Fooshion

Pho Tau Bay

Another rendezvous with pho noodles in Cabramatta.

We stayed loyal to the Pho Dac Biet in Pho Tau Bay. A pleasure-full of large-sized warm beef soup, mixed with chopped chili, lime and wan-sui leaves. I’m starting to feel like Pho Tau Bay’s gonna have a regular customer soon. 

Pho Dac Biet Special beef (Rare beef, beef briskets, tendons, beef balls & beef bible) L-sized  $12.50

Another dish we ordered to share was the bun bo hue noodles: bun spicy beef & pork. The dish was distinct from pho, the noodles weren’t silky flat and the taste was spicy-scrumptious. Both were undeniably fulfilling. 

Bun Bo Hue (Bun spicy noodles with beef & pork M-sized $10.00)

The next few posts would hint you more of the foody-treasures you can find in this suburb. 

Reuben Hills: another visit

Another visit to Reuben Hills; a small cafe nestled in Albion St. The place was packed with people as it was lunch time. As we entered, the smell of coffee came unto us in just a millisecond. However, I was not there for the coffee but I was there for the famous ‘Not reuben-wagyu sandwich’ that I missed during my prior visit to this industrial-looking café.

The wagyu salt brisket was soft, softer than I expected. The taste of salt, pickled slaw and horseradish cream combined was a perfect balance of salty and sour (‘soulty’ we call it). The fact that sourdough was used made the dish a lot more enticing and sophisticated-looking.

Then, the pork baleada came out looking very uninviting. It looked like plain soft taco and we were disappointed when it came out. But truly we should never judge food (people) by their outer looks. This meal had a secret weapon that delivered us from down-bottom towards contentment: pork. Shredded tender pork can never go wrong.

Alast, lunch was over and we left the place feeling ‘just right’. That kind of feeling when you know you’ve eaten good food at the right portion and at the right place.

The Hardware Societe

We decided to have a brunch at the Hardware Societe, one of the most talked-about brunch spot in Melbourne.  

The place was just the opposite of St Ali, so pretty and classy. 

Soy chai latte

Flat white

Salmon with zucchini and peanuts

Pork belly

Overall it was okay, we had missed the brunch hours (7 minutes late) thus we were served with lunch menus instead. It’s quite disappointing to miss out on their baked eggs since it seems like it was one of their specialties. 

120 Hardware St, Melbourne VIC 3000

St Ali

St Ali, an abandoned warehouse turned into a funky cafe. The place reminded me of Muhammad Ali, the famous boxer. 

Flat white

St Ali has the best coffee - its tender brew and aromatic luring smell. 

Bada Bing Bada Boom

Baguette with spicy sausage topped with avocado and jam sauce. This dish was tasty but it was alright. 

Pork me

Pork belly salad, how golly gee is that. Mixed with Asian herbs and peanuts. The taste was —- PORK AT BEST. Minty leaves with soft succulent pork belly, I loved chewing every bit of it. 

My Mexican Cousin

Corn fritters fried in a way that is different than any I’ve tasted before. Two poached eggs, perfectly runny as you can see in the photos.

French Kiss

Brioche french toast with raspberry curd and fresh summer berries plus passionfruit. All the beautiful sweeties mixed together. 

St Ali was definitely memorable, a good place that serves brunch all day long. 

12-18 Yarra Place, South Melbourne VIC 3205

Cabramatta

Even my Vietnamese friends were amazed by my sense of loyalty for Vietnamese food, I traveled all the way from CBD to Cabramatta. The journey was approximately 1 hour by car and I was lucky to have friends who were food-munchers too. But of course, good food requires good long patience… and the longer you have to wait sometimes the better. 

Cabramatta had always been one of my favorite places for a whole day of food-tour. The place reminds me of my home country, most particularly; the morning markets that swarms with busy food sellers. 

Pandan waffle

The hearty waffle is at its best when delivered fresh from the pot. Inside the warm crispy crust is pandan custard with coconut. We ordered for 2 but decided it was not enough, thus we ended up buying 5 more for takeaway. 

Pandan bolu 

Bolu means sponge cake or chiffon in Bahasa Indonesia, and I bet everyone’s familiar with pandan chiffon. I regret not buying more of this luscious fluffy bolu that beats Azuma Patisserie’s by far.

 Viet Hoa Hot Bread

48 Hill St

Before going to Cabramatta, I had discovered that a poll for the best pho in Cabramatta was conducted and the winner was Pho Tau Bay’s Pho dac biet (special beef). 

Large-sized Pho dac biet

The soup was marvellous, seemed oily at first sight but when you try it… it really wasn’t and the taste was too dainty to care. The beef and the tendons were soft and enticing. Mixing the dish with beansprouts, Vietnamese basil leaves, freshly squeezed lemon juice and chopped chili is a killer and is highly recommended. This dish had managed to pull my older brother out from that bad tasteless image of pho. 

Fried pork chops

It is without a doubt true that every dish that comes with pork would taste titillating. The fatty richness can simply be forgotten by just one bite of this fried meat. 

Pho Tau Bay

117 John St

There is a small shop selling desserts and juices, you must try the soursop juice that only cost $4.00 and its taste is heavenly. It was perfect for the scorching sunny weather but I could not remember the name or location of the place, all I know is that it is still located along John St.

Next, is the top number 1 in my Cabramatta food list, not only will you taste gratifying food but also excitement when eating the do-it-yourself rice paper rolls in Bau Truong.  

