[Brisbane] Edamame

Last visit (several months ago) to Edamame, there was this special board on okonomiyaki (might be wrong spelling but I am sure you know what this is) done all sorts of way.

Hmmm, decided to play safe and go for the chicken.

Fried noodles (soft, mushy) topped with a piece of plain pancake/crepe? thing and topped again with few pieces of teriyaki chicken with mayo and some tangy sauce drizzled all over.

[Home Cooking] Egg Pancake. Apple Tarte Tartin

Chinese style savoury egg pancake

Savoury pancake with spring onions topped with omelette and cheese or tuna or whatever you fancy.

Apple tarte tartin with vanilla ice-cream

Watching Masterchef got me eager to try out some of the recipes featured.

Recipe click here apple tarte tartin.

Last night's macaron and caramel panna cotta has got me very excited indeed and I'll attempt the recipe soon. I need to get my hands on a sugar thermometer first.

Wash down the above with a cup of freshly brewed coffee, ah, bliss!


Merlo coffee torrefaziones on James St

It's housed in an industrial looking spartanly furnished building. It's just a roasting facility with merchandise like coffee machines and accesories and ice-cream (made by Licks!) for sale.

[Brisbane] Hanaichi Sushi Dining Bar

Hanaichi Sushi Bar and Dining
Level 3 Wintergarden
Queen Street Mall
Brisbane

My top pick when dining in CBD is the Hanaichi.


Sashimi salad with chef's special dressing

The special dressing was the failure of this dish. Overly strong flavour of the dressing totally masked the fresh taste of the sea of those beautiful sashimi.

Tempura udon

Resilient and slippery udon in tasty broth. Princess' favourite.

Assorted sushi from the conveyor belt. My favourites are uni (sea urchin), spicy calamari, salmon belly and tuna belly.

Green tea ice-cream

The homamade ice-cream is what drawn me to Hanaichi over and over again. Great flavour and texture, extremely satisfying after those wonderful sushi and sashimi. Equally yummy is the black sesame brulee and black sesame ice-cream served with a quarter of dorayaki (pancake with adzuki bean filling).

I look forward to next visit!

[Brisbane] Chloe's 4th Birthday dinner at Manor

I am ending the Melbourne posts at the second last day as final day we were in a rush; what with the heavy downpour, delayed opening of Zam Zam and a rushed lunch at Claypot King. No pictures were taken that day.

This year we celebrated Princess' birthday with a day out at Australia Zoo followed by dinner at Manor.

We started with a cold appetizer.

Jellyfish and shredded chicken

Followed by main dishes.

Pork chop

Cuttlefish balls with beancurd in broth

Steamed abalone with ginger and spring onion

Complimentary fruit and desserts (deep-fried glutinous rice ball and mung bean sago sweet soup)

We had a Shlix gelato cake in panna cotta and cookies & cream flavours on a meringue base as birthday cake. Delish!

[Melbourne 2009] Chadstone. Salsa's. Koko Black

Second last day in Melbourne, we decided to visit Chadstone. I am interested in the gourmet market which I believe is a first in a shopping mall, at least in Oz.


Chadstone shuttle (free)

Catch it at corner of Lt Bourke St and Swanston St just outside Chinatown's entry.

The journey took about half an hour to 45 minutes depending on traffic.

Not much for me to see, regretted coming. It's just like another Westfield.

We had lunch at Salsa's, which, came to Queensland, last month.

Aiyoo, waste of my time, this trip to Chadstone >_<.

Taco meal

Still a long time to kill before the shuttle depart so we went to Koko Black to look see and came away with an assortment of chocolates.

Man, they are delish! Forget Haigh's, buy Koko Black!

The Sweet Temptations Patisserie caught my eyes as soon as I walk near the entrance.

First time I went in to have a look, I was not impressed. But so many patrons. So I went in again after lunch, still not impressed. Me and Princess walked all the way back to Laurent Patisserie at the other end of the building to have our tea. Man, what a long walk that was.

