Living Nerdy in Sydney

Ichi-Ban Boshi, Bondi Junction, is a Japanese noodles and rice restaurant located on the Bondi Junction Mall right across from its train station. This place has a good selection of different Japanese Ramen, and there are different rice and udon dishes as well. Drinks We each ordered a glass of Ice Lemon Tea. This is fresh tea with lemon and served with a small pot of syrup. This was a very refreshing drink! Ice Lemon Tea Food We ordered 2 dishes - Tokyo Ramen and Omelette Rice. Tokyo Ramen - Ramen in Soy Sauce soup with egg, pork, rice cakes, vegetables and seaweed. This is a very hearty bowl of noodles with lots of bamboo and corn. The egg is the Japanese style half-boiled egg. I wished there were more than 1 piece of pork! Tokyo Ramen Omelette Rice - Rice encased in a omelette served with a side of hash beef, pickles and lettuce. This was the dish of the day! The omelette was very fluffy and tasty. The hash beef was very rich and beef was very te...

Guylian Belgian Chocolate Cafe at The Rocks is a chocolate cafe along the banks of Circular Quay and alongside with the iconic Sydney Opera House. Menu The menu is divided into 3 main sections, light café fare - cakes, sandwiches, drinks and desserts. Click to enlarge Click to enlarge Desserts Unique Belgian Waffle with Praline Ice-cream, Chocolate Dip and seasonal Fresh Fruit ($18.50). The waffle was very disappointing - very soggy and it's structure was too thin. The ice-cream on the other hand was very delicious - full of flavour and very smooth. The chocolate dip was pretty watery - I'm quite biased towards dark chocolate - this was milk chocolate. The fruits were fresh and delicious. On the whole, I would rather the dish without the chocolate dip or the waffle - which makes it really just fruit with ice-cream. For what the place is, a Belgian chocolate café, this dish was very substandard. Don't bother ordering it - poor quality and over priced...

Ottoman Turkish Cuisine is a fairly large Turkish restaurant on Enmore Road, Newtown. On one side of the restaurant is a typical Turkish takeaway section with all your regular favourites like Kebabs, Pides and dips. On the other side is a restaurant with quite a bit of seating. Seating The restaurant is decorated with typical Turkish items hanging on walls - plates, flags, etc. Tables are covered with colourful Turkish style table cloth. This restaurant is pretty spacious with 2 floors of seating. On one side of the restaurant, there is a very gaudy purple wall with a stage. On which there is a water feature, and a disco ball hanging over head. Food Mezze Dip Platter, served with Turkish Bread . Dips include: Avocado, Hummus, Baba Ghanoush, Dill, Beetroot, Spinach, Cacik, Chilli. This is a great dish for people new to Turkish Cuisine and wanting to try an array of dips. The dips are fresh and go great with the warm Turkish Bread. My personal favourites are the Beetr...

Most banana is eaten fresh, just ripe or just under ripe. But what happens when you just have that 1-2 bananas which are just over ripe? I know most of my friends in Asia would tell me to just throw it out as local bananas are really cheap. But most of us in Australia do buy Banana at around $2 - $3.50 per kilo. One large banana would set us back around $1. Some of us will remember when the Cyclone hit our banana hub in Queensland and Bananas were around $15 per kilogram! There are a few fabulous ideas for over ripe bananas. You can make banana bread or banana cake. Or the simplest, Banana Ice Cream! Here are a few very very quick steps to make Banana Ice Cream. Ingredients : Over ripe Bananas (only!) Steps : Step 1 : Put the banana into the freezer for around 2 hours or till when it is just frozen. Step 2 : Peel the banana and cut into slices. Step 3 : Put it into a blender (or food processor). Pulse the blender till all the banana is mashed up, then blend for an...

Abdul's Lebanese Restaurant on Elizabeth Street in Surry Hills is a family owned Lebanese Restaurant and Take Away. The take away options are cheaper than the dine-in - but the food is just as good. Seating Options There is the normal seating option in their main dining hall or small rooms where patron seat on low couches and eat from coffee tables. The latter is pretty good when you dine in a group as it provides a private and cosy feel. There's also a belly dancer who comes now and then to entertain.  Food  There's an ala carte menu as well as a banquet menu. If you are starving, the banquet menu is definitely worth every cent with a wide range of cold and hot dishes, and desserts served. We weren't so hungry, so we went for a few dishes from the ala carte menu. Rice and Meat ($11) - Brown rice cooked with lamb mince and pine nuts. Probably being Chinese, I'm used to soft fluffy moist rice. This rice is pretty dry. I personally didn't...

Max Brenner is a Chocolate Bar chain restaurant. The Max Brenner in Bondi Junction is located on the sixth floor of Westfield Bondi Junction. This Westfield is pretty big and the layout can be very confusing. Do try to use one of the electronic wayfinders if you happen to be lost. Drinks One thing not to miss here is their Italian Thick Hot Chocolate which is served in their hug mug (wished I took a photo of this!). There are options of white, milk or dark. I'm sure this is personal preference to which kind of chocolate you like. As what its name says, this is really super thick, super creamy hot chocolate. Personally, even being a dark chocolate person, I still prefer the milk chocolate shake as the dark was too strong for my liking. Do give it a shot and find what's your favourite! Desserts One thing with this place is that there are so many desserts making it really hard to chose what you want. Best to bring lots of friends along to share a few desserts to get ...