I asked Google and found out that these are actually mealworms, or larva from a type of grain beetle of sorts. These worms also resemble the live wriggly ones an old friend of mine used to feed his Arowana fish with. Funnily enough, you can even buy these Larvet snacks in bulk from Amazon.com! But whether it will make it past customs or not is another question…

Besides being a tasty novelty item, the packaging indicates that these Larvet Worm Snax have practically zero nutritional value. However, it would probably be a beneficial source of protein if consumed in large quantities!

After opening the plastic wrapping, a waft of wormy, wheaty, smokey, nutty goodness creeped up my nostrils. The BBQ flavouring actually complimented the worms in a strange way. I mean, the last thing you’d consider for a snack would be BBQ-flavoured worms right? To be honest I don’t think they would have tasted any worse or different without any flavouring because the worms were dehydrated and hollow, and tasted like crunchy chicken skin without the grease.

If they sold snack Larvets here, I would definitely be filling up my party bowl with them. I actually liked the taste and crunchy texture of the Larvets, and didn’t find it offensive at all. A good way to get a kick out of these is to eat a large handful and crunch away…nom nom nom…

So when we came across this vending machine at the Mount Fuji lookout that sold dumpling soup, American hot dogs, Takoyaki balls, stir-fried Soba noodles, deep fried rice balls and french fries, out came the spare change!

Out of all 6 items, I’m not really sure why we picked the most ordinary food item on the menu – French fries (Or potato fries – whatever you call them) – but hey, it was novelty enough buying anything from that machine! It was interesting to see how this apparently simple technology worked.

So in went Naomi’s 380yen (around $4.50) – Or rather, a large bill (yes, it returns your change). It took just one press of a button on the item of your choice, and a 3 minute wait for the fries to be heated up before we heard a tumbling sound followed by the appearance of a fancy box of french fries in the opening of the machine:

It was hot alright, and when we opened the box my sunglasses fogged up from the steam! The fries were well, fries. They looked and tasted like the real thing and even had the ‘burnt edges’ taste. The only thing I didn’t like was that the fries were soggy. Looks like the Japanese still need to work on their crisping technology! Some ketchup would have gone down well though.

Yet another bizarre find – this time from a vending machine. I had some spare yens so I gave this little beast a try – Sweet black coffee jelly in a bottle. The stangest thing was that I had to shake the bottle to ‘activate’ the jelly so it turned into a thick  fluid. It tasted like coffee alright, so that was a plus. But the texture was an assault on the senses. Cold. Jelly. Sludge.

Needless to say I was left feeling slightly queasy..

This kept me awake for a few hours as it was nearly midnight when I ate/drank this. The drink was surprisingly high in caffeine! At least I got my 200yen’s worth for trying something new…

We came across a stall outside a tea shop selling green tea ice cream floats – With a Japanese twist of course! Soft green tea ice cream dunked in a cup of chilled green tea! It was the perfect summer coolant. Yet another brilliant idea by the Japanese!

In fact, I have even seen this particular bottle for sale at some everyday convenience stores like 7-11. I would give you more detail, but I can’t for the life of me read Japanese. From what the bottle says, one of my assumptions would have to be that it contains 1000mg of Vitamin C. Who knows what the other 3000mg is!

I am assuming that this product would somehow  increase one’s collagen intake? Improve skin texture? Decrease wrinkles? Improve your overall wellbeing? I didn’t want to risk having a trout pout during my trip, so unfortunately I didn’t sample this! It was still an intriguing find though, I must say!

We found this interesting combination of carbohydrates at a cafe in Tokyo. It was pretty much a white bread bun sliced open and slathered in thick mayonnaise, then topped with Bolognaise-flavoured Soba noodles and some pickled ginger!

As the noodles were dark brown, we thought it would have been flavoured with soy sauce or something. But strangely enough, it tasted like Bolognaise, albeit artificial.

My friend Josh didn’t like it, so I snatched the bun off him and wolfed it down. I enjoyed it – I figured I wouldn’t see or taste anything like this often so what the heck – I couldn’t let it go to waste!

At 200yen a pop (around $2.50), these cute little bags of fresh and fluffy white crustless sandwiches are just simply a genius idea. They are widely available at various Japanese convenience stores like Family Mart and 7-11, and come with different fillings – Egg mayo, tuna mayo, peanut butter, strawberry, blueberry, chocolate (gasp!), and custard (double gasp!). They were always fresh when I bought them – even after leaving them in my bag for a day or two! Japanese technology…

I nicknamed them ‘pocket’ sandwiches because of the way the fillings are ’sealed’ shut between two slices of bread, sans the crusts. I never like crusts, so the discovery of this sandwich ‘niche’ changed my life forever. The white bread they use is very soft and fluffy – my favourite pocket sandwich has to be the egg mayo, while the tuna mayo comes a close second! The perfect sandwich, satisfying in so many ways…

Europe Grill is located at 506 King St, Newtown.

