Showing posts with label Restaurants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Restaurants. Show all posts

Monday, May 8, 2023

Blast From The Past ~ Lunch Series: Two Bit Villains Soda Bar




Or 'The One Where Two Meat-Eaters Unknowingly Dine At A Vegetarian Eatery'

EDIT - Guys, I'm re-publishing this post from 2016 as a Blast From The Past, mainly because I ran out of time to blog (eeek!). This week my son is doing work experience, so hopefully I'll have plenty of time to write, so there will be a proper one next Monday. Two Bit Villains is still operating in the heart of the city, so this is still relevant and hilarious, but they may have changed their dishes since seven years ago lol. The tags on the pics are my beauty account but I now have a dedicated food account on Instagram called @imhungrymax so feel free to follow me there. Hope you enjoy the post!

Two Bit Villains
Shop 150
Balcony Level, Adelaide Arcade
Adelaide

LOL. I'm still not living this down. I surprised hubby with my choice of lunch date location last week, and he was pretty amused/appalled/surprised alright when he looked at the menu. I don't know how I missed this, because I did research Two Bit Villains online before proudly making my decision, but all the meat words were in quotes. For example, panko-crumbed "chicken", housemade pressed "beef" and spice-rubbed "pulled pork". ALL THE MEAT WAS FAKE. Oh My God, we laughed. We laughed, we laughed some more, and then as staunch Carnivores, we widely avoided ordering the fake meat. I looked at hubby and could see him mentally crafting the story he would tell his workmates upon his return. This tale would not feature me in a favourable light. Anyhoo, I ordered, said no to all the vegan and dairy-free options, and returned to our table. And thus began our one hour experience as vegetarians.





Drinks: I ordered a Passionfruit Hand-Crafted Botanical Soda which was very subtle in flavour and low in bubbles. My husband had a Tummy Tonic Soda Float (ginger, citrus, mint, star anise and icecream) which came in a jar (naturally) and was quite nice.





Food: I had the Onion Rings Burger (if you read this post you'll be aware of my onion ring addiction) which was lettuce, tomato, cheese on a bun stuffed with onion rings and a swirl of tomato sauce and mustard. I picked Tater Tots as my side, probably just so I could shove them in my pockets later like Napoleon Dynamite. This was a good sized meal. I mean we are talking generous servings here. I basically couldn't finish it and hubby just managed to eat his but couldn't finish mine. This never happens (he always has the ability to finish my food). I'm pretty sure the cheese was real and the burger was good. The tater tots were good. I enjoyed and was super-full afterwards. My husband got the Nacho! Nacho! Man meal with guacamole (a basket of crunchy tortilla chips topped with housemade salsa beans, grated carrot, corn, spring onions, sour cream and cheese). He said it was really nice, even the beans which he normally doesn't like. He had onions rings as a side, and obviously we shared the tater tots and onion rings, because of my #onionringaddiction. The onion rings were super crunchy and delicious! 10/10 for the onion rings!




Fun Fact: Adelaide Arcade is supposedly haunted. I was on the look out for ghosts, but disappointingly, did not meet any on the day in question. Although the pale look on hubby's face when he saw the menu came close.



Ambience: I loved the cute, funky decor, the quirky arches and the large opening out to Rundle Mall that provided a welcome breeze. We were told if we sat on a long table we may have to share, so we made a beeline for the high tables with stools along the wall. Our table was quite private and plenty fun! There weren't a ton of other diners, perhaps another four or five tables of people. The staff were all friendly and capable, no issues there whatsoever. I'm glad it didn't get super-busy. Overall, quite a lovely dining atmosphere.

I'm not gonna lie, we've probably eaten everything off the menu that we want to, with the possible exception of the Frozen Choc Peanut Pie dessert. I don't think we'd return, even though it was a pleasant surprise!


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Disclaimer: Non-sponsored. We paid for our own meals and all thoughts are my honest, unbiased opinion.


Monday, August 24, 2020

An Indian Feast at Johnny's Kitchen!



Johnny's Kitchen
56 Glen Osmond Road
Parkside
SA 5063

Hi guys! I was recently invited to try out Indian restaurant Johnny's Kitchen, which is located on Glen Osmond Road, right near Kublai Khan. I immediately felt a hit of nostalgia, because we've had many a romantic night at this Mongolian BBQ restaurant, but it was time for a new adventure! I love Indian food, so I was excited to sample some flavourful Indian curries and see what else they had to offer. We were met by Jany, who was warm and welcoming. She's married to Johnson, aka Johnny, the Chef and Owner. They were happy to pose for this cute photo for me!





