The contents of this blog are matters of opinion formed over one more visits. There has been some artistry applied and metaphors and similes should not necessarily be taken literally. All meals are independently paid for - the author has no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Service is fast and friendly. Kebabs are well priced, well flavoured, and sauced – much better than other local alternatives.
Their spinach and cheese gozleme ($13.50) is also good.
COMMENTS The opening hours (essentially Monday-Sunday 0900-2030/2100) could be a bit better. I think they must open so early because they also serve coffee, but I wish they would close a bit later so that we could get their kebabs delivered to work on a night shift rather than settle for inferior alternatives. As it stands, CK Kebab is a good option for the nocturnist who occasionally visits the adjacent Coles to buy snacks for his nursing colleagues before his shift.
My favourite Western Sydney pork roll of childhood was at Red Light Bakery in the now-demolished Wentworthville Mall. There was something truly special about the soft, non-hard bread that never hurt my delicate teenage mouth that I have not been able to find anywhere else. I was saddened to find, on my return to living in Wentworthville after a ten year absence that the Mall and its bakery had been levelled to make way for a new apartment block. Enter Xcel Roll.
Xcel Roll, branch name of Mascot favourite Hong Ham, delivers the goods to a seldom-matched level of perfection. On offer are banh mi with a variety of fillings, though early risers should note that their crackling roast pork roll is not available in the early hours of the morning. While you may expect to line up down the street for a banh mi at the Mascot mothership, Xcel Roll’s Parramatta branch seems not to have won the fame of its family members. The wait is short and the service is fast and sweet.
The Classic Pork Roll. What is there to say about a banh mi that so nearly approaches perfection? The salad is plentiful, the carrots are tangy but not soggy. The pate and lard are adequately proportioned. The birds eye chillis are hot as they should be. The meaty fillings are your standard trio, and most importantly of all, the bread is crunchy without causing unnecessary oral trauma. This is the gold standard.
The Roast Pork Roll ($8.50) is as good as their cold pork roll. The roast pork is accompanied by pork skin, warm and crunchy and fatty. This mixes well with the sauces, ultimately producing a more creamy mouthfeel than their standard cold meat pork roll. Again a very good roll.
SIDE NOTE Since this review was first written Xcel Roll Parramatta has moved around the corner from 52 Macquarie St to 42 George St, and gone up a weight class from being a tiny hole in the wall bakery to now a small hole in the wall restaurant, offering basic pho and rice bowls atop it’s standard banh mi offering.
$12 makes for an unfortunately somewhat basic Beef Pho. While I thought that the provided chilli sauce was particularly good, shortcomings of this particular bowl included the somewhat basic tasting broth as well as the fully cooked through beef, with no rare option available. In my opinion I would always choose to spend the extra $2 for a special beef pho from Pho Master across the road.
While I was disappointed by Xcel Roll and Bowl’s beef pho, their Chicken Pho ($12) was actually quite good. The soup had a more complex flavour, and in this case the bowl did not suffer from the lack of rare meat, as you’d certainly want your chicken cooked all the way through. Other positive aspects of both this bowl of pho and the beef one are that they is served piping hot, and remained hot until I got home to be able to eat them, as well as the perfect sizing of the bowl, bean sprouts, and Thai basil, which meant that there was no juggling required between different bowls.
VERDICT The success of nearby Destination Roll on Church St suggests to me that Xcel Roll has a ways to go with their marketing. Small hot bread shops essentially survive on word of mouth, and I hope that this review will help to bolster Xcel Roll’s place in Parramatta’s collective consciousness.
Mikazuki, located at the base of the UWS building in Parramatta, has long suffered from a difficult walk from the train station and a lack of easily accessible nearby parking, both in the context of ongoing construction in the area. The recent completion of the Parramatta Square extension to the Parramatta train station has created a new thoroughfare, leading directly from Westfield (free parking), to the train station, and further on to Mikazuki. In short, it’s much, much easier to access now than it once was.
The small assorted sashimi ($19) was as expected – salmon, akami, kingfish, and I think probably snapper served on a bed of ice. The fish was fresh, however there was nothing particularly special in the cuts or arrangement. One thing that puzzled me was the addition of scallop shells as decoration in the absence of any actual scallop. Why?
The seaweed garlic butter wagyu beef don ($17.50) included a good mix of sweet, tangy, salty, and umami flavours in the one bowl. I was particularly a fan of the onsen egg as well as the bright tasting pickles that added a degree of tang to each bite.
The spicy sashimi tacos (2 for $9) were the reason I actually went to Mikazuki in the first place.. The shells were quite nice and crispy, and the fillings had a pleasant sourness to them. I think they could’ve done without the spicy mayo so as to allow the flavours of the kingfish and salmon to distinguish themselves more.
I thought the prawn and vegetable tempura ($19.50) was as good as any I’ve had in Sydney. I particularly liked the variety of vegetables on offer – although I realise I keep mentioning this about multiple different restaurants. Maybe Hiroba was just abnormally bad.
These Crispy Brussel Sprouts ($14) trick you into thinking that you’re eating something good for you, and it’s only when you bring them home in a takeaway container and look at them again the next day that you realise how drowned in oil they are.
COMMENTS Though I’ve been to Mikazuki six times now (twice in 2018, three times in 2019, and once in 2021) I think that’s more due to the general paucity of good Japanese food in the Parramatta area. It’s strengths are its broad and wide menu, but its weaknesses include its high prices, especially for things like sushi (not pictured) which are better had from nearby Kumiho.
I think the most puzzling part of Puzzle Coffee was that they didn’t exhibit any shame in charging $8 for a very standard iced coffee. Of all of the expensive but non-special coffees we had on our recent trip to Melbourne, this was the most.
I must have walked past Betty’s Burgers & Concrete Co in the Melbourne CBD dozens of times, each time wondering to myself what kind of synergies could possibly exist between these two seemingly unrelated products. It was only recently, after reading a post in a closed Facebook group for food-enjoying white collar professionals (though I do not wear any collar to work), that I discovered that concrete was the name given by this chain of restaurants to their frozen desserts.
Enter frozen dessert. This is the Lemon Raspberry Cheeecake Concrete ($6). It was very sauced, and very sweet. I was not a big fan. That is all.
