This past week of food adventures - home made + out & about

Here's to another week of delicious food adventures - both home made as well as from restaurants in Melbourne.

Warning: the following images may induce hunger and cravings. Viewer discretion is advised, especially if viewing late at night.

Starting with dessert at the Laurent cafe at the Chaddy branch. Chololate ganache, mini macarons, coconut and raspberry and cake filling. 

Then jumping to the morning after hangover food at the Pancake Parlour. Pancakes, whipped butter, eggs and bacon. Need I say more?

Jumping over to the Japanese side of things. Unagi don at Uzu in Caulfield. The unagi was delicious, but I still cannot believe the rice was soggy. Hmph. Don't skimp on the rice!! :(

This baby still saved the day. Otherwise, I would have been very unhappy. 

Now for fruity chocolates that look like Drawing/Colouring Chalks from HappyLab! Love the presentation of this little box! Plus, they were yummy too. My favourite one was the lychee flavour (far right, baby pink color).

My home made spicy fish stew with caramelised leeks and cucumber.

And lastly, last night's late night dinner: A warm salad of tuna, tomatoes and green beans in a brown butter and balsamic reduction. Crackers on the side. Yum!

xoxo

Seoul Metro, Lonsdale Melbourne CBD

Back with another food post! This actually composes of two separate visits to Seoul Metro, a Korean restaurant on Lonsdale in Melbourne CBD.

The first visit my friend and I ordered Makkeolli (not quite sure if that's even how it's supposed to be spelled...). It's a milky alcohol which is slightly sweet and goes down very easily even without any food to go along with it.

The alcohol comes in a cold kettle, which I personally thought was cute. The drinking glasses were more round, wide and not as tall as the soju glasses.

For my main meal, I had the Seafood Bibimbpap. The portion perfectly satisfied my craving for this Korean dish, and each of the ingredients mixed in together were yummy. I was glad they didn't use the 'Marinara Mix' stuff with feeble pieces of seafood - here they used squid and scallop pieces mostly. Not bad, but don't expect anything fancy.

As always though - as the dish cools down I often find that it can get bland and I find myself reaching back for more and more of the red Kochujang mix sauce. I was very happy that thy left the sauce bottle on our table, so I don't have to ask for it at least 3 or 4 more times. I think by the end of the meal I had finished a whole 2/3 of the sauce bottle. Oops. The Thai in me needs stronger flavors and seasoning!

Now for the second visit to Seoul Metro, we had Soju.

And to go with that, Budae Jigae (Large)

The large size comes with up to four bowls of rice, but there were only three of us, so we didn't really need the fourth bowl anyway. I liked this dish and wished there was more of it to go around!

Overall, I think Seoul Metro is a good place to fix the Korean food craving and isn't over-priced. It certainly does not boast 'best Korean restaurant in CBD' so don't expect anything fancy or out-of-this-world-delicious. It's simply a nice family-owned, cosy little place :)

The Blue Corn, St Kilda

What to do after work on a Friday afternoon? Mexican food and a couple of beers sounds about right to me.

I can't remember the exact name of the dish I had ordered, but it was something along the lines of Slow cooked beef ribs in Sangria (accompanied by Tacos). Here's a picture of the entire meal:

And the close-ups of the yummy goodness!

The tacos tasted fresh and delicious! A great accompaniment to the Sangria beef ribs. The coriander and lime wedge gave an extra kick, refreshing the palate with every bite. The creamy guacamole mellowed out the other flavours quite well.

And now the highlight! I loved the slow-cooked ribs in Sangria. The flavors were punchy, the meat tender, the sauce absolutely delicious. Hmmmm >_< Savoury, tangy and meaty goodness.

What's missing? A beer of course. This time I chose Sol. Wishing they had Modelo though. 

Overall, I enjoyed my visit very much and would definitely love to go back!

Another Two Visits to Pappa Rich

Back with yet another food post - will get the haul posts up this week for sure - but in the meantime, more nom nom things :)

I have made two visits to Pappa Rich in the last three weeks' time - each visit ordering two similar dishes to compare. First I tried their Hainan Chicken with Rice Noodles.

