[Brisbane] Nudo's on Mary

Nudo's on Mary
62 Mary St
Brisbane CBD

Once in a while, I have cravings for oily fried kway teow (now, that's never gonna happen in my kitchen) and the place that comes to mind is always Nudo's on Mary.

Not that their version is the oiliest that you can find around. I just like eating their kway teow, plain and simple.


Fried kway teow

Prawn noodle soup

Noodles an vermicelli in spicy prawn broth served with prawns, fish cake, boiled egg and roast pork (char siew).

Lobak

Deep fried pork roll, kind of like spring roll.

[Sydney June 2010] Le Grand Cafe

Le Grand Cafe
Grd Fl Alliance Française
257 Clarence St
Sydney NSW 2000

After an unfruitful rummaging through $1/$2 Japanese knick-knack shop on Clarence St, we decided to have lunch nearby. I wanted to go to Plan B initially but it is really just a takeaway joint beside Becasse and I didn't want to sit on the street, much too cold and it was drizzling.

So we went across the road and into Le Grand Cafe.


Croque-monsieur - $8.00

Although the cafe wasn't packed and only one other table waiting, the croque monsieur did not arrive some twenty minutes after ordering.

It's just a friggin toasted cheese and ham sandwich, how long can it be?? Sigh, by the time it arrived, my hot chocolate was half gone (I struggled not to finish it) and became cold chocolate. Worse still, the appetite was gone because the chocolate came in a big tall mug. I was full and sick from the chocolate. Grrrr....

Lucky I was sharing with Princess.

Though not hungry, we finished the sandwich quickly. The hot and toasted sandwich with melty cheese was very comfoting on a cold rainy day.

The much awaited desserts quickly arrived after the bread board was cleared.


Petit pot au chocolat - $8.00

Normally I shun chocolatey desserts, chocolate cake, chocolate ice-cream, chocolate whatever, I reject them all. I like to eat just plain chocolate and sometimes with fancy fillings.

But other choices look less appealing so I went for the chocolate pot. Looks plain and boring but the nut praline topping looked and smell delicious.

Digging in, the chocolate was extremely smooth and not too sweet. I understand why when I digged my spoon further in, there is chocolate truffle hidden inside and at the bottom sit a pool of caramel sauce. Surprise much. I quietly squealed inside my head as I revealed the treasure underneath.

Out of this world.


Tarte du jour, strawberry tart - $8.00

Even withough the glace, the strawberries were sweet. Custard a bit hard and too set for my liking. Tart bottom looked hard and heavy. Sure enough, I can't even cut through it with a knife. You will have to really force your knife through and then the pieces will fly away when you succeeded.

In the end I just eat it with my hands and fed Princess. The tart was too big a piece for princess to handle. Strangely, the pastry melted in my mouth and actually quite light on the palette. It was good.

The tart was less memorable, still, it was tasty with nice custard and delicious strawberries.

The chocolate pot is da BOMB!

It's a nice place to chill and away from the hustle and bustle of main street and busy shopping centres and food court nearby.

It you were lucky, you might catch Justin North coming in to check on his crew!

[Shopping] Skinstore Autumn Sale

Get shopping and fantastic deals on the internet with the strong Australian currency now.

Skinstore from the USA is having a 20% promo on all its products. Its massive savings!

Get your much hyped Clarisonic here, it will be way cheaper than getting it from Myer.

I bought a pink Clarisonic Mia (USD149, before discount) with extra brush heads (2 for USD40 before discount) for only USD151.20. Shipping is only USD14.95 using USPS or if you are desperate to have it within a week use Fedex at USD34.95, ouch! personally I think it's not worth it.

There are also lots of other cult brands but sadly some can't be shipped outside the US like Skinmedica :-(.

Regarding the charger, it can be used in Australia with an adapter, you do not need a step down transformer. Yay, beauty!

Note: this is not a sponsored post nor do I work for Skinstore.

I trawled the net each day for bargains, kakakaka.

[Brisbane] Banneton Bakery, Woolloongabba

Banneton Bakery
25 Balaclava St
Woolloongabba
Website: http://www.banneton.com.au/


There is also another shop at Ashgrove.

