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Even a block away from this restaurant, I couldn't help salivating to the awesome smell of Korean BBQ wafting down the street. It's the popular Bassim Korean BBQ restaurant. I've come to this place on numerous occassions and recently as last Saturday night. We took our friend visiting back home from London here. It was a last minute thing but I'm glad we came here rather than the usual "around the corner" cafe.
Parking is always a challenge in this area of Strathfield. It's just a few metres away from Strathfield station and the Strathfield Plaza. Although it usually doen't take to long to wait for parking at the council carpark just a few steps away from the restaurant.
You then just need to follow the scent of yummy BBQ and the trail of smoke to find this place. Once you enter, you might just be overcome by the smoke the place generates. If you've never been to a Korean BBQ restaurant before you will probably be intrigued by what you see. Each table contains their own cooking burner. Usually it's hot coals burning with a hot plate on top to cook the meat on. Bassim has this on every table and also there is a tube vent that is supposed to suck the smoke away as you cook. This concept doesn't seem to work very well when we were there.
You are then given numerous condiments such as Kim Chi, pickles, dips and sauces. You are also given some vege's to start with. You then are meant to choose some marinated meats to cook. I recommend you order one meat dish per person and maybe some extra. You can always order more meat as you go. Because of the condiments and bowls of meat and vege, your table will get very crowded.
Service is very good. The waitresses are very polite and patient. The will replace your cooking hot plate as soon as they recognise it has too mcuh burning marinade on it.
Did I mention the smoke? Oh yeah.... smoke! Not a good place to bring young kids or if you have asthma or a breathing condition. I also realised it's not a good place to go when it's hot. You sit right next to the burning coals so it gets extremely hot on a hot day or night. It was like being in a sauna in there. Sweating like a pig! Food was great but it was such a relief when we got out of there.
Korean BBQ I have to say if is the best tasting BBQ I've ever had. I recommend that you give it a go sometime. That is, if you don't mind cooking the food yourself, the smoke, and the heat.
Price wise, we ended up with a $140 bill for 4 people - incl drinks.
I have finally tried this wonderful restaurant. For years working in the building just next door, I have taken this restaurant for granted and not made the effort to try this place out. It wasn't until my friend Daz who decided to celebrate his birthday here that promted me to go.
I believe the reservation took place 2 weeks before the dinner date and lucky for us, we did manage to get squeezed in their busy reservations list. We however got a 8:30 booking on a Friday night. To pass time between finishing work and dinner, we had pre-dinner drinks at ECQ Bar at the "Toaster" next to the Opera House.
Once wew did arrive at the Cafe Sydney, our tables were not yet ready and were asked to stay at the bar while we wait. Hubby ordered a Vodka Martini for the very first time and paid for it later in the evening (I'm not talking about money here).
The ambience was very romantic and the interior was classy. Although, I did notice it was very dark with not much lighting at all. I was very careful walking around in case I tripped over something. Later the lack of lighting made it very difficult to see what was in the menu and then seeing what I ordered.
Cafe Sydney is much famous for it's view. It is situated right in the middle of Circular Quay where you will see the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the famous Opera House. The restaurant is located on the upper floor of Old Customs House. The table we were allocated was just inside the balcony, overlooking the harbour view. It was a beautiful night and more so with a surprise symphony of fireworks right in the middle of the harbour.
Now the food. Food was absolutely delicious - and so it should be seeing the prices are at the high end. I easily ended up with $100 bill for my meal alone. This included a dozen oysters which were devine by the way and the lamb cutlets... yummmmm. The servings were filling and had to skip the dessert.
Service was good and not pretentious. Friendly, yet not intrusive. The place is quite pricey so expect to pay approx $45 for a main meal. If you are lucky to have and Entertainment Card, use it. It will help bring the total down. I highly recommend this place for romantic dinners with your partner. Groups are ok but I think it was a little to intimate and dark for my liking. The location is perfect with the view and all. Only probelm I can think of is the parking. If you are planning to dine here a little later in the evening, I think it would be a great idea to get here early and have pre-dinner drinks somewhere first to secure you on street parking. A couple of friends went around in circles for ages before they decided to park at the Opera House.
This is my favourite time of the year. It's springtime, daylight savings has begun, it's my birthday month, and best of all, it's Oktoberfest TIME!! YAY!!! You can not pass off September and October without experiencing some sort of German festivities. It's a time for thigh slapping fun, dancing, yodeling, hugging!?....and of course BEER!
