Do you ever have one of those days when you’re not hungry enough for a full-on meal, but still feel kind of peckish? That was exactly the case after my friend and I watched Boyhood (incredible movie by the way), so we decided to get our snack on at Chanoma Cafe just down the street. It’s a cheap and cheerful joint in Regent Place, and pretty much your one-stop shop for Japanese-style hot dogs and green tea anything! From that description alone, I can definitely see why it always seems to be packed to the brim in there.
Is it any surprise that I ordered the matcha float? Despite snacking on a ton of gummy snakes during the movie, I just couldn’t resist! The drink pretty much involves an iced matcha latte with green tea soft serve floating in it (drool), and a stick of dango to top it all off (double drool). I would eat that stuff all day if I could, it’s just that addictive. Anyway, my friend also enjoyed her hot matcha latte, and mentioned that it wasn’t as sweet as the ones they tend to serve at other places.
Initially the domain of North American food trucks, Japadogs have always been a distant food dream for me… that is, until now. As far as I know Chanoma’s the only place in Sydney where you can get these infamous hotdogs, and they’re pretty good! I got the teriyaki chicken one, which may have been a bit heavy on the mayo but it was still pretty tasty. The chicken was super juicy and tender, and nicely balanced out with some salad underneath. My friend’s cheese dog also had curry inside which I never would have guessed, but now I kinda want to try it for myself.
So after all that, my food buddy and I just couldn’t resist trying the matcha fruit anmitsu. Anmitsu is pretty much a Japanese dessert where anything goes, and this one was a sight to behold! It had basically everything – fruit, red bean paste, dango, green tea ice cream and the all-important agar jelly cubes. It was really good, aside from the slight sugar headache I suffered afterwards. Anyway, here’s me trying to discreetly take a selfie (and failing miserably).
Afterwards we took a stroll around Hyde Park, since Art and About is happening in Sydney right now. In the northern gardens they were displaying photos taken by kids, but I never would’ve guessed just from looking at them! I thought the pictures were pretty impressive, considering my camera knowledge extended to blindly snapping with a disposable camera when I was seven.
More photos on the other side of the park, which represented this year’s theme ‘Australian Life’. Art and About events run until mid-October, so it looks like I’ll definitely need to get exploring them soon!
