Going Loca for ChocoLoco

My suburb, Newtown, is full of fantastic restaurants, cafés, boutiques and bars.

One new addition to the family is ChocoLoco - a chocolate cafe that offers an impressive range of desserts, sweets, gifts, coffees and other drinks.

I've become a regular here, ever since my first time venturing into these uncharted waters. 

As soon as I arrived, I was greeted with a welcoming 'Hello, may I please help you?' by a friendly and polite member of staff.

I'm a huge fan of chocolate and peanut butter. That's a match made in heaven if ever I've tasted one.

So I was a little disappointed that it wasn't on their menu (I was prepared to go up the road to Max Brennar instead), when she suggested I customize a milkshake. 

Customize a milkshake? You betcha! They just whipped one together for me on the spot.

Before

After

Plus, the whole place has a refreshing modern cafe vibe. Chocolate themed and coloured with an LED chandelier is bound to go down well!

And then they went above and beyond by coming over to my table about a minute after I started my milkshake and topped it up with more of my custom-made drink. Sold.

Yep, Max Brennar and Chocolateria San Churro are great, albeit pricey. I reckon it's worth giving this place a shot. It's a worthy contestant in its own right.

Find Choco Loco at:

125 King Street, Newtown, 2042

My Friend Felafel

Dear Everyone,

I'd like to introduce you to one of my closest friends: Felafel (Falafel in Arabic)

We've known each other since I was on exchange in Israel last year and we've been inseparable ever since.

Whilst I've never been brave enough to attempt these balls of fried chickpea goodness, I'm a huge fan of any Middle Eastern eatery where it's on the menu.

Last weekend I ventured to North Bondi's 'Sabbaba' restaurant - which according to my fellow Hebrew classmates boasted the best Felafel in Sydney. Interestingly, 'Sabbaba' is the Hebrew slang word for 'great' or 'cool' (Fun Facts with Heath!)

Photo from official Sabbaba Facebook Page

I absolutely needed to try it for myself! And let me say, it did NOT disappoint!

Ordinarily I'd opt for a Felafel in a Pita bread pocket... but the selection of fresh and delicious-looking sides enticed me too greatly, so I went for the Felafel plate.

For roughly $9, what a feast!

Try it out for yourselves at:

80-82 Hall St.
Bondi Beach NSW
(02) 9365 7500

Glick's Bakery: Heaven on Earth

Finish this Sentence:

I died and went to: 

.

.

.

Glick's!

Until you've been there and tried something from their extensive range of Bagels, Pastries or Challah, you can't quite appreciate how good it is.

I can't vouch for any of the other Glick's stores since I've only been to the one in Bondi. But if that's anything to go off, then I'm sure the others are fantastic too.

As soon as you walk in, it's wall-to-wall bagels and baked goods, with a modern polished wooden interior. 

I ordered:

- Two Chocolate 'Danishes' - this one stole my affections from the first bite

- A Twisted Doughnut 

- An Apple and Jam-filled pastry

Food Porn Time (FPT)!

I

Really

Liked

This

One ^

If you asked me, "What would you give it out of 10?" I'd reply, "It's an easy 1,000,000,000 and screw your system".

The Bakery also sells a fine selection of Kosher and imported Israeli wines - which went down a treat at a Passover Dinner I attended a few days later.

Glick's has become quite the institution, being one of Sydney's only - and biggest - Kosher bakeries. The Bakery comes complete with a largely Jewish clientèle, including several Rabbis.

Hurry Up and Go for Yourself!:

99 Hall St

Bondi Beach, NSW 2026

Vietnam - Snake Restaurant

I'd read about the hype surrounding the famous Snake Restaurants of Hanoi, so I was determined to try it.

Snake Balls

After a long taxi ride to slightly outside of the city, and then down to a dimly-lit street, with hardly anybody around, I started thinking that it probably wasn't worth it.

But then we stumbled across a restaurant serving everything from: pigeons to pork, snakes to turtles.

I ordered the Snake Banquet, which was $40 Australian Dollars - by far the most expensive meal of the trip. The waitress - who spoke no English whatsoever - returned with a LIVE King Python and two other waiters.

The waiters held the snake with its tail in the air, and upon confirming my decision they slit its throat and drained the blood into a bottle of Vietnamese Rice Wine, confusingly put in Vodka Bottle.

Rice Wine Infused with Snake Blood

I was then presented with three shots of rice wine - one infused with snake's blood, another with it's bile... and the last one with the still-beating heart of the snake. And yes, I did feel it beating as it went down my throat. Apparently it's a demonstration of masculinity. So manly!

With each dish you are supposed to take a shot of the blood-infused rice wine. Which I did with no complaints. The waitress returned at various intervals with dishes fresh from the kitchen, which used the meat from the entire snake.

In total, there were 5 dishes - a soup, a stir-fry, snake-balls and snake wrapped in banana leaf.

