Plume Chinese Restaurant

Plume Chinese Restaurant

546 Doncaster Road, Doncaster

(Ph) 9840 1122

P and I were craving some good yumcha again - I wanted to go to Plume this time since I had such fond memories of it last time.

We got there just after 11am - it was about half filled already, but mainly of Westerners with flowers and wine and all. We felt a bit out of place haha =P

We sat down and ordered our tea - I always order 壽眉 "sau mei", I guess 'cause my mum likes it so I grew up drinking it. As opposed to 普洱 "pu er" which is so strong and bitter - my brother likes it =/

The first dim sim cart came along - P ordered his few typical favourites - 蝦餃 (har gao), 燒賣 (siu mai), 排骨 (pai gu)

Ever since I've been with P I've really loved 排骨 (pai gu - spare ribs) as much as he does - steamed with black bean sauce ahhh delicious! We've tried making it at home ourselves but it never tastes as good and always so watery - most likely 'cause we don't have a proper steamer so the condensation falls back onto the dish =(

I'm not a fan of 蝦餃 (har gao - prawn dumpling) 'cause I don't like prawns - so P had the whole dish himself - he liked them =) The 燒賣 (siu mai - pork dumpling) were quite good - wasn't a whole hard lump of pork mince as it is at some places.

I saw 芋角 (woo kok - taro puff) and had to order a dish even though I know P doesn't like taro. It's my favourite dim sim at yumcha <3

Mmm.. combination of my favourite things - taro and crunchiness <3 Inside is filled with minced meat with an outer layer of taro paste and coated in crunchiness and deep fried.

P ordered a 叉燒腸粉 (cha siu cheung fun - BBQ pork steamed rice noodle roll)

T'was pretty good - the rice noodle was not too thick or tough. And I love the sweet soy sauce you dip it in =)

We saw some fresh 煎堆 (jin dui - sesame glutinous ball) and I had to order some.

It's a soft chewy glutinous rice flour pastry with a large hollow inside, partly filled with a red bean paste, and super crunchy on the outside after it's been deep fried =)

I couldn't wait any longer when the waiter brought out a fresh tray of 蛋撻 (dan tart - egg tart)

Even though I usually like the short bread crust more compared to the puff pastry - this was delicious! The egg custard was so creamy and YUM =D I'm such a sucker for sweets and fried food =P

It was 12pm already and the buns still hadn't come out yet, so we decided to actually order them. They don't have 流沙包 (luw sa bao - runny sand bun) here boo =( We got a 叉燒包 (cha siu bao) and a 麻蓉包 (ma yung bao)

The 叉燒包 (cha siu bao - BBQ pork bun) was so delicious - soft bun with juicy BBQ pork on the inside. We were so full but still managed to eat them both =)

I'm not sure what the filling inside 麻蓉包 (ma yung bao) is really - it's meant to be a sesame paste, but you'd expect sesame paste to be black. I think it's a mixture of sesame and sweet bean paste - whatever it is, it has such a unique and delicious taste, with a slightly grainy but liquidy texture - like the Runny Sand Bun =) Not as tasty as the Runny Sand Bun but very high on my favourite list! <3

We were so stuffed after all this - couldn't finish all the food ><

The bill was a bit shocking - for 9 dishes and tea it was $60.. we were expecting more like $40-50. The price has definitely increased since the last time we were here - I think they're aiming more at Western people now so have jacked up their prices... Not sure if I'll trek all the way here for yumcha again..

7.5/10

C.
xo

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02/08/13

Came back here recently with my parents... I had forgotten how expensive yumcha was here! Dim sims are good here but really - $5.50 for a small?! $7 for a medium and $8 for a large =O

We had all the usual dishes though this time we did get the Runny Sand Bun

It was runny indeed, though wasn't as flavoursome as I would have liked. There was salty egg yolk flavour but it was like it had been diluted with some custard or something - a bit disappointing =( Shark Fin ones are still my favourite! <3

Ikea Restaurant - Part 2

Ikea Restaurant

Victoria Gardens Shopping Centre

Corner Victoria St and Burnley St

Richmond 3121

(Ph) 8416 5000

See Part 1 for dinner here.

