Kingfish Bliss

On a cold and rainy night we came together to celebrate Miss Sheena's Birthday. The restaurant is on the St peters end of King Street just around the corner from Alice Street, it's not a very big space, but plenty of room for a couple of larger parties.

There was a minor hiccup due to a menu mix up, in the end it was a brilliant night filled with wonderful people lots of laughter and amazing food. While we were waiting to be served I could see the most gorgeous looking food coming out from the kitchen, I wanted to try EVERYTHING!!!

There really is no other word to describe the food but AMAZING, everything that came out not only looked and smelled great, it all tasted divine too. We started off with some Sourdough, olive oil and marinated olives, so simple but so delicious. The olive oil was to die for and I don't often say that about something as commonplace as frikken olive oil!

I decided to try something I've never had before so I ordered scallops with a salad that had apples in it, very fancy indeed. Having never eaten scallops before I was a little concerned when they came out. I mean they looked beautiful but I wasn’t sure they were cooked properly, goes to show how little I know, Sheena soon pointed out they were perfectly cooked so I tucked in and they were so yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. And the salad was a nice surprise, I'm not a big fan of fruit being thrown into a savoury salad, but all it worked together brilliantly.

I was also lucky enough to try the spring rolls, which are possibly the best spring rolls I've ever had, EVER!!! A whole king prawn, gorgeously julienned vegies wrapped lovingly and lightly fried, and the dipping sauce, OMG the dipping sauce, SUBLIME! Oh and the seafood chowder was just bliss, I'm not really a fan of any kind of seafood soup but I had to try it and it's exactly what you need on a cold and rainy night. So rich and creamy and filled with prawns and mussels (I think) absolutely gorgeous.

For Main I ordered the Duck confit with a cherry glaze served with lentils and red cabbage. I've never had duck before and was worried I would embarrass myself by spitting it out or even worse making one of those faces kids make when they hate what they're eating but I needn't have been. The duck was perfectly cooked and tasted so good, the meat just melted in your mouth and combined with the red cabbage and lentils my tastebuds were dancing, and so I was I in my chair :-). I scraped the bones and plate clean that's how good it was!!

During the course of the meal a few desserts had come past the table and like Charlie and Sofia I was fascinated by the ice-cream pyramid, I had to have it, I just had to not even the chocolate mousse was enough to deter me. A layer each of mango and pineapple ice-cream topped with lemon sorbet served with a passionfruit coulis, it was utterly blissful and while the cheese plate and the mousse looked stunning I knew I had made the right choice. Such a light and refreshing way to end a superb meal.

I had the loveliest evening I've had in a really long time and I hope jess, Stella, Fabe, Gabby, Zuzka, Sheena, Charlie and Sofia felt the same way. I loved celebrating my good friends birthday with her and her closest family and friends, it feels amazing to be included in that group. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHEENA!!! I hope all your birthday wishes come true :-)

I've always known this challenge was a good idea but I never really knew if I could pull it off, and I am really trying to get out there more often, but I shouldn't have doubted myself. With friends like mine I’ll make it through, they are the most supportive group of people I've ever encountered and they are so supportive of this cockamamie idea I had, how do you not love people like that!

I love youse all

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZUZKA

Friday 24th June (I know I suck, I should have updated the day after but I'm a lazy cow) saw us gather at Amazon Steakhouse for Zuzka's Birthday dinner. I was soooooooo looking forward to lots of meat and even a few cocktails so I arrived with a big smile on my face and images of giant steaks dancing in my head.

We sat around waiting for ages to have our drinks orders taken, I ordered a Mango Daiquiri to begin with, figuring I'd order a couple more over the course of the evening. 25 minutes later my drink arrived (seriously how long does it take to blend some alcohol and mango ice-cream/puree together? it's not that fucking hard, I do it all the time and I don't have a degree in bartendology or whatever the fuck you call it!) Anyways, I tasted it and it was the most bitter dreadful cocktail I’ve possibly ever had. Strike 1

We finally got one of the waiters to come and take our order, and the little fucker must have been on his god damn period because he was a total twat to us, but to ensure the little mongrel didn’t piss in our food, I held my tongue and waited til he left to bitch about him. I ordered a steak, medium rare, with mushroom sauce and mashed potatoes. Not very exciting and you would think you couldn’t fuck it up, at least I did. I WAS WRONG.

