A Chinese New Year's Eve Family Feast - Crown Dragon Restaurant, St George Leagues Club (13 Feb 2010)

Oops - Sorry..this post is a bit late. Here's a belated 'Happy Chinese New Year'  to you and your family (Kung Hei Fat Choy!). 
As a child, growing up as an ABC ('Australian born Chinese') in the south western suburbs of Sydney, I don't really recall 'celebrating' Chinese New Year that much. I'm not sure why... perhaps it was because there weren't that many Chinese families in my neighbourhood. I remember there were only 2 Chinese kids in my primary school class! What I do remember is getting 'red packets' filled with extra pocket money, my mum cleaning the house furiously on Chinese New Year's eve, AND being told not to wash my hair on Chinese New Year day as I would wash away my good luck. It's so funny as I still try not to wash my hair on Chinese New Year day. It's always a problem if I happen to want to go to the gym.
My mum and grandma used to cook for the family for Chinese New Year when I was a kid. But, as my siblings and I grew up, mum and dad decided it was easier to just go out for dinner at a Chinese Restauarant. As much as I'd like to say that I prefer home cooking, I think the food at the Chinese Restaurants we go to are much better (sorry Mum!).

Diners mezmerised by the Lion Dancing

This Chinese New Year's eve, Mr FBC and I had dinner with my family (plus extended family) at the Crown Dragon Restaurant at the St George Leagues Club in Kogarah. It's a relatively new kid on the block. I must admit I was taken aback when I was first told about going to a Chinese restauarant in a Leagues Club. Was I going to get Ching-lish or something (a la 'spring rolls' and 'honey king prawns')? However, this place is great and is overflowing with lots of Chinese people (which is always sign of a reasonable Chinese restaurant). For the Chinese New Year eve dinner, we ordered a set banquet meal.

Yee Sang Salad

We started the evening with Yee Sang Salad, which is made of strips of raw salmon, mixed with shredded carrot, radish, spring onion and some picked ginger. It's a dish that my family hardly ever orders (primarily because my dad doesn't like raw fish), but I quite like it's refreshing taste. Like many Chinese New Year dishes, Yee Sang translates to 'abundance' so the dish is meant to symbolise abundance and prosperity.  The fun bit about this dish is that everyone gets their chopsticks and tosses the ingredients around. The higher you toss, the more good luck you'll get.

Mixed Cold Meat Platter

The cold meat platter is next. Today's platter has a mixture of char sui (bbq pork), roast pork, BBQ duck, sliced beef and jellyfish. It's best to try a little bit of everything (and so I do). Often Chinese Banquets start with this dish so I always know I'm in for a feast when see a cold meat platter.

Shark Fin Soup

We next each receive a bowl of steaming Shark Fin soup. I know many shun the thought of eating shark fin... but... well.... it really does taste nice!  I love the thin strips of fin (think of them as noodles) and shreds of chicken and egg floating around the thick chicken soup.

Black Moss Seaweed (Fat Choi) with Mushrooms and Scallops

I'm not a fan of the black moss seaweed dish, known as 'fat choi', as it reminds me of wet hair! Nevertheless, 'fat choi' also means 'prosperity' so I suppose that's why it's a very popular Chinese New Year dish. 

BBQ Quail

The next dish we have is BBQ quail, which is delicious. Quail meat is dark, like duck, but has the meatiness of chicken. The glaze on the quail gives it's a nice crispy skin which is lovely when you dip it into the condiment of salt and soy.

Lobster with Ginger and Shallots

My favourite type of seafood is Lobster (yes - I know it's extremely decadent of me). So, my eyes always light up when I see Lobster (with Ginger and Shallots) coming my way. Normally the lobster is served on a large platter but tonight's lobster gets dished out on separate dishes. You need to throw your manners aside when eating lobster. You need to get in there with your fingers to get the juicy sweet lobster flesh out of the shells. 

