In Chan Thai Restaurant, Kingsford

 

In The Mood For Thai

Last night, a friend of mine was in the mood for Thai food, so we went to In Chan Thai Restaurant at Kingsford. I was first introduced this place by a Thai friend of mine, you know it gotta be something good if the Thai likes it.

Since then, this is a restaurant that I come in with expectation. An expectation to have a good meal whenever I dine in and so far, it has never let me down. This is a  perfect restaurant for your Thai palate and money.

We really like the Gang Ped Yang (roast duck curry) here. It was served in mild red curry with tomato and pineapple. The curry was creamy and thick. It complemented the rich and tender slices of duck meat.

Gang Ped Yang $ 16.90

The Moo Yang (BBQ Pork) could easily stand up being served on its own. The tender pork neck was marinated with honey and served with special sour sauce that balance up the meat.  It was a sweet and flavourful  meat with an amazing smokiness that came off the grill.

Moo Yang $ 12.90

Next, we had something similar to the pork, it was the Kai Yang (BBQ chicken). The chicken was marinated in Thai herbs and served with sweet chilli sauce. You can never go wrong with BBQ chicken. The sweetness and a hint of the lemongrass spices really delivered a flavour that my taste bud enjoy.

Kai Yang $12.90

Then, we had the Larb Gai (Minced Chicken Salad). This popular Thai chicken salad is a common menu selection in a Thai restaurant that mixed mint, lemon juice and coriander leaf. This salad incorporates all kind of flavours- sweet, salty, sour and spicy. Although this dish is good to eat it on its own, but steamed rice and fresh vegetables are excellent accompaniments.

Larb Gai $12.90

Pad Thai is another staple in Thai restaurant's menu. Not every restaurant can do this popular rice noodle right, but In Chan Thai certainly got it right. You have the option to choose between different kind of meat, seafood or vegetables. We picked mixed vegetables Pad Thai this time. The texture of the chewy noodle to the blend of tamarind, fish sauce, crisp bean sprouts and crunchy peanuts were simply delicious.

Mixed Vegetables Pad Thai $ 11.90

We also had a Roast Pork Pad Ka Na, it was a simple stir fried Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce and roast pork.

Pad Ka Na $14.90

Last but not least, we had the Som Tum (Papaya Salad). This Thai style papaya salad again combined 4 primary tastes of Thai cuisine- sourness of lime, hot and spicy of chilli, salty from fish sauce and sweetness of palm sugar. The flavours of these four did compliment and at the same time contrast each other out that create a unique tasting papaya salad.

 Som Tum $11.90

One of the good things about this restaurant  is the service is really fast. All our dishes came out at the same time. Once all the dishes arrived, the rest was about passing around the dishes so everyone gets to enjoy a little bit of everything.

In Chan Thai Restaurant

482 Anzac Parade

Kingsford NSW 2032
(02) 9663 3356

Mochi Dessert Cafe, Kingsford

"Dessert is probably the most important stage of a meal, since it will be the last thing your guests remember before they pass out all over the table". (William Powell)

Still feeling quite full from late lunch, my husband and I just wanted something light for dinner. We thought of the new cafe that opened in Kingsford, the Mochi Dessert Cafe. As we entered , we saw a great selection of mouth watering cakes and Japanese mochi displaying at the counter. Once we were seated, we quickly browsed through the colorful menu on the table. There was a great selection of sweet and savoury snacks/desserts. As a big fan of pizza, we decided to try their pizza waffle, as I never try waffle as a pizza base, so it might be quite interesting to find out and then we ordered one ham and cheese waffle handroll. 

When our pizza waffle came, we thought it looks pretty good, but after tasting it, I won't say it's bad but it wasn't  the best value you could get with your money, the chicken tasted like the supermarket chicken nuggets cut into pieces. I think it's something that you can easily replicate at home with a waffle maker.

BBQ chicken Pizza Waffle  $8.20

 

Then our Ham and Cheese Hand Roll Waffle came,  we were quite dissapointed with what we saw.  We were expecting at least some melted cheese with good quality ham. But the Hand roll waffle was basically just a waffle sandwich with ham and cheese slice that again you can easily get from supermarket. With the same price you can probably make heaps of them at home.

Ham and Cheese Hand Roll Waffle $ 6.80

The staff reminded us that we can have a drink for half the price for every snack/dessert we've ordered. There's a selection of flavoured ice teas, coffees and smoothies to choose from. I didnt want any, but my husband had their grape green tea with aloe vera.

Special Grape Aloe Vera $ 4.60 (full price)

Even though we were quite dissapointed with their savoury snacks, but thank goodness the dessert was good! We were tossing between the tofu pudding and the herbal jelly. After looking at the menu for the longest time, we chose to go with the cold herbal jelly. This refreshing dessert had certainly put a smile on my face. The homemade herbal jelly was served with red bean, pearl, sweet potato and taro mochi, crushed ice and cream. At first I asked them not to put the cream, but the staff convinced me that the cream is what makes this dessert a winner, so she said she will give me the cream in a small cup on the side.

