eating with ibis (2025)

14/03/2025

Desi-mandi 🥘🍗💤

In search of a satisfying iftar, we set sights on mandi. When your stomach is descending into autocannibalism, a behemoth platter of rice and meat seems only just.

Being reasonably intimate with Western Sydney’s mandi portfolio, we assumed that Mandi House Rockdale would be like the others. It should be noted, that a lot of the mandi joints in the area are South Asian-run (Yemendi as the exception known to us). Flavour profile-wise, they don’t differ that much between each other and there isn’t much desi influence.

Mandi House Rockdale is an outlier. The rice! Basically biriyani rice without the gravy/wet stuff, but just as aromatic. The chicken! Tandoori masala-esque, yet still that evenly cooked “dewy” texture typical of a classic mandi. The fish! Fried with what tasted like a bit of Shan yum-yum, the coriander seeds punch through. The lamb is treated quite the same as the other mandi around, but this shank was an absolute unit.

The $50 Mixed Mandi is huge value and would be our recommendation for two. You can also go for the $100 Family Meal Plate which could feed an entire army. So summon the troops and hit these guys up. Bone apple tea muchachos. Feast 🙏🏼

16/02/2025

When a newborn enters the family, there is a big shift in the grandparents’ nurturing instincts. Like Brian in Fast and Furious hitting that NOS, it’s next level stuff.

Our parents have been extra enthusiastic in bringing food which they believe boosts breastmilk production. In our cultures, I learned these are red bean, mungbean, taro stem and Chinese red spinach.

On top of that they have been dropping off childhood comfort classics that don’t get much rotation these days. I hadn’t had my mother’s oden or onigiri in yonks but she must have felt sorry for us looking so sleep deprived!

Actually, all things food go through a rhythm change, and you’re suddenly immersed in the world of colostrum and cluster feeding. The only thing that’s cooked properly in the household is sleep, but of course the juice is worth the squeeze.

1. Taro stem curry (gulai ayam kemumu)
2. Soup with Chinese red spinach
3. Mung bean porridge
4. Red bean satchets for rice
5. Onigiri
6. Oden

29/12/2024

Xinjiang Hui Min Hand Made Noodles Restaurant - Noodle boutique

Choosing where to eat in Burwood is like picking a drink at a Lawson in Japan. The shiny sparkly ones draw the eye, but you also know that the more modest or traditional numbers that have stood the test of time are reliably good.

At the best of times the Chinatown area feels like stepping into a Space Cadet 3D pinball game, with sweaty bumpers. If we are feeling too old for the strawberry matcha mosh pit, our go-to is Xinjiang Hui Min Hand Made Noodles Restaurant at the top of Burwood road.

The menu is focused on their hand pulled noodles. Lamb, cumin, capsicum, tomato, garlic and shallots are shuffled in various combinations to offer the customer many options of extremely similar yet delicious plates of noodles. These hand pulled noodles will have you gyrating like Usher at the Super Bowl halftime show. Studded with unapologetic amounts of garlic and lamb, this is the flavour town we come to Burwood for.

Our recommendations are item numbers 8-12, which come with the noodles separate to the gravy. We have tried all of these plus most of the rest of the menu, but 8, 9 and 10 are great. 8 if you can handle an assault of chives, 9 if you like sour and savoury, and 10 if you enjoy the texture of wood ear mushroom.

As can be said about a lot of Chinese restaurants in our bigger cities, the team on the tools aren’t just run of the mill international students who have picked up kitchen work as part of their Australian journey. They are veterans of the game. With their ripped, vascular forearms, you know they aren’t messing around, or to be messed with! This is even more apparent as you hear the noodles being bashed and pulled on the metal countertop BOH.

Once ag*in it’s a reminder of how good we have it here. If you are looking for a solid plate of noodles away from the flashy argy-bargy, this place always has a seat for you.

30/11/2024

N & N foods 🍜🌶️🥵

A new Chongqing joint has just opened in the Anzac Mall area of Campsie. What it lacks in Piazza Navona aesthetic, Anzac Mall makes up for with solid community feels.

On most days, someone is pumping a Pasifika playlist and the Chinese uncles are smoking, napping or playing xiangqi. Even the seagulls love hanging out here for the vibes.

The noodle section at N & N Food is only written in Chinese, which was actually nice because it forced a good chat with the auntie which wouldn’t have happened had I been able to read the menu. Despite thinking I had picked the most loaded bowl of dry noodles (right side, three down), what came out was quite simple - peanuts, garlic, shallots, cucumber and Sichuan peppercorns. In true Chongqing style, the mala was strong with this one, and enough to send tingles down to my arms. FTD.

They are also slinging lots of other cool things, including zongzi and a range of bao. Thanks for the feed and welcome to the hood. I’ll be back soon when my body need another mala zap 🫡🫡🫡.

