Category Archives: Chinese/Asian

food stuff relating to Chinese/Asian flavours including Cantonese, Malaysian, Singaporean, Peking, Szechuan…etc

Malaysian edition: Culinary delights in Kuala Lumpur

Posted in Chinese/Asian, Food, Travel by

My long absence can be explained by a last minute decision to head to Kuala Lumpur for a friend’s wedding. There was the Perth wedding and a week after that a bunch of friends and I indulged ourselves in culinary heaven for the couple’s second round of celebrations in Malaysia.

I love weddings, to say the least, and even more so when it is held overseas because the celebration keeps on going long after the couple has gone on their honeymoon. And that is exactly what happened in KL.

As soon as we landed and checked into the hotel, food was the main thing on the agenda. Really, Bukit Bintang is the place to be! Great hotels everywhere and just walking distance to all the places we wanted to go to. I learned from the hairdresser I went to that the place we have been dining at for a selection of hawker food is the best in town. What a relief to hear that from a local. This place is called Lot 10 – more like the food court of a shopping mall called Lot 10. Anyhow, you can find all sorts of things you want to eat there! They are cheap and delicious.

A sample of treats we had at Lot 10, a cleaner venue for hawker food:

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But no trip to KL is complete without sampling the food found in Jalan Alor, a popular street for dinner or supper or just a place to hang out after a big night out. Though some shops serve the same kinds of food the trick is to find the shop that sells the best dish.

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And this guy made the night complete…or was it early morning? Turkish ice cream in 3 flavours – vanilla, chocolate, and durian.

Great food for about a third of the prices in Perth!

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Melbourne edition: Ezard

Posted in Chinese/Asian, Food, Modern Australian by

There is a reason why some restaurants are highly regarded than others; awarded hats while other are not. Ezard has easily become one of those fine dining restaurants that blew me away (also partly because I went in with zero expectations).

What can I say? The whole dining experience was fantastic:

Great service. From the initial point of contact through to the second we left the restaurant, the staff had been nothing but polite. They paid close attention to us without being intrusive but what made me feel very relaxed while dining was the staff’s sense of humour.

Great food. I would not normally go to a fine dining restaurant to eat Asian-inpsired food. But Ezard takes it to a whole new level which was great because the food was better than I imagined from reading the menu. It’s almost like east meets west but it was certainly geered towards east.

More importantly, both were enjoyed while on holidays.

Entrees

Seared canadian scallops, spiced pumpkin puree, cumin caramel, pomegranate, chorizo and crispy chinese broccoli

Ezard: scallop entree

Slow cooked bangalow pork belly, apple pudding, fennel, white peach and calvados jus

Ezard: pork belly

Mains

Crispy skin baby barramundi with caramelised eggplant, tomato and lime salad, yellow curry dressing

Ezard: Barramundi curry

Master stock fried pork hock, chilli caramel, spicy thai beanshoot salad and fragrant jasmine rice

Ezard: pork hock

Dessert

Tasting plate for 2

Salted caramel parfait, chocolate peanut butter crunch, pressed paw paw and blackberry syrup & pistachio frangipane, crystallised raspberry and tonka bean ice cream

Ezard: dessert tasting plate

Fromage frais and strawberry cheesecake, basil pearls, lime syrup & mango bavarois, slow cooked peach, sesame seed wafer

Ezard: dessert tasting plate 2

Espresso chocolate marquise, soft meringue, raspberry gel

Ezard: dessert tasting plate 3

Too much good food! I think every single item on the menu is worth a try, except for that salted caramel parfait.

Even I was surprised we polished off every single plate.

Sydney edition: Mamak

Posted in Chinese/Asian, Food by

Our last meal in Sydney consisted of having to walk 2 blocks to get to because I didn’t know the exact address of Mamak. All I knew was that it is on the same street as our hotel so I assumed it was closeby. But with all the walking and rushing and having to get to the airport on time I could’ve sworn that mum wanted to thump me on the head for not checking what the exact address is.

But all is well. We got there before the dinner rush so we were able to get a table right away. My Sydney-sider friend warned me that lines are crazy during peak meal hours and I wasn’t keen on getting to the airport late either so power walking helped (only mum had to power walk as well).

We started off with some roti to fill that hunger that was the source of all our impatience with each other.

Roti canai (on the left) and roti planta (on the right). Both came with 2 types of curry for diping. My personal preference is the roti planta, which Mamak describes as “a rich buttery roti”. It’s not as dry as roti canai and the buttery taste gives a little cooling effect from the heat of the curries.

Our main was a Kari Ikan – “a tangy fish curry cooked with fresh tomatoes, okra and eggplant” – with a serve of rice to share.

I really can’t fault anything with this fish curry. In fact, this is one of the best fish curries I have had. It is almost like what L’s mum cooks but definitely up to restaurant standards. I was glad the fish weren’t cheap basa fillets but rather steak cut of some fish I can’t recognise. The fish held it’s shape and the okra wasn’t slimy. More importantly, though, it was the curry that did it for me. The blend of spices was just right but it really is not for the faint hearted. Mum is not used to eating spicy food and she found it really hot. I’m quite accustomed to spicy food, specially Malaysian curries, and yet I still found this curry quite hot.

