[Brunei 2008] Yit Sum Restaurant

Date visited: 26/7/2008

First meal/dinner back in Brunei.




Kueh Tiaw Soup

Kueh tiaw in hearty soup with fishcake, minced meat, liver, fishball and lettuce.

Yong chap soup

A selection of stuffed vegetable in soup.


Sparerib with egg fried rice

Sparerib coated in sweet and salty sauce.


Stir fried noodle soup

Regretted coming here. Eating mediocre food while sweating profusely is a no no for me.

[Brunei 2008] Croquembouche by Patisserie Cake Shop

I arrived Brunei on 26/7/2008 which incidentally was my third (younger) sister's birthday.

Big King showed me a cake shop being featured on Borneo Bulletin. Looks interesting enough, so persuaded sis to go for its then July's special at 20% off.

Taa-daa, a rather magnificent creation.

Croquembouche B$36 (after 20% discount)

Custard sponge cake topped with custard filled cream puffs. It looked good and tasted equally good. But stay away if you are not keen on custard.

The website now feature a different Croquembouche with chocolate sponge top with cream puffs at B$60/kg.

Well, you know, custard needs long preparation time and is harder to work with. Definitely not cost effective even if selling at $60/kg. I was surprised when I saw it being offered at $45/kg then, so quickly got second sis to put in an order.

Patisserie Cake Shop is located at Kg Mata-mata on the same block as Trader's Inn, occupying the corner lot. There is dine-in facilities serving sandwiches and pasta and coffee and cakes from chiller cabinet.

It's a pity we don't kave the likes of Cedele or Canele or Bakerzin in Brunei. No, Fleur-de-lys is not in the same league, I'm afraid.

[Brisbane] Big King's Birthday 2/9/2008

I have finally finished posting all my Brissie's backlog makan entries *cheers*Hawaiian dancing*fireworks*

Tomorrow I will start posting on Brunei/Singapore food. Hoorah!

So it was my household's Ta Ren/Big King's birthday yesterday.

I made a simple black sesame mousse and red bean cheesecake (adapted from the fantabulous Miss Jubie) and cooked his favourite baked pork chop rice (also from the ever so resourceful Miss Jubie) and braised sea cucumber.

There was a thickish pork chop which was undercooked. It's unlucky Big King ate some of it and had diarrhoea/tummy ache today. Oooops, sorry luv.

[Brisbane] Little Hong Kong

Little Hong Kong
Market Sq Shopping Centre
Sunnybank


Tiny space with tables jam-packed together. It will be a torture to eat there in summer!

Mixed roasts rice AUD$12.xx

The roast meat were cold and tasted nothing spectacular. The rice even arrived less than warm. Sigh......

********

Spring is officially here! But the rain came with it, orz......

So to celebrate the arrival of spring, I packed Princess into the car and off we went shopping jalan jalan.

First stop at Executive Chef in Southbank to pick up a 7" Kaiser springform cake tin and 4 flan/quiche tinplate. Early birthday gifts for meself, hehehoohoo *hyena laugh*.

Then made our way to Westfield Garden City looking for some fun (Princess not me). She went on the slide, played lego and we ate what else but Hanaichi, our all time fav.

Stopped at 'supermarket' to pick up mascarpone for some cake baking the following day.

BAD BAD choice. Should have just gone to another 'supermarket chain' across the road.

The girl with thin scarlet lips at the checkout was obviously having a bad day. It was fine when she didn't greet me (but she greeted customers before and after me). Threw my shopping around the counter and left them there, never once asked me whether I need a bag. Refused to open her mouth to me and pointed at the screen for the amount I needed to pay. As soon as I paid, didn't wait for me to gather my loose shopping or put my money away, she straight away scanned the next customer's shopping and straight they went into the plastic bags without the lady asking.

I then asked for a plastic bag, she put my stuff in the bag, hand it to me, without uttering any word.

A lovely day was officially ruined.

I felt like saying to her, 'good job, you deserve to be where you are.'

This is not the first time this kind of thing happened to me in THAT 'supermarket'. And I have seen other staff acted similarly to other Asian people.

