Michelin Starred Restaurants in Hong Kong

"In 2008 The Michelin Guide extended its reach into China with a new edition ranking dining destinations in Hong Kong and Macau for the first time. The guide, featured 251 restaurants and hotels in the two Chinese cities, is Michelin's second guide outside Europe and the United States. The debut Tokyo edition was published in Nov. 2007, with eight restaurants receiving Michelin's highest three-star rating.

Michelin awarded 40 stars to 28 restaurants in Hong Kong and Macau, and two venues got the top ranking.

Lung King Heen in Hong Kong's luxurious Four Seasons Hotel received three stars, while the hotel's French eatery Caprice won two stars." Source: Usatoday.com

Now we did manage to get a table at Lung King Heen last December during our annual end-of-year trip to Hong Kong. It was pleasant enough with sweeping views of the Hong Kong famous harbour, refined setting and elegantly presented cuisine. However.... although good, none of the courses stood out for me.

I really believe that there are restaurants in Hong Kong, that can provide better food, but I guess those places won't have the same waterfront and glamourous setting. It reinforces my thinking that the Michelin guide is not only about food but you have to have everything... You have to have the ambiance and service to go with the food.

Some would say that they don't really understand Chinese food.... Perhaps... Sometimes simple things are the best.... I guess no wonton noodle or sweet tofu pudding place is going to make it into the guide... Here are some downright favourites of mine:

• Brunch / lunch at Kowloon City Market food court (top floor)
• Islamic food in Kowloon City
• Tofu pudding in sweet ginger soup and ginger sugar in Kowloon City
• Kiku, B13-16 Basement,The Landmark, Central (Tel 2521 3344)
• Yumcha at Jade Garden Chinese Restaurant, Star Building, Tsim Sha Tsui (or Lei Garden is pretty good I've heard)
• Roast goose in Sham Tseng, New Territories (I think it's better than Yung Kee, Hong Kong) Some say it's because it is closer to the San Miguel brewery that is why the geese tastes better :P
• Live seafood in Sai Kong, you have to try the uni fried rice!

Hong Kong Michelin Guide 2008

Three Stars

• Lung King Heen, Four Seasons, Hong Kong
• Robuchon a Galera, Hotel Lisboa, Macau

Two Stars

• Amber, Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong
• Bo Innovation, Hong Kong (heard this one is really good - but you got to like fusion)
• Caprice, Four Seasons, Hong Kong (very romantic place but bring a fat wallet)
• L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, The Landmark, Hong Kong
• Shang Palace, Kowloon Shangri-La, Hong Kong
• Summer Palace, Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong
• T’ang Court, The Langham, Hong Kong
• Tim’s Kitchen, Hotel Lisboa, Macau

One Star

• Fook Lam Moon (Wanchai branch), Hong Kong
• Forum, Hong Kong (nice funky place; great place to meet people too)
• Hutong, Hong Kong (Interesting place and food with great view)
• Imperial Court, MGM Grand Hotel, Macau
• Lei Garden (both the IFC and TST branches), Hong Kong (great yumcha as well)
• Ming Court, Langham Place Mongkok, Hong Kong
• Petrus, Island Shangri-La, Hong Kong (people do rave about this restaurant.. go French, go Petrus)
• Pierre (as in Gagnaire), Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong
• Regal Palace, Regal Hongkong Hotel, Hong Kong
• Shanghai Garden, Hong Kong
• The Eight, Macau
• The Golden Leaf, Conrad Hotel, Hong Kong
• The Square, Hong Kong
• Tim’s Kitchen, Hong Kong
• Tung Yee Heen, Mandarin Oriental, Macau
• Ying, Crown Macau
• Yung Kee, Hong Kong ("World's best roast goose")

Seamstress

I went to a wonderful little restaurant for lunch today, called Seamstress. What great comfort food for lunch! The menu is broken up according to portion size, so you order according to your appetite. Of course, you can order lots of difference items to share, and I think that would be the way to go for me next time.

But today we were presented with a delicate sake cup of clear chicken broth to cleanse our palette then came our shared entree: Dumplings by the tailor. That was followed by two mains: Wok n' Roll (seasoned horfun noodles, green beans, abalone mushrooms and thinly sliced grain fed beef fillet; and Braised oxtail wrapped in sesame leaf, with tempura shitake, tomato tea and jujubes. A little container of rice came with our (Medium) mains. We couldn't stop praising the food, as it was so delicious and light.