I got my steak about 40 minutes later, It was the blandest looking meal I'd been served in a loooooooong time and it was rare (good thing I don't mind a little blood) the sauce was weak in flavour and the mash was pretty blah too. I opted not to order any desserts or additional cocktails as everything I had been served that evening had been shite. From what I remember everyone else had issues with their meals too, but I’ll let them speak for themselves.

Honestly I had a great night, anytime I get to spend with my friends is a time, it's just such a shame the service couldn't have been better and on such a special occasion too. I would definitely NOT recommend this place. What did the rest of you think? I'm pretty sure Jess enjoyed her ribs :-)

Til next time
xoxo
Mel D

Buzzzbar Brunch - That is so not an exciting title

Yay, King St Challenge is back on, I'm pretty lame at getting the blog out though. I'd like to tell you that I’m flat out busy doing other things but i don't think parking my arse on the couch and channel surfing counts as "things".

Anywhoo, over the Easter long weekend, I was lucky enough to catch up with my super awesome friends (I have other super awesome friends that weren't able to attend for various reasons and I don't want them to feel that they are any less super awesome coz I'm not mentioning them, but they are a little teehee) Sheena, Nat, Anthony, Gav and little Oli (he is so damn adorable, I'm telling you this kid could be a Von Trap in a future production of The Sound of Music, you heard it here first)

Again with the rambling, FOCUS Mel!! So we met for Brunch @ Buzzzbar (Fun Fact - I've been spelling it with 2 z's instead of 3 up until this very moment when I noticed the picture of the sign so I've gone back and edited, almost like a real writer), the weather was shithouse but who cares we were inside where it was all warm and cosy. We found a nice corner with couches and pretty much barricaded it so Oli wouldn't run off. Anthony came in super handy (literally) when Oli dropped stuff under the couch, he has go-go-gadget arms (Anthony not Oli) and was able to retrieve them with little to no effort. Nat, I think you may want to see if he has niece named Penny, also if he owns a trench coat you could be married to a super hero (just coz he's not Marvel doesn’t mean he's not a super hero!!) Oh and gav turned up almost on time too, granted he looked half alseep but ahe at least came, gotta love that!!

Big thank you to the guy who gave up his spot so we could sit down by the way, he was just sitting there reading the paper and drinking his coffee when we came in and offered to move so we could sit down, what a gentleman. See people in Sydney can be nice too :-) If you run into him can you tell him we said thanks, he was male with hair and eyes and stuff with a coffee and paper in his hand.

We all pretty much ordered the same thing, a big breakfast which consisted of bacon, eggs, toast, and extras. I can't remember what exactly they were, it was a week ago after all and I didn't steal a copy of the menu. Also I only remembered to take pics of the food after we had finished, so I suck. Sheena ordered Oli a Baby Chino and I gotta say he was not too impressed; he was however super delighted by Uncle Gavy's Banana Milkshake. He loved it; I understand it was his first experience with a milk shake, so proud to have shared the moment :-) Oh wait I remember one of them was spicy beans, not all of us ordered those though coz beans make you fart. Also discovered that Oli likes Bacon, I already loved that kid but now I love him even more.

The coffee at Buzzzbar is pretty good, you'd want it to be with the schmick coffee machine they have, also the baristas and waiters are not too hard on the eye if you catch my drift. The service is good, everyone was very friendly and the atmosphere is just chilled and relaxed (Look Gav, I didn't use Chillaxed....oh fuck, I guess I just did) The prices are pretty decent too, although I'm pretty sure they undercharged us, which is a nice change for us, not so much for them tho...oh well not my problem.

