KIN by us, Macquarie Park
During an intense conversation on what we were going to do in our 3-month break from uni, my friends aggressively asked me, "what do you even do in your spare time?" I know that most of them watch TV shows, go clubbing or just go to work, but they don't seem to have any clue on what I do in my free time. To be honest, it's not very exciting. I predominantly just lay in bed and watch YouTube videos, most of them consisting of celebrity interviews, cooking segments and make up tutorials. I remember falling in love with make up upon seeing YouTube sensation Michelle Phan do a tutorial on a New Years look. Ever since then, I have been hooked on the pretty colours of blushes, and the feeling of the perfect foundation matching your skin. So it was no surprise, that my first outing after exams would be to go to to a make up store and build up my stash. As a result, my friendship group and I were heading to Macquarie Park for some retail therapy, while also deciding on lunch at KIN by us beforehand, as we were all craving a good and honest brunch.
KIN by us is a cafe owned by Uel and Shannelle, who were well-loved contestants on My Kitchen Rules 2014. Their food on the show was inventive while also sticking to some traditional Asian techniques and flavours, so when I heard that they were opening their own place it was definitely on the to-do list. Today, Uel and Shannelle were both actively present in the kitchen and at the front of the house, and a bit of me was just fangirling at the sight of these two. Uel was also incredibly friendly as a waiter!
Being a fan of the cute name of the drink, my friend, Amit, opted for the Milo Mocha Dinosaur. On the menu, it had the name of the item and instead of a brief overview of what the drink actually was underneath, all it said was "RAWWWRRRR!!!!!" which intrigued him even more. I saw Uel making this and he put in mounds of Milo. Upon tasting it, Amit commented, "I didn't know dinosaurs could taste so good," and that there was an after taste of coffee.
My friend, Michelle, chose the iced latte and said it was pretty standard.
Justin ordered the root beer float, but since they ran out of root beer, they replaced it with coke. Inside the cup was ice cream, and Justin poured the can of coke in. He seemed to really enjoy this one.
I wanted to try something completely new so I decided on the O-marma. It was coffee, milk and ice, mixed with some orange marmalade. I really liked the coffee, and the slight tangy after taste from the orange. However, I wasn't really a fan of the small lumps of marmalade that I would get every few sips.
This was the first dish to hit the table, and the smell was deeply amazing. Our dining companion, Theresa, said the Indonesian grilled chicken was tender, the peanut dressing on the slaw very flavourful, and the chilli just lifted the burger with a kick. Any non-chilli lovers are able to get the no-chilli option too by the way!
Amit, once again, loving a punny name on the menu, went for the crispy chicken wings with chilli and garlic. He said they delivered on their crispiness and that the dish was "economically smart" (i.e. good value). He did wish there was some sauce to dunk the wings in though.
I had read and seen many delicious reviews on this particular dish, so I had eyes for nothing else. I broke into the onsen egg and the yolk was perfectly runny and oozing into my savoury potato waffle. The caramel soy pork belly was so tender and darkly rich, with the cabbage and coriander freshening it up a bit. There were also bits of crackling that were gloriously crunchy. My only criticism (very slight) was that the pork skin was quite hard to cut at times, I would have preferred a steak knife. However, all in all, a good and cohesive dish.
My two friends, Winston and Nerissa, went for this option and there were mixed reviews. Winston said it was tasty but a bit small. On the other hand, Nerissa loved the dish, saying the bacon was delicious and the corn kernels in the waffle were a delightful surprise.
The sambo is an Asian style dish made into a sandwich, where the chosen dish changes and is written on the board as a special. Today's was pork neck with a Thai style salad. My friend, Chris, said that he loved the coriander on the dish, cutely calling it "cilantro" as he is from Canada.
I was incredibly full at the end of this meal, but was already planning what to get for my next visit. As for Uel and Shannelle, if you guys ever read this I want to let you know you guys are inspiring and awesome, and that I kept my adoration very well hidden. Thank you for a good meal!
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