The decor was really cute focusing on the theme of Seamstress of course. Although the decor didn't really tell you much about the food style but tells you that it's going to be a little bit unusual. Yes it was a little bit unusual but most of all it was rewarding.

Don't tell many people! Because I want to be able to just drop in for lunch. ssshhhhh

Seamstress

113 Lonsdale Street

Melbourne VIC 3000

9663 6363

A week in the life of ....

These few weeks have been hectic. After our holiday in Hanoi in February, we really needed to catch up with our friends. I realised that I don't really talk about what I eat on a weekly basis... Let's give it a try and see if it is interesting for you or not.

Here is a brief of where we've been in the last week:

Monday: Lunch was a sashi don from Don-Don on Swanston Street. For dinner, I made a beef stew using Harumi Kurihara : Harumi's Japanese Home Cooking cook book. It was a little bit salty, so I think I will cut down on the soya sauce a little.

Tuesday: Lunch was at Groove Train, Melbourne Central. My colleague recommended the smoke salmon salad there, and indeed it was fantastic. Roasted potatoes in a smoke salmon salad - yum!! For last minute dinner out, we were recommended to go to Olive Tree Bistro in South Melbourne for steak. It's near Tempura Hajime. We cheekily went to Hajime to see whether there were any spots before heading to Olive Tree. No luck... The steaks at Olive Tree were not bad... 400g steaks!!! .

Wednesday: Lunch was at Tokio, in the city. Love their ebi-don! For dinner, we ate at home, not very healthy but had roast chicken drumstick, Vietnamese style stir fried mung beans with onion, bean sprout, and mince pork, with fluffy rice. Made a mojito but didn't have soda or lemonade so substituted it with white wine... hehehe

Thursday: Lunch was at A1 Cafe on Russell Street, one of my favourite Chinese cafe. I had the lemongrass chicken and pork on rice. Delicious! For dinner, I had a work function at Centro Ristorante, South Melbourne. It was nice to catch up with my colleagues socially. I had the fish of the day, which was grilled ocean trout. That was followed by banana souffle. I liked to banana souffle better than my main.

Friday: I usually have home-made dumpling in my fridge when we don't want to eat out... So Friday night dinner was simple, boiled pork and shrimp dumpling and edamame with a little twist - sprinkling of sesame seed, dried sea weed and sea salt ... Best edamame so far is from Fuji Mart.

Saturday: Lunch was at Aka Tombo Sushi Bar in Prahran. My sister ordered the Sushi & Sashimi Bento, and I had the Tempura Bento. Aka Tombo can do no wrong :) I think next time I really want to try the special bentos that you have to pre-order... For dinner, my sister was kind enough to cook for me. We bought mussells and other ingrediants from Prahran and she cooked a lovely batch of steamed mussells with a chili coconut tom yum sauce to go with it. She's got magic hands :) I made rosemary and garlic roast potatoes to go with it (following Stephanie Alexander : The Cook's Companion recipe) and some roast corn corbs. Why I made rosemary potatoes for an Asian dish, I don't know. *Sigh*

Sunday: I love the weekend, don't you. Yummy food all day long.... We had yum cha at David's, Prahran. The tea there is really nice. We had the Jasmine and Pu-Er tea. Sometimes the dumpling can be over steamed... but the atmosphere there is just so inspiring. After that my cousin bought a roll for his sister at Amici Bakery Cafe (-love their breakfasts) while I went to look at a few houses around the area before heading off to a baby's 1st birthday. H was very cute and endearing.

That was all for last week.... this week also promises lots of yummy food, good company and good wines.

Have a great week!

Overdue

I can’t believe it’s nearly 3 months since I blogged. Apologises, I have been travelling quite a bit since December. We went on our annual Hong Kong, Taipei and Shenzhen tour to see my family and play some golf at Mission Hill in Shenzhen. It’s always good but it’s always a struggle to not get sick. And this year was no different. On New Years Eve, the overeating took its toll……. Here are some photos from that trip.

Taipei Ximending where my relatives lives

Local inexpensive Japanese place with relatives

This place started out as a hawker stand which has now taken over 2 restaurant spaces. Something like this:



We went to the most north place in Taiwan

To see the Empress’ Head

It was freezing!

