Recently in Australia / NSW / South Coast Category

From first appearances, you'd be forgiven for thinking this was just an average senior's bowling club bistro. Oh, how wrong I was!

Zen's workmate DC has been a local at the club for decades and even celebrated his 50th birthday at this family-run restaurant on its opening day some time last year. When we agreed to stroll down the street to Wiseman Park Wollongong City Bowling Club for brunch, I went sans-camera, not expecting anything photo-worthy. (Pictures below taken with my brand spanking new iPhone)

Imagine is more of a bistaurant (bistro & restaurant). Its menu is down-to-earth yet slightly fancy but sticks to a traditional Mediterranean fare. The prices are higher than a $10 pub steak but its food has many talking. On a Friday or Saturday night, expect to find the place booked out, with regulars even taking the food out to a different seating area.

Zen and I share the seafood paella which was about $56.90 from memory. We're advised that it will take about 25 minutes to be cooked so we start off with some garlic bread.

The Turkish bread was piping hot and buttery and could have had a little more garlic. However, it was delicious to the boyfriend, the non-garlic eater who eats garlic occasionally.

Our meals were thoughtfully brought out at the same time.

DC has the lamb casserole which is served with a side of steamed seasonal vegetables. He compares it to his mother's cooking which is a good sign, although stating that it's missing a crucial ingredient which he can't pinpoint. I think anything substantially close to one's mother's cooking is bloody good.

The seafood paella smelt scrumptious and included a generous spread of mussels, moreton bay bugs, king prawns and baby octopus. The rice was of the perfect consistency and I simply loved the tomato and saffron colours which stained Zen's fingers, hehe :)

Garlic bread

Lamb casserole

Seafood Paella before waiter served it

My plate of seafood paella

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Imagine Restaurant
Wiseman Park Wollongong City Bowling Club
Foleys Rd, Gwynneville, NSW
Phone: +61 (2) 4229 4132‎

I had been back to work for exactly 4 weeks and felt like I needed a break more than ever. I love Stanwell Park because the Sea Cliff Bridge is absolutely amazing to drive on and the beach is peacefully full of energy. Hand gliders were out and about... but i simply enjoyed the sand and the sun.

Happy Monday! Here are some happy snaps from the weekend away:

According to eatability, Coconut Thai is THE restaurant to visit... fabulous service, authentic, tasty and affordable food. So when the restaurant across the street asked us to wait 15mins to be seated, we naturally declined and gave Coconut Thai a go.

The service here proved to be a standout... attentive, knowledgable and just really sincere. As I sat there flipping through the menu, munching on the complimentary spicy prawn crackers, I was eavesdropping (as you do). The young waitress was explaining to the group beside us, that they should looking for an oyster sauce based stir fry because they didn't want anything hot. What's better than helpful waitstaff who know what they're talking about.

A favourite Thai dish of mine has always been the duck curry. I adore the unique addition of tropical fruits... the cherry tomatoes, grapes and pineapple balanced out the richness of the duck and coconut milk so well.

The menu provided plentiful to choose from. So we ended up selecting the next two dishes from the specials. One of Coconut Thai's house speciality are mussels stir fried with chilli and basil. Although I had expected the mussels to be served with the shells intact, it was simply a pleasure to eat them whole. Eat bite was full of flavour... simply delicious with the fresh capsicum, onion, bamboo shoots, string beans, shallots and ofcourse chilli.

Another house specialty which I couldn't resist ordering was the Poh Tak Seafood. And you can surely tell why it's on the specials list. The soup was cleansing and fragrant with stalks of lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves. Amongst the fish, scallops, prawns and squid were mushrooms, tomatoes, dried and fresh cut chillis.

Upon leaving, we were also presented with a tiny frangipani candle and mint chocolates. These weren't the ordinary types either... the centre was moist... fudge-like... mmmmm...

Plus with all the waitstaff wishing us a good night, I almost felt like a local :-)

Need another reason to visit? Coconut Thai boasts an impressive vegetarian menu, which includes over 30 different dishes!