She was right,  the cream was light and it really complimented this icy cold dessert very well. And the sweet potato and taro mochi was chewy and you can taste the flavour very well too. It was just a refreshing lovely dessert.

Cold Herbal Jelly

Like the name of the cafe, I would recommend to only visit this place for the dessert. This Herbal Jelly will be one of the reasons for me to come back and the other reason will be their gelato. This cafe has the gelato from a popular supplier that I know is good. It's the gelato from Bravo. Maybe next time I will try their ice cream waffle or their tofu pudding.

Mochi Dessert Cafe

Shp 1/ 343 Anzac Pde

Kingsford NSW 2032

Ph; (02) 9663 3996

Indo Rasa, Kingsford

"Indonesian Food varies by region and is based on Chinese, European, Middle Eastern, and Indian precedents. That is why Indonesian Food is rich in flavours and scents, very delicious and could really blow your mind away!" (Tatie -Tasty Indonesian Food)

I can still remember exactly how Kingsford was like when I came in 1996 to visit my brother. The main street was dark and there was only one Indonesian restaurant in this suburb. It was "Hopeng" (in english means Best Friend), but the Kingsford today has totally been transformed, the main street (Anzac Parade) is filled with endless shops' neon lights and eager diner and with its large Chinese and Indonesian community, it's not a surprise that this place is dominated by Chinese and Indonesian restaurants.

Indo Rasa is a new Indonesian restaurant that has just opened a few weeks ago. It is certainly a great addition to Kingsford's already impressive list of Indonesian restaurant. The interior is cosy and the food is Indo-authentic. There are lots of varieties to choose from the menu too. I absolutely love all the food we have ordered. I'm sure this will be the first of my many visits to this restaurant in the future.

Some Indonesian sweet and savoury cakes on sell at the counter

The Indo Rasa fried rice is aromatic and smoky...it's simply delicious. But most importantly the rice is not sticky, there's nothing worse than a sticky and soggy fried rice. We also ordered an extra sunny side up on the side to compliment this irresistible fried rice.

Nasi Goreng Indo Rasa $10.00

I ordered the Nasi Uduk Komplit and was thrilled when the waitress served up the food. There was a mixture of fried chicken, marinated beef, chilli egg, giblet with sambal vegetable and the fragrant coconut rice. Not only everything tasted good, the serving was generous too.

Nasi Uduk Komplit $11.00
This is available in yellow tumeric rice as well.

Ayam Kalasan (fried marinated  chicken) is a deep fry chicken cooked using traditional spices, eventhough the chicken size is slightly smaller than Ayam Goreng 99, but this sweet and tender chicken is deep in flavour.

Ayam Kalasan $6.00

Next was the Soto Ayam. This Javanese originated chicken soup has bean sprout, vermicelli and shredded chicken, topped with belinjo cracker. This is a famous Indonesian soup that is flavoured using tumeric and some other spices. The silkiness of the vermicelli contrasts the crunchy bean sprouts. The aromatic of the spices and the shredded chicken combine everything in a wholesome way.

Soto Ayam $8.00

Next we had their Terong Belado (Stir Fried Eggplant in Chilli Sauce). Don't be intimidated by the colour of the red chilli sauce, it is actually not as spicy as it looks. Belado is an aromatic tomato based chilli sauce.The deep fried eggplant has a soft and juicy texture in the inside and crispy on the outside. The impressing aroma of the chilli sauce makes this a perfect dish to have with rice.

Terong Belado $10.00

Then we had the deep fried giblet and liver as a side dish. Special mention has to be made to their Sambal Terasi, which is the most Indonesian-treasured condiment to heat up and boost one's appetite even more. This spicy condiment has a very strong pungent smell from the shrimp paste, but this is a must on dining table in Indonesia. I was more than happy when I tasted their version, as it's probably the most authentic one I've tried in Sydney.

(Top) Deep Fried Chicken Giblet and liver $2.00

(Bottom) Complementary Sambal Terasi 

Great food, great place and great service. Will this be in my favourite restaurants list? Yes, it will.

Indo Rasa

Shop 1, 309 Anzac Parade

Kingsford NSW 2032

Ph: (02) 9697 2003

Sinma Laksa House (Revisited), Kingsford

Food That Touches My Heart

Even tough I wasn't born in Malaysia, but Malaysian Food is one of the food that really touches my heart. So on Friday, I was back to my most visited Malaysian restaurant at Kingsford. This restaurant never fail to satisfy my hook for Malaysian food, whether is their hawker style noodles or their main dishes. Not only this is our favourite place, it's one of our friends favourite place too, who enthusiastically picked us up straight after his flight landed from Brisbie. So, we three hungry people headed to Sinma for some authentic Malaysian cuisine.