Just as well the chicken satay sticks were ordered came after the fish curry.

The waiter told us this was made to order so it would take about 15 minutes to be served. The sweetness of the peanut sauce helped with the spiciness of the curry. We were literally eating spoonsful of sauce while wiping the sweat off our foreheads. The chicken sticks I found too small. I was definitely expecting bigger chunks of meat but these were miniscule in every sense of the word.

So by the time we left the restaurant to get to the airport, there was already a long queue outside. These long queues are there for good reason. Next time I’m in Sydney I’ll definitely head back to Mamak for a curry fix. As a side note: I’m not a major fan of curry but Malaysian curries are the only types of curries I’ll voluntarily eat.

Mamak on Urbanspoon
www.mamak.com.au

Black bean chicken stir-fry

Posted in Chinese/Asian, Food, Recipes by

I have been busy very these days so I haven’t been keeping up with this blog lately. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been eating :) On one of the rare days I get to watch TV I was watching Kylie Kwong make blue swimmer crabs with black bean sauce and that made me salivate. Too bad I had no crabs on hand so I used chicken instead for the dish and adapted other ingredients and it was good.

Ingredients (serves 4-6)

1/2 carrot, cut into star shaped
1 small stalk celery, sliced into thin diagonals
3 whole chicken breasts, sliced thinly
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small red capsicum, cut into squares
4 teaspoons Lee Kum Kee black bean garlic sauce or 2-3 teaspoons black beans
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1-2 teaspoons Shao Xing wine
1-2 teaspoons sugar
oil for stir-frying

Method

1. In a wok, bring 2 litres of water to a rapid boil and add in carrots and celery. Boil for 1-2 minutes and remove from wok. Set aside.

2. Drain water from the wok and wipe it dry. Heat wok on high heat then add in about 3 tablespoons of oil and swirl to coat the wok. Stir fry chicken in 2 batches until cooked. Transfer onto a plate and reserve chicken juice that have come out. Set aside. Then heat 1 tablespoon of oil on high heat and stir fry capsicum for 1 minute. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

3. In the same wok, saute garlic in 1 tablespoon oil. Add in black bean sauce, sesame oil, and Shao Xing wine. Saute for about 30 seconds. Then add in reserved chicken juice and mix well. Add sugar and adjust according to your taste. Add in chicken and sauté and coat it with the black bean sauce for about a minute. Then add in the vegetables and mix together with the chicken and sauce.

4. Transfer to a serving plate and serve with rice.

Jade Court @ Cottesloe

Posted in Chinese/Asian, Food by

The family and I ventured a little far from home for Chinese food. When it comes to Chinese food, we usually stick to the ones we know we’re going to love like some of those restaurants in Northbridge or a few of those close to home. Someone was feeling adventurous this day and I was tasked, yet again, to look for a restaurant we’ve never been before for a change.

This was on a public holiday and I was planning to head down to the beach so I thought why not try that oriental-looking restaurant along Stirling Hwy that I drive past frequently? I made the reservations and had everything planned out for the day. Except I overslept during my “nap” and never made it down to the beach! I was already cranky at this point because I was suddenly jolted up from my slumber. It was already dinner time apparently.

So it’s a good thing then that Jade Court knew how to please customers. Otherwise I would’ve been cranky and pissed the whole night. According to one of my cousins, the restaurant looked like those you’d find in Asia. Decor is very imperial and the waitresses were wearing traditional qi paos. We sat down and ordered our food. Being all too familiar with Hong Kong cuisine, both Auntie J and Auntie C said the taste was spot on. And I do agree with them. The food was tasty and Jade Court offered a change of taste to our palettes. Even though some of the dishes we ordered are also offered by other restaurants, the taste of Jade Court’s dishes was different. It was like eating the same food but not with the old familiar taste.

These are what we had:

* Spinach with chinese mushrooms (top left) – recommended by one of the head waitresses and it was a good recommendation. Fresh veggies with humongous mushrooms in a light and tasty sauce.

* Pork chops with peking sauce (top right) – this was the only underwhelming dish of the night. I thought peking sauce was supposed to be sweet but I really couldn’t quite make out what this sauce was.

* Yam duck (upper middle left) – finally a yam duck with just the right amount of yam! The yam had just the right amount of seasoning was fried to perfection. And so was the duck; crisp and meaty.

* Gwai mah chicken (upper middle right) - fried chicken pieces with seasoned with 5 spice and other spices that also had thinly sliced yao za gwai pieces (the fried dough that you dip in porridge).

* Salt and pepper salmon fillets (lower middle left) – who knew that salmon cooked this way could be so darn good. Bite-size salmon fillets are fried until just cooked so it’s still oozing with juices when you bite into it.

* Combination yee-fu noodles Hong Kong style (lower middle right) – a noodle dish as requested by my little cousin and he has made the right choice. This is a dry-style noodle dish but still had just the right amount of sauce to make it dry-style but not completely dry. It was loaded with toppings too and we were all fighting to have the last few servings.

