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