Following the previous post on my kind of breakfast, here is another favourite; Cereal with granola topped with blueberries, strawberries and drowned in fresh milk!

Food Blueberries, Breakfast, Cereal, Food, Strawberries

Ok it doesn’t LOOK that great, but it did taste good!

Recipe taken from Jamie’s Ministry of Food
Serves 6
Ingredients
* 60g unsalted butter
* 150g caster sugar
* 4 large bananas
* ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
* 1 orange
* Plain flour, for dusting
* 250g puff pastry
* 500ml creme fraiche

Method: How to make banana tart tartin

To make your caramel bananas
1. Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.

2. Cut your butter into cubes and put into a sturdy deep-sided baking tray approximately 19 x 30cm.

3. Place the tray on a low heat, let the butter melt, then add the sugar and stir constantly until completely combined.

4. Continue to cook for about 5 minutes or until the sugar has all dissolved and the mixture is golden and caramelised. By the time this happens the mixture will be roasting hot so be very careful and whatever you do, don’t be tempted to put your fingers in the mixture as you’ll give yourself a nasty burn.

5. Meanwhile, peel the bananas, halve them lengthways, and lay them carefully on top of the golden caramel.

6. Remove from the heat, then sprinkle over the cinnamon and finely grate over the zest of half your orange.

To make your pastry topping
1. Dust a clean work surface and rolling pin with flour.

2. Rather than putting your pastry down flat and rolling it out, place it on its side and roll it from there, as this will give you a lighter, crisper texture.

3. Roll it out until you have a rectangle shape about the same size as your tray and about 0.5cm thick.

4. Drape your pastry over your rolling pin and carefully lay it on the baking tray, gently tucking it around the bananas to make sure they’re well covered, with no gaps.

5. Using a knife or fork, prick the pastry a few times.

6. Place the tray at the top of the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden.

To serve your tarte tatin
1. When your tarte tatin is ready you must turn it out at once or it will end up sticking to the baking tray. Again, you want to be very careful and make sure you don’t burn yourself on that hot caramel mixture.

2. To turn the tart out, cover your hand with a folded tea towel, carefully hold the tray with a serving plate or board on top and gently turn it over.

3. Using the tip of a knife, pull a corner of the pastry up to check if it’s all cooked underneath (if not, pop it back into the oven for another couple of minutes), then ease the whole thing out of the tray.

4. Put your crème fraîche into a bowl, grate over the rest of your orange zest and stir well.

5. Serve your tarte tatin with a dollop of crème fraîche and eat immediately!

Food Banana Tart Tartin, Food, Jamie Oliver, Recipe

So I’ve heard about the infamous chicken rice at Newton, but it was only last november when I tried it. Jim is a visiting brit so it was mandatory to have chicken rice checked off his must do list, I almost believe it’s our national dish! Our eyes were definitely bigger than our stomach, and ordered far more than we could handle for 6 of us.

My advice is to go with more people, so you all can have a taste of these must try dishes:
- Hainanese Chicken Rice
- Marmite pork ribs
- salad yiu tiao
- baby kailan with garlic
- fish head curry
- char siew, siew yok (roast pork)

Wee Nam Kee Hainanese Chicken Rice Restaurant
Address: 275 Thomson Road, #01-05 Novena Ville
Tel: +65 6255 6396
Opening hours: Daily 10.30am – 2am

Food Fish Head Curry, Food, Hainanese Chicken Rice, Marmite Pork Ribs, Salad Yiu Tiao, Singapore, Wee Nam Kee

It seems like gourmet burger joints are popping up everywhere. Definitely trending. Jono insisted I try this new place called Jus Burgers in Leederville Perth when I was there last November.

What I liked about this place was their emphasis on using local produce and the transparency of cooking methods, ingredients and suppliers used. At least you know what exactly you’re eating and where it comes from. Very much like the philosophy Jamie Oliver tried to preach in “Jamie’s Kitchen“, knowing the source of your ingredients.

Below is a list of suppliers and companies that are likely to be used at the time of writing:
Meat/small goods Mondos, Ryan’s meats, Mt.Barker chicken, Princi, Mahogany Creek Bread Turkish bakery Fruit & Veg Morley Growers, Supa Spud Fish Festival fish Dry Goods Angry Almond, European foods, Eustralis, Ladle and Table, The Grocer, Pisconeri, Sealanes, Centra

I also like the honest story about how Jus Burgers came about and who were the people behind it all. You can read about it HERE.