* Sizzling Japanese tofu (lower left) – this is one of those Chinese restaurant staple that we always have. Except this one here has bigger slices of tofu and a taste that is distinctively Jade Court. It’s not the usual salty fish-style sauce.

Last but not least we ordered an entree of shanghai dumplings (lower right) and were told that they would take a while to make and cook so it will be served together with the mains. We waited. And waited. And waited some more but the dumplings never came. When we asked the waitress to check on them she said they were coming out soon so we waited some more. So, finally, for dessert we had the dumplings.

They were lucky because the dumplings were divine. Otherwise, the oldies would have gone ballistic waiting that long (30 minutes after we finished the mains) for something that was not good.The skin was thin and not overly chewy and the filling was very tasty. Served with a ginger and black vinegar sauce.

Apart from that dumpling fiasco, it was an overall great Chinese restaurant dining experience. The service was very good and attentive which is rare for Chinese restaurants. I must commend the waitress too. She was very friendly and apologetic about the dumplings and explained to us what had happened that took them so long to come out.

Jade Court is definitely more towards fine dining; the prices alone are double that of normal Chinese restaurants elsewhere and serving size is on the smaller scale. You do get a goodservice though, I must reiterate. The bottles of water were even topped up frequently without us once having to ask them. It’s a restaurant I’d definitely consider for the more special occassions.

My rating: 8/10
Jade Court on Urbanspoon

Heavenly Plate @ Applecross

Posted in Chinese/Asian, Food, Japanese by

An intriguing little French-chic cafe sits along Canning Highway in Applecross. Adjacent to this is a little homeware and florist shop. Both the cafe and the shop are owned by a friendly Indonesian couple who’s primary purpose, I would say, is to introduce Perth to a different kind of vegetarian and vegan dining experience.

The cafe is homely decorated with cream and pastel blue adorned with chandeliers and chairs that you would typically find in a European garden setting. There are plenty of pillow cushions on the couch too and, for a good second, I swear I could drift into a deep sleep (not that this was a bad thing) with 90′s music softly playing in the background.

I’m not quite sure what I was to expect with this cafe. Decor looks French but the menu looks Asian. I can only deduce that this is a fusion restaurant at best.

Mind you, even though they have things like “fish”, “burger” and “chicken”, Heavenly Plate serves purely vegetarian (and some vegan) food. This means that the “meat” is made from a variety of soy products or products other than animals.  They have different textures and flavours close enough to taste like real meat. It was really hard to choose what to order since everything on the menu looked interesting yet weird all at the same time.

For starters, the mango bruschetta caught my eye so I convinced K to share it with me. Not a bad choice, I must say. This was one of the best things I have ever put into my mouth with a burst of flavours waking up all my taste buds. It had tomatoes, mangoes, mint leaf sprigs and parmesan cheese with a very tasty and tangy dressing atop a slice of bread (that is to die for) finished off with balsamic vinegar reduction. I can’t quite make out what the bread is; it was crusty on the outside and also deceivingly crusty inside but it’s actually soft to the bite with a crunch. It’s definitely not like the sourdough or Italian bread you usually get from other restaurants. I wouldn’t mind coming here just to eat this mango bruschetta.

Now for mains, I had the Japanese burger with wedges. This is, apparently, one of their most popular items. My burger had Japanese rice as the buns and inside it had a teriyaki “steak”, lettuce, tomatoes, pickle, tomato sauce and mayo. For someone who’s on  a diet this was carbs overload. The “buns” were really filling given that the rice was firmly packed so they could hold their shape. The teriyaki “steak” was very steak-like and taste was spot on. The “meat” wasn’t the doughy kind; it’s made in such a way that when you slice it you get to see strands of “meat”. The only complaint was that there was a bit too much mayo.

K had the spaghetti with Thai green curry sauce, veggies and “seafood”. The flavours of the curry were very pungent. A bit too strong for my liking but otherwise good. According to my dining buddy, she said that it was something different and she couldn’t decide yet whether she liked the food or not. Note that she actually said that she does not like fusion food because it is confusing. She’s more of the authentic food type of eater like Chinese food should taste Chinese, French food cooked the French way.

We finished off the night with some sweets. I am really not supposed to be eating sweets but I had to save room for dessert because the words “homemade cakes” made me want to try their cakes so badly. Again, cakes are mostly vegan friendly. The owner said one of his favourites is the berry cheesecake but we opted for the peach upside down cake. The cake was not spongy, mostly moist and dense and not too sweet. Actually, there was only a hint of sweetness. This was decorated with cinnamon.

And finally, drinks. For a small cafe, Heavenly Plate has quite an extensive drinks menu - not the alcoholic kind but rather teas, coffees, smoothies, milkshakes..etc. Choices are very diverse but it was their hot chocolate range that intrigued me.