We all had a fantabulous time, at least that's what I was told and I’m very much looking forward to doing it again... and soon. if you ever find yourself in newtown looking for a good coffee, a fresh simple meal or a sweet treat you should try Buzzzbar, it's well worth it.

XOXO
Mel

BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

So the Challenge is back on!! Tuesday April 26th @ Buzzbar Cafe. Can not wait to see everyone there

XOXO

Anyone want to join me for lunch?

So it's been a while since I last blogged or even visited King Street, mainly because I am hopless but a little because I've had other priorities this month. I'm on my lunch break at work thinking I really need to get my shit together or I am never going to accomplish this challenge. Not that I really care though, am having heaps of fun cathing up with my mates and there's always next year lol

Anywhoo, I'm thinking lunch on Sunday 3rd April @ Buzzbar Cafe around 1230-1ish, anyone interested in joining me? We can celebrate Sunday, the eve of Wrestlemania,the end of daylight savings, or comiserate even if that's how you roll, whatever, i'm easy (tell your single deaf dumb and blind male friends). Let me know if you wanna come along and I'll organise.

Ok, so I'm off to google pics of TIG from Sons of Anarchy (BEST SHOW EVER!!! even better than 21 Jump Street, NOW THAT'S SAYING SOMETHING!!!!!)

VS

I  rest my case

Love youse all, especially YOU and you're ok too
XOXO
Mel

CHURROS versus CHURROS

Can you have bad Churros? I don't think so but one can definitely be better than the other!

The Churros at The Marlborough Hotel was the first time I'd ever had Churros, so when it came out I was suitably impressed. Served with Hot Chocolate dipping sauce and Strawberry coulis it looked heavenly. OK so it looked a little over cooked but it tasted pretty good. I decided I was most certainly going to order it every time I came across it on a menu, that's how much I liked it.

Now when the same dish came out at Madame Fling Flongs it didn't look anywhere near as special. Firstly there was no Strawberry Coulis, it was covered in sugar granules not icing sugar and it was all goldeny too. The difference in the taste was insane, crispy on the outside, all soft and doughy in the middle. Absolute Perfection. If you are ever there ORDER IT!!

There was no doubt who the winner in this bout was. Madame Fling Flongs by a country mile. Orgasmic is the best way I can describe it, the only way.

On that note I'm off to dream about Churros and other things smothered in Hot Chocolate Sauce.

Sweet Dreams
XOXO

Happy Birthday Tahuaka Fahey!!!! (Part 2)

Off to Madame Fling Flongs we go for part 2 of Tahu's Birthday celebrations. This was my first time going so I was most pleasantly surprised when we walked upstairs. The place is just too cool, cosy couches and armchairs, mood lighting and retro decor. Me likey a lot!

We found ourselves a corner to sit in; the place was packed so we got there just in time to grab the last of the bigger spots. Tapas were the order of the day or night if you look at it literally. We ordered a bunch of stuff and every single thing that came out was FUCKING UNREAL!

We really ordered a lot, and luckily for us the boys didn't seem too interested. NOM NOM NOM

Patatas Bravas - Crispy potato chunks with a garlic, chilli and tomato salsa

Haloumi Nicosia - A traditional Cyprus haloumi, grilled and served with oregano and lemon - no pictures, sad panda but it was really really good.

Polenta de Marseilles - Roast polenta rounds topped with goat's cheese and toasted pistachios

Melanzane Fritti - Eggplant rounds dusted in cumin, deep fried and drizzled in honey

This is about when/where Mrs Brooks aka Sarah & her hubby Adam turned up, but Adam god love him decided the football was more important SO HE LEFT to watch the game at the Marly! WTF is that about, such a typical boy. Hope Sarah gave him an earful when they got home, he so deserved it. Not cool dude!