Rice paper roll

So here’s how to eat this divine delicacy:

1) Soak the rice paper in the bowl of hot water provided

2) Place the intact soft wet rice paper on your plate. 

3) Add in the fillings with pork (cut into smaller parts), rice vermicelli and veggies. Make sure that you do not fill too much 

4) Fold the right and left edges and then roll it down/upwards and you will have a sort of spring roll shape

5)  Dip it in the vinegar and grated carrots sauce along with the chili sauce. 

And you will have one of the most enjoyable time of your life. When I was first introduced to the dish, I had bought a pack of rice paper rolls and ate it with anything… everything, literally. I love to put in more of the mint leaves, it enhances the flavor a lot. 

Beef salad with apples, mangoes, mint leaves and star fruit

The salad is also delicious, and this is probably my most favorite salad throughout all time since its sour and a little spicy, the way I like it. 

Bau Truong

42 John St

I concluded the journey by buying longan fruits to bring home. I rarely find them in supermarkets such as Coles or Woolworths. And I had decided that I would visit Cabramatta once more. But this time, I would have to try new dishes and of course visit Tan Viet Noodle house that was closed when we came. The owner had returned to Vietnam for the Chinese New Year. The day ended with happy stomachs and guilt-free hearts because most of the dishes were healthy since they had to be eaten with a lot of vegetables. 

The Dip at GOODGOD Bar

The hustle and bustle of the best hotdogs in Sydney had been going on for months and so Fooshion takes a shot in trying The Dip at Goodgod Bar.

The place was dark and was designed in the stone-age way, where seats were made of giant rocks and fake palm trees were everywhere. This automatically reminded me of the cartoon series called Flintstones on Cartoon Network. 

Fooshion decided to order the talk-of-the-town’s Lev’s Dawg, The Damn Skippy and Pulled Pork Nachos.

Lev’s Dawg $12

The Lev’s Dawg contains smoked kosher, indeed smoked to perfection, chipotle mayo, fresh salsa and grilled yellow peppers. On top of the bun was some fine yellow mustard. The delicious kosher and scrumptious mix of ingredients and sauces has crowned this Dawg to be the best hot dog in Sydney. 

However, Fooshion plays with favorites here as there is preference for Harris De Wheels chili dogs due to its awesome spiciness. Regardless of this, Lev’s Dawg is a definite winner of all hot dogs, so far everyone and every single food blogs that tasted it had claimed it to be a heck of a dawg!

Pulled pork Nachos $15

The town must be raving with the 12 hours smoked pulled pork, served with corn chips, pinto beans, lime cream, tomato salsa and yes…. you can see it, cheese. Cheese is definitely at its best when melted and served with junk food. The pulled pork was very tasty, you could tell how long it must have been smoked for because of its very strong taste.

The Damn Skippy $12

Finally, the highlight of the dinner, The Damn Skippy burger served with grilled kangaroo meat, macadamia, beetroot, dill mayo and rocket. This was my absolute favorite dish compared to the others although I did only order 3 meals and have not tried the very much talked-about Southern Smoke burger. The meat was tasty and soft, very well grilled and perhaps I’m really on a ‘nut’ case here, thus the macadamias made it more delicious. Additionally, I felt less guilty of eating too unhealthily when chomping on the damn skippy because there were veggies (although little). 

Overall, the whole dinner was GOOD, just as its place has defined it. The Dip is located at:

55 Liverpool St 

The GoodGod Bar 

Chinatown

Wed-Thurs: 5pm-11pm

Frid-Sat: 6pm-Midnight

Se Joung

Fooshion travels to Campsie, one of the hearts of Korea town in Sydney, to visit literally THE best BBQ place (well I have tried several BBQ places) in whole of Sydney: Se Joung. 

There were the 6 of us, a full house of Fooshion family, and we ordered the Gal-bi, Pork Chul Pan, Octopus Chul Pan and Tofu Chigae. The waitress was very polite and the place and service was still very much traditional, you’ll see what I mean about the service. The place still had the setting of sitting on Tatami while enjoying scrumptious food. Then the side dishes were served.

From back to front: Spinach with chili paste, Kimchi, White radish soaked in vinegar, eggplant and bean sprouts with mentimun. 

After a while, the lady came and served us with Gal-bi. As mentioned above, the service was still very traditional because unlike other BBQ places, Se Joung’s waitress assist its customers in cooking the BBQ meats. 

Gal-bi

The Gal-bi was sweet and tender, a soft tousling pleasure to one’s taste-buds. It was enjoyable to eat it wrapped with lettuce. Next the pork chul pan came. 

Pork chul pan

Then came in the octopus….

The pork belly was DELICIOUS, for pork lovers, you’ll go head over heels. The octopus was squishy, in a good way. However, I am prone to seafood allergies. Thus I could not enjoy the octopus to the epitome of pure contentment, so I am unable to judge the taste. But my older brother and father mentioned that the pork was 100x better than the octopus. 

Tofu Chigae

This was my favorite for the day, I have tried many tofu chigae (tofu beancurd soup) and this one definitely beats my previous favorite from Cafe Cya. I loved how soft and silky the mixture of tofu and egg was, this was FOODGASM. The spicyness was just right for me and the taste was overwhelming, I ended up monopolizing this dish.

After the whole food-fest finished, our tummies were just so happy. In addition, the cost was not as expensive as we thought it would be, compared to the other Korean restaurants in Sydney CBD such as Arisun, Madang or BBQ city. This place is therefore HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

68/72 Evaline St, Campsie

Open Daily 11am-11pm 

(02)97184039