We all hear the sounds of the familiar drums and take a quick break from our sumptuous meal to enjoy the Lion Dancing on offer. I was terrified of watching the Lion Dance as a child. I use to cower in between my parents, covering my ears and eyes. However, I suppose you can't scare away bad luck and shoo out the old year with a wimper. My friend recently told me about someone  they knew who did Lion Dancing, but was unfortunately only the 'bum end' of the Lion and always got touched on the bum. I suppose it is meant to be good luck to touch the Lion right... regardless of which part?! 

Broccoli and Bean Curd with a dried scallop sauce

Back to the food. The next course was a broccoli and bean curd dish. The steamed broccoli and the soft bean curd complemented well with the saltiness of the dried scallop sauce.

Steamed Barramundi with ginger, shallot and soy sauce

Our second last dish for the evening is a whole steamed barramundi. The fish is fresh, tender and flavoursome. I love placing big pieces of fish into my bowl and drowing it in the soy/shallot sauce.

Fish in Chinese is pronounced as 'yu', which is similar to the cantonese word for wish. Fish is often served as one of the last courses. So, I suppose you can end your meal with a wish. Not sure - I'm making that one up! 

Bowl of Fried Rice

I've been told rice symbolises well being and good fortune and with that in mind, we all finish off our meals with a bowl of rice (of the fried variety).

Hope you all had a wonderful 'food filled' Chinese New Year! 

Crown Dragon Restaurant

St George Leagues Club

124 Princes Highway Kogarah NSW

(02) 9587 1022

http://stgeorgeleagues.com

Manoeuvring around the madness at 'March into Merivale' (16 Feb 2010)

Madness and Mayhem at 'March into Merivale'

Whether or not you’re a fan of Justin Hemmes’ Merivale empire you do have to admit (as a foodie) that he’s put a hell of a lot of effort into setting up a good selection of restaurants to cater to his more discerning customers. “March into Merivale”, which is an annual event, provides an excellent opportunity to try food from across the Merivale gastronomical empire. Did I also mention that this was a free event? Despite my naïve belief that this would be an intimate and exclusive evening, it turns out that half of Sydney was not only invited but also decided to show up. And who could blame them, after all, not only was there free food but also a seemingly endless supply of free drinks.

“March into Merivale” was held in the Ivy room at the Ivy, and featured small bites from across the Merivale empire including Mad Cow, Est., Lotus and Bistro CBD. Arriving just before 6pm Mrs FBC and I joined the not insignificant queue which, thankfully, was fast moving and unhindered by the normally ubiquitous clip board girls (Mrs FBC and I both pre-registered but this seemed unnecessary on the day).

We made our way into the Ivy room where we were immediately offered a free drink (beer, wine, champagne or cocktail) by the eager, and at this point un-fazed, staff. In the centre of the room was what at first appeared to be a makeshift stockade erected by desperate chefs fending off ravenous hordes. However, on closer inspection this was really just a collection of kitchen stations manned by still equally desperate chefs rushing to serve up morsels of food to hungry Sydneyites. Quickly dismissing the food tables at the front of the room we made our way to the back where the masses were somewhat more subdued. Despite this it still took considerable effort to fight our way through the crowds to our first sampling.

Help... get these hungry people food before they eat me!

Chefs - making sushi as FAST AS THEY CAN!

I’m not sure if it was the free alcohol.... or desperation brought on by fasting all day.... or simply a mob mentality, but at times the crowd seemly truly desperate to partake in the free samples.

Is this what Sydney has come to? A bunch of freeloaders??

Many a plate was emptied before it had barely touched the table, with worried kitchen staff scrambling to bring more and more food out lest the crowd be angered. Plates of finely seared beef served with a mustard garnish nearly caused a riot, with only bloodied plates left behind as a reminder of the once delicious food on offer. Small boxes containing light and tender Farafelle pasta with delicious bolognese sauce were well worth the fight, as were the mini hamburgers which were snatched up a handful at a time and only attainable by those willing to brave the worst of the crowd.

