Monk & Me - Camberwell

We went for an advanced screening of a new movie titled 'What We Did on Our Holiday' this week. It is a BBC comedy film and will be released on 12th February in Australia. I thoroughly enjoyed the film. It was funny and poignant. The three child actors in the movie performed very well and I especially liked the youngest. She is such a natural, and the script was nicely done too.

After the movie, we went to Monk & Me for dinner. It was just as well that we already had something to eat before the movie because the portion sizes in Monk & Me are quite small.

We ordered Char Kuey Teow and Seafood Laksa. With my seafood laksa, I wondered if it was a collection of bits and pieces of leftover noodles from half eaten laksas. I had difficulty finding more noodles to eat after just two mouthfuls. The broth was tasty but there was a bit too much coconut cream. There was a decent amount of seafood in the laksa. There were prawns, squid, and fishcakes.

The char kuey teow had a good smoky smell, almost similar to the hawker fare one gets in KL. It was spicy but not too spicy for us.

The prices are higher than other Malaysian restaurants but I suppose that is normal for the Camberwell area. The restaurant is not enclosed rather, it has large doors that are entirely opened up during opening hours giving a true blue Malaysian coffee shop feeling,  especially on a balmy day.

Monk and Me certainly has the ambience and portion size of a malaysian coffee shop, but unfortunately the price is about 8 times more expensive.

Vegetarian Roll

These vegetarian rolls are so yummy that I want to make them more often than what I do. Now that I have a julienne peeler, it is a lot easier to make these rolls.

You'll need:
1 pack of dried beancurd sheet (they come in one big sheet all folded up and breaks easily so be careful when unfolding)
2 carrots, julienned
100g of enoki mushrooms, separated and cut in half
About 10 pieces of dried cloud ear mushrooms, rehydrated and cut into thin slices
About 5 pieces and dried shitake mushrooms, rehydrated and cut into thin slices

Stir fry all the vegetables in a non stick pan with two teaspoons of oil, and a tablespoon of oyster sauce (or vegetarian oyster sauce). Add salt if needed.

Beancurd sheet

Stir fry until vegetables are cooked, then let cool.

Unfold the dried beancurd sheet, and cut into rectangles of around 15 by 22 cms. Wet a towel and wipe both sides of each rectangle before wrapping the rolls. The reason for this step is firstly to make the beancurd sheet pliable for wrapping, secondly to clean the sheet and lastly, to wipe away excess salt from the manufacturing process of the sheet.

Lying the sheet flat on a board, pile about two tablespoons of filling on the end closest to you, fold the sheet over the filling once. Fold the the two sides upwards and inwards then continue rolling until you reach the end of the sheet (you should be able to roll about 3 or 4 times before reaching the end of the sheet).

Shallow fry all sides until golden. Alternatively steam to minimise oil usage.

This dish involves quite a bit of preparation, but it is delicious and beautiful to look at.

Corlam Kitchen - Glen Waverley

Years ago, I bought a granite mortar and pestle vowing to grind my own spices the good ol' way. You know, the way of grandmothers in batik jammies squatting at the back kitchen and grinding at least five different spices in the mortar in preparation for a delicious curry for the night's dinner.

 I was quite pleased with my progress as it was only 3 years later that I seasoned the mortar and pestle. Didn't know they had to be seasoned? Neither did I! I was a little puzzled and concerned that there were black specks from the mortar appearing in my food until I learnt from Dr Google that they had to be seasoned prior to first use.

 Since then which is a year ago, I have not used the mortar and pestle. There is romantic ideals and then there is practical reality.

 These days when I crave for good curries, a visit to a curry house will have to do. Perhaps one day I will have the inclination to dress in batik jammies and grind spices in my free time.

 One day last week was when I craved for crab curry. We ended up at Corlam Kitchen in Glen Waverley as Plan B because the one restaurant I knew of that serves crab curry was full. I would have been happy to wait for a table but we could not even find parking.

 It was a blessed detour because I found another place that serves a smashing crab curry at a very reasonable price.

Look at this beautiful dish! Three blue swimmer crabs in a spice rich curry. It tasted very good. It was not greasy, had vegetables such as aubergine and okra and the spice tasted fresh. In fact, I believe I heard the spice grinder in the kitchen preparing spices for my dish as we waited.

We did not expect the size of the dish so we over ordered again. In addition to the crab curry and rice, we had a dinner special from the bain marie consisting of lamb and chicken curry and pumpkin, chickpea and veges with naan. The naan was large, cut into 4 pieces and brushed with ghee. It tasted and smelt very fragrant, thanks to the ghee and probably something one needs to make concession for now and then.

Corlam Kitchen is not a posh place and I was overdressed that night (having prepared for dinner at a slightly upmarket place that night) but the best food is usually found in ordinary, even remote places!

Junior Tan - Bayswater

There is a new kid on the block, and his name is Junior Tan. This newly opened restaurant is located a stone's throw from the Bayswater train station. It occupies the former Nando's premises opposite Aldi.

We were so keen to taste their Malaysian hawker fare that we visited the restaurant before it's grand opening. We ordered stuffed crab claws for entree, fried Hokkien mee and yee mee with egg gravy.

The fried hokkien mee was prawns, chicken and strangely cabbage, stir fried with thick Hokkien noodles. Usually chinese cabbage is used instead in fried hokkien noodles.

In my opinion, the smell and taste of the chinese cabbage is important to the success of the dish. The other important ingredients are lard and the breath of the wok, of which the latter was also somewhat missing.

The cabbage gave the dish a bitter taste. Perhaps it is a mark of individuality for the restaurant but unfortunately it didn't work for me.

Crispy yee mee with egg gravy was the next dish we had. There was a generous amount of vegetables but the beef slices were a little tough.

