Monday, June 18, 2012

Secret Recipe

Secret Recipe
Store L03 308, Melbourne Central, 211 LaTrobe St, Melbourne
(Ph) 9639 8884

After dinner of course we had room for dessert! We were lazy and didn't want to walk too far from Melbourne Central so we decided to go upstairs to Secret Recipe and see what cakes they had on offer =) They have a deal "Cake + Coffee for $7.90" - it said selected cakes only, though all the cakes were the same price - $5.90. We were going to get a cake + coffee each but then decided to just go for cake since it was late at night coffee will keep us up =P

There were so many delicious looking cakes to choose from! E and I love cheesecakes but thought 2 cheesecakes would be too much so we settled for the Apple crumble cheesecake and the Cocoa mocha =)

You order at the counter but man, the waitress was sooo slow at the cashier! She took at least 5mins doing I don't know what, then spent like 10mins putting the order through for the person before us, then FINALLY it was our turn =___= we were starting to get quite fed up with waiting but our dessert cravings made us stay =P

It was quite full on this Saturday night, we managed to find a side of the long table free - had to squeeze past this decorated pole in the middle of the seating area, such bad non-ergonomical design lucky we're not that fat! =P

Apple crumble cheese - wholesome fresh apples, raisins and cheese with a perfect combination of crushed macadamia and pecan nuts



This was a very interesting cake - the cheese part of the cake wasn't very strong which was a bit disappointing 'cause we wanted the cheesey-ness of cheesecakes! But there were lots of big bits of apple inside and loved the crumble on top and the biscuit base =)

Cocoa mocha - interesting mix of mocha and melted chocolate


Since we weren't getting coffees we went for a coffeeish cake as opposed o a full chocolate cake which tends to be too rich for us. Many layers, with the top half of the cake mocha flavoured and the bottom half chocolate flavoured =) Interspersed layers of cake and cream/mouse- delicious!

The table next to us ordered savoury foods - actually, they only ordered 3 serves of the Award winning Irish lamb shank - tender lamb shank marinated with SR blend of seasonal vegetables, spices and fresh herbs and slow cooked served with mashed potatoes and toasted bread. Must be very delicious - smelt quite good and the meat looked like it was falling off the bone, may try it next time I come here!

Food~
6/10 - quite delicious cakes =)

Atmosphere~
2/5 - very poor seating area especially that massive decorated pole in the middle with limited room to walk around =/

Service~
1/5 - soo slow at the cashier! though the cakes came fast - I mean, how hard is it to cut slices of cakes? =P

C.
xo

Secret Recipe - Melbourne Central on Urbanspoon

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Dessert Story

Dessert Story
195 Little Bourke St, Melbourne
(Ph) 9650 7776

Sunday afternoon P for once didn't want lunch but felt like dessert! =O Of course I was up for it - P said we should check out Dessert Story if there isn't too long a line. I had been meaning to try it for a while now but everytime I pass it there's always a massive line of people outside =/ It's a newish dessert chain specializing in Taiwanese and Hong Kong desserts - there aren't many of them around, not good ones anyway. Luckily enough, we managed to get a seat straight away =)


You order at the counter first then take the number to a table. The tables are awkwardly big and heavy and hard to move but there was plenty of space so it didn't matter much.


Interior design is pretty cool with the lanterns. Check out the wallpaper - fake bookshelf of "Dessert Story" books =)


It was a freezing day so we both wanted hot desserts. P thought his one came hot only, while he actually thought I wanted mine COLD 'cause I usually like cold desserts =/ P quickly went back to the counter to ask if we could change both our bowls to hot but they said they're already making the desserts so couldn't change it ><

P got the Black Glutinuous Rice with Coconut Jelly and Coconut Milk $6.00


I'm not a fan of glutinous rice but it was quite tasty and not overly sweet - love coconut jelly =)

I got one of the recommended Taro Ball series bowls - Taro Mash + Honey Bean + Pearl $6.00


Silly P ordered it cold for me - so the toppings were on top of shaved ice argh! I wonder what it would be if I ordered it hot? I love taro so I thought I would love the taro balls but they kinda taste like glutinous balls with a mildly taro flavoured coating - wasn't very flavoursome =/ The taro mash was very delicious though, and the honey beans were really tasty - they're kinda like glutinous balls too but the honey flavour is throughout the balls =) The sweetly cooked peanuts were yummy too. I'm not a fan of pearls but all the bowls had pearls in it so I didn't have a choice, and P likes pearls anyway =) they had put a syrup or something in the shaved ice so it was a very tasty dessert overall - though it did freeze me haha!

