Jing - Crystal

Gaz's aunty from Hong Kong came to Aust for a visit recently, and brought me this hand made present. A necklace with a crystal pendant with a matching bracelet (not pictured). Aunty had made this herself, stringing the crystals together to form a flower. It is absolutely beautiful and I am stricken by the delicacy of the pendant. Thank you Aunty Margaret for this wonderful gift!

Thai Tables, Bayswater

Gaz and I felt like a little Thai food this week, and we know of a great Thai restaurant in the local 'hood. Thai Tables is the name of the restaurant, and it's reputation is so good that we needed a booking (luckily we got a booking, there were only two of us, which makes it easier) on a Thursday. During the hour we were there, we observed guests dining and leaving, tables being cleaned only to be filled up again, and countless people walking in for their takeaway orders.

Thai Tables indeed is a very busy restaurant but the service was good, and attentive. So, how about the food?

We ordered 'crab meat and chicken mince in tofu skin'. Gaz had a hankering for something deep fried, which was fine with me. There were visible crab meat in the patties, which was great.

This duck curry was just excellent! Roast duck, in curry with lychee, pineapple and capsicum. I love duck, and this dish did not disappoint. The duck wasn't too fatty which was good - I didn't have to waste time separating the fat from the meat. The curry sauce was sweet, thanks to the coconut cream and not too spicy. It was delicious!

Beef in satay sauce. The peanut sauce was creamy, and sweet.

We had the dishes with two serves of steamed rice and roti to mop up the curry. Thai Tables serves such great Thai food that we would definitely be seen again here, if we can get a booking!

Cocoro Japanese Restaurant, Fitzroy

One year ago today, Gaz and I exchanged our vows in a little church in front of our friends and family to love, honour and obey till death do us part. To celebrate the ocassion, we decided to visit the restaurant where he popped the question two years ago.

The suburb landscape has changed a fair bit since our visit two years ago, but the restaurant remained unchanged. Still the same waitress, the same layout, the same layout of shelves against one side of the wall showing their hand made pottery ware for sale.

No pictures because Gaz forgot the camera and all pics from my new phone is blurry. No pictures to commemorate the big first year anniversary... goes to show that we've degenerated into a totally unromantic pair after only a short period of married time!

We had this dish two years ago - bonito sashimi, now no more on the menu. I remembered it was salty, and the flesh was rough. This time we ordered salmon sashimi instead which was better.

Chicken karaage (same order) and teriyaki salmon.

Gaz made me walk down a wall of shelves showing the restaurant's hand made pottery (also for sale) until I reached this shelf where he had pre-arranged the ring, flowers etc. It took me a while to pair the words together before I realised what it meant. He knelt down on one knee, and spilled out strings of words which I hardly comprehended because I was so embarassed with the whole restaurant looking on. And the rest as they say, is history...

Update: This restaurant is now closed

Shiraaz Indian Restaurant, Ferntree Gully

It seems like Gaz and I have been eating out a lot lately, a result of having a few birthday celebrations, events and meet ups in the past month. Having eaten out so often, I've also grown lazy to cook.

Last Thursday, fueled by one of my lazy moods, we visited Shiraaz in Ferntree Gully. I was pleased to find the place cozy and warm because it was pouring cats and dogs outside. The decor was definitely better than other suburban restaurants, but was very dark inside.

I had planned to order a little bit more so that we can take away the leftovers for lunch tomorrow. My plans were foiled when we saw a note at the end of the menu stating that any food that requires doggy bagging will be charged an additional cost. I suppose taking away leftovers in an Indian restaurant might not happen very often since the portions are normally small. But if a Chinese restaurant tried the same trick, they would be forced to abolish it almost straightaway. Chinese patrons are so kam siap (stingy) that they wouldn't stand for it!

Gaz ordered a mango lassi. Very refreshing... and too sweet for me!

A garlic naan to go with the dishes.

Eggplant potato - Eggplant and potatoes in a light gravy sprinkled with ginger and fresh coriander. This was medium hot. I liked the eggplant which was well cooked. It was not too hot which suited our tastes.

Chef's special Shiraaz steak. The piece of beef was coated with tandoori spices, served on a sizzling plate with a big serve of greens on the side consisting of beans, peas, cauliflower. I didn't quite like the steak - a bit sour, but the meat was very tender.

