Moka Dining has recently opened in Beaconsfield (only 8 mins from Waterloo!) with an entire menu of omurice- a popular Japanese dish that’s basically omelette and rice.

So fun fact, I’ve been to Japan twice now but have never had any interest in eating omurice, I’ve seen plenty of pics of it but well, the draw of incredibly fresh sushi always won out. But now with the beginnings of winter creeping upon us, I’ve unpacked the knitted jumpers, fleece lined stockings and colourful scarves and started craving hearty, comfort foods.

Demi-glace sauce omurice ($16.80). This omurice is the ultimate in comfort food. A blanket of fluffy omelette lounges seductively over a mound of steamed rice and surrounded by a moat of Japanese style beef sauce with pieces of tender beef. It’s honestly a warm, snuggly hug for the soul.

Creamy white sauce omurice with bacon and mushroom ($15.80).YAS LOOK AT ALL THE CREAM! While this is not a traditional omurice, I’m always a sucker for anything creamy + carbs. Plus it had mushrooms and bacon which is always my fave combo and reminded me of boscaiola pasta.

Lemme just show you a closeup… oh baby oh baby! Yes it’s a bit pricey but damn the portions are massive! We barely made it halfway through each dish and had to takeaway the leftovers.

But of course I couldn’t resist dessert! Moka makes fresh sponge cakes with cream but I only had eyes for their ‘towel rolls’ which is basically a crepe filled with a layer of cream and rolled up so it resembles a crepe layer cake. Flavours available that day were taro, matcha, chocolate AND DURIAN!!!

The rolls are $20 each but the durian is $22 and you can buy them for takeaway or if you’re dining in it’s sliced into thirds. The amount of durian and cream in the rolls is pretty generous, the cream is fresh and the durian super fragrant. Definitely a winner for durian lovers!

Instagram friendly 😛

Moka Dining
358 Botany Road,
Beaconsfield

Trading Hours:
Mon – Sun: 11am – 10pm
Weds: Closed

MEEEEEEEAT! Got a craving for good ol American Texas style barbecue? Black Bear BBQ run by pit masters Ben Huppatz, Glen Ellis and Haydn Graham has got you covered!  I’ve been dying to visit but they’re not open on the weekends and I wasn’t going to risk travelling all the way out to Blacktown on a Friday night for hour long queues haha but the stars aligned when I had a week of funemployment and Raff and I drove off one fine Monday morning!

The area has an industrial zone vibe and driving past row upon row of smash repairers with cars and spare parts piled all haphazardly, I had such low expectations about eating barbecue in this area but oh how I was wrong! As soon as we exited the car, the heady scent of sweet sweet barbecue enveloped my senses.

Soon.

Slicing the brisket! Heh look at that grin, he knows my earth is about to be shattered.

Oh baby oh baby

We ordered a Beef Short Rib box ($25) and added an extra Chicken Maryland (I think this was $10… sorry terrible memory) instead of getting the chicken box deal ($15) knowing we needed to save stomach space and not let anything go to waste. All the boxes come with a side of slaw, pickles and potato chips. The skin on the chicken was so crisp and the meat so succulent my eyes closed involuntarily. I would’ve liked a bit more smoky flavour on the chicken but it was still ace!

That beef short rib though. I mean, look at that beauty! Look at that gorgeous smoke ring! So succulent, so juicy! Insert all the superlatives! The short rib was just incredible, tender enough that it could be cut with a spoon, and don’t get me started on the glorious pockets of creamy, buttery fat. And the bark! The bark had this incredibly intense almost candy like flavour with a black pepper bite, that made my eyes roll to the heavens and want to weep with joy. It was, dare I say it, almost on par with my fave barbecue joint in Texas- La Barbecue <3

The Hungry Bear Box ($25) comes with brisket, link sausage and pork belly. Barbecue nirvana. Slabs of sweet, deliciously fatty pork belly all a-quiver were phenomenonal and the thickly sliced brisket was so tender it threatened to fall off my fork before reaching my razor sharp teeth keen on masticating and being absorbed into my life force.

But the link sausage stole my heart in this box, it had a great smoky flavour and was so incredibly juicy especially with the surprise pockets of cheese waiting to be freed from their sausage prison and run into the sunset to my waiting stomach.

With Hughes Barbecue recently closing, I’d say Black Bear BBQ is the best barbecue in Sydney and well worth the drive!

PS. Dear Black Bear BBQ, please open on the weekend! Love, Suze

Black Bear BBQ
27 Forge Street
Blacktown NSW

Trading Hours:
Mon – Thurs: 6am – 2pm (or sold out)
Fri: 6:00 – 14:00, 18:30 – until sold out
Sat & Sun: CLOSED