Europe Grill is located on the quieter end of King Street heading away from the city at number 506. When I went there for dinner the first time, it was a Monday night and was very quiet. There was only another family in the restaurant and the staff were obviously very attentive! It’s family-run from what I could tell and very traditional.

I can’t really compare the food to any other European cuisine as it is really quite unique! I really enjoyed the food at Europe Grill immensely but I actually preferred the entrees to the mains. I initially had written down all the Macedonian names for the dishes but I have lost the piece of paper so plain English descriptions will have to suffice!

These are the entrees we had:

Entree #1: Deep fried crumbed cheese - Yes, decadence on a plate! I'm not sure what type of cheese this was but it was a cross between cheddar and mozzarella. Absolutely delicious but I could only manage half a piece as it was too rich!

Entree #2: Grilled Macedonian Fetta - This was another winner by me. This type of Fetta cheese is a harder variant and doesn't crumble too easily. It also has a much stronger flavour than most Fetta cheeses. Unlike the previous cheese entree, this one is clearly less decadent!

Entree #3: Grated Fetta cheese on bread pieces - This was a very simple dish, but was still delicious. This is the same Macedonian Fetta used in entree #2. I enjoyed eating this with the salad in the next photo.

Entree #4: Grated Fetta Cheese Salad - We can't seem to get enough of this Fetta cheese! Underneath this bed of grated cheese lies a summer medley of diced tomatoes, olives, spinach, onions, cucumber and capsicum. It's a very simple salad dressed with some oilve oil and lemon juice. Once again, deelish! This salad had very fresh and tangy flavours that contrasted really well with the saltiness of the Fetta cheese.

Entree #5: Grilled Banana Chillies in Garlic Yoghurt sauce - Oh my god this dish is my favourite. This variety of chillies isn't actually too hot and they taste quite sweet and similar to bell peppers. They were grilled to tender perfection, whilst the yoghurt sauce was richly infused with lots of garlic and really hit the spot. This went down a treat with bread! We even saved some sauce for the meat that came later on!

Entree #6: Grilled Banana Chillies in Garlic Oil - A similar concept to the previous chillie dish except this one came in Olive Oil infused in Garlic and fresh herbs. Delicious as well but doesn't beat the garlic yoghurt version!

They also serve Macedonian and Croatian Beers:

Croatian Beer

Macedonian Beer

Now on to the main course!

As Europe Grill specialises mainly in barbeque and grilled food, they have an open grill where you can watch the chefs cook. The mains we had were very straightforward – we basically ordered a whole bunch of different meats from the menu and they brought it all out on one giant platter for everyone to share.

A variety of meats on the grill - Pork chops, patties, stuffed chicken breast and several types of sausages sizzling away!

They also do seafood - but we didn't order any. Still looks good though!

This was one of the sausages we tried - It was a smoked spicy sausage which tasted like salami but much richer and more delicious as it was grilled on top of that!

A closer look at the grilled sausages - There were quite a few types of sausages, these ones were made out of a combination of beef, pork and lamb mince and heavily seasoned with spices.

I had a huge shock when the platter came out – it was HUGE!

Lo and behold! The ultimate meat platter - Everything you just saw on one big plate! 3 types of sausages, patties, stuffed chicken breast, pork chops, you name it! All the meats were cooked really well and were really juicy and succulent.

Potato and shredded cabbage salad - Each person got a bowl of this as a side dish to be had with the meat. I really liked this - Very simple yet appetizing. Both the potato and cabbage were drizzled in a simple olive oil and lemon dressing.

We were completely and utterly stuffed by the end of the feast, we didn’t even think about having any dessert!

The boat was pretty huge and was a good 3-levels high. From my guess-timation, there were probably around 100 diners onboard. The cruise involved a three-course dinner while the boat cruised around Sydney harbour for 3 hours or so. The service onboard wasn’t too bad, except we had a Korean waitress with a thick accent and it was quite difficult to make out what she was saying! We were served a complimentary glass of sparkling wine immediately after we were shown our table – which was by the windows and we had a great view of the city while we cruised and dined.

There were about 25 tables in the restaurant, all donned in classy white tablecloths, fancy champagne glasses and a million different kinds of forks, spoons and knives! I never know which ones to use… We kick-started the course with some bread and an Olive oil and Balsamic Vinegar dip, which was then followed by our entrees. One thing I found though, was that each course arrived too quickly and there was not enough space to relax (and digest) between meals!

Soon after we finished our bread, our waitress came back to our table and showed us the menu. The menu was divided into three sections: Entrees, Mains and Dessert and each category had 3 options to choose from. For my entree I went for the Prosciutto-wrapped Chicken Breast served with Italian Potato and Asparagus Salad with a Balsamic glaze. I thought the portion was just nice for an entree, but presentation-wise the entrees were served on really small bread plates. The entrees would have looked better on a larger plate I think! It terms of flavour and texture I thought the chicken was a little too bland and dry, and more dressing and flavour would have worked better as the potato and asparagus seemed a little lonely without a generous drizzling of dressing. The chicken morsels were probably left in the fridge too long because the Prosciutto was stiff and the fat had coagulated.

