PUBLIC, Franklin Street

I have walked past Public on numerous events but the thought of walking in never flicked my mind. Possibly because I am on "mission mode" as I breeze past or because I am just too shy to actually dine anywhere alone (although, this character is slowly fading with age). So when the opportunity arises, I quickly put in my two cents opinion to head here.

We arrived a little too late for breakfast and settled for their lunch menu. Service was efficient and friendly, much to my satisfaction:)

Croissant ~ there were still quite a good selection of pastries available at the front counter which prompted us to place an order for them to test the waters. Croissants were pretty good aka countless of buttery layers that crumbles oh so easily.

Croissant with chocolate piped into it ~ as what I would call this. Still pretty yums and more suited for the chocoholics in us.

Public tasting plate ~ much to our delight, Public offered a tasting platter which covered about 40% of the snack menu. We had arancini balls, rosemary and roasted garlic flatbread, olives, house cured atlantic salmon, cured meat and pate. The arancini balls were composed of mushrooms, parmesan and gorgonzola. They were fried to perfection whilst still retaining a moist and flavoursome centre. Would love to have another go at them!

We ate the cured meat wrapped with the flatbread which tasted good together. Personally, I am not a big fan of pate but if you are, Public did give us a generous amount of it so you're in luck!

House cured atlantic salmon with dill mustard dressing, sour cream, mustard leaf and olive oil croutons. This is a shout out to all the healthy foodies out there. A very simple dish done well aka no fussing around with fancy ingredients. Light and yummy gets the thumbs up from me.

Parsnip soup with bread ~ I didn't get the try this out myself but from first impressions, the soup looks fully bodied and would suffice for a semi-full lunch meal. Can't go wrong without some bread served with it too. Oh and a bit of crunchy bits of ham wouldn't hurt at all.

Mixed mushroom ravioli ~ All the pasta dishes served at Public are freshly made so you won't be disappointed with store bought variations. The mushrooms on the plate were plump, juicy and have soaked up all the lovely goodness that they were cooked in. The ravioli was thin enough for my liking and had a decent sized stuffed center. A few dollops of cream and shaved parmesan for added lightness and saltiness. Yums!

Gnocchi with braised chicken, hamlet speck, capsicum, cherry tomatoes, basil and confit garlic ~ I love lvoe gnocchi and find it extremely rare to find one that has meat in it as it is usually a vegetarian option. I would have liked a bit more seasoning but overall, I was still a happy gnocchi filled customer. The cherry tomatoes were cooked until they blistered slightly and there is not one item on the plate that overpowers the dish. Would not mind having this again!

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience here and although dinner is not an option as they don't open then (except for fridays), I am looking forward to popping by for a good brekkie:) Till next time!

 

Grind It, Glenelg

Days off are always a good time to venture into new grounds, especially when you have companions that are willing to try anything. We managed to get ourselves here for their all day breakfast menu and boy, were we surprised with the crowd that churned up that rainy morning!

As it is, Grind It is a small-ish cafe that can probably sit around 25 diners and so, we waited until we got ourselves a nice spot in the middle of the cafe aka near the kitchen and not too far from the counter. Staff here are extremely friendly although, please do be mindful that service can be a bit slower when it gets crowded (as with most places). Drinks came out too quick though!;)

Freshly squeezed orange juice ~ doesn't get any better than this. Not overly sweet or sour for my liking too!

Turkish bread with omelette ~ a very healthy option but the stand out on the plate had to be the thick slices of bread that's fluffy light and so flavoursome.

Eggs benedict ~ look at that glorious slice of bread that's soaking up all the bacon and hollandaise goodness!  Bread here is amazing and definitely makes whatever it gets served with tastes yummy.

Brioche with omelette and chilli jam ~ I am obviously a bread addict and although brioche is not the healthiest option to go for, it is one of the richest ones I had. One does not need additional butter, no sirre. Chilli jam had a mild chilli kick to it so don't be worried if chilli is your nemesis! Omelette was not dry and was seasoned well. Paired with a few slices of salami, I was a happy kid afterwards:)

Sushi Gallery, Felixstow

Second time in a month and here I am again, feeding myself with piping hot Korean favourites. Winter is always the best time for hot pots/ stews, without a doubt. This time round we tried a few other dishes, some, a little unorthodox.

Takoyaki ~ If I go to a Thai restaurant, I would order Thai food and not something that they do not specialize in. Hence, the facepalm I made when my sis ordered this out of curiousity. Not that it was a bad thing tho. The takoyaki balls were well made and fresh out of the fryer. A good appetizer to start our meal.

Dragon roll~ After eating sushi in Adelaide for sometime, I found that most places serve common variations. This was no strange to me. I enjoyed it very much although it's not something I would usually order at a Korean restaurant (saving tummy space for other delights!).

Beef bulgogi ~ came out sizzling on a hot plate and meat was juicy and tender. I find that beef bulgogi dishes always lean towards the sweeter side of a savoury dish. No complaints whatsoever and in terms of portion size, sufficient.

Japchae ~ as seen here.

Beef noodles with dumplings hot pot ~ this came as a surprise as we were expecting a stew with either chilli paste or bean paste. The pot arrived on our table with a semi-clear broth, noodles, thin slices of beef and mushrooms. We were advised to consume it after 3 minutes of cooking to which, we did otherwise the noodles will end up soggy and unappealing. I loved this dish purely because I found it different and very refresehing. Broth slowly thickened whilst bubbling and went down well with the assortment of vegetables in it.