Food~
6/10 - not many Asian dessert places around so will definitely be back for more! Wanna try the Tofu Pudding next time =)

Service~
3/5 - food came super quick, too quick for us to change our bowls from hot to cold ><

Atmosphere~
3/5 - very nice on this Sunday afternoon =) though I've heard it is very busy at nights, especially weekends!

C.
xo

Dessert Story on Urbanspoon

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Pappa Rich

Pappa Rich
Level 2, Qv Square, 210 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
(Ph) 9654 2682

We were catching up with D for his birthday, last time we had wanted to come to Pappa Rich but the line was too long and we had too big a group to wait... this time it was a raining Monday night we thought the line wouldn't be too long... but how wrong we were! There were still 15 numbers to go wait through! =/ D's train was delayed so we figured since we were waiting for him anyway might as well wait for a table... he got here and we still had to wait another 10mins... we were starving so had high expectations now!


The menu is very colourful and was seriously food porn =D You write what code the dishes/drinks you want are on the pad and press the bell and a waiter comes and takes it for you =)

P decided to go for the Pappa Special Biryani Rice (3 Dishes) with Sambal Eggplant, Fried Chicken, Sambal Prawns - our Pappa special nasi biryani comes with aromatic Indian spiced rice, a medley of sambal eggplant, fried chicken and sambal prawns $13.90


His food came very quickly and looked very good. A mix of Indian and Malaysian flavours - the rice was a dry flavourful rice, went well with the spicy sambal dishes. I ate all the eggplant 'cause P doesn't like them - they're fried then coated in sambal sauce, was quite spicy but quite tasty. The fried chicken was crispy skinned but the meat was tender and soft. And a bonus papadum!

I got a Iced Pappa Cham (Coffee + Milk Tea) $3.90


Love coffee + milk tea... creamy and frothy =) Lucky I had this to wash down the spiciness of all the foods =P

Our dessert came before my main dish =/ P wanted to try the Roti Bom - a variant of roti canai. It is thicker and sweeter and served with condensed milk and sugar $5.80


The plate looks very bare but was surprisingly the most delicious dish! The roti is crunchy yet soft and fluffy... delicious dipped in the condensed milk and sugar <3

We asked the waiters why my dish took so long and a few seconds later it arrived =) Roti Canai with Curry Chicken - the ever popular roti canai with a serve of our delicious curry chicken $9.80


This roti is lighter and fluffier than the Roti Bom one! =) The curry chicken was super soft but the curry was so spicy - I really need to train up my spiciness tolerance =P Not sure what the other 2 sauces are - I thought they were both spicy (probably 'cause my mouth was on fire the whole time =P) but P said one was spicy and one was kinda sweet? I didn't really dip them much - ended up eating this roti with the condensed milk and sugar on the Roti Bom dish =P

Food~
6.5/10 - really feels like you're transported to Malaysia! quite genuine food =) love the roti and the Cham (coffee+milk tea)!

Service~
1/5 - made us wait in the cold and rain for 30mins and told us off for standing in the way =/ then my dish took so long to come =(

Atmosphere~
2/5 - quite comfortable and WARM inside but 'cause there was a constant line outside felt kinda pressured to eat quickly and leave quickly =/

Will definitely be back.. maybe when the line dies down a bit =P

C.
xo

PappaRich QV on Urbanspoon

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Dainty Sichuan

Dainty Sichuan
176 Toorak Rd, South Yarra
(Ph) 9078 1686

It had been a long time since we caught up with T and R =) T really wanted to come to Dainty Sichuan - it's her new fave place, she said she has to come here once a fortnight =P P and I aren't fans of spicy food, especially SICHUAN food! We pleaded and begged her to go somewhere else but she insisted on coming here and said we'll order some non-spicy foods so we gave in..