If you have been to Pennisi Cuisine, the Woolloongabba bakery is just two doors away.

If you haven't been to Pennisi, get there NOW!! It's a foodie treasure cove! There are products from all over the world including a chiller cabinet of wonderful cheese, smallgoods and pickled olives, Sugo Mi pizza base, pastizzis, Dutch caramel stroopwaffle (YUM!), nuts and pulses and a whole hoardes of other continental goodies.

Wall of fantastic wood-fired sourdough bread behind the cashier/counter.

My faourite is definitely the New York deli rye. Also available are turkish bread, foccacia, kaiser rolls, baguettes and various sourdough loaves.

They do simple breakfasts on weekends, the menu will be posted at the counter.

Bostok

Weird as the name may sound, this is actually a delicious combination of brioche bread topped with raspberry conserve and frangipane. Brioche is light and cake-like. Princess' favourite.

Blueberry friand

As easy as friand's recipe may look, it is actually quite a skill to get it right. Banneton's version is absolutely spot on. It may look and feel dense and undercooked when you cut into it but once you popped in your mouth, it straightaway crumble and melt away, extremely light on the palate. Now that's a well-made friand.

However..........there are bad friand days at the bakery........oh yes, do not buy if the top hasn't risen to a golden hue. I once bought a sticky undermixed friand with floppy sunken top, big mistake..........my bad, I should have known better.......

Apple nougatine

This is ordinary, I found the apple too cooked, mushed to nothingness almost like puree. Perhaps its the way it should be. just not my cup of tea. But the topping of nougatine is delicious. The pastry a bit wet and gluey, I prefer a light and crumbly tart case.

Nuts and grains sourdough loaf

The star of the bakery is definitely its range of bread. Like I mentioned before, I heart their New York deli rye. The smell was incredible and when I cut into it I realised it's the onions, delicious!

[Sydney June 2010] Bacco Pasticceria

Bacco Pasticceria
Chifley Plaza
2 Chifley Square
Sydney


After lunch at Chat Thai, we walked around Haymarket.

The rain kept going and when it get really heavy, we hopped on the free green city loop bus and hopped off near Chifley Square. The rain was so heavy, we couldn't see past the window so we decided to get some sweets and head back to the hotel.

It was lunch time and the place was super busy.

Oh, everything looks good behind the glass. After consulting with Princess almighty we got the pear and caramel and chocolate mousse on a bed of chocolate crispy balls and a pistachio macaron.

The cake was very good but the chocolate balls were chewy. Pear and caramel were a great pairing! The mousse was smooth and flavorful. The poached pear was delicious, flavorful and hold its shape, not mushy! Macaron was disapointing though, the shell was dry and chewy and I can taste strong almond essence, ewwww. It's just almond essence is my 'enemy', I don't like it and it doesn't like me. I felt pukey and light-headed when I taste it, eww, eww, ewww.

I thought the gateau was fantastic and made a mental note to return and try the other offerings but the thought was completely forgotten when I met Justin North's exquisite creations and Adriano Zumbo's legendary creations. Watch this space.

[Brisbane] The Little Cube

The Little Cube
千里香私房菜
Shop 90
Sunnybank Plaza
Tel: 07 3210 5775


Spicy Mung Bean strip


Sweet and sour pork

There should be another dish but it came some 40 minutes later after the econd dish was placed on the table. We had to ask twice and the wait staff did not come back with any explanation. What made it worse was it was very difficult to flag them down. When we decided not to wait anymore and leave, the dish suddenly appear.

Return factor: -1.0

While waiting (im)patiently for the last dish, I overheard the next table speaking to the Captain (Chinese way of describing head waitstaff) looking woman, I can't help it, the tables are too close to each other and I was bored out of my teeth.

Woman and man (speaking simultaneously),"The meat you used, are they fresh?"

Captain, very quickly continue,"Of course they are fresh, we only use the freshest ingredient."

Woman and man,"But the meat has this strong smell," without any chance of making themselves clear the Captain quickly intercepted,"oh, I guarantee the meat is fresh, it's the way the animal is slaughtered here, they don't drain the blood first hence the strong bloody smell linger on the meat."

Man and woman,"Oh really........" Didn't look or sound convinced.