P and I finally managed to get Ikea's famous $2.95 hot breakfast! Last time we attempted to get it - we got here at 10.40am ('cause we had to wait 20mins for the tram =_______=) and they had run out of sausages and egg already =/ Even though I had called them and they said they served breakfast till 11am. This time we drove to Ikea - more like P drove so it took a bit longer =P and we got there just after 10am and yay! They still had the Hot Breakfast - fresh scrambled eggs, Aussie bacon and pork sausage, tomato and hashbrown $2.95 =)

Hot Breakfast

For $2.95, this is awesome! The hashbrowns were so crunchy and yumo =D The scrambled eggs I'm pretty sure, is not "fresh scrambled eggs" - more like egg powder, but this is so much healthier than Maccas breakfast and is so much cheaper too! And since last time we didn't get the sausage, I was really looking forward to the sausage - tastes like any good old pork sausage =)

We also got one Swedish Meatball Breakfast - the standard Hot Breakfast with bacon and sausage, as well as a serving of our iconic meatballs $4.95

Swedish Meatball Breakfast

We were going to share the meatballs - though P and I agreed the meatballs don't really go well with the hot breakfast, and we were so used to having it with the Lingonberry Jam and the mashed potatos that it didn't feel quite right =P

Since I love the Daim Cake here, I really felt like I had to have a slice, even though I was so full from the breakfast! I walked to the counter again and found something new! A Raspberry Cheesecake for $1! =D

Raspberry Cheesecake

Wow I've never bought a slice of cake for $1 before! It wasn't a great cheesecake, and especially 'cause I don't really like raspberry normally - more 'cause I don't like the seeds, but there weren't any seeds on the raspberry glaze here so I didn't mind it =) But for $1, it was super satisfying =D If only there was more "cheese" in the "cake" =P

We walked to the supermarket when I decided I really wanted to buy a bag of their meatballs (Kottbullar) - 1kg for $11.99 so I can have it for dinner at home one day. After we bought the bag, I walked past a recipe card with the Kottbullar recipe on it for customers to take home! It looks so easy to make as well *sigh* I paid $11.99 for the recipe basically lol =P And I just looked online and it says the bag of meatballs is meant to be only $9.99! They ripped us off =(

P saw they had an Apple Cider (A semi-sweet cider-like beverage with a light and fruity taste of apple) and a Pear Cider here - $2.99 for a 500ml bottle. He said it's well worth it, considering Rekorderlig costs $6 a bottle. But they ripped us again - online it says it costs $2.49! Nonetheless, the Apple Cider was delicious! Not too cidery with just enough sparkle and a touch of apple =) They had a special going on a Medium Meatballs, an Apple Cake and an Apple Cider for $10 - next time we come here for dinner we'll so get that!

I also saw they sell the Daim Cake here! $11.99 the the whole cake. P and I reckon they cut 8 slices out of each cake - and they're usually sold for $3.99 each - they make so much profit! Our freezer is quite full now, otherwise I would have so bought a cake home.. next time!

8/10

C.
xo

Tori Matsu

Tori Matsu

179 King St, Melbourne

(Ph) 9670 9683

P's boss took him here for lunch one day and he came home saying it was really good and well worth the money - so he decided to bring me here =)

It's a small restaurant with a very small door - really wouldn't go in unless I knew of it. We went upstairs where there were nice comfy lounge chairs. It was really dark - don't know why they didn't open the window to let the natural sunlight in?

P said the Bento boxes were really good here - he wanted to get the one he got last time but then wanted to try something new. In the end I got the one he tried last time and he tried something new. We pressed the "Waiter" button - how cool is that? =P

P got the Tempura Bento - Tempura, Sushi and Sashimi served with Miso soup & two small dishes of the day $19.80. He asked for extra rice since his bento box doesn't come with rice - $2 for it.

Tempura Bento

So much food! And all was very tasty =D The tempura we make at home is never as good as the restaurant ones =(

I got the ToriMatsu Bento - Tempura, BBQ Chicken and Sushi served with Miso Soup & two small dishes of the day $19.80

Tori Matsu Bento

They accidentally gave me a bowl of rice too - lucky P was hungry and ate my bowl too =P So our bento boxes were the same except I had BBQ Chicken (or teriyaki chicken =P) instead of his sashimi. Our tempura was exactly the same even though his was called the "Tempura Bento" - I thought he'd get an extra prawn or something =P I guess they just make many bowls of tempura and just pick whatever they need for whichever bento box. The funny thing was the tempura sauce came in what looked like a Chinese tea cup - I should have taken a photo of it but I found something similar on the internet.