Prosciutto wrapped Chicken Breast on Italian Potato & Asparagus salad with Balsamic glaze.

Otto opted for the Smoked Salmon, Fennel and Celeriac entree. Compared to my chicken entree, the portion of his dish seemed even more measly than mine! It was barely 3 mouthfuls! This dish also lacked presentation – With such a small portion of food on an equally small plate, they should have at least made an effort to maybe roll up the smoked salmon into little roses or something. Instead they looked like they were hastily torn into little pieces and chucked onto the plate without any thought of creative presentation. I’m generally not fussy with food presentation but for the price we paid ($100++ p/p) and dining at a venue such as this, one would think the food presentation would be of high calibre as well, no?

Smoked Salmon Roulade, shaved Fennel & Celeriac Remoulade, Salmon pearls with Chardonnay Vinaigrette.

For my main, I ordered the Scotch Fillet with Field Mushrooms and Wedges roasted in Duck Fat. Okay, I’m not exagerrating but that piece of Scotch Fillet was the best piece of Scotch Fillet I have ever had in my life. I had it medium-rare, and it was cooked to utter perfection. I couldn’t believe how tender it was! It absolutely melted in my mouth and was so delicious! It was even better than some Wagyu steaks I have eaten in the past. The red wine reduction was rich and complimented the steak well. The wedges were nice and tender too but I couldn’t taste any hint of gamey duck flavours on them though. The size of my main was enough to keep me full, but not gasping for air and sucking in my stomach in that LBD I wore to dinner! Verdict on main? 8/10.

The Starlight Steak and Chips - Seared Scotch Fillet with Field Mushrooms & Duck fat roasted Wedges.

For his main, Otto went for the Grilled Salmon Fillet on baby Fennel with Tarragon & sea salt roast crisp skinned Pink Eye Wedges drizzled with Lemon Beurre Blanc (Phew! What a mouthful). The Salmon wasn’t overcooked or dry which was a plus! I liked the taste of the Lemon Beurre Blanc as it complimented the fish well. The size of the Salmon main was on par with my steak as well. Otto liked his dish, but he said it wasn’t the best piece of salmon he has had.

Grilled Salmon Fillet on baby Fennel with Tarragon & sea salt roast crisp skinned Pink Eye Wedges drizzled with Lemon Beurre Blanc.

For dessert Otto had the Chocolate Tart and Panna Cotta. I had a taste and I found this pretty average to be honest! I have eaten better chocolate tarts from the local cake-shop. Again, the presentation was lacking and the treats looked miserable on that small plate. They really should have put in more effort in sprucing up the dishes a bit more to match the breath-taking views of Sydney harbour!

Chocolate Tart & Panna Cotta

When I got my dessert I wasn’t expecting a medley of three different desserts on one plate! There certainly was variety in this one. I liked both the Tiramisu and Panna Cotta. The Tiramisu was extremely moist and creamy and was sitting in a pool of creamy sweet lemon sauce which was quite different. The Panna Cotta was served with a passionfruit concentrate which gave it much contrast while the Kahlua tart tasted very similar to the Chocolate tart that Otto had except with a hint of Kahlua.

Trio of Tiramisu, Almond Macaroon & Kahlua Panna Cotta shot

Overall, the food was average. However, I did enjoy my steak and wedges; I reckon they should really work on the presentation and quality of the food. Nevertheless, the whole experience on the cruise was enjoyable. After dinner, we went up to the top deck to take in the night view of Sydney harbour which was pretty amazing – The cruise lasted about 3 hours and we docked back at King Street Wharf at around 10PM or so. If you’re after something nice to do on a weekend I’d definitely recommend trying out one of these dinner cruises, they’re actually not too bad! Great for dates =).

One of our many random dining excursions led us to a really cheap Vietnamese restaurant in Marrickville. Located at 304 Illawara Road, Pho Bac is nestled between a few other Vietnamese restaurants, so make sure you check the signs before entering!

The food was good and great value for money. Mains range from $7.50 – $25 and the portions were just right. I’ve been here for both lunch and dinner and they can get really busy. However, The restaurant is quite small and can get cramped during peak hour.The service isn’t too bad, the ambience at night is quite warm and they don’t have the horrible fluorescent lighting you can expect from many Asian restaurants!

Although I’d go back to Pho Bac, Thanh Binh in Cabramatta is still my favourite Vietnamese restaurant in Sydney! Here’s a little sneak peak of a few dishes we sampled. As usual, I will be adding more photos in future after a few more visits to Pho Bac!

Duck Salad - Served with Prawn crackers, shallots, onion, crushed peanuts, fancy lettuce, carrots and basil leaves. Comes with a side-dish of sweet fish sauce dressing.

Deep Fried Spring Rolls with Sweet and Spicy Fish Sauce.

Stir-fried Lemongrass Beef with Vegetables.

Stir-fried Beef, Tofu and Vegetables in Soy Sauce.

Pho Garnish - The usual suspects: Bean Sprouts, Lemon, Basil, mint and chillies.

Beef Brisket Pho