J Cafe..

well i've just moved over to sydney so i guess i'll be starting a whole new chapter here with more exploration around sydney for good food, so better stay tuned! i will continue on with more of melbourne for the time being. the other day i went to j cafe, it's at 167 exhibition street, melbourne, vic 3000.

i've ordered for the sushi burger bento box. very interesting concept. i tried the kani croquette sushi burger. the croquette is made from potato, so it tasted something like hash brown. crispy outside and soft fluffy inside. surprisingly, it was delicious.

well the sushi burger box meal comes together with another side. i've ordered for the gyoza. there are other selections like tatsuta age, tonkatsu or kani croquette. the gyoza was grilled just right. i personally think it was a huge meal for myself, i ended up didn't enjoy so much with the gyoza.

my friend ordered for the kitsune udon. the udon was cooked perfectly, keeping the right texture. the soup base had mild flavour, great for a light meal. overall the food was above average, but price was rather expensive. the sushi burger box was $17 and the udon is $9.80. they had a minimum charge for per person.

Xiamen Szechuan Restaurant..

during my china trip, we went to xiamen for two days. we went to have some really fantastic meal there. szechuan style restaurant and it was really good.

spicy appertiser.

fried fish with spices. yummy!

custard egg with seafood, mushroom and mixed vegetables.

sizzling pork

bok choy with mushrooms

vegetable soup. something different and it was really refreshing.

steamed tofu with salty eggs.

a whole table full with dishes and we had this kind of banquet meal all the time when we were with our relatives. that's chinese culture.

Australian Rainbow Trout Farm..

i went for trout fishing during the autumn. well you can do that during the winter too, on a sunny weekend. the place is called australian rainbow trout farm at 26 mulhalls rd, macclesfield, vic. all you have to do is to get some fresh fish and you're all ready for a feast.

they have different sizes of trouts. pick the ones that you prefer and of course consider of the price as well. no matter what you get, you have to pay for it.

if not you can choose to fish at the salmon pond.

you will need to bring along some utensils along so you can start cooking at the bbq pit. one option to do with the salmon is sashimi! the staff will do the cleaning for you.

all you need is some onions, mushrooms, sauces, pepper. we brought along some bread and sausages as well.

be creative on the ingredients you like and here you are, hot and fresh grilled fish for lunch. it was great fun and also to mention that they have awesome views there.

Pie In The Sky..

have you tried a very hot, full of ingredients and delicious meat pie? you can head to pie in the sky at 43 olinda monbulk road, olinda, vic 3788. i think it might be a great choice for a weekend treat during the winter. they actually won 15 times of award winning pies.

look at the choices they have on their menu. i was thinking hard.

they also serve a selection of pastries. i love pastry!

this is their very well known pie floater. the base is actually potato and leek soup and together with your selection of pie and this was the tandoori chicken and spinach pie, a gold medal winner pie. taste wise, i like the thick and creamy soup. for the pie, not my cup of tea. it was $14.50 for this meal.

this is what i've ordered. the beef burgundy pie, another gold medal winner pie. love this one! the chunky beef, thick creamy sauce and the pastry was crispy and not too thick. but i did add on some salt and pepper, prefer stronger flavour on it. around $8 for this pie. quite pricey i should say.

i still want to rave about the scones at miss marples. love it! a must try when you are in mount dandenong. but beware of the long wait for a seat there.

Kota Kinabalu Local Food IV

there's more food that i had in kk and i want to share more with you. so here's another post for kk local food i had. there are lots of new restaurants around and shopping malls too.

my fav during the trip. milo dinosaur with lots of milo powder on top. did you know that the milo in malaysia is better than the ones in aussie? stronger taste of cocoa flavour. had this at papparich, newly opened in city mall.

ipoh chicken noodle soup. it was kind of average only. maybe can get better ones at other place.

ipoh chicken noodle with dry version at papparich as well. lack of flavour with this one.

homemade style hakka tofu.

we called this as sheng rou mian (in chinese)*love* this is a must try in kk. seriously.

my favourite meal. you can get this in lintas. forget about the fat and enjoy it! missing it so badly.

oldtown kopitiam roti bakar. toasted wholemeal bread with butter and kaya.

mangoes! and there are different types of mangoes. i had this harumanis back in kota belud.

you can't go pass bah kut teh in kk. there are a few places that you can find really good ones for example in the town area. i had this one in one borneo shopping centre. it was good enough to satisfy my cravings.

finally this one is fried thai style fish at wongkok. seafood is a must try in kk and it's cheap as well. they are definately fresh!