So much to choose from I don’t know where to start. Well I finally chose the tiramisu chocolate after a bout of eenie-meenie-miney-mo. I was half expecting a Koko Black-like hot chocolate that is tiramisu flavoured but I was in for a big surprise. It’s not Belgian hot chocolate nor is it Spanish hot chocolate. Rather, it’s Italian hot chocolate I was told. The cafe uses Fraus hot chocolate. The drink was thick and sticky. It’s not the same kind of thickness as Spanish hot chocolate and the sitckiness is like a melted mochi kind of sticky. K was quickly turned off by it because the texture was really strange but I pressed on to finish it and after a few bites (yes, bites because sipping it would be too weird) it did not taste so strange anymore. There was definitely that hint of tiramisu taste but it wasn’t like dark chocolate rich rich. Perhaps I’d go for the smoothies next time.

Heavenly Plate is defintely a place to try if you’re looking for that something different. This is where vegetarianism and veganism go beyond steamed veggies and salads. Although service is quite slow (food takes a while to be served even though the cafe is small) I’d give kudos to the owners for their hospitality. They are happy to entertain and answer questions about their food from vego noobs like me and K.

My rating: 6.5/10
Heavenly Plate Cafe on Urbanspoon

Northbridge Chinese Restaurant @ Northbridge

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It really does not feel like a Sunday if my family and I do not head out to Northbridge and wait under the sun (during summer) or rain (during winter) for some dim sum family time. Northbridge Chinese Restaurant, along Roe Hwy, is one of our favourites for such a meal. It’s a little pricier than other dim sum restaurants but it’s worth it – foodwise.

What I like most is that the dim sums do not taste like they are loaded in oil or fat. They are very flavourful without being too saturated so you don’t feel really heavy afterwards. If you decide to come here on a Sunday either come very early (i.e. before everyone else) or be prepared to wait in line. And the line can be really long. Once you get in, though, you will feel that weariness (from waiting in line) go away at the sight of the dim sum trolleys. In line with what you’ll find in dim sum restaurants in Asia, little bamboo steamers filled with dumplings or chicken feet or ox tripe are stacked high in steam-generating trolleys that are pushed around the resturant making occassional stops at tables with drooling patrons.

It’s best, really, to go with a bigger group so you can sample more choices. There are so many steamed and fried dim sums to choose from that we usually skip breakfast altogether so we can eat more. Either that’s smart or just plain sad is up to you. Works well for us! For a family of 9-10, we usually need around 20 dishes to fill us up:

  • har gow (prawn dumplings)
  • siu mai (pork dumplings)
  • coriander prawn dumplings
  • beef balls
  • fish ball
  • scallop prawn dumplings
  • steamed rice rolls
  • chicken feet
  • seafood and beancurd roll
  • steamed spare ribs
  • egg tart

  • radish/turnip cake
  • salt and pepper squid
  • deep fried tiny fish (exact name I do not know)
  • fried dough with rice roll

Then, for dessert, my personal favourite is the dao fu fa. Silky smooth tofu-like delicacy made from soy beans and served with syrup. This is a much better choice than mango pudding.

The many times I’ve been here food has been consistenly good. That’s the dim sum bit I’m referring too. They’re as close to the ones you can get in Hong Kong.

For banquet meals during dinner time, well, I wouldn’t say they were exceptionally good. They were good but nothing made them stand out from other Chinese restaurants in the area.

If you can get past the mediocre and arrogant service that you may sometimes come across from impatient older staff and indifferent younger staff who look like they are forced to work there, Northbridge Chinese Restaurant is really worth a lunch time dim sum trip.

My rating: 7.5/10

Northbridge Chinese on Urbanspoon

My San Francisco & Napa Valley eats

Posted in Chinese/Asian, Coffee & Desserts, Food, French, Japanese, Thai by

*Dojima Ann | Dojima on Urbanspoon
Downtown

A nice and cozy Japanese restaurant just a little off Powell Street. K and I came here on our first night in SFO just to get something quick and hot since it was surprisingly cold. Dojima Ann was located near our hotel so we dropped by early enough to be seated before the rush started. I had an udon with chicken, egg and tempura (the name which I have already forgot) and it was delicious! The soup is miso based which was quite unusual because most of the Japanese restaurants I’ve had in Perth serve noodles in a dashi stock. So this one here was not as sweet which is just the way I like it. I would have preferred them to serve the tempura in a separate plate though – it was way too soggy when it was served. Service was quick and friendly though.

*Lori’s Diner | www.lorisdiner.com | Lori's Diner on Urbanspoon
Downtown (and other locations)

A very retro 50′s diner that has an all-American menu. Serving size comes in huge portions enough to be shared. It says in the menu that the French Toast is famous so that is what I ordered with an Oreo milkshake. The french toasts were good in a sense that they were thick and fluffy. Other than that though they were quite tasteless. Adding syrup does not help either because their syrup is also tasteless and not a tad sweet. K had Buttermilk Pancakes. She liked the first few bites but after that they were dry enough to make you want to stop eating. I really wanted to try the breakfasts with eggs like omelette but they make the omelettes with 3 eggs but I don’t think I need that much eggs. The ambiance is good and all that, with 50′s memorabilia and red and white diner tables and seats, and service was very friendly but I once is enough to give me that diner experience. They have a store at the international airport too, just in case you need to get a diner fix before departing the US of A.

