Food in Brisbane

Last month, I was in Brisbane for a business trip, and i had an option to savour at some of the finest restaurants in Brisbane. Western food in Australia is so different from back home, and the most distinguish feature it is portion of the meat they serve.

First up, is  Cha Cha Char Wine Bar & Grill, which is  is a stylish, contemporary restaurant in the heart of Brisbane. Everyone recommended us to visit the restaurant so we made sure we did.

Roasted & braised lamb, gorgonzola polenta, pear relish, mint salad was my dish of the day.A juicy  lamb served with polenta,  was cooked medium rare, and simply melts in your mouth. Polenta is coarsely or finely ground yellow or white cornmeal (ground maize) used as a foodstuff. It was my first time tasting it, but it tasted like mashed potato.

 This was on the house, an appetizer of Wagyu spring rolls with black pepper caramel. Since I don't take beef, I did not have  a taste at it. Of course, I did not lose the chance of getting a photo.

The above very interesting photo was the only halal option in the house- Wagyu tataki, garlic chips, spring onion, ginger soy vinaigrette. It looked very pretty, so I just had to get a photo.


I could not remember, the other restaurant that we visited, simply because it was not as good as the Char Char Char : )

I had this horrible looking tuna coated with black sesame seeds and bak choy. It looked interesting on the menu. though.

 
This was pretty picture also from the same restaurant. As pretty the picture, it did not taste as good. Thank god, I forgot the name of the restaurant !!!


Another very nice joint that we visit was Max Brenner, a creation of new chocolate culture. It was as if we were in chocolate fairyland...

Not enough...look at this...Yummm Yummm

Chocolate sundae with chocolate fudge, and chocolate brownie and chocolate balls.....how is that???

Chilli Pan Mee, Bandar Puteri

 It was wet and cold morning, and everyone wanted something fiery to spice up the taste buds, so we decided to go for chilli pan mee, at the Batu Road, Chilli Pan Mee in Bandar Puteri Puchong. The shop is located opposite the Public Bank.

The chilli pan mee here is served without the chillies, but there is a is a tub of fiery-looking chilli flakes on each table and you can add as much as you like. The pan mee is served with  mince pork, fried anchovies (ikan bilis), fried shallots, and poached egg, It is accompanied with  a bowl of soup with sweet potato leaves.

The service is super fast, and the servings are pretty reasonable. Taste wise, it may not be as good as Kin Kin's but I would say, it is fair good. The noodles were delightfully springy and amount and anchovies and minced meat were lots to coat up the noodles. Spice up with the chilly...yummm.yumm...but before of the aftereffects!! 

Ipoh Mali..Makan (Ipoh Food)

During the school holidays, we made short trip to Ipoh. Being northerners ourselves, we have been missing the food up north since we left Penang. So, all filled with gluttony, my son, hubby and I made this road trip....

The first day, we went for dinner to Tung Koo Ting(Medan Selera), opposite Woolly hawker's centre. We were welcomed with wonderfully scrumptious fare of different types of hawker delights.

Definitely one of the best Popiah(Spring Roll) that I have ever eaten. The Popiah skin was thin and nice, with the generous amount of filling, and topped up with the crunchiness of the dried shrimps, it was simply divine....

One more photo, just to show, how much I liked it!!

We also had the Hong Kong Chee Chong Fun, which had the option of either prawns, or char siew (cubed barbecued pork), or a combination of both.The Chee Cheong Fun is served in soy sauce and garnished liberally with fried shallots on top, giving it that extra fragrant and crunch. It was served with their own concocted ‘sambal belacan’ (spicy condiment made from pounded chillies, fermented shrimp paste, and a squeeze of lime),yum...yum...

For dessert, we had our favourite nyonya kuih-the kuih talam and pulut kaya.

The next day, we took our breakfast at coffee shop at Jalan Bukit Timah, Ipoh Old Town. A trip to Ipoh would not be complete without tasting the ever so famous Ipoh White Coffee. So, although we had our breakfast at the hotel (which was really a disappointment), we still ventured out to find more.

The coffee was good(kau-kau) for me, but most importantly, the caramel pudding here,  is to die for. I found the custard nice; wobbly, eggy and slippery smooth and the brown sugar syrup was just nice-not too sweet.

Since, we already had our breakfast, we could only stuff ourselves with a Popiah and the Chee Chong Fun(shared by the 3 of us).

On our way back to KL, we stopped by the one place that springs to our minds whenever we make a trip back up north, that is Pun Chun Restaurant. Highly acclaimed for their duck noodles, and yam puffs, this restaurant has been in operation since I was a small kid. Even back then, my dad will stop by here, whenever we make that Penang-Johor trip.