Then sat down for some local fresh seafood

We added a bit of art to the trip, visiting Ju Ming’s Museum

In the end, we actually had a lot of fun there

Then Ivy took us to a gorgeous beach house right on the beach for some supper before we headed back to Taipei

The next day on New Years eve, we went to a local Ximending sushi place with our grandparents

Then all you can eat Yakiniku and Hot Pot for dinner (my downfall)

It was the last time that 101 was going to host the New Years fireworks, so it was quite a significant event. Can you believe we got such a great spot for the Taipei 101 New Year Countdown celebrations! Hubby got to see MayDay live.

We had a fantastic supply of sangria, snacks and soft drink to last us the 3 hours to countdown. We were very popular with the people around us because we brought our own mat which was big enough to let other people sit as well. In the end, I think we had about 13 people on the mat.

“People Mountain People Sea”

One of the best countdowns I’ve seen

Who loves Taiwan – we do!

Mad traffic afterwards

Full Tummy

Although I've been to a few fantastic restaurant, I have not been able to review them here as I've just been swamped at work. Well I think I'm just not used to working so hard, having been in semi-retirement for 6 months.... It shows.. and I envy the younger people around me... *sigh*....

Instead of full reviews, I thought I would blog a little about the notably ones that I've been to lately:

Da Noi

Oh my gosh, what great food.... Although we didn't go for the degustation, which is a menu of 4 dishes, we really enjoyed our roast pork loin and perfectly grilled pork chop. I had the pork chop, so I can tell you in detail, how juicy it is and so full of flavour. It's not a good idea to go early as they were still preparing the menu and preparing some of the slow-cook dishes when we arrived at 6pm. We had to, as we didn't make a booking... We had lovely entrees as well, I had a kingfish carppachio and antipasto. Absolutely tasty. It's charming how they write out the menu by hand everyday... It's like eating at someone's house... someone who cooks well.... I think there are a lot of regulars there as many come through the door and are greeted by their first name... Nice personal touch. Definitely worth going again. Maybe next time I will be brave enough to try the degustation menu :P

Da Noi

95 Toorak Road

South Yarra

03 9866 5975

J-Cafe

The days that this place is open is erratic and I am absolutely madden by it. But finally we went there when it was opened and loved it. They have this fantastic original dish called Mentaigo udon (in soup)... Some of you may know that I absolutely adore mentaigo.. and of course I had to order this.... Mentaigo in soup taste very milky... and it's an interesting taste with udon... like having udon in savoury milk tea...weird but it's actually really nice! They also have the "sushi burger" which is only available there. It's basically rice paddies with your choice of filling, i.e. tempura, beef paddy, deep fried fish, chicken fillet, teriyaki chicken, crab croquette, grilled beef (Yakiniku), spicy tuna, and the list goes on.... The dinner set is good value, at around $20. I ate too much, yet again, need to cut down.. or I'm not going to fit into my suits anymore....

J-Cafe

167 Exhibition Street

Melbourne

03 9650 9877

Have been copying successfully Murasaki's miso pork hot pot....it is unbelievable how miso can go so well with pork! Delicious!

Have I blogged this already?? I will leave it here for now.. I will hopefully blog more before we leave for our belated honeymoon....

White Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant

There are only a few vegetarian places that my husband would be forced to go to, let alone something that he would actually suggested. Imagine my surprise when he suggested that we go to White Lotus for dinner, when a friend came down from Brisbane!

White Lotus is great, the service is friendly, interesting patrons iand the food fabulous (and not oily). It's probably wrong to have Buddhist vegetarian food with wine... but we did :P Do try the vegetarian duck and the dish that is served in a birds nest made with yam. What a good night.

White Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant

185 Victoria St

West Melbourne

03 9326 6040

Idea Fine Food & Wine

Photos: Courtesy of YourRestaurants.com

I often wonder why some Chinese restaurants (and Italian ones in Lygon Street) have girls in the front trying to pull customers in from the street, as it doesn't make the restaurant look more enticing, I think it actually has the opposite effort of making the hungry pedestrian think that the restaurants are desperate for customers. You don't see Flower Drum or Grossi Florentino requiring menu girls to pull customers...

I'm trying to think back on my travels whether such menu girls have ever enticed me to enter an unknown restaurant... no not really. The best bet to find a good local restaurant is to ask your hotel concierge or consult the WWW in advance.

The menu girl often is a deterrence for you to actually stop and look at the restaurant as well, as you may not want to be hassled. This is why I had never gone to Idea Fine Food & Wine until now.

Where was the menu girl this frosty evening?.... Maybe they decided that it wasn't working for them? Maybe... In any case, I got to stop and look inside the restaurant as I walked from work to meet friends for drinks and dinner. Shocked as I was, I saw how modern and elegant the interior was. That night, I vowed to convince everyone to go there for dinner that night. I succeeded.

