A Few of My Favourite Things !

We only spent 1.5 days there but I think we manage to fit an admirable amount of food in during this short period! On our first night, we visited Guerney Drive. It was pouring with rain so we wandered through the shopping centre next door until the skies let up. As soon as the rain eased, we were out of the shopping complex and in amongst the stalls. Good timing because we managed to get seats just before the crowd descended.

We started with Assam Laksa, one of A.’s favourite dishes, and boy was it good. Fantastically sour and spicy, the only thing it was missing was the black sauce - what’s that called again? We also tried a cuttlefish salad (Ju Hu Eng Chai) and I cannot recommend this dish highly enough - I just couldn’t get enough of it!

Of course, after reading so much about Poh Piah, we had to try this as well. Nyeh, wasn’t the greatest poh piah that I’ve had. A little on the soggy side.

This was washed down with soya bean milk, which we kinda had to order whether we liked it or not because the tables belong to that stall. Good thing that we did like it. I was told off at another table because I didn’t want to order freshly squeezed fruit juice and the guy grumbled that I couldn’t just sit there and not order from them! Ooops!

A. decided that he couldn’t leave without tasting the satay too so here’s the picture.

We came back to Guerney drive another night, after spending a couple of days in Langkawi, and ordered the Assam Laksa from another stall. This one did come with the black sauce but A. thought that the Laksa from the first stall was better.

The ice kachang served in Penang is also slightly different, made more decadent with the addition of ice cream. The one you see here had peanut icecream. Yum, I love ice kachang. I used to just eat the shaved ice sweetened with rosewater and evaporated milk from the top and leave the other stuff at the bottom of the dish for dad. Naughty, huh? I didn’t like all that red bean, corn and attap although the grass jelly was okay. Now, I’m happy to try some of it but my favourite part is still the flavoured ice.

One of my other favourites is Ban Chang Kueh, a pancake sprinkled with crushed peanuts and sugar. I had a really hard time tracking them down both this trip and the last, especially the thin crispy ones, so when we came across this stall selling Apong Manis and Apong Balik, we got a serve of each. The Apong Manis just consisted of batter spread very thinly over the little wok so it’s very light and airy. Didn’t love it. The Apong Balik was better though and I think it was filled with corn and coconut.

A. loves anything with peanuts so we tried these thingys as well. I cannot remember what they are called although I’m sure some Malaysians could help me out with this. We really liked this version cos the pastry was really thin and it was choc full of peanuts (makes it sound like a Snickers bar, doesn’t it?).

We have been home for more than 2 weeks now and I still have not posted anything from our Malaysian holiday. Why not? Well, we had so much wonderful food that I have no idea where to begin. How’s that for an excuse?

I suppose I could start with one of our more memorable meals. Our two week visit coincided with two festivals, one of them being Diwali (Deepavali) the Hindu Festival of Lights. Deepavali is celebrated as a public holiday in Malaysia and traditionally small earthen lamps are lit to commemorate the victory of brightness over darkness, good over evil. The city was decorated brightly for this festival and we saw a number of colourful images like these in the shopping centres:

The night before the Indian community went on holiday, we visited a banana leaf restaurant with some new blogosphere friends. K.L. from Masak Masak had kindly offered to show us around when she found out that we were visiting. We made plans to dine at this restaurant but instead of just meeting there, K.L. and her boyfriend came all the way into the city to pick us up - typical Malaysian hospitality!

After selecting a few marinated seafood items that we wanted to try, we sat at the table in front of our banana leaf plates. The waiters then start piling white rice, pickled vegetables and potato curry onto the leaf - as you can see, my waiter got carried away scooping rice onto my ‘plate’ while I was busy taking photos!

A trio of curry sauces - fish, chicken & dahl - served in silver canisters are also placed on the table for you to pour over the rice at your leisure. We were also served papadums and deep fried bitter gourd (if I remember correctly).

We had a prawn curry, fried calamari, two types of fish and roe. We managed to eat all this without any cutlery, trying very hard to neatly mould rice, sticky with curry sauce, with the fingers of our right hand and manouvering it into our mouths.

A. & I both thought the deep-fried roe was fantastic in all its salty and crunchy goodness!

Here is an ‘after’ shot:

Thanks, K.L. & Y., for being so generous with your time

While in Perth a couple of weeks back, the concierge at our hotel recommended that we dine at Funtastico. ‘An unusual name’ we thought. Well, we wanted to check out Subiaco anyway, so why not!