Then I went into Sweet Temptations yet again to have a final look. Gosh, I don't know why the shop is still open and have so many customers. None of the stuff inside the shop looked delectable.

But at least I got some nice Valrhona choccies from Simon Johnson.

Very unproductive morning and afternoon.

[Brisbane] Hung's Vietnamese Food

Hung's
Sunnybank Market Square Shopping Village
Compton Rd
Sunnybank Hills QLD 4109


Crab paste vermicelli


Vietnamese omelette

Both dishes did not agree with my palette. I find the omelette too hard and dry. The prawns and pork belly pieces were cooked to death thus hard and chewy.

There is a particular way of eating the omelette. You wrap it in lettuce and topped with greens and herbs and dip the roll in the fish sauce concoction.

I was presented with greens covered in sands and grit.

You must be wondering why I didn't complain and demanded clean greens.

Well, if you have heard and read all these restaurants' tales about how they 'treat' your food if you make a complaint. I think its best to keep quiet. I don't want to be eating no strangers saliva or snort or some unknown grisly stuff.

I did ask for a glass of water to wash the sand away.

As for the crab paste vermicelli, hmmm, I haven't had this elsewhere so I had no benchmark. But the fishy tomato-ey soup made me stop after several struggled spoonfuls.

Stick to the pho.

Tis the season for oysters!

Coffin Bay Oysters AUD11/doz

I got them from CJ Seafood in Mt Gravatt Plaza, unopened.

I had no idea how to shuck an oyster.

Kitchen shears and chinese cleaver seemed to do the job.

Gave up when I got to the 7th oysters.

Sigh....

Got myself an oyster knife from Executive Chef the next day.

Hmmpphh the job didn't get any easier........

[Melbourne 2009] Noodle Kingdon

Noodle Kingdom
175 Russell St
Melbourne (CBD Chinatown)

Day 7 dinner.







An UNFORGETTABLE dinner.

I left after several slurps.

The cashier threw me this funny look when I paid.

I couldn't wait to get out of the place!

I found a mozzie in the soup!

Ewwwwww......

[Melbourne 2009] Waffle On

I am almost done with my Melbourne posts. Bear with me.

We walked over to QV after lunch at Meiji. I spotted a waffle station the other day and wanting to try.

Waffle On @QV

I think this is called 'The Canadian'. Waffle with maple syrup topped with vanilla ice-cream.

Waffle is quite nice with a little chew.

Egyptian cotton. Really more superior?

The answer is no.

NO??!!!

All those Egyptian Cotton manchester I stock up during sales are money down the drain?? *loud sob* perhaps wailing is more appropriate.

Bro-in-law is coming for a visit with his new wife.

So I thought I would stock up on some new manchester in case he forgets to bring along (which is always the case).

I googled for the best deals and best possible 'type' you can get.

Imagine my face when I found out 'Egyptian Cotton' could be any cotton that is grown in, duhhhhh, Egypt. Even if they are of the lowest grade. My whole body 'exploded'.

Oh my gosh, all those money I spent on 'Egyptian Cotton' manchester......>_<, not to mention those Egyptian Cotton sheets. Ouch....Ultimate price to pay for my own ignorance.

I quickly got myself over to Sheridan outlet to get the real stuff.

'SALE' sign plastered all over the window. Great.

Brace yourself for the price....



*whistle*

Even cheaper than those non-Egyptian Cotton ones *snigger*. Er...maybe not the face towel.

[Melbourne 2009] Meiji Japanese Cafe

Meiji Japanese Cafe
105 Little Bourke Street
Melbourne

Visited 12 March 2009 for lunch.


Kaki furai


Kamameshi - Gomoku

Nice and quiet place for a rather unique Japanese fare (it's hard to find in Oz or even south-east Asia).

