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.
Cloris Gourmet, one of our local restaurants, open until the wee hours of the morning. The food is cheap though not amazing, acceptable in a pinch.
Beef Chorizo Burger ($11.50) was only ok.
Spicy Southern Chicken Burger ($10.50) was also OK. A pretty similar mix of slaws. The chicken was better than the beef in my opinion.
The Lamb Hot Roll ($13.50) wasn’t what I wanted or expected. I thought it would be a roll in the way a kebab roll is a roll. I don’t understand why they would call the last two burgers burgers but this one a roll.
Chicken wings (6 for $7.50) were fine, not special, were a bit oily, wouldn’t go for them again.
Rising Sun Workshop, half motorcycle garage and half cafe, has been on my radar for some time. Embarrassingly enough I had avoided it as I had confused it with the similarly named Rice Workshop, a chain of cheaper Japanese diners predominantly based in Melbourne.
While Rising Sun Workshop offers both food and motorcycle related activities, it seems rare that one would partake in both on the same occasion. Indeed whilst I was eating lunch there was no point at which I felt like I was able to access the motorcycle portion of the establishment. This is in direct contrast to the Naked Racer in Cheltenham VIC (a recommendation, by the way), where patrons are able to both eat and peruse a motorcycle themed museum.
The Burnt Ends ($19) were kind of like a radish cake omurice. It was basically sweet-soy glazed pork belly atop a radish cake wrapped in scrambled egg, served with a side of pickle and sambal sauce. The radish cake was sweet, fluffy and soft, unlike radish cakes common to Shanghainese cuisine which tend to be a bit fried and harder. The egg wrapping was quite thin. The sambal sauce was a milder sambal than I’ve been having at Indonesian restaurants – more sweet than spicy, which was not so much a problem as it does make the dish a bit more friendly to a wider audience. While the portion was small the Burnt Ends was quite yummy and I can recommend it.
Chocolate Chip Cookie
While I enjoyed the Burnt Ends, there wasn’t really anything else on Rising Sun Workshop’s brunch menu that looked like it would travel well enough to bring home for my sleeping night shift girlfriend. I opted to bring her one of these chocolate chip cookies ($5 each) instead. I thought this was quite good. It had a nice three dimensional structure to it, which I tried to capture in the photo. The chocolate chips were quite melty and gooey, and the cookie itself not too sweet. The half of the cookie I saved for my partner split in half during the car ride, and she sleepily told me that she enjoyed the first cookie as well as the second cookie (don’t worry, she didn’t aspirate). They were two quarters of the same cookie.
CONCLUSION
I enjoyed my expensive and small meal at Rising Sun Workshop. There are a few other things on their dinner menu that I’d like to try, which are again small and expensive looking. The land of the rising sun generally refers to Japan however Rising Sun Workshop’s offerings look to have both Korean and Japanese influences. There is in particular a cauliflower dish called the “Korean Fried Cauliflower” in “Dear Leader” sauce. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard anyone call Shinzo Abe “Dear Leader”.
Following on from White Rabbit Gallery’s theme of white women collecting items of Chinese cultural significance is the White Rabbit Teahouse, located in the gallery’s foyer. The teahouse offers snacks and tea to gallery patrons and passers-by alike, however its coffee-free menu will not suit anyone looking for a rapid caffeine hit – the staff at White Gallery Teahouse earnestly recommend the cafe across the road for that.
The tea at White Gallery Teahouse is served in small glass pots with unlimited refills. The prices are quite reasonable compared to other specialty teahouses (for example Zensation in Waterloo), with our Taiwan Gingseng Oolong tea coming in at $7 for two. We were the only patrons in the teahouse at the time and service was brisk, with our waitress readily topping up our water as required.
The Lychee Iced Tea ($4.50) was nice, refreshing, and not too sweet. I regret getting a glass and not a carafe ($13).
Chicken and coriander dumplings
The chicken and coriander dumplings ($13 for 10) were not very exciting. I like that they were boiled rather than steamed or pan fried, but thought that they didn’t have much taste to them. The teahouse prides itself on serving MSG-free dumplings and the avoidance of glutamate is probably the reason for the dumplings’ lack of taste.
The large soy sauce bottle lamp ($579) was located next door in the gallery’s gift shop. I took a photo purely because it reminded me of a story of a guy who recently came in hyperthermic and obtunded and all they could find was a bunch of little soy sauce bottles in his pocket.
VERDICT
If you’re at White Rabbit Teahouse for dumplings I wouldn’t bother. Shanghai Dumpling Bar in Spice Alley, a mere 2 minute walk from White Rabbit does much tastier dumplings. If you’re not that keen on food and just want a nice place for a cup of tea after a stroll through the gallery it is absolutely fine.
Colombia is the birthplace of one of the friendliest wardspeople I have ever worked with, as well as the home of Más Tinto’s cuisine. Más Tinto, as Google Translate tells me, translates from Spanish into “More Red”, which does not look to add any additional meaning to the cafe’s name what so ever.
The first thing I need to tell you about is this amazing guava and cheese empanada ($3.50). As you can see, these empanadas here are a bit smaller than the ones at Mascot-based Chilean joint Pochito, and a bit more deep fried than baked. My partner had some significant misgivings about me ordering a fruit empanada over a meaty one, but these evaporated the moment this empanada was bitten into. The sweet guava and salty cheese complimented each other perfectly, with the soft filling contrasting in texture with its crispy fried envelope. This empanada was the best part of the meal by far, and could be a true ambassador for the café.
It’s kind of unfortunate that unbridled praise for Mas Tinto starts ands with its guava empanada. The Ajiaco ($18), a chicken, corn, and potato soup, was the better of the two mains that we ordered. The soup itself had a nice tangy flavour, especially eaten with the provided capers. The rice served was flavoured, though the rice itself was very loose and a little bit harder and dryer than we are used to. It is unfortunate that we ordered both this and the Mazorcada (shown below), as essentially both were meated with the same shredded chicken breast, something that we found repetitive and boring.
The Mazorcada ($16), a too-cheesy concoction of shredded chicken, sweet corn kernels, French Fries (the potato crisps from the packet), mushrooms, and chorizo, felt like the opposite of what I wanted. Rightfully or wrongly Más Tinto was chosen because we thought it would be a lighter alternative. The Mazorcada was anything but light. It was far too cheesy, and far too heavy. Despite this, I thought the flavours were too mild, a problem that not even the healthy smattering of chorizo could solve.
VERDICT While I didn’t like either of our mains that much, Más Tinto’ guava and cheese empanada is worth a small detour alone. I’m sure that based on the quality of this little parcel of joy there are other things on the menu that I would’ve liked more.
Just quickly, we had a couple of slices of cheesecake at The Smelly Cheesecake the other day.
The original cheesecake (L) was really not that special. It was slightly oversweet, with an airy and creamy top component and a denser bottom layer. Not really what I’d go to a specialty cheesecake shop for.
The blue cheesecake (R) was actually quite good. It really lived up to the cafe’s name of being slightly smelly. It had a deep richness with a hint of blue flavour that was present but not overpowering. Quite a special slice of cheesecake that’s worth trying.
VERDICT Get what’s special, don’t get what’s not special. Easy.
The Smelly Cheesecake Strathfield Shop2/2 Albert Rd, Strathfield New South Wales 2135 0452 273 559
