Cheese please!

Check out the full Q-pot cheese range >

Cheese ring… with mouse!

Cheese sunglasses.

Cheese earring.

Cute mug!

Black cheese ring.

Silver cheese ring.

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Pork ragu with ricotta and rocket pizza.

Tomato, cheese and radicchio pizza.

The non pizza menu with drinks and desserts.

Pork ragu with mozzarella and pea with provolone arancini ($2 each).

Home made lemonade with rosewater and mint ($3.50).

The pizza menu is updated depending on what’s available. They’re in the process of putting up the pizzas for the day.

The pizza cabinet.

When you get in before midday, it’s a lot more quiet.

“Pizza at 11am?!”, my potential new housemate exclaimed when I told her why she couldn’t come at 11am to check out my apartment.

Why not? I thought… Besides, you beat the annoying weekend lunch time crowd if you go early. And also, what time is too early for pizza anyway?

And I’m glad I went early, because by midday, people were standing around waiting for people who got in early (like me) to finish up.

I don’t know… Whilst I found the service great, the space nice and the home made lemonade with rosewater and mint refreshing, I prefer my pizzas more traditional. Not saying the pizzas were bad at all, they were just more like bakery style pizzas than ones you’d find at Mario’s or Vacanza.

They’ve got some interesting toppings though – peas on pizza?! Crazy. But the combinations are good and the prices, aren’t bad either (you’re looking at about $9 a slice). I tried a slice of the pork ragu, ricotta and rocket, with its super soft pork and tomato ended up being my favourite and would definitely get again. The tomato, cheese and radicchio was light and simple but I have my eye on the potato, leek, 3 cheese and pancetta for next time.

There are other items on the menu which don’t involve pizza, that look tempting. We opted to try the 2 versions of the arancini  - They are $2 each and not very big but what they lack in size they make up in deliciousness. Crispy on the outside and soft and warm on the inside, definitely get a couple if you end up at Cipro.

So it’s maybe not the best pizza in town, but I’d go back for the atmosphere, pork ragu anything and their arancini.

Cipro Pizza al Taglio’s Details:

Address:  69/21 Fountain St Alexandria, NSW, 2015
Opening Hours: Tuesday – Sunday 11am-8pm
BYO: No

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Perfect time for sakura!

Omotesando bridge.

Just down the road from my obaachan’s house.

This is not flavour country.

Say “ahhhhhh”

Control those pigeons!

So much good going on in this photo.

I always eat at Whoopi Goldburger at least once when I’m in Tokyo.

Food in mini form!!!

Pre-birthday cake. Thanks guys!

Love this city!

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A solid cheeseburger.

Chalkboard menu – pretty good prices, I’d say.

Deep friiiiiied chicken.

Burgers should always come with fries, paying extra for them is lame. Mary’s comes with a choice between fries (shoestring) or chips (thick cut). Nice.

Second floor dining.

This “shortcut” through a cemetery was a TERRIBLE idea. Do not do this.

I’m pretty sure you’ll be hearing a lot about Mary’s, which has just opened in Newtown. And for good reason – this place is serving some of the best burgers Sydney currently has to offer. I’ve been pretty harsh on Sydney’s burger game ever since coming back from Tokyo, but with places like Mary’s opening up, I think things are beginning to change – much to the joy of my tastebuds but to the inevitable detriment to my waistline.

This is no gourmet wagyu burger with truffle oil kind of deal. This is your solid, greasy, cheeseburger that will make you feel the need to run a few laps around the oval. But you know what? I prefer that kind. That’s what a burger is meant to be and Mary’s do it so, so well.

Beyond the burger, the fried chicken is something to be ordered too. It’s like KFC style but 231.63% better – tender, juicy chicken with herbs and spices that make you thankful you’re not a vegetarian.

Thank you Mary’s for bringing a good burger to Sydney. We needed it.

Mary’s Details:

Address:  6 Mary Street, Newtown 2024
Opening Hours: Monday – Friday 4pm – 12am; Saturday 2pm – 12am; Sunday 2pm – 10pm
BYO: It’s a bar so, no.

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Chips and chips and Pepsi. We had plans to go to tsukemen after, which didn’t happen.

Welcome to Calbee Plus!

Calbee Plus menu with the special strawberry, chocolate and soft cream edition.

Fresh cut potatoes ready for frying.

Fresssshhhh fried potato chips

Pretty hectic queues at times. But it moves fairly quickly.

Left: Fresh fried chips with cheese sauce. Right: With soft ice cream and chocolate sauce.

All the girls wear Face masks.

The lines for Calbee Plus get kind of crazy. You have to line up the stairs at the station when it’s busy.

Japanese snack manufacturer Calbee has opened up a few Calbee Plus stores around Japan which serve up freshly fried potato chips with all sorts of bizarre toppings that would make any stoner or 10 year old child squeal with delight. The draw card here is that the potatoes are sliced and fried in front of your eyes so you end up having the freshest potato chips of your life.

Flavours like salt butter, cheese sauce and chocolate sauce are on the menu as well as chocolate sauce with soft cream or the Spring special of strawberry and chocolate sauce with soft cream. Sounds weird but remember when you were a kid and you went to Maccas and dipped your french fries into your sundae or soft serve cone? It’s kind of like that, but better.

