Warning: Over-accumulation of pictures and posts once again! Yikeszo =/
1. Out and About
Current favourite James Squire Ale
(i) Dinner at D.O.C. Pizza, Lygon
Antipasto platter: Favourite one in Melbourne
Tiger Prawns Pizza: Good
Prosciutto and Buffalo Cheese Pizza: Can't say no to Prosciuttos!
Truffle Pizza: Had wild mushrooms which were MIND BLOWING!
(ii) Lunch at Hu Tong Dumpling Bar, Chinatown
Xiao Long Baos: BEST in town
Pork Belly cooked in Chilli Oil: A dish that I ALWAYS order when I'm there
Dan Dan Noodles (in soup): Not as spicy as it looks
"Yu Xiang Qie Zhi" aka "Fish Smell Eggplant": Rather bland but was okay
(iii) Snack at T.G.I.F, South Yarra
Deep-fried Mac and Cheese: Not oily, good!
DELICIOUS
(iv) Dinner at Dainty Sichuan, South Yarra
"Sui Zhu Yu" aka "Water Boiled Fish": BEST in town!
"Kou Sui Ji" aka "Salivating Chicken": EXCELLENT cold dish, one of my fav that night!
"Yu Xiang Qie Zhi" aka "Fish Smell Eggplant": One of the best I've had. Good sauce and CRISPY
"Ya Qian Niu Rou" aka "Toothpick Beef": One of my fav Sichuan dishes, yum!
Stir-fried Vegetables with Tofu Skin: Ultimate lifesaver at Sichuan meals mmm
Deep-fried Pork Intestines with Dried Chilli: BEST in town - huge hit that night!!
Deep-fried Lamb Ribs with Spices: Not bad
I was given free reign to order the dishes that night so I called for every single one of my ALL-TIME favourite Sichuan dishes (as you can see!)
(v) Lunch at Sushi Ten, Port Philip Arcade, CBD
Salmon Bones: SOO good!!
Salmon Don: By far my FAVOURITE in Melbourne
(vi) Snacks at Lindt Cafe, Collins Street
Assorted Macarons: Don't really have a sweet tooth, so was okay
(vii) Dessert at Passionflower, Bourke Street
Black Pearl: Sorry, but I really don't like this place at all. HIGHLY overrated
Master Dessert (or something): There's nothing on this plate that I like. BLAND and not fresh
(viii) Drinks at Ten Ren Tea, Swanston Street
WARM Taro Milk Tea: Really like how they served it and used real Taro
(ix) Dinner at Mediterraneo, Port Melbourne
Went here for first time. BESTTT Steak House (with specialised Grain Fed and Aged Beef) I've eaten at in Melbourne! TOP NOTCH seriously blown away
Bread Basket with Olives, Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar: Bread was soft, meh
Garden Salad with Avocado and Citrus Dressing: GOOD! Fresh fresh fresh ingredients
King Island Eye Fillet with Brandy and Pepper Sauce: DELICIOUS
Tey's Gold Beef (I think) T-Bone Steak with Aged Muscat and Mushroom Sauce: BEST STEAK I'VE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE
Selection of sauces: Seeded Mustard, Sweet Mustard and Horseradish
(x) Supper at Gami, Little Lonsdale Street
Original and Gourmet Sweet Chilli Korean Fried Chicken: EXCELLENT yum yum yum!!
2. Home-cooked Meals:
Cheese-baked Cauliflowers with Crumbed Chicken: Chicken Chop (thighs only) has always been one of my favourite childhood food
Marinated Lamb Chops with Mint (from Coles, lol!): Surprisingly good! Excellent marinade
Mum's Steamed Prawns with Shao Xing Wine: One of my fav ways to cook prawns, thanks Mum!!
Finished product: Egg white serves as an indicator of readiness of prawn. As you can tell from the intense whiteness, SLIGHTLY overcooked but still delicious!
Mum's Chinese Steamed Fish: LOVE it. Will do this more myself from now on
Mum's Assam Ox Tail: SOOO GOOD!!! Can't wait to make it myself again yummm
First dinner back from Adelaide =]
Fruits from Victoria Market. Cherries not as sweet as Adelaide, grr! Btw, my favourite colours put side by side is always Green and Red
Malaysian Banana Pancakes with Lemon Coconut Curd: SOO yummy! Loved it so much. Recipe from raspberri cupcakes as mentioned on Rasa Malaysia
3. Adelaide Trip (the Best of...)
(i) Supper at Cafe de Vili's
Pork Schnitzel: Was okay but gravy too thick
Chunky Steak Pie Floater (i.e. Pie in Soup): Different way of having pie. Tasty but pie left soggy, still nice
(ii) Lunch at The Hahndorf Inn
Inside of German restaurant at Hahndorf, a quant little part of town just like Sassafras in Dandenong, Melbourne
Table-to-table live musician
Selection of mustards
Hofbrau Oktoberfest: Strong though pale in colour
German Steak Mixed Grill: Love the double smoked bacon and sauerkraut
Bavarian Kassler Chop: Love pork hock. But still prefer the deep fried version, Crispy Pata
(iii) Lunch at Sushi Train, Grenfell
One of the best sushi train restaurants we've ever been to, seriously
BEST thing about this place? The Aburi sushis. Seriously PERFECT
Aburi Salmon: SO good, couldn't get enough of this OMG
Salmon, Avocado and Onion Sushi: Good
Fried Salmon Skin: YUM! More tender compared to most salmon skin dishes
Kaki Furai (Deep Fried Oysters): PERFECT!