Unfortunately, our photos aren't that great as there were just too many hungry people around that got in the way... but we gave it a go in true food blogger style :( Check out Simon Food Favourites for much better photos from the event!

Many delectable morsels of food on offer... but get in quick !

Seared beef served with a mustard garnish - nearly caused a riot with the iron deficient crowd 

Having been defeated by the frenzy we retreated to the back of the room from where we could watch the crowds continue to press the increasingly desperate staff. However, this move proved to our advantage as new waves of kitchen staff began to circle the room bearing plates of further food including my favourite, a tasty (and cute) mini steak pie with peas on top.

Mini steak pies with mashed pies

Mr Justin Hemmes surrounded by a gaggle of women. He's the guy behind the blurry lady

The Hungry Hordes at 'March into Merivale' Launch Party

There are a stack of events on as part of 'March into Merivale'. Check out details here.

The world's cheapest Michelin starred restaurant - Tim Ho Wan, Mongkok (Hong Kong)

Yum Cha enthusiasts await their turn

Where in the world can you have a meal in a Michelin starred restaurant for under AUS$15. Yes ... you heard right... not $1500 or $150... but 15 bucks!

The place is Tim Ho Wan (meaning 'add good luck')  -  a pokey little dumpling restaurant/cafe in downtown Mongkok in Hong Kong AND also the cheapest Michelin starred restaurant in the world. Our ultimate goal is to fill our bellies with dumplings and still have enough money to hit the shops in  Hong Kong.

Mr FBC and I were excited about the opportunity to have our first 'Michelin star' dining experience since reading about it in the SMH. We are 'food obsessed'. So, like all good food bloggers, we made sure we arranged one of our only 2 days in Hong Kong around the pursuit of food.  

As we soon discovered, to achieve this feat we required 3 important things:
1. Strategy
2. Patience
3. Snacks (!)

Strategy

We arrived at 10.30am using the 'strategy' of getting there well before lunchtime to have yum cha brunch. The place only opens at 10am but there was already a mass of people waiting outside. Through essential observation I realised there was a ticket system. Mr FBC and I got our ticket from the lady at the counter and our number was no. 67. "Do they start their numbers at 60?", I asked Mr FBC hopefully.  "Number 5, number 5", the ticket lady yells out in Cantonese. Thank god that I understand basic cantonese numbers (thanks mum!)... but  whaaaaat??.... we're number 67??? At this moment in time, Mr FBC and I are wondering if we would be eating yum cha today. We figured we would go exploring Mongkok instead of waiting around the restaurant. This leads me to our next critical skill....

The Winning Ticket (after a few hours) is No. 67

Patience

Our anticipated wait meant Mr FBC and I had plenty of time to explore Mongkok, which has the highest population density in Hong Kong. Mongkok is a super busy place and walking the streets around the restauarant can leave you with sensory overload. There's the 'Ladies Market' on Tung Choi Street which sells lots of clothes, handbags (plus the odd fake handbag or two), watches (plus the odd fake watch or two).  Then there's Fa Yuen Street, also known as 'Sneaker Street', which is lined with shoe shop after shoe shop. Mr FBC bought a new macro lens for his Olympus DSLR camera at Sai Yeung Choi Street South, which as you would expect is known as 'Electronic Street'.

Mr FBC and I decided to head back to Tim Wan Ho every hour to check on the numbers - which was a good strategy.  Here's a tip if you ever go to this place. Make sure you either wait patiently for your table or you are very good at estimating when you're ticket  number will be called. There are signs in both Chinese and English on the doors which indicate that if your waiting ticket number is over 5 numbers it will no longer be valid (e.g if you're ticket is 45 and they're up to 51). You will need to register for a new ticket again. We saw it happen to a few people while we were waiting and you really feel their misery. But as the saying goes, "You snooze, you loose!". Be aware - the ticket lady will make no exceptions.

While you are waiting you can also studiously review your ticket which also happens to be the menu (don't worry - there are English menus). You need to tick the dishes that you'd like to order and you give the ticket to a waitress on the way in.