Coconut Thai
187 Keira Street Wollongong
Check out their MySpace & menu

During my recent trips down south, I've discovered that the majority of restaurants here are always at full capacity! I've isolated this discovery down to two facts:
1) Wollongong is full of visiting tourists who don't like to cook
2) Locals at Wollongong don't have anything else better to do than to dine out & drink up

So, to suceed in Wollongong (if you happen to be thinking about launching a restaurant there), you must:
1) Not open a Japanese restaurant (the local sushi train looked deserted at all times)
2) Open another Thai or Vietnamese eatery with BYO

Piato Grand sits within a shiney new apartment block and has only been operating for a couple of months. It's sister restaurant, which i've heard operates under the same name (Piato coffee & fine foods) at the mall, has been running for over 3 years. This uber contemporary restaurant has all the ingredients that make it a place you would visit time after time. The specials menu was definately popular, as the rosemary quail with baba ganoush and the seafood risotto was sold out early in the night.

I ended up ordering the herb crusted veal with fetta mash and rocket salad. The veal was so flavoursome and was piping hot beneath the crumbled surface. The rocket salad had a generous splash of balsamic and the semi-dried tomatoes were really light and sweet.

Zen ordered the crunchy squid and the both of us were surprised when it turned up tossed in a salad! Nonetheless, it was spiced with cumin and was deliciously crunchy.

The best thing about the Gong is the close proximity of everything. It's so small and cosy... we walked up a block... back home with a full tummy.

Piato Grand
47/22 Market St, Wollongong NSW 2500
Phone: 02 4225 0442
Fax: 02 4225 0446
Email: info@piatogrand.com.au
Web: www.piatogrand.com.au

I was down at Wollongong this weekend for a race day at Kembla Grange. So, watch this space for a few more Wollongong posts :)

Saturday morning was cold... and that's the best excuse for a big greasy breakfast. Zen and I strolled down the street to the Mall. Cino Cafe has plentiful seats outside which was already starting to fill up at just 10.30am. We decided to step inside, away from the breeze, and placed ourselves in round leather booth chairs. The tables were slighly high... but this could have been the result of my slouching posture. On my left was a glass cabinent full of delicious treats. There were portugese custard tarts, cakes of all sorts, pasteries and more. Mmmm...

I controlled my temptations and ordered a hazelnut latte. This did not disappoint. It was served in a tall glass with a piece of almond biscotti.

Zen ordered the iced coffee and again we were impressed with the generous serving size.

The breakfast menu was expansive too. Cino's have pancakes, croissants, french toast, full or half breakfasts, omelettes, sourdough and jams... you name it. I opted for the full breakfast with my eggs sunny side up. They were cooked perfectly... with the yolk still runny, I lathered it all up on the buttered toast. There was also a plentiful array of mushrooms, bacon, sausages and hash browns.

Naturally, Zen preferred his eggs scrambled... light and fluffy.

Now that I was all nourished and warm... it was time to battle the wind & bets at Kembla Grange!

Cino Caffe
161 Crown Street, Wollongong Mall
Ph: 4226 1699

April is awesome! How often do you get a 4 day weekend? I've always wanted to see a waterfall... so here was my chance.

The Minnamurra Rainforest is a 2 hour drive south of Sydney. There are 2 fabulous walks which take you through elevated timber boardwalks and swinging bridges. Part of it was so steep... but the workout was definately worthwhile. The waterfall was amazing! And it was lovely to take in deep breaths of nature... ah....

And here are some photos from Wollongong. Lighthouses, canons and more.

Visit the Minnamurra Falls or Wollongong.

The Nan Tien Temple is the largest Buddhist temple in the southern hemisphere... so it has kind of become a tourist attraction for any visiting relatives. And depite the rain yesterday, it was no exception for my great aunt. The temple is gloriously tranquil, filled with the grandeur of giant monuments, fancy landscapes and rich chandeliers.

The dining hall, too, maintained the airy and peaceful ambience, with Buddha statues, soothing chants in the background and staff whom were extremely quiet and courteous. The vegetarian lunch set menu is available on Tuesdays to Fridays, 11am - 2pm, and on weekends from 11:30am until 2:30pm. For $8, we get two main dishes, today's being a curry stir-fry and a soy-based vegetable dish with tofu, another green veggie dish, a few pieces of veggie tempura, fresh fruit, and a side order of either hokkien noodles, steamed jasmine rice or fried rice. Spring rolls made with rice vermicelli, cabbage and carrot were also available for an additional dollar. What a bargain!

I spent last weekend camping at Green Patch, inside the Booderee National Park at Jervis Bay. So it reminded me to post up some of these pics which were taken during another trip down the south coast, last year.

The next two photos were taken at Hyams Beach. This beach boasts the whitest sands in the world!