Here’s a sample of their menu:

Jus Burgers use Turkish buns; fresh white or wholemeal, gluten free bun available. All burgers served with fresh lettuce, beef tomato, Spanish onion, relish & house made aioli

For special dietary advice, please refer to our board, or speak with Chef on the pass or our till bitch. Thanks

Original Beef Recommended with creamed horseradish or balsamic onions (+ $1) $10
Cheeseburger Blue, swiss or cheddar cheese, recommended with mushroom (+ $1) $12
Pommy Burger Cheddar & back bacon $13
Spanish Snag Chorizo sausage & sweet red peppers $14
The Mullet Bacon, beetroot, cheddar cheese, & free-range egg $14
Wagyu Beef 100% wagyu beef, wasabi mayo $14
The Guvnor 270g burger, recommended with foie gras/duck liver, France (+ $6) $15

Jus Burgers Leederville
743 Newcastle St
Leederville, Perth WA 6007
Phone: 08 9228 2230

Jus Burgers Subiaco
1 Rokeby Rd (rear), Corner Roberts & Rockeby
Subiaco, Perth WA 6008
Phone: 08 9381 2093
Takeaway: 08 9381 1895

Website: http://jusburgers.com.au/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/jusburgers/
Opening Hours: 11.30am – 10.00pm (Tuesday to Saturday)
12.00pm – 9.00pm (Sunday)
Closed on Monday

Food, Travel Australia, Burger, Food, Jus Burger, Perth, Restaurant

In a little corner of Millpoint road sits my FAVOURITE Italian restaurant in Perth. Ciao Italia was opened in by chef Spartaco Rotella, who is more often now front of house rather than in the kitchen. I have not tasted ANY spaghetti cabonara or marinara as good as the one from here and I challenge ANYONE to recommend me a better cabonara!

I used to live on Millpoint, so it wasn’t too far of a journey for me. Ciao Italia doesn’t take reservations and is packed everyday from the minute doors open. Every time I go there, it’s at least a 15min wait. What you could do is open your bottle of wine and have a drink outside while you wait. When you do finally do get your name called, you will have to meander through a labyrinth of chairs to get to your seat.

Even though they are so busy, service is never compromised. Staff are quick to take your orders and even with a full restaurant, food is served fairly quickly. In all Italian style, restaurant is bursting with energy, vibe is lively and loud but cozy at the same time. Birthdays are a daily occurrence. At least twice in a night you will find the whole restaurant and staff piping to the happy birthday tune played on the sound system.

Mains are around $18.50-$27.50 and desserts from $5.50-$8.50. Portions are HUGE so I’d recommend sharing or doggie-bagging the left overs. If you have an impatient stomach, take away option is available and still highly recommended. The reheated pastas taste different, but just as amazing!

It’s been at least a year since my last visit, and it’s nice to know Spartaco still remembers his loyal customers.

My Recommendations (All prices include GST)

• Spaghetti Marinara (Combination of marinated seafood in a fresh tomato sauce) A$19.50
• Spaghetti Carbonara (Bacon, egg and cream cheese sauce) – A$18.50
• Ravioli Carbonara (Ricotta and spinach pillows of pasta) – A$18.50 – This one is a special request. I always get weird looks from the waiter when I ask for this combination
• Homemade garlic bread – A$4.50
• Tiramisu (A homemade Italian delight consisting of layers of sponge finger biscuits soaked in coffee, liqueur and mascarpone cheese topped with fresh double cream) – A$7.50
• Wood fired Pizza Siciliana (Whole peeled tomato sauce, Mozzarella cheese, mild italian sausage, bacon, black olives, Ricotta cheese and mushrooms) – A$21

Ciao Italia
Website: http://www.ciaoitalia.com.au/
Address: 273 Mill Point Rd, South Perth 6151
Phone: +61 (08) 9368 5500
Licensed: Yes
Operating hours: Tue-Sat 5pm-10pm
Payment accepted: MasterCard, Visa and EFTPOS
BYO $3 corkage per bottle
Parking: Limited lots available at the back of the restaurant. Alternative parking lots across the street at the jewellery & bookstore.