There was one time I was at another branch and I saw a staff acted rather rudely (saying some abusive terms) to an Aboriginal family.

I never have such experiences while shopping at that other 'supermarket chain'. The staff are generally helpful and cheerful and warm. Even on sunday near to closing time.

What's up with the staff training there? This sort of things encouraged?

I am never setting my foot in any branch ever again.

If you're not European looking, I suggest you try shopping elsewhere. Unless you like the abuse and like being treated unfairly.

Next got me thinking, what will the world become if there is no 'Made in China'.

I may be of Chinese origin but I am not from China. But to most people here, if you're oriental looking, you are either Chinese or Vietnamese.

Imagine the world without, 'Made in China'.

That girl at that 'supermarket' counter might not even afford a tee shirt without saving for one. Might even have to forgo her kids' toys just to buy one plain tee-shirt.

From toothpaste to towel to sunglasses, our everyday needs intertwined with China. Unless everybody is able to afford Egyption cotton and Dior sunglasses. The cheaper options from China definitely does not burn a hole in most people's pocket and left most people with enough change to fulfil their other needs/wants like a holiday or mortgage payment.

Of course that's just a needle drop into a big ocean.

Imagine, just imagine, a world without 'Made in China'.

[Brisbane] Dessert by McDonalds

Warm chocolate pudding with ice-cream. I think it cost AUD3.50.

The pudding is supposed to have a flowing centre but it's a fastfood outlet........ Nuff said.

[Brisbane] Random home cooking shots

Like I mentioned before, my friends were wondering whether I do any cooking at home. All I ever posted on the blog were eating out experiences. Haha.

Well, er, it's just that I am not the best nor the most creative cook in the world. I only do very very simple dishes at home. Mostly steam and stir fry. Deep frying will only happen on important or auspicious occasions.

Most popular dishes in my household:

Steamed chicken with shiitake and black fungus with ginger and spring onion.

Stuffed beancurd braised in oyster sauce.

Baked spareribs.

The first two dishes were too simple. I am sure most people will cook this better and present them better at home than me.

But the spareribs, my oh my, they are something else. I will share the recipe in, er, due course. Though they are simple and require ZERO technique, they are so good I feel everyone should at least give it a go and taste them.

So, watch this space.......

[Brisbane] Chocolate To Die For

Chocolate to die for
Website: http://chocolatetodiefor.com.au/

Their chocolates are sold by weight. I got the above for AUD7.XX.

All of them very nice, very moreish. Those liquor centred ones are very boozy. Take with caution! XD

Very nice to indulge once in a while.

[Brisbane] Chopstix at Brunswick Central

The visit to Chopstix happened eons ago, like earlier this year in April 2008 :p.

My photos all turned out so bad I hesitated about posting them (very dim lighting inside the resto).

But what the heck, the most important thing is sharing the experience.

Top left: Xiaolong (meat buns)

Top right: Stir fried hand pulled noodles

Bottom left: Lamb chops in chef's special sauce

Bottom right: Red bean paste encased in egg white souffle

The above first three items were all under chef's specialty/recommendations on the menu.

My take:

The xiaolong's skin is too thick but the meat filling is actually tasty.

The hand-pulled noodles is too starchy for my liking and a tad too oily.

Lamb chops were served less than warm almost cold and the chef's special sauce was cold! I prefer the cucumber on the side XD

Deep fried souffle ball was just ok, missing the key mashed banana inside the filling and the egg white batter tasted sour, weird.....

Minced meat and picked vegetables served with pastry

The stir fried minced meat was just ordinary fare. Sesame studded pastries could be found in all Chinese supermarket at AUD4 for 2 pieces. They might have risen in price, orz....

Total bill came up to AUD8X.XX after grand opening 15% discount .

Worthy visit? It's your take....

[Brisbane] Pizza Capers

Awesome Aussie Lamb, regular AUD13.95 (about 8 inches in diameter)

We had a pleasant experience with Pizza Capers' New Orleans one evening. So when I saw the limited time Awesome Aussie Lamb pizza (description: Caper's special pizza sauce, roast lamb, basil peso, fire roasted capsicum, aussie fetta, kalamata olives, cherry tomatoes, garlic, herbs, garnished with mint garlic yoghurt sauce and snow pea sprout) I knew I die die must try.