Snacks!
Waiting, waiting...
Fast forward two hours later....Mr FBC and I are getting a bit peckish and we're still not sure when we would eat. We didn't want to eat too much and wanted room for dim sum. So, we settled on a coffee from starbucks and some waffles from ubiquitous food booths in Mongkok. The waffles were sweet and crisp... a bit like think ice cream waffle cones. A good choice to abate our hunger for awhile.

Waffles from a food booth in Mongkok

More waiting.....

Yum Cha goers clamouring for tickets from the 'ticket lady'

After a total of three loooong hours, but with plenty of shopping in Mongkok to fill in the time, Mr FBC and I finally get into Tim Wan Ho with our ticket. Phew!

The owner of the restaurant is Mak Pui Gor, a former dim sum chef from at the three Michelin-starred restaurant Lung King Heen located in Hong Kong's Four Seasons Hotel. Suppose he wanted to branch out and cook for the 'real people'.
The Michelin Star Experience?

Once in the restauarant, there was definitely a frenetic vibe in the place. Or it could just be the ravenous stomachs of all the diners who would have had to wait an average 3 hours like Mr FBC and I. We ordered 7 dishes and made a strategic decision not to order 'rice dishes' so we wouldn't get too full. In hindsight, we probably could have ordered more but... ah well..you 'live and learn'.
There really isn't too much to see once you are inside. Everyone is packed in and the place only fits around 20 people. So, I think the experience is primarily about the food as opposed to the decor.

Inside Tim Ho Wan

The first dish to arrive was the Fung Zao (otherwise called Phoenix Talons). The chicken's feet were very moist and tender, with the skin falling easily off the bones. The combination of chilli and black bean sauce were perfect. Definitely good chicken's feet.

Fung Jao - steamed chicken's feet with black bean sauce 

Next was the steamed dumplings in 'chow' style. These plump parcels were filled with a mixture of garlic, chives, pork, dried shrimp and mushrooms.

Steamed Dumplings in 'Chow' style

We also got some spare ribs. The meat was very tender and melted in your mouth.

Steamed spare ribs with black bean sauce

Yum cha is never really yum cha if you don't order  sui mai. Often I use this dish as a standard to compare restauarants. These siu mai's were perfectly steamed with a good ratio of pork to prawn wrapped inside a thin wheat flour wrapper.

Siu Mai - steamed pork dumpling with shrimp

The next steamed bamboo basket was filled with har gow (steamed prawn dumplings)... another good yum cha staple. These were perfect. The rice paper wrappers were perfectly steamed and translucent, revealing pump juicy prawns. Yum!

Har Gow - Steamed prawn dumplings

Another dish that we ordered was the rice paper rolls stuffed with prawns.  The rice noodle was beautifully steamed making it light and soft, containing plenty of plump fresh prawns to dip into the pond of soy/oil sauce. 

Cheung Fun -Rice noodle rolls stuffed with prawns

Our final dish that we had to complete our dining experience was the 'char sui bau'. I believe this is the signature dish of the restaurant and I've read that they make up to 750 a day. They definitely didn't look or taste like any other char sui bau that I've had - but they were great. I could have had more. I usually expect the shell of the bun to be made of the white fluffly dough. However, this bun actually looked more like a 'bo lo bau'  (chinese pineapple bun) with the shell being sweet and slightly cake-like in texture. The insides were filled with a delicate char sui (BBQ pork) filling.  Anyway, these little babies were very popular for diners. Looking around the room, every table ordered them and we saw at least 4 tables ordering extra and taking them home in a container.

Here's another tip - make sure you order extra of your favourite thing and take it back to the hotel with you. The char sui baau probably travels really well and would make for a delicious afternoon snack.

Char Siu Bau - baked bun with BBQ sauce

Char siu bau - side profile

The final cost for all that: HK$96 which is equivalent to just under AUS$15 - bargain!  The cheapest dish we got was the steamed dumplings at a measely HK$10 (about $1.40).

