Melbourne: Australia
Please excuse my lack of photo-tation… the ducklings found themselves on a trip to Melbourne just over two weeks ago. Have only just gotten round to uploading these pics, in the midst of the various other shoots that I’ve been doing.
Melbourne is a city of sophistication mixed in with the rough, and I had an amazing time sampling good food and shopping throughout my explorations of the city.
So without further ado, hop onto the back of my vespa and sit back as I take you on a small sample of what Melbourne has to offer :)
First stop: Rose Street Artist Market, Fitzroy. Home of amazing independent art and design.
We’ll lose ourselves in one of Melbourne’s many laneways, filled with an array of bars, restaurants, boutiques and galleries.
We’ll spend the rest of the night at The Suzuki Night Markets, Queen Victoria Markets. These markets feature a vast array of food stalls, bars, shopping and free entertainment. Every Wednesday night during summer (until 24 February 2010).
The next morning we’ll head to Degraves Street, a popular site for a quick coffee and feed.
The Quarter (Degraves Street) – hands down one of the best places in Melbourne for coffee (and a delicious breakfast!)
Lunch is served at HuTong Dumpling Bar. Their xiao long baos are to die for!!!
Finally, we’ll put our feet up and listen to the piano man on Bourke Street, as we savor in more of the sights, sounds and tastes of Melbourne.
Mizuya Japanese restaurant and karaoke
I’m a sucker for all things Japanese. Especially what Sydney has to offer in terms of Japanese food.
After an afternoon of belting out some tunes with the karaoke crew, me and J head to Mizuya Japanese restaurant and karaoke (basement, 614 George Street Sydney). We’ve walked past this place a few times while it was being built, so now we finally had the chance to see what it was like. As the name suggests, Mizuya has an adjacent karaoke lounge, and offers dining and karaoke packages from $198.
Unfortunately I only had my phone with me, so the pictures aren’t good. But the food was :)
I’m sure by now you’ve heard about Wagaya. Mizuya is similar to Wagaya in terms of floor layout, ambience, its menu and the touch screen ordering system. However, we found the ordering screen less responsive to Wagaya’s and needed to press the icons a few times for it to register.
First up we order ox tongue kushiyaki. This is usually a standard order whenever we go to Wagaya, and was on par in taste. Only negative was the small sized portion (2 sticks) at $5.80.
Next up was the assorted kushiage 5 piece set ($11.80), consisting of tomato, prawn, chicken, sausage and squid. Fried to perfection :)
Soft shell crab salad ($9.80). Lacked in dressing, so we needed to ask for more.
Sake steamed clam ($14.80) – my favourite for the night :)
Final dish for the night – dried flounder ($15.80).
Finished up at about 80% full, but overall I think its one of the places that I’ll return to in the near future. It’s a contender to the always busy Wagaya, so will be interesting to see if this place takes off.
cabramatta
Not many people know that I grew up in South-Western Sydney. Cabramatta, Liverpool and Fairfield were my playground, my aunts and uncles lived either next door or down the street, and its where you could get fresh, exotic fruits like no where else. Sure, it had its fair share of negative attention (the kids I went to school with after moving across Sydney only knew the place by what was shown on the news – bad stuff happened, you could get drugs, people went and killed each other, and so thus I was one as well), but since then it has massively evolved and shaped up to what it is today.
So let me introduce you to a place I love for its vibrant colours, fresh food and lively characters, which make Cabramatta truly a place for Asian experiences.
The gateway to Cabramatta – Freedom Plaza
Hold my hand and don’t get lost…
Considering here’s what’s about to come…
An array of variety stores…
And a lasting reminder of the world we live in.
huong huong restaurant
Located on Marrickville Road is Huong Huong – a bustling Vietnamese restaurant with a unique range of beautiful paintings and photographs aligned on pink coloured walls.
Image courtesy of Huong Huong
Huong Huong seems to be popular with locals, with most of its seats over two levels filled by 8pm. And why wouldn’t it – this place boasts a massive array of Chinese and South-East Asian favourites (mains cost from $6-$20) including crocodile, emu and kangaroo – a total 372 dishes in fact!