Chinese black vinegar pork trotters recipe

I am prone to randomly grabbing food items that interest me whilst doing my weekly food shopping in Chinatown. There are too many things waiting to be discovered which prompt my itchy fingers to pick them off the shelves. Not that it's a bad habit but I do get stuck with these items especially if I don't have a clue what to do with them. I tend to forget. Oops.

So I had some gula melaka sitting in my pantry for months and I finally decided to bring them out to use. But first, a recipe is needed. I was not in the mood for something sweet, hence, opted for a savoury dish instead. This one is something my dad used to prepare every now and then. It was a treat to slop off the sauce with the white rice in my bowl.


Ingredients:
100g ginger
1.5kg pork trotters (I mixed the pork trotters with a bit of pork shoulder meat)
100g gula melaka
200ml sweet spiced vinegar

1. Blanch pork trotters in boiling water for about 10 minutes to remove any foul stench. Remove and ensure that every bit of hair is removed from the skin.
2. Roughly slice the ginger into think chunks and fry in a pot with sesame oil until fragrant.
3. Add meat into the pot to sear the meat before adding in the sugar and vinegar.
4. Add just enough water to cover the meat and allow it to simmer in the pot for 30 minutes.
5. Remove excess scum build up in the liquid and adjust taste to preference. Feel free to add more sugar or salt.

Dish out and serve or keep it in containers, ready to be consumed for the rest of the week!

This was one of the brands that I found in my local Asian grocer although it was not as spiced as I would have liked it to be. Perhaps I need to reduce the liquid more?

Chocolateria San Churros, Gouger Street

San Churros is currently running a promotion throughout this month whereby as long as you "check in" to any of their outlets, you are entitled to get double the amount of churros for the same price. So naturally, this lured the bunch of us here, noting that we weren't too hungry but were craving for sweets:)

Toblerone cheesecake ~ This reminded me of a chilled cheesecake rather than a baked version. It's not too heavy for our liking and had a mild toblerone taste to it.

Hot chocolate ~ not too bad although would have liked a bit more chocolate punch to it.

Salted caramel milkshake ~ a little too sweet for our liking but if you are really keen on something sweet, by all means go ahead.

Churros for two which ended up to be enough for 4 people ~ churros were lightly dusted with cinnamon sugar for that extra bit of flavour. Odd but true, all of us were inclined to dipping our churros into the milk chocolate puddle rather than the dark chocolate version. Not that it was a bad thing but the slightly milkier chocolate complimented the churros better. Personal opinion!

Chianti Classico for breakfast, Adelaide

This has to be one of the few times you would ever catch me waking up at 7am just to have brekkie at 8.30am. To top off the experience, I rang the restaurant a few days ahead to make a reservation as well. Both of these pointers had increased my expectations for the restaurant's food, especially after hearing lots of praises from friends.

The first impression service here blew me away. Upon entry into the restaurant, we were immediately greeted and shown our table. The waiting staff were very attentive to our needs be it ordering our meals or even just filling up our glasses with water.

Eggs benedict ~ I love eggs benedict despite noting the calories involved in the hollandaise sauce. This homemade sauce had a striking yellow colour and a very distinct vinegar taste, proving that good quality ingredients were used to make this sauce from scratch. After a few mouthfuls, the richness of the entire dish was more than enough to keep the sister full.

Baccala ~ basically a homemade potato hashbrown topped with poached eggs with homemade mayonnaise and a few capers for that added zing. Yet another unique and delicious dish that ended well in my tummy. It may look small in terms of portion but boy, was I filled up once I finished it. Happy days!

Big brekkie ~ This is your classic big brekkie with the usual suspects: sauteed mushrooms, blanched spinach, roasted tomatoes, chorizo sausage, crisp bacon, homemade hashbrown, scrambled eggs and toasted ciabatta. The normally fussy brother found this unbelievably good whilst I thought it gave a new perspective or definition to big brekkie. We expected the tomatoes to be sour but no, they were sweet. Scrambled eggs were so creamy and had a rich colour to it whilst the bacon was cooked to perfection. For $22.90, it was definitely worth every penny spent!

I loved my breakfast experience here and in the future, I shall be trying out the other dishes available. Had a peek at what other diners were having and admittedly, the crepes look good. A must visit if you are on the lookout for good quality breakfast with excellent customer service;)

Bar 9 Central, Adelaide

I have been to Bar 9 countless times but I have not been to it's new branch located on David Jones's ground floor. And I frequently visit the city area too. And so, what does one do at 2pm in the afternoon and with little lunch options available on a Sunday? I'll let you take a guess haha.

Despite us rocking up here late, there were still a mob of people dining here. Service was friendly and efficient, the only thing I can comment on would be that there are probably less choices here compared to the main store. Nevertheless, I won't complain at 2pm:)

Mushroom ragu ~ everybody I know loved this dish. It is creamy, well seasoned and topped with loads of fungi goodness to satisfy any vegetarians out there. Served atop two slices of toasted bread, this will always be a good option to pick if you have no idea what to order!

Pulled pork ~ as the name suggests, they did "pull" the pork meat to thin, shredded pieces and topped it with a serve of apple and cabbage slaw. Buns were fluffy and nicely toasted. Not bad at all although it may not be big enough for the hungry consumers out there.

Conclusion? Bar 9 had certainly made the right choice of plunking a little branch in the city and it did lift up to my personal expectations. Would definitely make a second trip next time I am in the city!:)