We ordered the Spaghetti Marinara al Cartoccio,which consisted of fresh fish, clams, calamari, prawns, scallops and mussels with Napoletana sauce, baked in a “cartuch” and served in the “cartuch” at the table. Basically, this required them to bring the bag that the pasta and seafood was cooked to our table and emptying it into the plate in front of us. Bold, strong flavours and we relished every mouthful of it. We also had another smaller dish which I cannot for the life of me remember now, but I do remember that it was good too We finished up with the sticky date pudding recommended by our waitress but the pudding got zapped for a little too long in the microwave.

Nevertheless, we had such a lovely meal at Funtastico that we dropped by again for lunch the next day! We had been eyeing the wood-fired pizzas that we saw delivered to tables surrounding us the night before, so we selected the kervella pizza - rocket, kalamata olives, goat’s cheese and cherry tomatoes on a puffed up, thin base. This was accompanied by a rocket & radicchio with walnuts and a blue cheese dressing. The rocket was still gritty from not having been washed thoroughly so this was sent back to the kitchen. Our pizza arrived not long after and it was FUN-tastic. Unlike the salad, the rocket on the pizza was fine but a beetle deposited on one of our pizza slices probably landed there when the rocket was scattered on at the end.

The manager (or possibly owner) absolutely refused to allow us to pay for the pizza despite our argument that we had enjoyed the rest of the pizza. That’s unusual indeed!We’re going to be back.

12 Rokeby Road, Subiaco, Perth

Phone Number: 9381 2688

Fax Number: 9381 8492

Email: eat@funtastico.com.au

Our friend waved to the maitre d’ who was at the next table with another waiter standing next to her, wanting to ask about a dish on the menu.

Maitre d’: (abruptly) “Wait! I’m busy here.”

Probably not a good start to our night here but we persevered with our order which was taken by the maitre d’ herself. After that, we were left with trainee waiters as she spent the rest of the night playing the sycophant to the guest at the next table, who appeared to be a food critic or restaurateur from Singapore, and his friends.

Don’t they train wait staff during the week anymore? It was the second night for one of them and his hands were trembling so hard when he was placing our plates and condiments down that I thought I was going to end up splattered with soy sauce.

We were presented with a amuse bouche of overcooked fried fish to whet our appetites… The sashimi moriawase, petit awabi sashimi (abalone) and salmon toro sashimi came out one after another. I had been looking forward to their sashimi all week, understanding that it’s meant to be of top standard at this establishment. I don’t think I’m being harsh by saying that I’ve had as good if not better at food courts.

The next dish turned out to be the gyu-tan koshu-ni, an ox tongue stewed in Japanese seasoning and red wine. However our waiter did not have a clue what it was when we asked him. There was no “I’m not sure but I’ll find out for you” -

Waiter: I don’t know…
Us: Is this the ox tongue?
Waiter: Maybe

Anyway, it was sliced thickly and eaten as a sandwich between a mantou bun was the best dish of the night - with or without the mantou. The scampi kinokoyaki, grilled scampi topped with some thinly sliced shitake and anoki mushrooms, was garlicky and sweet. Pretty perfect too. We were also delivered a plate of mapo lobster which we had decided against, but figured it was too much trouble to let them know. Deep-fried lobster pieces (slightly overdone) with cubes of tofu surrounding it, it wasn’t spicy enough for our tastes.

We even went so far as to order dessert -

P: I’ll have the black sesame and green tea ice cream
A: The black sesame and green tea ice cream as well, we’ll share (waving in my general direction)
T: The pannacotta please.

The four scoops of ice cream came out on a big platter, garnished with three slices of pannacotta. Silence. Then a request for the desserts to be separated. 10 or 15 minutes later (I think they were waiting for the ice cream which had already started melting, to harden up in the freezer again) two plates came out with two scoops of ice cream and only one slice of panncotta each. Sigh…it felt like a long night. The maitre d’ served us some complimentary plum wine at the end of the night but somehow this didn’t go very far in helping us feel better. So, my question is SHOYA you wanna try this place?