From wikipedia:-

'Kamameshi (釜飯) literally translates to "kettle rice" and is a traditional Japanese rice dish cooked in an iron pot. Similar to takikomi gohan, kamameshi is a type of Japanese pilaf cooked with various types of meat, seafood, and vegetables. By cooking it in an iron pot, the rice gets slightly burned at the bottom which adds a desirable flavor to the rice. It is often sold as ekiben.'

After lunch we went in search of the famed coffee specialist (or so they called themselves), Brother Baba Budan on Lt Bourke St just off Elizabeth St.

Word of warning, there is no signage.

Regular house blend

The place was super busy with tourists and nearby office crowds who were obviously loyal patrons for coffee break.

Unfortunately my cup of coffee was lacklustre.

The milk was barely warm and the coffee tasted bitter which lingered quite a while >_<. If this is Melbournian's idea of a terrific coffee specialist boutique or whatever fancy name they call themselves, I =X. $3.50 wasted. Period.

They should come north and try our Merlo and Campos.

Merlo's current coffee of the month is Costa Rican bean. Medium to dark roast bean. Medium bodied and smooth. Very good coffee bean.

I normally buy from the torrefazione (Italian for coffee roasting house) on James St where they also offered complimentary cup of your choice of beans to try.

Very clever tactic and I am sure they have got themselves many loyal customers. Myself included. But only because the coffee is really good. I switch between Campos and Merlo.

[Melbourne 2009] Dainty Sichuan

Dainty Sichuan 天府川菜馆
26 Corrs Lane
Melbourne

Visited 11 March 2009 for dinner.

To get to the restaurant, you have to walk towards the end of Corrs Lane which is a wet and smelly cobbled alleyway.

Big King was so unsure, halfway in the alley, he actually turned and walked back to Lt Bourke St and stand and lookabout for a while.

Cheh, so angry, I insisted on going.

Cold noodles

Dressed heavily in chili oil. It made my mouth burn but it was so addictive I couldn't stop.

Spicy cumin pork ribs 孜然排骨

So spicy, my mouth felt like its been injected with botox. By the time I was on my second piece, I wanna cry out for mercy.

Princess actually liked and ate quite a bit. She kept asking the next few days, 'Got anymore of 'that meat'?'; 'are we going to eat 'that meat' again?'

Fish fragrant eggplant (made-up name, direct translate from Chinese) 鱼香茄子

The sauce reminded me of our Malay keropok (ubi kentang coated in sweet chili paste).

Yet another addictive dish.

The eggplant was crispy on the outside with soft and melt-in-the-mouth flesh inside.

Superb skill from the chef.

All the dishes are by no means 'dainty'. Its best to go in a group or at least four, lest you will find it difficult to finish the dishes.

We arrived around 6.20 and there was already a queue formed. We waited for like 20 minutes before sitting down. The queue was worse when we left.

It was a weekday night but I was actually not surprised.

After dinner, it was drizzling but we strolled over to Nam Loong on Russel St for some steamed custard bun.

The steamed custard bun was average. It was not steam well enough, I bit into granulated sugar (which should have been dissolved thus creating a molten effect) and thus was not impressed.

But the big chicken pau was good. We even tapao (takeaway) a couple to be eaten on the flight back (we flew Virgin, no meal provided).

[Brisbane] Chouquette - Opera Gateau

Taking a break from the Melbourne posts.


Opera Gateau from Chouquette

New offering from Chouquette few months ago, I think February.

Moist jaconde, nice coffee buttercream and rich chocolate ganache.

What's not to like.

[Melbourne 2009] Espressino; Laurent Bakery

Espressino
Madame Brussels Lane
50 Lonsdale St
Melbourne (CBD)

Visited 11 March 2009 for lunch.


Piadina Cotto AUD8

Piadina is an Italian flat bread. I ordered the Cotto with ham, mushroom and cheese. After one bite, my heart OS: should have just gone across the road to Piadina Slowfood =X.

Also had a flat white, the cafe served Romacaffe (AUD3). It was served in a smallish cappucino cup and saucer -_-''.

