Cookbookmaniac
  • The Mediterranean Kitchen – That ain’t paella!
    European Restaurant Reviews

    First thing Friday morning I am happy. I am happy to go to work because I know that the weekend is just peaking around the corner and Pizzaboy and I are going out for our ritual Friday night dinner... or as one of my workmates likes to call it: Friday Night, Date Night. Nothing makes me happier than to leave work right on the dot and head to wherever Pizzaboy and I have planned to dine at... with perhaps a little bit of comic book and cookbook shopping in between. Pizzaboy and I find ourselves on Church St in Parramatta. There is endless variety of restaurants packed between Phillip St and the river. We are undecided as to where we would like to dine at and we walk up and down that part of the street numerous times. We decide that we must visit a place that is a little…

  • Plan B by Becasse – Wagyu Burgers
    Plan B by Becasse – Wagyu Burgers
    Australian Restaurant Reviews

    I have a growing desire to work closer to home. I currently live approximately an hour away from Sydney CBD and use to happily travel the distance everyday for many years. I no longer have the patience to be going back and forth for such long periods of time so frequently. Unfortunately, one of the pitfalls of not working in the city is missing out on establishments like Plan B. Plan B is the off-shoot, miniature cafe of Becasse, the main posh restaurant is just next door. It's only open Monday to Friday, 9to5. Grrrr. This is an absolute bummer for a wagyu-obsessed foodie like myself. Plan B serve a much applauded 600-day grass-fed Wagyu Beef Burger. Ever since I read about it in the Sydney Morning Heralds Good Food Guide 2010, I have been daydreaming about when I make pilgrimage to the teeny-tiny cafe. I took a planned day-off…

  • Ichi Ban Boshi – Return of the old favourite
    Asian Restaurant Reviews

    It's a Friday night and two days before Pizzaboy's birthday. We always eat out on Friday evenings, it's our favourite method of winding down from our mundane 9to5 jobs. "It's my birthday weekend, does that mean I can choose where we eat tonight?" "Ok, but it has to be somewhere I haven't blogged." "That's not fair. I guess Menya is out of the question?" "We've been to Menya 5 times since I blogged about it, choose somewhere different." "Ichi Ban Boshi?" "Ok!" Two thumbs up. Ichi Ban Boshi was our favourite Friday night haunt before we discovered Menya. It's located next to our favourite book shop, Kinokuniya. Pizzaboy is a comic book geek. I'm a cookbook nerd. Kinokuniya is our home away from home. It's very easy for us to shop for our books and then cross the hall to have our much loved end-of-the-week meal. Ichi Ban Boshi has…