Rice Noodles in Dark Soy Sauce (Sweet Type)

The noodles were cooked a tad bit too soft for my liking, which made it rather difficult to eat with the plastic chopsticks. I actually had to stop eating half way through and use fork and spoon instead lol The noodles were sitting on top of a dark sweet soy sauce base and topped with deep fried garlic and fresh chilli. Loved it!

It came with this Hainan Chicken - 

Hainan Chicken in light soy sauce

The chicken pieces were very moist and flavorful, which went really well with the sweet light soy sauce around it. Underneath you'll find thin slices of cucumber, which helps cut through the fat from the chicken skin (though that's the best part lol) and freshen up the palate. This reminds me of the chicken rice in Singapore!

A few days later I ordered Steamed Chicken + Egg Noodles (same Chicken dish, but different noodles this time)

 

This time the egg noodles came in the same sauce and topping, though with the addition of the steamed greens and curry sauce. Personally, I did not think that the curry sauce went with anything seen in the above picture. It just didn't work for me and was taking away from the rest of the dish(es). Other than that, this was delicious. Can't decide which of the two I prefer, to be honest. A two thumbs up for both of these!


xoxo

Taste Baguette @ Monash Clayton

Just after exams were done - and I really mean within 1 hr of having finished all exams, myself and my classmates decided to go try a new Cafe called 'Taste Baguette' located on the main floor of the Menzies Building on Clayton Campus. Our exam was finished at 1 pm so we planned a late lunch.

The atmosphere of the place is nice, and so was the decor, but nothing that stands out from all the other cafes/ restaurants in Melbourne.

There were numerous items on the lunch menu that ranged between $10-$24. I decided to give the Beef Carpaccio with Rocket Salad, Parmesan (I think?), and Truffle Oil a try:

Beef Carpaccio with Rocket Salad, Parmesan and Truffle Oil, $18

At $18 a plate, it wasn't bad. I love Beef Carpaccio anyway, so I am a bit biased in that sense. The combination is a classic, so you can't go wrong with it. Having said that, the only thing which bugged me was the 'truffle oil'. To be exact, I was not able to detect 'truffle' in there at all. The dressing that was used tasted more like olive oil than truffle oil. So in that respect, I was disappointed. But if you're looking for something light and don't want that strong of a truffle scent/taste, then this dish will do just fine.

My friend and I decided to share a side order of chips as well, and this is where I was left more disappointed.

Chips (approx $5 or $7)

We were given a bowl of shoestring fries that were piping hot and moderately salted. Don't get me wrong - this is yummy. But it's just that to me, this wasn't all that different from other chain fast food places where fries cost less than $4 for a large portion.

Am I being picky? Well, maybe. Overall though, it was an okay experience. The verdict? I'd say considering the price, the location and the portion, I'd say

3/5.

xoxo

Part 2 - Food Porn Dining Out: Pancake Parlour, Laurent Bakery, Crown Casino

Here's Part 2 of my food adventures - Dining Out Edition

Pancake Parlour Lunch Special is a dish with chips, potato pancake and fried fish. Yum! And it was less than $12, which isn't that bad :)

The fish itself was cooked nicely, given the number of people at the restaurant that day, I'm glad it wasn't overcooked. The potato pancake was delicious, and so were the thinner crispier pieces of chips! I kind of wished I had ordered the Salad option though. The chips (or fries, actually) were thick cut so they weighed down the meal in general. The potato pancake on its own is a good amount of substance for me, so having both was a bit excessive.

Pancake Parlour: Fish + Chips and Potato Pancake

Onto pastry! This was a pear danish or pear puff from Laurent Bakery.The pastry itself was nice, and the pear was  naturally sweet, so it didn't feel like too much sugar at all - just about right. I like it, although it's not life-changing. The shape is so cute though!