After eating, I quickly left. The place was super busy with nearby office crowd.

Er, haha siao chabo I know. I taught her to pose with the hands on her hip but then it came out..... XD. Hahaha.

Taken at a building along Lonsdale St.

After a lacklustre lunch, we went for tea at Laurent again.


Auteil AUD6.95

Auteil - Vanilla mousse, caramelised mango, raspberry coulis, sable, fresh raspberries & meringue.

Princess ate the mousse but left the rest.

No food luck during the day :-( but we had the most memorable dinner ever!

[Melbourne 2009] Red Silks

Red Silks Restaurant
Level 1, 200 Bourke St
Melbourne

Visited 10 Mar 2009 for dinner.

Big King had work dinner commitment, so Princess and I went looking for something simple to eat. Actually not hungry meh, but I want to try out some new restaurants.


Dimly lit bar like interior.

The restaurant is up a flight of stairs above Breadtop.

Hokkien fried rice AUD11.40 (including a glass of iced lemon tea)

As soon as I entered the restaurant, I regretted. The interior was dimly lit, the round fake leather sofa seats were all cracks and the colour faded. Seriously they had seen better days. Worse, I can smell cigarette smoke in the air.

But the very friendly waiter greeted us and informed smoking was only allowed outside in the balcony seats.

Ah well, since we were already there and Dessert House Eatery was full house when we passed by earlier. I decided to give it a go.

Menu had a decent pan-Asian selection with some interesting daily specials dishes on blackboard.

The restaurant did not fill up the whole time we were there. This really puzzled me after I tasted the Hokkien fried rice.

This was the first time I ever heard of and ordered a Hokkien fried rice. It was egg fried rice topped with stir fry of chicken and vegetables in sauce.

It was good, really good. In fact, me and Princess polished off the whole bowl and we went away tummy healed. Very weird, I know. Healed with a fried rice?? Come on. But it was true, come the next morning, we woke up very hungry and eager for more food to fill our tummy. Hooray, no more rennie :-) and the bread roll from Breadtop, really sick of it by now.

While devouring the fried rice, I started to seriously study the specials menu on the wall and the more I read on the more I felt like trying everything! Deep fried fish in special spicy sauce, golden prawns coated in yolks, soft shell crabs.

The place was popular with students and after work office people. I can hear murmurs of satisfaction from neighbouring tables. 'Oh, this is so good,' 'Oh, so tasty,' 'hau hau chze,' etc.

I actually saw a Causasian man ordering two dishes. A rice dish and a plate of char kway teow (fried rice noodles). Everything was polished off @@. He came after us and left before us @____@.

We never had a chance to come back. Too many restaurants to try too little time.

[Melbourne 2009] Le Petit Gateau

Le Petit Gateau
458 Lt Collins St
Melbourne (CBD)

10 Mar 2009 morning.

After an egg muffin for breakfast at the hotel, Princess and me hopped on the circle tram, again. This time we were heading for Crown Casino.

Usual chain stores in the shopping foyer *yawn*.

Took a few photos of the food-court and cafes.


Upmarket stalls at the food court.


Cake cabinet in one of the cafes.

Today's lunch was still the bread rolls from Breadtop.

Then we headed to Le Petit Gateau.

Bottom: Brownie and Passionfruit Chocolate Crunchy

Brownie base, crunchy praline, passionfruit custard with chocolate mousse.

Top: Kyoto

Sesame biscuit base, green tea mousse, caramel and adzuki bean.

We were served iced water with straws as soon as we sat down. The waiter was very pleasant and helpful. Score. Tick.

We took a long time to finish the cakes. The flavours were rich and intense, which was great, under normal circumstances. But we went with a sick tummy so the richness became, unfortunately, a burden.

Though the flavours were great and all, they were let down by the dry brownie base and dry and brittle sesame biscuit base. I ate everything but left most of the bases on both cakes.

Total bill AUD13.

I would have came here everyday instead of Laurent if it wasn't too long a walk.