Chocolate Bean

Last week I headed to Chocolate Bean on Union Street for a spur of the moment late night dessert. Chocolate Bean has been a bit of a regular haunt for me due to the fact they have an amazing range of vegan and gluten free desserts, and what I think are the best iced chocolates in Adelaide (and I'm really not a milk drink fan). The venue has a real intimate feel to it, ideal for chatting with friends or romantic dates.

Usually I'd head straight for the vegan peanut butter cheesecake but this night I had a huge chocolate craving and opted for the signature 'death by chcolate' cake. This cake is a dense mud cake, but is gluten free :) As you can see I was pretty hungry and started to demolish the cake before I took the photo! The cake was warmed up and really rich and chocolaty, a great cake for those wanting that super chocolate hit. The chocolate drizzle on the plate at Chocolate Bean is always one of my favourite parts of their desserts as they use real melted chocolate and not syrup. I spent a good amount of time scraping it from the plate ;) For my drink I had a dark chocolate icey, Chocolate Bean have a great range of milks to choose from and on this occasion I just went a basic skim. There is also a range of flavour add ins for an extra cost, I have a soft spot for mint but chose orange on this occasion and it complemented/cut through the intenseness of the chocolate cake perfectly.

My friend had a chocolate sundae and the liquid snickers cocktail. Sundae was really quite large and filled with a really good amount of strawberries and melted chocolate. The liquid snickers was just that! Super nutty with a rich caramel flavour and thick-shake type texture (you could certainly taste the alcohol in it as well). 

If your after a quality chocolate hit in the CBD (or an amazing iced chocolate) Chocolate Bean is the place to head. The service is good, the venue is nice and the food really yummy.

Charmer's Cupcakery and Tea House

Charmer's Cupcakery and Tea House was recommended to me by a few different people for amazing cupcakes, so last weekend I headed down to give them a try. The venue was great, very cute and homely, the perfect feel for breakfasts, brunches or evening dates.

The shop stocks the range of T-Bar teas and me and my friend shared a pot of Prince of Wales (one of my favourite morning teas) The chinaware was super cute and the tea was served with mini dark chocolates which was a nice addition.

My friend ordered the eggs benedict and said the hollandaise was great and eggs perfectly cooked. It was a good sized served and is available in a half size for those with smaller appetites. The meal really felt home cooked and fresh.

I had the Champions breakfast, this is usually served with eggs as you like, bacon, sausage, tomato, mushroom, spinach, baked beans, hash brown and toast for $19.90. As per my usual breakfast order I asked for no toast, no beans and no hash brown and the lady happily changed the order without hestiation. Fantastic service! (they also threw on some extra food to make up for the subtractions). This paleo friendly breakfast was delicious. Perfectly gooey poached eggs, nothing overly greasy, freshly cooked and again that real home cooked breakfast feel. Possibly the best breakfast I have had in a  restaurant for  while, with the service and willingness to accommodate requests just making the experience that much better :)

On to the cake! There was a huge range of tempting looking cakes, slices, tarts and pies in the cabinet but only two cupcake flavours available the morning we were there. We chose to share the raspberry vanilla cupcake as we were pretty full after breakfast. Don't be deceived by this seemingly everyday cupcake it was 'the amazing'. The icing was moreish, the cake that perfect combination between dense and fluffy and filled with a super tasty raspberry jam. A fantastic cupcake, I only wish they had more flavours to try (suppose it just means I'll have to pay them another visit ;) )

I will definitely be having breakfast at Charmers again, great venue, great service, great food... how can you go wrong?

Shanghai Street Dumplings Melbourne

Headed to Melbourne for a dexa scan and decided to try out a local foodie institution while I was there. Shanghai Street Dumplings has a huge 90% rating on urbanspoon and blog posts told me to be prepared to queue for up to 40 minutes!  Arriving at lunch time the line was about 4 groups long and honestly I think I waited maybe ten minutes before getting a table. They also took the order while I waited so as soon as a table was ready you paid for your meal up front and it was out in a flash. Being so busy this isn't a sit around and socialise kind of venue, it's high turnover, quick, tasty eats.

