Maki Maki Japanese Cafe, Parc Arcade, Rundle Mall

I thought I'd take the young fella to the museum this morning. He was a particular fan of the colourful minerals display. Just around the corner from the museum is Maki Maki Japanese Cafe. In my opinion Maki Maki does some of the best teriyaki chicken in Adelaide so we dropped by for post-museum lunch and ordered bento 2 - teriyaki chicken, crispy chicken, sushi and spring roll.



Despite singing the praises of the teriyaki chicken above - today's batch was a bit disappointing. The flavour was there - it was sweet and salty with a creamy tang from the Japanese mayo - but it was COLD. However, the crispy chicken was excellent - really juicy with a wonderful crunch.



I have a soft spot for the spring rolls from Maki Maki because they're basically chiko rolls - delicious! The sushi is also pretty good. I ordered two that were young fella friendly - teriyaki chicken and BBQ beef. I was really surprised by the BBQ beef - it was essentially hamburger patty sushi which might sound a bit odd but was actually really tasty.



I really wanted to be able to give Maki Maki a better review but the cold teriyaki chicken really threw me. Their stall is up for lease so goodness knows how much longer they'll be around for. Check 'em out before they disappear because the teriyaki chicken IS really good - just not today.

Jas Cafe Bakehouse, Sefton Plaza Shopping Centre

I'm lucky enough to have a couple of days off work - but that doesn't mean I get to rest. Oh no. No rest for wicked - and I'm REALLY bad. Really, really bad. Shamone. Etc.

Anyway, this morning I put the car in for service, had a session with the personal trainer and picked the young fella from childcare.

Now, I don't know about you but nothing says gym workout recovery to me like bakery food... anyone else? No? Just me? Moving on... Jas Cafe Bakehouse has just opened up in the Sefton Plaza Shopping Centre and is just around the corner from the young fella's childcare.

I reckon you can tell a lot about bakery by their sausage roll and pasty. Considered the poor cousins of pastry by some - if time and effort have gone into these you can bet that the big sellers are going to be good too.



Of common or garden variety, the sausage roll didn't blow my tiny little mind but there was nothing wrong with it either. The (pork and possibly veal?) sausage meat was incredibly dense, well seasoned and wrapped in flaky pastry. I may not rate it but the young fella yummed it up.

The pasty was quite good though - the salty, veggie filling was almost mashed which I thought unusual. The young fella avoided this one though - I suspect because it was filled with vegetables.



Today's taste test is inconclusive. I think Jas Cafe Bakehouse could be pretty good but needs a bit more time to find it's feet - and I need to taste some more of their baked goods.

Cibo Espresso, King William Street

Venus moved across the face of the sun today and I heard that the Astronomical Society of South Australia as well as CSIRO Education had set telescopes for the public to view this rare planetary movement. Keen to see the transit of Venus for myself I had planned to grab something to go and head down to the Adelaide Festival Centre Plaza. My co-orbital-gawker suggested we order from Cibo. Having not eaten anything from Cibo for some years I readily agreed.

I ordered the focaccia calabrese - spicy sopressa salami with olive tapenade, tomato, provolone cheese. I almost baulked at the price ($12 for a toasted sandwich??!!) - but having ordered we hotfooted it down the Festival Centre.



Leaving aside the price this crunchy focaccia was actually pretty good - a nice spicy kick from the salami was lifted by salty olive tapenade and melted provolone cheese.

But what really made today's lunch was the atmosphere at the Festival Centre - I know I felt as though my IQ had jumped a couple of points from doing something historic and science- and think everyone else was feeling the same. It was also an expected chance geeky astronomy types to chat-up chicks. If you look closely at the picture below I'm pretty sure there's an astronomer asking a women to "check out the size of my telescope..."



Forking out $12 for a toasted sandwich regularly is a bit rich for my blood but it was pretty good and the perfect thing to eat while watching celestial orbs pass by each other.

Taste of China and Obun Chef, Central Markets Food Court

After my wildly successful first trip to Taste of China (review available here: http://theofficeeater.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/taste-of-china-central-market-food.html) I wanted to share their delicious food with friends and family. Today I had lunch with a close mate whom I hadn't seen for some weeks. I suggested we have a taste of Taste of China for lunch.

On the the strength of my glowing recommendation he ordered the chowzhou style fried egg noodles (which, I should add, he loved). Remembering how juicy and tender the BBQ pork was last time I ordered the twice cooked pork with rice hoping for a repeat performance. I wasn't disappointed.



The twice cooked pork WAS my beloved BBQ pork - tender, juicy and sweet but stir-fried in a slightly spicy, savoury bean sauce with loads of crunchy celery, carrot, beansprouts and spring onions. Usually I don't eat all of the massive mountain of rice served up with most food court dishes but I didn't want to leave any sauce behind so drizzled it generously over my rapidly disappearing rice. I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that I licked up the rest of the sauce with my fingers.

The sauce was quite rich so the crunchy pickles provided a refreshing contrast to the pork. Although my friend declared the lettuce broth to be delightful I once again rated it bland rather than refreshing.

This friend of mine has a weakness for obun. When he dines in the Market Food Court he likes to have a sweet obun to finish his meal. I'm not too fussed about them but there was a new flavour on offer at Obun Chef - lemon custard. Now, I do have a real weakness for lemon curd so I ordered an obun in the hope that the custard would have big citrus punch.



It didn't - it had a slight lemon tang. Not what I had hoped for but much better than the great ham and corn obun disaster of 2011 and certainly a flavour I'd order again.

Yumalicious, Victoria Square - the third

Today's goal was to complete my trifector of Yumalicious tastings - the banh mi. I ordered a roll with the lot without having any idea what that entailed.



Not knowing what meat went onto the banh mi I found it a little hard to identify. I can tell you that there were two types of meat - at least one of which was chicken. The other - probably pork - had an almost mustard-y flavour to it. Of high quality the roll was crunchy and chewy while the vegetables (including red onion and spring onion - which I haven't seen on a banh mi before) were plentiful, fresh and crisp. The chillies they put on the roll were not particularly hot but the heat was bolstered by what tasted like sweet chilli sauce. I'm not overly fond of sweet chilli sauce but it was applied with a deft hand so added some welcome sweetness rather than overpowering the other flavours.

Once again, the service was impeccable and at $5.00 this roll sits squarely in the middle of the banh mi price range and is definitely one I'd order again.