Every Other Day: NomNom: One Tea Lounge Bar & Grill; Sydney CBD

I am a tea mania - more specifically green tea mania. Precisely why I had been trying to get my hands on some beautiful gastronomical grubs at One Tea Lounge.

I had been checking out their online menu for some time (check it out online, or refer to the menu below which I have taken picture of :D. There are two additional dish which haven't been reflected online yet) and I realized that there are too many things I want to try (all of them!), Being the greedy person that I am - oh-how-I-want-to-try-them-all-at-once - I tried to gather a couple of friends who are as green tea/matcha nuts as I am, made a booking for it (important, yo! We did a walk in a few weeks ago and were swiftly denied entry as they were very fully booked. Haha...), and off we went.

Le Menu. Some new additions with somewhat flaming theatrical experience - the Flaming Wagyu & Matcha Lava Bomb

1/2heart and I were the firsts to arrive, and while waiting for our friends, we decided to try one of their signature cocktails (hey, put matcha in any of drinks/alcoholic drinks - I'm sold). We decided on The One Tea Experience (A$37). What came was a refreshing citrusy matcha (which still came across as the most prominent element/taste) drink with a hint of Gin in one massive-ass teapot! Way more than enough for two people, but we gladly ~~gulped~~ savored cups after cups.

Before long, our two friends arrived to join us and we went nuts with our orders. We ordered two sets of their signature sliders (One Tea Sliders (A$20 for a set of 3)). 1/2heart and I had a set to share and opted for Ramen Burger with Wagyu Beef, Matcha Baoger with Miso Tofu, and Matcha baoger with Braised Pork Rib.

They were all incredibly yummy, however taste wise, my favourite would be the Matcha baoger with the Miso Tofu. As the Miso Tofu is quite subtle, I could still taste the slight matcha of the bao. Where for the other meat fillings, the bao just tasted as normal bao.
Ramen Burger is burger/sandwich which 'bun' is made of ramen noodles pressed and lightly seared. It gave a sweet aftertaste.

Popcorn Curry Chicken (A$10) was served with mayonnaise infused with green tea & lime. Couldn't really taste the curry, but the batter was light & crunchy and the chicken bits were so juicy. The mayonnaise was a hit between the four of us. By the end of the dish, there was none left of the sauce.

We wanted to try their takoyaki (they named it Takocini, as their take is basically arancini balls stuffed with bits of octopus), however the menu only listed it as a set of 3. The waitress gladly offered to arrange an extra ball (at $3 additional).
One Takocini (A$9 for a set of 3)

The arancini balls were also very juicy, the rice inside were soft, fluff, and bound all flavors together perfectly; the octopus pieces were bouncy but not overcooked.

Matcha Fries (A$7). Fries, but made to taste better because it was sprinkled with Matcha salt. Nuff said.

Now I didn't get the chance to take a picture of this dish when it came to the table (the waitress quickly took off the glass lid) :( But this dish was brought out while still 'smoked' inside a glass lid.
Gyokuro Smoked Octopus Avocado (A$15) - this was easily one of my favourites. The subtle smoky flavour gave off sweet and earth smoked tea that infused perfectly into the octopus and avocado.

Green Tea Miso Cod (A$37) was so-so. I couldn't really taste the tea element of it. The fish, skin crackling, and octopus were all perfectly cooked, but nothing special about it.

After stuffing ourselves with savoury dishes, we moved on to desserts. Because why would you go to a restaurant specialized in green tea dishes if you were not going to try green tea desserts!

Matcha Fondue for 2 (A$22). Oh Ma Ma Mia. We were all so impressed on how green the fondue looked and the bitter matcha taste perfectly combined with creamy white chocolate. One Tea Lounge definitely doesn't hold back on their matcha powders.
The dish came in a beautiful resin bento box, had some fruits and marshmallows, green tea castella (my fave), green tea biscuits, and green tea macarons.
It took all of our willpower to not lick the fondue bowl after we finished all the morsels.

Ice Cream Baoger (A$13 for a set of 2). The dessert baoger has a few choices of ice cream on the menu - green tea, black sesame, lychee, or red bean.
You know what we ordered?
They did perfect bao, which had been fried but still fluffy, and combined with the green tea ice cream and red bean inside.... . Heaven.

Not too many places in Sydney does it, and so far my favourite of matcha lava cake would be Devon's in waterloo.Well, with this very welcomed new addition to dessert menu at One Tea Lounge, I might have a new favourite. Matcha Lava Bomb (A$20) arrived with a flaming theatrical experience (literally). The waitress poured some orange liquor which had been set alight from a metal jug. The cake was fiery with blue flame for a few seconds.

And then when we ~~hesitantly~~ broke the cake to start digging in, the four of us gave a collective cooing sigh.

Perfect dark green matcha melted centre oozing out.
The burnt liquor gave kinda bitter taste on the tongue and could easily overpowered the matcha taste, so make sure you don't take too much of the liquor soaked cake top all at once.