*Pier Restaurant | www.piermarket.com | Pier Market Seafood on Urbanspoon
Fisherman’s Wharf

One of the many restaurants in the Pier 39 area offering fresh seafood and the famous clam chowder. K and I decided to dine here because it looked clean enough and it was in the heart of  the Pier 39 shops. Obviously, we had to have the clam chowder sourdough bowl. It was very good – creamy and tasty. The sourdough bowl that it comes in is from Boudin Bakery, a pioneer sourdough maker in the city. We polished off the bread as well. Yum. I wanted to have a bread bowl for myself but we decided that we wanted to try other food too so we shared a bowl and had a seafood grill. The grill had 4 prawn skewers, 1 swordfish and 1 salmon. I only enjoyed the prawn skewers; the rest were just plain grilled seafood. We tasted nothing exceptionally fresh about them.

*Chipotle | www.chipotle.com
Downtown

Quick and fresh burritos and tacos in Downtown and that’s all they serve. I had the beef burrito that looked small until they wrap it up; very very filling specially when you have it at 10pm. I especially loved the cilantro rice!

*Oriental Pearl | www.orientalpearlsf.com | Oriental Pearl on Urbanspoon
Chinatown

How this restaurant made it to the Michelin restaurant guide list and Rachael Ray’s recommendation is beyond me. Walking along Chinatown looking for a place to eat, we dropped by Oriental Pearl based only on those 2 recommendations displayed proudly inside the restaurant. It’s a bit dodgily located on the second floor of some building and first instincts told us to get out this place but, no, we walked in anyway and asked for a table for 2. It was rather empty when we first got there but quickly filled up as dinnertime came around. For starters, we had a dim sum sample consisting of pork, beef and prawn dumplings. Mediocre at best and the prawn dumpling wrappers were disgusting. Tasted like they were made with rancid flour. Then we had tofu soup with minced meat and seaweed. This was the only dish I enjoyed/liked for the night but there was only about 3 blobs of minced meat in the soup. A bit of a rip off. After much debate K and I ended up ordering a veggie yee mien. This was certainly one of the worst noodle dishes I have ever had – in SFO or elsewhere in the world. Noodles were tough and spongy as though they were not cooked through and the sauce was mainly soy sauce. You know what? The noodles I make at home are way better than this. No kidding. If there’s one thing good about Oriental Pearl was that the service was definitely friendly! The waiters can speak and understand English properly so there shouldn’t be any problems.

*Cafe de la Presse | www.cafedelapresse.com | Cafe de la Presse on Urbanspoon
Nob Hill

I’ve had one of the best meals of my life here at Cafe de la Presse in Nob Hill just outside the Chinatown gate. A little exaggeration? Probably so, but enough justification. K and I have been eyeing this restaurant since 2 days before we actually ate here because it looked tres chic. One very late night we managed to finally make it here and left with no regrets. Is it weird that I’ve never ever had french onion soup until I ordered it here? That was my appetiser. It wasn’t as sweet as I imagined it to be so that was a big relief. Well that was why I have never had french onion soup before – I don’t like sweet tasting soup (like dashi based ones). Chunky onions with a slice of baguette topped with cheese made my insides all warm in the cold foggy weather. The size it came in was perfect too. It left room for an entree (or mains as we call it in Perth) without me being too full. I had the confit du ganard maison – duck confit with mushrooms and potatoes. O-M-G. Crispy duck skin with duck meat that falls off the bone sitting on top of mushrooms that were sitting on top of sliced potatoes drenched in duck fat. ‘Nuff said. I polished everything – skin, fat and all – and I am as happy as can be.

K, on the other hand, opted for a lighter and less filling choice. She had tomato soup with basil to start off then followed by a shrimp cocktail. The tomato soup was tangy and tasty, not overpowered by cream so it was not too heavy. The shrimp cocktail, she said, was very refreshing. Fresh and crisp prawns with cherry tomatoes and a few leaves of lettuce – it sounds just as light as she wants her food to be.

*Bangkok Noodles | www.bangkoknoodles.com | Bangkok Noodles on Urbanspoon
Downtown

Bangkok Noodles was a surprisingly good find in Downtown. After a long day of shopping we walked to the restaurant closest to us and found great Thai food. There is a non stop waiting line to this place. K had the pad thai and I had a tom yum soup with noodles. How Thai are we? Both dishes were excellent and great value for money.

*Honey Honey Cafe and Creperie | www.honeyhoneycafeandcreperie.com | Honey Honey Crepe House on Urbanspoon
Nob Hill

K has been bugging me to go to a cafe to have a proper breakfast where she can sip coffee and read the paper. After much research we stumbled upon Honey Honey which had awesome reviews. This place turned out to be just around the corner from our hotel so we went there first thing in the morning. Wow, the line was super long and the place is full. There were literally no empty seats. So while in the line we were starring at the chalkboard that lists all the food they serve – omelettes, crepes, sandwiches, salad, pasta, soup - and it was impossible to choose just one. We finally got to the till and ordered a Miami Heat crepe and eggs florentine. All that hype just led to disappointment. The crepe was not very crepe-like but the filling (chicken, cheese, avocado, scallions, hot sauce) was not too bad. The eggs florentine were horrible which disappointing because it was a breakfast special. Tasteless hollandaise sauce and soggy english muffin underneath. I would say it’s not worth coming back for a second try.