There were no Chinese patrons in sight, not a good start for any Chinese restaurants that claims to have good and authentic Chinese food. Never the less, we bravely ordered from the surprisingly diverse menu of pan-Asian cuisine.

We ordered the Abalone Mushrooms with Chinese Broccoli, Singapore Chilli Prawn, Hua Hung Beef (not sure whether this is the correct spelling but something like this), and Vegetarian Fried Rice, with lovely Jasmine Tea. The beef was our favourite. Desserts were Crème Brulee with Black Sesame Ice Cream, and Fried Green Tea Ice Cream.

From this satisfying experience, my new gastronomical mission is to try all of the restaurants on Little Bourke!

Before I forget, Idea received 1 Hat from The Age's Good Food Guide, 2007.

Idea Fine Food & Wine
140 Little Bourke Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
03 9663 8829

Ling Nam Restaurant

On Tuesday night, we caught up with a few friends who were down for business from Malaysia, and they decided to go to Ling Nam. I wasn't too crash-hot on going but never the less, it was a relatively predictable Chinese restaurant, so I thought.

In Uni days, we went there after a late night and order our supper of hot bowls of beef and preserved egg congee with Chinese fried donuts. That's what I thought they were good at. This time, luckily we went with friends who knew what to order, my Ling Nam horizon has broaden.

We ordered giant pipis in XO sauce, salt and pepper chicken steaks, black pepper sizzle plate steaks, garlic stir-fried vegetables, deep-fried flounder, scallops and chinese broccoli etc... The giant pipis dish came with deep fried Chinese donuts so that you can dip the donuts into the thickened spicy xo sauce. Delicious! Salt and pepper chicken steaks were fantastic as well - crunchy juicy and flavoursome. Definitely something I would order again. I don't remember how much it was per person, but I assume that it was fine. Probably around $30 per person. So much food....

Ling Nam / Ling Nan Restaurant (The sign says Ling Nam but on White Pages it's Ling Nan)
204 Little Bourke Street
Melbourne 3000
(03) 9663 2347
(03) 9663 2513

What am I up to these days…

I’ve had a cold for 2 weeks now.. even after trying every over-the-counter medicine under the sun. Surprisingly the only times when I felt better were when I saw my Oestopath and my Naturopath for my remedial massage. My remedial massage was just last Friday… and after that she gave me a remedy that required me to take the evil tasting liquid 3 times a day until I got better. I saw that she put elderflower liquid into it.. but where is it?? Where is the elderflower aroma or taste???

On the gastronomical front. We haven’t been to any new place.. just our regular haunts like Kenzan and Murasaki. We went to Rockpool again for Michael’s birthday. We didn’t have the wagyu this time and was seated inside next to the open kitchen, which was very entertaining. They cook the steaks very simply by covering it with olive oil and sea salts then straight onto the open wood fire. We had the wagyu leg steak and 33 days aged 200g sirloin. Our entrees were fantastic. I had the Spicy Seafood and Saffron Soup with Aioli, while Michael had the Lobster, Avocado and Zucchini Salad with Hazelnut and Lime Foam. There are still so many dishes we want to try there. It is quickly becoming one of our favourite restaurants.

We also went to Red Emperor for my father-in-law’s birthday on Sunday. Their food and service is always impressive. Just bring a jacket as the air-con can be vicious.

Yumcha on Sunday morning at Tai Pan with Wil and family. H is such a cute baby.

My cousin is on tour in Japan…. Lucky lucky girl…. I’m sure my travel advice emails to her have a hint of envy in them…. I miss the food in Japan!!!

Despite reviews from friends, I’ve decided to grab a booking at Vue De Monde in July. We will see how that goes…

More later..

Happy Belated Easter!!

I haven't had such fun for a long time!

I rushed into Easter with all these things that I had planned to do, and ended with a whole line-up of other events... Surprisingly, because of these events I have some of the most unforgettable moments that I will store for the rest of my life...

This Easter break started with a warm Thursday evening out with friends, which I have already blogged. We went to Omah's and had great desserts. It is always enjoyable to catch up with friends over good wine and good food.