What a random Asian restaurant in the middle of South Yarra?! I would never come here if not for T's suggestion. Apparently for dinners there's always a line here, so T had made a booking for this Sunday lunch, which wasn't too packed.

She had a few dishes she wanted to order - she said she had brought a few different groups of people here and had managed to convert them to Dainty Sichuan lovers too haha =P But most of the dishes she wanted to order were spicy ><

We had a long "discussion"/argument about what dishes to order, and how much spiciness P and I could take - P is actually a little bit better now but I'm still not a fan of spiciness =/ We were initially going for 2 non-spicy meat dishes but T said we wouldn't get the full Dainty Sichuan experience and we wouldn't like it as much if we don't order one of the spicy ones, and said we can pick out the chillis etc etc, even after I insisted I wouldn't like a chilli dish - in the end we agreed on one chilli dish but asked them to have it less spicy. So we settled for a a totally non-spicy pork dish (Fried Pork Slices), one spicy dish (Chongqing Chilli Chicken) which we asked them to put less chilli in (apparently they don't really do it but we gave it a shot anyway) and a vegetarian dish (Corns in Gold Sand).

R got us all cans of Wong Lo Kat Herbal Tea - he said we all need it to cool ourselves after the hotness of it all, it really scared me =P Though the drink is definitely very tasty and refreshing =)


The first dish was the non-spicy one - Fried Pork Slices $27.80


This was super tasty! Pork belly deep fried, wrapped in lettuce and dipped in either a sweet and sour sauce or a chilli sauce. The fat in the pork was pretty much melted during the frying process but still had the gooey fat texture - was delicious!

Next came the Corn in Gold Sand with salted yolk $19.80


It doesn't look that special but was surprisingly good too! P was initially very against this dish - he's like "what's so special about corn?" but T said we need a non-meat dish to separate it all, and lucky we got this it was delicious too =) It was mainly corn kernels with some peas, deep fried and coated in salted egg yolk - deliciously sweet yet salty... and crunchy!

Last came my dreaded dish - Chongqing Chilli Chicken - Chilli & Sichuan Pepper, Chicken with bone $27.80


T said they actually did give us less chilli than the normal dish - apparently normally you have to search for the chicken amongst the chilli, but now there's more chicken than chilli =) They said it tastes better when it's more chilli but I don't think I would agree on that =P The chicken was deep fried and then fried with the chillies and other herbs so it was very fragrant. It was quite chilli but I could JUST handle it, P really liked this dish and the chilliness and flavours - said he wouldn't mind trying some of the other spicy dishes on offer here =__=;; The Herbal Tea definitely made the meal much more enjoyable I could actually take the chicken and enjoy it even though my mouth was on fire =P

Food~
7/10 - everything was surprisingly tasty, maybe because P and I were having low expectations thinking it would all be too spicy for us =P May have been better if we didn't order all fried dishes - didn't even realise as we argued and ordered =P Next time will try a wider variety!

Service~
3/5 - food came very quick =)

Atmosphere~
2/5 - during this late Sunday lunch it wasn't too busy, actually most of the people around us were having hot pot so the restaurant fogged up which made it even hotter =P

Was surprisingly good, will be back =)

C.
xo

Dainty Sichuan on Urbanspoon

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Crown Seafood Festival

Crown
8 Whiteman St, Southbank

The Crown Seafood Festival was on again =) After our seafood platters at the Great Ocean Road we were craving some more! There are a few dishes that you can have Asian or Western-style at various Crown restaurants, and there are some restaurant-specific seafood dishes too.

