Review | Mabrown

We have wanted to try Mabrown ever since we heard just how good the duck was there. When I looked up Mabrown on Urbanspoon, I learnt many things from the other reviews. 1) We had to try the Quail, 2) It was imperative to book a table, and to pre-order our food, 3) The service would be horrendous, but 4) the Quails would make up for that.

After reading about how pushy the Aunty can be on the phone, I was so nervous to ring up!! She really wasn't that bad at all. I pre-booked 2 quails (4 pieces) and half a Pi-paduck, and upon the suggestion made by the Aunty, I also pre-ordered a (token) plate of vegetables with cashew nuts.

When we walked into the restaurant, there were already a few people in a queue for a table. After waiting a little while for someone to come and seat us - I realised that I had to be proactive, so I walked to the back of the restaurant to the counter, and asked for our table. The waiter pointed to our table and we sat down. After about 10 minutes, I got the attention of another waiter who was cleaning up the table behind ours and asked for some tea, and whether we needed to tell anyone we were ready for our dishes, or if they would just come out. He nodded and said they would come out. So we waited eagerly.

After probably another 10 minutes, our tea came out, and maybe another 15 minutes after that, our table was set with plates and chopsticks.

I was getting nervous that it was taking a bit too long - since we had booked movie tickets for after dinner. Just at the peak of my worry, we saw our plate of quails coming from the other side of the restaurant. Within minutes, the duck, vegetables and rice followed.

These quails were magical. You must try these! Every single table in the restaurant was either devouring quails, or had an empty plate of quail bones on their table. The spicy sauce was amazingly never too spicy, and it had a beautiful sweet honey taste as well. The meat of the quail was so tender, and the dish was so moreish, I know we will definitely be back to have more! We ate every single tiny piece of meat off from those bones. So delicious! Please do yourself a favour and try these quails.

The duck was so delicious too. The skin was so crispy and the meat was so soft and tender. This was probably the fattiest duck I have ever eaten - it had such an amazing flavour. Half a duck was probably just a little too much for two people, so I would recommend sharing this dish between three or four, just because of how rich it was.

Our token veggies were also very nice. What you would expect from Asian veggies really - only the cashews were surprisingly delicious.. I think they must have roasted them.

We will be going back to Mabrown. I am now armed with a take-away menu, so we know what to order next time (with the quails of course). The table next to us had ordered what I think is called Shantung Chicken (going by photos on Urbanspoon), and that looked really nice - hopefully we can try that next time!

The service was not that bad - I mean, the waiters weren't rude. You do have to be very proactive if you want something to happen as they will not come to you and ask, but apart from that, it was fine. 

Oh, I would also recommend bringing your own hand sanitiser and/or wipes as you will be eating the quails with your hands, and the bathrooms were not exactly overflowing with hand towels..

For ordering quails, just go by however many people will be dining - 2 people = 2 quails, 3 people = 3 quails.

See you soon Mabrown!

Review | Chin Chin

My sister was in town recently, and to catch up, we decided to take Friday afternoon off from work, and have lunch at Chin Chin. Being a foodie fan, this was super exciting - since Chin Chin has been number one on Urbanspoon for a long time now!

I got there first, went inside, and was told that a table for 4 would be about a 45 minute wait - which we were very happy to do. The waitress told me that I would receive a text message to let me know when my table was ready, so we just decided to go for a stroll around the area. I got my message from Chin Chin probably about 30 minutes later, so we were pretty happy!

My sister ordered a Thai Basil cocktail - which looked so pretty, and tasted like... Thai Basil!

For our lunch, we ordered a few meals from each section of the menu to share. For entrée we ordered the Chin Chin Pork "Roll Ups", and the Grilled Roti 'Madtarbak Filled'.

The pork Roll Ups came out first, and looked awesome! The pancakes were so fine and delicate, and the pork was really well cooked and had a fairly strong (tasty) flavour. The accompanying salad was unbelievably zingy and fresh - with a combination of asian herbs, chilli and bean shoots. The sauce was amazing. It was so yummy and sweet and complemented the flavours of the pork and salad perfectly.