For Easter Good Friday, we went out for my Sister-In-Law’s birthday with Michael's family at Sung's Kitchen near the Victoria Market. This is the quirkiest Chinese restaurant that I've been to. The decoration is bright without being unbearable. There was a lot of pastel orange being used. It felt like someone's dining room that so happens to look out on to a side street. If you reserve a table, you will be greeted with a cute little handicraft reservation tab with your name on it. Then there are the bonsai plants, lovingly grown by the owner, that welcomes you on each table. I would have loved to show you photos of what we ate but just didn't think of it at the time. Here is a run down on what we ordered:

Double-Boiled Chicken Wonton Soup
Rare Beef Fillet with Vegetables
Cantonese Braised Duck with Bakchoi
Chili Atlantic Crabs
Garlic stir-fried Chinese Broccoli
Red Bean Fried Pancake
Sesame pearls in Almond Broth
Pumpkin Sticky Rice Cake (Complimentary)

Most of the dishes were very tasty, especially the ones highlighted in purple. Sung’s also has very interesting teas available. We ordered a delicious jasmine pearl tea, which was very aromatic and calming. They also have a wide range of Asian rice wine, if you’re walking home. Yumcha is available as well.

On Saturday morning, two girlfriends, their little girls and I had brunch at Sail on the Bay on Elwood Park... Unfortunately, with the kids in tow we were told off that we were making too much noise - Oops! The breakfast is ordinary ( I even found a small piece of egg shell in my poached eggs :( ) but the view is fantastic. I had so much fun playing on the beach with the girls… They are just adorable… I get to practice my limited Japanese with them as well. Great teachers!

Saturday Brunch at Elwood Park

After that, I began my preparation for my Taiwanese dinner at home. Three friends were coming over to taste my home cuisine. Thankfully, I am less nervous than before about cooking for people. I guess my confidence is growing.

My Taiwanese Menu

Taiwanese Grilled Garlic Sausages
Steamed Salmon Fillet with Skin
Garlic and Ginger Baby Spinach
Tempura Shitake Mushrooms with Tetsuya's Truffle Salt
Egg, Spring Onion and Seaweed Soup
Chili Soya Pipies

Gulf Station Pinot Noir 2006 (Provided by Dave)

Spare - Salty Egg Stir-Fried Prawn Butterflies (too much food so I cooked it to save for M and my dinner on Sunday.

The tempura shitake mushrooms with Tetsuya’s truffle salt was the outstanding dish if I say so myself! The trick is to use a mix of plain flour and okonomiyaki flour mix, cooled in the fridge. Also dip the mushrooms in corn starch before dipping into the batter, this will allow the corn starch to absorb any water in the mushrooms so you won’t get splatter.

Late late Sunday brunch was at Mart 130. I love this place, so easy to get to and so many parking spaces. Time just passes so slow in Mart 130. I swear we spent about 3 hours there having breakfast, waiting for our friends to arrive, watching them eat and chit-chat. After we filled our belly, we headed off to Monards to see what watch bargains we could find. Unfortunately, for Michael, the watches that he wanted were snapped up minutes after we arrived. “Well,” I reassured him “if there are so many people who have the watch, then it’s not that special after all, isn't it”.

Sunday Brunch at Mart 130

After having nothing to buy… we headed off to Yarra Valley for Bella Vedre at Badger’s Brook. Although we were too late for lunch, we met the owner of Cafe Di Stasio who suggested that we go to Medhurst, a new winery and cafe created by Mr. Wilson and his family.

Before Medhurst, we stopped off at Coldstream Winery to buy our Limited Reserve Pinot Noir and Reserve Merlot. Both wonderful treats for special occasions.

At Medhurst, we had long chats with Mr. Wilson about each wine on offer and we had a lovely afternoon "tea" there with olives, toasted turkish bread, smooth blue cheese, camerbert, chedder, crackers, capsicum and pine nuts spread, and BLT sandwich. Having enjoyed such wonderful hospitality, we bought seven bottles of wine, every one exquisite and made with passion and attention to detail.

Monday morning was the long-awaited yumcha with my girlfriends at Tai Pan Chinese Restaurant. My goodness.. What have I been missing going to the city places for yumcha. There were so many yumcha dishes that I haven’t had for ages and they are absolutely divine! Bring on the turnip pastry, bring on the steamed turnip cake, and bring on the silken sweet tofu with rock sugar and ginger syrup! In the end, the bill came to just under $20 per person - what a bargain! Thinking of going every week, LOL.

Instead of Sunday night, because they had other commitments, we went to Michael’s parents’ house on Monday. We were told in advance that we were having home-made Vietnamese spring rolls, which we rolled ourselves. The condiment was sweetened fish sauce (ngoc nam) with crushed and roasted peanuts. Delicious! Ending a long weekend with a warm and full stomach.