Geek & Gadgets Australia, Cabonara, Ciao Italia, Food, Italian, Perth

Still to date the best I’ve tasted. Fried oyster omelette from Jalan Macalister/New Lane. Good amount of fat oysters, and gooey egg omelette.

Fried Oyster Omelette
Macalister Road/New Lane junction
Price: RM7, 10, 13, 16

Food, Travel Food, Macalister Road, Penang

This is what we all look forward to every time we are back in Penang. Macalister Road Chee Cheong Chook! (hehehe say it out loud, its a bit like the transformer sounds that the autobots make! *geek*)

We first discovered this stall during one of our Penang Jamboree trips, and since then, Chee Cheong Chook has become mandatory on every visit there.

From left: Janice couldn’t contain her excitement! And me taking photos of food again

The pushcart stall is at the corner of Jalan Macalister and New Lane. You can’t miss it! Just look for the stall with hanging pork intestines and char siew above a huge cauldron of congee. They start selling their Chee Cheong Chook from 2pm onwards, but the best time to go is at dusk when the weather isn’t so hot.

What’s in a Chee Cheong Chook?
Congee, pig’s tongue, char siew (barbequed pork), pig intestines (done 2 ways: fried and boiled), pepper and spring onion to garnish.

I know it sounds rank, and I’m the sort of person who is quite adversed to trying new things. But trust me on this, it’s delicious! Especially the crunchy fried intestines, that’s the best part!

Chee Cheong Chook
Corner of Jalan Macalister and New Lane, Penang
Price: RM4, RM4.50, RM5

Other food you can find on Macalister Road

Satay, Carrot Cake, Chicken Wing, Cuttlefish

Food, Travel Chee Cheong Chook, Congee, Food, Penang

It was a scorcher of a day in Penang, and when in need of a cool down dessert/drink, first thing that comes to mind is the Penang Road famous Teochew Chendol.

This little pushcart stall has been there for years, steadily churning out bowls after bowls of shaved ice goodness. There’s actually two stalls directly opposite each other, so make sure you go to the correct one.

It’s so popular, people will just STAND and eat at the road side (limited seating available in the coffee shop next to it).

Also available at the coffeeshop are two more Penang specialities: Penang fried kway teow and Penang Laksa.

Teochew Chendol
Address: Lebuh Keng Kwee 10200, Pulau Pinang
Price: RM1.90 – Take Away, RM1.70 – Eat in

Food, Travel Chendol, Food, Penang

Was in Penang last month for the Jamboree, and while I was there, we took Grace and Jo on a culinary tour round the island. First stop was for Dim Sum lunch at Zim Sum Restaurant (点心之家).

Zim Sum Restaurant is located along Jalan Anson, diagonally opposite KDU college. Most taxi drivers would have heard of it, so no trouble getting there. But if you’re driving, here’s a tip for from someone else’s blog:

It is not easy to find a parking lot there. Many customers prefer to take the risk and park on the road side for free. Alternatively, you can pay around RM3 per entry to park safely at Penang Chinese Ladies’s Chin Woo Association.

Here’s a few points to note when you visit Zim Sum:
1. Although there are a few dim sum pushcarts being trolleyed around, customers are actually asked/advised to go to the counter to pick up the dishes instead.
2. The final bill is calculated based on how many plates of food are on your table (similar to how they do it at Sushi conveyor belt restaurants)
3. They don’t serve any other drink except Chinese tea
4. The more people you go with, the more worthwhile in terms of cost and variety
5. MUST try the Chee Cheong Fun, which is made freshly on the spot

Zim Sum Restaurant (点心之家)
35 Jalan Anson 10400 Pulau Pinang
Business hours are from 6.30am to 12.30pm.

Food, Travel Dim Sum, Food, Malaysia, Penang

On our second night in Bali, we decided to eat out at a nice restaurant by the beach, and the first place that came to mind was BREEZE at The Samaya which overlooks Seminyak Beach. It’s not my first time there, but it was my first time there at night.