 

The Grilled Roti was also tasty. It was filled with an Indian flavoured beef curry and served with a cucumber relish. These were quite nice - the curry had a great flavour, but the dish was not as exciting as the pork roll ups.

For the mains, we had ordered a Pad Seuw of Braised Wagyu and Gai Laan, the famous Crispy Barramundi and Green Apple Salad with Caramelised Pork, a Yellow Curry of Roast Pumpkin, Tofu and Beans, and a serve of the Caramelised Sticky Pork.

The Pad Seuw was probably my favourite out of the main dishes. It was just so delicious. The rice noodles were so tender and had soaked up the delicious, sweet flavours of the sauce. The Wagyu was so perfect with this dish. The flavours were so so fresh, and the coriander (my favourite herb) was so green - bringing amazing colour to the whole dish. Gai Laan is a kind of Chinese broccoli which I have never had before, but it was very nice. Most of the other dishes we had ordered had a real chilli zing to them so the flavours of the Pad Seuw were a good break as well. I would definitely recommend this dish!

The Crispy Barramundi and Caramelised Pork dish was very interesting. The waiter had instructed us to taste both the fish and pork in a mouthful together - the flavours were a surprisingly delicious match! The salad that was served with this dish was amazing. The apple was so crisp and sweet. You could tell that they had really explored when choosing flavours for this dish.

The Yellow Curry was very mild and creamy. The Roast Pumpkin was really well cooked, and the dish was a really vibrant and impressive tumeric-yellow colour. We were trying to figure out what a particular vegetable was in the curry - I'm pretty sure it was from the Eggplant family since the taste was similar, but none of us could figure it out.

The Caramelised Sticky Pork was served with a sour herb salad and a zingy chilli vinegar. The pork had an amazing layer of crisp, sweet crackling - which we all dived onto first! The meat of the pork could have been a bit more tender and melt-in-your mouth, but even so, this dish was great. The caramelised sticky taste of the pork was really delicious, and the salad was to die for - I kept going back for more salad, and we cleaned the plate in minutes.

Overall the flavours at Chin Chin were extremely fresh, with lots and lots of delicious herbs and sweet flavours in the dishes we tried. I will most definitely try to return, if I can get a table!



**Read about my second visit to Chin Chin here!

Review | PappaRich Doncaster

I was so so excited to try this place out! It has been on my wish list since the very beginning! We were very surprised (and impressed) to see just how busy this place was on a Sunday night, and also how many people were happy to wait for a table. For me, this was as good a sign as any to say that this place was great!
Since there were only 2 of us, we didn’t have to wait too long for a table – probably about 15-20 minutes. During that time, we read through the menu online and by the time we sat down, we knew exactly what we would be ordering. PappaRich have a cool way of doing the whole ordering thing – they provide all tables with a simple little notepad and a pen, and you write down the number of your dish, and when you are ready, press a little green button, and like magic, a waiter or waitress appears to collect your notepad and menus.
The whole process was very interesting to me, especially since it had obviously been streamlined to be ultra-successful and efficient.

We ordered the extremely (un)healthy Crispy Chicken Skins for entrée, and for mains, since the place is famous for its Roti bread, we each got a serve! My partner ordered the original Roti, with tandoori chicken, and I ordered the Roti with onion and egg through it, with a chicken curry. For drinks we ordered these delicious looking fruit ice drinks – one Mango, and one Ribena/Melon, both served with lychee and jelly.

The Crispy Chicken Skins came out within about 4 minutes and we basically got stuck into it. They were so fatty and delicious! And definitely very crisp! I would definitely recommend these – if you are up for the unhealthiness!

Our drinks came out next – they looked so tropical and refreshing! And they were delicious! We didn’t feel like being weighed down by the big milky drinks on the menu (although they did look tasty!) so these drinks were perfect! We would definitely order the same again!

