Tre Viet @ Newtown

Anything warm and soupy is ideal for a cold winter night, after tossing up between mexican and vietnamese, we decided to head into The Viet.. esepcially since we consumed a large stick of rocky road and two packets of chips during Avenue Q.

The store was relatively busy, there are so many restaurants in Newtown, competition is fierce. We saw a middle aged woman hard selling their food outside her takeaway store and another lot restaurant owners sat in their empty restaurant giving us puppy eyes as we walked past.

Beef Rice Noodle Soup (Pho) - $12.50

This was satisfying, lots of beef (real beef - some of the Pho I've had around south Sydney have been using mock beef... who knows what it actually is) with a super tasty broth. Beef was tender and thinly sliced, I was happy with my meal overall. A good decision and a good break from junk food, it was light on my stomach. I was fairly full after this bowl of deliciousness.

Seafood Egg Noodle (Dry) - $12.50


When I ordered the noodles as dry I expected it to not contain the soup - However I did NOT expect for the seafood to also be so dry. My hunger drove me to keep eating this, however I found the chunks of fish so dry it was practically inedible. I had to leave them in my bone bowl, despite the fact I was craving more seafood in this meal. The egg noodles were not too bad, they were fairly standard. I would not recommend the dry noodle dishes because of the dry seafood, but feel the soup would have greatly enhanced this dish.

Worth Returning?
It's a 50/50 vote. Potentially, just for their signature dishes like Pho, crispy chicken and fresh spring rolls. However, there are sooooo many restaurants to try out in Newtown.



Black Star Pastry @ Newtown

I've seen the lines outside Black Star Pastry and heard its' tales.
We've had a taste at Spectrum now and it has left us yearning and itching for more. I am usually a sharing person, but after my first bite at Spectrum now, every bone in my body wanted to shove the cake down my throat so my partner couldn't get to it. Watermelon is one of my favourite fruits and I eat cake on a regular basis. This is just sheer genius. It's sophisticated, it's decadent, it's refreshing... it's every watermelon lover's dream. You need to try their watermelon cake AT LEAST once.

Strawberry Watermelon Cake with Rose Water Scented Cream

Approx $7.5 for a single serve



 Amedei Chocolate and Hazelnut Torte

Approx $7.5 per serve

Amazingly rich chocolate and hazelnut torte, you know whatever is in this torte is top quality stuff. It was quite a small piece, but given the richness, it's a satisfying amount.

Worth Returning?

Yes.... although I need to get more cake saving together. It's not cheap at $7.5 a pop, butttt... the belly gets what the belly wants.



Cuckoo Callay @ Newtown

Cuckoo Callay has been on the top of my "to eat" list for some time. My friend and I met up for a catch up that was long over-due and Cuckoo Callay seemed like the perfect catch up spot for brunch.
Prior to our catch up, I looked through every picture and blog review on Urbanspoon, dribbling over all the delicious goodies. I had high hopes for Cuckoo Callay, it's been heavily reviewed and praised on Urbanspoon.

We arrived at 11am on a Saturday morning and there was a small crowd outside of the cafe waiting for a seat. We put our name down and got a spot for 2 within minutes.

The cafe was much smaller than anticipated with limited seating area inside the cafe. They did have a nice alfresco seating area, unfortunately we didn't get a spot out there.

We ordered two drinks, which came fairly quickly and two meals from their breakfast menu, which took 45 minutes to come. The waitress however did advise that there was a 30 minute waiting period as we ordered.

 

Salted Caramel Milkhake $7

 

I love my salted caramel shakes, if it's on the menu, it'll be ordered! I did toss and turn, trying to decide whether I should be a little bit more adventurous and opt for the Nutella shake and decided not to. Unfortunately, this Salted Caramel shake did not stand up against the amazing liquid goodness I've had at Short Black Panther or The Paramount Coffee Project, however it was a little bit better than the salted caramel shake from Reuben Hills. This is a personal preference, I like my milkshakes sweet and full of flavour. Unfortunately, this was flat and extra milky with a strange after taste, not to mention a quarter of my mason cup was froth. Super disappointing.

 

Tommy Two Guns with Mushroom $11

Baby Spinach, fried egg, mushroom, aoli on Brioche

 

My friend had this and she thought it was rather average, and an oddly sweet burger.... The fried egg was nicely cooked with a runny centre, but that was about all the feedback she had.

Cinderella's Breakfast $18

Pumpkin fritters, Heirloom tomatoes, House cured salmon, poached egg and house made basil pesto

 

This dish brought me to Cuckoo Callay. I love eggs, salmon, pesto and pumpkins. First few bites were lovely, the flavours were well balanced. Soon enough, the whole dish started to taste like baby food. A part from the heirloom tomatoes, everything else had the same soft and mushy texture, including the pumpkin fritters. This dish was much smaller than expected, I'm a slow eater and I was able to polish this off in 10 minutes since I didn't really have to chew much.

Overall
They had awesome music pumping. Service was great, I couldn't fault it. Hipster cred is definitely there. Unfrotunately Cuckoo Callay wasn't what I expected. Personally I thought their prices were inflated for relatively average food, IMHO... over-hyped. I will give the benefit of doubt and return to try their bacon dishes, hopefully that'll change my mind.

 

Review: Kammadhenu @ Newtown

I've been to Kammadhenu a few times now, initially called Kathmandu is one of my favourite fusion (Malaysian, Sri Lanka, Nepalese and Indian) restaurants in Newtown. The styles of the different cuisines compliments each other as they are fairly similar.

Plain Hoopers $4.50 for 2

My friend ordered these, I have absolutely no idea what they are, it doesn't taste like anything, even with the added coconut shreds on the side. I think I prefer my chats/samosas.

 

 Fish Korma

Deliciously fragrant, the fish was very tender. This is definitely worth a try.

 Butter Chicken

I order butter chicken every where I go, once I ordered Beef vindaloo out of curiosity, it burned my mouth. I try to be a little bit adventurous but ordering someone out of my comfort zone every now and then. I've been told that "authentic" butter chicken is actually quite spicy, so I'm assume that they've bastardized this as well, I can taste a lot of sugar and tomato. Bastardized or not, I do like the Westernised butter chicken.

 Paneer Masala

Mix Paneer and the bastardised sauce from the Butter Chicken and you'll have Paneer Masala. A great vegetarian alternative and quite yummy.

Overall, I was quite satisfied with this meal, the coconut rice needs improvement.. it's a little salty...


Worth returning?
Yes, I will be returning from time to time, although this will not be my go-to Indian restaurant.

Rating
7/10