HEALTHII SALADS & BOWLS

Hello Sydney! I have something super exciting to share with you all. We've just tried these super healthii and super tasty salad bowls from a brand new local business. Healthii caters for those who work and live within the Sydney CBD and unfortunately at this point in time for those who live outside the city you'd just have to order online and pick them up at the Healthii hotspots.

Okay so whats so good about Healthii? First of all it pretty much explains it in its name but that's besides the point. They are providing fresh and healthy well balanced meals. All their ingredients are from seasonal produce from markets and local farmers. All meals are made to order making them super duper fresh not frozen or made a week from the point of order. Not only are the salads good for you, I find the pricing fairly adorable for gourmet salads. 

We did an experiment of our own at home to test out how truly fresh the salad bowls were. Day one we took our pictures and tasted the salads. Day two we eat the other half of the salads to test the freshness of our leftovers. Guys I'm so happy to tell you that we are alive and well! Honestly the salad leaves, julienned  fruit and vegetables were as fresh as the day of delivery. On a serious note my husband who is most definitely not a salad muncher actually enjoyed the two salad bowls. He said and I quote "these are surprisingly really tasty"! 

The Miso Glazed Salmon Salad and Cumin Roasted Cauliflower Bowl were a blast to eat, not only are they super fresh but they are just packed with exciting goodness like sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, pomegranate. Personally for me the dressings just gave the salads that extra oomph! It coated the salad without making it soggy.

Miso Glazed Salmon Salad - $14.00

Miso glazed salmon, Red quinoa, Mixed salad leaves, Radish, Cucumber, White sesame seeds and Ginger miso dressing 

If this salad came in a family size, I'd definitely be having it all to my self. I absolute loved the quinoa in this bowl, it made it hearty and filling to eat. The two major highlights that stood out was the incredibly fresh pink and flaky salmon along with the ginger miso dressing. The dressing was amazing without over powering any of the ingredients. 

Cumin Roasted Cauliflower Bowl - $12.00

Cumin roasted cauliflower,  Green lentils, Baba ganoush, Pomegranate seeds, Baby spinach, Mixed salad leaves, Pepitas seeds, Sunflower seeds, White sesame seeds and Tahini lemon dressing 

Can we just start by staying OMG! that was the fist thing that I said after a mouth full of this incredible Cumin Roasted Cauliflower Bowl. I love the different textures that the pomegranate and the mix seeds through the salad. It give crunch to the soft salad leave and roasted cauliflowers.

Pro: I love that they provide vegetarian and vegan options as well as having optional meat add on's in salads.  The one thing that is super awesome is the complete convenience in ordering salads online and taking a walk around the corner (for those who work and live in the CBD). 

You just can't go wrong with nutritional well balanced catered for salads. 

Awesome Eco friendly packaging

Cons:The only major con that I can think of is the current delivery options. However I do understand that it is a new local business and therefore they can not cover the whole sydney. lucky for those who work and live within the CBD. We'll just have the make the travel to their hotspots.

Cuisine: gourmet salads

Address/Hotpots:  

Mid City - Pitt Street Mall, Sydney

Allianz Building - 2 Market Street, Sydney (coming soon)

48 Druitt Street, Sydney (coming soon)

Trading hours:

Place an order prior to 3pm and they deliver meals between 5pm to 7pm.

Monday to Thursday (excluding public holidays)

deliver to our "hotspots” every 15 minutes

EFTPOS: Payment are made online with Credit card options as well as Paypal

 

TANDOOR KITCHEN

Not going to lie, we hit this little Indian store, located inside Crown casino, when we were already pretty hungry. This place turned and delivered and for a food court meal, I wasn't expecting fireworks. The chicken tikka was tender and juicy, not overbearing or over done in spices. The korma was the nice balance between curries and is usually my go to in curry selections. It didn't disappoint this time around. The vindaloo was the one I was looking to the most to warm up my frozen insides with a mouthwatering balance of spices. I chose the rice option over the naan and glad I did because it didn't come out dry, or too wet, just nice and fluffy with the right amount of bite. No indian meal is done without some form of lassi, I went with mango. Melbourne said winter but my tastebuds screamed a hot Indian summer. 

