This shopping centre has been there for decades and over time has had many facelifts external and internal and is ever expanding to accommodate the ever growing population with very diverse demographics living, studying and working in and around that area. It has become a major hub - a suburb north of Sydney now well connected by bus and rail in most directions.
Within the shopping centre is not only the recently renovated Macquarie Ice Skating Rink which has been the major recreational social and sporting venue for decades but now also includes a major Cinema (Event) featuring the latest movies and a 10 pin Bowling (Strike) "Alley" which also provides other forms of entertainment and refreshments inside its venue.
Then there is the shopping and services all under one roof. A post office (Australia Post) and most major banks (Commonwealth, ANZ and even a HSBC Australia) are all mostly hidden on the lower ground floor in a corner - if one of the major banks is not present in the centre, there is always their ATM somewhere within the centre. There are also some of the major private medical funds (HCF, Bupa, NIB) mostly located near the ice rink. There is a medical centre and I would not be surprised if there was more then one and massage and accupuncture clinics around.
There are now all 3 major supermarkets (Woolworths, Coles and Aldi) as well as major department store chains (Big W , Target, Myers) - no Kmart unfortunately. Many of the major chain stores and boutiques are well represented within Macquarie Shopping Centre as well ( Daisio, Unilqo, Zara, H & M , GAP, Cotton On, Typo, Kids Stuff, Katmandu, Macpac, JB HiFi, EB Games, What's Cooking, Habitania, Telstra, Optus, Vodafone, Priceline, Riot etc). A wide variety of independent stores and boutiques are also present selling everything from Asian groceries, unique gifts, homewares, housewares, clothing, shoes,accessories such as jewllery, handbags, candles, perfumes even vaccum cleaners etc. For the kids there is always some form of entertainment - during my visit there was the aerial harnesses, soft obstacle courses and Plastermaster or equivalent.
However there is one aspect of Macquarie Shopping Centre that is a little unique and stands out from other shopping centres and that is its "Food Court" but not only its food court but its "Restaurant & Cafe Precinct". Most shopping centres or suburban hubs will have either/or but Macquarie Shopping Centre has both all housed under one roof.
Yes there is the usual KFC , McDonald's, Boost Juice, Donut Time, Zumbos etc in the main food court area but in close proximity to the main food court area there are many unique and chain store type cafes and restaurants eg Max Brenners - a chocolate everything eatery - sit down or take away and ever heard of TGI Friday's or MexTex (or is it TexMex?)? How about Breadtop, Bakers Delight or sampling Gourmet Butchers range of freshly made sausages? There is also Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, a bit of German, etc
Feeling a bit hungary I decide to try something a little bit different so I purchased 2 rice paper rolls from a store in the food court named "Roll'd" which was meant to be Vietnamese cuisine.
I selected a vegetarian tofu rice paper roll and a low carb barramundi rice paper roll with my choice of dressing - a herb dressing. Both were served in a rectangular cardboard takeaway container.
If you are on a diet these rice paper wraps are ideal but if you are really hungry maybe not - the majority of the filling consisted of thin vermicelli noodles , carrot and other vegetables with lots of corriander - I could not taste much of barramundi or tofu which were minimal in the rolls - the rice paper rolls were very bland - nicely presented but this is one time I should not have eaten with my eyes. The rice paper rolls definitely needed the herb dressing and a lot more then the 2 small tubes that were included with each rice paper roll. Was it worth the $7.50 I paid for them? To be honest not really - 2 equivalent sushi rolls from the multiple sushi stores within the shopping centre would have been more satisfying.
Rating 5/10 - I should have chosen an alternative item from their menu options such as Pho which would have been more substantial.
I craved something sweet after finishing these 2 rice paper rolls so looked around the food court for a bit of dessert. I could have gone for something from Bread Top first for example but spotted amongst Zumbo's macaroons a hot cross bun flavoured one. Being close to Easter I thought I must try one of these as I am not really keen on hot cross buns of various flavours and have had enough varieties of Easter eggs. I purchased one to start with but returned for 2 more as they were actually really addictive. Was it worth the $2.80 for a single macaroon I paid for it? Absolutely and the more macaroons you buy the cheaper they become. Rating 8/10 - seasonal limited edition during Easter must try if you are looking for a creative alternative to chocolate easter eggs or hot cross buns.
Finally what do Chinese hot cross buns taste like compared to Australian hot cross buns. To find out I purchased a traditional hot cross bun with fruit in it and a chocolate hot cross bun from BreadTop.
My verdict - the very first differences I tasted were the crosses piped across both hot cross buns were wider and flat as for the taste they were so chewy it was almost inedible. The second difference was there was no citrus and only sultanas (or raisins or currents) in the plain bun - I hate sultanas, raisins and currents but love my citrus but didn't actually mind the plain hot cross bun as it had a lighter texture and less sultanas in it. As for the chocolate hot cross bun it was also lighter then the Australian hot cross bun and had tiny chocolate chips throught out it which I really enjoyed - could not distinguish if bun was actually chocolate too or just coloured but it wasn't a bad chocolate hot cross bun - not overly sweet or dense like the ones you buy from the supermarkets. There is less spice in the chinese hot cross buns as well and no heavy sugar glazing over them.
Rating 7/10 for plain Chinese hot cross bun and 8/10 for the chocolate Chinese hot cross bun.
Sorry no photos of the Chinese hot cross buns - similar to the Australian ones!
Unfortunately there is one chain store missing from Macquarie Shopping Centre and that is Haighs Chocolates - therefore off to Chatswood or the city I go to buy some seasonal limited edition chocolates. I only visit Haighs twice a year - once at Easter for some Easter hot cross bun chocolates and once at Christmas for some Christmas pudding chocolates.
Stay tuned big Easter long weekend planned.
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