Now of all my experience of buying/eating pork in Brisbane, I have never encounter such said pork that reeked of old fridge and foul blood.

It's never my intention to review/publish post of underperform restaurant/cafe in my own opinion but it was the exchange between the staff and the customers that I want to highlight. I would have the same conversation with the Captain myself (same sentiments with the complaining couple after eating the sweet and sour pork) had it not been for the bad experience and my intention of returning is zero. So I didn't bother.

In the end the couple took away the complained dish, now I don't understand why they did this after making the complain. We left our unfinished sweet and sour pork. Our last dish fared worse, it was all (chicken)bone and dried chilli pieces with crystals of undissolved MSG.

Well, the place is very popular with queues on weekend. It's just not agreeing with our palate, to each his/her own.

[Sydney Jun 2009] Din Tai Fung @World Square

Din Tai Fung
644 George St
Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9264 6010

First night in Sydney...still raining.....orz.........

I made plan to meet with cousin, H, who lives and works in Sydney. Oh, I haven't seen him in ages, like, two years.

I gave him pandan chiffon cake and leftover cruller frm Chat Thai lunch. Hehe, hope he doesn't mind that it's not as good as his dad's.

This was the queue when we left at around 7.30pm. The place was half-filled when we arrived at 6-ish and thus were promptly seated.

We were so excited to be visiting Din Tai Fung Sydney as we remembered our meals from DTF Taipei with utmost fondness.

Default order, xiaolongbao, dainty little morsels of gastronomic delight.

Hmm, I popped one in my mouth and frankly speaking, taste was average and filling was a bit dry even with the soup swimming inside.

H had chicken chop served with fried rice. I stole some chicken from him. Yum.

Big (pork-chop face) King had what else but pork chop served with fried rice.

Fried rice here was rather good but still miles away from Taiwan's version who used top-notch rice (from who knows where) and spring onions from Yilan complete with wok-hei.

Oh, sesame paste noodles, my favourite. I had been dreaming about this for ages. Can't find the likes of this in Brisbane, sien. I had it mild, they normally comes spicier, as I am sharing with Princess.

Stir-fried spinach with garlic

Finally, some green for fibre. This was executed well and nicely seasoned to my taste.

[Brisbane] Shangpaign Shanghainese Cuisine

Shangpaign Kitchen
Centro Pinelands
Pinelands Road
Sunnybank Hills
Qld 4109

There are not many Shanghainese restaurants in Brisbane, I can only think of three other on top of my head.

The newcomer to the scene is Shangpaign which in my opinion serves the best xiaolongbao (steamed minced pork dumplings) in Brisbane and kick-arse soup filled pan-fried buns.

Braised gluten 四喜烤麸

A classic Shanghainese cold dish consisting of gluten, peanuts, black fungus and shiitake mushroom. Salty and sweet with a hint of star anise.

Salted duck

Another cold dish, duck is nicely seasoned.

Xiaolongbao (steamed minced pork dumplings)

Ver tasty morsels of soup filled dumplings with thin and resilient skin. A must order.

Pan-fried pork buns

These are absolutely delicious! My personal top pick. Soft buns with crispy bottom filled with soupy minced pork filling (probably the same as the xiaolongbao's.) Heaven!

Yam and pork ribs in earthen? pot

Yam is hard and not cooked enough but ribs are soft and fell apart without much prying. Finger licking good, hmmm.

Garlic chicken

Deep-fried chicken pieces tossed in crispy seasoned garlic. The chicken pieces were mostly bones and the garlic is too salty. Presentation is good though.

Sweet and sour fish 衳鼠黃魚

Umm, the chef really should brush up their knife skill *cough* ahemmmm. Lacklustre and forgettable.

The restaurant itself is pretty tiny with 10 tables or so amd can get pretty busy. But turnover is quick and especially if you are a fan of xiaolongbao, it's definitely worth the wait.

[Sydney Jun 2010] Chat Thai

Chat Thai
20 Campbell St
Haymarket
Website: www.chatthai.com.au


As soon as I saw Chat Thai featured in Food Safari, I made a mental note that I would make a visit if I were in Sydney.

My cousin strongly recommended it when I told him I was going to Sydney.

