Hey all! In today's post we're going to talk about Belly Bao which I went to recently with some of the girls and we all LOVED it. Huge thank you to Terry for finally taking us here.

Belly Bao is located in the heart of Newtown and features so many innovative dishes all made from bao dough! These dishes include regular bao, dessert bao, "baogers", "bao noodles" and Belly Bao fried chicken.

















TL;DR:
Price: Affordable
Quality: Really great
Service: Friendly
Ambience: Quirky, tropical and relaxed

Hi everyone! Long time no post but YOUR GIRL IS FINALLY BACKKKK. It's been super busy with final exams but I'm so happy to announce that I am now finished with uni for the year and ready to kick back & relax this summer. This year definitely flew by but I am very thankful for the semester that has just passed because for the first time since first year, I honestly really enjoyed all of my subjects!


Last week right before my last final exam I was invited to Cucina Locale in Blacktown for their 22nd Birthday celebration party! I was very honoured and full of excitement and curiosity. First of all I did not know that aside from the Sydney Tower Buffet in Sydney CBD, there was another "revolving restaurant" but out to the west. Secondly, my boyfriend lives in the area and he didn't know either.

This sparkling gem in the heart of Blacktown resides at the top level of the Blacktown Workers Club. It's almost tucked carefully away with the lifts being right past the usual RSL style buffet. Nonetheless as soon as the lift doors opened for us and we stepped out into the dining area, our breaths were taken away. Before boasting of any beautifully prepared and presented dishes they have to offer, Cucina Locale foremost has the right to boast about the amazing views. Our eyes were met with a 360-degree view out all the way from Sydney towards the Blue Mountains. We arrived just as the sun was beginning to set and let me tell you, it was so stunning. Also if you stood on the inner rotating portion of the restaurant which although rotates very gently and slowly, this would do the work for your feet and a new scene would fill your vision every few seconds.

Although Cucina Locale was set up cocktail style for their birthday party, the dining tables are normally set up on the rotating portion every other day. How is that for fancy!


Also please subscribe to my YouTube channel! I don't really know where I will go with it from just food content to lifestyle but I'm sure this summer will bring me new inspiration and what not :)
















Drinks were served at the bar and also on random tables around the revolving restaurant. Than goodness Fran now has his full license so he can have a cheeky beer and still drive me home! For the lady? Wine! Is this a good idea to have before my 9am exam the next day? I don't know. But did I survive? Yes I did! 😇


Since this is a food blog, I bet you are all desperately wondering what I have to say about the food on this night. We almost considered having dinner beforehand because I was told there would only be canapés served at the event, and you know me - I'm a hungry gal. But thank goodness we decided against that because the canapés were abundant, filling, fresh, and delicious. Usually when I think of canapés I imagine being served something along of the lines of half a spring roll, crackers with cheese, and just overall something small and unsatisfying. Yet Cucina Locale really spoiled their guests tonight with their amazing selections of canapés.

I can't remember exactly the name or what everything was but let me do my best and try to describe it all:




This was the first canapé that rolled out of the kitchen and it was SO DELICIOUS. I literally had one in each hand while sitting at my little couch and they must've thought that I was such a hoarder. We don't exactly remember what they told us this was but it tasted like the gourmet and classy version of a chicken nugget x arancini ball with a small dollop of sweet honey mustard on top. It was so full of flavour and deliciously crispy and crunchy on the outside, whilst being smooth, soft and fluffy on the inside.



As soon as Fran and I saw this being offered to another group of guests literally 5m away, I was hitting him with excitement and he didn't get angry because he was excited too. They were a nice size - not a full burger but not 2 bites either. The buns were soft and smooth to the touch, and the filling was a hearty beef patty, melted cheese and tomato and mustard sauce. Very very simple this one but it was excellent.


Another burger that came around not too long after! PULLED PORK AND SLAW, YAAAAS! I love this combo so much. Unfortunately I had my hands full at the time, hoarding other canapés but Fran let me have some of his. Same buns. The fillings were not saucy but the pork was tender, juicy, smoky and flavoursome. It went so well with the fresh and crisp red cabbage slaw. For the first time I did not miss the lack of sauce!