Tonight, we’re just going for the favourites:
Vietnamese beef noodle soup – this massive bowl of beef, flat rice noodles, basil, bean sprouts in a hearty beef broth is always popular.
Did I say it was massive? :)
Salt and pepper squid – crispy pieces of squid, not too salty and not too oily. Absolutely delicious and highly recommended! :)
Combination rice was a treat – delicious pieces of vegetables, beef, and seafood stir fried with rice.
Braised beef with tofu – tender pieces of beef combined with fried tofu pieces, fresh vegetables and rice.
Crispy skin chicken and tomato rice – ever since I was introduced to this deliciously delightful dish back in my high school days its always been one of my must try whenever I go to Vietnamese restaurants. I can easily say that this has been the best crispy skin chicken and tomato rice dishes I’ve ever had in Sydney. Abundance of tender chicken, the delicious crispy skin (I think my cholestoral level’s gone up from tonight’s feed!), combined with a piece of tomato, cucumber and lettuce sides.
Pleasantly surprised to have fresh fruit provided at the end of the meal :)
Huong Huong Restaurant
228 Marrickville Road, Marrickville
02 9568 5522
Bookings essential
The food is tasty, the service is fast and helpful, not bad value for money – I’m definitely going back to try something else on their 372 dish menu! :)
I’ll finish this post with a delicious berries dessert – something that my lovely J put together this morning. Yum! :)
time for a little something different…
I just had to post this beautiful video of the wedding entrance of Jill and Kevin (thanks to my photography friends who tweeted about this). It is so unexpected, out of the norm, and definitely something that will make you smile (and possibly even tears!) :)
For those reading this from RSS feed, click this link to view the video: HERE
in memory of Poh… and a chicken.
Disappointed that Poh didn’t win masterchef last night. But anyway, since the mX published an adapted receipe for Hainanese chicken rice guess what was on the menu tonight?
Ok, so it looks nothing like this,
but you’ve just gotta use what you have at home.
daily telegraph FAIL (oh, and masterchef winner)
The Daily Telegraph has done it again, with this article written by Erin McWhirter (TV Editor). It was at 8:57pm that this article was published telling readers that Poh Ling Yeow had become Australia’s first masterchef (article can be viewed here).
EDIT: link was taken down, but it still can be found here (courtesy of chocolatesuze)
Here’s what was written, advising the world of the masterchef victory:
“Using her cultural connection of her upbringing in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur and the traditional influences her parents Christina and Steven have taught her over the years, Ling Yeow was stunned with the verdict but happy to embrace it.”
“After pocking the $100,000 cash prize and a cookbook deal Ling Yeow says she’s excited about launching her book Food From Mars.”
“Disappointed but humble, [Julie] Goodwin praised her feisty opponent for her success.”Poh’s a very deserving winner,” she said. “I’m proud of her, she’s a good friend and I wish her every success in the world.”"
Nice work, Daily Telegraph. First, it was publised at 8:57pm, ahead of the conclusion of the show (materchef on twitter tweets the winner just after 10pm), and secondly, it isn’t even right!
Erin McWhirter – you’re fired.
Maybe I’m just being too harsh. Should the media be allowed to ‘announce’ results before the finale results are even released, and what about it even being wrong? Let me know your thoughts.
the art of mie goreng…
Well, its not really an art. But I’m amazed at the number of people that cook mie goreng the wrong way (or they can’t read instructions on packets :p )
Anyway, I’m not going to bore you and go through the pack opening, water boiling steps, but here’s the most crucial steps:
1. Empty the sachets into a bowl (while your water is boiling / noodles are being cooked). Add as little or as much as you like, but obviously for a greater array of flavours add more! The contents of the sachets are soup base (salt, sugar, garlic, onion); oil (palm oil, onion); sweet soy sauce; chilli sauce; fried onion.
2. Mix it up before you put in the noodles. You’ll probably see it clumps up, but don’t worry – it’ll be fixed up once the noodles are in.
