Steak on the Rocks opened in Canley Heights, Canley Vale rd a few months ago, and has been gaining a good flow of customers. A good change from the pre-dominant asian restaurants around the area.But does the food fair?

Garlic Pizza. Was very hard. This is what was left of it. Pretty disappointing.

The Steaks are served on sizzling plates.  Served very hot as you could imagine. Unfortunately it does cause you to eat very fast if you like your steak medium rare-rare etc.

The chips would be improved immensely if they weren’t so oily.

A little video

Overall I found the experience to be a little under. The staff were friendly,  but the communication level was poor. There was only one staff member who understood our request. The restaurant definitely has potential to do great things.

On our recent visit to the Blue Mountains we took a short day trip too Leura. One of the cafes we decided to eat at was the Leura Gourmet Cafe and Deli.

From the outside it just looks like a regular deli. You can’t see much from the outside. There is a small door entrance with the deli forming the front entrance area of the cafe/deli.

However, as you venture towards the end of the shop – you start to notice that there is a long line of people waiting, and an array of tables, lime green walls, and a beautiful view overlooking the forest. A very unexpected surprise.

Fresh Juice is available.

The food is pretty mediocre though. Not the best presented and best cooked food.

Above is the Leek and Chicken Pie. The Crust was nice. The filling was nice. But it would have been better if they added a little more cheese to the sauce to make it thicker. A little more pastry would have been nice too. Overall the dish was satisfactory.

I would recommend this cafe purely for the ambiance alone. A pleasant surprise, and discovery. This cafe is located in Leura Mall.

We found a series of restaurants wandering towards an off-street in Tamachi, Tokyo. About 2-5 minutes walk from the Tamachi Station you will find an array of restaurants.. Not sure what this place is called since I don’t understand Japanese. But I will post a video to give you guys an idea of the location.

The first night we discovered this place, we ended up eating at this Jacky Chan Restaurant. Not sure if it is Jacky Chan, but it does look like him.

1. Crispy Tofu in a Beef(I think) Broth. Very tasty

2. Was not Takoyaki. Dissapointned.

3. Salted Edame Beans. Nice 🙂

4. Spicy chicken Wings. These were okay. You can get better chicken wings in Australia.

5. What was inside the Takoyaki looking balls.

6. Cheese Sticks? Very creamy. The Cabbage actually works well with it.

How can you not go to Japan and have a Sashimi plate? In order from left to right:  Salmon, Octopus, Tuna, Not sure what the last one was. It was my first time trying octopus. It was ok.

If you are a non-smoker make sure you ask for the non-smoking section 🙂 Sounds obvious but you tend to forget these things as a non-native speaker/visitor.

Tamachi Station is on the JR Yamanote line 🙂

On our 6th night in Japan we stayed in a traditional Ryokan located in Old Gion, Kyoto. With Ryokans you are commonly charged for the whole service/stay and dinner. We were treated to a lovely traditional Japanese dinner which featured an array of seafoods.

For those who have never had a traditional dinner in a Ryokan before. Basically what happens is that you sit in your room on the tatami mats, and someone comes to your room and serves you dinner in your room. I highly recommend it as a must-do Japanese experience.

One thing I recommend doing in Japan is eating at a fast food restaurant. You know – just to compare.

Lotteria is a fast food restaurant found in many places around Japan, especially Tokyo. Ordering is really easy if you don’t speak any Japanese. Just point to the picture and say “this please!”.

I ended up ordering the “Hangover” series Prawn/Shrimp burger meal .Wow!