Woops!

So I may have slightly neglected this blog for awhile…but it’s all been for good reason! Now that study and NL’s wedding has passed, I figured I should finally get around to adding more updates. I have a lot of half finished posts drafted up which I shall post up in due time, but seeing as my latest adventures were to Malaysia, I thought it appropriate to post up some pictures from there.

After my first visit to Malaysia last year, I was eager to eat lots of roti canai when we visited again in October this year. We found a place in Kuala Lumpur on Jalan Sultan Ismail called Kayu’s which served a lot of favourite Malaysia cuisines – and more importantly, roti! For one piece it cost 1.30RM (~$0.40AU) and served with two curries/dips. As we had to be a bit wary of hawkers (the bf has a sensitive stomach for food hygiene) – this place was a stall outside of Lot 10 shopping complex and it was very busy so we decided to give it a go.

I had it for breakfast for one morning and he had it for dinner another night. For breakfast, I got a tomato based curry and chicken curry served with my roti. The tomato based curry had a bit too much tomato paste (or equivalent) and reminded me of a concentrated version of the Vietnamese dish Bo Kho (Beef stew). It was not heavy but it was a little bit overpowering after a bit. The chicken curry on the other hand was very fragrant and spicy which I loved. You don’t really get many chicken pieces obviously as it is more of a dip rather than a meal. For dinner, his dips were dhal (which I love! and to me what seemed like a yoghurt based dip…reminds me of that Indian condiment…forgot the name). I’m not sure if it is even yoghurty but it was nice and light yet still creamy. I forgot to mention the roti! The roti is a little crisp on the outside and the inside is nice and soft and fluffy with all the layers of dough and fat melting in your mouth (definitely not a healthy dish, but heck, we were on holiday ).

                                                                                                                         

I also had a try of the paper thosai at the recommendation from a friend. It is very thin and crisp – crispier and slightly heavier than the roti tisu. I had this on the same night that he had the roti so we had the same dips. There isn’t too much flavour to the thosai, it’s quite similar to roti and in short is one very large paper thin pancake. It takes a lot of skill to do this without holes throughout the whole thing! I would probably prefer roti canai to this particular type of thosai in future just coz the roti has more flavour – though I wouldn’t mind trying the thosai with the fillings next time. If you do visit this place, I highly recommend the watermelon juice. It’s super sweet (got to love tropical fruits!) and tasty – highly satisfying thirst quencher!

We also had nasi lemak at the hotel restaurant as well as Kayu’s. The nasi lemak was probably not as delicious as I remembered when I first went there. Although I do like the different spices that goes into the fried chicken at Kayu’s (could be not as freshly cooked). I love the fried anchovies and peanuts, although the anchovies here seem to be covered in curry powder or some other spice so it was a little different to what I’ve had before. I did have this again at one of the places in Pavillion…no photographic evidence that I can find, and it was relatively standard though the sambal was good! A real good flavour kick with the extra spice - yum! :D  He had the nasi lemak at the hotel and I think it was pretty average from memory.       

         

I have a whole tonne of other food to post up, and will do this soon!

Beetroot chips!

Okay, so it sounds a bit unusual, but interesting right?

I know some people out there hate beetroot as I have been told it’s got quite an ‘earthy’ taste. I actually don’t find this ‘earthy’ taste, as I seem to like the majority of root vegetables. I find the beetroot brings a lovely subtle sweetness and I prefer when it still has a slight crunch. In it’s fresh form, my family likes to slice it up, add some mince, bit of salt and water (clear soup – though in this instance it’s red) and it would be so beautifully sweet and tasty – yet so simple! On the other hand, when it is pickled and inside a sandwich or burger, it is totally om nom nom-able. But enough about the humble beetroot, we’re talking about beetroot chips here.

I stumbled upon this at The Herdsman in Churchlands. I love this place, it always has really good quality produce and food, although you do expect it to be pricier than your local supermarket. I haven’t really seen many variations of chips besides corn chips, sweet potato and the rice chips – but I suppose you can turn anything into chips – not that I’m complaining if it’s good!