*Bistro Jeanty | www.bistrojeanty.com | Bistro Jeanty on Urbanspoon
Napa Valley

A 2009 Michelin star awardee restaurant in Napa Valley that blew me away with its Sole Meuniere. A sole that melts in your mouth with mashed potatoes, butter, lemon and capers. This was a simple dish with complementary ingredients used at their finest. I’m just not entirely sure what to do with the star shaped lemon pieces that were on top of my fish. Were they to be eaten too? I was such a FOB so I ate one anyway just to try it and it were sour as. Duh! So I resolved to just leave them alone on my plate to make it look pretty. K had the beouf bourguignon that looked small but is actually very filling even just halfway through the dish. I had to help her finish it. It was a traditional French beef stew with the beef very tender but that also holds its shape.

This is a French bistro serving familiar homey French food like the ones we had plus coq au vin, salad nicoise and filet au poivre. Unfortunately the waiters were not French men but they were very friendly. One even had a little chat with us. We told our waitress we were in a hurry (because our tour bus leaves at a certain time) and she made sure that the kitchen prepared our dishes first which, in fact, was what happened because our food was served within 10 minutes.

And oh, eat that complimentary baguette. It is very very good. Ask for more if you need to.

*Bouchon Bakery | www.bouchonbakery.com | Bouchon Bakery on Urbanspoon
Napa Valley

A block down from Bistro Jeanty is Bouchon Bakery, also a Michelin star awardee apparently. K just had to try the stuff from this bakery so we rushed out of Bistro Jeanty and fast walked down the street. There is a nonstop line that forms outside the bakery – a sign that it is good, which is why people line up for it for up to 40 minutes, but which I find deceiving because the bakery is not spacious enough inside to begin with. You start from left to right gazing upon croissants and tarts and macarons while placing your order and the entrance to the bakery is where you start gazing so, obviously, only 2-4 people can go in and be served at one time. To add to that, people take forever to decide what to get which I understand because there is so much to choose from but is almost annoying when you are time pressured and the sun is burning your skin.

Onto the products…K and I had raspberry, pistachio, espresso and mocha macaroons and a blueberry and lemon tart. Hmmm, were they worth the wait? Honestly speaking I’m undecided on this one. They stuff we got were not bad but they were not the best. We waited in line for so long only to find out that they have a store in New York, too, which we are headed to in a few weeks.

Recipe: Prawn dumplings & prawn toast

Posted in Chinese/Asian, Food, Recipes by

It is almost like a ritual for me/my family that we go for yum cha on Sundays. Yesterday, mostly because everyone woke up late, yum cha wasn’t on the agenda and whenever I don’t get to eat out where I want to I make the food myself at home whilst hoping for the best result.

I trekked to the Asian supermarket to buy my supplies for har gow (prawn dumplings). Har gows are my favourite dim sum and let me tell ya – leave it to the experts to make them. There was an Asian snacks cookbook lying around at home so I took a quick read and the recipe for prawn dumplings looked rather simple. Or so I thought. Basically this was all what was needed:

Filling
1 kilo prawns, chopped
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon Chinese cooking wine
1 small can bamboo shoots, chopped
1/4 kilo pork fat

Wrapper
1 1/2 cup non glutinous flour
1 cup boiling water
2 tablespoons oil

Just mix all the ingredients for the filling together. Then mix the ingredients for the wrapper until it becomes a dough. Then divide the dough into about 30 pieces and roll them into tiny thin circles. Like wontons, but round. Put the filling into the wrapper and pleat the edges until you get a crescent shaped dumpling with pleats.

Now there were several things that went wrong while I was making the dumplings. The recipe called for non glutinous flour. I went to the flour aisle of the supermarket and there was nothing called non glutinous flour. There was something called non glutinous rice flour though. I wasn’t entirely confident that rice flour was the right kind of flour but since it was the only non glutinous kind of flour I could find I ended up buying it. While rolling out the dough I felt that it wasn’t sticky enough to be a har gow wrapper. I couldn’t roll it out too thin too because it kept breaking so my dumpling ended up having a thick skin and little filling. But it was too late now. The filling was ready and my bamboo steamer was steaming so, make or break, the family would just have to be forced to eat the dumplings.

Taste-wise, the dumplings were not too bad. I did not have any pork fat so they weren’t greasy. I thought of adding some chicken powder for added flavour but I couldn’t find my chicken powder in the pantry. In lieu of the chicken powder I added garlic salt instead. Appearance-wise, they looked nothing like the har gows you see in dim sum houses. The skin is not translucent enough and, as much as I tried to pleat my dumplings, I couldn’t do so without breaking and cracking the wrapper. Now they just looked like soup dumplings.

Essentially the dumplings were too doughy and the taste of the wrapper was very floury so I made a dipping sauce to rescue them.