Just as we were discussing how we should've had some salmon sushi for a quick lunch, out comes this baby. It's like they are listening to our conversation hehehe. Salmon cornets. The salmon was so fresh and indulgent, contrasting nicely with the crunchy cone. This filling was lightly tossed with some fragrant sesame oil.




Oh this looks expensive!!! Even though Francis and I are people who want to like oysters, but don't - we still picked these up because we wanted to give oysters another go. Also I really like salmon roe. The oyster was good, definitely tasted very fresh and oceany coupled with the generous amount of salty roe. What set this back for us was the addition of coriander - which might actually be a genius combination to some people, but for us coriander is another thing on our list of "want to like, but don't"


Cocktails! Francis was driving so secretly it was all for me. It became another case of hoarding on our little corner couch as I had a glass of white wine, 2 cocktails and a beer at my feet hehe. Anyway the mojito was exquisite! All at once it was sweet, refreshing and minty. The other cocktail was a banana daiquiri which just tasted like a cool blend of bananas with a lingering and sharp alcohol aftertaste.


Yay an actual arancini ball unlike the first canapé! But just like the first one, it was so delicious! A crisp and crunchy exterior contrasted with the cheesy rice stuffed on the inside. It looks so small and so simple but it was packed full of flavour. I wanted to get some more but by this point I was getting very full and we decided to move our butts off the couch and take a walk around.

Peking duck pancakes OMG! They were wrapped so beautifully like little presents. And love seeing an Asian-inspired canapé. Unfortunately my canapé had a quite chewy piece of duck skin and meat and I found the green onion to be a little too thick for my liking. Fran apparently had a good piece though, or he's just not as picky as I am.


Seared scallops with avocado. They were so big and juicy! I honestly don't think it went that well with the avocado and this was probably the least flavoursome canapé I had but overall it was still yummy.

As it headed toward the end of the event, I honestly felt as if we had been fed an entire meal. It was like having fine dining but served on tissues and little spoons. Everything had just been so good and the service was so friendly and inviting.

Fran said we should leave soon but I wanted to keep practicing my photography and so we stayed a little longer. Luckily so because they had some final dessert canapés to bring around!


Vanilla panna cotta with a berry compote. To my absolute delight, on closer inspection of the panna cotta, you can see little speckles of black vanilla bean! And the taste is there as well as the panna cotta is so creamy, cool and fragrant. The berry compote is very delicious coupled with the panna cotta and I love the addition of some fresh blueberries.


A soft buttery cake base, chocolate mousse, fresh cream and a raspberry on top. So cute! I don't usually like chocolate because of how sugary it can be but this was really good because the chocolate was more towards the bitter-sweet side with much of the cake base and raspberry providing the sweetness.

We think that we tried every canapé they had on offer tonight by this point. A lot of people had begun clearing out of the venue and the kitchen and staff had noticeably begun to start cleaning and packing up. Yet even as we lingered a bit longer, a few of the staff still came up to us and asked if we would like to eat or drink anything else. Nothing of course but they were so genuinely nice and sweet!


Even when I asked one of the girls to take a photo for Fran and I, she was so thoughtful and tried to get the "Super Moon" in our picture. It is the bright thing above my head in the above picture by the way. We hadn't even noticed it beforehand but it just makes me feel like the staff all honestly tried to look out for us and give us a memorable experience :)







I had such a fun time at Cucina Locale's event and I'm so happy that I had this opportunity to experience the best this venue had to offer - delicious food, beautiful views, and dedicated and friendly staff.

It's almost so sad that I didn't know about this place before and neither do so many of my friends who are from this area. Cucina Locale is a local gem in the heart of Western Sydney and Blacktown. It is a testament to the the idea that you do not have to travel all the way to Sydney CBD to experience a classy, fun and fabulous meal. The view and rotating restaurant absolutely add to all that this place has to offer. I believe that this would be such an amazing place to have lunch/dinner, take a loved one out. celebrate a special occasion, and even to treat yourself!

So if you haven't given this place a visit, please check it out because I really think that Fran and I are on to something here :) #bestinthewest

A big thank you to Cucina Locale for having us for your event, and we wish you a HAPPY 22ND BIRTHDAY! Keep making your city proud and keep doing you xx