Here’s a little write-up from their website:

The menus that Chef Michael Shaheen showcases is an interpretation of Euro-American and blends the best of the environment with his own vision of contemporary American and global cuisine. Using the many indigenous ingredients Chef Michael’s menus are dictated by the local harvest and giving them as he defines a “Simple, Seasonal and Uncomplicated approach with a connotation of modern plated presentations, with very light full flavoured reduced sauces, and an air of freshness which appear in his dishes.

The food was good, prices reasonable, but what really did it for me was the venue and ambience. Eating with the sounds of waves continuously crashing on the beach was incredibly therapeutic for me. As someone said, the experience can be summed up as “comfortably casual in an elegant way”.

On my plate that evening was Local Wild Snapper with Truffle Scented Mushroom Risotto, Roasted Asparagus, Fennel, Oven Cured Tomato Reduction – 235 Rp

Breeze at The Samaya
Jl. Laksmana, Seminyak Beach,
Seminyak, Indonesia
Opening hours: 7am – 11pm
Telephone: (62 361) 731 149
Capacity 100 seats

Food, Travel Bali, Food, Holiday, Indonesia, Travel

Gurney Drive aka Persiaran Gurney aka ‘The New Esplanade’, is one of the more touristy areas in Penang. The place is most well known for its local hawker food stalls. It’s not exactly by the sea as some websites describe it, you can’t really see much from where you’re seated.

Gurney Drive was named after Sir Henry Gurney, a Malayan High Commissioner who was assassinated by the guerrillas of the Malayan Communist Party during the Emergency period in the early 1950s.
Courtesy of wikipedia

The hawker centre only comes alive at night, with a massive selection of local delights for the discerning tourist. Prices are marginally more expensive than other places, but still very cheap!

From left to right
1. Oyster Omelette
2. Indian Rojak *must try*
3. Yong Tau Hu
4. Penang Laksa
5. Kueh pai ti
6. Cuttlefish Kang Kong
7. Popiah
8. Muah Chee *must try*

Address: Persiaran Gurney, next to Plaza Gurney, Penang Malaysia

Food, Travel Food, Gurney Drive, Penang

I had the pleasure of having a dinner at The Standing Sushi Bar on the first week of opening (Thanks Howard!) and brought along my ex-colleague who loved sushi as second reviewer.

Loved loved LOVED the balloon arrangement outside the shop as opposed to the usual congratulatory basket of flowers. I reckon those the balloons should be a permanent fixture! Too Cute!

So I was expecting to be standing for the whole course of dinner, but to our delight, they bring out high-chairs at dinner time. So after standing for about 10mins trying out some sake, we sat down for dinner. You can either order ala carte, or opt for the Omakase dinner.

Haven’t heard of the term before? It’s basically food roulette! You never know what you’re going to get. You pretty much leave it to the chef to come up with the night’s menu.

The omakase is based on your budget. You specify what the budget is and the chef will create the menu accordingly. It begins at S$50 per person. Omakase is by reservation only and the more advance notice you can give, the better – gives them time to talk to their Japan supplier and get special items for that omakase.

I did tell myself I’d be more adventurous this year with my food choice. “I’m game… bring it on!” The minute I said that, I just wanted to take it back and shove a sock in it.

First dish, Japanese sea snails!!!! *facepalm*

The Japanese Sea Snails were served chilled with a small slice of lemon on a ceramic plate. I made sure I had a dish of soy sauce and my green tea on standby.

“Tastes like squid… tastes like squid, it’s all in the mind Angela, you can do this”

Dug it out of the shell. Drown it in soy sauce. Pop. Chew. Chew. And Chew. Swallow.

Ok, that wasn’t bad at all… it does kinda taste like squid?! A bit chewy, but sweeter.

The next dish was the Hokkaido King Crab Leg with chef Roy’s home-made Miso paste (Joan said this was the must-try dish). The chilled crab meat was so sweet! And that miso paste…I’d buy a pot of that and stick my fingers in it like Winnie the Pooh does with honey. Nom nom nom.

Next up was the Sashimi Moriwase which consisted of Maguro (Tuna), Sake (Salmon), Mekajiki (Swordfish), Hamachi (Yellow Tail) and Hotate (Scallop). Fresh! Although I must admit, I would have loved it if they threw in a slice of Otoro in the mix just to bring it to the next level.