Crab balls with kewpie mayo. As usual, we ate too much for our already fat bellies so shouldn't have ordered this.

Besides, it would have came straight from a pack in a freezer and would not showcase the chef's cooking skills.

Perhaps we didn't order the right dishes but I think Junior has some growing up to do.

Chan House -Doncaster

We are so glad to have found another Chinese vegetarian restaurant nearby. As I mentioned in earlier posts, vegetarian restaurants are hard to come by and each good find is like the discovery of a prized truffle.

Chan House is located on a quiet street next to the Beverly Hills school but news travel quickly. This newly opened restaurant was half full when we visited on a weekday.

We ordered the roast pork off the specials board.

Thin slices of mock roast pork, complete with crispy crackling and chestnut flour 'fat'. The texture was very good, similar to the non vegetarian version.


A chef's special, sweet and sour taro fish. It was very delicious.

The food we tried was delicious and not too greasy. The ingredients were fresh and at reasonable prices. There seem to be a good variety of dishes on the menu so it'll be nice to revisit and taste other dishes.

Exxopolis

I felt a bit like Alice in Wonderland last weekend when we visited Exxopolis. Extropolis? ExxonMobil? You might ask.

 Exxopolis is in short, a series of adjoining plastic tents. The whole structure is about 55 metres long and 29 metres wide. It took 8 months to sew.

 So why is a plastic tent so interesting? Take a look at the pictures from the inside of the structure...

Designed and made in UK in 2012 by Architects of Air, this luminaria has travelled to more countries than I have. As each panel in the tent is made from different coloured plastic flaps, the effect is similar to looking at stained glass windows.

The experience was awesome. One gets a brief history of the structure by a staff at the beginning then is let loose. We took our time through the structure,  sometimes sitting down on the ground in one of the cubby holes to enjoy, sometimes standing around taking pictures.

Exxopolis toured Melbourne near the Recital Center on 23 Jan to 1 Feb.

Gami, Lt Lonsdale

'My name is Chicken, Gami Chicken.' If the chicken wings on the plate in front of me had stood up and introduced themselves in such a way,  I would not have been surprised.

OK, who am I kidding?  Of course I would be surprised and even freaked out if the chicken starts imitating James Bond. But that kind of introduction is quite befitting given Gami does have it's own brand. They are not just fried chicken, they are Gami fried chicken.

So what's the difference between this fried chicken and other fried chicken? And after all, isn't it only just fried chicken? The answer to the latter is a resounding no.

It takes some expertise to fry food, and Gami chickens are not too greasy and seasoned just nice for my taste. There is no excess batter which is a major plus for me.

We ordered half and half of original and spicy taste. There are two other tastes being soy garlic and sweet chilli. Each plate comes with a side of cabbage salad and pickled radish, which are most helpful to combat the heat from the spicy chicken!

The spicy sauce poured over the fried chicken is quite spicy and tangy, garlicky in some places but the hear easily extinguished by the salad and pickles and a cold beer or water.

There were many options of beer on the menu. Gaz ordered the house beer while I stuck to water but I wasn't drunk when I thought I was in South Korea eating fried chicken.

Pan Fried Bun, Mitcham

Tucked away at the back of the Mitcham train station and no signs with the restaurant's name on the facade of the shop, this is not a place where people would just walk off the street to try out the food.

Luckily it is located at the ground floor of an apartment building where it has a pool of thousands of customers at it's doorstep as well as regular commuters who embark or disembark at the Mitcham station.

It does seem that most of their clintele are residents of the apartment building and commuters who stop in for a quick takeaway before they head home.

We ordered the xiao long bao since it is one of Gaz's favorite.  I really liked the XLB. It was not greasy and there were plenty of clear tasting soup in the bun. One of the better XLB I have tasted.



We ordered a dish of pan fried meat buns, the restaurant's namesake. We found it was a little too oily for our liking but the meat filling was very tasty.

There is some skill required to cook these buns. Because it is big (roughly the size of a child's knuckle) and it is pan fried without pre steaming, the chef needs to make sure the meat and dough is cooked without burning the bottom.

The buns were cooked very well but there was a little too much dough so we were starting to get too full for other food.

The last dish was a plate of seafood fried noodles which was also a little too oily for us.

If I was a resident in the apartment block above the restaurant, this would be my regular joint whenever I have a craving for XLB.

P.s/ This restaurant is now closed. There is a new restaurant by the name of Elate Kitchen in its place.

Bert's Cafe, Boronia

As the theme song from Cheers go:

Sometimes you wanna go
where everybody knows your name
And they're always glad you came

So it is with Bert's Cafe in Boronia. The husband and wife team is always happy and attentive. It's like we've known each other for many years and not just met for a couple of times.

Parking is a little problematic because it is not always easy to get a park on the street in front of the cafe.

Nevertheless, lack of close by parking is not to be considered a deterrent for good value good food. The portions are generous and the food is honest quality fare.

Each time I eat at Bert's, I always feel as though I am at home with mom cooking extra food for me (because she always thinks I am too skinny). There are always a good quantity of meat and seafood where it is warranted. None of the 'If I just provide two pieces of prawn and skimp on the lap cheong in the char kuey teow, I can make more money' mentality here at Bert's.

Bak Chor - minced meat patties wrapped in bean curd skin and deep fried.

Mee Siam - rice vermicelli in spicy tangy tamarind chilli sauce

Char kuey teow -fried rice noodles

Char hor fun -fried rice noodles topped with egg gravy

Red wine mee suah - fine wheat noodles with rice wine chicken

So if you wanted Singaporean food at a place where everybody knows your name, Bert's the place to go.

Update: This restaurant is now closed.