Pear Puff Pastry

After a long night at work, our boss took us to Crown Casino for late night! So I went for a large bowl of noodle soup with crispy pork. Let me first say that I was shocked when I saw the size. It's humungous, like my jaw drops a bit kind of big. There was so much in that one bowl for me that I could not finish everything. The soup and the actual noodles were nice, but I still find that the crispy pork was waaaaaaaaaayyy too salty, unlike how they make it back home in Thailand. Boo. Oh, well. It was still a pretty good meal in general.

Crispy Pork Noodle Soup + Corona, because I can

And what did I have with it? Why ask? A Corona >__< hehe

Alrighty. Off to bed for now (It's 5 am oops). Back tmr with more!

Shyun (Japanese Restaurant) in Carnegie

I went to this restaurant around about 2 or 3 weeks ago with some of my friends after a meeting. I am already a sucker for Japanese food, so I was super excited to go!

The ambience was cozy and welcoming - which reminds me of the restaurants I had been to in Japan. We were there a bit late, so there weren't any tables save for the couple of spaces at the counter. I actually quite liked sitting right in front of all the sushi-making action :)

There was a special for the Shake Rice (Salmon Rice), so being a raw salmon lover, the choice was easy. If memory serves me right, I believe it was around $9-10 but definitely no more than $12

Rice topped with Shake!

This was absolutely delicious!!! Yum yum yum yum. The raw salmon was cut into thin strips then mixed with a sauce (with traces of sesame oil as well?) then placed on top of sushi rice and sprinkled with fresh spring onions. The bowl didn't seem that big, but once you actually start eating it, you get full faster than you think. The freshness of the fish was good, especially at this price range, but don't expect it to be as fresh as e.g. a sushi store selling chirashi sushi @ Tsukiji market. Still, I really enjoyed it!

My friend knew the owner so she ordered some additional sushi that wasn't on the menu -

Torched Salmon Sushi with sweet miso sauce

This was again another wonderful dish! The colors in the above picture have been altered a bit, given that I took this picture with Instagram. But hey, you get the idea. :) The torched salmon went really well with the sweet auce (I'm thinking something along the lines of miso, shoyu, mirin) and I would definitely order more if I knew how to order it! lol

I shared a little bit of my friend's Soy Corokke (not pictured) as well, which I personally liked but my friend did not. I might have been a bit biased though, since I do like soy milk in general.  I also had the tiramisu daifuku for dessert (not pictured - it was way too messy to hold the camera and eat the sticky dessert at the same time) which was awesome! The soft and gooey layer of the mochi matched well with the cool and creamy tiramisu ice cream inside. Yum! Will definitely try other flavors next time.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to visit there again soon. When I do, I'll definitely share my experience here. For now, this restaurant has definitely gotten a thumbs-up from me! :)

xoxo

Three Bags Full, Melbourne for Brunch

Yet another day eating out. This time, it's for brunch - my very favorite meal of the day :)

My friends and I decided to go to the well-known 'Three Bags Full' in Abbottsford. By the time we got there, it was already noon, plus it's Sunday, so I was mentally prepared for the fact that we were definitely going to have to wait a while to be seated. And having done research prior to going, there's a bit of a hype surrounding this place and so waiting for 30 minutes for a table is something which is frequently done and no one seems to mind.

And 30 minutes it was. [There were 5 of us (myself included) so it took longer to be seated] By the time I sat down, I already knew exactly what I wanted. Well, to be honest I was debating in my mind while waiting for a table.

The Menu

And decided to get the daily special - Eggs in Hell. I wanted to see how well they poach those eggs given how extremely busy they were on a Sunday brunch time. I figured that if they can't make their signature poached eggs and hollandaise - the brunch classic - well, then this 'hype' needs to be toned down a bit. So it was a test.

And of course, I will not leave without not having ordered coffee, so I went for a long macchiato.

Long Macchiato

And it was a wonderful choice. I really needed a full-on kick to jump start the day, so this was strong enough to do so! I drank this without adding any sugar, as I've recently just been eating sweet things non-stop. Plus I usually like my coffee without sugar. But for once, if I were to go back (and I think I certainly will), this time I'll be adding just a pinch of sugar. But the crema of this brew is quite nice, and I enjoyed this overall!

