Food bloggers ahoy!
Pic above just added - thank you Karen for your wide angle lens and the tripod donater (can't remember who?). We took this shot towards the end of the evening when alas, a few people had already gone home.
How many food bloggers can you fit into a 25-seater room?
We managed to squeeze in 30, a feat achieved when Chocolatesuze celebrated her birthday at Wagaya. Just when we thought we couldn't possibly squeeze in another person, the door would open and another food blogger would arrive!
Surveying the private room racked to the rafters with camera-toting food enthusiasts, it was amazing to think about how far the Sydney food blogging scene has come. It was the first time many people had met other food bloggers and the camaraderie between kindred spirits was instant, natural and inspiring.
This was my first time in the private rooms at Wagaya - we were in the largest of three available rooms which must be booked well in advance. All guests must remove their shoes before entering the room, sitting on polished wooden floors with cushions, their feet dangling in the sunken pit beneath the dining table.
A huge LCD screen in each room can be used to watch television (with teletext on) or DVDs, or you can plug in your own iPod or mp3 player and dine to your favourite songs or a personalised playlist.
Masks
The theme for tonight's party was masks, with every person instructed to bring one or risk being denied entry.
The birthday girl
Known best for its touch screen menu and rapid service, Wagaya seemed ideally suited for our large group. We had two touchscreens in our room which we immediately separated as one for food orders, the other for drinks. Each touchscreen generates separate bills, enabling us to divide the food bill equally, but have drinks tallied and paid for by individuals.
The people sitting closest to the food touchscreen were relegated with the responsibility of ordering, a simple task of scrolling through the menu and then tapping through multiple orders. There was usually only a five-minute lag between the time the order was sent through, and the door sliding open with our food.
Sushi roulette game $8.50
We started proceedings with the sushi roulette game, groups of six
What with the constant barrage of dishes, the huge expanse of table, the cramped seating and the battle between 30-odd cameras, I didn't manage to capture every dish ordered but certainly got a fair majority of them. My favourites were the renkon lotus root chips - thin and delicate discs deep-fried to a wondeful crisp; and the scallop and garlic fried rice - that bottom layer of crusty rice is comfort food all over.
Takoyaki $4.90
Prawn tempura $8.90
Wafu pizza $7.90
Assorted tempura $13.50
Scallop and garlic fried rice $9.50
Renkon (lotus root) chips $5.50
Oroshi chicken katsu $8.50
Assorted sashimi and sushi roll (large) $38.50
Cheese fry $6.50
Takoyaki gratin $6.90
Kimuchi fried rice $8.90
The little sheep birthday cake (from 85C Cake Shop)
Chocolatesuze and the sheep are friends
It's behind you!
Chocolatesuze attacks
Gary, Matt and George from Masterchef Australia join the party
There were peals of laughter when Billy revealed what he'd been working the night before - homemade masks of the judges and the top 20 contestants from Masterchef Australia.
Kate re-enacts the moment Josh left the house
Suze wants to have Aaron's babies
Matt gets hungry
Cake pops
Sweetest gesture of the evening was from Trish who made individually tagged cake pops for everyone. The cake pops are balls of cake crumbs dipped in chocolate and decorated with hundreds and thousands, and a smartie. Suze also supplied a sugar rush for everyone with candy necklaces and ring pops for all.
Hope you had a wonderful birthday Suze, and for everyone there, it was great to see you all!
For readers, the guest list of attendees that evening is listed below - perhaps there are a few blogs new to you that might take your fancy?