To be honest with you, it doesn’t look very appealing. It’s a very deep red/purple and bunched up as it has been deep fried. It is not as crisp as the usual packet potato chips, but still pretty crisp nonetheless. I found this brand to be a little overpowering with the sea salt as I found that it disguised a bit of the sweetness of the beetroot. But I do like my sodium, so I guess it’s not too bad. The flavour is pretty good! I would definitely demolish a large packet of these! It’s sweet, reasonably crispy (maybe it’s also coz it’s been opened previously) and then you get the salt hit from the rock salt. It has a significantly less percentage of fat, so it is indeed a much healthier option when I need a chip fix. There was another flavour but I can’t seem to recall it, next time I’m at The Herdsman, I shall have a look.

For all you chip lovers, adventurous ones and beetroot lovers, I recommend you try!

P.S. I am aware I am on a chip ban, but 5 pieces is okay, right?

Chippies?

It’s a bit funny that I’ve been blogging about food in general but not so much on chips. Unfortunately I haven’t had the chance to go out and try the wonderful deep fried potato-y goodness for awhile as I am on a self-imposed chip ban until October. One of the reasons is to help me tone up and attempt to eat healthier, and why October? Well apart from it being a very special event for one of my best buddies, it is unreasonable to cut it out completely as I sadly do not think I can live without chips. Okay, slight exaggeration, I guess I could if I had to, but I don’t want to! In the meantime, I thought I would load up a couple of pictures of my currently favourite potato chips – Kettle Chilli flavour and new-ish to the Australian market – McCain sweet potato superfries. So they’re not really hot chips, but still chips/fries/potato related nonetheless. I find Kettle and Red Rock Deli chips to provide the most satisfying crunchiness and flavours. Whereas the sweet potato superfries, is a nice sweeter twist to the usual humble potato. I had these in Seoul, Korea at one of those stalls on the street side but demolished it so quick I don’t have any photo evidence of it. I have made the sweet potato fries at home before using the awesome fries blade in the food processor, and they’re so good with a bit of olive oil sprayed over and a few twists of the sea salt grinder/shaker. Sometimes though, it’s even easier to buy it ready made and cut and just bang it in the oven.

So what’s your favourite kind of chips/fries at the moment? Or do you prefer the traditional hot chips?

The highly anticipated Ha-Lu

I’ve been wanting to go this restaurant for quite a number of years now since I first heard about it. From the people that have gone, not one person (to date) has mentioned that they didn’t enjoy the food here, which seemed like one very good track record! What drew me to this particular place was the fact that it was Japanese fusion, tapas style. I am still relatively new to the tapas scene and even though the cuisine originates from Spain, it was a nice change to see a non-Spanish restaurant take up this style of food.

I like the idea of tapas, sharing food around. It’s what a lot of Asians (or at least my family) growing up have experienced, with a number of dishes for dinner and everyone helping themselves. The only difference (to me) with tapas is the fact that rather than large meals being shared, they are all appetisers which vary from cold to hot dishes and is ideally ordered as you eat. (Edit: dining style is izakaya) It is not exactly the cheapest way to eat dinner as the average dish would most likely be around $10-$15 and they are small in size, but it’s a nice social thing to do as well as give you a chance to try a bit of everything.

Tonight we went to Ha-Lu and I wanted to write about it straight after while the tastes were still fresh in my mind. I had him take the photos for me this time, so they should be much clearer than my usual. I am planning to get a better camera sometime soon so hopefully the photo quality (it may well be the user more than anything) will be better from now on unless I start blogging about past places I have visited.

Where: Ha-Lu, Mount Hawthorn
When: August, 2010
Parking: Free, street-side or nearby carpark available
Cost: Dishes $16-$32; Bento box $28-$34; Dessert $6-$9.50

The location of this restaurant is on the busy Oxford Street in Leederville/Mount Hawthorn, however it is rather inconspicuous given how many times I have travelled up and down that street. The restaurant is rather small and narrow but is tastefully decorated with simple but effective decor. I found the idea of the kitchen being opened to the public quite nice as it made the restaurant more casual and had more of an open feel. There are not that many chairs available so I suggest booking in advance, but more importantly, let’s move on to the food.

We had green tea with brown rice on the side, which I suspect is the same as Tsunami. It’s nice to see actual leaves and roasted brown rice – just how tea should be. I didn’t take a picture of the cute teapot, but I have seen the same ones floating around, so I guess it’s nothing too special now.