The inside of the restaurant is decorated with beautiful paintings and a large wall mural, that's both colourful and gorgeous. The tables are absolutely stunning, and they are so unique! I spent a while looking at them all and deciding where to sit based on lighting and how the glass-topped table looked for photos! I even swapped tables, because I just couldn't decide (this might be a food blogger thing!).





Johnny's Kitchen is a home-style restaurant, serving authentic Indian dishes with local ingredients sourced from the farm or markets. This ensures fresh dishes, prepared simply so the food shines. They pride themselves on using quality ingredients, less oils and absolutely no preservatives or food colours.

Have you heard of a Lassi before? No, I'm not referring to the pretty Collie dog, I'm talking about the Indian drink! We tried the Mango Lassi's and wow, were they yummy! Think a mix between a tangy yogurt drink and a thick milkshake. The Lassi is a traditional chilled Indian drink that is a blend of yogurt, water, spices and fruit. I'm so glad we tried these, as it really enhanced our Indian experience at Johnny's Kitchen!




For entree, we chose Samosas and Chicken Tikka. The samosas were tasty flaky parcels filled with seasonal potato, peas, cumin seeds, and were deep fried to perfection. I love this type of food! The chicken tikka was such a vibrant orange colour and came with some fresh salad. This boneless chicken dish is marinated overnight with yogurt, ginger, garlic and Johnny's Kitchen blend of special herbs and spices, then roasted in a charcoal tandoor. These dishes were all the yum!






We were all set with our main course choices of Butter Chicken for me and Lamb Vindaloo for my husband, but Jany generously surprised us with more of their delicious curries and a beautiful bowl of saffron rice, so were were really able to get a taste of more of their dishes. We also ordered garlic naan bread and cheese naan bread, because you can't have curries without naan!





The Butter Chicken was so creamy and bursting with that familiar butter chicken flavour. It's my favourite Indian dish and Johnny's Kitchen version does not disappoint! I would order this again and again and highly recommend you try it if you pay them a visit! Hubby's Lamb Vindaloo was pretty spicy but I loved it. The thing I love about Indian dishes is that they are bursting with flavour, and these curries sure nail that brief.






We also tried a couple of vegetable-based curries. The Dal Tadka (which I admit, I'd never heard of before) is yellow lentils cooked on a slow heat and seasoned with butter, onion, ginger, garlic, tomatoes and garnished with coriander. This one was a bit milder and a welcome reprieve from the vindaloo. The Palak Paneer, the dark green coloured curry is cottage cheese cubes cooked with spinach, spices and a dash of cream. I'm not a huge fan of spinach, so although I tried this one and didn't dislike it, I mainly left it for my husband!






I absolutely loved both the cheese and the garlic naan breads and the fluffy and fragrant saffron rice was the perfect accompaniment to the delicious curries. I love that this restaurant caters to vegetarians, with a large range of non-meat dishes on their menu, too. Whether you eat meat or not, there really is something to please all tastes and diets. We had an amazing experience at Johnny's Kitchen and would highly recommend you go check them out! They currently have a number of specials running, and if you subscribe to their emails, you get a generous 25% off your food bill in August, dine in or takeaway!






You can check out the Johnny's Kitchen website here, like them on Facebook and follow them on Instagram here!

Thanks so much to With Eric's Help for facilitating this visit. Go check out his page if you're in the market for a Marketing expert!



You may be interested in Cooking With Foodee: Mee Goreng

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Disclaimer: We were invited as guests to Johnny's Kitchen, all food and drinks were provided. Reviews are my honest opinion. All photos taken by Max The Unicorn blog, please give photo credit @imhungrymax if sharing on Instagram or Max The Unicorn if sharing on Facebook. There are no affiliate links in this post. Please see the Disclosure page for further information.

What's your favourite Indian dish?

Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Stirling Restaurant Recommendation: The Locavore



The Locavore
49 Mount Barker Road
Stirling
SA 5152

Hi guys! Last month we went on a drive to Stirling, in the Adelaide Hills. It's such a beautiful area, with lots of pretty flowers, gorgeous trees lining the roads and quaint little shops that just begged to be explored! I really love the relaxed vibe, and I guess it helped that we visited on a lazy Sunday. The only problem was, Sunday is the one day of the week the much-hyped Lobethal Bakery is closed. Oh damn! So that's still on my must-visit list (a great excuse to re-visit this lovely part of South Australia).





