iamthewitch.com » Food

Juicy BBQ Lamb Chops at Mario’s

iamthewitch — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 01:41:23 +0000

Everybody, meet Mario! A charming and funny guy, he’s one of Saucer’s counterpart in Australia, who cooks fabulously! I mean, really! During our stay in Australia, Mario and his wife kindly invited us over one night for a BBQ dinner at their home. When we reached, Mario was busy cooking his Boerewors. Hailing from South Africa, this man talked passionately about his country and her cuisine, which was simply mouth-watering.

Mario cooking Boerewors

Look at the sausage! What does it remind you of? *LOL* It was long and spiral and more importantly, cooked with Beer! Yes, you heard me right!

Boerewors cooked with beer

It was apparently a common way to cook it back in South Africa and I was definitely looking forward to give it a try. After cutting it up, each piece was solid, huge and very filling! It had a strong peppery taste and the beef meat was coursely-ground. Interesting sausage really, never had one so huge before. *LOL*

Cooked Boerewors

Look at the feast we had that night! Lots of potatoes, bread, sausages and of course, the main item – BBQ lamb and chicken!

Dinner spread

Bread rolls

Mario cooked the potatoes for the longest time and they turned out to be so soft and yummy!

BBQ Sweet potatoes

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Visiting Mount Dandenong and Pie in the Sky

iamthewitch — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 01:17:09 +0000

Hello people! I’m BACK! After 2 amazing and fun weeks in Victoria, I’m finally home sweet home. My body is still following Aussie time which is 2 hours in advance, which means I find it easier to wake up at 7am now (which is actually 9am in Aussie) compared to before.

Anyway, let’s continue with my posts from Melbourne, shall we? After visiting the city twice, we pretty much saw the gist of it, so we resorted to visiting the suburbs instead. Our plan next was to go up the mountains of Dandenong! This was me waiting for train at a station called Ringwood, which was near our serviced apartment.

witch at Ringwood train station

witch with the railway

To get to Mount Dandenong, one of the ways was to take the metro train to Belgrave and take a bus from there. The good thing about transportation here is that you buy tickets according to the time duration. Which means if you buy a 2-hour ticket, you can take whatever mode of transportation as long as it’s within 2 hours from your first swipe. This makes it that much easier than calculating the fare each time you want to transit and go somewhere. We got daily tickets, which meant unlimited traveling for the day!

Terminus at Belgrave Station

Once we’re at Belgrave station, we walked down the stairs and reached a terminus or a mini bus station. Look for Bus 694 to Olinda, which is the town in Mt Dandenong.

Can’t help but laugh at the picture below! *LOL* Can you guess what Saucer was doing? The fact is, it was extremely cold that morning, and with us being so close to the mountains, it was almost freezing! We could see water vapour forming every time we exhaled, and I tried to capture it on camera but failed. But how funny!

What is he doing?

Soon, the bus arrived and we continued our journey up along a slightly windy road with rain forest surrounding us. It was quite a pretty sight. There were a few stops that we could go, so we decided to start with the peak of Mt Dandenong first, called Sky High.

Sky High Mt Dandenong

Sky High is supposed to be an ultimate viewing point in Victoria since it’s up on the mountains but it was just not our lucky day, for the weather was pretty miserable. It was cold and wet, sometimes drizzling but the worst was that it was foggy throughout! Which meant we couldn’t see anything from the top! *sigh*

Look at the fog!

Not to mention it was freezing cold, so we couldn’t help but get ourselves warm with a cup of hot chocolate!

Hot chocolate with marshmallows

Cafe for hot chocolate

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Melbourne – Dining at Balsamic, Eastland

iamthewitch — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 02:45:21 +0000

First of all, I’m sorry for not dropping by your blogs for the past week! It’s just that I have a limited time to go online every day and I spent it on blogging. Worry not, I’ll definitely catch up once I’m back ok! Promise!

Balsamic Restaurant

*Sorry for grainy pictures – no flash photography!

This post will be about a restaurant that Saucer and I have been to for quite a number of times. Balsamic Restaurant is situated in a mall called Eastland, which is just 3 minutes away on foot. This place serves wood fired pizzas, pastas, steaks and seafood.

Salt and pepper shakers

Glass of white wine (AUS$9)

The pictures here are accumulated over a few visits, so don’t be surprised! *LOL* The most noticeable thing of all would be the portion! Seriously, most of the time we shared our food because the portion was just so big!

Chicken Caesar’s Salad

We had oysters during every visit because they’re just so fresh. When I eat oysters, I usually just slurp it in and quickly swallow for fear of the fishy smell. But these were not fishy at all. I could take my time chewing and enjoying the taste of oysters. Fabulous!

Natural oysters (AUS$23/dozen)

And Saucer’s favourite Seasoned Fries! They were thick-cut fries with real potatoes inside. Sometimes you eat fries and inside there’s nothing! But these were good and delicious and crispy. Yummy!