Monday Yumcha at Tai Pan / Home-Made Vietnamese Rice Rolls Dinner

Sung’s Kitchen

1180 Franklin Street
Melbourne
03 9329 2636

Summary
Food: Interesting Mix-Region Chinese Cuisine
Top Dish: Double-Boiled Chicken Soup
Atmosphere: Cozy and colourful
Service: Friendly and attentative.
Booking: Essential especially for dinner.

Sails On the Bay
15 Elwood Foreshore
Elwood
03 9525 6933

Tai Pan Chinese Restaurant
239 Blackburn Rd
Doncaster East
03 9841 9977

Summary
Food: Quality Cantonese Cuisine
Top Dish: White Turnip Pastry for Yumcha
Atmosphere: Noisy and crowded
Service: Efficient
Booking: Recommended (especially for yumcha)

Mart 130
107a Canterbury Road
Middle Park
03 9690 8831

Summary
Food: Variety of Australian Breakfast
Top Dish: Corn Frittas with Avocado salsa
Atmosphere: Country Cottage / Playschool
Service: Friendly and helpful
Booking: Not essential

Crystal Jade Chinese Restaurant

My mum's youngest sister came to visit last month to attend my cousin's graduation ceremony from Taiwan. We usually spend a lot of time with her when we visit Taiwan, and it was really a pleasure to see her in Melbourne. My other cousin, Barry also came to town from Adelaide. He decided to take us all out one night so we picked the restaurant for him :P

Don't be fooled by its exterior and location, Crystal Jade Chinese Restaurant is a fantastic restaurant. Hidden away in Waratah Place along with the "lovely" KumDeng eatery, you have to be in the know to find this place.

The decor is a bit strange, with yellow walls and dark-wood cabinets.. still it is the food that we are here for. Their cuisine centres around seafood and the daily special is written on the blackboard above the fish tank. They also specialise in Northern Chinese Cuisine, dishes like Ants on Buddha and Prawns with 3-Colour Eggs.

They pride themselves in serving quality tea as well and I love their glass tea pots...

Here are some photos of the dishes taken with my mobile phone camera... braised lobster with ginger and noodles.

Red-cooked mushrooms, fried tofu and abalone.

(er... this one looks like Chinese Broccoli with beef slices (^^;)....

For dessert, we got to try buttery biscuits from Cavallini Artisan Bakery ..... I was skeptical at first because they didn't look like anything out of the ordinary and I was not really craving for them after such a big dinner. But the biscuits tasted so good, especially the one that looks like cow's manure, that ended up having two. The chocolate biscuit's dough melted in my mouth first followed by the pin-size chocolate solids. I wanted to eat the rest, but there were other people in the room... Oh well, will just have to go and buy some myself....

Crystal Jade Chinese Restaurant
11 Waratah Place

Melbourne
03 9639 2633

Cavallini Artisan Bakery Patisserie & Espresso Bar
354 Queens Parade

North Fitzroy/Clifton Hill

03 9486 3883

Ratings

Food: Simple Northern Chinese Cuisine

Top Dish: 3 Colour Egg Prawn with 3-Colour Eggs

Atmosphere: Eccentric

Service: Speedy service.

Booking: Recommended especially for dinner

300 with Popcorn at IMAX

Any excuse to tie my review of the movie, 300, with anything culinary so that I can put it on this blog! :) But I have to say, the popcorn at IMAX was the best I've had in awhile - just popped buttery goodness with just the right amount of salt. For those who know me, they know that I'm very picky with my popcorn as it is one of my favourite "foods". Remember those Nuts about Crunchynut Cornflake ads? My obsession with popcorn nearly runs as deep as those "Nuts". In fact, I liked it so much that, for the first time, I actually took it with me out of the cinema. It was fate as I later found out.

After we left IMAX last Thursday, Kevin and his fiancee were in Richmond and they called to meet up for dinner. Somewhere easy and quick. Kevin said that he would have been happy with just popcorn... I smiled and mentally noted to remember to pass him my popcorn later. So in the end, we decided to meet back in the city and went to Hawker's Cafe on Russell Street. My friends had their Ba Kut De with rice (Malaysian dish of pork ribs and tofu medicinal soup and Curry chicken with egg on rice, I had their Bee Hun Soup (basically vermicelli with crab cakes, fried shallots and vegetables). It's okay... Not as authentic as Penang Coffee House in Hawthorn or Nonya in Carlton.