3. Completely drain your noodles, then place them in your bowl. Mix thoroughly, you’ll be able to see the beautiful textures coming together and smell the sweet aroma of the noodles mixed with the garlic, onion, palm oil, sweet soy sauce and chilli sauce. Mmm… impeccable. Enjoy! :)
Now that I’ve shown you the proper way of cooking mie goreng, how do you cook yours? ;)
first taste restaurant
I’m not a big fan of the traditional Chinese herby soups (I wouldn’t go near them but mum swears by them so the house is usually overflowing with the aroma of ginseng and other assorted herbs), so when I first found out about First Taste and their vast menu of stewed herb soups I wasn’t too keen on going.
But since my actual first taste to First Taste, I’ve actually been back a few times. Mind you, not for the soup, but rather for something a little bit different – rice in hot pot. This is probably something that is similar to shabu shabu, sukiyaki, or Korean Stone bowl rice, where rice is served in the pot with assorted toppings, and stays warm until you finish the meal. Make sure you mix the rice with the toppings immediately as soon as you receive it, as the rice at the bottom of the pot hardens as the pot cools!
First Taste burst into the restaurant scene in Melbourne (Springvale, Footscray and Box Hill), and now it’s Sydney’s turn. The restaurant’s pretty new, having opened in the beginning of 2009. Since then, its become a hit with local Hurstville residents and incredibly popular for lunch and dinner. However, the service and staff are very efficient, and the average time I’ve had to wait for a table has been roughly 5 – 10 mins for a table on most occasions.
The menu consists of stewed herb soups (buddha’s favourite soup tops the list at $58!), rice in hot pot (range includes chicken & mushroom with rice, black bean sauce spare ribs with rice, x.o. sauce fish fillet with rice), vermicelli noodle soups (including dumpling soup, hot & sour chicken with vermicelli noodle soup), and finally desserts (durian, black sesame, mango desserts), but for tonight, it was time for the trusty rice in hot pot which was excellent on cold winters night.
First up – beef with rice. Beef was slightly a little too hard for my liking and a little too salty.
Next – seafood combination with rice. Pieces of seafood extender, prawn balls, fish fillets and a scallop or two. Quite an enjoyable dish.
Finally – quail with rice. I always seem to order this dish whenever I come, has got to be one of my favourites here. Two or three pieces of tender quail leg and thigh and soy sauce. Delicious!
I’m yet to conquer my dislike of herbal soups, but that will come in another post. If you’d like experience the joys of having a hot pot meal on a cold winter’s night then First Taste is the place to be.
First Taste Restaurant
316 Forest Road Hurstville
02 8065 2178
The Morepth Pie Man
Over the weekend, I went to Morepth (located approximately 2 hours north of Sydney in the Hunter Valley). This little quiet town has become contrastingly different what it was like in the 1820s, as it was used as a busy trading river port before the railway link from Newcastle to Sydney was completed. Today, it is littered with beautiful cafes, craft, antiques & lolly shops and old historic buildings.
While wondering around we came across The Morepth Pie Man (cnr Green & Close St Morepth – you’d find him at the back of the hut with the green frog at the front!). I’m a sucker for tasting home made pies whenever I travel outside of Sydney, so this was no exception. The assortment of pies included duck & mushroom, curry chicken, chunky beef, lamb fry & bacon, vegetarian, steak & kidney and lamb shank.
The pie was absolutely amazing! I had a chunky beef pie with peas and gravy, at $7 it wasn’t exactly the cheapest meal for lunch but it was definitely worth it. Absolutely beautiful on a cool winter’s day.
Mmm, the pie was piping hot, beef was definitely chunky, peas nicely cooked, and gravy, well, impeccable. It would be, considering Gary (the Morepth Pieman) won 11 awards at the Darling Harbour “Great Aussie Meat Pie” competition in 2005.
If you’re ever in the area of Morepth, definitely go in and try the pies from the pie man – I highly recommend it!
Now… can someone please tell me what this is? It sits on a chair at the back of The Morepth Pie Man’s shop…