Back to the food

Kordeles Kreatos - Kangaroo loin strips with chipotle jus

Manzanilla Prawns - Pan-fried king prawns in a garlic, lime, and saffron and Manzanilla sherry sauce topped with fresh tarragon

Kalamari Zesto - Flower-cut and chilli dusted whole baby squid, deep-fried and served on a bed of rocket & lemon

Meze Plate - Chef's selection of tastes which include hot & cold nibbles, dips, cured meats and pickled veges (you can sorta kinda see some of the haloumi in there)

There are some seriously awesome cocktails you can get there, I myself ordered 2 (if you knew how little I drank you'd be sooooo impressed) How hot do the ladies look? And so happy too, Cocktails will do that to you.

I ordered the Madame Coco and the Raspberry Truffle, they were beyond yummy!

Oh we also ordered Churos with hot chocolate dipping sauce but that's a whole other blog!!

Hope you had a fantastic day Tahu, I loved spending the day with you and celebrating with all your friends. Big love from me to you MWAH

xoxo

Happy Birthday Tahuaka Fahey!!!! (Part 1)

Saturday 26th of February found us at The Marlborough Hotel on King St of course to celebrate the lovely Miss Tahuaka Fahey's Birthday. I won’t tell you how old and I won’t post the pic of her in her groovy hat (she hates it, i think she looks adorable) coz I'm not a cunt like that.

She and I were the first ones there, we settled into a nice corner table @ Bar Prego (it was too frikken hot to sit outside outside) and waited for the other guests to arrive. Vikki and Arne were the first to join us; we quickly ordered drinks (they apparently don't serve the Birthday Girls fave cider - big NO NO) followed by Sheena & Sue and their brood Charlie, Sofia and Oliver. The party was in full swing, many drinks and laughs were shared, at one point Vikki had me laughing so hard I snorted 7 times in a row, it was a heart-warming story about a woman’s humungous va-jay-jay on Embarrassing Bodies that set me off.

We ordered food at the bar, the girl was lovely and the service was prompt, although the tables could have used a wipe down after the people before us left, just saying.

Sue ordered the Crying Tiger - tender beef marinated in herbs served with homemade spicy sauce and garlic fried rice. I have to say I found the salad on the side a little unusual, not at all Asian looking, but then I didn't have to eat it so whatever.

Her Mrs, Sheena, ordered the Garlic Prawn Salad - garlic prawns, baby spinach, apple, celery, capsicum, parmesan & pine nuts in a Thai summer dressing. Sheena reckons it was pretty good. It smelled fabulous too.

Their gorgeous girls Charlie and Sofia shared a Marlborough Platter (small) - garlic chicken balls, calamari rings, Cajun crumbed prawns, spring rolls, octopus balls and pork wontons. There was nothing left on the plate so it must have been good.

Vikki and Arne both ordered the garlic & Chilli Prawn Linguine - served in napolitana sauce with mushroom, olive and basil topped with parmesan. They both agreed it was pretty ordinary which is a shame because it looked pretty yummy.

The Birthday girl originally wanted the Grilled Cajun Chicken Breast but because of her gluten intolerance (yes she's one of THOSE!) had to settle for the Grilled Lemon Pepper & Cajun Chicken Salad. It looked pretty frikken good when it came out but I couldn't understand why she could have that and not the Cajun Chicken breast she originally wanted. I think the girl that took our order may have been a bit "special"

I chose the Baked Barramundi Fillet with Chilli, lime and ginger served on a bed of garlic mash and wilted spinach. It didn't look that crash hot when it came out, for one thing there was no frikken wilted spinach but once I opened the little package the smell was so delicious any disappointment I may have felt disappeared into the ethos. And it tasted as good as it looked mucho yumminess.