Snake Wrapped in Banana Leaf

They were all delicious but despite my attempts to convince my friend to try them, he didn't dare touch it.

(skip to several hours later and he was still awake making sure I didn't die from eating the heart!)

There was an unfortunate mishap with the ordering, however. My friend wanted something with Beef in it. Probably not the best idea considering the restaurant seemed to specialise in strange and/or endangered animals.

Snake Soup

As I already mentioned, the waitress didn't speak English so I said "Bo" which is 'beef' in Vietnamese. However she must've thought I was saying "Bird", because she went away and cooked up a pigeon which she served to my friend... that he didn't touch.

Poor guy!

Snake Banquet

Vietnam - Photos from Hanoi

Sugar Cane Juice

Bun Thit Nuong

Saigon Import Beer

Glutinous Rice Desserts

 Pho Bo and Herbs

Sugar Cane Juice

Vietnam - Hanoi

Good Morning Vietnam!

So I made sure I made the most of my time in Hanoi and crammed a week's worth of sight-seeing and eating into 3 days *phew*

I don't ordinarily make a fuss, but the hotel's complimentary taxi from the Hotel didn't arrive - leaving us to foot the bill for an expensive taxi. When we arrived at the Hotel I let the receptionist know that the driver hadn't turned up (In case he came late and was waiting for us). She looked appalled and instantly upgraded us to the Honeymoon Sweet!

Honeymoon Suite

The room was much bigger and had a great (sound-proofed!) view of the markets down below, which were transformed into Night Markets at sundown. Although I couldn't get over how funny it was that my mate and I were staying at the Serenade Hotel's Honeymoon Suite... sounds like a pay-by-the-hour sort of joint, right?

One of my good friends was living and teaching in Vietnam while I was there, and so I organised with her to go around and see all the city's hottest spots.

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

After having lived there for 4 months already, she was practically a local! We started with a tour to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. The monolithic structure is impressive and really heavily guarded. Don't even think of stepping onto the grass! My foot strayed while taking this photo and I was promptly reprimanded!

Dried and Candied Mango Slices

We then hit-up the Dong Xuan Markets and shopped until we dropped. Literally. My blood sugar felt so low I thought I was going to collapse so I bought some dried and candied Mango slices.

Within the Dong Xuan Markets there's a food court area... but it's more like dozens of street stalls under a roof! For fantastically low prices, we bought several delicious dishes:

Lettuce, Prawn and Noodle Soup

Nem Nuong

Later that night we went out Clubbing in Hanoi. Being a clubbing-virgin I didn't really know what to expect, but the ridiculously-low prices of alcohol meant that it was an easily viable option to buy a bucket of alcohol.

Vodka Redbull in a Piggy Bank

 The dance club we went to served mixed drinks and cocktails in sandcastle buckets and... Piggy Banks!

The next day we took the lengthy bus journey to Halong Bay and then a cruise around the rock formations.

Our tour guide took us to some secluded rock caverns with stunning formations inside. Our less-mobile fellow tourists (an old Polish couple) stayed behind - meaning that we could get around to some special sites with ease.

Prawns and Crab

However, they DID eat most of the food provided on the cruise and weren't willing to share, so I had a measly serving of prawns and crab.

All in all, Hanoi was a bustling and exciting city with something for everyone!

Vietnam - Hoi An

Hoi An is hands-down Vietnam's capital for:

- Beaches
- Resorts
- ...and Tailoring?

You wouldn't believe it until you see it for yourself. Hoi An boasts the most tailors per square metre of anywhere in the world, and I wouldn't argue with that.

Not only is the main street littered with tailoring 'shops', but in the bowels of the town there's a large warehouse which is brimming with tailors.

I can't help but feel that the word 'tailor' is used pretty loosely there though. I mean, does a person sitting at a table with a sewing machine count as a tailor? And what about those 'stores' that have been variously busted as fronts for sweat-shops with child labour?

Anyway, I had some shoes and apparel custom-fitted and designed to my specifications, for 1/3 of what they would have cost in Australia on a conservative estimate.

Back to the Beaches!

After landing at Danang Airport, we were picked-up by our resort's personal driver and taken on the 40 minute drive down the beach to the resort. All the way along the beach is just resort after resort, with construction sites for new resorts everywhere else.

We got slightly scammed on the way though. Our driver took us to his cousin's pottery and jewellery store on the way, as it was at the bottom of the Jade Mountain and so I thought I'd purchase a little jade for my Mum. But it was soon apparent that they were just ripping-off 'wealthy' Westerners. Honey, I had just finished school... I'm not exactly rolling in $$$

Now onto the Food/stuffing my face at every opportunity

If you haven't worked it out yet, I love my noodles.

Sweet Potato Cakes

Banana Crêpe (French colonial overhang?)

Pineapple Crêpe

Roadside Bun Thit Nuong

Local Draught Beer