We had lunch at The Locavore, which is a family-run restaurant situated along Mount Barker Road. Given the option, I basically never choose to sit outside (wind being my mortal enemy and all) but it was such a lovely day, and to keep hubby on his toes (plus natural lighting, who are we kidding?), we sat out the front, which was the best decision ever. It was a super relaxed atmosphere and we were able to people and (more importantly) dog watch to our hearts content. So many dogs, you guys.

The Locavore specialises in locally sourced produce, and they strive to live by the 100 mile diet. This means that, as much as possible, they try to work with produce that is grown within a 100 mile radius of the restaurant. I love this idea. Talk about supporting local! Time to slip the #IChooseSA hashtag in.





Now onto the food. They do have a Kids Menu, but we did have to request it. Everything on the adult menu was a bit too fancy for our fussy son, who has only recently branched out to Fish and Chips as his restaurant order, after a good many years ordering Chicken Nuggets and Chips. Baby steps, right? He loved his meal, and happily, it was quite a generous size for a kids meal. The hand-cut chips were super chunky too!




Hubby and I ordered the Dips & Dukkah Starter and it was amazing! He said to me "you're ordering the dips platter no matter what, aren't you?" and he was right. Ain't no stopping me. This is one of my favourite things to get as a Starter, and this platter did not disappoint. There's just something about dipping various breads in oils, dips and dukkah that makes my heart sing. These flavours were delicious. It included two housemade dips, toasted rye bread, extra virgin olive oil, vincotto, house made dukkah and Fleurieu olives which hubby claimed because I'm that freak that dislikes olives.




My husband had the Murraylands Sirloin with Three Chips (lol, not the actual name of it) which he said was beautifully cooked. It was actually served with kipfler potato and red wine jus. Yum. Usually we let our son steal some of our chips, but hubby wasn't letting him eat Tom, Dick or Harry on this occasion, and rightly so. Haha.




I ordered the Gnocchi, which was accompanied by a creamy, delicious sauce and was absolutely to die for. I always gravitate towards pasta, what can I say? Sorry, not sorry. Except sorry to my clothes, I guess, which invariably fit a little tighter afterwards. Worth it though, when a dish tastes this good! Guys, I cannot find the menu I printed out at the time with this exact dish name on it (lol, I can't be the only one that prints out the menu and plans their entire meal beforehand? Like with highlighter and everything?) and now their online menu has changed so I have NFI what this gnocchi exactly was, just know that it was incredible and you should haul arse to Stirling and dine at The Locavore immediately.


You can follow The Locavore on Instagram here or Facebook here and make a booking here.






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Disclaimer: Reviews are my honest opinion. There are no affiliate links in this post. Please see the Disclosure page for further information.

Do you have a favourite restaurant in the Adelaide Hills?

Monday, February 17, 2020

GIVEAWAY: WIN a $100 Restaurant Gift Card!



Hi guys! I have reached 5000 followers on my foodie Instagram account, which I'm so thrilled about! I want to thank everyone for the support; I'm so grateful for the likes, comments and follows! To show my appreciation, I'm running a fantastic Giveaway to WIN a $100 Good Food Restaurant Gift Card! You can use this gift card on food and beverages at hundreds of restaurants across Australia! Who doesn't love eating out, and it's even better when it's free, right? This is being run on my foodie Instagram page @imhungrymax so hop over there now and get your entry in!

If you'd like to see all the participating restaurants you can feast at using the Good Food Gift Card, you can do that on their website here. Every Australian state has participating restaurants, yes even Tasmania, Northern Territory and the ACT (I checked as I don't want anyone missing out!).


PRIZE
~ 1 x $100 Good Food Restaurant Gift Card

Entering is super easy! Head over to my foodie Instagram account @imhungrymax and enter now!






This Giveaway is open to Australian residents only. Giveaway will run until 11:59pm Adelaide time on 29 February 2020. Winner will be picked using a random number generator and announced on the Instagram Giveaway post and notified via Instagram DM on Monday 2 March. GOOD LUCK!


CLICK HERE to be taken directly to the Giveaway!


You may be interested in my 2020 Project Pan

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Disclaimer: Gift Card was purchased by me and this Giveaway is not associated with Instagram or Good Food. There are no affiliate links in this post. Please see the Disclosure page for further information.