What I meant to say after all that was I highly recommend 300.... I adored the movie... the cinematography, the passion, strength and bravery of the characters, and the music. The movie really gets you fired up about fighting for a righteous cause in one's life. Not only were the men strong in this movie, women were strong as well. Fearless... I want to be fearless and strong.

Go and watch 300 when it comes out.


Hawker's Cafe
213 Russell Street
Melbourne
03 9662 1867

IMAX
Melbourne Museum
Rathdowne Street
Carlton
03 9663 5454

PS. Happy April Fools Day!

2006 End of Year Asia Trip

Here are the food related photos from our trip to Hong Kong and Taiwan at the end of last year, 2006.

Long Lunch with Yuki

It's always nice to go out for a proper lunch with good friends. I'm one of the people who just hates having sandwiches for lunch... Lunchtime should be spent indulging your belly and making the day special.

After a few SMS back and forth, Yuki and I finally found time to catch up last Thursday. She loves yumcha, so we decided to go to Oriental Tea House... It use to be called Ay Oriental Tea House (as I have mentioned before)

Oriental Tea House is a little more pricier than your typical Chinese Restaurant with you likely to spend about $20 each, even for lunch. As you can see from the photo, we had a lot.... Never order dimsum when you're hungry... the waiters don't stop you ordering too much either.
I kinda wish they have a tick-it-yourself order form, because the names of some of those dimsums are long and I am sure the waiters would appreciate it too... as they are the same people who serve people buying tea in the tea salon area. Come lunchtime, it can get pretty very busy.

I like Oriental as it's not as nosy as having Yumcha at some other Chinese Restaurants, and no trolleys to worry about. Did you know that at most Chinese Restaurants you can actually pre-order your dimsums before the trolleys come.. This is great if you are in a rush, but I understand that some like the novelty of looking at what's available on the trolley and trying something new.

Every time I've gone to Oriental, there is always people eating alone, nothing wrong with that and they look pretty comfortable as well.



The desserts at Oriental, is pretty standard, i.e. mango pudding, coconut cake etc. Well, Kokoblack is close by and I ran out of chocolate, so we opted to go to Kokoblack for some hot chocolate.

Their menu has extended to include dessert sets. The table next to us had the Belgian Spoil -
which was a chocolate platter with chocolate cake, two Belgian chocolates, a shortbread,
chocolate ice cream and chocolate mousse. Pretty good for $10.00! Yuki had the chilli hot chocolate and I had the creamy plain one. Before we left we had a look at their Easter chocolates. Oh boy, I wanted a dark chocolate bunny for my Aunty... the smallest one was $35 (TT). The little 3 pack dark chocolate bunny ganache was cheaper so I bought a few for my colleagues and they said that they were delicious.

After lunch, I rolled back to the office, content.

Oriental Tea House

322 Little Collins Street

Melbourne

03 9654 8399

Ratings
Food: Freshly steamed dimsum when you order

Top Dish: Marinated Spare Ribs

Atmosphere: Simple and airy

Service: Fast to give you the menu and sit you down but you have to wave them down. Give yourself plenty of time to get the bill as well.

Booking: Recommended but not essential

Red-Cooked Pork Belly with Mushroom & Fried Tofu

I made this two weeks ago with a modified recipe from "The Food of China" cookbook. I thought I had better catch up on my blogging now, otherwise I will never catch up!

Ingrediants

500g pork belly, rind on

3 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine

3 slices of ginger

2 tablespoons of soya sauce (or 3 tablespoons of dary soya sauce)

3 hard boiled eggs, peeled (optional)

25g of white sugar (or 50g rock sugar)

6 - 8 pieces of Chinese shitake mushroom (if bought dried, remember to soak these in water first to soften)

1 stick of spring onion

Serves 4

Instructions:

Cut the pork into about 2 cm strips cutting across the layers so that all pieces have rind on them.

Then I put the pork belly into my thermo cooker with enough water to cover the pieces.

Add the soya sauce, sugar, rice wine and ginger and bring the liquid to a boil. Then simmer for about 10 minutes.

I then remove the cooked pork belly with the sauce into a casserole dish and placed the mushroom, spring onion and eggs in it and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Before serving add sugar or salt to taste. You can add dried chilli to this dish as well if you want it a little spicy. It's great with fluffy short-grain rice... that just soaks the sauce up like a sponge...