None of the dishes were drastically different to other yum cha that I've had around the world AND I'm not sure how many times I would want to wait 3 hours for my lunch.  However, it does have that famous 'michelin star' and I think that the quality of the food was well above other yum cha places. I suppose the key to the food at Tim Ho Wan is to keep is simple but to cook it extraordinarily well!

The final bill at HK$96 (equiv to AUS$14) 

Paper place mat which depicts the food on offer.

Our final tip: Try and get there well before10am and hopefully the queue isn't that long. If you get there after 10.30am then you are looking at around a 3 hour wait (unless the novelty has worn off for the Hong Kong-ers). Don't bother going there after 1.00pm in hope of getting a ticket as they stop handing out tickets around that time and will ask you to return at 3pm.

Tim Ho Wan 

Open 10am -10pm

 2-8 Kwong Wa Street, Mong Kok, Kowloon

Guangzhou...home of Yum Cha (Li Wan Restaurant)

This visit to China is a particularly special one for Mr FBC and I. For me, it's an opportunity to join my family (there's 16 of us in total on this trip - including my aunt/uncle/cousins, plus some second cousins) to go back to the province and Chinese villages where my mum, dad and uncle spent their childhoood - on the island of Hainan (more on the 'island' and the 'village' to come in future posts!).  

As there were no direct flights to Hainan, my family decided to fly from Sydney to Hong Kong and then catch a train from Hong Kong to Guangzhou and stay for a 2 days before going to Hainan.

I was a bit sceptical about why we needed to stay in Guangzhou. I hadn't heard much about it and it frankly didn't interest me.  Some basic geography  to give some context - the city of Guangzhou is located in the Guangdong province on the southern end of the coast of China. It's pretty close to Hong Kong and is where the Cantonese dialect and cuisine comes from.
My disinterest was soon allayed after reading the following facts from the Lonely Planet guide that Mr FBC kindly downloaded for pre-departure reading:

"Eavesdrop on an average conservation in Guangdong and it always comes back to one thing: FOOD" ;

"The city boasts the largest number of restauarants per capita in China"; and

"Guangdong is home to the ever popular dim sum"

Food.... dim sum...I was sold! 'Dim Sum' also known as 'Yum Cha' to Sydney-siders is probably one of my favourite meals. Yum Cha literally means ' to drink tea' but in reality it means getting to taste lots of morsels of food and ensuring that you can never get food envy.

I'd like to say that we had Yum Cha for every meal... but alas... we only had Yum Cha twice AND in the same place (in our hotel). It's too hard organising 16 people. Fortunately... it was great. We were staying at the Garden Hotel and the yum cha restaurant, 'Li Wan Market', is located on level 2. 

 A very cute feature of the restauarant is that you get to eat your Yum Cha in a Chinese Sampan (aka a cantonese style 'boat' - check out the story on wikipedia). The restaurant has about 10 Chinese Sampans and my family were lucky enough to have yum cha in 3 of them.

Yum Cha in cute little Chinese Sampan Boats

Yum Cha in Guangzhou is not like Sydney - you don't get trolley ladies who cart the food around. Instead, you tick what you want on an order sheet (which was all in Chinese). Thank god my mum and dad knew how to read Chinese! I do like trolley ladies but I suppose your food is then fresher as it's cooked to order.

We ordered the relevant 'Yum Cha' staples for my family which included:

1. Har Gow - steamed prawn dumplings. These were spot on which plump prawns wrapped in yummy translucent dumpling skin. 

Har Gow

2. Sui Mai - steamed pork and prawn dumplings. These had juicy fillings held in a wonton wrapper.

Sui Mai

3. Fong Jao - chicken feet. Mr FBC is not a fan of these but I love them. The chicken feet are steamed in a soy and chilli sauce. It's very fatty but delicious. Get over your fear of 'eating feet' and give them a call.  There's an art form to eating chicken feet. You need to learn to suck the fat of the bones and subtely spit the bones out.