Dipping sauce
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons warm water
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons sugar
bunch of coriander, chopped

By the time I finished steaming all the dumplings I’ve decided that in the future I will simply head down to Northbridge to get my har gow fix. Making dim sums is an art that takes years to master.

I had extra prawn filling but I was reluctant to make any more wrappers since I wasn’t too happy with the ones I made earlier. Now what to do with the rest of the filling? I know. Prawn toast.

I have only ever eaten prawn toast twice before and both times were amazing. I like prawns. I like sesame seeds. I like deep fried stuff. I only eat deep fried food in restaurants so my version here is simply pan-fried. It’s not greasy at all so it doesn’t taste unhealthy. And to top it off, I used wholemeal multigrain bread for the toast. A healthy Chinese snack that you can only find in my kitchen.

I never thought I could eat so much prawns in one day!

Espresso 7 Seas @ Ardross

Posted in Breakfast/Brunch, Chinese/Asian, Food by

The biggest lesson learned this morning is that waking up early so that I’m not rushing about every thing makes for a good morning. I awoke later than usual this morning only to find that there’s not much food left at home for me to make myself a substantial breakfast. So I decided to head out for a good breakfast despite running a little late for work. I was orginally planning to go to Sensations en Ardross (along Ardross Street apparently) but without checking the correct address I turned into the wrong street and ended up at Espresso 7 Seas.

It was awfully quiet when I went in. There was absolutely no one and for a minute there I thought they were still closed. The clock was ticking so I decided to just deal with my mistake and get something to eat so I can rush off to work. There wasn’t a lot of breakfast items to choose from – just the standards like big breakfast, eggs on toast, bacon and eggs. I opted for the big breakfast and a latte all for $18.50. Coffee was not too bad. It depends on who made it though. The auntie who made mine was not very skilled but one of the staff made a better looking one for another customer.

Espresso 7 Seas: big breakfast

And there was my big breakfast. It is filling but not satisfying. I asked for poached hard eggs but it came with 2 very runny eggs. Tomatoes were not roasted enough and the bacon was very dry and tasted funny. The cheese dog sausage was good though – a change from the usual chipolatas that other cafes serve and which I dislike. The toast could be improved too. I had the rye toast and it was thin as! They gave me just 1 piece of toast cut diagonally and it wasn’t even enough to soak up the runny yolks that they gave me.

Espresso 7 Seas is in a good quiet location but I wouldn’t dare say that I’d be back again to give their other dishes a try. Their concept is a Western and Asian cafe so, in addition to burgers and fish and chips, you’d be sure to find Malaysian dishes as well like laksa and curries. I’m not entirely sure how the name “Espresso 7 Seas” fits into the concept. One thing that majorly turned me off was the smell of the cafe. It’s the kind smell that you find in and should only be restricted to Asian/Chinese restaurants. Early in the morning I walked out and my hair and clothes already smell like curry. That’s definitely not how I’d like to start my day.

My rating: 5/10
Espresso7seas on Urbanspoon

Atrium @ Burswood

The only time I would dine in Burswood’s Entertainment Complex is when there is an event. Most restaurants there offer a discount tied up with your event so it is an opportunity not to be missed. Last night was such an event. A few friends and I were catching the musical “Wicked” at 6:30pm and, given the time, eating at Burswood would have been the logical choice. Everyone chose Atrium for our pre-show dinner and I must admit that I was hesitant at first. The last time I dined here was a few years back and it ended with a very unsatisfactory experience. As a buffet restaurant, there wasn’t really a lot of appetising dishes to chose from. And those that did look appetising enough were just mediocre. That plus the price they charged was enough for me to never go back.

Now flashforward to last night. The whole restaurant has been revamped (in fact, the lobby where the Atrium is located has been revamped) and I wondered to myself how long it has been since I was in Burswood. Not too long ago – just 2 years when ”The Phantom of the Opera” came to Perth – and that was when the renovations were happening.

Although I am not a very big fan of buffets in Perth, simply because I’ve had better buffet experiences elsewhere, I must say that the experience at Atrium this time around was Wicked! The buffet area has a new layout and is spacious enough to accomodate traffic and queue jumpers. There is also a wide array of dishes to choose from: japanese, chinese/asian, indian, continental. They even have dimsum but they certainly don’t compare tothe ones served in actual dimsum places in Northbridge.

For most part, the dishes were lovely – tasty, flavourful and cooked just right. The stand outs for me were the baked salmon, steamed barramundi, salmon sashimi and the salt and pepper pork chops.

Just don’t stuff yourself too much and save room for dessert because Atrium’s sweets are not ones that you’d want to miss. Their waffles were unbelievably awesome! You can wait for the staff to freshly make one for you but when in a rush the pre-made soggy ones that are kept warm are good enough. I loaded mine with whipped cream and both strawberry and mango jam. It was so good that I went for a second serve of waffles with even more cream.

