Laurent Patisserie..

last week i went to laurent patisserie to have some light meals. there are quite a few of the cafes around in melbourne. the one i went was at little collins street, just behind of forever new boutique along bourke street. there have varieties of pies, sandwiches and desserts.

for me, i've tried the salmon and asparagus quiche. and it was served with some salad at the side. the quiche was delicious. love it! it was a bit crispy outside and the cheese inside just melted inside your mouth. awesome!

we also ordered for the bacon and cheese sandwich. it looks normal, but again it was pretty good.

this is the raisin roll. it was rather normal and little too sweet for me. but i guess if you eat it with a cup of coffee, it would be a great high tea.

lastly we also ordered for the apple and pear puff. this is the apple puff, didn't manage to take the pear one as we were eating it before i realised i didn't take photo of it. it was recommended by a friend and this is really good. really like it alot! i'm a fan of pastry stuff so i enjoyed it. the pastry was crispy outside. it tasted just nice, not too sweet and with the bit of sourness of the apple. two thumbs up!

Shark fin house..

last week i went for yum cha session with my collegues at shark fin house. it's along little bourke street, slightly after russell street. i've heard alot about this restaurant and i've never been there before. my friends who went there before told me that it was really good. so i was rather looking forward to try out. i went with two other girls. so we didn't eat too much. but we did manage to try quite a few popular ones. the service was average as they were really busy during the peak times. we went for the first session which started from 11am. you do need to pre-book for a table as it's always packed.

we tried out the shiu long bao, i would say that there are better ones at other places. also had black bean stew pork, that one was pretty good. my all time favourite.

we also tried quite a few fried stuffs like the fried taro with minced pork, pan fried white carrot cake, and others. i liked the fried taro.. it was really crispy outside and the flavour was just nice.

a must order "shiu mai" it was delicious! we also tried a few steamed ones but i couldn't remember the names. then we finished up with some desserts. i had the mango sago which was awesome. love it! we paid for about $60 for the bill. i guess the price is quite average as compared to the ones we have around surburbs.

christmas gathering..

well i did mention that christmas is all about food, desserts, presents and good company. i had a simple christmas gathering with friends a week before christmas. thanks to the host for the lovely dinner.

for some traditional christmas dinner, we had roasted turkey with gravy and cranberry sauce, ham, roasted vegetables, hot bowl of mushroom, grilled corn, and also christmas pudding.

and with more presents... hohoho!

max bar and restaurant..

merry x'mas everyone!! i finally have some relxing time after a hectic week at work. and finally some time to blog. i've been eating alot and wanting to share with you all but i was too tired by the time i reached home after work. anyways it's christmas! well i had my company christmas lunch at max bar and restaurant at hardware lane. we had three course set menu. with entree to share, we had bread with three kinds of dipping sauces, baked mushrooms and baked prawns. i personally like the baked mushrooms, something interesting.

then we had our main courses. we had a selection of eye fillet, lamb shanks, seafood paella, chicken max and also vegetarian options.

their lamb shanks was pretty good, the meat was juicy and tender after long hours of stewing.

as for the eye fillet, it was average, like the bed of mashed pumpkin underneath the steak.

i ordered the seafood paella, basically it was something like seafood fried rice. i think it was quite yummy but it was bit too dry. overall we had a satisfying meal. of course we still have desserts with coffee and tea!

i ordered the chocolate pudding.. it was delicious, with the hot melting chocolate inside. and ate it with the vanilla ice-cream. i was really full after the lunch. the fun part of christmas. yummy food, desserts, presents and good company.

Fruit crepes..

it was 39 degrees in melbourne today! must get prepared for the hot summer days. let me share with you some nice dessert recipe. last weekend i also made fruit crepes as well. looks delicious?

To make the crepe, you need the following ingredients:

3/4 cup of flour

1/2 tablespoon of salt

3 eggs

80g melted butter

1 cup of milk

To make:

firstly stir in the eggs, butter and milk. next, add in the flour and mix until creamy. leave the mixture for 15 minutes. then heat the crepe pan and add some extra butter. pour in 1/4 cup of mixture at a time. cook for 30 seconds. you'll be able to make about 10 pieces of crepes for the recipe. then feel free to add in fruits that you like. for me, i added mango, blueberries, strawberries and freshly picked cherries. to add on some flavour, i also added some custard on top. enjoy it during your afternoon tea with some pies and a cup of tea. have fun!

