Monday, December 17, 2007

Happy Holidays!

Caught up with Jocelyn over dinner tonight - my last evening before the family and all asundry descend upon MEL :P The venue: Claypots Seafood (153 Gertrude St, Fitzroy), an interesting mix of Malaysian, Turkish and Mediterranean styles. There is no menu and dishes du jour are written on a blackboard by the door. We started with a small Japanese inspired tapas of tuna sashimi on puff pastry complete with yummy Asian dressing :)

For mains, we shared a Shellfish Stirfry (A$65) between us - a whopping platter of crabs, tiger prawns, mussels, pippies, lemongrass, coriander, ginger and chilli gravy on a bed of sticky rice. Pretty similar to the SG chilli crab taste!

On to Brunswick St, the funky street with the Melbournian essence for dessert :) We popped into Cafe Nova (307 Brunswick St, Fitzroy).

Hot crepes with mixed berries, a flat white for me and chai latte for Joce... and it was still light when we left the place; fed and contented.

Here's wishing everyone a joyful Christmas & peace for the New Year :D

Labels: , , , ,

stormiii at 10:00 pm

1cups of tea

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Mamak mamak!

No longevity noodles this year, only fish head curry!!

I first heard about an Indian place that sells Fish Head Curry a few months back and of course, it stayed right at the back of my head until the "right" time came along :D I chose Rich Maha (499 Burwood Highway, Vermont South Shopping Centre) as the venue for a small birthday dinner while thoughts of Maggi Mee Goreng wafted through my brain...

Rich Maha is like your typical Indian mamak restaurant and has become well known for cheap and good Indian/South Asian dishes. An old Indian man was stationed by the entrance making "hoppers" (thosai batter in small copper pots) on gas stoves and I half expected to see another twirling roti prata :P

We got right down to business and ordered a round of roti prata with egg for everyone, mee goreng, thai mee siam (tom yam beehoon actually), chicken murtabak and fish head curry. And of course, teh tarik, teh halia and lassi :D I wondered if they really made fresh roti prata on the spot as the prata was not as soft nor "gheeful" as back home. But I was only too happy to be using the ubiquitous silver plates and cup :P

While the rotis didn't quite make the cut (murtabak was on the tough side), the mee goreng was just as delicious as back home :) The fish head curry (complete with red snapper head, yummy okra and eggplant) was almost as good as I remembered too. And in true SG style, I brought the fish head curry leftovers home in a HUGE recycled yoghurt bucket!

stormiii at 10:06 pm

4cups of tea

Monday, December 10, 2007

Birthday cupcakes :D

I returned to Little Cupcakes, the shop which replaced Hako Japanese (7/250 Flinders St, Melbourne) - wow, there was even a bench for customers to sit outside! Business has been so good that all their cupcakes (baked daily) are always sold out! The shop's interior has a cosy homeliness and seats for customers to sit down and enjoy their cupcake with hot drinks/milkshakes.

Since these will be my birthday cupcakes, I bought one of every type on the shelves :P They had mini cupcakes (A$2.50 each) - teddybear, coffee and peppermint (with malteser).

Standard sized cupcakes (A$3.70 each) - Red velvet, Banana, Creamy coconut, Creamcheese chocolate, Strawberry and White chocolate. The Red velvet was moist and the frosting had the right degree of sugar and butter :D

Cute cupcakes must certainly come with charming packaging and they were indeed carefully packed in these boxes :)

stormiii at 7:32 pm

2cups of tea

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Are you Touk-ing to me?

A silly title, but I did go to a cafe called Touks (77 Charles St, Seddon) when I caught up with Cheng this afternoon :P A funny thing it is because it is smacked between old, dusty liquor and convenience stores in a quiet street. The decor is chill-out and laid back Aussie, and we sat outside at nice red tables while the world went by that lazy Sunday afternoon. I jumped at the entree of Egg yolk filled ravioli with asparagus but the waitress made a mistake and I was served a dish of Asparagus with poached egg and parmesan cheese shavings instead.. sigh! She did apologise and I got a free basket of bread.

Cheng had Ricotta fritters on a bed of zucchini salad and pumpkin sauce - tres delicieux!!!

Labels: , ,

stormiii at 6:57 pm

0cups of tea

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Dunyazad

We celebrated the close of our bellydance term with a mini performance (girls only!) and a dinner at one of the better known Middle Eastern restaurants, Dunyazad (329 Doncaster Road, Balwyn North). For $39 ppax, we enjoyed a number of yummy entrees (e.g. fresh felafel, eggplant pita dips, cheesy pastry), mains (tender and juicy chicken/lamb kebabs on spiced rice) and a totally fabulous chilled pudding topped with pistachio nuts and rosewater (similar to panna cotta and perfect for summer) for dessert. Plus... a pretty good bellydancer who went around the tables and got the men all excited :P

Labels: , ,

stormiii at 6:22 pm

2cups of tea

Monday, December 03, 2007

Okra

The most popular night of the week for dining out and we were seated at Okra, a Malaysian/Thai outfit (159 Camberwell Road, Hawthorn East). The occasion - Eka's birthday :) I'd researched this place on the Good Food Guide (aka GFG) and it appeared that their entrees were given better reviews than their mains. We took their advice most seriously and ordered the Khanom Jeep (mince pork dumplings) - no difference to shui jiao and the skin was too thick! But the topping of diced chilli and cucumber gave it a yummy piquant taste :P

Chicken in Pandan leaves - an old Thai fave back home, Okra's version was passable. In fact, the chicken was not as tender or juicy as expected. We also ordered their Loh Bak (ngor hiang) but the popular entree was sold out!