'It's very authentic,' he said. Magic word. Now I die die must go.

But weather was not kind to us when we visited, it ws pouring on our way from Westin to Myer, luckily the Myer building was connected to QVB via an underground passage.

We found the free CBD shuttle outside Sheraton, hopped on it and alighted at Chinatown. Campbell St was just a few steps away from the stop, opposite Capitol Building.

It was early when we arrived, the legendary snaking queue was nowhere to be seen. We scored a table easily.

The place was quickly filled up as the dining room was quite compact, long and narrow. The tables were within inches of each other and the patrons sit elbow to elbow.

Not a place for private chit-chat.

Crullers with kaya dip

My uncle made better ones :-(. Kaya was weak and very (too) lemak.


Suko thai AUD8.90 (with or without consomme)

Thin rice noodles in spicy chicken stock with fish paste dumplings, dried shrimps and pork loin; finished of with peanuts and finely sliced green beans.

Very tasty dish, the soup packed a punch and the flavour was incredibly complex. You have sweet, salty, sour and umami swmming in your mouth and the back of your head.

Khanom jeeb AUD5 for 4 pcs

Steamed wonton dumplings with chicken and prawn filling.

Very good eaten with the smoky sweet and salty chilli sauce.

Oh, before I forget, there is a reader who wants to know where to get cake flour.

You can get them from Chinese supermarket which will say low gluten flour in Chinese or you can use 'Lighthouse' brand 'Cakes, biscuits and pastry self raising flour' available from Coles or Woolworths.

X Factor 2010 Australia. Harry Abu's audition.

This is the moment.

Brunei's Harry's chosen song to tell the world his inner turmoiling emotions.

Through tears before and during the actual audition he told the world he is gay and his parents resistance against it.

It was brave of him and I think there is no other more shocking/grander way to tell the world and his parents/friends/relatives back home in Brunei, if they don't already know.

Harry gave a very emotional performance and received standing ovation from some judges and spectators. It was a truly moving moment and I also shed a tear or two.

I wish him well and all the best in the competiton.

[Baking] Decadent treats: Pandan chiffon cake and custard cream

If you read my blog regularly, you will notice that I hardly ever visit any cafe.

Cafe culture might be all the rage here but if you could whip up cafe offerings easily at home...........why bother wasting time and money to visit one.

Now if you could whip up a plate of fry-ups for breakfast or brunch in the time you take to drive out or walk to the cafe. Why waste time and petrol?

And if you could cook the stuff for say fry-ups (2 sausages, 2 bacon, hash brown, 2 eggs and 2 pieces of toast, grilled tomatoes) for less than $5, how is it justified paying around $16 for it in a cafe? Not guaranteeing you will even get gourmet sausages, free-range eggs, heritage tomatoes, nice streaky bacon and sourdough toast.

Not to mention the super cheap and fast pancakes you can make at home but in a cafe you will have to fork out around $13 for just a stack of maybe 3 pancakes with some sauce and maybe ice-cream.

It's all very well if people go out to cafe to chill-out, take a break from hectic work week. But I am a stay at home mum and I love to do cooking/baking. So naturally, cafe is just not an attractive option when I go out for food.

I was supposed to be talking about cakes and cookies but I digress.

There are always baked goodies at home; cheesecake, chiffon cake, devilish chocolate cakes, chocolate cookies, melting moments.

And especially when you have merlo coffee, Mariage Freres tea, Lupicia tea and my all time favourite Lipton intense in your cupboard (I don't profess to be a coffee or tea connoisseur, it's just a matter of taste like and dislike for me) , all the less reason to venture out of the house for breakfast, morning or afternoon tea.

But I still have my weakness for beautifully baked goodies from Chouquette and the awesome wood-fired grains and nut sourdough from Banneton Bakery and the macarons from Twist n Roll.

Pictured pandan chiffon cake was made with Leslie from ieat's fantastic recipe. I am still on the lookout for the perfect recipe for I feel the cake's texture could be softer like the result I get from my 4 eggs recipe. I have yet to adapt that recipe for a pandan version.

