[Melbourne 2008] Food & Drink @ Dessert House Eatery

Dessert House Eatery
313 Swanston Street
Melbourne
(opposite QV)

Date visited: 10/2/2008 (day 2) for lunch

A south-east Asian quick eat place


Menu with colourful food pics


Signature dish: lemongrass chicken chop rice (could opt for pork instead). A$9.80 with a drink

After 10 minutes of sitting down, a plate was plonked in front of me. I was shocked when the mountain of rice stared at me and I stared back hard. The mountain was halved by the end, between Princess and me. I was still full come dinner -_-'''

The chicken was well-seasoned with very subtle hint of lemongrass. I especially like the seasoned green scallions (hidden behind the mountain of rice in pic), I could eat the stuff with white rice alone.

The place is super noisy with cheesy cantonese pop playing in the background. We arrived at 12.30pm and sit upstairs. Patrons kept trickling in, within SECONDS, the place is full.

As they were having a very busy midday service, the waiter printed the bills in advance and put on tables when they are almost done eating. I understand why they do it (and they did it politely) but I still feel uncomfortable. I almost choked on my iced lemon tea while trying to down in one go so we can go go go ale ale ale........

[Melbourne 2008] Food & Drink @ Trampoline

Date visited: 9/2/2008 for after dinner dessert.

After dinner at Ye Shanghai. We cross the road and enter Trampoline, a gelato shop.

Shopfront


Green tea and grape gelato?? Mmmmm, not so sure...


We chose very boring flavour; pistachio and open sesame

Verdict: Flavour could be stronger. Texture could be smoother. Nuff said.

We brave the cold and had our gelato outside since no more space liao inside.

The ladies kept looking while I snap the interior, the gelatos and the window, the sign.

Maybe they think waste of effort, haha.

[Melbourne 2008] Food & Drink @ Ye Shanghai

Ye Shanghai
269 Swanston Street
Melbourne VIC 3000

Date visited: 9/2/2008 (Day 1 in Melbourne) for dinner.


Shopfront


Yummy pictures adorned the window


Spareribs with tea-tree mushrooms

This dish looked unappetizing thus uninviting thus it sat on the table for a while before I finally found the courage to dig in. Not a wow dish but taste better than it looked, more importantly, the taste really suited our palette.

Sweet & sour Baramundi

The magnificent looking fish 松鼠魚, arrived at the table after 20 minutes. The sight and smell of this very well executed fish attracted glances from ALL the diners in the hall. A flutter of murmur around followed.

The fish was so delicious we polished the whole plate! Big King does not even like fish! We were still thinking and craving about/for the fish when we went back to the hotel later. When we wanted to satisfy our cravings just before going home, to our horror, the place is closed for renovation! Aiyo, so soi.

Pan-fried bun

As you can see from the pic, very lousy skin but filling was OK. This was only ordered when told the Nanxiang Xiaolong was sold out.

Total bill A$51.40. I think the fish cost A$28.40. I do think all dishes are reasonably priced.

This is seriously a must check out restaurant if you are in Melbourne, do not be fooled by the fact that the restaurant is located on a very busy section of Swanston St hence its reason of survival.

There is also the A$8.80 lunch deal worth checking out. Well, if it was still on when they reopen.

Mini Expo Sale January 2008

大事不妙! Even Mini Garage is having Expo Sale in January 2008! It's not good, it's not good........


Gifts from the Garage:- Sigg bottle, a bottle of bubbly, suction clock, an unbrella and a keychain. Quality bay bai oh.

Shlix Gelato

Shlix Gelato
364 Brunswick Street
Fortitude Valley

QLD 4006


They all look yum!


Our favourite flavours, from left to right:- pistachio (my pick), premium dark chocolate (Princess pick) and black sesame (Big King pick)

Best gelato we have tasted so far. The award winning gelato shop in Melbourne can't even compare (in my opinion, ha), needless to mention other gelato shops we have tried (countless, we are gelato freaks!)

The gelati at Shlix scream intense flavour with the smoothest ever texture. Slide down the throat like a dream while the flavour lingers in the mouth for quite a while. So if you want to eat several flavours at once, choose carefully. I made the mistake of having pistachio and blood orange sorbet at the same time, urghhhh, a no no. But indivudually, they taste like heaven.

Shlix is located at the Chinatown end of Brunswick St so it's quite accesible to tourists. The clusters of standalone boutiques on this side of Brunswick St (including nearby TCB) and round the corner Ann St give Melbourne's Flinders Lane a run for their money.

Back from Melbourne

I was back from Melbourne yesterday. Very tired and aching all over with blistered and blue-black feet. How my feet got blue-black I have simply no idea! It's not like I knock against anything.

Princess and I combed almost every inch of Melboune CBD till she was able to recognise and say the name of the place if we were there the second or third or the Nth time. We were even in Queen Vic market twice, orz.......Travel posts coming soon......

On the way from our hotel to Queen Vic market, we came across this

First Quanjude in Australia. Quanjude is a famous roast duck purveyor in Beijing. I had a peek inside, the decor is 'flashy' traditional Chinese and very opulent.

The restaurant is only opening tomorrow on the 19th Feb 2008. I had been hoping to be one of the first customers, alas it's not fated to be.

Visit the website for phone number and opening times.

Bling Bling Cocktail Ring

Purchased from Hollywoodstyle (shipping internationally).

