Meidiana Kusuma

Maybe you won't believe if I said that I already went to this place 5 times for their high tea, one time back in 2018 for the Spring High tea and another four visit alone this year. Well, what can I say, I am truly a sucker for a thematic high tea. 

Petal Met Sugar is a small cake, coffee and florist store which never fail to amaze me with their high tee range. It located in Woolloomooloo area and actually can be reach by walking distance from St James station, you can just walk pass the St Mary Cathedral and voila you will reach your destination within 5 minutes.

I wouldn't say it is a cheap High Tea place though, they normally charge people $52 (weekdays) - $58 (weekends) per person with minimum of 2 people per booking. To tell you the truth, my first ever High Tea experience on this place was actually because I won a Giveaway competition via @itd_be_rude_not_to aka Robbie, the second one was for their pretty Winter Zen Garden that allowed me to empty my wallet a bit as I need to paid $52 for each person and the third to fifth visit I got a discount via CUDO for $49 for two people means $24.5 per person, How amazing the difference, huh? 

Ok, let's forget about the pricing first and move on to the high tea experience. On this article, you will see me review the Winter Zen Garden and their current Sydney to Amalfi Coast which will be there until February 2020.

Winter Zen Garden High Tea

This was served during winter season 2019, with a Japanese Zen Garden look as the inspiration. On the Sweet Zen Garden tray, we got Eclair (caramelised apple, calavados creme patisserie, choux pastry, sable and microwave sponge), Tiramisu (mascarpone, lady finger sponge, matcha and hojicha tea syrup, popping candy, matcha dust), Garden pebbles (ealr grey tea infused milk chocolate ganache, cocoa nibs, Callebaut elvet white chocolate), Cronut (croissant-doughnut pastry, caramelised salted popcorn, chocolate cremeux, cinnamon sugar), A pond and a tree (Jasmine tea infused panacotta, coconut, Callebaut 54.5% dark chocolate, housemade orange oil fairy floss) and Scones with housemade strawberry yuzu jam, Rodda's clotted cream on the side.

In the "in-flight menu" on this journey from Sydney to Amalfi Coast, they will serve you six different cakes and desserts on a clear drawer. Where you can try Olive You to The Amalfi Coast (olive oil gelato, caramel, rosemary, toasted pine nut sable), Not Noona's Gnocchi (mochi, strawberry granita, strawberries, basil), Scones (scones, honey mascarpone, berry black tea jam), When Life Gives You Lemons (lemon mousse, lemon and mint confit, chocolate glaze), Cheese and figs (classic cheesecake, fig compote, candied walnut crust, Callebaut velvet white chocolate and Cioccolato Roccia (hazelnut chocolate mousse, hazelnut sponge, milk chocolate wafer glaze, 24ct gold, caramel chocolate).

I had a great experience again and again from this place. This time, I like their Cheese and figs and the Lemon mousse the most. I lobe how they try to serve you with those different texture of cakes and desserts with a unique flavor and pretty presentation. Now, I can not wait what theme will the have after February 2019.

To be honest, it is kinda hard to choose which one was my favorite dish as I mostly love all them. Their laksa soup was really rich and well seasoned, their chicken satay was really tender and not to mention the authentic flavor of the Hainanese chicken rice and Nasi Lemak. During your first visit, you might want to try their Hainanese chicken rice and laksa, pssst did I tell you they also have Soft Shell Crab laksa? Oh my, that will become my order on my next visit.

Ah, we also tried their famous Kaya Toast and Durian crepes, is there any Durian fans? show me your hand please? hahahah as I'm not a Durian fans I can not tell you how good was the crepes. I love their Kaya toast and the best pair for this toast is actually hot teh tarik, yup don't forget to other this combo.

For the drinks, I tried their Hot and Iced teh tarik, Iced Milo, Iced lemon tea, Lime plum juice, Barley and Grass Jelly. You might also want to try that Lime plum juice, Barley Drinks and Grass Jelly as they are local favorites. I always buy those drinks on the hawker center in Singapore and it taste the same, oh yaayyy.

Thank you so much @foodblogsmedia and Killiney Kopitiam at Central Park for organising the event, I really enjoyed the feast and can not wait to go back. 

Who doesn't know Newtown? The bohemian-like suburb with great stores along the main road. From indie clothing labels, indie bookshops, thrift stores and lots of murals. Here is also where the Mapo Gelato located, few minutes walk from the station.