There's an Asian or Western style seafood platter - the seafood is the same except they have different marinades and the Asian one is served with rice noodles instead of chips and salad. We wanted the Western one =)

Western-style hot and cold seafood platter for two - $49.90
Cold - Freshly shucked Tasmanian oysters with chilli lime dressing, Australian sea scallops with Mediterranean salsa, cooked Tiger prawns, Tasmanian smoked salmon, marinated green shell mussels and cooked spanner crab served with thousand island dressing
Hot - Grilled prawns skewers, crumbed calamari rings, grilled bay bugs, salt and pepper calamari, beer battered flathead and deep fried battered prawns served with a side salad and hand cut chips

There are a few restaurants you can go to to get the Western seafood platter - The Pub at Crown, Emporio della Pasta, Margo's, Riverside Restaurant and Teak Room Restaurant. The Pub at Crown and Emporio della Pasta are the only ones that aren't on the gaming floor - we didn't want to eat in there if possible, and I had an Entertainment Voucher for Emporio della Pasta so we decided to go there and see if we could use it as well.


We got there at 6pm - lucky we got there early because 15mins after we sat down there was a massive line outside the restaurant already! We ordered straight away - knew what we wanted anyway. P was tempted to order a pasta as well - the pastas around us smelt soo delicious but we resisted our urges, we came here for seafood not pasta =P

There were other seafood specials too -
Half kilo of prawns served with Thousand Island sauce - $14.90
Half crayfish Mornay - Half crayfish with rich creamy Mornay sauce, hand cut chips, garden salad and lemon vinaigrette - $24.90

But the platter was meant to be for 2 already so we settled for it.

The platter came very quickly - I guess they prepare it all 'cause they know many people would be ordering the seafood specials.


The top layer was the hot foods..


And the bottom layer was the cold foods..


And our sides of chips and salad =)


It was super delicious and satisfying =D Our favourites would be the battered flathead, the calamari rings and the grilled bug. P really liked the prawns - all the seafood was very fresh =) And the chips were crunchy yet soft on the inside... mmm! We were actually quite full by the end of it - it doesn't look that big but luckily we didn't order anything else.

To our surprise, they actually let us use the Entertainment voucher - bonus! Wish they have this all the time =)

The couple on the table next to us sat down after us and saw our platter and asked what we thought of it. We recommended it to them which they super liked too =) Then the couple sitting on their other side sat down after them and saw their platter and ordered it too! Haha I'm glad our recommendations were appreciated =P But yes, definitely worth it even without the discount!

Food~
7/10 - very fresh and tasty seafood =)

Service~
2/5 - it was quite busy so took us a while to catch their attention for some more tomato sauce but then again it is a family restaurant

Atmosphere~
2/5 - quite loud but like I said, it is a family restaurant =)

C.
xo

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Vue de Monde

Vue de Monde
Level 55, Rialto Tower, 525 Collins St, Melbourne
(Ph) 9691 3838

P said he was taking me out to somewhere special on this day =) it wasn't an anniversary day or a birthday or anything, it was a random Wednesday night - I could not think of a reason why he wanted to go out in the middle of the week on a non-important day. So I had no idea where we were going - totally surprise =) My face lit up as we walked to Rialto Tower and up to the back... what else is there except Vue de Monde! I was so surprised - I know the reservation timing is generally weeks in advanced here =)

We walked inside and there's a concierge exclusively for Vue de Monde - she informed the restaurant through her walkie talkie that we were coming up in the specified Vue de Monde lift. The elevator goes soo fast, we were at level 55 within seconds and were greeted by a waiter who took us through some automatic glass doors through the wine cellar, so cool!

And we came out to the open restaurant overlooking the whole Melbourne city... soo beautiful at night =) On the wall were neon lights of flowers and trees - I felt conscious of taking photos of the view and the interior design etc 'cause the restaurant was full of customers but you can see other blogs for photos anyway =P And real sorry about the quality of some of my photos - my camera was playing up wouldn't focus properly and at night lighting is not fantastic on the food =(

We sat down at this massive square table by the open kitchen, was so cool 'cause you could see exactly what all the chefs are doing =) The chairs were super comfortable and armchair like, mine was furry on the outside while P's was just leather - original yet minimalist designs =)

They started us with some Parsnip chips with chestnut dip. I don't normally like parsnip but was super crispy and the dip was so smooth - wish they gave us more 'cause the chips were a bit salty.


