Poporo - Market City, Sydney

The other day, I was showing this friend of mine from overseas (I wouldn't say which country, but if you keep on reading, I guess some of you would be able to tell anyway) - he's an exchange student doing his PhD and he'll be spending a couple of years in Sydney. One day, he asked "where's the center of Asian civilization in Sydney?" and I said, "what in heavens name do you mean?" - to which he replied "you know, the largest Asian shopping mall in Sydney".

He spent his undergraduate and postgraduate years in Toronto, Canada, and as some of you might know, there's this really big Asian mall called "Pacific Mall" in Toronto (well, big for a non-Asian country at least) - and this guy wanted to find out if there's something similar in Sydney. At first, I thought, uh-oh, the closest thing we have is Market City in Chinatown, and it's nowhere as big or lively as Pacific Mall in Toronto (or at least that's how I remembered it when I went there about 10 years ago).

So I said, "There IS this thing called Market City in Chinatown, but don't expect much, it's kind of small-ish and there's nothing much in there but some outlet-type shops and a food court". Anyway, I almost NEVER go to Market City except for the supermarket part (can't be helped - it's the largest Asian supermarket in...Sydney, I guess?).

So, the guy expressed his enthusiasm and we headed for Market City to get something to eat. Look, I almost never eat in Market city - I think their food court is kind of lame (the food, not the place), but oh well, might as well check it out, who knows there's something new in there (the food court is located on the top floor, and I never go beyond the first floor on Market City, LOL)

Suddenly, I stumbled upon this restaurant, Poporo, which slightly reminds me of those cute-ish cafes in Shinjuku that Japanese schoolgirls hang out in all the time - so I got excited and I immediately suggested for us to eat there. HOWEVER...this guy - this friend of mine took a gander of the place and soon realized that it's a Japanese Western-style cafe run by Japanese people and he immediately said "no".

Soon, it became apparent that this guy doesn't like Japanese food, or Japanese-style food, and basically shun everything from Japan. (well, one thing for sure, this guy CANNOT become my friend. Ever.) LOL. So, we went to the food court to have our meal.

The VERY NEXT day, I went straight back to Market City to grab a bite at Poporo. Alone.

Chicken Cutlet with Mushroom Cream Sauce

-> Oh, HEAVEN...this is SO my kind of food. And look at their food arrangement, it's very Japan. Especially the consomme in the cup thingy (well, the consomme sucks, but the rest are good!). The cutlet is actually served with 2 types of sauces, there's this shoyu-type sauce on the base, and then topped with creamy, fragrant mushroom sauce. My tongue is definitely happy.

Rating: 8/10

So, this place kind of incorporates kitschy Japanese 'technology' into their ordering system - you're supposed to order your food at the counter before being seated. Kind of like Hong Kong's Cafe de Coral but you're supposed to operate the touch screen monitor yourself.

Blue Soda

-> Calpis based. I'm a sucker for blue-colored drinks. Interestingly enough, the Japanese serve a LOT of blue-colored drinks. I couldn't help but remember my very first blue-colored drink which was "Blue Cola" I had at Crepe House in Singapore (not the current Bugis Junction outlet, but the one at...Paragon, I guess? Anyway, it was like, 17 looong years ago). Crepe House is a Japan-based, very cute, very nice crepe cafe. It's such a 'moe' food (you'd understand what I'm talking about if you're a Japanophile).

Rating: 8.5/10 (yum yum)