Habib's Chicken

Just a quick post before i disappear again since Uni starts again next week =(

We went to Habib's Charcoal Chicken for our chicken and garlic sauce fix as Jasmin's was closed due to Ramadan. The boy and I are always disappointed to see it closed for the whole month as it means our cravings don't get satisfied til a month later. After finding out it was closed, we opted to go to Bankstown and get our Lebanese fix at Habib's. I previously wasn't too fond of Habib's chicken as I often found it quite dry but surprisingly, the chicken this visit was extremely moist and juicy. It may be because it was hot out of the charcoal fire and was not sitting under the heated light for too long.

So juicy this visit, hope its like this all the time - 3/4 chicken $16.50

As usual we got 3/4 piece of chicken with small chips.

Small chips - $3.50

You can't go to Habib's without ordering their chips which is doused with a good sprinkling of chicken salt. There is quite a big difference between their eat in and takeaway price but you get a small plate of their famous garlic sauce as well as pickles and Lebanese bread. Unfortunately not like Jasmin's or El Jannah, you only get one piece of Lebanese bread each which sometimes is not enough to mop up the creamy garlic sauce.

Mmmm.. drool.. garlic sauce

Love these pickles, adds another dimension to the chicken

Lebanese Bread used to mop up the addictive garlic sauce

Will definitely try Habib's again to see whether I was just lucky to have gotten a fresh piece of chicken or they have improved in their chicken quality.

Habib's Charcoal Chicken
24 Restwell Street
Bankstown NSW 2200
(02) 9708 2219

Wiseman's Ferry Day 2

Love this picture =D

Hangman's Rock - stories suggest that they hung convicts here

As part of the deal, we were given daily breakfast buffets. This was located in their restaurant, Riverbend. Breakfast comprised of the normal hot food offered at buffets including scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, hash browns and so on; cereal, fruit, juices, tea and coffee were also available.

We started day 2 with breakfast and decided to follow the self drive tour of Wiseman's Ferry which was given to us at the Retreat information.

One part of the drive was a walk on The Old Great North Road which was built by convicts. It was interesting to read about how they had built a road with no heavy machinery's and technology that we have today, yet they were able to build it with no problem.

Gate to the road

You can still see where they drilled the holes and put the gunpowder in to blast the rocks

Lunch or afternoon tea consisted of devonshire tea which the boy had never tried before. He quite enjoyed the scones that were offered. They were different from the one's you get at High Teas as they were baked in individual rounds but baked as a whole and cut up and later toasted. It was quite tasty, but denser then the ones I've tried before. It was not til after we left Wiseman's Ferry did we find out from Mr B that the place we went were known for their super duper large burgers! Will have to drive there again and try that out.

The Fickle Wombat - known for their massive burgers

Friendly visitor who wouldn't move

Devonshire Tea $8

For dinner we decided to dine at the local bistro, Wiseman's Steakhouse Bistro. There were many selections of beef, some where you can cook your own steak on the provided BBQ's outside. I had a sudden craving for a fat juicy burger and the one on offer from the Steakhouse definitely satisfied my craving. The meat patty was so juicy, bursting with flavour! It didn't look like much but OMG!!! Orgasmic!!
The boy settled on a chicken schnitzel with mushroom sauce.. the mushroom sauce by the way was devine!! YUM!! Love anything with mushrooms!

Chicken Schnitzel with mushroom sauce ($16.90)

May look quite average but man the beef patty was so juicy and flavourful (Big Beef Burger $12.50)

For dessert they had an apple and rhubarb crumble served with ice cream. As the kitchen was open, I could see that the apple and rhubarb crumble came from the fridge and popped into the microwave. Didn't have high hopes for the dessert, the crumble was not a crumble but more of a sugary sand like topping. The only good thing about the dessert was the ice cream. Quite disappointed there. However the bistro does serve quite big servings and their beef is very tasty, just stay away from their dessert.