This time we had their famous Singapore Chilli Crab. The sauce was just right, not too spicy, a little sweet and sour. Best part was dipping the chilli crab sauce with the pan fried bun (they have steamed bun as well). It was just delightful! We actually ordered one more portion of the pan fried and steamed buns.

Then, we had the Guinness Chicken. This is the only place that I found that offer this chicken in Sydney. There was no noticeable taste of the beverage, however the chicken just turned out very well, the chicken pieces were really crispy and deliciously covered with the sweetness of Guinness sauce.

We also ordered a very popular asian vegetable, the Sambal Belacan Kangkung (Water Spinach). This is always the good one to have while having Malaysian dishes. It is probably most asian's favourite vegetable dish. Lucky, Sinma cooked it right.

Then we had my favourite KL hokkien Mee. Just like the one I had on my last visit. 

This noddle is famous for its dark fragrant sauce and its secret ingredients, the fried pork fat.

 I had their Char Kway Teow (below) few weeks ago, but I thought I just include it in this post. 

 I found that Sinma has the most authentic Penang Char Kway Teow in Sydney. I like mine extra spciy.

Absolutely love Malaysian cuisine and will always do!

Sinma Laksa House

3/391 Anzac Parade

Kingsford 2032

NSW

(02) 9313 7663

Sinma Laksa House, Kingsford

When I’m at a Chinese restaurant having a hard time with chopsticks, I always hope that there’s a Chinese kid at an American restaurant somewhere who’s struggling mightily with a fork. ~Rick Budinich

Sinma Laksa House is probably my most visited restaurant in Kingsford. Having spent three and a half years living in Malaysia, Malaysian food has been a part of me. Sinma Laksa served varieties of Malaysian and Singaporean Hawker food, but of course without the heat and humidity. The interior of the restaurant do resemble a typical malaysian restaurant back there, especially with the Batik table cloths.

The food tasted really authentic, some of  my favourites here are the Penang char kway teow (fried rice noodle), Mamak mie goreng, fried turnip cake, prawn noodle soup and their 3 choices, where you pick 3 dishes of your choice with steamed rice. One of their famous dish there is the Singapore Chilli Mud Crab. Food is generally pretty good, serving is pretty big too. However don't expect a good service here, this is the kind of restaurant you walk in, make an order, pick up your own cutlery and water, enjoy your food and leave.

 3 choices with steamed rice (we picked chicken curry, green vege and soya pork)

Price with 3 curries $9.00

The curry chicken is really good, it's always one of our choice.

KL hokkien noddle 

(sorry I forgot the price but if I'm not mistaken, is $9.50)

I have lost count the total no of times I had this noodle, it's my favourite order in Sinma Laksa House, it cooked in a black sauce, with chicken and some seafood inside. The secret of this noodle is the deep fried pork fat pieces (also callede pork rind), although not really healthy for the body but it really defines the taste. 

I guess no harm to have it once in a while =p

Sinma Laksa House

3/391 Anzac Parade

Kingsford 2032

NSW

(02) 9313 7663

Ayam Goreng 99, Kingsford

"Whenever I met someone who does not consider chili a favourite dish, then I've usually found someone who has never tasted good chili" (Jan Butel)

Ayam Goreng 99 is an Indonesian food restaurant, this is one of my usual dinner spot in Kingsford. They are very famous for their grilled and fried chicken. The restaurant is abit narrow but if you are after a cheap eat and you are willing to try a very authentic Indonesian food, this might be a good option to try. You will be given a pen and note pad to put down your order and there are lots of varieties to choose from.

The chicken is well marinated, you can really taste the marination very well. I like to order the chicken thigh because the breast can be a bit dry after grilled/fried. The fried marinated beef is full of flavour as well, some people might find it abit dry but i still enjoy it very much. 

 

Fried rice with egg on top ($10.50)

 

 Deep friend marinated chicken Javanese style ($6.00) & Fried marinated beef ($ 4.00) 

  Deep fried marinated chicken ($6.00) 

The aroma of the burned and smoked chicken is so delightful.

  

Sweet and sour vegetable soup ($5.00)

Like the name itself, the taste is sweet and sour, this is a very popular traditional Indonesian soup.

The most exciting part of this restaurant is their homemade chilli paste.

 I like to mix the chilli with sweet soya sauce, as it paired well with the chilli. The dining experience will never be the same without this chilli.

WARNING! This chilli is not for the faint hearted, as it will bring you and your tongue to a roller coaster ride.

 

So does anyone wanna try a tongue roller coaster?

Ayam Goreng 99

464 Anzac Parade, Kingsford

(02) 9697 0030