Cup holding tempura sauce

How funny is that =P Maybe Chinese people own this restaurant - I wouldn't be surprised actually =P

I got a shock when I bit into the sushi and found a big bit of wasabi inside - this is why I don't like ordering sushi at restaurants, they always "help" you by putting wasabi in it already =P Though the salmon was so fresh and so fatty <3

We were soo stuffed - could barely finish our bento boxes. Japanese food always feels healthy even though it was fried food =P

Bit expensive for lunch, but very satisfying! =)

8/10

C.
xo

Roule Galette

Roule Galette

241 Flinders Lane, Melbourne

(Ph) 9639 0307

J and I were going for afternoon tea and for some reason I was really craving some good crepes. I had wanted to try Aix Cafe Creperie Salon in Centre Place for a while after the awesome crepes I had at Choix Creperie Cafe, but J said she knew of a good crepe place around the corner from Centre Place so we decided to walk there and check it out too. Both places were rather cheap and both looked good - we couldn't be bothered to walk back to Aix Cafe Creperie Salon so we decided to try Roule Galette this time and go to Aix another day and compare them =)

Since we were going for afternoon tea, we both wanted something sweet - even though the savoury crepes looked really good too!

After much indecision, J decided to get the Caramel - home made caramel with salted butter $6. She was choosing between this or the Nutella or the Mimi - apple compote and cinnamon. Ended up deciding on the Caramel after the delicious Salted Caramel macaron we tried last time at Lindt - wasn't quite the same thing, but caramel and salted butter kinda make salted caramel? =P

Caramel

It was delicious! :D The caramel was sweet but not artificially sweet? J finished it in a few bites, and felt like she could really do with another one =P

I got the Lucie - braised apple, ice cream, flaked almonds $8.50

Lucie

Oh my it was delicious! The braised apple was so tasty - sweet and soft and soaked in syrup! And they fully weren't stingy with their toppings - I got at least 4 or 5 apple rings =) The thin crunchy crepe with the warm braised apple and the icecream was truly heavenly <3

The table next to us ordered Suzette Flambée - Suzette flambée au Grand Marnier. The waiter had come out with the crepe and poured the Grand Marnier over it and it burst into flames. I'm not sure what's so good about Crepe Suzette - it's never been my fancy, but I guess I'm not a fan of alcohol =P Though it is quite impressive when they bring it out - more a performance than anything =)

We were so satisfied with our crepes that we felt like we could really do with another one! We fully were tempted to get another one when we walked past Aix Cafe Creperie again but it was nearly 5pm and they were about to close =( next time!

Oh and I want to come here for their savoury crepes next time =)

8/10

C.
xo

Oriental Spoon - Part 2

Oriental Spoon

254 La Trobe St, Melbourne

(Ph) 9654 9930

See Part 1 for the my visit last time.

A was in Melbourne and got all the uni buddies together for dinner. We had wanted to go to Chin Chin for Thai food - they don't take bookings and only start serving dinner at 6pm. A arrived at the restaurant at 6pm but it was packed already! The waiter said we would have to wait 1-1.5hrs for a table - basically have to wait for the current people to finish their meals =/ So disappointed.

After much discussion and realising there aren't many restaurants around Chin Chin, we walked all the way to Oriental Spoon - for some reason every time we hang out with the uni buddies we always come here?

Last time we came here we all ordered our own dishes, but this time we decided to share dishes =) A and I were the only ones who can't eat chili much so we decided to order 2 sets of dishes - some non-chili ones for us =)

Appetizers

Damn this time we didn't get the really nice eggplant appetiser we got last time =(

We got one Kimchi, Dumplings & Tofu Casserole - kimchi based casserole with chopped pork belly, dumplings, tofu and vegetables $37.90 to share.