Chicken Feet wrapped in Tofu

4. Chueng Fun - rice noodle rolls drizzled with soy sauce and hot oil. These rolls are usually filled with either prawn, beef or pork. This place had rolls filled with what I would describe as deep fried dough sticks which were also filled with a prawn and mushroom filling.

Rice Noodle Rolls

Cross Section of my Rice Noodle Roll

5. Daan Tart - egg custard tarts. A Yum Cha meal with my family never feels right if you don't get your 'Daan Tarts'. The custard was hot and sweet and the pastry was super flaky. Yum, yum.

Egg Custard Tarts

6. A random bamboo basket of things -  Despite having my staples, I do like to try other things. This time we picked beef balls. These were made of steamed beef mince with corriander and shallots - very moist and flavoursome.

There were lots of things to see in Guangzhou so it was great to fill your stomach and start the day with delicious dumplings at yum cha.

Fresh Vegetables on Display

I assume this says 'Li Wan Market' Restaurant in Chinese

Li Wan Market Restaurant

Garden Hotel - Guangzhou

368 Huanshi Dong Lu, Guangzhou, China

http://www.gardenhotelguangzhou.com/

Mr and Mrs FBC's eating escapades around China

Hi all,
Apologies for the lack of post over the last few weeks. We've spent the last few weeks having a fantastic but whirlwind holiday in China (Guangzhou, Hainan Island, Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong).
Importantly, we've had  COPIOUS amounts of culinary delights which will hopefully make for interesting reading.
Here's a tasting plate of our stories to come:

• Guangzhou - yum cha capital of the world
• Tropical paradise and village feasts in Hainan Island
• The supposed 'best Peking Duck' in Beijing
• Snacking - Shanghai Style
• The worlds cheapest Michelin starred restaurant in the world - a dumpling house in Hong Kong

Btw... we stayed in some fantastic hotels and had a drink or two at a couple of unique bars which were not technically 'food related' but definitely worth spreading the word to FBC readers. Hey - you might as well have a nice drink to accompany  delicious food and have a nice place to rest before going on the next culinary journey.

Stay tuned!
Mr and Mrs FBC
xxoo

Bringing in the New Year with Pancakes (on the Rocks)

Happy New Year to one an all! Can't belive a another decade has flown by. You know how we called the 2000's  - the Noughties. Well, what are we calling the 2010's?? The 'tweenies'? The 'tens'? Who knows.... just bring it on!

What did you all do to see the end of 2009 and bring in 2010? Mr FBC and I spent an intimate evening with two of our closest friends in their lovely apartment in Kirribilli. They have an absolutely awesome view of the Sydney Harbour bridge and it was great to see in the New Year with fantastic friends - thanks "Menai" for having us over :)

We celebrated the 9pm Sydney fireworks from the comfort of their lounge room - avoiding the crowds. However, we thought we'd mingle with the masses (and all the drunks) for the 12am fireworks at the Kirribilli Ferry Wharf. Hmmm... thinking I like the loungeroom view instead.. but we had our important bottle of champers (Piper Hiedsieck) so it didn't matter too much. 

9pm Fireworks - View from Menai's apartment in Kirribilli

12am Fireworks - View from Beulah Street Wharf, Kirribilli. Yes - we only saw half of the bridge, but I'm sure it was the better half ;p

Our friends are getting used to Mr FBC and I taking photos of all the food we eat - they even try and arrange the food for us and try and remind us to take photos. How sweet :)

I brought along some Ricotta, Chive and Tomato Mini tartlets which I made using a recipe I found on Not Quite Nigella. They were really simple and quick to make. Will definitely make them again.

Ricotta, Chive and Tomato Tarlets made by Mrs FBC

Mr FBC and I were enjoying the company so much, that we did forgot to take a photo of the mains. Just picture nice juicy lamb steaks, grilled aspargus and tomato, plus a wonderful salad of rocket, caramelised walnuts, parmesan cheese, pieces of orange, baked baby beetroot drizzled with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. 