The chocolate fountain is hard to miss too. Chocolate covered strawberries also went well with the waffles. The other dessert that we all enjoed was the berry friand. It was moist enough, not overly sweet and comes in a generous size. The only problem with the dessert section is that some sweets were placed on the upper shelf of the table. We were disappointed to see the limited choices for sweets because we did not even see the desserts on that shelf until much taller people around us started reaching over our heads. And even in tiptoes it was hard to make out what some of the desserts were.

Overall, Atrium has greatly improved from how it was a few years ago. What I experienced last night makes a trip to Burswood worth it, and not just when there is an event happening.

My rating: 7.5/10
Atrium on Urbanspoon

Good Fortune Duck House @ Northbridge

Posted in Chinese/Asian, Perth by

My old boss has this habit of explaining ideas through metaphors. We have endured long talks about 3-dollar Coke cans and that “little shop at the corner of the street” serving ham and tomato sandwiches. Then, one day, the Coke hype suddenly died down and he started talking about ducks. One place he kept referring to was “Good Fortune Roast Duck” (which I later found out was really Good Fortune Duck House). I can only assume that he loves this place since he has mentioned it in our morning “meetings” for a good 1 month – something about roast duck and peking duck and minced duck meat. I spaced out after 2 minutes of him talking about roast duck daydreaming about having roast duck for lunch.

I finally found a good reason to head to Good Fortune Duck House to get some duck action. My family and I were celebrating the fact that I am a finally a resident of Australia. Yay! We use the most random happenings as reasons to eat out a lot. It was a Friday and I called to make reservations for 8 people. The restaurant is not big at all and they only had 2 big tables to accommodate big groups so it was important that everyone in the group arrived on time. Otherwise, they won’t let you take the table. It was a busy night in Northbridge so parking was a nightmare. I walked from the city so I arrived first. The rest of the group took half an hour to find a parking spot and the waitresses were ready to shoo me out of the restaurant. They kept asking me every 2 minutes when the rest of the party will arrive and all I could say was “soon”. Though I do understand why they wanted to kick me out (there were quite a number of people waiting for a table outside), the waitresses could have told me or explained to me nicely that there were other patrons waiting outside instead of giving me that cold look. Well, good and friendly service is not exactly what you’ll find in most Asian restaurants.

By the time my family arrived, food was served because I ordered beforehand. But even on a busy night, food came out in about 10 minutes upon ordering. We had the roast meat combination consisting of bbq pork and roast duck. Honestly, the roast duck was not as good as I expected it to be. Given that they specialise in roast duck it was rather disappointing. The pieces they gave us were not very meaty but at least the duck was not very fatty. Truth be told, I have had better roast duck elsewhere.

Good Fortune Duck House: bbq pork and roast duck

I don’t usually order fried rice when eating out but we had a fussy eater with us so I did end up ordering the special fried rice. The fried rice was so-so, definitely nothing special about it.

Good Fortune Duck House: special fried rice

The rest of the dishes we had were quite tasty. The seafood were cooked just right – not overcooked and not chewy – which was great. We had salt and pepper squid, prawns with snowpeas and toothfish with soy sauce. The squid and the fish were definitely our favourites.

top to bottom: salt and pepper squid, prawns with snow peas, toothfish with soy sauce

 

 

 

Then to complete the meal, we had kangkong with garlic and sizzling Japanese tofu with seafood sauce.

Good Fortune Duck House: kangkong with garlic

Good Fortune Duck House: sizzling Japanese tofu

When you step inside Good Fortune Duck House, it really does take you back to China, or, at least, those typical Chinese restaurants in Asia where chairs are very oriental (and by that I meant chairs that I saw in China at my grandparents’ old house) and some menu items plastered all over the walls. The place is a bit murky too – dim lighting and it had that “sticky” feel inside where months of grease seemed to have infused the place.

Good Fortune Duck House: interior

But I hope this has changed. I was passing by one day and saw them taking all the furniture out on the street. Perhaps they were doing a general cleaning? One can only hope. Despite the shabby ambiance, there is good reason though why people are willing to line up to sample some of Good Fortune Duck House’s dishes. They are tasty, affordable and generous in portions. You do get that bang for your buck.

My rating: 7/10

Good Fortune Duck House on Urbanspoon

www.goodfortuneduckhouse.com.au/index.html

Recipe: Jelly with jackfruit dessert

Posted in Chinese/Asian, Coffee & Desserts, Recipes by

From my kitchen: Jelly with jackfruit

A very refreshing dessert courtesy of Auntie Cindy. Once jelly is made this dessert can be put together in 5 minutes! The jackfruit can also be substituted with whatever fruit you like (lychee, longan…etc).

Ingredients

Jelly or gelatin powder or agar powder

Food colouring of your choice

1 can of jackfruit

Ice cubes

1 lime, juiced

cold water

sugar syrup

Method
1. Cook the jelly according to packet instructions. Add food colouring of your choice. Then pour the jelly into mould shapes of your choice.

2. Once set, de-mould the jelly onto a big bowl. Add in ice cubes and the jackfruit together with the juice.

3. Add in lime juice and about 1 cup of cold water and stir.

4. Adjust the taste according to your liking by adding more water or some sugar syrup.

5. Serve and enjoy.