Our mains came out soon after our entrée plate had been cleared – a tick for me as I am big on the proper ‘order’ of eating out. They looked GREAT! My egg and onion roti was so tasty – I was in roti heaven! The chicken curry was also very tasty – it had a vague coconut flavour too! I also got a serve of dahl which was so nice – actually, just how my mum makes it at home, so that was cool! I also got a chilli paste, which was pretty spicy, but I was happy that it came as a standard offering – since I know that people always have to ask for extra chilli sauce.

I have not had tandoori chicken is SO long – and this was so delicious! It was quite spicy, but the chicken was cooked to perfection, and the tandoori flavours were really authentic tasting. The chicken was still moist, which can be a problem sometimes with tandoori – but obviously not for PappaRich.

All through the meal, we were discussing what we would be ordering next time we visited PappaRich – so it must be delicious! I know we will be back in not too long to try out other dishes! 



PS – the dishes that are on our radar for next time are for me the Pappa Char Koay Teow and for my partner the Pappa Chicken Rice (With a serve of Roti of course!).

Review | Kanazawa Japanese Restaurant

I bought a scoopon to go to Kanazawa Japanese Restaurant which is on King Street in the city. On urbanspoon it is called Kanazawa Japanese Buffet, but I saw no traces of a buffet when we were there.
We were greeted very nicely and shown to our table. Our scoopon included about 8 dishes, as well as a drink. Our dishes included Miso to start, Edameme beans, Gyoza, Shishamo, Sashimi, Prawn and Vegetable Tempura, Terriyaki Beef, a steamed egg and seafood dish, and a serve of steamed rice each.

The waiters brought out about half of those dishes at once, which made the table very crowded, and also made us feel a bit rushed! But I guess we were dining on a scoopon afterall.

As you will see in the photos, everything was presented really nicely - every dish was plated delicately, which is an important part of Japanese food, I think.

The Miso and Edameme beans were fine - what you would expect.The Gyoza were smaller than what I have had before, and a tiny bit under seasoned, but they were hot and crisp as well. Since my last review was also of a Japanese restaurant, I am able to compare both Gyoza dishes - the dumplings at Sakura were had a much better flavour (and size) than these ones.

Shishamo are a kind of small fish, which tasted very similar to sardines - only a bit more smokier in flavour. I wasn't so crazy about these, and I found them a little tricky to eat. If you like sardines, you will like these.

The Sashimi platter was lovely. Everything was fresh - the only thing that could have made it better was if there was more of it!

The Prawn and Vegetable Tempura dish was also really nice. If you take a look in the photo below, it was served with this lovely flower looking thing that had also been fried with some Tempura batter - I'm pretty sure they were noodles, but they made the whole dish look so much nicer! The prawns and vegetable pieces were also very lightly battered, and great tasting.

The Terriyaki Beef dish came out like a sizzling plate - and I could tell the sauce would be very rich tasting. It was very dark and thick, and had a really strong terriyaki taste. It was quite a small serve since it was just a scoopon dish, however the beef was really nice. We could tell that they were good pieces of meat, and it was still so tender yet very well cooked.

The last dish - I'll be honest - was really strange to me! The waitress said it was steamed egg, with mushroom and seafood. I tried a little bit, but I was put off by the smell. The texture was very similar to the custard tarts you get at yum cha - but it was not sweet! There were two pieces of mushroom and one tiny prawn inside, and the smell was very eggy with the added fishiness. I don't often not like something, but this was just not my kind of dish. I saw some other tables digging into to it, so I'm sure it was nice.

I probably would not go back to Kanazawa, but our meal was still enjoyable.

Review | Madeline's at Jells

For the public holiday we decided to celebrate by going to Madeline's for a lovely warm winter's brunch. It was such a foggy morning, but we were able to watch the sun clear it all away from the tall windows by our table.

We were greeted by the lovely and warm staff as usual, and it seemed like it was just minutes later when our drinks were delivered. I ordered a hot chocolate to warm me up and it was so delicious. The rich chocolate syrup that they use at Madeline's is so good - not that icky sweet stuff you can get at other places.