The service was incredibly good. Wait staff made sure we had everything we need, and passed by our tables asking if the food was OK etc. Overall, it is a good restaurant for when one need some decent Indian food and attentive service.

Back to School

I'm officially studying again. I'm studying a language this time. And it's a language that I should have been fluent in, if not for my constant class waggings. It's Mandarin!

I've been considering taking Chinese classes since two years ago. At first I thought I could learn on my own, but the task of learning hundreds of characters most of them bearing no sense at all was too tough for me. I am hoping with structured learning the characters and their meaning will finally stick in my brain.

My first class was a little boring because I already know the basics - pronouncing and writing 1 - 10, and simple words like 'female, child' etc. I wasn't the only Chinese in the class though, there were two others who like me, realised their folly and is now pursuing the language. Other people in the class were foreigners who were interested in pinning down a challenge, or who were learning the language for business or for fun (geeks!).

I've had a look at next week's class and there are some characters in there that are new to me. Yeah, I like to prepare in advance of my classes when I can. Hopefully by the end of the term I will be able to read some words in a Chinese paper. And flaunt this mercilessly in front of Gaz :)

Tempura Hajime, South Melbourne

As a treat, Gaz and I went to Tempura Hajime for dinner tonight. After hearing so much about this restaurant that specialises in tempura, which happens to be one of my favourite foods (anything deep fried... yum yum) we just had to pay it a visit. This nondescript restaurant is almost invisible to the naked eye. Located between office blocks, the only thing that made me pause in front of its entrance is its wooden door against the other glass office building doors.

Everything in Hajime is in the minimalist fashion. And looking at the space we understood why. It's tiny. Guests sit around a bar looking at the chef operate his two copper woks full of hot oil, with a maximum seating for 12 people. The chef is assisted by two waitresses, who announced their presence each time they entered his open kitchen (hot oil... very dangerous).

Gaz and I had a great time chatting with the chef. We talked about his favourite food in Japan (ramen), the ingredients he used, kitchen utensils - he even showed us a directory of industrial kitchen gadgets he had - it's as thick as a phone book! We talked about where he is from, places to visit in Japan etc. We had a lot of fun that night, so here are pics of the food, but with limited descriptions because I wasn't concentrating on listening to the waitresses as they described each dish.

King fish, ocean trout, and another type of fish mixed with sour plum. The last one was very appetizing. Hajime served freshly grated horseradish with the sashimi, it was very fresh and strong!!

The above came with this dish - seared beef slices, in a broadbean and vanilla cream sauce. Underneath, there is a Japanese spring vege (the waitress mentioned a Japanese name, but I couldn't catch it).

King George Whiting wrapped in shiso leaf.

Behold the oyster...

... which gave us so much eating pleasure!

The humble corn. Steamed, then fried in tempura batter. Very juicy and sweet.

Stuffed mushroom with prawn meat. This was very nice :)

tuna roll with avo, a dot of mayo.

Asparagus.

Midway the meal, we were served cold seaweed salad. Which was just as well because I could feel my body temperature rising due to the heaty courses we had.

Prawn tempura, always a favourite.

Sweet potato, first steamed then fried in batter. Very sweet and soft.

Last course of fried seafood and vegetable tempura on rice with teriyaki sauce.

Yogurt jelly with a muscat sauce. Very refreshing.

The tempura was not oily at all, which happens when the food is cooked at the right temperature but I did feel my body overheating in the middle of the courses. This was well anticipated by the chef and the chilled seaweed salad served to cool us down. Tempura Hajime's is a unique dining experience indeed. It is a good experience for the special occasions.

Some of My Favourite Foods

Char Kuey Teow. Stir fried flat rice noodles with fish cakes, chinese sausages, chives, egg, prawns, beansprouts and the secret ingredient - lard!!

Prawn Noodles. Hokkien noodles in chilli prawn stock with hard boiled egg, prawns, beansprouts, pork slices and fish cake. It takes a lot of effort and time to make the stock, which includes boiling prawn shells & pork with sugar and chilli for many hours. My friend Martin makes the best prawn noodles but since he's left for Sydney I have found another alternative - Tean's prawn noodle paste! Taste almost like the real McCoy and a fast way to satisfy my cravings.