Feeling Rundown

I've been feeling run-down, possibly from a little cold that I caught from my little nephew. He's so cute! It's getting better today... On Monday, not having much enthusiasm and energy for cooking, I decided to go for something easy while we took a break from watching episodes of Heroes.

First, I made a soup base from Daishi and Bonito flakes to taste, once boiled I carefully slided some bought pork and chive dumplings into the soup. In the meantime, I cut some spring onions and cleaned some king prawns that I bought from Footscray market. When the water boils again, I put the prawns in to cook until crunchy. In the serving bowls, I placed the chopped spring onion, ready for the dumplings and noodles.

The dumplings were accompanied by Taiwanese Japanese tea, I served this is the brown ceramic teapot I made when I was studying in Japan many years ago (I can't believe it can hold liquid!). I reclaimed this from my cousin. The tiny tea cups and saucer, I bought when I went to Taipei at Carrefour at the end of last year.

We still had Chinese lychees left. These were the $20 per kg ones that M's mum bought for us, as oppose to the smaller $10 per kg ones I bought in Footscray. It's worth spending the money if you love lychees, these ones were definitely much more juicer and the seeds smaller.

Belated Chinese New Year Party @ Happy Receptions

Here are some photos from a Belated Chinese New Year Festival charity event that I went to on Sunday evening at Happy Receptions Ascot Vale. I am grateful for my husband's family connection and generosity that I can attend such cultural enlightening events. Before, I would have shun these types of engagements, but everyone were so friendly, we had so much fun.

For $60 per head, the menu, similar to that of a Wedding Banquet consisted of:

• Suckling Pig Platter
• Special Crab Claw
• Shark Fin and Crab Meat Soup
• Lobster with Ginger, XO and Noodles
• Braised Chicken with Sea Fungus
• Bean Curd Rolls with Lime Sauce
• Chinese Broccoli and Mushrooms
• Steamed Barramundi
• Fruit Platter

The evening was packed with entertainment. Unfortunately, as we sat underneath the speakers, we were bombarded with the over the top and zealous MCs, karaoke acts. Asians love karaoke and many are not afraid to have a go, to our great amusement. The highlight was the Lion Dancing and the Welcoming rituals for the Year of the Pig. So colourful, so vibrant, and again so loud!

The highlight of the charity auction was the signed Australian wines from John So and Steve Bracks, and Chinese ZaoXing Rice Wines from the Chinese Consulat. Unfortunately, the crowd wasn't as receptive as the MCs had hoped... But the John So signed wine did fetch a higher price than the Steve Bracks one - hehehehe. We didn't stay for the raffle even through I was eyeing this rather large box of some electronic goodies on stage, but we were told later that no one on our table won anything. Oh well...

Taiwanese Egg Pancakes for Breakfast

Every year when I go to Taipei, a visit to the local breakfast stall near my Grandparents house in Ximending is essential at least once. There, we usually get a few scorching sweetened soya bean milk in large paper cups or in clear plastic bags to go, Chinese Fried Doughnut sticks (YouTiao) and fried egg pancakes, all made fresh to order. I've gotten my husband hook on these local delicacy as well that he reminds me if we are close to the end of our trip in Taipei and we haven't gone to the stall yet.

In Melbourne, you can get these in Taiwanese cuisine cafes but they are not the same... somehow the Taiwanese ones are more fluffy and floury. I've watched them cook it a few times, and I believe the fluffiness comes from adding a little surplus egg mixture into the pan while the pancake is cooking.

My version is not as authentic as they make the thin pastry from scratch. I use the widely available plain roti bread from Asian grocery stores. The important thing here is to take the roti bread out of the fridge about 30minute earlier so that they soften. Also unfold them to get as thin a roti slice as you possibly can so you're getting more egg than pancake per serve.

Once you have prepared the roti, dip the slices into your egg mix (I used two eggs in this instance). Let it soak for about 10 sec and make sure that the whole of the roti bread is soaked with egg mix. For pan-frying and for Asian cuisine I usually use peanut oil for flavour.




After you've placed the egg pancakes on the pan, add a little egg mixture on time. Preferably more evenly than I have!



End result - fluffy Taiwanese egg pancakes! Usually you should have this with thick soya sauce, but I didn't have any so I had it with Maggi Seasoning, which is just as good. I wished I had a nice cold soya bean milk drink too! Oh well.. two additional items for the grocery list.

At Grand Taipei Restaurant in Box Hill, they serve theirs with spring onion and garlic in their egg mix. I must to make this next time.