Our first dish to come out was home made tofu. Originally we wanted agedashi tofu but due to the other dishes ordered, our waiter suggested we opt for something else otherwise we would feel very ‘heavy’ after. I saw this on the menu initially and had wanted to try it, but was swayed by the agedashi tofu (fried stuff is always appealing!) and boy, this was good. There are quite a few people out there who don’t really like tofu, and I’m not particularly sure whether you would love this either, but in any case, I highly encourage you give it a go. The dish is served cold with shallots, pickles and soy-dashi. You can definitely tell the difference on how fresh the tofu tasted and how soft it was in your mouth. The flavour of soy was evident but still subtle. The pickles, shallots and soy-dashi all worked together to give multiple textures and flavours. The pickles added an extra level of sour-saltiness, the soy-dashi added some saltiness which complimented well with the subtle flavour of the tofu.

The next dish was crispy pork. Essentially all it is, is very thinly sliced pork belly deep fried served with the Japanese vinaigrette. I know a few people who know me who see this dish, would say this is so me. I love my pork belly (or anything fried) and it is usually the thing I order if I ever see it on a menu. Wow-ee. This did not disappoint at all. I would however not recommend getting this dish again in one sitting. It is possible to have too much of a good thing unfortunately, not to say that we did! I think the serving we had of it was just right – enough to satisfy my greedy self of the mouth watering pork belly but not push me to the point where I felt sick at how unhealthy it was. It was very crisp, almost like chips. It has a slightly different level of crunch to your pork crackle, however the flavour was relatively subtle which the vinaigrette complimented nicely.

I’m not sure if was by coincidence of whether they had thought it out, but the next dish was the duck with aubergine/eggplant. This was a nice dish to follow after the oiliness of the crispy pork. I think he was particularly impressed with this one . The duck has been slow cooked and the aubergine cooked until it was very soft and tender. It was a nice refreshing dish and went very well with their Oroshi ponzu sauce which was nice and thick and coated the duck well.

The next few dishes came at the same time, being the side dish of the noodle soup (we chose udon) and the soft shell crab in miso gratin. This udon noodle soup probably had one of the best broths I’ve tasted so far (rivaling Sono’s). The broth had plenty of flavour, unfortunately my palate is not skilled enough to be able to detect where all the flavour comes from, but it was very fragrant and tasted more than just soy sauce, water and udon noodles. There was not much else besides a piece of capsicum, carrot, and what we suspect is shitake mushroom that was cooked with the broth – simple but delicious. It is designed as a side dish so it a little on the salty side, but still very nice nonetheless.

The soft shell crab was definitely a unique twist to the traditional deep fried soft shell crab. I had gone through a soft shell crab phase and still have a box of frozen soft shell crabs to cook with, but I kinda overdid it and had a bit too much which has put me slightly off the usual deep fried version. This dish was *very* rich. Not something to be consumed regularly, almost like a heart attack waiting to happen. The soft shell crab had a relatively light batter and coated with a creamy cheese gratin sauce. I can’t really distinguish the taste of miso so much, but I guess the slight saltiness would have been linked to the miso. The cheese was very creamy – what cheese it is I’m not quite sure either, and it almost seems as if the pot was put in the oven to brown. Either that or the stone pot was so hot that it browned the sauce…hrmm not quite sure – if you do happen to know, I would love to know! I probably wouldn’t have any more than what was in that pot as it was very rich, but it was a nice example of the fusion food that they do.

Last but not least – dessert! My dessert was a very non-traditional Japanese dessert – white chocolate and berry pannacotta. The pannacotta was a lot more creamier (and less jelly-ish) than the other pannacottas I have tasted, which may be due to the white chocolate. It was a nice finish to the meal and not overly sweet. It did however get a little bit rich/creamy after awhile which he ended up finishing it off for me. If the serving was slightly smaller, I think I would have easily finished it. He had the black sesame tiramisu which was a nice twist on the popular Italian dessert. I had a taste of this and thought this was really nice. I think it was quite a clever combination that worked very well. There was one complaint that towards the end the black sesame at the bottom was slightly overpowering but as a whole was a really good dessert.