After being seated we were given sauces and cutlery and we grabbed some free tea from the station inside the restaurant. Plastic cups were provided and although the place comes across as kind of grimy the food was totally worth it.



First up we had the infamous fried pork mini bun. These are a fried version of Xiao Long Bao or soup dumpling. These dumplings are traditionally filled with pork and a broth, however Shanghai Street Dumplings offer a range of meat fillings as well as the fried option. I was really keen to get these as I haven't found a place in Adelaide that does a good steamed version let alone somewhere that has the fried version. These were amazing, perfectly crunchy with good thickness on the skins.  They had a great flavoured broth and a good amount of meat filling. They also stayed intact until bitten into or burst with a chopstick, so there wasn't any waste of the delicious soup filling. They were on the larger side compared to those I had in China which made them a little difficult to eat...but they were so good I can't really complain about getting more food for my dollar.

We also had the fried spring onion pancake with bacon. This was also delicious, crispy on the outside, slightly gooey on the inside and a good balance of flavour.  It was also a huge serving, definitely made to share. Lastly we had a dumpling rice noodle soup which I don't have a photo of because we literally demolished the dish before I remembered to! A flavour filled clear broth with a really tender but not soggy rice noodle and 5 super tasty prawn and chicken dumplings. It also came with the token amount of green in some Chinese broccoli ;) This really went down well and was a great soup. We were uber full after eating the three dishes and for a grand total of $25 it was great value. I was in a food coma for a good few hours afterwards. If you are in Melbourne and after some delicious cheap food I'd say head on down to Shanghai Street Dumpling (just ignore the decor and slightly pushy service...the food is worth it!)

Aki's Hand Tofu Donut

Headed into the Adelaide Show Ground Farmers Market to pick up some fresh vegetables and eggs and decided to try out one of the tofu donuts from Aki's Hand. This stall sells a pretty unique range of food and specialises in organic, macrobiotic and gluten free items. They also do catering for events.The donuts come in range of super cute shapes including pickachu, hello kitty and mickey mouse. I struggled to decide between the green tea and caramel flavours, and only ended up going the caramel because there were no mickey mouse shaped ones left in green tea. The donut itself was really dense, kind of like a bread and was quite sweet, It was very different to a traditional donut but was rather tasty nonetheless. There are a few more items I'd like to try from the stall, in particular the macrobiotic cakes. If your after something unique check these guys out next time your at the markets :)

Eggless

I finally got to try out the food at one of Adelaide's dessert institutions, Eggless Dessert Cafe. This place is unique in that it has an amazing range of vegan options, usually a few gluten free options and all the desserts are egg free . The menu also changes monthly which means there is always something new to try! There is pretty much always a queue and they only take bookings for large groups, so I'd recommend getting in early or being prepared to line up and wait. They do have a good queuing system where you write down your name/number of diners and phone number and they call you when a table is ready. The venue is nice, they've spaced the tables well and don't try to cram people in despite how busy they are. The wait staff were super friendly and fun and orders are taken at the table. To start we ordered a green tea and a coffee for drinks. The tea was a huge serving and good value for the price (and came in a cup without handles which happens to my favourite way to drink tea!). The coffee was also given a positive review with my friend saying it was a good, flavoursome coffee.

For dessert my friend ordered the zesty apple pie and I had the vegan coconut and ginger bread cake with lime curd. The apple pie had an amazing butterscotch sauce and a true home cooked taste to it. My friend really enjoyed it, and from the small piece I tried it was certainly a really tasty version of the humble apple pie.

The coconut gingerbread cake wasn't what I was expecting, however  it was seriously amazing. I would describe it as more of a pudding then a cake, served warm the cake was moist, whilst the date compote and lime curd perfectly complemented each other without being overwhelming. The vegan ice-cream/cream was also really creamy and added a good texture to the dish. This dish alone almost tempted me for a second visit later in the week.

