tangerine eats: japanese food

It has been a while, hasn't it friends? In fact, this hiatus was almost as long as one my toilet breaks at work. The last 3 months have been crazy but I've survived the semester, we've well and truly settled into our new place, I've triumphed over our precarious conventional oven and I have time to blog again! Life is good.

Most of you will know that Dan and I have moved out. I could not be happier with the location and 3 months later we're still discovering cool little places to grab a bite. Here are some of our favourite places to have a casual meal (for those busy nights when you want to be in and out like you mean business).

Ryo's Noodles, Crows Nest

A friend of mine hailed the noodles at this place "the best ramen in Sydney". I still think the best ramen in Sydney is from Ichiban Boshi opposite Kinokuniya in the city, but Ryo's comes really close. The servings are generous, service is fast and the gyoza is killer. Be wary of the Friday night queue that starts around 6pm and opt for no makeup as it gets pretty stuffy with no air con and hot soup.

The Counter, Crows Nest

You know those children's books that have alternate endings and you choose your own adventure? This American franchise lets you choose your own burger adventure. You get to customise every part of your burger on a neat clipboard and a short wait later you get to eat your delicious creation. The burgers are huge so wear your eating pants if you're shy about unbuckling. You have to try the apple pie shake (with real chunks of apple pie) and cheesy fries.

Guzman y Gomez, Crows Nest

I flipped out when I found I lived 2 blocks away from a GYG. Whoever thought up the concept of Mexican fast food and tequila daquiris in the one place must have been a demigod. The only disappointing thing is you can't takeaway alcoholic drinks. I'm still dreaming of the perfect world when we can walk down the street with a drink in one hand and a burrito, taco, quesadilla or nachos in the other.

Thai Emerald, Crows Nest

We get so many Thai takeaway menus in the mail and being the junk mail fiend he is, Dan brings them up to the apartment and hoards them in case we need to order Thai from 30 different places. I'm so glad I let him though because during exams, we did need those menus, and yes, I had prawn pad thai every night for 2 weeks. Thai Emerald did the best prawn pad thai in terms of taste and price. For $11.90, it's by far the cheapest pad thai in Crows Nest, the taste is almost perfect and the prawns are impressively succulent.

I also wanted to share with you guys some pictures of our new place just because it's so darn cute. I like to think of it as 1950s Californian housewife.