SHOYA Nouvelle Wafu Cuisine 25 market lane melbourne 3000 vic
tel: 9650 0848　fax: 9650 0950

During the course of our meal, we even had the honour of meeting THE MAN himself. Apparently Tetsuya is often away due to other engagements, however when he is in the house he does make it a habit to greet his diners. We were fortunate enough to have him come by our little table for two to say hello. We could also see heads from surrounding tables turning around and whispers of ‘That’s him. That’s Tetsuya‘. Boy, did we feel special!

Of course, he didn’t stay long. Just long enough to wish us a good meal and to recommend that we take our time and enjoy. Just long enough for us to get the impression that he is a down-to-earth and humble guy despite his impressive international reputation.

Long have we waited for this moment - the chance to dine at Australia’s best known and most highly rated restaurant, Tetsuya’s. This year, the Restaurant Magazine rated Tetsuya’s 5th in the world after El Bulli in Spain, The Fat Duck in Britain, Pierre Gagnaire in Paris and French Laundry in California. Time and again, I had tried to book a table only to be told that they were full for the night. This time, knowing that we had a trip to Sydney coming up I booked well in advance for our dinner on Friday 4th August.

We hurried by foot from The Rocks to Kent Street, eager for this culinary experience to begin. Finally locating its gated entrance, we walked down the driveway to be greeted by about four or five attendants who were presumably waiting to park cars. We were seated in a room with only 6 tables but there were at least 6 waiters for that section alone.

Warm Sweet Potato Soup with Feta & Rocket

Pacific Oysters with Rice Vinegar & Ginger (additional item)

Tartare of Tuna on Sushi Rice with Avocado

Tuna Marinated in Soy & Mirin; Soft Smoked Ocean Trout with Asparagus; Marinated NZ Scampi with Chicken Parfait & Walnut

Spring Bay Scallop with Wakame & Lemon

Tetsuya’s Signature: Confit of Petuna Tasmanian Ocean Trout with Konbu, Daikon & Fennel

Ravioli of Queensland Spanner Crab with Tomato & Basil Vinaigrette

Roasted Breast of Quail with Soft Polenta & Shiitake Mushrooms

Seared Fillet of Veal with Wasabi Butter

Strawberry Shortcake; Beetroot & Blood Orange Sorbet

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with White Beans & Dates

Floating Island with Praline & Vanilla Bean Anglaise

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Orange and Chocolate Sorbet

Coffee

The whole meal was worth every cent but which dishes did I particularly enjoy: the tartare of tuna was easily the best I have ever had the pleasure of tasting, the barely cooked scampi, the confit of tuna which is marinated in oil then cooked in a very low oven, and oh the quail …smacking of lips… I was almost too full to have dessert by the end of the savoury courses but when they arrived, well that was another matter. I could have had an entire bowl of the strawberry shortcake although it probably wouldn’t look quite as elegant served like that! The lightness of the floating island surprised me, as did thin stripe of chocolate and raspberry within. We had a special dessert at the end of all that too - thanks, A!

Oh no! We were picking up some things from Safeway QV earlier this evening and on our way out of the complex walked through QV square. To our horror, we noticed that Lime Leaves, the modern Malaysian restaurant with communal tables, is no more. It has been replaced by Wagamama.

We’ve eaten at Lime Leaves about 4 or 5 times but I hadn’t gotten around to blogging about it and now it’s too late. I would never have ordered ‘hawker-style’ dishes because they are way more expensive ($16 to $20) and not as authentic as what you would get from somewhere like Penang Coffee House or Rich Maha. However we have been quite pleased by most of the other dishes that we’ve tried including the crisp-sealed calamari with wild ginger flower dipping sauce and the roast duck salad with nashi pear, green apple, sprout, carrot, mint and lime leaves. I cannot remember the other dishes and they are not on the menu that I’m holding but they were very good. And it’s one of the very few Asian restaurants (and in particular Malaysian restaurants) that leans more towards the fine dining end. As much as I love the grottier places around town, it’s good to have that choice available especially if you have friends or relatives who are, ahem, shall we say a little fussier?

Lime Leaves also had two of the best cocktails that we’d come across…sob, sob…

Well, the wedding reception itself was held at ZINC at Federation Square. I have to say up front that I’m not normally someone who enjoys the food that is normally served at reception centre BUT I was highly impressed by ZINC.