18/11/2024

Ella by Minoli

In July of 2014, I spent four weeks travelling around Sri Lanka. A month was decent for an island roughly the size of Tasmania, so the food exploring was data-rich. Short eats at the bus stations were the most fun, but rice and curry was my staple. The most outstanding one I had was at a homestay in Ella. People visit for the Nine Arches Bridge, tea plantations and highland views yet by far my strongest association with Ella, which continues to this day, is this meal.

Other than unquantifiable deliciousness, my dusty millennial mind remembers beans, potatoes, beautiful rice and being struck down by the freshness and brightness of a particular green dish. On reflection this might have been a green chilli pol sambol - if anyone can identify it in the squashed photo (5) please let me know!

Two belt notches and a herniated disc or three later, we snagged a table at Ella by Minoli in central Darwin. After a week-long regiment of laksa, corporate catering, burgers and chips, my brain felt like a microwave popping corn once the feed began.

Everything that came out played with acid and spice really nicely. The barramundi in a blanket of green is lit up with a souring agent similar to tamarind, and the goat curry has deep, dark roasted and sweet tones all smoothed into one. Fried curry leaves dress every dish and hold down their fragrance over the table. Like the rice and curry I had that one night in Ella, each dish is given close attention and each dish is very distinct from the other. If anything is going to prick the senses after a pounding of anesthetising NT sun, it’s this.

16/11/2024

Eat Prey Love 🐃🐃🐃

Kakadu National Park, with its six seasons and revolving landscapes, is distractingly beautiful country. Hurtling down Arnhem Highway, it is easy to lose sense of time and speed as the territory’s vastness humbles you. If the heat doesn’t eat you, up, the local wildlife are also well-capable of doing so. One would think that staying away from the water would keep you out of trouble - wrong. Other critters hanging out in the vicinity that wouldn’t welcome a pat and selfie include emus, dingoes, boars and water buffalo.

The back story to the buffalo is that in the 1820s, they were brought over from Timor to the Coburg Peninsula, to serve as a source of food. Just over a century later, the buffalo were released with the collapse of many settlements, leading to Australia now hosting the largest wild buffalo population in the world. Considered feral pests, the soil erosion they cause alters the water ways, creates saltwater intrusion into freshwater habitats and destroys them. Whilst aerial culling is a supported practice, buffalo do form part of an industry for meat and hide.

Around Darwin and surrounding taverns in the NT, it is normal to see buffalo on a menu. Alongside Darwin’s beloved laksa, this bovine coloniser further reflects the territory’s links to South East Asia. It actually all started in the 17th century, where the Bininj people’s first contact with non-Aboriginal people were with the Makassar traders (South Sulawesi).

1. A buffalo burger at the Bark Hut Inn.
2. Bark Hut Inn bar - spot the croc’s mug!
3. Culled buffalo on the menu for whistling kites and other locals on Yellow Water (Ngurrungurrudjba).
4-6. More buffalo on menus.
7. Warning sign at Nawurlandja parking area.
8. Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre.

08/11/2024

It’s 18:30 and 31 degrees. The air which simmered above the roads hours earlier, is now stagnant. All signs point to laksa.

The NT laksa crusade kicks off at the legendary Laksa House on Stuart Highway. It’s basically a backyard eatery, with all sorts of pots (growing galangal, papaya, green onions, you name it) about. Under the mango tree the boss lady operates a very transparent kitchen. She barks orders at her husband? to fetch things and pick up the phone, which hilariously has the ringtone of a rooster, and blasts out of a 32 inch techno-lit subwoofer.

Tonight on the menu is chicken laksa, veggie laksa and nasi goreng. Google Maps shows that on other days they do ayam bakar and ayam goreng.

The chicken laksa is served in a plastic bowl, and weighs as much as a new born baby. Before you get to the noodles, one must work through levels of bean sprout, cabbage core and chicken. It’s an unorthodox move to use cabbage, but absolute CHOICE brew. In this weather particularly, you need this cool, crunchy, cruciferous layer to mix with the hot noodles and soup.

The soup has a touch of peanut sauce (the one that Australian Thai restaurants typically make for “sate”), and much less coconut milk than a typical Malaysian one. The bottom line is that it’s an excellent laksa that ticks off all the flavour KPIs, and has a distinct character.

A good laksa equals a good sweat and sweat we did. Thanks to whose feed I squizzed and found this.

08/09/2024

TFC 🐔🐥🍗

The history of the chicken is complicated, but a recently cracked theory is that the red jungle fowl was first domesticated at a farming site in Central Thailand, around 3,500 years ago.