This place has already gone to my favourites list and a place I would definitely recommend to others. Surprisingly the meal did not cost too much. Overall for the two of us it worked out to be roughly $80. So the dishes aren’t large – you may not be as stuffed after the meal as some casual dining places – but I was actually quite full and he left feeling quite satisfied. The waiter recommends about 4 to 5 dishes between two people, so that should be a good indication of how many dishes to order. The service was very friendly, perhaps a little bit slow. All waiters and waitresses served you with a smile and when you left everyone yells out goodbye and thank you, which I thought was a nice personal touch. Ha-Lu also offer take-away – a good option if you don’t manage to get a booking.

Service: 4 chips out of 5

Food quality: 4.5 chips out of 5

Leaf, Mount Lawley

I don’t think I have had such a great start to this blog so far as my updates are quite irregular, and the last one was quite some time ago. Now with some study commitments partially out of the way, I am now free-er to blog away So it may seem that some of the posts I put up may be a bit irrelevant or outdated given the period of when I went to the places, but it is mostly because I have not had a chance (or perhaps don’t want to) go back again to provide a more up to date opinion and I still want to share both the good and bad experiences.

Today I thought of visiting back to Leaf, Mount Lawley. Now, when you google ‘high tea places in Perth’, you will find that Leaf Tea Merchants will be within the top 5. It has been highly raved about by many people, but there are also some unhappy customers who will not be returning. I’m not actually sure if it is still open at this stage, as their website is no longer there and I think the number is not working – or so I last checked a couple of weeks back – so this post may be pretty much useless as no one can go try.

Where: Leaf, 60 Walcott Street, Mount Lawley (There was another store in Cottesloe, but also unsure whether this is still open)
When: Saturday afternoon, January 2010
Parking: Free, available at rear near NAB
Cost: $28pp

I went here for a hens function earlier this year. Pingiepoo took me here once before which was my first high tea experience ever. I unfortunately never took any photos of it at that stage so have only a few photos from this particular hens day.

At Leaf, they set their high teas out slightly differently than to others. Do not expect the fine china plates and tiers here, but they do instead have stackable plastic tiers with all their goodies in patty pans sprinkled with rose petals for a more girly/feminine effect. The place is more casual and funky with their decor and they book out extremely quickly on Saturday and Sundays. The portions at Leaf are quite generous, some people prefer it this way, for myself as I am unable to consume large amounts of sweets, I prefer small bite sized portions as I love to have a taste of everything without wasting half of the food

The bottom tier as usual was all savoury food. I think I will always love their cucumber sandwiches. It’s simple really, thinly sliced cucumber with cream cheese in two slices of bread cut into triangles. Yet something about the simplicity seems to make it taste so good. The party pies and quiches were not really my ideal for a high tea, on both occasions it seems that they have been made elsewhere and simply reheated in the microwave just prior to serving. I think I wouldn’t have minded too much if they were freshly baked rather than eating chewy pastry.

The second tier I unfortunately can’t distinguish too much on the sweets as they all ended up tasting  the same in the end to me and being too sweet. The first occasion I had gone I don’t remember it being as sweet and I had thoroughly enjoyed it, but the second time perhaps my max sugar levels were kicking in and saying “no more!!”. I was a bit disappointed the second time around as there was nothing that particularly stood out for me with the sweets and I found them too large in size.

The last tier was filled with strawberries dipped in chocolate and fortune cookies. The strawberries were nice, particularly as this was during summer so they were nice and sweet. The fortune cookies kind of cheapened the experience a bit but I guess it made for conversation with the corny/nonsense fortunes. I prefer not to upload pictures of friends up here as yet, so for now you will have to do with the smiley face. Hopefully it’s not too distracting from the rest of the food.

This was a picture of a nut free version of the high tea for one person. Quite a lot for one person!!

What’s a high tea without any tea? Well…I actually forgot to take pictures of the teas available but I must say Leaf has so far been one of the best places for tea. I love their fruity tea range, it smells heavenly and is surprisingly not as sweet as it smells. It also doesn’t leave a bitter after taste when you are near the bottom of the teapot as some other teas. On this particular occasion, we had gone during summer on a *very* hot summer day. Most of the girls opted for a cold tea version which was very refreshing and very well received. I had opted for the usual ‘Island Groove’ that Pingiepoo had got me hooked on. It may have not been the wisest idea to choose a hot drink on that particular day, but the taste was totally worth it. Leaf also sell teapots, burners and teas to the public.

