SEPTEMBER - OCT

Slowbreads (Roseville)
Along with the beautiful aforementioned croissants, danishes & tarts, the ⭐Pain Au Chocolat, ⭐White Sourdough, ⭐Baguette & ⭐Rye Sourdough are great. Specifically the white breads should be enjoyed toasted, while the dark Ryes should not as they harden too much.

The Flourless Chocolate Cake was average, lacking richness. I wouldn't recommend the Steak Pie or the 🚩Pear & Walnut Loaf. The steak was too shredded & near indistinguishable from mince, while the Walnut Loaf was brick hard.

Happy Alley (Rockdale)
Their sandwiches were well cooked & but the sauces were far too tangy. It's a shame because they could be 8/10 with minor tweaks. The ⭐Kaak had good flavour.

I am personally a gooey cookie enjoyer but I know they are too difficult to store & deliver commercially. Their cookies are firm but pliable, which I liked. The ⭐Almond Croissant Cookie was very subtly sweet & enjoyable. The Biscoff & Red Velvet Cookies lacked flavour.

An Viet (Chatswood, various) 
🤤The way I have become a Viet addict the past two years. The ⭐Betel Leaf Platter was 🤌fire & I loved the ⭐Banh Hoi. Woven noodles are such a satisfying texture on the tongue & I think these were the best among (the few) others I’ve eaten. The Satay Chicken Skewers as a side dish lacked sauce. The ⭐Satay Chicken Vermicelli however, was more generous & any extra sauce fell perfectly onto the rice noodles.

The Durian Smoothie was good but I would have preferred it sweeter. You can't go wrong with Bun Cha, while the Pho was fine but lacked that deep bony flavour.

Algorithm Cafe (Marrickville)
The ⭐Mushroom Melt special was the best cafe toastie we've had (however I haven't been to a toastie specialty shop yet), the ⭐Chicken Bowl was also good. Although the Truffle Eggs were well flavoured they didn’t satisfy as a complete dish.

The ⭐Pandan Cheesecake took me for a ride because I disliked it the first time (bland). Upon revisiting I forgot & accidentally reordered, but it was actually so much better, sweeter, & pandan forward. Hopefully that's a permanent fix & not a consistency issue.

The Fish Sandwich special had good texture but needed acidity. The Raspberry Matcha was fine but not mind-blowing, & I personally prefer the sweetness of strawberry. Beyond the Chicken Bowl, the regular menu is very simple so definitely take note of their specials.

Acai Central AU (Chatswood)
5 stars on Google for a reason. I got the ⭐Biscoff Acai... Sorry very repetitive but I love how biscoff is buttery + salty + sweet, it's my favourite topping & I regret it every time I get something else (see end of post). Great acai, free sauce top ups, the nicest staff ever, & it's the only one in the area open late.

Bro Pocha (Strathfield)
Tasty ⭐Seafood Pajeon & ⭐Fried Chicken. The Mala flavour was disappointing, it just tasted like gochujang. The Rice Balls were good as well.

Diamond Territory (CBD)
The fried stuff was good, particularly the ⭐Wu gok. The dumplings were big & full, however, they they were very sticky + fell apart too easily (oversteamed or recipe issue?). They do freshly made, textured cheung fan, which was decent but would have been better with more filling & a stronger sauce.

🚩The service was terrible but that is part of the Canto experience lol.

Monkey King (Lindfield)
Ordered the banquet menu for our Mid Autumn Festival dinner. The ⭐Salt & Pepper Squid, ⭐Panang Duck Curry, ⭐Peking Duck Wraps were all tasty. The Soft Shelled Crab was better this time, although I would have preferred a fluffier batter.

Tropical Acai (Kogarah)
I wouldn't consider the acai itself S tier but the ⭐Biscoff Acai w Kataifi had good toppings + distribution.

Ngoodle (Ashfield)
This is on the lower end of Viet spots featured in Treatsclub but it's solid nonetheless. Their ⭐Crispy Chicken is good, I had it with the dry noodles. The ⭐Spring Roll Vermicelli Salad had seafood net spring rolls, which were enjoyable & worth trying, although I still prefer pork.

Pantry Story (Petersham)
I found my first visit lacklustre but I'm glad I gave it a second chance.

The ⭐Chicken & Prawn Roll was a treat with the yuzu sauce. The Miso Mushroom Focaccia is highly rated but it was too wet & mostly tasted of garlic. I prefer the Kimchi & Cheese infinitely more; better flavour & the cheese crisps up.

Last time the sweets were so saccharine we struggled to eat them. This may sound like a me-thing but for reference my boba order is ‘less sugar’, nothing crazy right? 🥺 This time the sugar levels were a lot more reasonable, I'm actually interested in retrying the dessert items to see if they have been adjusted.

The ⭐Sweet Potato Tart was good, I would have loved more of the mochi & a crispier pastry. I'm very partial to kinako & sweet potato, so this may grade average to those that aren’t.

The Salted Egg Lava & Lotus Mooncake was less sweet than a traditional mooncake, like…. I can get behind that. In saying so, it wasn't a big improvement on a mooncake, although it technically costs less than a Wing Wah so 🤔 Maybe we're onto something here.

The texture's aren't as finely tuned as somewhere like Moon Phase but I love that they try new things, & improve upon what they have, which puts them up there in Sydney.

One Kitchen (Bondi)
The ⭐Dragonfruit Smoothie Bowl was really delicious & refreshing. I revisited to try the 🚩Almond Acai which wasn't good, the acai being very rough & the topping options didn’t seem interesting or thoughtful.

🚩 Habibi Acai (Kogarah)
Sorry hun this was too icy for me, I think icy acai gives me the ick. You could hardly taste the white chocolate sauce, the Oreo crumb added variety but tbh itself was very dry like it was stale / stored incorrectly.

🚩Lumi Dining (CBD)
I technically had this in March, but gaslit myself into thinking it was a bad day for the kitchen.

After seeing negative feedback on reddit, & Dan confirming a similar experience with her revisit I stopped thinking it was an unfortunate accident. They have fallen off 😓

The first time I went here, it immediately became my favourite dining experience ever. 10/12 dishes were mind-blowing, had us wide eyed & genuinely speechless. The second visit was confusing. My brother & I kept glancing at each other like… what is going on. Is this right?

Much to cover but in short, textures were too samey; mostly crispy beige vessel followed by foam dishes, flavours unbalanced, pureed uni, worse service, & an unpleasant, strained energy coming from the kitchen.

Very sad I cannot relive that first experience. Unfortunately, I don’t recommend them anymore.