I wish the next dish tasted as good as it looked. Karubi Beef Tataki with Bonito Flakes and Spring Onions. The meat was slightly chewy, was gnawing away for a good minute or so. I love bonito flakes with anything, especially on my takopachi balls.

After that jaw exercise, I was too tired to sink my teeth into anything solid. Thank goodness next dish was Egg plant. Seemed like it was boiled, served in some soy sauce and grated ginger. Chef Roy mentioned that it’s a good palate cleanser.

Three more dishes to go, and I’m starting to feel full.

A little cup of Steamed Hotate Soup was a little too hot to handle, so I had to wait awhile for it to cool down. Soup/broth was very ‘scallopy’ and comforting. I could just imagine myself in snowing Japan, sipping a hot cup of Hotate soup. I’d imagine it would be as amazing as a frozen Margarita on Cottesloe Beach in summer.

Just when I thought the worse was over with the Sea Snails, a plate of Maguro, Hirame (Flat Fish) and Anago (Boiled Salt-water Eel) was placed in front of me. I guess I’m just not an Eel person, but that didn’t stop me from trying a corner.

Dessert was my favourite dish of the night: Matcha Ice-cream with Green Tea Cake Roll and Red Bean Paste. Chef Roy mentioned the roll was just flown in from Japan, which makes it feel even more special and exclusive to Omakase diners.

I liked the fact that everything was not too sweet, especially the matcha ice-cream. A lot of other restaurant’s matcha is mostly sugared too heavily, and they lose that green tea bitterness all together. If I wanted something sweet, I would have just ordered vanilla.

Overall verdict, food was fresh, tasty and affordable! Now you don’t see that combo often: Fresh and affordable.

And just as I was about to leave, I got handed over this cute Standing Sushi Bar badge. It’s like getting a sticker at the Dentist, but in this case I actually WANT to come back again!

The Standing Sushi Bar
1 Raffles Place
#B1-02B OUB Centre
Singapore 048616
www.standingsushibar.com
Follow them on twitter: www.twitter.com/thestandingsushibar

UPDATE:
They have just revamped the menu to offer more lunch sets and easy add-on’s like sashimi (for cheaper than a la carte price)

The revamped menu also features the special cargo they get in from Japan a few times a week (basically makes it more discoverable so you don’t have to ask the chef)

PROMOTIONS
Click here for the MSN Coupon promotion that gets you 1 free glass of sake

Here’s something a little more fun for Blursotong Blog readers:
Say “blursotong” at the register and get 15% off any ika (squid) nigiri or ika sashimi from their in-house a la carte menu. Valid during December!

Instead of trying the same ol tuna and salmon sashimi, try the squid! Be adventurous

Food, Food & Travel Food, I Likey, Promotion, SSB, Standing Sushi bar, Sushi

A few months back, a fellow foodie friend of mine and I decided to try out the fairly new restaurant called the Bedrock Bar & Grill.

If you haven’t seen this restaurant before, it’s probably because it’s obscurely located at the Pan Pacific Service Apartments on Grange Road (Just behind the Youth Park).

I went online to read up a bit more about this place, and the more I clicked, the more excited I got. The ratios looked promising, with almost every review giving it the thumbs up. Owner Keith Loh also owns Aerin’s at Raffles City, Spruce at Tanglin Road and started Whitebait & Kale at Camden.

The restaurant is beautifully designed by New York based interior firm AvroKo. Dimly but warmly lit made it intimate and cosy.

Before tucking in to dinner, we had cocktails at the bar with some Oysters (3-kinds). I’m not an Oyster fan at all, but I must admit it was amazing. It wasn’t fishy/Oystery, but fat and juicy!

After we were seated, we were first served warmed flat bread with a whole clove of oven roasted garlic. On a first date? Who cares… you can’t NOT try it at least.

The waiters possess good knowledge of their dishes, which made ordering much easier. I’m trying to recall what we had, but the dishes that definitely stood out was the truffle mac & cheese and the rib eye cooked which was cooked to perfection. The truffle mac & cheese was sensational, I don’t think I’ll ever look at it the same way again.

So if you’re looking for a restaurant with great steaks, I’d highly highly recommend Bedrock. I liked it so much I recently celebrated my birthday there with a dinner for 18pax. That shall be another blog post altogether!

