Continuation from my last post:-
(i) Chai outing with Chai Gang at Giraffe Cafe
Chocolate brownie
After a long awaited catch up sesh, we finally got what we wanted - Chai Latte.
I liked the one here. Tea was smooth but not too sweet. And especially the froth. Very thick and "hard", can feel each bubble on your lips
Chai Gang =]
Suddenly joined by a friend who was supposed to be studying for exams but instead decided to "take a break"
Deep fried eggplant
Mamak Mee Goreng
Penang Char Kuay Teow
Murtabak
Hands down the best Kebab joint in town
Should've seen it up close. Sizzling beauty... Ahhh...
My mixed kebab goodness with extra Jalapenos... MMM - MMM - MMMM...
Excellent choice of restaurant, all our first time. My new favourite Jap BBQ place. GOOD and CHEAP ooh la la
Assorted sauces
Freshly ground pepper and seeds (for fun)
Japanese Plum Wine, quite nice
Assorted Yakitori - YUM
The salads were really good. Tuna sashimi salad
Squid salad - YUM!!
Forgot what kinda Korean pancakes
Kimchi pancakes
Ox tongue - a must have for me at Korean/Jap BBQs
BBQ platter - all this for only $33.50. More than enough for the 6 of us sharing! DAMN CHEAP
Fiery char goodness
Beef Tataki - LOVE IT!
Gyoza. The one they served at church last Sunday during communion lunch was better actually lol
Green tea, black sesame and vanilla ice cream
Erm, red beans, ice cream and jelly dessert thingo
Birthday cake =]
(v) Sam's farewell party/potluck at Arrow
Ellie's hokkien mee MMM... Look at all the yummy pork crackling goodness up close and centre... Gonna make my own pork crackling from now on too =)
Ellie's deep fried eggplants with fish paste from Footscray - YUM!
Devon's sweet potato chips with guacamoleee...
Ellie's chikky wings... I looove chikky wings so much
Grace's Chinese Red Wine Pork - a typical Foochow dish
The mango pudding I made for the event, wishing my BFBD all the best =]
Okay I read about this restaurant on several food blogs and am SO glad that I went here with my friends. One of my new favourite Japanese restaurants (when I'm feeling rich). Fusion between Japanese-Italian cuisine (more famous in Japan than in Australia), somewhere I will bring my friends who wish to pamper themselves with good quality Japanese meal.
What a satisfying meal it was. With my friends and I going "yum yum yum!!" all throughout dinner. This place is definitely going in the books. And it's located right in the city - too easy!
Oven roasted octopus with garlic sauce
SO GOOD... You really learn to be selfless when you're eating something like this by letting your friends have the last piece ;p
Tuna Carpaccio. Sauce was so good that I had to have the last drop, look:
Chicken Karaage yummo~~
Sirloin steak - so good that I thought I was eating Wagyu!
Last but not least, the famous Horoki Pasta with spicy cod roe butter sauce YU-YU-YU-YUMMOOOO... This pasta is SOO good. Read about it so many times in previous websites and finally got to taste it. And trust me, this dish does NOT disappoint MMM...
If only you could see all the cod roe goodness in each bite. Another plate licking dish
Dessert platter. Creme brulee was too eggy, green tea ice cream was meh. But the tiramisu was good (though I'd prefer more liquer) and panna cotta with strawberry coulis was my favourite
I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. The only place worth eating Szechuan food is at this restaurant. So convenient to get to from the city too.
Am glad that it was only 4 of us that night, which made more sense to eat the hotpot. Something I've always wanted to try but could never get around to because I love the cooked dishes too much so it was hard to pass up every time we're there heh
Sweet and sour pork ribs. A good dish to order to restore your palates
No Szechuan meal is complete without the Water Boiled Fish, aka "Shui Zhu Yu". Oh so good. BEST in town
Xiao Long Bao. Actually think the meat inside had more "soup" and better than that at Hu Tong. Was softer and more tender like the beef balls in Dim Sum restaurants. BUT, the skin was thick and soup slightly oilier.
Also, they were bigger than usual and were all stuck together which made some of them tear when you tried to take them out. Overall, should stick with what you know and only leave the XLBs for Hu Tong another day
Mixed between normal and EXTRA HOT soup. This did not lead to anything good the morning after
The Big Intestines (centre) were SO GOOD! Even if you're not an intestine lover, you'll love these! Ohh yumm... Really liked the pigs blood (right) as well =)
Thank God for this. I like Chinese beer. So nice and light. Perfect to wash down your burning mouth
TOO SPICY BUT DON'T CARE CAUSE IT WAS OH SO GOOD =X
(viii) Miscellaneous
Macarons from Vic Market. Pretty as a peach but worst I've ever had. Don't consider macarons at all. More like solidified sugar and icing. No wonder they didn't melt under the Melbourne heat. Damn expensive too - 4 for $10 arghhh!!
Pizza takeaway from Pizza Hut on our last day of study group. My favourite was the BBQ garlic, bacon and prawns pizza (right). Everything else was okay. Gonna stick back to Domino's Double Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza next time
(ix) Home-cooked meals
Study snack one night, steamed siu mai (bought frozen) lol
Was craving pasta bake one day so I decided to make my own at home =]
Went really well with the blanched veg (at the back). Which I ate a mountain of mmm mmm...
Shrimp omelette with Butter Chicken sauce by Jimmy from Masterchef
Making of jelly oranges!!
Turned out REALLY good!! Was sooo happy with the texture and colour. Much more natural cause completely made with own juice too MMMM
Recipe: here. But with slight modifications. I used 3 tbsp for 1lt of liquid. Nice and WOBBLY outcome. Would increase it slightly to 3.5 or 4 tbsp in the future though =)
AWESOME Bovril Pasta with beef balls and asparagus. What a quick and easy lunch. Most people know that I LOVE LOVE LOVE Bovril. Bring bottles of it to Melb every year, can't survive here without it. My ultimate comfort food.
Recipe: here. Bro used to make this at KK but without the butter. Would definitely recommend him to do so from now on to make it so much more smoother.
Vanilla Ice Cream with bananas and mango puree from my previous Perth Trip
I LOVE making porridge at home. Usually like it with minced beef, carrots and seaweed with the condiments above mmm...
Had friends eating this with me so went all out with the sides: Fried dace with black beans/preserved vegetables and century/salted eggs
Dinner party with KK friends (during exams actually lol). LOVE roasting lamb leggs at home with seeded mustard (for crunch), garlic and rosemary ooh la laaa~
The final product after 2.5 hrs. My house smelt so good after that lol
LOOOVE gravy. Still very Asian cause much prefer to eat roast lamb nicely steamed rice than potato =]
Mango Pudding. A really yummy dessert to make for parties because it uses Mango Ice Cream too. Highly recommend it to every one (especially beginners like myself) cause it's so EASY and TASTY! To me, it's not cheating because good mango ice cream is really hard to make yourself anyway.
Unless you have the time and effort to make your own mango sorbet, I'd say the store bought ones is good enough - but only the good and natural ones though! Fortunately for us in Australia, brands like Weis is available in most supermarkets. Recipe: here.
Another dessert that I often make for my friends at dinner parties. Milk Agar Agar. A recipe my helper in KK taught me. Will post the recipe one day. SO EASY and good mmm...
The happy people =)
Finally, my Dong Bo Pork. Have read so many variations of this dish in so many blogs. Finally gave this one a go because it seemed simplest. Flavour was amazing.
But I think my steaming method was slightly off. By the end of it, there wasn't much water (hence steam) left in my wok at the end of the 30mins so it wasn't steamed as much as it should have. Need to find a way to steam it better next time.