SERVICE: 7.5/10

AMBIANCE :7//10

PRESENTATION: 5/10

Cuisine: Indian 

Address:  Crown Melbourne, 8 Whiteman Street, Southbank, Melbourne

Trading hours: Sunday-Thursday- 9am - 1am Friday-Saturday-9am - 3am

EFTPOS: Eftpos and cash 

 

CALATRAVA

Calatrava is located just outside the Crown casino promenade overlooking the Yarra River. The first thing that catches your attention are the gathering hordes of people surrounding the gelato fridge window. This usually signifies either quality, bargain or some hot chick in the window. Curiosity took over and we went to try it out. Besides their gelato selection, they also sell a range of gourmet cakes, handmade chocolates and hot or cold beverages. 

This place seemed to be so popular with the people and it couldn't hurt to try it, so we decided to join the back of the masses and wait our turn. We spent our time in line trying to figure out what we wanted but there didn't seem to be a stand out flavor which called to us. They have all the staples such as the nutty flavors and fruity sorbets but that is all it was, just a safe, run of the mill gelato stand.  

I finally decided to go with raspberry with white chocolate, which is on the right of the picture and the roasted almond which, by default, is on the left. 

As mentioned earlier, this turned out to be nothing more than 15 minutes in the Melbourne cold to purchase a cup of okay gelato. It's not bad, just not great. 

SERVICE: 7.5/10

AMBIANCE :7//10

PRESENTATION: 5/10

Cuisine: Cafe, Desserts

Address: Crown Melbourne, Shop 34, 8 Whiteman Street, Southbank, Melbourne, VIC

Trading hours: 24 hours, 7 days a week

EFTPOS: cash and eftpos 

Phone: 03 9686 5757

 

AQUA S

Aqua S has really pushed itself into a popular soft serve destination for Sydney-siders. It wasn't until recently that I finally had my first ice cream cone (and by that I mean two) from Aqua S and boy, it made my taste buds tingle and jingle. There was a little catch that night, the ever present line which surprisingly did not feel that bad.  

And here we are with the famous cloud print wall that is so Insta-famous with my ice cream selection. 

Sea Salt

Of all soft serves this would be the one I've wanted to try since first seeing it in pictures. What's not to love? I love almost everything salty and why should not there be a Sea salt ice cream? This was actually really good. I couldn't get enough of the two combinations of saltiness and creaminess in one. This definitely delivered to all expectations of a sea salt flavoured ice cream.

Pumpkin

My love for most things sea salt is probably not equal to my love for pumpkin, although after trying the pumpkin ice cream I was out of words! The taste was unbelievable, it was smooth and tasted like pumpkin puree but in a chilled, heavenly ice cream form. I couldn't get over the flavor because pumpkin isn't really a flavor which is associated with cold sweet dessert type meals. It was incredible.   

SERVICE: 7.5/10

AMBIANCE :7.5/10

PRESENTATION: 5/10

Cuisine: Dessert

Address: 2000, 501 George St, Sydney NSW 2000

Trading hours: Monday - Sunday 12:00 - 22:00

EFTPOS: Cash and eftpos 

 

VIET VILLAGE

Our first night in Melbourne, we weren't too sure of our surrounding and relied heavily on Zomato to direct us to the nearest Vietnamese restaurant. A quick search and a short walk later we arrived at Viet village. Since it was almost time for closing there wasn't many people which meant faster and better service for us. On a cold night in Melbourne there was only one thing that we were looking to order. 

Pho  (combination) - $10.90

They've always said that a key to a good Pho is always the broth. Yup! this was pretty good. Just a touch of chili sauce to add some kick and it was a good thumbs up. This bowl of Pho was pretty awesome but the only thing I would say is that the size was pretty small for a large. Although besides that I'd definitely go back.