 

The not so good dessert

The Fickle Wombat
29 Bulga Street
St Albans NSW 2775

Ph: (02) 4568 2078

Wiseman's Ferry Inn
6 Old Northern Road,
Wisemans Ferry
Ph: 02 4566 4301
www.wisemanshotel.com.au

Wiseman's Ferry - Day 1

So sorry for being MIA for so long.. with all the assignments and exams all at the one time, didn't have time to blog.. Now that I'm on uni break, hopefully I can catch up on blogging ^^

The boy had bought a scoopon voucher for a 2 night stay at Australis Retreat at Wiseman's Ferry quite a while ago. It gave us a good chance to escape the city and just relax especially after finishing our exams.

We headed out on Friday afternoon and arrived at approximately 530pm. After checking in, we explored the area and then tried to find a place to have dinner. After googling, we eventually decided on dinner at Windsor which is about a half hour drive away. Dinner was at a small Italian restaurant located on one of the side streets of Windsor. We started off with the usual garlic bread, which was tasty but very oily.. you were left with the feeling like you had put on too much lipgloss.

Garlic Bread $4.50

Mains were the Windsor special which had chicken, avocado and mushrooms in a tomato cream sauce. Nothing too special about it, it was satisfying but something I could have probably whipped up myself.

Windsor Special $24

The boy had the Risotto special which had bacon, prawn, cherry tomatoes in a rose sauce. This however was extremely tasty, the smokiness of the bacon was just right.. very subtle giving the dish a whole different level. I was pretty envious at his choice as usually when we dine out, I pick dishes that makes him want to continuously steal spoonfuls from my dish.

Risotto Special $26

Australis Retreat at Wisemans
5564 Old Northern Road
Wisemans Ferry

(02) 4566 4422

www.wisemans.com.au/

Bivano's Italian & Seafood Restaurant
9 Barker Street
Windsor
Ph: 02 4587 8499
http://www.bivianos.com.au/ 

Mihana Restaurant - Crows Nest

So sorry for the lack of posts guys, have been away and uni just started, still trying to organise everything.
Anyway, about a month a go,  Mr B had organised a well deserved catch up.. he had been to Mihana before and quite enjoyed the food there. Mihana is now where Waqu used to be before they moved to the bigger restaurant. It is an intimate setting with dimmed lights and the restaurant decorated with Japanese themed paintings.

Mihana is a traditional Izakaya style dining. They offer tapa style food, meaning for them to be shared with others.
The cutlery, water containers, teapot and even the soy sauce "tea pot" were all very fitting to the theme and atmosphere that the restaurant created. Especially the soy sauce "tea pot" which I have not seen at other Japanese Restaurants. I love the vibrant colours and different designs on all their dinnerware.

Tiny soy sauce "tea pot"

Water Jug

I was sharing with 2 other people so we ordered 7 dishes to share between us. I would highly recommend the Marinated white bait in vinegar soy and the frilled calamari in teriyaki sauce. Both dishes stood out although the white bait could have been more crunchier, or had the dressing poured on upon serving as some of the white bait became soft.

Grilled Calamari in Teriyaki Sauce $12 (Recommended)

Deep Fried Eggplant with sweet miso paste $9

Fried Camembert Cheese $11 (3 pieces)

So gooey !!!

Ochazuke - Salmon $11 (Rice with soup - tasty when you add the pickles and wasabi)

Marinated White Bait in Vinegar Soy $9 (Recommended)

Obanzai Menu - specials of the day

Motsu Nikomi Tofu - 1/2 portion of an Obanzai on offer

Nikomi Hamburger - the boy had wanted this from the get go.. was ok!

Spider Roll - $12 (our usual order at any Japanese Restaurant and this didn't disappoint)

The dishes were all reasonably priced, but it is definitely a place you need to go with a big group so as to be able to taste all the different dishes they have to offer.

Dining and Sake Bar Mihana
32 Falcon Street
Crows Nest
Ph: 02 9901 3895

www.mihana.com.au