Bedrock Bar & Grill
Address:
96 Somerset Road
#01-05 Pan Pacific Serviced Suites

Operating Hours:
Lunch: 12pm – 2.30pm
Dinner: 6.30pm – 11pm
(Closed on Mon)

Food & Travel Bedrock, Bedrock Bar & Grill, Food, Restaurant

Discovered this place back in July, which means this post has been sitting in my drafts for 2 months!

It was lunch time and me and my colleagues were keen to try this new burger joint we’ve been hearing about.

When we got there, we had three dining options:
1. Sit inside Bergs where you’ll SMELL like a burger because of bad ventilation

2. Stand at the table by the cashier, still SMELL like a burger, but at least you’re burning a few more calories standing.

3. Wait around and swoop in on the next available table outside Bergs where the air is a lot more pleasant!

I think straight away, this puts me off! No where to sit and poor poor ventilation? I understand they want an open concept kitchen, but I think execution failed in this case.

*Recommendation: Perhaps they should glass up the kitchen area. That way, yes, we can see you cooking our amazing burgers, but we won’t have to smell like one. Also, they probably need a more powerful exhaust,work-safety hazard breathing in all that yummy smokey goodness

Based on their website, they prepare their burgers from scratch, in-house. Everything from the patties to the sauces and marinades. They have also tried to asian-ize their menu with ingredients like mango chutney, chilli ginger and coriander.

We all ordered the:
THE BERG WITH CHEESE
Prime Beef Pattie, Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion, Aioli & Bergs Sauce and your choice of Swiss, Brie or Edam cheese (I had the Brie)
Price: $9.00

Verdict: Absolutely delicious. But I strongly advise against it if you’ve got a meeting afterwards, there is a generous amount of garlic in the aioli Also, Bergs Burger burps tastes really strong! Bleh..

Bergs Gourmet Burgers
137 Amoy Street
#01-01 Far East Square
Tel: 6438 6505
http://www.bergsburgers.com/

Food & Travel, I Likey Burgers, Food

Can’t believe I didn’t post this… was dated LAST YEAR… that’s the problem with writing drafts, you save it and forget to revisit them.

2007 Fathers’ Day was at “My Secret Garden” before they became el crappo

Last year, we cooked Mumsy breakfast on Mothers’ Day. So Jie Jie and I decided to cook dinner for Fathers’ Day.

Nothing too fancy, just two of his favourite food – Salmon and chocolate.

If I remember correctly, we baked a dill marinated salmon with baby roast potatoes. Dessert was a dark chocolate tart from the Jamie Oliver cook book.

What shall we do this this year? What are YOU doing this year?

Food & Travel, Friends & Family Daddy, Father's Day, Food

Lately my new food haunts are around the Robertson Walk area near Mohammed Sultan Road. A few months back, we walked passed a lively wine bar/cafe just down from DoubleO called The Wine Connection. Patrons chatted away over rich wines and aromatic cheese platters. It sounded like a perfect way to round off dinner.

So we sat ourselves down for a bottle of red and two cheeses.

The only disappointing things were the 2 unnecessary surcharges imposed at the end of the night.

For a bottle of wine (which was from the wine list by the way) we were charged a $10 corkage fee. To my knowledge, corkage fees should be charged if you bring your OWN wine, not ones that we order from the menu.

Then there was an extra $5 slapped on for a weekend surcharge.

What we ordered:
Richland Shiraz – $30.80
Candied Nuts – $2.20
Bread Basket – $3.30
Dry Fruits – $2.20
Roquefort – $10.89
Brie de Meaux – $7.26

So at the end of the night, the bill came up to $71.65. A bit pricey in my opinion. If they’d knock of the silly surcharges, I might consider going back.

Wine Connection
Address: 11 Unity Street #01-06
Robertson Walk
Singapore 237995
Tel: +65 6238 6878
Website: www.wineconnection.com.sg

Food & Travel Cheese, Food, Robertson Walk, Singapore, Wine, Wine Connection

No, just boiled sweet potatoes.

Food & Travel Food, Sweet potato, turd

I find great joy in discovering new hole-in-the-wall restaurants with tasty local food. Maybe it’s because of its rustic décor and local flavours, it so satisfying finding a rare gem of an eatery amongst old shop houses hidden in small alleyways.