SERVICE: 7.5/10

AMBIANCE :6/10

PRESENTATION: 5/10

Cuisine:Vietnamese 

Address: 161 Clarendon Street,Southbank, Melbourne, VIC

Trading hours: Monday- Saturday 11am-10pm Sunday-Closed 

EFTPOS: Cash and eftpos 

Phone: 03 9696 5141

 

MEATMAIDEN

Before today I can't say I've heard of the Meatmaiden until now, due to us wandering around Melbourne city trying to look for our apartment destination. After catching the free tram around the city and getting lost we decided to refuel and look for something close within walking distance. Meatmaiden made getting lost to a new city seem all ok. Although at first we missed the main entrance and had to back track our steps. We entered a black door in a white building that led us down some metal stairs into an underground meat heaven. One things that's for sure, Meatmaiden is super trendy with its awesome industrial butchery ambiance.

Upon being seated and given the house menu, a bowl of homemade super crunchy chips are placed on the table as complimentary.

O’Connor dry-aged pasture- fed porterhouse (250g)
 - $34.00

At first bite this porterhouse steak was just amazing and mighty soft. We decided to order the medium rare which came out pretty much perfect. The meat was sliced thinly which made eating the meat effortless and it just melt our your mouth.

Lamb ribs, lemon crumbed - $20.00

As part of our second main we decided to go with the Lamb ribs with lemon crumbs. This baby was just heaven. The meat fell apart from the bone effortlessly and had an incredible taste of lamb from the lemon crumbs.
  

 Hand-cut chips - $8.00

When there's steak, there's chips. These hand cut chips were pretty good, and were cut reasonably thick and lightly dusted with salt and arrived with Jalapeño mayo dipping sauce. These two combination mean serious delicious business. 

Shaved fennel/pomegranate salad - $8.00

There always a salad for all occasions and this shaved fennel and pomegranate salad truly celebrated both of the meat mains. The salad had a good balance of the sweet and sour with a touch of crunch. It was almost addictive

Cuisine: Modern Australia
 SERVICE: 7.5/10

AMBIANCE : 8/10

PRESENTATION: 7/10

Address: Basement, 195 Little Collins St, Melbourne

Trading hours:  Monday  to Saturday 12pm-3pm & 5pm-late

EFTPOS: Cash & EFTPOS

Phone: 03 9078 7747

 

BRIOCHE BY PHILIP

During our adventure whilst trying to find our way to our apartment in South Yarra, we came across this trendy French bakery Brioche by Philip. I don't think I've come across a bakery that oozed with such sass. It looked effortless and just plain cool with its floor to ceiling glass walls. We placed our suit cases aside and picked out some goodies which ranged from different bakes of loafed breads and pastries. Since bread is one of my many addictions, it was like being in a candy store. I just didn't know where to look.

Brioche by Philip offers everything from bread, pastries, coffees, sandwiches and hot soups. Since we arrived on a particularly cold day we should have tried their soups but unfortunately gave it a miss but hopefully next time round.

Walnut, Cranberry and White chocolate:

Three combinations that go really well together. I loved the scone doughy texture mixed with the sweet and sour flavors from the Cranberries and white chocolate. I could easily have a dozen of these. 

Vanilla sugar Brioche:

A small round sugary brioche (well the size of my hand) was delightfully addictive. It had a soft chewy texture and a lovely vanilla after taste. 

Almond and Caramel Bronut:

The Bronut is basically the same as the Cronuts which are croissant-doughnut pastry goodness. This Bronut was covered in caramel and topped with a mountain load of slithered almonds. This would definitely be my favorite out of the three. 

SERVICE: 7.5/10

AMBIANCE :7/10

PRESENTATION: 5/10

Cuisine: French Bakery 

Address: 114 Russell Street, CBD, Melbourne, VIC

Trading hours: Monday-Friday 7am-4:30pm Saturday-Sunday 8am-3:30pm

EFTPOS: Cash and eftpos 

Phone: 0466 267 376