Kimchi, Dumplings and Tofu Casserole

Wow it was big... and looks so chili... and it was... even the others thought it was chili =P Dumplings were good though, and the enokitake =)

The girls wanting chili ordered a Dokbokki - rice cakes, fish cakes and ramen noodle cooked with fresh vegetables and glazed with hot chilli paste. Served with fried dumplings and boiled egg $16.90

Dokbokki

This was the one E ordered last time and was dying from the chili =P I decided to try a piece this time, but I wiped most of the chili sauce off so it was... edible =P Wouldn't say I really liked it though lol - just tastes kinda chewy and tasteless inside, but the taste is meant to come from the sauce so I guess it's my fault =P

Us non-chili ones decided to order Chicken Tang Su Yuk - sweet and sour vegetable sauce pour onto fried chicken fillets $24.90

Chicken Tang Su Yuk

Well more like A wanted to order it. It looks and sounds like Chinese food aye? But it was quite good =) We don't normally get sweet and sour chicken in Chinese food, it's normally sweet and sour pork. This sweet and sour sauce wasn't as sour as the Chinese ones - and the chicken was super crunchy and tasty =)

We got 2 Seafood Jeon - a delicate pancake comprising of fresh prawns, baby octopus and squids pan-fried in light batter over a bed of spring onions $18.00

Seafood Jeon

The waiter asked if we were sure we wanted the main Seafood Jeon as there's an entree version too with only 6 pieces cf 8 pieces - we were hungry so wanted the main size =) In the end we were so full that we didn't finish the pancake anyway! Why is it always our eyes are hungrier than our stomachs ~___~ But it was delicious - crunchy edges but still fluffy on the inside and filled with seafood - weren't stingy with their seafood at all =P And it wasn't FILLED with spring onion like the one at Gami - thumbs up! =)

And how could we have a Korean meal without a Stone Bowl Bibimbab - a traditional and colourful rice dish which has rice layering of fresh organic seasoned vegetables, diced bulgogi and topped with fried egg. Served on top of white rice $16.90 We got 2 to share - the chili girls filled theirs with chili while we just had the soy sauce =)

Stone Bowl Bibimbab

We were impatient and didn't want for the stone bowl to crunch up our rice it wasn't as crunchy as last time =( still super tasty though! My favourite Korean dish <3

Was only $15pp - great meal with great company! =)

8/10

C.
xo

Groove Train - Part 2

Groove Train

Shop 2002, Level 2, Westfield Doncaster, 

619 Doncaster Rd, Doncaster

(Ph) 9840 6477

See Part 1 for my visit to the Groove Train at Melbourne Central.

M was leaving work (*super sad face*) so we went out for dinner at Doncaster to farewell her =( Doncaster! Lucky G was driving us =P I still haven't started driving to work yet - can't find all day parking that isn't parallel park!

Too bad there was only one 25% off voucher in the Entertainment book =(

The waiter asked us if we wanted to order drinks. Normally I don't order drinks but I've been craving Coke or soft drink for ages, so decided to get a Lemon Lime & Bitters $4.20 - mmm satisfied my cravings =D

I didn't want pizza again, didn't feel like pasta - was considering the Veal Parmigiana but then decided I didn't want any chips. In the end I settled for the Chicken Calzone - chicken, ricotta cheese, onion, spinach & semi-dried tomatoes served on top of a Napoli and Pesto sauce $18.90

Chicken Calzone

It was surprisingly very tasty! Better than any calzone I've ever tasted - I've been a bit reluctant on ordering Calzone before 'cause it always felt very dry and lacked toppings. But the napoli and pesto sauce made the dish taste partly pasta-like and partly pizza-like - I super like =D

The ricotta cheese was melted with the spinach mmm! =) Only downside was the chicken pieces were really big, like 3cm long pieces, and was chicken breast boo =( Most of the crust was crunchy except the pastry on the bottom which was soft 'cause it was soaking in the sauce - but that's alright, 'cause the napoli and pesto sauce was delicious! Who would have thought to put napoli with pesto together?! They're normally in 2 totally different pastas! =)

Lovely dinner with great company! I like this Groove Train better than the Melbourne Central one - I guess 'cause this is quite newly renovated =) It was relatively quiet even though there was a birthday dinner with cake and song next to us - it's 'cause the restaurant is in this open area along with a few other restaurants, so it was really easy to chat and chill =)

Farewell Megan! =(

8.5/10 

C.

xo

Gaijin

Gaijin

135 Commercial Rd, South Yarra

(Ph) 9804 8873

We were going out for dinner to belatedly celebrate Mum's birthday - I picked Gaijin since I had been wanting to come here for ages but didn't want to just come with P 'cause I wanted to try a variety of their dishes =)

Yay we found a park right outside the restaurant!