Chocolatesuze: www.chocolatesuze.com
helen: grabyourfork.blogspot.com
billy: www.atablefortwo.com.au
howard and minh: www.eatshowandtell.com
sheryl: www.onebitemore.blogspot.com
richard: www.herecomesthefood.com.au
karen: www.citrusandcandy.com
simon: www.theheartoffood.blogspot.com
lorraine: www.notquitenigella.com
reem: tummyrumble.net
leona: pigged-out.com
mel: www.fooderati.blogspot.com
jen: www.jenius.com.au
belle: ooh-look.blogspot.com
jenny: www.panda-n-cakes.blogspot.com
lili: www.pikeletandpie.com
betty: betty-thehungrygirl.blogspot.com
steph: raspberricupcakes.blogspot.com
betty and richard: bettysbites.blogspot.com
ellie: almostbourdain.blogspot.com
chris and tim: blogs.thewayitcrumbles.com
trina: foragingotaku.blogspot.com
trish: sugarlace.fragiled.net
tina: foodboozeshoes.blogspot.com
pete: kitchendecanted.com
eden: nutsaboutmynuts.wordpress.com
grace: www.foodchaser.me
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Wagaya
Level 1, 78-86 Harbour Street, Haymarket Chinatown, Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 9212 6068
Open 7 days 5pm - 2am
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Japanese -- Kabuki Shoroku, Sydney
Japanese -- Madono, Haymarket
Japanese -- Nakashima, The Rocks
Japanese -- Nippon Club, Sydney
Japanese -- Umaimon, Sydney
Japanese -- Wakana, Artarmon
Wheee awesome post!
ReplyDeleteIt was great meeting you (again, though we barely spoke last time).
Waahh you guys had deep fried cheese?? That never made it down to our end of the table..!
Cheesy Fry?! Bah! So missed out!
ReplyDeleteThe Aaron photo works so well! The Matt photo, not so much...
It looks like you all had an awesome time!! I'm so bummed I couldn't make it..it'd be great to meet you all.
ReplyDeleteThose masterchef photos turned out a treat! And *applause* at your diligence in taking so many photos that night. I saw the gaggle of cameras and immediately though "Ah.. I'm just gonna eat I think".
ReplyDeleteI admire your effort with the photos, it was quite chaotic! The fried rice tasted heaps better while eating out of the bowl lol
ReplyDeleteWas great to meet everyone!
heh that night was epic i say! epic! thanks so much for coming and being my salad buddy- susan cheese, helen salad hah it worked out well!
ReplyDeleteOh I never got to see the cake close up, so cute! Were those yellow horn bits mango flavoured? I think I got a bit of that :) Love the masterchef mask photos, it was lovely to meet you!
ReplyDeleteGreat coverage of the night! It was great to meet you!
ReplyDeletethe masterchef masks are very clever. so did you get to try everything on the menu?
ReplyDeleteWot a bunch of rebels! I am like others, didnt take many photos of the food and soon given up. did u try those chicken soft bone cartilage? it was weird..... but Matt Preston ate it anyway, with a weird face.
ReplyDeletePoor little sheep cake. I love the stunned look on its face after the cake knife has sunk in.
ReplyDeletehow was the cake? i've had that cake before and while it is definitely adorable, did you find it to be just a mouthful of mediocre whipped cream and soggy sponge?
ReplyDeletelooked like a great party though! what cool masterchef masks!
Sounds like a fun night. The sheep cake is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI am envious that you guys are such great friends and you have such awesome places to dine. Wow, great post.
ReplyDeletea great wrap of the night! unfortunately i didn't get round to speaking to you, hopefully next time!
ReplyDeleteThat cake was 'baa-vellous'! Great photos of a great night!
ReplyDeleteAssorted sashimi and sushi roll picture makes me drool! It looks so good!
ReplyDeleteHahaha looks like one big feast evening!
ReplyDeleteand what a great cake LOL
The sheep cake looks so cute. I need it!
ReplyDeleteAlso loving the George mask. His scrunchy face says it all.
Aw thanks for the cake pop plug Helen! And it was such an awesome night - too bad I wasn't able to talk to you much but I think I stood next to you when we had the "class photo" taken! I couldn't say hi because I got a bit starstrucked!!!! :D
ReplyDeleteI lost my cake pop!
ReplyDeleteSorry Trish, I just realised when I read this that I didn't eat mine and it didn't make it home with me. Very sorry I misplaced it as it was indeed a fantastically nice gesture. Apologies :(
It was a good night though, thanks for inviting me.
Hi Chris - What deep-fried cheese? haha... and it was an awesome night. Great food and great company!
ReplyDeleteHi Simon - Yeah Suze sure knows how to work a camera. Must be all that deep-fried cheese. Ha.
Hi Shanks - Shame you couldn't make it, although I'm sure there'll be more food blogger meetups in future :)
Hi Shez - lol. It's a compulsion. I think I may need therapy...
Hi Howard - Ahh a happy chaos. It was quite an effort just trying to stand up so I could get my elbows out far enough to take the photo. And ha, I love eating the dregs of foodstuffs out of serving bowls. So much tastier.