Calbee Plus Tokyo Station’s details:

Hours: 9:00 to 21:00
Location: Tokyo Station: In front of Yaesu Underground Central Gate. Right next to Tokyo Okashi Land

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OB for Shu Uemura on the Japan site.

Okay, I am a HUGE Shu Uemura fan. It all started with the eye lash curlers then branched out into their cleansing oils, mousse primers and false eye lashes. Now my make up bag is pretty much filled with all things Shu.

On my recent visit to Japan, I discovered they’d done a ridiculously cute collaboration with Japanese artist OB in celebration of spring and sakura. The range consists of adorably re-packaged cleansing oils, mousses, compact, lip sticks and eye lashes, so cute that even if you already own a couple of cleaning oils you want to bust out the ¥ens and buy another couple of bottles.

LOVE!

OB for Shu Uemura collection – eye lashes, mousse, lipstick and compact.

OB for Shu Uemura cleansing oils.

Check out the Shu Uemura Japan site for the full range.

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Hey it’s nearly Easter! This year, my birthday (let’s not talk about how old I’m turning) falls on the Easter long weekend and I will be celebrating it in Tokyo. Wooooooooo! \o/

I love a good bento. Even though I’m not that skilled at making them myself, I thought I would share some super cute Easter themed bentos I’ve found.

Rabbit in a bunny costume? I have those polka dots containers!

Rice rabbit in a garden and sandwich rabbits with rabbit shaped accompaniments.

Rice bunny just chillin with some eggs. Looks pleased with himself.

To be honest I am not sure what these are.

His sole purpose is to be cute.

These photos are found all over the place, but you can see them (with the links to their original websites) on my Pinterest board.

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It’s no lie, I’m a HUGE fan of Issey Miyake Bilbao bags. At the beginning of March 2013, they released their new seasonal products which I’m currently going nuts for.

My favourites – the Bilbao Prism Rainbow. It comes in two variations – bright white and a darker grey. SO IN LOVE.

Bilbao waves look just like that.

These bags are exclusive to the newly renovated Shinjuku Isetan.

Photos from Issey Miyake.

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Burger and shake – classic combo. $10 burger and $7.50 for the shake.

Cola, mustard and ketchup.

Hot chips with smoked chilli salt – $5.

The menu…

Hey guys, I think I may have found my favourite Sydney burger! Big call, I know but I feel fairly confident in saying this.

Chur Burger is another one of those places which is painfully only open at lunch on weekdays. Whhhhhhyyy?! What about me and my burger needs?! However, one lucky Saturday they were open (for their garage sale) and I got to feast on one of their burgers.

Do get the beef burger if it’s your first time. It’s a classic and it’s done well here. The patty is thick and juicy. The cheese is melty. The Brasserie Bread brioche bun is soft and buttery. The pickles are… pickly. Once you have popped your Chur Burger cherry with a beef burger, make your way through the other options when you return. I’m planning on giving their fish burger a seeing to when I’m there next.

I’m pretty into the burger and shake combo (thanks to Shake Shack in NYC) so when an opportunity presents itself to indulge in this combo, I do. The vanilla milkshake is classic and goes well with the burger. I even had some left over which I kept in my fridge and drank the next morning. Shhh, it still tasted good!

Go to Chur Burger if you can get there on a weekday and see what I’m ranting on about.

As for those unable to enjoy the deliciousness that is Chur Burger because you don’t work in the area, I’m currently trying to work out a plan to convince them to open on Saturdays.

—

Update: Chur Burger is now open every Saturday!!!

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Chur Burger’s details

Address: 10 Beauchamp Lane, Surry Hills, 2010 (behind Albion Street Kitchen)
Phone: (02) 9212 7979
Opening Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 11am to 2pm <– See this?! They are now open on Saturdays!!! \o/

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Ramen with a side of corn, pork bun and tsukemen. YUM.

Ramen enthusiasts.

Spicy hot ramen – $13.50

Tsukemen. The slightly lighter option – $15

Looking at the menu wall.

Japanese wall menu.

The menu. What would YOU have?

Baller time.

Ryo’s is pretty much an institution in the Sydney ramen scene. Unless you know about it, or just happen to be in the area, you wouldn’t notice its existence (even if it’s a bright orange building). For many years they have been serving up bowls and bowls of ramen to hungry crowds and its popularity doesn’t seem to be waning.

The ramen here is consistently good and I enjoy the fact that the boiled egg comes standard with a bowl. A sucker for corn, I always get a side of corn to my ramen and if I’m up for it, I love their huge onigiri (rice balls) as a side dish. Last time we welcomed a new addition to the menu – the humble pork bun. It was a special, but who knows – it might be there when you turn up.

Be warned, if you haven’t been to Ryo’s before, you will more than likely encounter a bit of a queue. But thankfully ramen is a fairly quick meal, so you shouldn’t have to wait too long for your ramen fix.

PS. Ryo’s car is pretty ridiculous. Seems like the ramen game pays off.

Ryo’s Noodles’ details

Address:  125 Falcon St, North Sydney NSW 2060
Phone: (02) 9955 0225 (no reservations)
Opening Hours: Open daily (excluding Wednesdays) 12:00pm – 2:30pm and 5:00pm – 9:30pm
BYO: No



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