Despite having pre-sale tickets to the supreme bird, the Siamese are not exactly renowned for their fried chicken. That however, doesn’t mean it’s not worthy of appreciation. Paired magnificently with sticky rice and sweet chilli dip, g*i tod is vibrant in flavour, and good looking. Fresh herbs like coriander root and lemongrass feature more in central Thailand, whilst down south you’ll more likely get spices like cumin.

Back in the $6.50 lunch era, when Thai La-Ong and Newtown Thai on King St were Ibis stomping grounds, g*i tod with rice was so addictive and easy to wolf down between lectures.

These days, fried chicken at It’s Time for Thai Kingsford is a certified banger. It comes out in hefty, chunky pieces, and because of the wet batter, the outer layer is blistered and puffy to give you THAT CRUNCH. Twin Thai in Marrickville does a lightly coated version with more bite-sized cuts, where turmeric is on show. Also delicious.

If you haven’t yet tried g*i tod at your local Thai - go on. Please also enjoy “The Chicken” - one of the finest funk standards written by P*e Wee Ellis.

*itod

18/08/2024

When thinking about what we want to eat out, the preliminary options are triaged through these categories:

Rice
Noodles
Chips
Pasta

This narrows down the options, but depending on your luck, it can spiral into further indecision. Today, we cut straight to the chase - fluffy buttery rice i.e. Persian.

Interestingly, all the Persian restaurants in Sydney strictly lie north of the M4 - perhaps telling of other divides but that’s a story for another day. Shahan is part of a small shopping enclave on Pennant Hills Rd, West Pennant Hills.

The zershek polo morgh and koobideh were exceptional, and the beautifully cooked rice at the centrepiece. Eye-wideningly fragrant and smooth. This alone ensured mission complete, but the real talking point was the kashk bademjan - a warm eggplant dip, laced with kashk (a fermented dairy product). CITADELS of flavour. It’s a masterclass of braised eggplant, with garlic and onion engulfing the senses. Touches of fried mint, walnuts and the umami-bonded kashk form the auxiliary layers but together this dish with flatbread was unfairly delicious. Smh. The tangy kashk is a pantry staple for Persians, and often referred to as liquid whey. It’s essentially the Middle-Eastern Ajinomoto!

Before we finished this off we had already messaged family for our next visit to Shahan - the menu has so many other cool things to try! The next gratitude circle at work will feature this kashk bademjan. Thank you and congratulations on opening such an excellent place to eat 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

14/05/2024

There’s nothing like a familiar, warm broth to realign the chakras and remind you who you are.

A simple dish you haven’t had for years can rethread memories and past times with family who are no longer here.

The dashi, crab kamameshi (iron pot rice) and geso no karaage (squid karaage) at this local izakaya hit all the the feels. Even more grounding was being on the tatami and eating low top.

It’s also nice to be back in a place where people’s faces are familiar and your mannerisms are theirs.

Looking at yourself in the mirror, you question less that that person is really you, because now you feel like you fit the description of what you’re supposed to speak, look and act like. Does that make sense?

Sometimes it feels like you’ve rejoined a school of migrating fish, after swimming out of line for a while. When you slip back into the barrel, no one around you notices, nor cares, but you feel part of the group.

Ready for an overdue reset 🍙🍙🍙

20/04/2024

Bankstown aunties at work ☀️🥬🥖

21/02/2024

Goodbye to a stalwart 🫡🫡🫡

2024 will be the first time 22 years without the presence of Warung Ita during Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. For the Minangkabau community in Sydney, the warung that Ibu Ita and her daughters built on Haldon St Lakemba, means a lot.

Whether their kampung was Sulit Air or Padang Panjang, Warung Ita served the plates of rice and “lauk” that maintained connection to West Sumatra and Minangkabau culture. Ask any second generation Indonesian Australian where they would recommend eating their food, it’s always Warung Ita because their parents took them there as children, and now they take their kids. Businesses slinging Minang food have come and gone over the years, but only quality stands the test of time.

Their gulai ayam is frankly unbeatable. Turmeric and kaffir lime leaf is woven into the curry so beautifully and tastefully that by early lunch it is always sold out. Other classics like ayam balado, terong balado and ikan goreng were also popular but the gulai ayam WILL BE MISSED.

Their biggest flex was not putting up a stall during the Ramadan markets in the recent hyped up renditions. Warung Ita didn’t need the Halal Easter Show to attract extra business. Their customer base has always been double-brick solid so there was no need to go fishing.

Warung Ita rightly deserves recognition for their community service, and rightly deserve time to step back and “hang up their aprons” as Uni Hilda wrote in the announcement that shocked so many. Thank you 🙏🏼😭🌶️

eating with ibis

14/03/2025

16/02/2025

29/12/2024

30/11/2024

18/11/2024

16/11/2024

08/11/2024

08/09/2024

18/08/2024

14/05/2024

20/04/2024

21/02/2024

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