Eggless certainly lived up to its reputation, and I'll be keeping an eye out every month to see what new and exciting items they have on the menu. Service was quick, efficient and friendly and the staff were great to chat with. They also do a tasting platter for two which is a great value way to give four of the desserts a try if you just can't decide what to eat ;)

Paleo Beef Heart Stew

So offal is a bit of thing for palo people, full of nutrients and iron they are often a cheap cut of meat and provide a lot of health benefits. After much hesitation from my husband I decided to cook a beef heart. I researched the best way to prepare one and decided I would go with the long slow cook method. I had to order in the heart, (went through Feast at central markets) and for a 2kg heart its cost me around $7.50. After preparation, which involved removing all the valves and what-not it weighed about 1.5kgs which is a pretty decent amount of meat for the price. It smelt gamey, and reminded me very much of kangaroo meat. I made an italian type stew and ended up with dinner that night plus six serves for the freezer which was handy. I served it with sauteed cabbage and brussels sprouts. The meat was really tender, and in all honesty if I didn't know it was heart I would have thought I was eating a really good cut of beef. Hubby who was not keen on eating it really enjoyed it as well. Flavour was nice, and the stew thickened up really well without any additives. It also held up well to freezing, I had some for lunch a week later and meat was just as tender and had not dried out which I find sometimes happens when I make a stew with kangaroo meat. If your looking for a cheap tasty cut of meat and want to try something a bit out of the box, I'd say give beef heart a try it's certainly going to make a regular appearance in my kitchen.

Here's the recipe I used for those that are interested.

2kg diced beef heart - about 1.5kg after removing all valves etc.
1 X 400gm can diced tomatoes
100gms bacon
500gms diced pumpkin
200gms chopped celery
200gms copped carrot
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
140gms tomato paste
1 Tablespoon crushed garlic
herbs to taste (oregano, thyme, rosemary, paprika, chili)
salt & pepper

Basically I just put this all in the slow cooker, gave it a good stir and set it for 8 hours. Also it only has 272 calories per serve but a huge 35.9 grams of protein!

Wasai Japanese Kitchen

I had never had sushi until about a month ago, when a combination of rave reviews from friends and a high rating on urbanspoon led me to Wasai Japanese Kitchen to give raw fish a try. I didn't review my first visit, I enjoyed the food and experience so much I didn't even think of taking photos or critically thinking about the food! So two weeks ago I headed back with a friend for dinner after craving sushi the whole week. The fact that I really wasn't sure I was going to like sushi and then couldn't stop thinking about it kind of sums up how great Wasai is :)

The restaurant has a great feel about it, it is clean and modern and the service is efficient even though they are really busy.  They bring a menu immediately, along with the specials list and give you enough time to ponder them before placing your order without feeling rushed or forgotten. They also provide free edamame which is a nice touch. I ordered a lime soda bitters as well as a green tea for my drinks, whilst my friend has the house Sake. The tea was one of the better green teas I've had in a while, light with a clean taste. Friend's Sake was poured into a small glass in a little wooden box until it overflowed, neither of us had any idea how you were supposed to drink it :/  google said drink from the glass then the box.

For food we ordered the $33 sushi boat, the same as what was ordered the first visit here. Great value for money and the right amount of food for two people, I was super full after eating my share both times. I have no idea on which specific sushi is included, but my favourite is the one with the orange dusting, so tasty! I also love the pickled ginger. Everything is super fresh, the fish is clean tasting and not slimy. My friend ordered a fried chicken dish for entree, I tried a small piece, it was tasty but didn't blow me away, but I'm not a super fried food fan. The sauce it came with was really good though, I ended up dipping some of my sushi into it.

Wasai is definitely now one of my favourite places to eat, with good service, good pricing and really really good food. It certainly lives up to its reputation as being the best Japanese in Adelaide.