For mains, we went for Wok fried seafood in chilli and palm sugar, Beef & Mango stir fry, Char kway teow and the super fresh Snapper in Thai sauce (turmeric, lime, chilli, etc.). Unlike stir fries in Asia where a dish of eg. beef consists of beef and a sprinkling of ginger, etc, stir fries here MUST have veggies. So a couple of seafood or meat stir fries which may sound different on the menu usually end up having the same combination of ingredients and sigh, tasting the same! A case of spoilt or deprived? :P Thankfully, the char kway teow had the authentic hawker taste to it and the snapper pretty much saved the mains!

Okra's durian ice cream and pulot hitam pudding were also mentioned in the GFG. We ordered their dessert platter which came with fresh fruits, pulot hitam and sago pudding with a generous dose of coconut cream, gula melaka sauce (YUM!) and good 'ol choco wafers :D Still, nothing beats eating real durian - hmm, how I miss the bittersweet, almost alcoholic tasting creaminess...

I still find it hard to pay so much for upmarket and "clean" tasting Asian food, esp when authentic favourites are widely available in MEL. At least I can cross another GFG listed eatery off the book :D

stormiii at 5:13 pm

2cups of tea

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Good FOOD Guide (Oz)

To those who have requested for this page, you know this is for you :D

Dining and sightseeing in/around Melbourne - (Places listed in The Age's Good Food Guide 2008 are noted with *GFG*).

Melbourne:

Agung (Indonesian)
Babka (Russian)
Cafe Nova
Churrisimo (Spanish)
Coco Lounge
Cold Rock (Ice cream)
Claypots Seafood
Dandenongs
Dunyazad (Middle Eastern) *GFG*
Fitzroy
Four Seasons (Korean)
Fraus Crepes & Chocolate
Green Sage cafe
Grill'd (Good burgers!)
Hako (Japanese)
Hausfrau Bakery
Hwaro (Korean charcoal BBQ)
Ipoh Jaya (Malaysian)
J Cafe (Japanese - sushi burger!)
Kimchi Lunchbox (Korean)
Koko Black (Chocolate!)
Kota Raya (Malaysian)
Lazy Moe's (Aussie diner - warning: GIANT portions!)
Liar Liar (Aussie brunch; good coffee!)
Lim's Nyonya Hut
Lindt Cafe, Collins St
Little Cupcakes
Little Peking (Cantonese; yummy Peking duck)
Mart 130 (Yummy brunch!)
Max Brenner (Chocolate desserts)
Min Thanh (Vietnamese)
Momotaro Ramen (Japanese)
Montezuma's (Mexican)
Movida (Spanish) *GFG*
Nikos (Greek cafe)
Nobu (Japanese fine dining)
Okra (Malaysian/Thai) *GFG*
Old Town Kopitiam (Mamak)
Olmecs (Cafe/bakery)
Omah's (Malaysian)
Orexi's (BEST Souvlaki)
Pancake Village
Replete Providore (Brunch & Bakery)
Rich Maha (Indian)
Royal Melbourne Show!
Rumi (Lebanese)
San Churro (Chocolate desserts)
Sue's Delights (Singaporean/Malaysian)
Spoonful (Brunch/restaurant) *GFG*
Stokers (Pancakes - supper)
Taste of Singapore (Singaporean/Malaysian)
TGIFridays (Western)
Thanh Ha (Vietnamese)
The Coffee Club (Chapel St)
Touks (cafe)
Watt's Cooking (Brunch - Best smoked salmon & eggs benedict!)
Wesley Anne
Westerfolds Park Farmers' Market
Ying Doi (Thai)


Regional Victoria:

Ballarat
Daylesford (1)
Daylesford (2)
Lavandula Swiss Italian Farm (Hepburn Springs)
Philip Island
Yarra Valley (Roundstone & Yering Station)


Tasmania:

Hobart
Hobart to Strahan
Strahan to Cradle Mountain
Freycinet


Northern Territory:

Alice Springs & Ayers Rock


NSW:

Sydney

stormiii at 5:18 pm

0cups of tea

Saturday, December 01, 2007

Le weekend

Friday evenings are fast becoming foodie adventures as I venture forth into the culinary landscape that MEL is known for :D Was craving for Korean food and Margie suggested we try this Korean restaurant along Springvale Road, near The Glen. Four Seasons appeared to be a well established Korean place and served a wide range of Korean food. We went straight for the good stuff - table BBQs and ordered Combination "A" ($48 plus taxes for two). The waitress laid out the customary side dishes and started grilling two large scotch fillets, beef slices with skirting, onions and two button mushrooms. Then came the belly pork, marinated with rosemary and with a good amount of fat :) The taste was passable but we were not eating fast enough and the meat grew cold quickly. The difference between using charcoal fire (Hwaro) and gas was also noticeable. Oh well! Craving satisfied 75% :D


We walked our dinner off by heading to Coco Lounge (bar & restaurant) at Kingsway, main avenue of shops in Glen Waverley. I introduced their unique drink "Cococino" - hot chocolate with coconut essence to Margie... hmm, luscious! We also shared a brownie dessert.

Labels: , , ,

stormiii at 4:53 pm

0cups of tea