04 September 2011

The Crepe's Story [CLOSED] - Adelaide, South Australia

Adelaide has an exciting new crepe place in Rundle Mall. It's called "The Crepe's Story" and it's a one of a kind, having no connection to similar crepe places you may have seen in Melbourne or Sydney. With its bright pink decor, it is pretty hard to miss if you're walking down the King William end of Rundle Mall.

New crepe place in Rundle Mall #Adelaide

A closer look at the display case reveals plenty of choices for fillings. Everything from strawberries, cheesecake, mango, bananas, nutella, Hershey's chocolate syrup, apples, peaches, and so on. Crepe prices range from about $7 to $9 depending on your choice of fillings and whether you want cream or ice cream. Ice cream generally costs about 50 cents extra.

Crepe Display

They even have some savory options such as Chicken Teriyaki, Ham Cheese, Seafood Mix, Chicken Salad, and Chicken Curry (pictured bottom left). I haven't had any of the savoury options yet so you'll have to let me know what you think if you try one.

bottom left is Chicken Curry crepe

If you're on a budget like me or you can't decide which crepe to try, you are in luck. They have a daily special written on the board above the glass display case. The price is usually about $5.50 for the daily special with ice cream. My favourite so far has been the Kiwi Fruit with ice cream. Once you've ordered, you can watch the girls in pink make your crepe and wrap it into a cone.

wrapping the crepe

Here's the finished product (this is Mandarin Ice Cream). To eat it, just tear the wrapper out of your way and dig in!

Mandarin with Ice Cream crepe

It's great to have a place in Adelaide that specialises in crepes. I think their prices are a dollar or two more than they should be, but the special of the day is a definite winner. If you can't make it to Healthy Sweet in the Central Markets Food Court (better value), The Crepe's Story is a delicious alternative with plenty of options.

The Crepe's Story on Urbanspoon

06 August 2011

Bing Boy - Adelaide, South Australia

Adelaide, there's a new kid in town and his name is Bing Boy. The first one is in Southern Cross Food Court and there's soon to be a second location in the new group of Renaissance Arcade food stalls.

Bing Boy - Southern Cross

In case you were wondering what this Bing Boy "urban asian street food" is all about, the side of the shop defines the meaning of the name:

definitions

There are 8 wraps on the menu, priced at $5.90, $6.90 or $7.90 depending on which fillings you choose. All are wrapped in a thin wheat omelette made with egg, green onions, coriander & sesame seeds.

Bing Boy menu

After ordering, you can stand to the side and watch the girls make the wrap. The process looks quite similar to making crepes, but of course the ingredients are very different.

making the food

The finished product comes in a paper bag and looks very similar to a burrito. Of course, once you bite into it the experience is like none other. Delicious!

BBQ Bing (after a few bites)
(pictured: BBQ Bing after a few bites)

Bing Boy offers a very unique option and a great break from a sandwich or sushi roll for lunch.

Update 22 Dec 2011: A new location is now open in Myer Centre Food Court (lower ground level). The Renaissance Arcade location is still "coming soon".

Update 20 Jan 2012: The menu has changed slightly. New menu is:
Bing Boy Menu 2012

Update 23 April 2012: The Renaissance Arcade location is now open for business!

Update 15 June 2012: Based on my experience, the quality of the meat and general freshness is best at the Southern Cross location. I have had fatty meat at both the Renaissance Arcade and Myer Centre locations. I think the original Southern Cross location is the one to go to.

Bing Boy on Urbanspoon

17 July 2011

Meet Fresh - Sydney, New South Wales

We just got back from a trip to Sydney and as you can probably guess, there was a lot of eating involved. One of the most memorable places we discovered was a Taiwanese dessert place in Chinatown (Haymarket) called Meet Fresh. If you weren't reading the name in print, you might think it was a butcher shop (meat fresh?). But the name is only one part of the fun. For us, it was something different, cheap and delicious for dessert.

Meet Fresh

This is probably the shortest you'll ever see the line, but they give you a buzzer that goes off when your order is ready. This system is very efficient so you rarely have to wait very long. On our first visit, we were pleased to see the Top 10 in the front window since we had no idea what this place was selling or where to start with the menu.

Meet Fresh Top 10

They sell Taiwanese desserts and drinks at Meet Fresh. I can tell you the dessert menu is slightly overwhelming at first. There are various numbered Taro Balls, Herbal Jelly, and Tofu Pudding options. If you're planning a visit, I recommend checking out the menu on the website first as it's pretty hard to figure out what you want when you're standing in line. After several return visits, our favourite was Taro Balls No. 4 (cold). When you order, you get the option of hot or cold. Cold was our preference as we really loved the texture and taste with the ice and cane sugar syrup. Yum! They keep the shop really warm inside so ice is good even in winter.

Taro Balls No. 4

Taro Balls No. 4 has Taro, Red Beans and Pearls. The other numbers have different combinations. If you choose the hot option with any of the taro balls, it's more of a warm soup. Not as sweet and not as nice, but still a good dessert on a cold day.

Taro balls (warm)

Another option we tried was Herbal Jelly No. 5 (cold). The herbal jelly ice was underneath and they gave us a little tub of milk to pour over the top. This one is probably not for everyone but we loved it.

Herbal Jelly No. 5

This place turned into our trip go-to for desserts since they're max $5.50 for a huge bowl. Bargain! It's something different and probably much healthier than the other dessert options out there. If you're in Sydney, you've got to check out Meet Fresh and let us know your favourite choice on the menu.

a taste of traditional Taiwanese dessert

Meet Fresh on Urbanspoon