Sushi Samurai, Neutral Bay

Queen Chu is one of my best friends. The reason why we work so well together is because we're both obsessed with food. We both love to cook, we both love to read cookbooks, and, of course, we both love to eat. Unfortunately since uni started this year, there hasn't been much time for us to do any of those things together because we are both drowning in the seemingly insurmountable workload that comprises an honours thesis. Somewhat amazingly, along came a weekend when we were both relatively free and immediately we began brainstorming places to eat. We rounded up a group of 6 and headed to Sushi Samurai to catch up over some sushi.

Luckily I had made a booking earlier in the day because when we arrived at 7.30pm on a Saturday night it was completely packed and they were turning away people who had rocked up hoping to get a table. The restaurant was quite dark which made it difficult to read the extensive menu as well as take photos. We were also seated under the air conditioner which was dripping water occasionally onto the table so we made sure we didn't put any of the food in that spot!

Agedashi tofu - $6.80

Lime Soufflés

I always like to finish off my meals on a sweet note. It just doesn't feel right sometimes to eat all that savoury food for dinner and not enjoy dessert at the end to balance it all out. But I hate when I've eaten way too much food and then out comes this rich, cloying dessert which I struggle to finish - not because it doesn't taste awesome but because even my reserve dessert stomach is reaching its limits. Sad, but true.

That's why this lime soufflé is so great - the tartness of the lime means it's not sickeningly sweet and the light, marshmallow texture of the soufflé almost makes you think you're eating lime flavoured clouds which melt away in your mouth. Better still, it's the dessert which I can eat heaps of without feeling like I'm going to explode afterwards.

The great thing about this recipe is that you can pretty much use whatever fruit you have on hand, just adjust the amount of sugar according to how sweet the fruit is. My favourite part of making soufflé though is taking them out of the oven to see them standing tall and proud above the edge of the ramekin and the lovely golden brown tops. And then eating them afterwards!

Rise, Darlinghurst

One birthday celebration simply isn't enough. After celebrating Sir D's birthday at Masuya, we celebrated again with more food of course at Rise in Darlinghurst, who has (in my opinion) one of the best value degustations in Sydney.

China Blue: a mixing sensation of grapefruit juice and paraiso - $10

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday nights, Rise offers their 7 course degustation at 25% off the usual price, for just $48pp, which is fantastic value. Of course we took up this offer, and we arrived for at the first 6.30pm sitting on a cool Tuesday night.

Spicy pork belly salad with tofu and bean sprouts namuru

The first course is the spicy pork belly salad, which is a soft square of tofu holding up some peppery rocket, slices of roast pork belly and topped with a pile of bean sprouts. Although the pork belly is nice, what really wins me over is the combination of the bean sprouts which have a lovely sesame flavour and the cooling sensation of the tofu.

Sweet corn soup with scallop mousse

Apple Cinnamon Tea Cake

Dad: "Bake me a cake for afternoon tea!"

This is what happens when people start realising that you can bake half-decent cakes. You get requests for healthy birthday cakes and spontaneous afternoon teas.

My dad requested I make him a cake for afternoon tea one day after my parents had come back from shopping and were unsuccessful at purchasing any afternoon tea-worthy from the shops. I happily obliged - any excuse to get out of doing uni work to bake! I noticed that we had a lot of apples in our fruitbowl so I decided to make an apple cinnamon tea cake.

This cake has a slight spicyness from the cinnamon and an almost crunchy crust. But the inside of the cake is lovely and moist with surprise slices of caramelised apple hidden away at the bottom of the cake.

I cut myself a warming and comforting slice when it was still fresh out of the oven and it was perfect for the chilly weather we've been having in Sydney recently. Serve thick slices of warm cake with a cup of tea, and you have one content Dad :)

Masuya, Sydney

It appears I am being stalked. Or even worse, it is me who is the stalker! Because even though it had only been three weeks ago that I happened to bump into Ellie from Almost Bourdain at Quay restaurant, there she was again sitting across the room from me at Masuya on this very night.

Gyokuro Green Tea Shake - $5.80

We're here tonight to celebrate Sir D's birthday, and we start off with some drinks. The green tea shake is a frothy, milky drink topped with a swirl of whipped cream and sweetened red bean. I wish I had ordered a couple more of these because they were so good I could drink them all day! The shake was quite sweet from the Tasmanian honey in it but still retained the subtle bitterness of the green tea.

Sashimi Platter Special - $58.00