Seasoned Fries (AUS$9.90)

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Dinner at maze by Gordon Ramsay, Melbourne

iamthewitch — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 02:17:07 +0000

I can’t believe I actually dined in one of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants! I’m sure he’s no stranger to anyone, not only famous for his culinary skills but also, one might add, his foul mouth. *LOL* When I found out that he has a restaurant called maze in Melbourne, I immediately made a reservation online and the next day, both Saucer and I were there right on time. We were asked to wait for a while at their lounge called Maze Grill, while they got our table ready.

The lounge

Maze Grill coaster

Before long, we were shown to our table. Since we booked the earliest time available for dinner (6pm), we were actually the first table to be occupied! OK, before that, let me just warn you of the poor quality pictures ahead. Australians value their dining experience very much. Heck, I’m sure half the price they pay for fine dining goes into the environment. So, flash photography is pretty much frowned upon, simply because it might affect other patrons’ dining experience. Saucer learnt this from experience in another restaurant previously, so we didn’t use any flash to capture the food here. And the lighting made it very challenging to get good pictures. It was so very dark, almost candle-lit. So bear with me ok?

Maze by Gordon Ramsay, interior

After placing our orders, we were served with warm home-made bread with some seaweed butter. The bread was fresh and warm with slightly crispy crust. We enjoyed it very much and it was even refillable!

Complimentary bread and butter

We ordered from the ala carte menu and chose 5 courses including one dessert. The smoked kingfish was served raw, making it taste very Japanese. *LOL* But what we were very impressed was how the whole combination tasted so well-balanced. You would eat it and couldn’t help nodding away.

Applewood smoked kingfish, fennel purée, pickled celery, globe artichoke, Californian caviar (AUS$17)

And I finally had a taste of caviar! *noob*

Californian caviar

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Melbourne – Part 1

iamthewitch — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 03:47:11 +0000

Hello there! Managed to squeeze some time to update all the way to Melbourne people. I’ve been here exactly 2 days and I’m loving the weather! So far it’s been just cold, breezy and sunny. Well, let’s hope it lasts! Since I don’t have much time to write, I’ll just let the pictures do the talking all right?

Apartment where Saucer and I are staying

My first meal made by Saucer <3

Accompanying the salad above

Flinders Station – where our train stopped in Melbourne city

Our first destination was Chinatown for dim sum. Didn’t really know which shop was good so we just went in the first restaurant that was opened. It was called Dragon Boat. And we were pretty disappointed with the dim sum there.

Dim Sum at Dragon Boat

The State library of Melbourne

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The Majestic 3-storey Chinese Restaurant

iamthewitch — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 01:42:38 +0000

It was just last week that we celebrated my grandmother’s birthday. As usual, every year, all of us from the family would gather and have a nice dinner while catching up with cousins, aunties and uncles. This year was no different, and the dinner was held at the grand and majestic Sin Choy Wah restaurant in Kepong. It was the first time I saw such a huge restaurant, with 3 storeys in its full glory.

Sin Choy Wah Restaurant, Kepong

Inside was even more impressive! I counted at least 2 wedding dinners held on the ground floor itself, and of course, the crowd was just crazy. As with most Chinese restaurants, chandeliers are a must!

Chandeliers

Our table was set within a private room, just next to a wedding dinner.

Wedding banquet

Apart from the grandness of Sin Choy Wah, I really wanted to write about how good the food was! Surprisingly! Considering the huge amount of patrons that night, our lone table was served pretty promptly too. At least, we didn’t have to wait too long for each dish. And they’re all served piping hot and fresh.

I was most impressed with the 4-seasons platter. Each of the item was well thought of, delicious and presentable. Most noted would be the pork ribs on the top left. It was tender and well-marinated, with sweet and sour sauce that was just right.

4 seasons platter

The shark’s fin soup was above average too, with lots of shark’s fin just floating on top of the soup. Can you notice it from the picture below?

Shark’s fin soup

Close up version

Steamed fish

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Italian Dining with Style at Senja, Hotel Saujana KL

iamthewitch — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 01:41:52 +0000

What would you say to dining at a place with breathtaking views like this?

Lake view and golf course

Or having a glass of wine at a place like this?

Lakeside dining

Isn’t the place just amazing? I have to admit I was just in awe when I reached this restaurant, lingering around it for a good few minutes before stepping my foot inside. I just loved the view of the lake and the green golf course beyond it. And where could this place be other than Senja Restaurant at Hotel Saujana Kuala Lumpur.

Senja Restaurant, Hotel Saujana KL

The whole building was like a bungalow on its own, vintage, grand and huge.

The main entrance to Senja

The awe didn’t stop there, for once I stepped inside, I was taken aback by how classy the place was! Each table was set meticulously, lined with crisp, white table cloth. And best of all? There were fresh bouquets on each table! *loves*

Interior dining at Senja Restaurant

Al fresco dining

The beautiful table setting

I found my favourite white roses here too!

Fresh flowers on each table

The place was so pretty and elegant, it’s definitely the place I would go for a romantic date out. We were served with some very cute canapes and fresh bread while waiting for our food.