Kenzan@GPO

i did mention that my weekend was all about food. went to kenzan@GPO for a quick lunch. the shop is at GPO which is at the corner of bourke street and elizabeth street along an alley. they have really good ramen, alot of my friends give me the same comments. should try it out! the shop is always packed of people during lunch time on weekdays. it's the same during weekends too. i like their wide varieties of sushis, and best of all you get to wrap it your own. their hand rolls range from $3.20 to $4.50, slightly more expensive than other places but definately fresh and delicious. and with their ramen, it's around $13 if i'm not mistaken.

look at the counter place, there were lots of people waiting to order. they have wide selections from sushis, ramen, chef's special to bento boxes. the dining area is actually outdoor,so it might get a bit noisy during the peak hours.

they have hand rolls or onigiris. i love the soft shell crab hand roll

and lobster with potato salad hand roll!

a simple and healthy lunch or snack with a hot miso soup and onigiri.

tiramisu..

Simplified version of recipe for the tiramisu with no alcohol:

3 egg yolks

50g sugar

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

250g mascarpone cheese

2 small packets of scotch fingers

some coffee

firstly just add in the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla essence, mix them together until creamy and fluffy. then add in the cheese and mix them well. Next make some hot coffee, just add in coffee powder to your preference. Dip in the scotch fingers in the hot coffee until soft. then arrange them in the baking tin. after making a layer of biscuits, put in one layer of the cheese mixture and then repeat that for another few layers. then chill it for a few hours. easy one, isn't it? enjoy your tiramisu!

weekend...

this weekend was all about food and shopping. i went to my friend's place for potluck gathering. and we had heaps of delicious food and of course i want to share it with you as well. i made tiramisu for dessert! we had a few dishes like the eggroll pancake with cheese and spring onions, glutinous rice meat ball, coke marinated chicken wings, very delicious and traditional stir fried vermicilli, cold tofu with seafood sauce and spring onion, and of course fruit platter and tiramisu for dessert. our tummies were all satisfied with all the yummy food and off we went on chit-chatting for the next hour. enjoyed it so much and thanks to everyone!

the eggroll pancake with cheese inside. it was delicious with a bit of spicyness by the pepper and the saltiness of the cheese and some chewy texture of the pancake.

the cold tofu was so refreshing and the sauce was yummy! there's some seafood sauce, soya sauce, mirin sauce(japanese one). easy and delicious.

our traditional vermicilli. can't go wrong with that for a potluck party! with some cabbages, carrot, onion, mushroom and garlic. and some egg crumbles as decorations!

like this one! coke marinated chicken wings...

glutinous rice meat ball. roll the meat ball with some glutinous rice and then steam it for 10+ minutes. and add on some spring onions on top. ta da! simple and healthy dish..

look at the food...we enjoyed them all!

had a huge fruit platter and some tiramisu for dessert. yum.. healthy and satisfying meal!

Kuni's and Max Brenner..

hohoho.. christmas is in the air. and i was browsing at different restaurants for my company's christmas lunch. while browsing, i got to learn more restaurants available around in the city area. and also more places that i want to go and try out. i'll have to take it slowly. :P have to constantly remind myself about it. i'm greedy, i admit that.

anyways last night i went to a japanese restaurant for a birthday dinner for my friend. the restaurant is called kuni's, it's along little bourke street, in between of exhibition and spring street. haven't been to that area before and also wasn't expecting a rather nice restaurant around there. i was quite surprised when we got into the restaurant. the ambience there was nice and quiet. we took a while to look through the menu, there are quite a few chef's recommandations. we set down with an entree sashimi to share, sukiyaki, grilled salmon with sake sauce, and also a 120g wagyu steak. i've read reviews saying that their sushi and sashimi are pretty awesome. i have to say that the price was bit expensive. however the food turned out to be really good. when we had the sashimi, it was just mouth watering. the freshness of the sashimi and with a tint taste of lemon. one word. awesome! there's salmon, cod fish and another one which i'm not too sure what fish was it. it was 18 dollars for the entree.

when the main came out, which took quite a while, there was some wow factor. the presentation was nice and it definately looked yummy. the wagyu steak, undeniably delicious, the meat was juicy and tender, altho it costs around 5 dollars for one slice of it. it was 40 dollars for the dish which come together with a bowl of rice and vegetables. a small tip is to have the steak when it's still sizzling hot on the hot plate, as the meat will turn out to be tough after it's overcooked. the salmon was pretty good as well, it's cooked just right and with light flavours so that it won't cover the freshness of the fish. also had some huge cod roe on top of the fish. i had the sukiyaki which had a large serving. would prefer that it was served with the raw egg, instead the egg was cooked together. there were lots of ingredients, like green peas, tofu, white cabbage, inoki, mushroom, and with lots of beef. can't compare the beef with the wagyu steak. but the soup was really strong in flavours, really good! love it. it was $28 for the sukiyaki and same for the salmon. i was pretty full after my big portion of sukiyaki.