Overall, I didn’t mind Leaf too much, however I am slightly disappointed by their quality of their food in comparison to other places. However, if you do happen to go to Leaf, their teas are definitely worth trying and/or buying.  The service was relatively standard, the staff generally kept to themselves and infrequently checked on how we were going.

Service: 2 chips out of 5

Food quality: 3 chips out of 5

Breakfast at Sayers

It may be coz I haven’t had breakfast yet, but I’ve been inspired to write about places for breakfast in Perth. I am yet to try many more places but I guess this will be a start – I must also remember to take pictures instead of demolishing it as soon as it arrives. I also tend to order salmon and hollandaise if it is ever on the menu. One of my many food weaknesses that I have

Where: Sayers, Leederville
When: May, 2009
Parking: Free, street-side or nearby carparks available
Cost: $5-$22

A friend told us about this place, either coz she had tried it before or was told by another friend it’s definitely worth a visit. Unfortunately the place does not accept bookings and it fills up FAST. It is advisable to go there as early as possible, otherwise be expected to wait for a seat. It is a casual, quaint little place in the bustle of Leederville so expect to be hovering over tables like crows as it is first in first serve.

Out of the four of us, three had the full breakfast. It was actually nicely presented and judging by how quick it went down, was very satisfying and delicious. There was an option for poached, scrambled or fried eggs; potato cake; 3 beans (one friend didn’t have this as seen by picture); grilled tomato; field mushroom; italian sausage and bacon. A vegetarian option is also available for that dish. Although the plate did not look as large as some other places, I think it was very filling as all three tended to struggle a bit towards the end.

As you would have guessed, I had the smoked salmon with spinach and poached egg with hollandaise sauce. I can’t seem to find this on the menu anymore, they seem to have added sausage, rashers and avocado instead of the egg and spinach now. Either way, the smoked salmon was fresh, the spinach and asparagus were quickly blanched so they weren’t overcooked, the asparagus still with a bit of a crunch and the spinach subtle in flavour. I think I may have had a potato rosti of some sort underneath the spinach, unless I am confusing that with another place – the picture doesn’t really look it though. The egg was poached to perfection and the hollandaise was delicious. The sauce was creamy but not overly rich or eggy. It was also a perfect consistency so it was thin enough to run over the egg but thick enough to not be a watery mess.

I stole pictures off my friend, so I’m not sure how big these will turn out….

To compliment our meals we also ordered an orange juice, latte, cappuccino and I think it was something along the lines of a flat white of some sort. People have raved about the coffee at this place, and I must say my cappuccino was reallllly good. I have become a coffee snob and unable to consume instant coffee unless it is mixed with copious amounts of condensed milk or something. I also hate burnt coffee beans…which I actually found at Starbucks when I was overseas (please don’t kill me Starbucks lovers). Their five senses coffee was heavenly to smell, and the fragrance carried through into the coffee as well. The froth was nice and airy with a decent layer of froth – just the way I like it!

Service was nothing spectacular but they are busy so at least they were efficient and friendly. You do have to order over the counter but the main focus for them is the food and coffee. They are also available for lunch which may require a booking.

Service: 3 chips out of 5
Food: 4 chips out of 5

Alchemy, Brisbane

Roughly one year ago I was over in Brisbane with the bf. He had researched before we had left and had booked us a table for two at a fancy little restaurant called Alchemy. Most reviews we read were extremely good, the odd ones weren’t as great but it was usually because they were not sitting outside with the view. This is how our night went…

Where: Alchemy, Brisbane
When: August, 2009
Cost: Entree $25-$28; Mains $38-50; Dessert $12-$17

We stayed at a nearby serviced apartment so the walk along the river was very pleasant as the weather leaned more to spring rather than the nippy winter weather back home. The stretch along the river reminds me a bit of East Perth with all the apartments and restaurants lined across the waterfront. We were the first ones there and were seated right along the front (or back, whichever way you are looking at it) with nothing obstructing us from the view of the river and Story bridge.