They have all-you-can-eat sushi here for $35 but only Monday to Thursday nights - Mum said she didn't want a buffet so I thought we'll go on the weekend and use the Entertainment 25% off voucher and it'd be a really good deal.

We decided to get a few of their specialty fusion sushi to share and 2 rice dishes to fill the boys up =) We got all "must try" dishes or there'd be too many to choose from!

Dad wanted to get sashimi - the waiter was saying they ran out of king fish for the day but said it would be in the sashimi combo and it was all very confusing, don't think she really knew what was going on =P

First came the Sashimi Combo - tuna, salmon, king fish, tako, tamago, served with special Gaijin choice salad and miso soup $19

Sashimi combo

It was fairly fresh but there was only 4 slices of each of the fish so didn't get to try everything - not sure what the pile at the bottom left of the dish was, I'm assuming it's meant to be the tamago which is Japanese sweet egg but it wasn't really =/ The king fish wasn't that special - just tasted like another piece of sashimi, not sure why my brother was dying for some lol

Next came the Soft Shell Crab Roll - soft shell crab, avocado, cucumber, crab, mayo, tempura crunch, and masago $12

Soft Shell Crab

This was delicious! <3 The soft shell crab was so crunchy but complimented the mushy avocado and mayo super well =)

The Spider VS Dragon Roll - tempura crunch, soft shell crab, mayo, and cream cheese, topped with unagi slices $12 is their #1 sushi so we had to try it

Spider VS Dragon Roll

and it was delicious too! Even P liked it even though he doesn't like eel normally =)

Next came the Crunchy Spicy Salmon Special - tempura crunch, raw spicy salmon, topped with salmon slices, served with Gaijin sauce $12

Crunch Spicy Salmon Special

It wasn't really spicy at all - which I was happy about =P The tempura crunch inside the sushi is so interestingly delicious!

The Tasmanian Roll - avocado, cream cheese, and crab stick wrapped with raw salmon slices, rolled up with rice and seaweed, then fried $12 came next.

Tasmanian Roll

P and I have tried deep frying sushi before and it didn't taste that great, but this was delicious! Cream cheese inside sushi is so strange yet we really liked it =)

I was really looking forward to the Baked Dynamite Roll - California roll topped with baked chopped scallop and crab stick with spicy mayo sauce, served with negi and teriyaki sauce $12

Baked Dynamite Roll

It looks a bit strange - and tasted a bit strange too =( The baked toppings were hot but the sushi was cold, and the toppings broke apart easily and was a bit mushy - this one was a bit disappointing.

The Beef Teriyaki - grilled beef served with steamed rice, salad, and served with miso soup $17 came next.

Beef Teriyaki

This was quite different to what we expected, we expected it to come in a bowl but this looks so Western - really is fusion lol. Lucky no one in my family really eats rice so P took all the rice =P This dish didn't have a "must try" symbol but had a "kid's favourite" symbol so we weren't expecting it to taste great, but it was delicious - soft and juicy beef =D

Miso Soup

Miso soup is just... well... miso soup =P

The Dynamite Udon - baked chopped scallop, crab stick, masago and spicy mayo sauce mixed with udon noodle $19 came next.