One thing I learned about Oktoberfest is the majority of the festivities are celebrated in September. From mid-september until the first week of October it is usually celebrated. My hubby and I were very fortunate to be in Munich back in 2005, just in time for the genuine Oktoberfest. The first thing we did as soon has we hit Munich soil was to head for the bier halls at the Oktoberfest festival. I was absolutely amazed. Everyone was so happy and everyone was your friend. We've never met and spoken to so many strangers before! It's amazing how beer can suddenly bring people together.
The place was a gigantic amusement park with huge tent beer halls lined up in the middle of everything. Hubby and I weaved through the halls but was just not lucky enough to snap any seats. It was so loud in there. Everybody were singing, laughing and having a good time.
There were food stalls outside, Some unusual food like whole smoked trout on a stick were sold like pluto pups. Heaps of sausages and mustard!
Last week, hubby and I decided to try and relive that time back in Munich. We went to Lowenbrau for dinner after work. We've been to this place before, but it wasn't now I just realised just how much effort his place put in to make this look and feel just like a beer hall at the Oktoberfest. The tables and chairs are placed in long communal lanes. All diners are to sit next to each other even if you don't know them. The Oompa band were playing the same music, and the waiter are all dressed in trditional german outfits. They looked their part, they also had the friendly personality and accents. It was fabulous! I loved it! We immediately ordered our beer. I had a girly one that tasted like mango. We also ordered a kinda meat platter for two. We were rightfully warned that it is a big serve.
This is a great place to unwind and have a good time. The entertainment is so uplifting. I couldn't resist to hold up my beer stien and sway to the music. It's not such a hard thing to do when you've had a couple of them 
Give it a go. Make sure you book before hand, even on a weekday. It's a very popular place for parties and corporate ones too.
Dunke!
September 26th 2008 07:49
It is a very exciting month next month. October is not only my birth month, not just because it's mid-spring, it's because it's Good Food Month here in Sydney!!!! YAY!! The Sydney Morning Herald is conducting it's 11th annual Good Food Month (GFM). It's the best month for lovers of good food and wine, much like myself 
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A couple of weeks ago there was some disturbing revelations about some of NSW's restaurants. On the 2nd, July, The Daily Telegraph posted a list of offending restaurants which the state government have identified for breaking the health and hygiene laws.
Just by looking at the pictures they show makes me want to puke. It's so disgusting to even think people would actually eat at these places. Have any of you readers been to any of these restaurants? If so, please share
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Okay, here's another ever popular family restaurant opening up in the changing and expanding Macarthur area, Pancakes on the Rocks. Many of you may think this famous restaurant only exists at "The Rocks", Sydney. Well, that's what I initially thought. I must be the last person that lives in Macarthur who found out about Pancakes opening here. Apparently, Pancakes on the Rocks have also sprouted in Northmead and Darling Harbour. Here are the list of locations.
THE ROCKS
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Of the many, many times I have been to the Hunter Valley, this was my first time to try Hungerford Hill's famous restaurant in the region, Terrior Restaurant. We tried to have lunch here last year by just rocking up there with no reservations. Not only did we get rejected at the door, we felt it too. The waiter, or who ever he was was so rude. There is a pleasant way to say they are fully booked. Oh well. Maybe he was having a bad day at the time.
Although our first impressions were not so good from last year. I was still determined to try this place out. It's been highly recommended by the Hunter Valley tourism booklets. So I made sure I made reservations days before we arrived
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Casuarina Restaurant is the name. It's not in Sydney but rather in the heart of Sydney's closest wine country region, the Hunter Valley. The Hunter Valley is a very popular destination for Sydneysiders and it's only 2 hours from Sydney. So even if it's not a "Sydney" Restaurant, I thought I should make a review on their faboulous restaurants. Casuarina is a definate favourite of ours.
Hubby and I made our annual pilgrimage to the land of the vine over the Queen's birthday long weekend. Being lovers of wine, dining and cheese, I can't think of a perfect place to visit and not having to travel too far for it
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Wow.... I was totally impressed with this place. For years now since moving to the Camden area, I've been wanting to try this place out. It's been recommended several times in the Macarthur Dining Magazine and won many awards.
It finally happened one cold Thursday night when our plans to exit the M5 and head for Macarthur Square was abolished after seeing the ridiculous Narellan Road traffic. Instead we turned right and headed for Narellan. I then thought it was a great opportunity to try out Lexies. The hubby was hungry so he was not in the right frame of mind to say no. Bingo
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In my last post, I publicised how Sydney restaurants making it into best restaurants in the world ranks. This time a new revelation has surfaced. The best bars in the world.
To my surprise, Sydney managed to score 3 bars to make top 100. Seeing there were 1407 bars, in total, is not a bad effort at all. Chosen as number 38 Jimmy Liks in Kings Cross, followed by theloft at 68 and Water Bar at 76
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