Custard creams which commonly known as melting moments is one of those thing you can't stop popping into your mouth. You just have to reach for another one after the last one. I got the recipe from a friend, S and the result was delicious and light eventhough there is no cornflour in the recipe, widely regarded as the reason for the lightness in melting moments.

Custard creams

160g butter

1/2 cup icing sugar

1 1/2 cup plain flour

1/2 cup custard powder

1. Beat butter and sugar till pale and flufy.

2. Sith flour and custard powder togther.

3. Gradually add to butter till mixed to a stiff paste.

4. Roll into balls, press flat. If desired, press with a fork for pattern.

5. Cook in preheated oven at 160 degree celcius (fan-forced) fo 10 to 15 minutes.

Icing

25g butter, softened

1/2 tsp finely grated orange/lemon rind

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1/3 cup icing sugar

2 tsp custard powder

Happy baking!

[Brisbane] Malaya Corner

Malaya Corner
Market Square
Shop 38, 319-341 Mains Rd
SUNNYBANK
QLD 4109


Prawn noodles

Mixture of noodles and vermiceli in prawn stock.


Stir fried carrot cake

Cubed steamed carrot cake stir fried with egg, sambal (spicy paste), chai poh (pickled vege), beansprouts and spring onion.

Cheap, no-frill place with efficient service.

[Brisbane] Bamboo Basket at Southbank

Bamboo Basket
189 Grey St Shop 1003-1004
Brisbane, 4101


Busness was brisk but not very busy on a Sunday lunch time.

Service was hit and miss, it was difficult to flag down a waitress.

From the lunch menu, dumpling noodle soup. Unremarkable, soup was bland and noodles too soft fitting for baby's consumption. The dumplings' filling was good and was the same as the xiao long baos' meat filling.

From the a la carte menu, dan dan noodles.

Pretty disappointing as it came as noodles in sweet and sour broth with sprinkles of sesame and crushed peanuts on top. Needless to say, weird. But if haven't the faintest idea of a genuine version, you might actually enjoy this. The sweet and sour broth is pleasing to the palate. My benchmark will be Din Tai Fung's version though my favourite is from Imperial Treasure Nanbei in Singapore.

From the a la cate menu, pancakes with savoury chicken and vegetables filling. Quite tasty with generous fillings. I just wish it has some kind of sauce to go with it.

I forgot to snap the xiao long bao as we were too busy eating it while piping hot. Their version is decent, tasty meat filling with juice but I find the skin too thick.

Now these tasty morsels are hard to perfect. The skin has to be thin and resilient with standard 18 pleats and the filling has to be moist with right amount of soup so the skin is not torn when you tried to pick one up with your chopsticks. My favourite was those from Shangpayne in Sunnybank Hills.

[Brisbane] Salsa's, Mexican fast food at Westfield Garden City

I often find myself in Westfield Garden City.

It has a fantastic library. I used to bring Princess there every wednesday for story telling and borrow some children books. After that, we will walk about the centre a bit and then had our lunch there.

Our favourite stall is undoubtedly Hanaichi but ever since Salsa's opened last year, it quickly became our second favourite.



My pick from Salsa's is the fajitas combo; fajita, spiced crinkle fries (must have) and a drink.

Salsa's version of fajita is herb and lemon rice with char-grilled chicken strips and vegetables rolled in a wrap. Very tasty.

[Brisbane] Yum Cha at Big Gun Chinese Restaurant, Underwood

Big Gun Chinese Restaurant
Shop 7/2922 Logan Rd
Underwood 4119 QLD

The variety of dim sum at Big Gun is second to none in Brisbane.

This may be my favourite yum cha haunt at the moment but there are some hit and miss items like the chicken pie.

I favour this place over others because they do baos (buns) rather well. Dough was light and fluffy which showed that it has been well proved (traditional Chinese dough proving method for the cha siew bun with a smiling crack will take three days).

Their signature turnip pastry is indeed very good and I often find myself over order just to have some leftovers for lunch next day.

Sometimes you might see some unusual items on offer like fried milk pudding and pig's blood. The waiters will occasionally go from table to table bearing a tray of small plates of boiled vegetables, sweet and sour pork, roast meats and etc.

This place can get very busy on the weekends (but not to Landmark's extent) but turnover is quick.