Thairiffic take-away at Sticky Rice

My favourite start to the weekend would have to be Friday night at home when I ditch the heels, peel on my special pair of stretchy 'home' pants, pour a glass of vino and kick back knowing I have the whole weekend ahead of me...also its pretty much always a 'cooking free' night.

Every Friday my hubby and I consistently dalliance with our stack of take-away menus but it always comes down to two: Asian or Pizza... I always always always push for Asian, and he almost always votes Pizza. We haven't found a great pizza place yet here in Newie so lately, Asian almost always wins, and my new favourite place would have to be Sticky Rice Thai.

I have tried this place now about 5 times (horray for not finding a great pizza joint yet) and not only is is delicious, it is consistently good. They have an incredibly long menu but we have tried quite a few dishes and here's the scoop:

-The veggie spring rolls: crunchy and delicious and full of yummy veggies. I hate getting a spring roll thats mostly roll and not enough spring if you know what I mean- these one's are full and juicy.
-Pad Si Ew/Pad Kee Mao: Noodles! If I could live on what thing alone it would be noodles especially flat rice noodles. These noodles are slippery and sticky and...well just the way I like it.
-Ho Mok Talay: This dish is the absolute BOMB. Its a kind of mild-gingery coconut curry with Seafood. I think the seafood that they use is actually fresh too. Its always really generous and has prawns, fish, mussles, and squid and they always cook it so that its beautiful and tender!

Also the best part of Sticky Rice is that they do home-delivery...so I can pour myself another glass and my 'home' pants can stay at home :)

http://stickyricethai.com.au/

Finger-lickin Chicken wings:dinner at Bocados Spanish Restaurant

One of my beautiful friends Bianca comes to Newie regularly for work and we always try to meet up for dinner and a chin-wag at least one night. In true Sydney girl style B had already researched the best and trendiest places to eat dinner in Newcastle, and suggested we try "Bocados" spanish restraurant in the middle of the city. Earlier that day B asked if we should book a table to which I told her "Honey, this is Newcastle. Its a Wednesday night- of course it'll be fine".

Arriving just after 630, the place was packed. A lovely waiter greeted us at the door and asked what name we had booked under....Avoiding looking at B's 'I told you so' face I sheepishly told him we hadn't made a booking, but he kindly sat us in the bar section where you can order everything off the menu anyhow. Sitting down finally we took a good look around. This place is cool. Dimly lit with red candles and lanterns, with black walls and trendy wallpaper, its the perfect place for an intimate inner for two. We quickly get stuck into 2 glasses of "vino rojo de la casa" and perused the menu. 

The (cute) waiter recommended that we try the 'Alitas'- crispy fried chicken wings, and we also ordered the 'Albodignas' (meatballs), Crispy White Bait, Jamon and the BBQ Squid...(ok we went a little OTT...but in our defence we had just gone to the gym and were feeling very hungry/felt we had earned it). The food did not disappoint. The tapas were of extremly generous portions, with almost everything accompanied with a beautiful toasted slice of dense sourdough bread to mop up all the lovely garlicky juices.

We definitely ordered too much! My favourite would have to lie with the (cute) waiter's recommendations of the delicious crunchy spicy wings. and the aoili dipped white bait. Although we didn't order it we had massive food envy for the couple next to us sharing a beautiful paella. After another couple of wines and a good old gossip we rolled our satisfied tummies home. I highly recommend paying this little hole in the wall a visit with another restaurant open now in Warner's Bay. I also highly recommend an entire packet of fisherman's friend's mints.. Lachie said he could smell my garlic breath from the bottom of the stairs :-P

http://bocados.com.au/

Wallabies vs. Scotland in Newcastle

So I was all geared up for my first Wallabies match ever, and (thinking I was a total pro) had the whole kit sorted: Wallabies scarf, beanie and several layers of clothes. On a whim I also bought 2 rain ponchos- juuust in case. The weather was windy and cold and had been drizzling all day- I thought for sure it would clear up later that night. As we were about to leave home I put on a quick lick of mascara and lipgloss and was ready to go. Lachie, my hubby, saw me doing my last minute touches and told me "don't bother- it'll wash right off your face!".....Hmph- Men. After telling him that he was being ridiculous, "we won't get THAT wet" I threw my wallabies scarf over my shoulder and we left for the game (for the local rugby supporters out there I should add that not only was it my first Wallabies game, it was also my first game at Hunter Stadium).

Well- thank goodness I packed bought those ponchos. It. Was. Pouring! Normally I'd think we had amazing seats, right in the front row (where I took this pic), but on that night- we were right in the elements, no cover, no nothing. The rain was literally just blowing right onto us and in minutes my face and hair were soaked. A quick visit to the bathroom and my 'quick lick' of mascara resembed more of an oil slick running down my face. A girl next to me kindly offered a tissue, and as I blotted away I looked around and felt slightly comforted watching several other girls regretting they had worn the old waterproof makeup too. 

Back to the game, into my wet seat and eating soggy hot chips through my poncho I was praying that the cameras wouldn't come our way. It would have almost all been worth it if the Wallabies came through for us but with a final penalty goal Scotland's way we lost to the Scots 9-6 :( To the droans of bagpipes through terrential rain, we shlepped our wet, soggy selves home to a hot shower, warm PJs, a proper face cleanse, and a vow to always wear waterproof mascara to sporting events in the future.