For brunch I ordered the Jells Gourmet Eggs which was scrambled eggs with semidried tomatoes, roquette & feta served on light rye sourdough toast. I decided to add on a hash brown because I have had one before and they are so tasty. The waitress had told me that this dish was very popular - and now I can see why!! It was really delicious, without being a massive rich breakfast overload. The eggs were very light, and the strong taste of the tomatoes really complemented the feta. If I ordered this again, I would ask for the tomato chutney on the side - as this would really be a perfect addition to this dish.

My friends both ordered a serve of scones each, since they had already eaten earlier in the morning. Madeline's are really well known for having scrumptious scones - and they have been for years. These scones were everything they should have been. They were light and fluffy and a great match with the strawberry jam and vanilla cream that they are served with.

The restaurant was quite full today, but the service was still fantastic - all the other customers seemed very happy from what I could tell! I will definitely be returning to Madeline's since it is so close to home, not only for convenience, but for the great food and service as well.

 

Review | Sakura in Spring

We were meeting some friends for drinks at Honey Bar in South Melbourne - on Clarendon St, and we decided to be spontaneous and choose a restaurant nearby for dinner beforehand.

Feeling like some nice fresh Japanese flavours, we selected Sakura in Spring, which is just further down from Honey Bar so it was very convenient.
Not wanting to eat on the Teppanyaki side of the restaurant, we opted for the A La Carte menu, and we were seated at our table. The first thing we both noticed was how cold and breezy it was in the restaurant!! Luckily we both had our winter coats - as these stayed on us all night! I also noticed other customers putting their winter coats back on during the night. This breeze that was shooting straight through the restaurant also meant that our food got colder much quicker than usual while we were eating.

Being a Japanese restaurant, the presentation of each dish we tried was definitely more refined than just any other restaurant. However, the service was a little slow at times, but this was not a big problem since we were in no hurry. The waitresses were very polite and the food was tasty enough.
For entrée we ordered a serve of Tempura Prawn & Vegetables and a serve of the Gyoza. After quite a wait, both dishes arrived and looked delicious. I was a little disappointed that there was only one prawn in the Tempura dish,  however, it was very light and you could really taste the freshness of the vegetables. It was served with a fresh ginger and soy dipping sauce which was very nice also.

The Gyoza were lovely. I would definitely recommend these - the pork filling was so tender, it almost melted in my mouth. The flavours were really delicate, and along with the sweet and vinegary dipping sauce, made for a great dish.

For our main meals, we shared a Teriyaki Chicken dish, and a Sizzling Seafood dish (which from memory was called Kaisen Seafood or something similar) - and we ordered a serve of steamed rice for two to accompany the dishes.
Both dishes were served with an ample serving of beanshoot salad - which, since we had two serves, was a bit of a beanshoot overkill - however we both like beanshoots, so it was not a big problem. But for someone who is not too crazy for beanshoots - be warned!

The flavours of the Seafood dish were very peppery, while still being quite delicate in taste. The scallops and fish were very lightly battered and fried, and the squid was served with a tiny bit of chilli. This dish was different from the kind of dish I would usually order, so I was a bit anxious to try it, but it was very nice. The pepper flavours were not too strong, and it as very enjoyable. Again, I was a bit disappointed about there being only one prawn.

The Teriyaki Chicken dish was served with quite a thick, sweet sauce - which was delicious! The chicken was cooked really well, and although the dish was sweet, there was again some of those peppery flavours from the seafood dish. After getting through most of this dish, the sauce actually became a bit too rich and sweet for me, but as a whole the dish was everything one would expect from a Teriyaki Chicken. I would have rathered this dish to have been served with a different side, but I guess we may have selected two dishes with the same side. In hindsight, I don't think I remember reading what kind of salad was going to be served with the dishes on the menu - so that might be a good thing for the restaurant to add.