Sinful Cravings..

me and my sister couldn't get enough of this in malaysia. we just adore and miss the flavour so much. seriously it's a sin if i don't have it when i go back malaysia. we can't find cheesy wedges here in aussie. and the taste of original chicken is kind of different here too.

Kota Kinabalu Local Food III

thanks to my dearest good friend in kk, steph. she introduced me to this chinese restaurant in kk called "gui du" seafood restaurant near tanjung aru beach. i had heaps of yummy food there.

stir fried sayur manis with anchovies. you can only find this type of vegetables back in kk. love them so much!

roasted duck. *slurps* it might not be the best duck, but it has the home cooked taste.

steamed fish fillet. how fresh was the fish and the sauce was great together with the fish.

this is a must try! deep fried pork knuckle. it tasted something like i had in german cruisine. the oilyness of the pork was covered by the sourness of the sauce. tasted great!

the mango pudding was yummy for dessert. i enjoyed the meal and it was nice catching up with friends and to have good food at the same time.

Fifteen Melbourne..

i can't believe that i haven't written anything about fifteen. yes it's jamie oliver's fifteen at basement 115-117 collins street, melbourne. you can enter via george parade. it's a fine restaurant with a team of professional chefs led by Tobie Puttock. for one moment, i thought i saw Tobie in the kitchen cooking, but it wasn't him. anyway this time i brought my parents there and this was my fourth time there. the service was great, probably we headed there rather earlier.

you'll get some fresh homemade bread to start out.

totally an open designed kitchen. you can see the chefs in action.

there are lots of choices on wines to complete your meal.

for entree, we had fried calamari. this one was really awesome! the calamari was fried perfectly and accompanied with the sauce aside. not sure what was it in the sauce, but there was taste of sourness of lemon. and to add on the note, it was a complimentary one cause of the long wait for our main courses. how nice was that!

finally the main courses arrived. i've ordered the pan grilled duck breast fillet with mash. totally amazed on how the duck was cooked.

mum had the baby snapper with scallops and mussels. mum loved it alot and it was quite a huge portion. freshness of the seafood and perfectly cooked.

dad ordered for the sirloin steak. the steak was cooked quite rare. it's just my personal preference. and i think it was lack of a bit of sauce to add on some flavour on it.

and of course we ordered dessert as well. it took us a while to make up our minds. i wanted to try them all. this is the chocolate mousse with pastry. love the pastry part and it was really rich in flavour. good one!

i purposely told the waitress that it was my mum's b'day and i was happy with the little arrangement they made for us. it was a piece of art. panna cotta with lavender cookie slice. and indeed we had a lovely dinner that night. to add on, i should mention that the price range for a main course is about $30-$40 and with dessert around $15. our total bill for the night was about $120. hope that helps.

Kota Kinabalu Local Food II..

well the best thing about kk is that there's lots of different varieties of hawkers food. a very great guide that you can check it out as well at http://www.ahbing.com/top-15-best-food-at-kota-kinabalu/, it's written by my highschool friend, a really cool blog to check out. so the next time you're heading kk, be sure to try out all the top 15 best. i didn't get to try out all of them this time, just some food that i missed so badly. i think i'm torturing myself by writing this post cause i didn't have dinner just now. god please save me!

this is a really local one, preserved cuttlefish with kangkung also referred as water spinach with thick sauce and peanuts on top. it was so good. totally mouth watering.

barbequed squid with curry paste on top of banana leave.

chargrilled fish also known as ikan panggang. the freshness of the fish, the tenderness of the meat, spicyness of the paste, sourness of the lime and the strong taste of charcoal smell brings out the best flavour you can get on this dish.

steamed dumplings and of course the pan fried ones. they are the best dumplings that i've ever had in my whole life. not even the china ones can beat this. seriously. i almost wanted to cry when i had it.

stir fried clams with ginger and onions. my old time favourite seafood dish back in kk.

we've also tried different kind of clams cooked in kung po style. not sure what is it called again but it tasted something like squid.

hainanese chicken rice at wei ya. we love their chicken rice. the best part was the rice.

toasted bread with kaya and butter at damai. the best ever toasted bread. everyone in kk will know where is this. and it's a must try.

this one i must tell. you can't get this anywhere. i only get to eat this when i go back to my mum's hometown at kota belud. it's at a small shop in the market. they might not have the best environment but the noodles is the best, with the fresh steamed chicken and fried onions. the best dry noodles i had during my trip, maybe also alot of childhood memories there. and no kidding, i had two plates of this at one go. i'm starving now..