Edit: CLOSED

“I’ve got the day off let’s go eat at China Beach… I’ll drive you home!” came the promise from Lex one email not so very long ago. True, the promise of a lift home may have been a strong factor in attending dinner but it turns out that the food at China Beach (43-45 North Steyne, Manly) is actually pretty awesome, a tad on the pricey side but hey with a waterfront restaurant, location is everything!

It may have been a school night but we couldn’t go past the cocktail list. Shez the drinks monster has already downed some pre-dinner drinks but has decided to try the Fistful of Yen ($12) more for the name I suspect than of the ingredients making up said drink and oh boy was it a doozy. It tasted like alcohol mixed with alcohol and topped with more alcohol. My Apple Orchard ($12) wasn’t quite as boozy so I could actually taste the apple with an edge of spicy cinnamon but boozy enough that some of the dishes later on has become a little hazy in my memory banks.

Betel leaf with house smoked trout, grilled eggplant & green chilli nam jim ($4 each). Hello morsels of deliciousness! Betel leaves are the perfect serving plates, leafy greens just big enough to hold itty bitty pieces of trout marinated in awesomeness, slightly sour and with a chilli kick.

3 huge oysters on a bed of rock salt magically appear thanks to Lex’s connections with the kitchen. Fat, briny bivalves sitting in a row, a dash of rice wine vinaigrette and topped with shallots equals sea bliss.

Sashimi of kingfish & ocean trout with blackened chilli dressing ($20). Now this was an entree I could have ordered x 3! Thick slices of uber fresh, top notch sashimi lying atop crunchy julienned apple and doused in a dressing that had a heat level just above ‘hmm zingy’ and below ‘oh crap the burning’. It was win.

Crispy pork belly stir fried with mama’s curry paste & snake bean, lime leaf & basil ($28). There was an unanimous decision to order the pork belly once we spotted it on the menu. Dude if it’s pork belly and it’s crispy it’s gotta be good right! Hells yes it was good! The plate was a treasure trove of porky goodness which was equal parts juicy tender meat to crispy delectable crackling and a jumble of beans and capsicum to balance out the richness. Don’t ask me what ‘mama’s curry paste’ is. Whatever it was, I’d love the recipe!

Stir fried beef tenderloin with black bean chilli, bamboo shoot & asian mushrooms ($30). I have absolutely no recollection of eating this. Seriously I must have the memory of a peanut but I do not remember eating this. Doo di doo. Moving along now. Nothing to see here folks.

Braised wagyu beef shin in broth of vietnamese mint, chinese broccoli, pickle & chilli ($30). This, however, I DO remember! It was awesome and we ended up fighting over the last shreds of beef and drinking the heavenly broth which was rich, intense and perfect on that crazy cold night. It was like the most incredible bowl of pho you could imagine with baby soft beef just melting away into delicious heaven. I know I sound slightly delirious which may be due to my lack of sleep but that was one dish I will return for. Yeah I would drive all the way to Manly for this.

Spicy southern thai dry curry of goat, green peppercorn, eggplant and holy basil ($30). The goat was tasty but unfortunately the spice level shot way, way past my chili tolerance and into another realm of burning.

Three flavour warm sticky rice in a banana leaf with Thai custard & mango sorbet ($12). I ♥ sticky rice! A second dessert stomach will miraculously emerge if the menu mentions sticky rice! The sticky rice was unfortunately laced with the one spice I have issues with – cardamom. There’s just something about cardamom that makes me twitch. Cumin is also another spice I have issues with but I digress. The layer of cardamom over the sticky rice made it near impossible for me to tell apart the different flavours of the sticky rice other than sensing the different textures. Later Lex tells me the flavours were pandan, coconut, saffron. Tis a shame since pandan sticky rice would’ve been way awesome. The mango sorbet is refreshing and the Thai custard was almost creme caramel smooth.

Crispy pancake with coconut caramel & a warm fruit compote ($12). Totes wasn’t expecting roti! It was a nice surprise, the roti was crispy and flaky, hiding the kaya-like innards within. Wasn’t a big fan of the fruit though think I would’ve liked a scoop of ice cream on the side? Mmm ice cream.