Salmon Roe Roll: Really nice
Chicken Karaage Set: LOVE the Miso here, YUMMY chicken!
Tempura Eggplant: Tasty
Spider Roll (Tempura Prawns and Avocado): YUM!!!
Aburi Wagyu: DELICIOUS!! Had so many of these to myself, seriously
Unagi and Tamago: Not bad
Not bad for 3 people, I'm sure most of you can do better
(iv) Dinner at Rice Chinese Cuisine
Sis and Mum outside the restaurant. The MAIN reason why this place is so good is that the chef, waiters and cashiers are all members of the Family business. GREAT
Cold Pork Hock with Oil, Scallions and Sweet Sauce: SOO delicious!!
Deep Fried Popiah: YUM!
Eel with Garlic, Chilli and Soy Sauce: SOOOOO friggin good omg
Deep Fried Tea Infused Duck: LOVED IT!
Beef with Seasonal Vegetable: Perfect example of how a simple dish can turn out extra ordinary if done well
Char Siu Pork Ribs: Always prefer to eat the meat off the bone
Fried String Beans with Belacan: Even better than the ones in Malaysia!
Red Bean and Sago Dessert (on the house): Should've been served really HOT
Very, very blessed meal with family friends! =]
(v) Lunch at Maggie Beer Farm Shop
First view of the shop/restaurant
Homey and lovely, very "Maggie Beer"
The Famous Pheasant Pie: Quite disappointed at first that it was pre-cooked but still tasted REALLY good. Salad was SO fresh my goodness
Cheese Basket: Quite disappointed also that it was only cheddar and the bread wasn't fresh but oh well. Expected since this is more of a shop than a restaurant
Bit of everything, hee...
Sparkling Juice (but forgot what): Nice
Fresh Raspberry Tart with Frangipane and Maggie's famous Sour Cream Pastry: Was rather let down that everything wasn't prepared in a kitchen, but THIS was the saving grace.
Perhaps the only thing prepared FRESH from the kitchen and by golly it was AMAZING. BESTTTT Fruit Tart I've ever had in my life!!! FRESH fruit with rich and buttery frangipane with ultra crisp pastry crust. DIVINE
With Sis. Lovely weather at Adelaide made the lunch so enjoyable
With Mum. Her idea to cross our arms lol
Not every day you see a friendly peacock roaming around at the car park. Again, very "Maggie Beer"
(vi) Lunch at Vietnam Restaurant, Pennington
Adelaide's most famous/awarded Vietnamese Restaurant. As you can see from the wall, not the most "humble" restaurant but they have every right to
(Make-your-own) Cold Rolls with Pork: SO DELICIOUS OMG
First, dip rice paper in water and place fillings on top
Then, you roll it up and ENJOY. YUMMMM
Barbequed Chilli Lemongrass Quails: SOO PERFECT OMG!!
Combination Rice Hot Pot: Was okay. Very similar to Chinese Rice Hot Pots
(vii) Lunch at Sushi Train, Grenfell (revisited)
So good (and partly cause we weren't sure where else to eat) that we came here again for our last lunch before flying back to Melbourne.
Pictures of some other stuff we didn't get to try on our first visit there.
Marinaded Scallops: MMMM...
Crispy Chicken Roll: Love fried chicken lol
Sushi and Salad (in Set Lunch): Again, one of the better Miso Soup I've tasted
Tempura Set Lunch: Really loved the fried vegetable pancakes!
Salmon, Avocado, Prawn Sushi (no, duh): GOOD
Aburi Scallop: YUM!!! Seriously can't get enough of their Aburi sushis
Lobster Volcano Ship: Quite nice lol
Sea Urchin Ship: Not a huge fan of urchins but try only lol
(iv) Miscellaneous
Sis brought us to the best place in Adelaide to get kitchen utensils. She's right when she said it was MUCH cheaper than Melbourne! Had quite a few things in mind that I needed before coming here actually.
And let's just say, I "conveniently" helped myself to some "early Christmas presents" using the credit card given by Dad for "emergency purposes". I feel horrible but couldn't resist!! Been using most of them since I got back to Melbourne hehe.
If you ever need to stock up on your kitchenware. Great variety/stock with huge discounts! The place is called Creative Cooks at Melrose Park
All items I bought were reliable brands that would've costed WAAAAY more in Melbourne so I'm really really happy
1. 6 piece baking set ~ only $50!
2. 42cm roasting pan with tray ~ No disount so was $150 (sob)
3. 30cm deep non-stick pan with lid ~ only $50!
You have no idea how NICE it is to use a non stick pan that's of this size and depth (with lid!). Use it more than my big wok now (which is usually quite inconvenient cause too big)
Decided to invest in a good (and bigger) roasting tray since I realise that I am someone who bakes at home fairly often (and huge portions at a time)
4 of my 6 piece set. Couldn't fit the other 2 in our luggage. When I saw this, I immediately knew what the next things I would make with each of them.
From top (clockwise): English Trifle, Milk Jelly, Summer Berries Tart, Lasagne/Baked Pasta
Again, I apologise for the ridiculously long post. Never have time to update consistently (though I would've really liked to!) so you've just got to bear with me =(. Hope you've enjoyed the piks as much as I have sharing them!
Next post will be on my Christmas Dinners in Melbourne. Stay tuned!
Much Love,
Winston.