Monday, January 20, 2020

Oar Lakeside

Oar Lakeside
100 Military Road
West Lakes Shore
SA 5020






Hi guys! A couple of weeks ago we went on a Sunday drive and ended up at Oar Lakeside for lunch. This restaurant is located on the lake at the front of the Rowing SA complex at West Lakes Shore, in a beautiful area. There's a playground nearby and it's also within walking distance of the beach. The restaurant is decorated with oars and is filled with leafy green plants. It really is a lovely, open, airy setting and a pleasure to dine in.



Honey Lime Smoothie with honeydew, lime, kiwi, pineapple and sorbet
Look at that bacon though

We have an extremely fussy 12 year old, but luckily there were a couple of things on the Small Plates menu that took his fancy; the Hickory Smoked Middle Rasher Bacon and the French Fries with Bacon Salt and Confit Tomato Relish (both photographed above). I tried some of the bacon and fries and they were damn good! Bacon actually features heavily on the menu, as they also offer American thin and crispy bacon and thick cut maple cured eye bacon.


I need to try this one for myself

My husband ordered the Crispy White Corn Tostada topped with refried beans, pulled chipotle chicken, shaved cabbage and lettuce, avocado, radish, cheese, jalapeno lime dressing, salsa and sour cream (photo above). I didn't try this but he loved it!


Do you eat the pickle? The husband always gets my pickle.


I ordered the Double Beef Burger with American Cheese, crispy bacon and Brooklyn pickles in a brioche bun with bacon salt French Fries (pictured above). The fries were absolutely amazing! Unfortunately the beef was too undercooked for me, but I ate as much of it as I could from around the edges, and my husband finished it.


I shall dub this 'A Bowl Of Yum'


The desserts were huge and super impressive, with beautiful plating. Pictured above is my husband's dessert: Coyo Organic Coconut Yoghurt Parfait with coconut chia, mango puree, orange jelly, kiwi, passion fruit, coconut crisp and meringue. These flavours were amazing!


French Toast lovers rejoice!


My dessert was so delicious (and huge!). I had the Thick Cut Brioche French Toast with Cinnamon Stewed Apples, Salted Pecan Crumble, Crispy American Bacon, Vanilla Mascarpone and Spice Bourbon Maple Syrup (photo above). I tried to execute a pour shot and failed miserably, but the important thing was this dessert was so good! The toasty bits added a delicious crunchy texture, the bacon was tasty af and the whole dish came together beautifully. I was upset I was too full to finish it, as it was a shame to leave any of this goodness on the plate.

We loved dining at Oar and will definitely be returning to try more dishes!


You may be interested in Gaja by Sashi Restaurant Launch!

Linking up with Life This Week




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Disclaimer: all photographs were taken by Max The Unicorn blog. Please do not use photographs without crediting and linking to Max The Unicorn blog or @imhungrymax if reposting on Instagram (credit to be given in the caption).

What's your favourite dish from this lot?

Monday, November 25, 2019

Gaja by Sashi Restaurant Launch!



Gaja by Sashi
4/86 Pirie Street
Adelaide 5000

Hi guys! A few weeks ago I attended the Launch of Gaja by Sashi in Adelaide. Hands up all the Masterchef fans! You'll remember Sashi Cheliah as the Winner of Season 10 of Masterchef Australia, and what a deserving winner he was. Sashi had a vision of opening a small cafe in Adelaide, but after being crowned the winner, this dream changed to what we have today, a fully fledged restaurant with bar, in the heart of the Adelaide.







GAJA in sanskrit means 'elephant', which symbolises strength, wisdom, royalty and solidarity in Hindu culture. This is apt given that Sashi's food is bold and bursting with robust flavour! With dishes on the Gaja menu spanning Indian, Singaporean and Malaysian cuisines, there's sure to be something to suit all tastes. You can check out the menu here.






Sashi's background in law enforcement is evident, with the birdcage section of the restaurant dedicated to rehabilitation. Also on display is his famed Masterchef white jacket, a bit of nostalgia for you to check out when you go and visit! Gaja by Sashi is open for lunch and dinner Monday to Saturday. Follow them on Instagram to keep up to date!










Also keep an eye out in Woolworths for Sashi's new line of Home Chef Kits called Sashi's Secret. The Sweet and Sour Pork and the Singaporean Chilli Prawn both sound delicious and I can't wait to give them a go!






Many thanks to Girl About Town for the invitation.


You may be interested in Sunday Sessions at The Holdy

Linking up with Life This Week



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Disclaimer: Max The Unicorn blog attended this launch on a Media invite, all food and drinks were provided. Reviews are my honest opinion. There are no affiliate links in this post. Please see the Disclosure page for further information.

Do you watch Masterchef? What do you think the next season will be like with the new judges?