So Sheena and I decided to order dessert, Churros with Chocolate dipping sauce and strawberry coulis. Sheena also decided to order a coffee. Our "special" waitress had no idea how to make a long black SERIOUSLY! And then when she brought the coffee over she had the saucer in one hand and the cup in the other, and was practically staggering to the table. And if that's not bad enough, Sheena had to go all MacGyver and use a knife to stir her coffee because the fucktard serving us didn't bother to bring one lol. To quote Sheena "it's a Pub not a cafe"

After Sue took the kids home and Arne left to pick up his olds from the airport we moved outside into the courtyard. It's rather nice out there when the suns not blistering hot, plenty of shady spots which is always good. I finally decided to order a cocktail, a Smooth Operator so very good and it looked pretty too. Not bad for a $10.50 pub job if you ask me.

Tahu's mate Jeremy and Vikki’s man Anze turned up later in the day, Jeremy ordered the Thai Beef Salad marinated beef served medium rare with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, casher nuts and mixed herbs with a Thai herb dressing - now that was one gorgeous plate when it came out!

The food was fantabulous and the company was great. I met a few new people which is always good, and they knew who I was! You gotta love friends that talk about you, I felt almost famous lol. And most importantly Miss Tahu had a wonderful time.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETHEART!!!

See how nice I was, I didn't post any pics of you.........yet :-)

XOXO

All Fattoushed Out

Thursday night found us at Arabella Restaurant and Bar. We were seated at a lovely table up front with a fantastic view of king Street. The view itself was not so spectacular but a perfect location for people watching if that's your thing. (It is mine, but then I'm a perve)

The girls, Christine Edel and Briony ordered a bottle of wine (to share, not each they're not booze hounds for goodness sakes and it WAS a school night lol), and we ordered a couple of mixed dip plates to kick things off. The mixed dip plates were divine: Hummus, Babaganouj and Garlic Labneh. OH MY GOD I have never seen a Hummus so silky looking, it was glorious. And they all tasted frikken awesome! At first I thought the $18.00 price tag (per mixed dip plate) was a bit steep, but then I saw the dips and how yummy they looked I stopped caring about the price.

We also ordered Ladies Fingers: Gorgeous pastry filled with feta cheese herbs and parsley. So dainty and oh so yummy, Fattoush: the MOST AMAZING salad I have EVER had in my life!!! It doesn't sound that flash, I mean it's just tomato, cucumber, shallots, radish, capsicum, lettuce and fried crispy bread but combine all of that together and dress it and its fucking genius. We also ordered the Grilled Eggplant Salad: Grilled Eggplant, capsicum, shallots, parsley, tomato and lemon. So delish!
Best part of the night, 4 chicks that work together talked about pretty much everything other than work! So excellent.

The wait staff was very friendly and we didn't wait too long between courses. The food smelled AMAZING and the portions were huge!!

Edel ordered the Shish Tawouk, oh so good marinated chicken breast served with pickles, salad and yoghurt. Is it just me or does the chicken look like the head of a penis? Just asking.

Briony ordered the Lamb Schwarma, marinated lamb strips served with salad, yoghurt and pickled beetroot. The pickled beetroot looked soo good; I don't know what shade you would call it though; kind of a cross between hot pink and magenta looked lovely on the plate.

Christine ordered the Mansaf Lamb: rice with minced meat, mixed nuts, herbs and spices; topped with strips of lamb and a side of yoghurt. It didn't look like much when it came out but it smelled like heaven.

I got the Mansaf Dejaj: Rice with minced meat, mixed nuts, herbs and spices topped with chicken strips and a side of yoghurt. I was a bit weirded out by the nuts in the rice when it came out but one taste and I was hooked. It was, for me, phenomenally good. Oh so frikken good.

Everybody left something on their plates, not because it didn't taste good but because we were so stuffed. I was seriously tempted to do the Al Bundy and unbutton the top button of my trousers, but civilised people can't do that shit in public! Oh and Edel had her leftovers at work today and OH MY GOD the amazing smell was wafting across the office and making me drool, I was so jealous.

A great night was had by all, at least that's what I was told (they could be humouring me lol) Oh and the whole bill (wine included) came to $199, so a very affordable night out.