Thursday, December 23, 2010

Adelaide Trip and Others

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!




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




"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!)




Salmon Bones: SOO good!!



Salmon Don: By far my FAVOURITE in Melbourne





Assorted Macarons: Don't really have a sweet tooth, so was okay





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




WARM Taro Milk Tea: Really like how they served it and used real Taro



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




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! =]







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"





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.