To be honest, the product we received looked a lot better than the picture on the brochure. But diggin in, the tastebud complained and clouds of excitement dispersed into thin air.

I am really sorry for Big King to have to finish the thing by himself. I can only managed half a slice and poor Princess spat out the instant it entered her mouth.

[Brisbane] Hanaichi at Westfield Garden City Foodcourt

So I have been home in Brisbane for the past week. Got really sick the day before I left Brunei and slowly recuperating.


Chicken Nanban/Hanaichi

Funny this is one of the many things I missed since away. Foodcourt food? What's up with this rabbit? She shuns fastfood except KFC fried chicken and foodcourt except Hanaichi.

From the pic above you can only see salad dressed in the yummiest sweet salty sour dressing (very appetizing). Hidden underneath the salad is a layer of seasoned fried chicken pieces (Rabbit's weakness) and then rice underneath.

The portion is rather big and easily feed Princess and me (I couldn't finish the rice sometimes) and all for under AUD8, cheap, by Australian standard.

Chicken curry katsu

Now, this is Princess' favourite. 'Food' in Garden City shopping centre means 'curry' to her. The curry sauce is simply decadent, much much better than any other version I have come across. It really puts me off using those pre-packaged curry cubes. Bad.

Hanaichi foodcourt outlets can be found at Wintergarden on Queen St, Westfield Garden City, Westfield Indooroopilly and Westfield Chermside.

Taking a hiatus

Holidaying in Brunei.

Weather extremely hot here. Felt my skin melting away even just sitting still in the house.

Been to Singapore last week for a short shopping and binge-ing session.

Will be stuffing my face silly with roti and kolomee and Indian food and KFC spicy crunchy fried chicken.

Long live good food!

[Life] Ugly and stupid

I had a haircut today at a Korean salon in Sunnybank.

I arrived drab and left ugly.

The mood really hit rock bottom.

Made worse with being treated as a busybody, stupid and lazy person.

Life is officially ugly and stupid and indolent.

Why try so hard to please?

No amount of macarons is going to cheer me up. Unless they are Pierre Hermé ones......

[Brisbane] Dim Sum at Manor

The Manor Chinese Restaurant
6 Angel Street
Corner Gaskell Street & Angel Street
Eight Mile Plains, 4113

My No.1 choice for dim sum!


Located off Logan Road, behind Glen Hotel.

All dim sum offerings are above average.

Deep fried calamari could be a tad too salty.

Siew mai fresh and well-seasoned.

Ham sui kok (deep fried glutinous rice dumpling) skin is crispy yet soft and chewy and NOT dripping in oil (very important).

Seafood dumpling was alright, I detest coriander!

Rice sheet roll is nice without skin being thick and mushy (yes, they can happen together!).

Claypot spare-rib and preserved meat is the star. The spare-ribs tender and fluffy rice cooked to perfection.

Me and Princess absolute favourite, custard bun!

Custard buns are not executed well in lots of restaurant. Manor makes a kick-ass version. Fluffy skin with sweet yet savoury custard. I enter cloud nine with every bite.

[Brisbane] Nougat-ed out

My friend has requested me to buy nougat for her.

'Hard, crunchy type in individual packaging,' she said.

Holy moly, I haven't seen them anywhere. I searched high and low from supermarkets to discount shops to delis. Nada, only saw soft and chewy ones sold in bars. I almost got them online but stopped when I saw the hefty $10 shipping costs.

Then I thought I would try those Chinese 'duty-free' shops in Sunnybank.

Bingo, there they were. Packets after packets of Golden Boronia Original Crunchy Nougat. No.1 in Australia, it says on its packaging. Really, I suaku mountain tortoise never know. Aiyo, who ever shops at 'duty-free' shop, I am not a tourist!

Dang dang in all its glory

Price: 1kg/AUD25, 500g/AUD14, 250/AUD8

On my quest to search for nougat, I came across Bliss 'naked' (cut, unpackaged) nougat at Fresh on Carina and asked to take away 2, 1 original and 1 chocolate flavour.