Dynamite Udon

Wasn't having high expectations of this 'cause we didn't really like the dynamite sushi much, but the udon noodles were soft yet chewy =) The egg from the dynamite broke apart and floated in the soup by the end which made the soup super tasty =)

That was all the dishes we ordered the first round and we were still slightly hungry so decided to order a few more things. We got the Prawn Tempura Roll - prawn tempura, crab, avocado, cucumber, masago, served with special sauce $12

Prawn Tempura Roll

It's exactly the same as the Soft Shell Crab Roll but with a prawn tempura instead so it was also delicious - but not as good as the soft shell crab, just because I'm not a fan of prawns =P This was only "kid's favourite" and didn't have a "must try" symbol next to it so I guess it's expected the soft shell crab one is better =P

We got another rice dish - Grilled Unagi - grilled seasoned unagi served with steamed rice, salad and miso soup $17

Grilled Unagi

$17 for an unagi rice is super cheap - especially for the amount of eel they gave us! Each slice was so thick and juicy! Well worth it =)

And to finish off, we got an entree dish =P Big Bang - crab stick, mushroom, and cream cheese rolled in salmon slice then baked with Gaijin special sauce and masago $9.50

Big Bang

This wasn't as good as it sounds =( It was a bit mushy on the inside without any rice to keep it up, but the Gaijin special sauce was delicious with a hint of spiciness =)

We were very satisfied with the whole meal =) I decided to go pay for dinner since I thought I should treat my parents out now that I'm working. We were so busy trying to make my iPhone work during dinner and hurrying our food so we'd get to the airport on time, that Dad forgot to give me the 25% Entertainment voucher and only remembered after I had paid for it all >< So ended up to be $30pp when it could have been $25 *sigh*

P and I will come back another day for the Sushi Buffet but you can't use the Entertainment voucher on it - boo =( oh well that's our fault I guess!

8/10

C.

xo

Wealth Garden

Wealth Garden Chinese Seafood Restaurant

866 Doncaster Rd, Doncaster East

(Ph) 9840 7611

We came here for yumcha at 10.30am on a Sunday morning - wanted to go early 'cause they were going to play badminton at 1pm.

I didn't take photos of everything 'cause I didn't plan to blog about it, but then a few interesting dishes came along so thought I'd talk about them =)

They had 蛋散 (dan san) here! - directly translated as "egg shatter". Its egg pastry twisted and deep fried and coated in honey - they looked so delicious and shiny with sweetness =) Unfortunately it wasn't hot, but it was so crunchy yet fluffy and soft on the inside - tasted just like the ones in Hong Kong!

牛脷酥 (uw lai so)! Translated as "ox tongue puff" - definitely not as good as the ones in Hong Kong but still <3 I don't know what's so special about them but I've always loveddd 牛脷酥 more than 油炸鬼 (yao tsa gwai - "deep fried ghosts"), with its little strip of sweetness down the middle =) Both are deep fried dough shaped slightly differently, though 牛脷酥 has a more chewy texture. Srangely enough, 牛脷酥 is meant to be eaten by itself, while 油炸鬼 is eaten with congee - why is that?

And yay they have 流沙包 (luw sa bao) here! My favourite "runny sand bun" <3 You always have to order 流沙包, it never comes in the carts I guess 'cause it really has to be eaten fresh =)

They don't look as appetising as the ones at Shark Fin House (shown below)...

I wonder why they always steam them in little foil trays instead of just paper like other buns?

Damn the bun was so thick and the salty egg yolk (the "runny sand") was not as runny as I would have liked =( Definitely better at Shark Fin House!

They had 千層糕 (tsin tsun gao) here as well! Translated as "thousand layer cake". We were tossing between 千層糕 and 馬拉糕 (ma lai gao - which is still a steamed bun but has an overall eggy taste without the layers) but decided to get 千層糕 as it's more special =)

I haven't had it in a very long time - it's a cake with layers of salty egg yolk and coconut lotus paste. Man I love salty egg yolk <3 The steamed cake was so moist with the right balance of saltiness and sweetness =)

Just as we were gonna get the bill, my brother saw they had 龜苓膏 (gui ling gao)!

Every time he goes back to Hong Kong he has it every few days for its herbal medicinal properties. He said this one tasted like it was made from powder (which it most probably is =P) and the syrup wasn't very nice... hmmm... oh well what can you expect, as if there'd be genuine 龜苓膏 in Australia, and it definitely does not have any turtle shell in it!

We had all the other normal dishes as well like 蝦餃 (har gao), 燒賣 (siu mai), 排骨 (pai gu), 腸粉 (cheung fun) etc etc.. which were all pretty normal but pretty decent.

Overall was a very satisfying yum cha session =) Was only $15pp... can't complain!

7.5/10

C.
xo