For dessert, I made a cake from the frankie magazine 'afternoon tea' recipe book that I got for Xmas from Mr FBC. It's a great book filled with lots of simple old school afternoon tea recipes from caramel slice to choc chip cookies. I was after something that was simple so I chose the aptly titled 'Simplicity Chocolate Cake' recipe. It really was easey peasy - pretty much wacking all the ingredients in a bowl and mixing. The cake wasn't the most chocolately tasting cake I've had... but it was still passable. The generous dollop of thickened cream was much needed. Without it the cake may have been a bit too dry. The recipe isn't that exciting... but I'll put it at the end of the post if you're interested.

A slice of the 'Simplicity Chocolate Cake'

Frankie Magazine Afternoon Tea Book

(source: http://www.frankie.com.au)

Most people would continue the New Year's eve drinking or dancing the night away or at least until they passed out. Not Mr FBC and I. We're too exciting for that (not!). After leaving Menai's place at 2am, we thought we'd make the long trek over the bridge to get some good ol' fashioned pancakes at Pancakes on the Rocks - one of the only 24 hour establishments in Sydney. We thought we might as well 'walk off' the pancakes (and many, many calories) we were about to devour - that makes sense right?

Pancakes at the Rocks at 3am - notice the person on the right who looks like they've had enough of the New Year's eve celebrations and is slumped in chair. Partaaay!

Do you think it's crazy to have a regular stack of pancakes with whipped butte, ice cream and maple syrup at 3am in the morning? Hell no! Is it even crazier to have a stack of pancakes with bacon, a hashbrown, a fried egg, whipped butter AND maple syrup at 3am in the morning?  I highly doubt it :p Especially, if you looooove food as much as Mr FBC and I.

Not many would be a fan of the sweet and savoury pancake combo. Mr FBC likes his pancakes in the traditional style - regular stack accompanied with whipped butter, ice cream and maple syrup. Personally,  I really love mixing it up a bit and am happy to share my sweet foods with my savoury.  I found the saltiness of bacon and fried egg really offset and worked well with the almost sickly, gooey, sweetness of the maple syrup. One of the best things in the world is to slowly pour the maple syrup over the pancakes and watch the syrup run down the stack and soak into each pancake. Heavenly!

Regular Stack of Pancakes $7.95

Pancake Egg 'n' Hash (with some bacon) $14.70

'Pancakes on the Rocks' is a bit of an institution in the Rocks area. It's been there forever. I'm sure there use to be more 'Pancake' places in Sydney. But, alas, they have all seemed to disappeared over the years :(

As for the quality of the actual pancakes?  They were not too light and not too dense, slightly fluffy and perfectly golden on both sides. Most importantly, they had an excellent 'maple syrup' absorbancy rating.  Soaked up the syrup like a sponge. Yum!

Unfortunately, Mr FBC and I were defeated by our pancakes and couldn't finish the meal. Pancakes 1, Mr & Mrs FBC 0. Being true to our blog name, we left with extremely 'fat bellies' and walked a large distance of the way home (we only live in the inner, inner west).

Defeated by the Pancakes 'n' Hash

Mr FBC and I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year. We hope this year brings lots of love, happiness and copius amounts of delicious food!

Pancakes on the Rocks
4 Hickson Rd, The Rocks, Sydney

Opening Hours: 24 HOURS, 7 DAYS A WEEK

Ph: 02 9247 6371

http://www.pancakesontherocks.com.au/

Other locations include:  Darling Harbour, Northmead and Campbelltown

Simplicity Chocolate Cake Recipe (from Frankie Magazine - Afternoon Tea book, p. 51)
125g butter
1 cup self raising flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees

2. Place butter in a saucepan and melt over heat.

3. Sift flour, cocoa together into a mxing bowl. Add sugar and the lightly beaten eggs, milk, vanilla essence and melted butter. Stir to combine.

4. Using an electrc mixer, beat for three minutes until cake batter changes colour slightly.

5. Grease and line the bottom of cake tin. Pour mixture into tin. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

6. Serve with a dollop of thickened cream.