My friend had a cappucino, which had some latte art on it. She said that it was good. Mental reminder to also try this out some time when I'm downtown.

Cappucino

Now for the highlight. Eggs in Hell. I actually ordered an extra side of spinach to cut down on the salt and spice from the chorizo, so the actual dish on its own would be spinach-less. Did this turn out to be a smart move? Why yes, indeed.

Ready?

Eggs in Hell (with extra Spinach)

Oh my word, will you just look at that? Beautiful.

My two cents:

The chorizo is definitely good quality. It was savory, spicy and tangy on the tongue. Some pieces were a tad bit chewy, but isn't that how it's supposed to be? However, I thought that it should have been cut and fried into smaller or thinner slices, or even have less of them per serve. It was great - don't get me wrong - but at the end of the meal, the sausage was the only thing I couldn't finish because the strong taste of the sausage was overpowering the delicate yolk. It was just so salty ;(

Here's another look:

The sourdough toast underneath was absolutely wonderful. You'd think it shouldn't matter, but it does. The texture had just the right amount of crunch, 'fluff' and chewiness, and the slight sourness played in line with the tang from the chorizo sausage. Especially when the yolk and oils from the roasted peppers coat the toast...hmmm!

The spinach was nothing special, just something to cleanse the palate a bit after the heavy chorizo. The grilled red pepper on the other hand, was perfect. It was the perfect amount of 'smoke' and sweetness, which created an amazing balance with the other ingredients on the plate. Just give me more of the red peppers, the toast, the eggs and hollandaise, and I'm a happy camper.

Now for the ultimate test. The poached eggs and hollandaise. Cross-section!!

Poached Egg + Hol. Sauce cross-section

Yes, yes, yes. They were beautiful. The consistency of both poached eggs were beautiful, the hollandaise itself creamy and tangy. Just the way I like it.

The verdict? A-

It would've been an A had the chorizo been less overpowering (way too salty since half-way through the meal - not a good sign). The ambiance was great, coffee was good (though not life-changing). 'Will definitely re-visit. Next on the list? Beetroot Salmon. Or Ricotta Hotcakes.

Looking forward to my next visit!

xoxo

Spiga Cafe Restaurant for a late lunch and San Churro for dessert (+late night meal)

So I went for a late lunch with a friend from high school today! It was pouring so we were pretty much stuck in Melbourne Central, which led to this impromptu lunch at Spiga.

My friend ordered a pizza, but I can't recall the name of it, other than that it was something along the lines of Cappricio? Maybe.













I ordered a risotto with mushrooms and dill and shaved Parmesan on top. Loved the salty Parmesan in contrast to the risotto. As for the rice itself, it was okay. I was pretty hungry at that point though, so it didn't really matter lol













Then it stopped raining - thank goodness. So we decided to go for dessert at San Churro.  My friend chose a hot milk chocolate whilst I chose the flat white. Yay for my daily coffee fix!















 My friend's Hot Milk Chocolate which came with marshmallows!

 Yay for my daily coffee fix :)

We had the churros for two set, which was really yummy! It was cold outside too, so having something warm was a plus. My friend chose the milk chocolate cup as the dipping sauce for the churros. As for me, of course no hesitation whatsoever- the dark chocolate.

 Here's a close-up of 'my side' lol

















We were on our way back to the station when we saw this rainbow right near the state library! Beautiful :)

After 6-6.5 hrs of work (standing, cooking, serving, cleaning tables etc), the boss treated us to some awesome late night at a Chinese restaurant in Box Hill. We were tired as it was already 12:30am and ordered quite a bit of food including a mixed claypot dish (not pictured), a century and pork congee (not pictured, but absolutely delicious) as well as roasted duck and crispy pork belly.





 I'm sorry let me repeat that. Holy Macarony we had Crispy Pork Belly for late night :D (somebody hit the 'pause' button for my so-called DIET, please) lol













It was definitely a great day spent (eating). Had a great time catching up with my friend as well as work and the late night meal :)

Gotta go to bed now- it's 3:34 am already!

xoxo