Our recent quest led us to a small little place in Wanchai called “Crowd Restaurant (群 众小厨)”.

Most Hong Kong eating-places like this are small and floor space is maximized by cramping as many tables and chairs as possible. More often than not, you’ll have to share your table with complete strangers.

What I love about Chinese food is that your meal is cooked when you order it, so it’s served hot and fresh out of the kitchen. Huge demerit points to restaurants that opt for the easy way out of reheating/microwaving your food. On a side note, most of the time this theory holds true: the grumpier the 老板, the tastier the food! Discuss!

Back to the restaurant. The menu was all in Chinese, so it took awhile for me to figure out what was what. Maybe it would have helped if I turned the menu the right way up. Thank goodness for the pictures of some specialty dishes on the wall, all I had to do was point to it and say “一碗”.

Dru made the safe choice of ordering the sweet and sour pork with rice. Ironic because the non-angmoh was ordering what I consider a very Western-Chinese dish.

I opted for the scallop vermicelli. At this point, it also occurred to me that the pictures of food on the wall were probably the most expensive dishes too. I fell for their marketing ploy. What a Dupe!

But all was redeemed when I was presented with this massive claypot bowl of noodles with a generous amount of scallops (some were hidden under the noodles, can’t see from the picture). And all for just something as little as HKD75 (approx SGD15) But don’t quote me on this, I didn’t keep the receipt so I can’t remember how much it was exactly. Portion size was double of what we were used to, so we had to 打包 it.

It tasted great, I’d definitely go back there for seconds.

群众小厨／群眾小廚
Address: Shop A, 14 Gresson Street, Wanchai
Tel: +852 2866 8088

Food & Travel Food, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Diaries, Restaurants, Wanchai

Our hungry stomachs led us to a small alley of the shopping district. The dimly lit street stall was packed with locals, I guess that’s a good indicator on how you find the cheap and good eats.

With only a few tables available and limited seating, in Hong Kong it’s very common to share your table with strangers. We sat down with a gentleman slurping away at his noodles. When asked what the speciality was, he said it was the fishball noodles with beef brisket. Sold. Sounds fantastic!

While we were waiting for our noodles, we continued to chat about Hong Kong past and present. He walked us through a tiny bit of Mong Kok history, and pointed out places of great eats. I guess we’re not that different, Hong Kong-ers love their food as much as Singaporeans do.

The steaming hot bowl of noodles was amazing and a great introduction to our culinary journey as we eat our way through Hong Kong. The kway teow noodles were thin and slippery, similar to the kway teow teng （河粉汤) you get in Penang. Fishballs were soft and spongy, and the beef brisket so tender. Soup was a beef stock and incredibly full of flavour, and if you like, a dollop of their chilli sauce would give it that extra kick . The best part of the dish was the beef tendons, which is that light brown piece of meat you see in the top right picture above. Its consistency is like the bottom of a jelly bowl. You know when you make jelly at home, the bottom is slightly harder and chewy than the top? That’s how it tastes like.

Our table friend finished up his meal and proceeded to ask the 老板 lao ban for the table’s bill! We insisted that WE pay for his dinner after giving us such a detailed introduction to Hong Kong. We lost the fight and thanked him for the lovely meal.

He wheeled himself away in such a hurry we didn’t even get his name.

I’m not sure the exact address of that place, but I tried to take a picture of the signboard (scroll up to see the photo). Anyone know what it says? Danli, help me out, was it opposite some bookstore?

Food & Travel Food, Friends, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Diaries, Travel

Menu
First course
Smoked Duck Breast with Tomato Mushroom Salad Crisp Bacon & Romaine Lettuce

Second course
Roasted Butternut Pumpkin Soup with Crab Meat Pumpkin Seeds Oil

Third course
Grilled Tenderloin of Beef with Red Wine Jus served with Baby Potatoes with Herbs, Sauteed Root Vegetables & Asparagus

OR

Pan Fried Seabass Fillet with Spicy Tomato Salsa served with Mashed Potato, Sauteed Vegetables & Asparagus

Dessert
Macadamia Pavlova with Honey Lime Marinated Strawberries Lime Mascarpone Cream

Food & Travel Dinner, Food, Raffles Hotel, Wedding