From right to left: pink zirconia ring (A$10, on sale), multi-coloured stones ring (A$20, on sale), vintage hearts topaz (A$89) and clear zirconia earrings (free gift)

The main target for this time purchase is the yellow topaz ring, the other two rings were just sun-pian because they were so cheap! All three rings are very pretty and the multi-coloured one wears especially well.

All rings and the earring are set to the very high standards with no gluey and dangly bits.

Let's all get glam!

Gong Xi Fa Cai 2008

Happy(?) Chinese New Year Reunion dinner on 6 Feb 2008.


Cold plate consists of deep fried scallops, spring roll and 炒桂花翅 (stir fried mock sharks fin)

年年有餘 (Sweet and sour fish)


Braised sea cucumber, fish maw and shiitake.


Fish maw and mock sharks fin soup.


Pineapple tarts

I am so knackered. The cleaning, preparation, cooking, washing up, normal household chores, shopping (food) and jaga Princess...... I think it's all too much.

All the food turned out good (I think) but Princess say restaurant food better -_-''' orz......... Despite saying that she sure ate a lot especially the scallops.

Big King had to work late so no happy reunion :(

Brisbane on Sale! - Myer Loot

Cardigan from Tokito A$59.95 (not on sale but they are toooo pretty with bling bling buttons ohhhhhh)

Skirt from Regatta A$45 (reduced from A$90). This skirt is sooooo sui and luxurious to the touch, bought on behalf of a friend.

Metallic silver tights from Voodoo A$10 (reduced from A$30). Must have, trend still going strong this season.

Blue tights from unknown brand A$4.55 (original price unknown). Scouted from clearance bin. Goes very well with my super short Sass mini denim skirt A$35 (not pictured, original price unknown) and Sass long empire line sleeveless tee A$12.95 (not pictured, reduced from A$29.95).

Brisbane on sale! - Giallo Loot

Giallo
Shop 40-41 Queens Plaza
226 Queens St Mall
Brisbane 4000


Got 2 pairs of shoes at 50% off.


Left: Monroe (very light grey patent) A$94.50
Right: Beau (gold) A$84.50

This gold sandal look soooo pretty on the feet and most important, these 2 pairs are super comfy because the sole is flexible rubber.

PS. Giallo normally only offer 25% discount but towards the end of sale period they will do a 50% for a week only.

I maybe ugly but I taste good

The weird looking crustacean is called Moreton Bay bug, I am not sure if they can be found somewhere else. But boy they sure taste good! Sweet, succulent and springy, they are better than the mantis prawn!

If you come across them, eat them. Loads! But they don't come cheap, about $60/kilo. You'll get about 6 to 10 for a kilo depending on the size. I like them simply grilled!

Coffee Cheesecake (recipe included)

Quite a few people had approached me to request for the recipe of Alex Goh's coffee cheesecake I posted eons ago. Sadly I don't have the book with me anymore so I was unable to share.

I never stop trawling the net for cheesecake recipe. After a lot of trials and adjustments made to recipes sourced from the internet. I finally settled on the following recipe which suited my family's palate.

Coffee cheesecake

Light Cheesecake Recipe

Ingredients:

A Cream Cheese 250g
Unsalted butter 45g
Milk 112g

B Cake flour 37g
Corn flour 23g

C Egg yolks 6 (large size egg with shell on @50-55g)

D Egg whites 6
Sugar 115g

9 in round mould or 21cmx21cm square cake pan, base and sides lined with parchment paper

Method:

1. Put A into a double boiler or a heavy base saucepan. With a low flame, heat A until mixture is smooth, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat when there is no lumps. Set aside and let the mixture cool slightly. Caution: do not overheat or mixture will split.
2. Sift B and add to 1.
3. Add C, the egg yolks, to batter mixture and stir until well combined. Set aside.
4. Start to beat the egg whites on low speed. When it reaches foamy stage, increase speed to medium high and add the sugar tablespoon by tablespoon. Whip egg whites to soft peak (see below). Make sure sugar is completely dissolved.
5. Fold egg whites into batter. Make sure mixture is completely incorporated before pouring into mould.
6. Preheat oven to 170 degree Celsius. Bake in a bain marie (water bath) using boiling water with water reaching up halfway to the cake tin. If using loose bottom or spring form pan, double wrap the bottom and sides with aluminium foil to prevent water seeping into the pan.
7. Bake at 170 degree Celsius for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 140 degree Celsius and bake for a further 1 hour or until cooked (test with a skewer, it should come out clean).
8. Remove from oven when cooked. Let the cake cool slightly in the tin before removing and cooling it on the wire rack. Refrigerate overnight (or at least 6 hours) before serving when cooled completely.

Note:
1. Cake should not shrink but slightly is fine.
2. Every oven behave differently, several trial and error is needed to find the optimal temperature with your oven. The above recipe is baked in a fan oven.
3. SOFT PEAK STAGE - The soft peak stage is reached when the peaks of the whites droop slightly, when the beater is turned off and lifted. Do not continue beating past this stage as the whites will become dry.

4. If making coffee cheesecake add 3 tbsp instant coffee granules (I use Alta Rica) to 1 and mix well until completely dissolved. If making Irish coffee cheesecake, add the coffee granules and replace 65g of the milk with Baileys.

Irish Coffee Cheesecake


New York style caramel cheesecake