Hi chocolatesuze - Epic indeed! You sure do like your cheese, and me, I likes a bit of salad too :)
Hi Stephcookie - We ate the horns and decided it was white chocolate but it wasn't very sweet and kinda waxy? Errr... we didn't eat it all. The Masterchef masks were genius and so good to meet you too!
Hi Betty - Lovely to meet to you. So many new names and faces and I am hopeless at remembering either!
Hi Simon Food Favourites - No we did multiples of about four so we didn't do the whole menu. Also hard to share a lot of dishes between 8 :)
Hi Billy - I missed out on the chicken cartilage. Damn. I love crunchy cartilage. Did Matt stroke it too? Um, that sounds worse than I meant it to...
and well done on the masks. They were definitely one of the highlights of the evening!
Hi Anon - Haha the sheep cake did seem to make a funny face as Suze carved it!
Hi Von - There was a lot of crazy whipped cream but ahhh it's so cute! The party was much fun and yes, who know Masterchef masks could be so much fun?
Hi Arwen - I think any gathering of food bloggers is going to be much fun. The sheep cake was very cute!
Hi Bethie - I think the beauty of food blogging is the way it brings like-minded people together. A great way to make new friends!
Hi Panda - Yes we were sitting at diagonally opposite ends of the table! Perhaps I'll run into you again at Zumbo? lol
Hi Belle - Oh you are baaad. And now I feel sheepish. lol.
Hi Globe Trotting Foodie - The sashimi and sushi boat was quite a sight. We dove straight into the scallops and I ended up eating one of the orphaned raw prawns too.
Hi Yas - Food. Friends. Cameras. How can you go wrong? The cake was good although not quite on par with, say, three pavlovas. lol!
Hi Veruca Salt - I was wondering whether you could make one yourself although you've have to make the horns somehow?
The masks were much fun. I think we were all quite hysterical with laughter when they first came out!
Hi Trisha - Class photo! lol! And starstruck? Ha, we're all just in it for the love of food :)
Thank you again for the cake pops. It was such a sweet gesture - it must've taken you ages to make them all, and so beautifully presented too.
Hi Pete - Oh no you forgot your cake pop?
It was a fantastic evening although you'll have to thank Suze for the invite and for organising it all. She is the food blog surfing queen methinks. And the social butterfly as well!
Looks like a great night. I'm almost remiss that I'm in New York for 6 months, and not in Sydney. Hope I can join in on the food-blogger fun when I get back to Sydney in October.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Michael
---
Michael Shafran
Chief Epicurial Officer
Gosstronomy.com
That photo of billy... quite disturbing but can't stop looking at it 0_o
ReplyDeleteSo out of the 30 people, which one is you Helen?OR shall that continue to be a mystery..........thos takoyaki looks nice!!
ReplyDeleteSydneyguyrojoe
loved the Masterchef masks - great job Billy.
ReplyDeleteWhy am I not surprised you liked the lotus root chips? I think you've always liked it's strange texture.
Love the photos - especially the cake - SO CUTE!!
ReplyDeleteI wish I had been a food blogger so I got to join you guys there. All that food, and such a cute cake!
ReplyDeleteHi MShafran - Chief Epicurial Officer? I want some of that! lol
ReplyDeleteHi FFichiban - I worry about you. A lot! lol
Hi Sydneyguyrojoe - I'm secod from left in the back row, but I don't usually wear that mask when I'm out :)
Hi Divemummy - The lotus root chips weren't that starchy actually. They were quite crisp. I love the little holes in it and they have such a delicate texture to them.
Hi Anita - It's gorgeous isn't it? Kinda like a kids cake for adults :)
Hi fioricet junkie - Always good to have more food bloggers on board, so join the train!
We don't go dine-in there regularly since it is not close to our place. I make it a point to come every time I'm in the neighborhood. We get filled up and usually have leftovers to take home.
ReplyDeleteHi Dazy - Oh takeaway is always a highlight the next day, but somehow I always find room to eat everyone's leftovers :)
ReplyDeletehey...does it cost money to book the rooms? Also approx how much does it cost pp?
ReplyDeleteHi Anon - There is a room hire for the rooms, depending on the size. For up-to-date pricing, best to ring Wagaya directly to check :)
ReplyDelete