Kin By Us x @cordyscakes

Wow, I have been such a good food blogger. Last post was 7 months ago.

hehe.

But anyways, I am back to posting (hopefully consistently). And I'm bringin some mouthwatering shots of Kin By Us' new menu.

To be honest, yesterday was my first visit ever to Kin and I was lucky enough to have sampled their new dishes. Still Asian-inspired dishes, I am impressed at how well they recreate traditional recipes without overdoing it. You can really taste the passion they have for the food they put up. And how cool is this couple Uel & Shanelle? I first saw them in My Kitchen Rules, and it was cool seeing them running their successful cafe now. And they may be one of the nicest couple I've met, although we only talked for a bit.

Shanelle running the pass

Anyways, starting with the drink I decided to go with

Durian Affogato (AUD 7) - durian ice cream, espresso shot.

Dude, if you love durian, get this. I don't know where they get durian ice cream from, but dang that's good. I don't know durian and coffee work together so well. Maybe the nicely brewed 'spro really helps.

Black Sesame Shake (AUD 8) - black sesame, ice cream.

Simply black sesame and ice cream, nicely done. You can taste the strong flavour of black sesame, but very creamy and perfectly sweet with the ice cream. Would make you quite full but, so better for sharing between two. Unless you're that hungry.

Oh by the way, they do really nice coffee here, using beans from Reuben Hills - which according to some baristas I met in Melbourne is the best beans they tried in Sydney.

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Let's get down to the food, starting from what they had in the beginning down to the new menus they put up. 

Miso Yummy - miso salmon, onsen eggs, sesame spinach, sourdough (AUD 17.00)

 How. Good. Is. The. Salmon. Cook to perfection IMO. I assume it's cooked sous-vide and then torched. But who cares how it's cooked, what I care is it tasted good. I've been hearing mix reviews on this dish, some people say it's really good and some others say the miso flavour is quite weak. Mine yesterday was perfectly miso-y (if that's a word) and the sesame spinach ball give it an umami punch to the salmon. Runny eggs are necessary for the sourdough, as sourdough tend to get quite tough when it's cold. And by the time we were done with photo-taking, the sourdough was (of course) tough.

Waffle Belly - caramel soy pork belly, potato waffle, onsen egg, shrooms, cabbage (AUD 17)

 The only thing I can complain about this dish is, nothing. I am usually not big on pork belly (unless it has amazeballs crackling), but man this pork belly was geeewd. Caramel soy glaze was amazing and the pork was so tender. I mean, look at them shiny pork.



Oh, and potato waffle was also awesome, very much better than regular waffles out there. Hats off.

Sub-marine - soft shell crab, chilli, brioche (AUD 18)

It's simple, but it's pack full of flavour.
The soft shell crab was cooked beautifully golden and crunchy, with a sauce that says chilli but tasted more curry-ey. And you know, put anything in brioche and it'll be delish. But seriously, flavour and texture wise, this is again simplicity done really well. Look quite small in picture, but in realtime it was quite big and fulfilling.
But only if you're tiny like me (lol i wish).

Chew Bak Kwa - corn fritter waffle, bak kwa bacon, avocado puree, cherry tomatoes (AUD 19)

I feel like a fail Chinese-Indonesian when I had to google what Bak Kwa is when Shanelle was describing the dish. So apparently this bacon dish is inspired from that Asian salty-sweet pork jerky that is popular in Singapore, like Bee Cheng Hiang sort of. (I googled Bak Kwa again just now, just to salivate on those delicious jerky, nom).
But anyway, corn in the waffle was really smart, and all the element in this dish makes a really good combination. And the bacon on itself is very good. Great twist on a boring bacon and waffle.

Ayam Legend - Indonesian grilled chicken, slaw, peanut dressing, brioche (AUD 20)

This might be the winning dish for me. I thought it's because I'm too Indonesian, but apparently most of my friends who weren't Indo also loved this. The marinade on the chicken was so good, grilled really well with the meat still being moist. Served with crunchy slaw and peanut dressing for freshness. Again in a brioche, with prawn cracker on the side. This was such a great idea, and the grilled chicken is the winning element here. Very recommended.

This is not on the menu yet. This is a play on Korean Bibimbap. They replaced the rice with cauliflower, which is that red thingy in the middle. This dish is supposed to be eaten like how you would eat Bibimbap, which is mixing everything together.

This is one of their vegan option, and for those of you who opt for healthier, fresher dish.

I am not big on Korean food, so can't comment much on this.

(so many 'this' in one paragraph).

Mango pudding, chocolate granola, corn flakes, yogurt, strawberries.

This is also not on the menu yet. Uel said that this can be either a dessert or a breakfast dish. It's very pretty on the plate, very refreshing and unique. But I would like to comment on the granola, because it's so good and so chocolatey. Oh and notice the use of micro coriander. At first I wonder, why coriander? But once I ate it, it kind of work with the mango. Very smart.

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After feeling slightly full from all those food, me and all the foodies were given the sight of the crazy beautiful and head-turning Black Sesame cake by @cordyscakes. Her work is amazing, and what's even more amazing is the fact that she is self-taught. I personally have high respect to people who's self-taught. Look at her chocolate marble work. Amazeballs.

black sesame cake, caramelised white chocolate mousse covered with black sesame buttercream.

You know what, the foodies showed much more enthusiasm when she was cutting the cake, than guests at a wedding party when the bride and groom was about to cut the wedding cake.

No kidding.

Anyways, kudos to Cordys. The cake was not only breathtaking, it was also very delicious. I see people (including me) shamelessly carrying take-away containers to take a slice of this home. Because we were too full, but we still want more of the cake. You know, in case we're hungry on our way home.

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Food: 8/10

Price: $$