazed potato, lettuce, pickled tomato, Bearnaise sauce

Sides - Greenies on a plate. Fresh and crunchy, with a hint of vinegar.

My Main -Perched on cous cous - silver perch with hand rolled cous cous, baby fennel, sheep's yoghurt, apple confit and shallot jus. I was not sure how the sheep's yoghurt will work with the fish ....but wowww the nicely cooked fish went well with the fennel, potato, the shallot jus and the sheep's yoghurt (didnt taste yoghurt-ey at all). I was really pleased with my main, such a nice portion, presentation & quite light.

The silverish rocky looking bits...not sure what they were but how cool does it look?

Dessert - In Rhubarb we trust - rhubarb, yoghurt and lime leaf. Yoghurt was very fresh and natural. If you are leaning towards the fresh and sourish department then this baby is yours.

Dessert - Smurf's and Violets - Belgian chocolate, strawberry and violet

Hand Towel soaked in Water

Hand Towel after the soaking process, ready to use

These days our ideal dining place is a restaurant where we can chit chat without screaming at each other (sign of maturity sighh), spacious (ie. you are not sitting super close to the next table), warm feeling, nice food & service of course. Cara does fulfill our requirements and they have never disappoint us so far and we have visited Cara 4x. We are not bothered at all with the restaurant being inside a clothing store/ in a shopping mall even though I do feel majority of Sydney people are still not used to dine in a shopping mall. Yes it is a brand new concept for Sydney - clothing store mixed with restaurant and it is in a shopping mall,  yeah why not? it is a new thing but a change is good sometimes. Hurry ..book a table and step into a hidden gem in the city. I am sure you will love Cara in no time, they showcase the best fashion collection in store and showcasing art on a plate too - trust me, they taste as good as how they look.

PS. I will post their winter menu soon.

Cara and Co (close every Monday)

Shop 4001, Westfield Sydney

Level 4

188 Pitt st, Sydney

Phone. (02) 9226-9988

Restaurant - http://www.caraandco.com/en/restaurant_caraandco/carares/

Facebok - https://www.facebook.com/CaraCoSydney

Eat Art Truck (Food Truck)

Friday, 03/08/12

Food truck dinner? Grrr...for real? My perception on food truck was negative, I used to associate all food truck with anything fried, greasy, poor quality, and limited range (fish & chips, doner kebab, thick pizza slices and donuts). Pre-food truck dinner, I rated myself with 15% enthusiasm.

Friday nite, a friend organised a slightly different venue, food truck dinner for a change - Eat Art Truck. We had to check their timetable via Facebook/ Twitter to know their where about on the day/ time. Was scheduled at City Park, across Enmore theatre. When we reached the truck, the boys were packed up already & they had to head to Westfield. Okie, us being the food enthusiasts..we did head to Westfield (with a little detour to Harry's the Wheels for mini snacking).

Reached Westfield, a bit of Q happening, I was a little relieved - must be good if people starting to Q up. I checked the menu on the side of the truck - menu is simple and clear, price is reasonable. We ordered Beef Bun, spatchcock ssam plus the dessert of the day.

This is probably the most luxurious food truck that I have ever seen, equipped with Electrolux oven, flat black truck, jumbo size and a bit of art work on the side of the truck. Fancy looking truck indeed. We had a little chat with the chef duo, they both ex-Tetsuya and therefore their style is very different to other food truck. It is kinda gourmet, healthy, clean and simple. Fusion style, easy to eat and nice sizing. Eat Art Truck is a whole new level of 'food truck'.Oh boyyyy, how yummo was the beef bun, tender and juicy beef that just melt in your mouth. Why on earth did I eat Harry's pie before? Will I go back again? Hell yeah, I will definitely go back to try different menu and will come with empty stomach.

I grew up in a city where you can get lots of yummy street foods 24 hr. I really feel Sydney lacks street food vendors (good ones please). I know it's not the best looking thing on the street if we have 50-100s of them but it's part of the fun, variety, giving the night life (food wise and economy wise) a bit of a boost, adding extra character to the city and ... food truck can be great and healthy too. Dear instant noodle please hide yourself in the shelf gracefully. Let's roll red carpet to the arrival of quality food truck to Sydney. 

Eat Art Truck

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/EatArtTruck
Twitter - https://twitter.com/eatarttruck
Website/ schedule - http://www.eatarttruck.com/

Eat Art Truck - funky food truck

Menu of the day

The TDF BBQ Beef bun - tender, tasty and juicy beef with sweet bread. The sauce and slaw are nice complements to the beef but not overpowering. The carrot gives a bit of crunchiness texture to the entire thing. The beef is such a star, I can easily have 2 of the buns. Generous servings of beef too.

Spatchcock ssam with crispy noodles - hhm how do I describe them? To me, it's a bit of a cross between sang choy bow & jumbo spring roll. Tofu skin was used to wrap them (super crunchy), spatchcock was perfectly cooked, ssam sauce was pretty mild. Nicely wrapped - didnt burst at all (they were pretty massive) and easy to eat with your hand.

Chocolate cake with dulce de leche & salted peanuts - yummmo, made by spraying the cake mix into a container & microwaved them. The cake is hot, soft and fluffy, the salt is such a good addition to break down the chocolate & the caramel bits. Wish they had ice cream for the cake... =)

EAT ART number plate

Around 10pm Q time