Macaron from Please Say Please

I don't drink coffee, but I've been told that Please Say Please do an amazing one. I follow them on Facebook as hubby is a big coffee drinker. On Monday a photo of some amazing looking macarons appeared in my feed from Please Say Please, and as I was in town I decided to pick one up for me and hubby to share after dinner. Dubbed the 'Willy Wonkaroon' this macaron has to be the prettiest I've seen, not only was it pink and purple it had a coating of gold and silver shimmer! Flavour-wise it was a unique combination of salted vanilla bean, dark chocolate, burnt toffee, lemon zest and roasted peanuts. Have to say, possible the best macaron I've had, really good crunch, not full of air, a decent amount of filling and a super delicious combination of flavours. Please Say Please change macaron flavour on a weekly basis I think, but I'd certainly recommend grabbing one if your in the area or looking for something sweet to go with their coffee :)

The Aviary Dessert Kitchen

Sunday night saw me and hubby looking for something warm to drink and carby for my weekly refeed, enter The Aviary Dessert Kitchen another place from my food bucket list. When we arrived there was a line up and we were told there was around a 15 minute wait time for a table. In no hurry we asked to be added to the wait list (this system is becoming more and more common in Adelaide dessert places) and were given menus to ponder over in the waiting area. The young man serving kept us updated on how far off a table was..and realistically we waited under 10 minutes. We ordered before we went to the table and took a seat in a small room to the back of the restaurant. I understand there is also an upstairs level, however the room we were in had a nice cosy atmosphere, nice enough for a date or small group of people. Given how busy they were the food came out really quickly, unfortunately though the drinks didn't arrive until we were pretty much finished. To start we tried two of the macarons, rocky road and strawberry lamington. Both were on the crunchier side but not so that they were stale. The rocky road had a very jelly lolly taste to it, nothing mind blowing. Strawberry lamington however was a different story...it had a real unique strawberry/chocolate taste that I haven't had in another macaron.

For my dessert I chose one of the signature items, the eton mess. A combination of meringue, nutella mousse, strawberries and a hazelnut almond praline. When I saw them bring this out to other people I was a little worried I'd ordered something that was going to be sickeningly sweet. In reality it was the complete opposite, light airy nutella mousse and a crunchy light meringue equaled an amazing dessert. I'd highly recommend giving this one a try :) I really could have eaten another whole one of these!

Hubby had the caramel banana cake from the cabinet, a light sponge with layers of caramel and banana surrounded by a white chocolate shell. This was really unusual, the caramel had a fruity taste to it, and it wasn't that banana flavoured, however it was still really tasty.

 For drinks I had the peanut butter hot chocolate with skim and hubby had a hot chocolate with added caramel syrup flavouring. My drink had an amazing peanut butter flavour, it did overpower the chocolate  but if your a nut butter fan (like me ;) ) then this will hit the spot. Hubby's drink was nice, the caramel syrup wasn't overpowering but was similar to caramel hot chocolates we've tried elsewhere.

Overall we had a lovely night and the food was high quality, presented nicely and good value. If your looking for a late night dessert place definitely consider these guys on your next outing.

PJ O'Brians and a win for the Lions :)

Headed to PJ O'Brian's to watch the rugby on Saturday night, being from the UK I had my fingers crossed for a Lions win. Certainly wasn't disappointed! Anyhow let's talk about the food. First up customer service.. I have to say this place was first class. When I rang up to make the reservation a young man took my booking, I asked for a table where we could see the rugby... fairly sure the answer was going to be no, but he was more than obliging. Fast forward to Thursday, when I thought I might ring and double check we had a TV view.. young woman answered, super friendly, double checked it without hesitation, said we would be right near a TV with sound and had a lovely conversation with me about the rugby. When I arrived at the pub on Saturday I was shown to the table and I kid you not...right in front of the TV!! Prime rugby viewing spot. The waitress was really friendly as well. I seriously cannot fault this place on customer service! Foodwise... me and friend both ordered the steak and Guinness pie... I asked for no mash and again this was accommodated without a single qualm. Food arrived quickly even though the pub was packed and my friend's beer was even brought to the table. Unanimous verdict was the pie was delicious, with crispy pastry, thick rich gravy and tender meat that fell apart. The vegetables weren't soggy and the extra gravy on top was really tasty as well. Great pub food, decent prices and amazing customer service, this place get serious kudos. They have some great specials on both food and drink, regular entertainment and the venue has a nice vibe. If your looking for a delicious pub meal in a place with good atmosphere I reckon PJ's might be the place to go :)