The waiter came and asked us what we felt like - if we wanted to go for the full 10 course Gastronomes or a lower number of courses. Before we could discuss, P immediately said we were going for the full Gastronomes - he did warn me to not eat the whole day =P The waiter asked us if there was anything we don't like but we're pretty easy with our foods so we just let them surprise us =)

Each table had a few rocks and sticks in the middle of the table - we had no idea what they were for but soon we found out..


They're to hold our utensils and to reveal some salt and pepper!


First they gave us 4 starter finger foods. Oysters and lemon - very delicate dumpling-like skin with a creamy oyster paste inside =)


Our favourite was the Smoked eel, white chocolate, caviar - super delicious! nicely caramelised on the outside - P doesn't normally like eel but he liked this very much! And the caviar was salty and popped in the mouth - super like =)


Salt cured wallaby - the waiter brought the 2 slices of wallaby on a "Himalayan salt rock" which has cured the wallaby and he rolled it up infront of us. P didn't like this very much - he said it felt like he was eating a little creature. I'm not normally a fan of raw meat and it did taste quite gamey.


Celeriac, sunflower seed - this was a pastry parcel with celeriac mush inside. Nothing too special here.


The first course was Spanner crab, avocado, beach herbs, celery - the spanner crab balls was very tasty with the avocado and the raw vegetables. Can't remember what the white round vegetable was called but they explained it's like a savoury apple/pear and it went really well with the sweetness of the crab =)


The waiter then wheeled a trolley over with a bamboo bucket full of butter! He quinelles it nicely for us..


And gave us some bread in a pouch - I went in to grab a bread at the bottom and found a hot rock, placed there to keep our breads warm! =) There was sourdough, sesame rolls and some white rolls.


The butter is imported from France and was delicious - we ate the whole quinelle of butter as they refilled our bread bag =P


Roasted marron, tarragon butter - this was one of the best dishes of the night! The marron was slightly cooked on the outside but still raw inside, delicious with the super smooth tarragon butter and dipped in the salt. The butter was so delicious we wiped it clean with our bread =P


The marron tartare biscuit was a great accompaniment - the cream was light with a crispy biscuit.


The next course was very theatrical. Pumpkin cona, cup of soup - the waiter brings out a mug with some pumpkin puree, pumpkin jelly and cream for each of us...


Then he brings out a a large syphon, normally used for coffee, to infuse the water with pumpkin, rocket and herbs...


And pours the broth into our mug - and tada! Our cup of soup =) Super creamy but textural with the little cubes of pumpkin jelly - P doesn't normally like pumpkin soup but he enjoyed this very much =)


Next came our breakfast - Fried duck egg, lamb sweetbreads, pickled onion, truffle. Fancy eggs on toast? The duck egg was mostly raw so the yolk oozed out onto the onion sauce. It was a bit too salty though - you can see the large flecks of salt on the yolk =/ Lamb sweetbreads tasted like sausage but the onion rings were nicely crunchy. Bit too much onion for P's liking but I didn't mind that - would have been better if they reduced the salt since duck egg is salty normally anyway. And truffles don't taste like much =P


Our next set of utensils surprised us - there was a pestle for each of us...


We were given a bowl with some fresh herbs and flowers in it... and surprise! The waiter poured liquid nitrogen into the bowl which froze the herbs!


My bowl of frozen flowers and herbs =)


We were to crush the herbs with our pestle... and then the waiter slid in a quinelle of cucumber sorbet... Cucumber sorbet, crushed herbs... delicious and a very entertaining course! The sorbet was so refreshing and delicious though the herbs don't taste of much =P


Next was the Barramundi, herb emulsion, prawn, smoked bone marrow - barramundi was perfectly cooked, slightly crispy on the outside but so soft inside! The smoked bone marrow was very interesting - we thought it was crunchy garlic actually but realised they don't even look like garlic =P


The next set of utensils involved a steak knife in a stone - so that's what that stone is for =P


So the first meat dish was Squab, carrot, clove, orange - squab tastes kinda like duck but softer and the orange sauce was delicious with it.