Why it called Mapo? It turned out the name this Italian Gelato is an abbreviation from owner's favorite fruits in Italian which are Mandarino and Pompelmo, or in English is Mandarin and Grapefruit. Mapo is also coincidentally (or not :P) as the abbreviation of the name of the owner, Matteo Pochintesta (don't let him know that I tell you this,hahaha).

Matteo and Emanuela make the gelato in-store with fresh and natural ingredients. The simplicity of the store really warm you up whenever you come inside. During my visit they serve at least 15 different flavours with 7 seasonal flavours. You can check on their menu whether it is Vegan, Organic, Fat Free, Lactose fee, Nuts Free or Gluten Free or you can just tell them you preference and they will happily inform you.

What I like the most from this gelato is actually the taste. It is not overly sweet like any other gelato and when you try it, you will know that it made from fresh ingredients. The most favourite one are Caramello al Sale (Salted Caramel) and Pistachio di Sicilia (Sicilian Pistachio). The price range is from $5.50 for one scoop up to $29.50 for 1.5 litre tub.

We tried the mix of Sicilian Pistachio and Red Plum plus Salted Caramel and Gianduja. From those four flavours, my favourite one is Gianduja which made from single origin Ecuadorian Chocolate and Piedmont Hazelnuts, they even put it "aka Like Nutella, but better" oh the menu list. Couldn't agree more.

So shall we do some Gelato date to Mapo, now?

Mapo Gelato

123 King Street

Newtown, NSW 2042

Black cute rounded shape monster will welcome you at the front of the building. Their interior is simple minimalist with normal seating and tatami seating where you need to take off your shoes and put them on provided cupboard first.

So what are their unique selling point? I might say the order card and stamps. Well, you can always directly order the menu you wanted straight to the cashier but there is also another fun way to do for ordering. Right next to the cashier you will find a wall full of ice cream toppings alongside with the ice cream flavor cards and bunch of stamps on the desk. 

All you need to do is pick the flavor card and stamp it with 2 topping stamps of your choice and give it to check out counter. They will give you a buzzer and now you can choose your seat while waiting for your order. For your info, the ice cream monsters are definitely available for dine in only.

There are 25 different toppings to choose, from unique jam flavors up to mini dorayaki (wait, we got mini taiyaki instead of dorayaki).

Beside Ice cream they also have Monster waffle which turned out really good. Yes it was damnn real good, I love the crispy texture on the outside and soft on the inside. It will served with vanilla softserve, matcha cream cheese and chocolate sauce. Well, even without those toppings, the waffle is already the star.

Situated at the heart of The Rocks area, where a lot of tourist and locals come to the area because of this touristy place, has it own benefit to the restaurant. Even for me, I really glad that they open this Korean fusion restaurant on that area since I rarely found any other restaurant except for bar, pub or cake shops around. 

Don't be Jelly but this is our feast table, hihihihi

Before we start, I need to let you know that you have to expect of getting different dishes served between weekdays and weekends at this place. During weekdays, they have roughly 23 different menu on lunch bowl who ready to indulge your taste bud. Their four main categories are Kimchi Bowl, Nutrition Bowl, Pasta Bowl and Bibim bowl. You can choose between the Vegetarian one to the choice of meat to be put on your hearty bowls. Pssstt the good thing is all of these bowls are below $15. The must try are Kimchi Bowl and Pasta Bowl, I think that was our favorite during the feast.

They have their own reason why the place called FireStone, just look at above, I wish you could hear the sizzling via picture. You can choose between Wagyu Scotch Fillet or Eye Fillet to be cooked on the Fire Stone, this dish will be served with chips. 

During weekends you can order some other various Breakfast or Lunch menu such as Mush-mush, Chili Scrambled Sticky Pork, Kimchi Wagyu Burger, Teriyaki Chicken Burger and many more. My favorit was the mush-mush and all the burgers, oh wow that was really yummy, especially the Kimchi Burger I love how tender the beef was and the yummy kimchi plus cheese blend in on burger, you have to try that. Ok let's the pictures speak to you.

French toast $18.9 (available on Breakfast)
(Brioche french toast, fruits, mascarpone, salted caramel, pistachio crumble, maple syrup)

Thank you so much Firestone team and Marie for the Invitation and super duper yummy lunch.

I was a guest on their restaurant, however all my reviews above are my own thought based my own experience.