But my jaw dropped when I heard the price. It's AUD2 each. WT# for an 1 inx1 in little little cube??!!

Anyways, I was desperate so I brought them home.

To be fair, they are quite nice. Not too sweet with a hint of almond essence and packed with macademia and almond. But at AUD2, thank you very much and hope we never see each other again.

I am so glad I found Golden Boronia! I like cappucino crunchy! I am so fighting my bro over them, heh.

[Brisbane] Oishii Sushi Bar

Oishii Sushi Bar
shop2/70 Pinelands Rd
Sunnybank Hills
Brisbane




Agedashi tofu


Omurice

I tasted before feeding Princess. Put spoon in my mouth. Stopped dead in my track.

Oishii!


Spider roll

Chicken katsu sushi wrapped in omelette.

Tasted nice but hate those salty yellow bits.


Dragon roll

As you can tell from the picture, unagi (eel) topped sushi roll. Can't remember the fillings. Orz...

Didn't jot down individual price. Total bill around AUD4x.xx.

[Shopping] Barbie and vespa

Princess' first ever barbie doll (AUD20 on sale at ToysRus)!

[Shopping] Trade Secret again!

I was on my way to Sunnybank for grocery shopping and thought I would stop by Trade Secret just to check out the $5 and $10 racks.

BIG mistake.

I ended up shopping away from the $5/$10 racks. And went away with a mini loot. Hehe.....



Blue Sass peasant dress AUD34.95
Pink Mambo tee AUD16.95
Beige Sass tee AUD19.95

[Home] Lunch at home - East meets West

Lunch


Ham, egg and cheese sarnie

Princess likes lots of ketchup with er, everything.

Rice sheet roll with sesame dressing

Steam or microwave the rice sheet roll and doused with sesame dressing and hoisin sauce. Delish!


Japanese 'Kewpie' sesame dressing and hoi sin sauce


Mariage Frères' Marco Polo tea

How does one go back to drinking Lipton after tasting Mariage Frères?

[Brisbane] A dough, limitless creations

Polish Bakery, Arundel


Pumpkin bread from my favourite Polish Bakery A$5.50

The yellow hue is not from colouring but from pumpkin slowly roasted in oven.

Almond croissant A$3.50

This thing is huge!! Generously filled with custard (proper one not from powder) and topped with flaked almonds.

Brewbakers, Clayfield

Chocolate chip bagel

I can't remember the price, it's either A$1.50 or A$2.50 each.

Dense and extremely chewy. Their bagels actually reminded me of the bread at Flour Power in Highgate Hill. They just share the same texture. Weird.

Parmesan bagel

We also got brioche bread for A$3.50 which is a steal. It's far better than the bagels. Go for the brioche.

Flour Power, Highgate Hill

Rye sourdough

I think it was A$5.50 per loaf. Not the kind of sourdough I like. The crust is extremely hard with the dough very chewy and dense. My ideal sourdough bread should be springy with nice airy pockets with a little chew.

Uncle Bob's Bakery, Belmont

Vienna roll aka tiger roll

Average.

Chocolate croissant

Average.

But what really brought me to Uncle Bob's if the offerings I felt were average?

It's those country sourdough bread (not pictured).

They are one of the best I have tasted in Brisbane. Go on, it's worth the drive.

[Brisbane] Endless Noodles

Endless Noodles 西域拉面
Shop 1, 70 Pinelands Road
Sunnybank Hills

Specializing in hand-pulled noodles

Easily spotted travelling along Mains Rd right next to an 7-11 petrol station.

The whole building lot is dedicated to food, along the same row we have Oiishi Sushi Bar, Chinese Cafe (cha-chan-teng), a butcher and a Korean restaurant on the first floor.

Grilled lamb skewers (with/without chilli)

This arrived about 10 minutes after we finished our noodles after several enquiries. Meat fatty and chewy, me no like.

Spicy chicken noodles

While tasted ok, this is a rather ordinary dish.


Stir fry noodles with chicken

Again, quite ordinary tasting. Do not come with high expectation. These northern style pulled noodles is too starchy for my liking. They sit quite heavy in the stomach for quite sometime.

I am much much more interested in the sushi bar next door. Next Time.