The entree of Prawn and Coconut Timbale made with fresh West Australian scampi(there seems to be a theme here!), shredded lime and spiced prawn sauce, did not make for a promising start. I didn’t enjoy the mouth-feel of the very mousse-like but bland timbale although A. thought it was fine.

Luckily I gave the main course a chance though. I had a roast eye fillet of beef with caramelised onion and red wine sauce and blue cheese and spinach tart. The steak was cooked to perfection - rare in the middle, beautifully tender - and the blue cheese in the tart gave it a gutsy flavour.

 
A. had the signature dish called a ‘Pair of Pears’. To be honest, I couldn’t actually figure out why this name until I went home and downloaded the photo - DUH! Roasted half-boned quail and chicken with pasta dura filling, handmade gnocchi, and lemon thyme jus. The pasta dura filling had a smoky quality that paired very well with the chicken. Overall a greta dish although I did think that the chicken was slightly overcooked.

For dessert, we were served an old-fashioned dark chocolate self-saucing pudding with vanilla ice cream. I certainly don’t feel as strongly as Ed about restaurants that serve vanilla ice-cream if it was really creamy vanilla-beany ice-cream however I was left rather uninspired by this one. But…the chocolate pudding, with its steamy, runny chocolate interior hidden by a crusty top, more than making up for it. The buttery shortbread was an unnecessary addition to an already rich enough dessert.

Some wonderful friends of ours, C & P, tied the knot last weekend! Before the wedding though, P had a quiet ‘Hen’s Night’ a few weeks back with some close friends and family. 7 of us gathered at Aurora Spa Retreat to have our cares massaged away while Prue was treated to their Guku Cocoon Signature Teratment and cocooned in Jellybush honey. Some of our group even caught a glimpse of Guy Sebastian before he was led off for his treatment!

We were then off to have drinks at Lionel’s - the idea being that we woudl be detoxing with the spa treatment, then toxing right back up again with champagne… - then dinner at Sapore. I don’t remember the details about our dishes but here are some photos to share. Our waitress a little put off when we wanted more time to look at the menu, but otherwise the food was perfectly acceptable. I started with oysters while P had salt and pepper calamari, then grilled West Australian scampi for the main while P had gnocchi.

Take a walk down Lt Collins Street, heading towards Elizabeth St. When you spot the Ay Tea House, turn right into Hub Arcade, mosey right down to the end and you will find the Chocolate Fire Cafe. Most of the produce seemed to centre around dried fruit dipped in chocolate but the very chatty owner is looking to introduce 6, yes count them, SIX new lines each week. Where Koko Black is dark timber, elegance and ganaches nestled neatly under a glass counter, Chocolate Fire Cafe is colourful and bright with the dried fruit forming straggly lines. They also offer pringles thickly coated with milk chocolate and plan to feature chocolate-dipped pretzels soon. I didn’t try the hot chocolate but the ower assures me that “…it’s very popular with the Asian students” and that some have claimed that it’s better than Koko Black’s, which was voted Melbourne’s best hot chocolate by the Herald Sun - big call!

My small selection of chocolate-dipped fruit took a loooonnnng time to purchase and for once this was not due to my indecision. The lady behind the counter resolutely kept her back to me, determined to show a very inexperienced new girl how to get a box ready for delivery before actually serving a customer in front of her. After waiting patiently for 10 minutes then asking her if this was a bad time and should I come back later in the afternoon, she replied huffily “Oh, are you in a real hurry?” then sent the new girl, who was absolutely clueless, to serve me. Hmmm, me thinks this area needs some improvements before they are ready to compete with all the other great chocolate places around Melbourne.

Go to Chocolate Fire Cafe if you have a really sweet tooth because you will need this to enjoy the combination of concentrated sugars in the dried fruit and chocolate. Or, go there if you want to test their claim about having the best hot chocolate. Koko Black is just around the corner so you could even do a head-to-head comparison!

Chocolate Fire Cafe
Shp8/ 318 Little Collins St Melbourne 3000
(03) 9663 5881

I had heard about Monsieur Truffe before but I only got the chance to visit his stall at Prahran Market two weeks ago. Charming us with samples of decandently dark truffles, the lovely Monsieur Truffe encouraged us to try the various flavours but we quickly fell for the chocolate caramalized almonds and brought a pack home with us. A. reckons that these are the best chocolate almonds around - big thumbs up!