overall we had a nice dinner, despite the price and the old plates and cutlery. wanted to try out the dessert but ended up going to max brenner for dessert. another round of food! max brenner at melbourne central. prefect place for some chocolate addiction. went there quite a few times but never get sick of it. this time i tried their chocolate souffle, something like chocolate fondant, or maybe they are pretty much the same? anyway it was really rich and yummy. with the melting chocolate in the middle of the soft spongy cake. i was feeling glucose overdose after that. i've tried baking chocolate fondant before and it's pretty much the same. i enjoyed myself that night and hope that same goes to my lovely friends.

Pacific House

I had dinner with a few collegues at pacific house, along lonsdale street. it was my first time there. they are famous of their roasted meat. tried out their roast duck and roast pork. i have to admit that it was pretty good, the meat was juicy and tender while the skin was crispy. but it was a little too oily. that's the best part at the same time. haha! can't eat it everyday, if not you're going to get high cholestrol. the serving was pretty huge, and i had it with noodles. it was a bit too dry. i miss the malaysian ones.

they have quite a varieties of dishes on the menu, from chinese to western and from entrees to desserts and bubble teas. very similar to star east at glen waverley. service was average, don't really like it when they started to clear our table when we were still chatting. but i guess this is a normal situation in chinese restaurants. anyway nice catch up dinner with a few friends.

Red Hill Cherry Farm

summer is in the air! it's the best season for fruit picking.. and hence i went for cherry picking last sunday. with the good weather, it was simply a nice day out. love the sea view at mornington peninsula. this time we went to red hill cherry farm, there were alot of people there. some of the cherries were not in good condition, probably due to the weather. anyway we started picking, enjoying the fun, tasting cherries, photo shooting and also stairs climbing to reach the top of the trees. my parents took back more than two kilos of cherries! time to make some dessert this weekend. :D

The booth..

i went to box hill with mum last saturday and tried out the booth, a taiwanese restaurant along station street. we ordered an entree and also a main course to share. for entree we ordered a taiwanese hawker food, with one soft layer of bread, stuffed with stewed pork inside and some vegetable pickles and peanut. it was the highlight. it was so delicious, the flavour and texture was just right on the spot. we also ordered the booth signature noodle soup that comes with fried drumsticks. there were a few kinds of noodles that you can choose from. we ordered the flat noodle, which was something like the 'ban mian' we have in malaysia. the soup was really mild, so when you eat it with the chicken which was more oily, it just balanced out the oily-ness. the chicken drumsticks were fried with bread crumbs, so it had a very crispy texture. awesome!! for the two dishes, we paid for around $15. pretty good price for some authentic taiwanese hawkers food.

Jade Kingdom

last week was my dad's birthday and we went all the way to heidelberg to try out a famous malaysian restaurant called jade kingdom. it was about 40 mins drive from my house, really far but i was really looking forward to have some good food. when we actually arrived there, i was surprised to see that it was a rather small restaurant, probably it's best to book a table before going. when i was browsing through the menu, there was so many things that i wanted to try out. anyway we settled with kangkung belachan, yam ring with kung po chicken, assam fish, buttered prawn and sizzling plate tofu. your saliva just flows out by just imagining those dishes. how we missed those food in malaysia.

the dishes are all really authentic malaysian chinese cruisine and we can't really find it everywhere here in aussie. so to be able to look for a place like that, it's definately a happy thing to share. when the food was served, their portion was rather generous and they all looked really delicious. i think the best dish was the assam fish, the flavour was so strong and the thick sauce went really well with rice. it was cooked with onions, eggplant, and some other vegetables. the yam ring was not as good as what we have in malaysia, but it's definately good enough to satisfy our taste buds. the sizzling plate tofu was served in front of us, the waitress just poured the tofu on top of the hot plate and you can see the sizzling sound just went off. two thumbs up for all of the dishes! it was worthwhile to go that far for the dinner. we paid for $120 for the five dishes. so the price was pretty reasonable. i think i will go back again for the other dishes. or maybe when i have the cravings of them.

Greetings!

i've made up my mind to start out this blog and hope to share my food experience and thoughts with everyone. i always wanted to start out a food blog and thanks to my friends, i'm finally here. well i'm just sharing my personal opinions on the restaurants that i've been to or maybe just a cooking experience. actually wanted to get a website on my own for this but i think i'll just give it a try here for the time being. so stay tuned! *wink*