We were served bread which was freshly baked, soft and even better, served warm! I can’t remember what we had… something with a fragrant seeds of the sort, whatever it was, you know it’s really good bread when you don’t need to add anything to it. Service was attentive but not over the top so we were allowed our privacy as well. Although entrée was very tempting, we decided to skip straight to mains so we could leave room for desserts.

The photo is not great as the flash washed everything out…taking photos of food is definitely something I have to work on. He had the glazed pork loin with white wine cabbage, apple and cider purée, pork crackling and mustard dressing. I can’t comment too much on the taste of it as I only had a small bite, but the pork crackle was super crisp and crackly and the pork was very tender, almost melt in your mouth.

I had the restaurant’s specialty – beef cheeks slow cooked in red wine and port for 24 hours with potato mash, chunks of bacon and mushroom. I don’t think I will forget this moment for a long time. To date, this has got to be the place with the best beef cheeks I have ever tasted. I raved so much about this that one of my friends who went to Brisbane this year wanted to try this out so badly, and I am pleased to say she was not disappointed. Before I go on, I should also mention that my tolerance to alcohol either by smell or taste is quite low. However, the port and red wine that was cooked with the beef cheeks complimented the flavour of the beef very well. The beef was literally melt in your mouth, it was so tender that minimal chewing was required. Typing about this now, I still can remember the taste and the texture of this wonderful dish. Along with the beef cheeks was the mash. As mentioned earlier, you may have noticed anything that is created by the humble potato will always be happily welcomed by me. The mash was beautifully creamy and smooth, it was actually not too rich given that the beef was actually quite rich. The mushrooms and bacon added an extra level of flavour to the dish. For me, the serving was perfect as I was very full and I think it would have been a bit too rich with a larger serving. Despite being full, we ploughed on with desserts (who could resist desserts??)

He had the granny smith parfait with mixed apple granita, double chocolate ice cream and honey comb tuiles. The parfait was quite light and refreshing, it was definitely consumed quite quickly!

I had discovered my liking for panacotta a couple years back in Italy, so decided to have the coconut and palm sugar pannacotta with caramelized pineapple financier. The pannacotta was a very smooth consistency and had been set for a reasonable period of time. The palm sugar was a nice substitution (or addition) as I found the dessert to be just the right level of sweetness…at least to my palate. The coconut was quite subtle but whatever it was on the top (can’t remember, looks like pineapple) was a nice addition to the texture. I did not enjoy the financier as much. I found it a little dry and my threshold for all things sweet seemed to have kicked in as I found the caramel to be a bit too much. I think I would’ve happily consumed the panacotta by itself.

The night did not end yet! Our curiosity got the best of us and we could not go past trying the liquid nitrogen gastronomic nibbles as they call it. They nicknamed it nitrogen bombs. There were three different flavours, but I unfortunately did not get a picture of the last, although it doesn’t look all that much different from the second picture – it was also prepared by the chef himself…I should have got a picture of him…guess I will have to go back then! I guess this was their way of experimenting with food gastronomy that seems to be getting more popular due to Masterchef. Technically the flavours were simple and it was simply ‘cooked’ in the liquid nitrogen which made it very, very cold but also very crunchy. We also got to look very cool – like dragons – with the smoke coming out of noses and mouths.

Our first try was honeycomb. It looked and tasted much like that in the chocolate Crunchie bar, but this honeycomb was even crunchier and crumblier. If anything, the taste was not as sweet, but perhaps it was because we had relatively bite sized pieces.

The second and perhaps my favourite of the three was spearmint…or something to that effect. I think from memory it was just a minty/spearminty kind of mousse which was made and placed in the liquid. I quite liked the taste of this, the texture was probably a bit more crumblier than crunchy in comparison to the honeycomb. The last flavour was black forrest. I’m not really a big fan of the cake or anything black forrest related and found it a bit creamy and sweet but I think he liked it. I believe they still have honeycomb and black forrest but not the spearmint/minty one. I forgot what the third option is now…I guess you will just have to try out for yourselves I would highly recommend this place to anyone, and make sure you get a table with the view!

Service: 4 1/2 chips out of 5
Food: 4 1/2 chips out of 5