Their duck noodles remain as one of my favourite, though, I don't really like duck meat. Sad to say,the quality and quantity somehow dwindled over the years, and the price is escalating too. You get a whole drumstick that has been sufficiently marinated and roasted/fried, served with egg noodles (wantan mee-type), vegetables and lots of herbs in the soup, providing an aromatic, calming concoction of herbal goodness. Finish the soup with ease of mind, as no MSG is added, supposedly. NICE!!!

And head back to KL....Bye-bye to yummy hawker food!!

Souled Out, Hartamas

Last night, we went to Souled Out at Hartamas. We have been trying to go there for some time, but it somehow never happened. Well. it was a good thing that we finally made the trip. Souled Out is placed suitable for for friends and family to foster the spirit of friendship and togetherness. The vibe that I felt was  a  big happy family, which is great !. You would feel  comfortable and at home at Souled Out. In fact we had two kids and an infant in our group and we felt right at home!!

Now let's move on to the food....

We had the creamy carbonara fettuccine, which was simply delicious. The pasta was cooked al-dente, and the creaminess of sauce was simply perfect. Simple, light and yet satisfying.

My son had the lamb gosht from the North Indian kitchen, which was lamb cooked in spinach gravy.  It was served with pulau rice, cauliflower dish, pappadum and raita. The lamb was tender, flavourful and just melts in your mouth.

The lamb chop was also very nicely prepared. We asked for medium rare and we got ours cooked just as what we wanted. It was served with roasted veges with had the right amount of seasoning, and the black pepper sauce was not overpowering at all. To sum it up, it is definitely one of my favourite lamb dishes.

The salmon steak, was not to our liking, though, because we felt it was a little overcooked. 

Nevertheless, in general the food can be said as above average in standard and for the ambience, it was just perfect. The good note, of course is that, Souled Out has an all-embracing menu features which appeases both Eastern and Western palates.

So if you have a large family with different tastebuds...Souled Out is just the place you should go to !

Tomyam Fried Meehoon

 See, beehoon on its own is not very tasty. It’s really just a vehicle for the sauce that it soaks up.This particular recipe has an especially flavorful sauce because of the addition of the tom yam paste. The addition of the tom yam paste gives this noodles a spicy tangy flavour. Added with the saltiness of the fish sauce, it is the perfect combo.To top up with all of the other ingredients, it is  flavorful palate for your eyes and mouth.

Ingredients:
200g beehoon (rice vermicelli), soaked in warm water for at least 15 minutes or longer, drained before cooking)
2-3 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp tom yam paste 
125g medium-sized shrimp, shelled and deveined and squids
100g chicken meat (1 ch
icken breast), sliced thin (or you could use a cooked chicken breast, shredded)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 block of firm tofu (taukwa), deep fried and sliced (I normally buy mine already fried but if you want, I’m sure it’ll taste just as good without frying)
100g garlic chives
some long beans, carrots, baby corn and preferred veges
Seasoning:
1 tsp fish sauce
1/4 tsp oyster sauce


1/2 cup chicken stock
Garnishing (any or all of the below):
Fried egg omelette, thinly sliced
chopped cilantro
chopped green onions (about 2-3 stalks)
fried shallots

Method: 1. Season shrimp, squid and chicken with salt, sugar, pepper and sesame oil for 10-15 minutes.
2. Heat oil on medium heat in a wok and fry garlic till fragrant but not burnt.
3. Add chicken and shrimp and toss well till just opaque. Dish out and set aside.
4. Reheat wok on medium heat with more oil, put in brown bean sauce and tom yam paste. Stir it around for just half a minute being careful not to let the sauce burn. If there isn’t enough oil, add more. Add beehoon and stir in combined seasoning and mix well.
5. Add bean curd slices and return the fried shrimp and chicken to the pan.
6. Taste and adjust seasonings.
7. Plate up and garnish.

Simple Baked Spaghetti

My son loves all form of spaghetti, and like all kids, a fussy eater. Dinner time is always a challenge for me especially, when the inventory in the fridge runs low. So this is the baked spaghetti that I made for him for dinner one day.

Start off by boiling some spaghetti and cutting two pre-boiled sausage.

 

Then add in the cheese and stir through .

 Top up with more cheese....

Opps, before that, add in some cream... and then put it into the microwave for about 5-10 mins. And it is ready to be eaten...

Plain White Fried Beehoon Served with Chicken Sambal..what a combination

Sometimes eating fried beehoon on its own can get boring. How many version of fried beehoon -beehoon goreng can one conjure. So for a change I thought I would cook my bee hoon plain, and make the sambal chicken the star of the day. Well, the beehoon turned out good, though it looked plain but was rather rich in flavour and not oily too. Simple ingredients of dried shrimps, egg & cabbage, with a good stock base that make up this White Bee Hoon.

 This bee hoon goes very well with any sort of sambal, chicken, prawns, squid, ikan bilis - anchovies and even egg.  Or you can also serve it with curry chicken. A light and simple meal indeed.

We had ours with a scrumptious chicken sambal that day..maybe next time with thick chicken curry gravy.