Canapes

Fresh bread

Perhaps a glass of wine or two? Wines were supplied by Albert Wines, which also supplies wines to many other hotels in KL. For someone who doesn’t love wine, I found something that I liked here! It was the Santa Margherita Prosecco, a type of Sparkling White Wine which was so easy to drink.

Santa Margherita Prosecco and 2007 Sangiovese

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My Love for Chilli Pan Mee at Jojo

iamthewitch — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 01:31:56 +0000

Today I shall blog about a place that my colleagues and I go frequently for lunch. In fact, we visit this place so often that they are asking me not to blog about it in case the restaurant becomes full house and we can’t get a table for lunch next time! *LOL* Too full of myself eh? The truth is, the place is already crowded and popular as it is. And it is no other than Jojo Little Kitchen, a restaurant famous for its pan mee.

The menu

There are several branches of Jojo but the one closest to our office is situated in Seri Kembangan. We went there ever since it started business last year, and have been loyal patrons right up to this day. We watched it grow from a restaurant with merely few patrons to the full house it is right now. Go there during lunch time and you’ll see what I mean.

Busy restaurant

That aside, let me show you what we order usually. My drink will always be the Soya Cincau, or some call it Michael Jackson, due to the Black and White nature.

Soya Cincau (RM3)

One of my colleagues always never failed to order the Traditional Pan Mee, which came with hearty broth and crunchy anchovies on the side.

Traditional Pan Mee (RM5.80)

Thick version of pan mee

Another of my colleague ordered the Pan Mee with pork meat, which came with some lardy goodness! I didn’t manage to try this but from the look of it, I could tell that it was sinful and good!

Pan mee with pork meat (RM5.80)

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Dim Sum Making Workshop at Hotel Nikko

iamthewitch — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 01:37:01 +0000

Once in a while, I enjoy eating dim sum, especially with my family members back at home. But driving to the restaurant, waiting for tables, shouting to get the waitress’ attention and eating with plenty of eager eyes staring at you don’t seem to constitute a fun dim sum experience, don’t you think? That’s why, I decided to learn how to make dim sum myself! Nothing like good old, home made, loving dim sum for the family.

The kitchen table

I was lucky to be able to join Chef Lo Tian Son from Toh Lee Chinese Restaurant at Hotel Nikko on his quest of making dim sum. Upon arriving, all the required ingredients were nicely placed on the kitchen table, awaiting to be used .

The ingredients #1

Ingredients #2

We were about to make 4 types of dim sum that night! *excited* Plus, one of them was my favourite prawn dumpling too!

witch with Bok, Uli and Vialentino

We were all pretty excited to get it started! Look, I was even having fun mixing the chicken around. Don’t look down on this small act as it required quite an amount of energy to make it starchy!

Mixing the chicken

The first dim sum that I made was the Steamed Diced Chicken Dumpling with Scallops. I found the challenge to be placing the scallop on top and wrapping the skin around it neatly. How did I do? Not bad for a first-timer I hope! *LOL*

Steamed Diced Chicken Dumpling with Scallops

OK, next up, my favourite – Deep Fried Crispy Prawn Dumpling. OK, I have to admit I love anything with prawns. And I love it much more when it’s deep fried! It’s not exactly healthy but it’s allowable to indulge once in a while. (Yeah right!)

witch wrapping prawn dumpling

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Japanese Master Chef Heiji Kasuga debuts at ENJU

iamthewitch — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 05:20:56 +0000

I was at Prince Hotel last week when I found out that there’s a new Master Chef in town. Japanese Master Chef Heiji Kasuga brings with him 46 years of experience in cooking Japanese cuisines, both traditional and fusion. Along his cooking journey from an Assistant Cook to a Master Chef, Chef Kasuga is also capable of cooking Western Japanese and Chinese Japanese dishes. His work of art are now available at ENJU Japanese restaurant in Prince Hotel.

ENJU Japanese Restaurant

The first dish that we had was the Sashimi Fuji, which was a plate of 20 pieces of sashimi at the freshest condition. There were salmon, tuna, butter fish, squid, octopus and yellow tail just to name a few.

Sashimi Fuji (RM140)

I particularly loved the salmon which cut perfectly and oh-so-fresh! Each piece was firm and each trace was clear.

Fresh salmon slices

Assorted Sashimi

Murugai Yaki was the grilled mussel with Enju dressing which was cheesy and creamy. This was definitely a dish with an unexpected taste to me as I always experienced fishy smell with mussels. So when I was eating these, I particularly paid attention to whether the fishy smell was there and NO, it wasn’t. Not at all. Very impressive! What’s more, the dressing of cheese went so well with the mussel that one piece was not enough.

Murugai Yaki (RM32)

The Assorted Makimono was nothing to boast about, except that each roll was nicely, firmly and neatly wrapped with no loose right. Plus, fresh seaweed was used, resulting in a slightly crunchy and chewy feeling.

Assorted Makimono #1

Assorted Makimono #2

Maguro Yamakake or grilled red tuna was awesome. It was an unassuming drop of heaven on a spoon that melted in my mouth and bursting with flavour.

Maguro Yamakake (RM29)