Buddha overlooks the room of hungry diners and we roll ourselves back to the car where an hour’s drive home filled with the sounds of Alanis Morissette soon lulls me to sleep…

Sure, it looks like a normal cake. But wait till you hear the ingredients: box of cake mix, 3 eggs, water AND ICE CREAM. That’s right it’s a cake made with ice cream! This is one of those awesome recipes where you bookmark and make one day because you don’t want to use too much effort sifting flour and creaming butter and sugar. I found this recipe over at Omnomicon who likes using crazy old skool recipes that sound outrageous but simply work. This cake is so freaking moist it’s nuts! And yes most of you will know how much I have issues with the word moist but seriously this is one cake that I will proudly proclaim to the world as moist! Moist! MOIIIIIST!

So ingredients you’ll need:
box of cake mix,
3 eggs,
1 pint ice cream (475ml),
1 cup of water

Simple right? I used my leftover Nutella ice cream that I had hiding in the back of my freezer from when I made the super easy ice cream recipe and because I wanted a Nutella tasting cake I used vanilla cake mix. Obvs you can always use chocolate cake mix, lemon mix etc.

Whack everything in a mixer. I wanted a super strong Nutella tasting cake so I added a coupla spoonfuls of Nutella

Mix everything till the batter looks, well, like ice cream heh

Bake in a pre heated oven at 175C for 45mins

Tadah! A lil sprinkle of icing sugar and she sure is a beauty!

I don’t want to overuse the word moist but seriously it is the moistest cake ever like, the moistest a cake can be without being soggy! It totally makes a squooshing sound when you slice into it! I’m imagining all the ice cream flavour combinations right now mmm honey? Mint choc chip? Pistachio?

This month has been full of so much tasty noms! Take this sandwich for example. What a beautiful specimen of a sandwich! It’s from my new fav lunch spot Primavera Espresso Bar (Shop 10.25, World Square Shopping Centre, 644 George St, Sydney) and it is fabulous. Fluffy turkish bread, lightly toasted, with strips of glorious prosciutto on a bed of rocket, slices of tomato and pockets of glorious ricotta. Oh yes.


The mango pudding from Spice Temple (10 Bligh St, Sydney) is also pretty delish, like a super sexy version of its cousin at yum cha. This dessert totes stole my heart- it was smooth, creamy and full of mango-y goodness topped with a crisp sesame tuille that caused me to do battle with the family units.


I can never resist adding butter and corn to the tonkotsu ramen at Ryo’s (125 Falcon St, North Sydney). Mmm butter. It just makes everything so much tastier with the added bonus of a possible heart attack from the richness.


The Salmon Bento at Miso (Shop 20 World Square Shopping Centre, 644 George St Sydney) was super satisfying but oh gawd so huge! I ♥ bento boxes with its different compartments! My box had a glistening piece of terriyaki salmon over a bed of soft sushi rice, deep fried soft shell crab, salmon sashimi, potato salad, assorted fried stuff and vegetables and fruit. Oh and miso soup. Yeah it was awesome stuff 😀

Humans! Saturday was the Sydney (and Melb) Food Bloggers’ Mad Hatter Spring Picnic at Centennial Park and those of us who lurk behind our blog personas got the chance to meet other food bloggers in da flesh thanks to organisers Billy, Karen and Nuffnang. Short post from me cos I’m sure there’ll be heaps of posts from everyone so here, look at all the humans! We are real!


Minh, Jacq, Betty, Steph and me looking like a hobo and rugging up against the cold thanks to my sickness lol if anyone talked to me that day I do apologise but the cold meds were playing havoc on my brain!


Demos rocking Gianna’s fruity concoction


Bunny ears and super fluffy tail galore with Rita and The Ninja


Phuoc with her incredibly delicious caramel hat


Ok so I super failed in taking pics of food so this pic is from Anita who won a brand spanking new Kitchen Aid with these tasty thai fish cakes that seriously were so freaking moreish! Also, best thank you dance ever Anita!


Photo stolen from Julie who won best savoury dish with these super tasty Momofuku pork buns that she made from scratch and so very thoughtfully included crispy pork crackling in amongst the juicy porky pieces


Anna’s beautiful cake complete with all the tools for a food blogger


YARMY cookie monster Richard nom nom nom


Stephanie, Betty, Vivian, Ayana, me


Mmm foods. Thanks to my awesome sick taste buds I didn’t eat much but much ♥ to Helen’s bacon dulce de leche caramels and Minh’s cheesey broccoli muffins


Betty, me and Eugene


But what’s this? A pinata, Billy? Time to let out some rage and hit a defenceless cardboard pinata woot!


Naww pinata candy innards!


Whatcha lookin at? Thanks again Billy, Karen and Sarah for organising! Hope to see all the food bloggers in real life again soon!