The squab came with a birds nest - bits of squab meat on top of some crunchy potato strips like a nest =)


The last savoury dish was Blackmore Wagyu beef terrine and fillet, pear, saltbrush. The Wagyu terrine and the components came on our plate while the Wagyu fillet came on a small portable BBQ.


The waiter pretty much put the Wagyu fillet on the BBQ for a few seconds on each side then placed it on our dish.


Sorry for the poor lighting but the wagyu fillet was so soft and juicy - wish they were more generous with it =P And the pear puree was very smooth and delicious - went well with the terrine which wasn't as tasty as the fillet.


The terrine uncovered from under the vegetables =P Tastes kinda like pulled beef.. Would have preferred 2 pieces of fillet =P


We were finally done with the savoury dishes! =P So ridiculously full by this stage already and there were still 3 courses to go =/ Next came the cheeses - Assortment of fromage, bread, jams. The waiter brought over the cheese trolley - looked pretty cool =P


There are like 20+ types of cheeses in there!


He asked us what types of cheeses we wanted and we said just a range - so we got a camembert, a cheddar, a washed rind and a blue cheese. Would have been nicer if he told us what the cheeses were to choose from or if P and I could have different cheeses so we could try a larger variety but never mind. The camembert had a strange aftertaste to it - usually I love camembert! The cheddar was alright, my favourite was the washed rind but it was quite a mild cheese. P really liked the blue cheese - it was quite mouldy but not as strong as some blue cheeses so I didn't mind it.


The cheeses were accompanied by some breads (beetroot, sourdough and raisin crisp), some quince and some jams (fig, Spanish onion, apricot).


The beetroot bread was quite soft and went well with the harder cheeses while the raisin crisp was better with the softer cheeses. Plus the jams were quite delicious - I especially liked the onion and the apricot one =)


Next we got Beer and Nuts. The beer was a delicious passionfruit and liquorice fizzy drink - not sure how it tasted fizzy even though there was no carbonation within the drink. The nut was a coconut sorbet ball - fruity and light, cleansing our palate =)


Next came the first dessert Monte Carlo biscuit, raspberries, cream. A deconstructed Monte Carlo - delicious! Crispy toffee, juicy raspberries, sweet cream and a delicious caramel puree at the centre =)


The 2nd dessert came next - we had seen other tables have this and were really looking forward to it. Tonka bean souffle, smoked cocoa icecream


The waiter slips a ball of smoked cocoa icecream in the souffle so it sits nicely within the souffle. The icecream was a bit too rich and chocolatey for my liking at this stage - I was so ridiculously full already! The souffle was light and fluffy but the richness and darkness of the chocolate was too much for me and I actually couldn't finish my dessert =O *sadface*


At last the meal was coming to an end, and the waiter brings us each a "One Penny" alcoholic jelly


which I embarrassingly dropped on the table and marked it lol =P


A raspberry lamington, eucalyptus sorbet balls and some shards of chocolate and musk amongst some leaves and bark. A strange combination of flavours - the lamington was soft and coconutty and the sorbet balls were a good end to the meal - light and refreshing.


We were super satisfied with the whole dining experience! We left after a whopping 4.5 hours =P Definitely one of the best (and most expensive!) meals of my life =)

The waiter walked us out of the restaurant through the wine cellar again, and gave us a bag of goodies for "The Morning After"


A loaf of brioche, some granola, some flower and fruit tea, a mini jar of honey and 2 chocolate biscuits - much like the Cafe Vue goodies =)


The flower and fruit tea =)


Very fragrant!


Vue de Monde is not just about the food, it's about the service and the entertainment  as well - it's like the Western version of Teppanyaki. Food, service and atmosphere were definitely 100% (you pay for it =P) but definitely worth trying at least once in your life!

Thanks P! =)

C.
xo

Vue de Monde on Urbanspoon