Overall this was quite a nice dining experience, although I don't think I will return to Sakura in Spring since the cold temperature was a real problem.







PS - The reason we did not choose the Teppanyaki menu was simply because we had promised some friends that we would go for Teppanyaki together!

Recipe | Bacon, Mushroom & Corn Quiche

I decided to bake a quiche to bring along to a party at my friend's house. I have used this recipe before, and it has turned out splendidly! This time however I decided to switch up the filling ingredients. You can use the egg mix recipe with any ingredients you choose to make a great tasting and quite dense quiche.


Quiche Filling Ingredients
6 Short Cut Rashers of Bacon, sliced into small pieces
6-8 Medium Mushrooms, thinly sliced
Most of a can of Corn Kernels
(In hindsight, more would not have been bad - since I love bacon! I'd say up to 10 Short Cut Rashers)


Egg Mix Ingredients
8 Eggs
1/2 Cup Pure Cream (I like to use Bulla Cooking Cream)
1/2 Cup Finely grated Parmesan Cheese


Since I was short on time, I used the frozen short crust pastry for the base.


Method
Preheat your oven at 180 degreess (fan forced).
To begin, sautée the sliced mushrooms with some garlic and butter until they are well cooked and a little golden from the butter. Then, using the same pan, fry off the bacon pieces until nice and crisp - or however you like!


Place both the mushroom and bacon aside to cool.


Grease a quiche dish (or any round oven proof dish) about 24cm in diameter and up to 3-4cm deep.
Lightly assemble the thawed pastry sheets into the dish - make sure to cut off any excess that hangs over the edge!


You will need to blind bake this pastry so that it can cook a little bit before the quiche mixture goes in it. Lay some baking paper over the pastry. We now need some kind of a weight to place on top so that it all stays flat. Usually I use a thin layer of rice - but recently my sister told me that Heston uses coins and they work great! I thought I would try that out - but unfortunately I didn't have enough coins, so I used some larger coins around the outside of the dish, and rice in the centre.

Pop this into the oven for about 10 minutes, then remove the weights and baking paper, and pop the dish back in the oven for a further 5 minutes.


While the pastry is cooking, you can mix together the ingredients for the egg mixture. Whisk the eggs together in a bowl, then mix in the cream, and then mix in the cheese until everything is nicely mixed together :)


When the pastry is a little golden and slightly crisping up, take the dish out of the oven and let it cool slightly.

Assemble the corn, bacon and mushrooms in the quiche - however you like! I scattered the corn first, then the bacon, and then layed out the mushies on top. Then give the egg mixture another quick whisk to make sure the cheese is not all at the bottom, and pour it over your dry ingredients in the quiche dish. The quiche does not really rise at all, so you can fill it as full as you like - keeping in mind you will have to carry the dish back over to the oven with no spills!!

Bake for about 40 minutes or until firm and golden on top!

Let me know in the comments below how you go!

Happy baking x

Review | The Lobster Cave

On the weekend I was invited to The Lobster Cave for a family birthday. It was a cold wintery day in Melbourne, so it was nice to be welcomed into the warm and cosy restaurant. I haven’t been there before, but I hear that the décor had been refurbished. My favourite part about the restaurant was the ceiling – it was dark with tiny little sparkling blue lights, so it kind of gave the feeling of being under the sea!

We were on a modified version of the Ferg’s Set Menu for lunch. While we were waiting to order, we were given fantastic service for drinks, and we were also offered a delicious plate of anti-pasto. These platters included a lovely selection of toasted garlic and pesto breads, alongside some dips, cheeses and olives – my favourite combination was the olive dip with the beautiful sundried tomatoes.

For entrée I chose the Butter Poached Thai Style Calamari with organic coriander, lemongrass and a hint of chilli. I wasn’t sure what it would look like but when the plates were brought to us I was very intrigued to taste it! It was so lovely. The buttery sauce was not too rich or over powering, and the calamari was so unbelievable tender! I could really taste the flavours of coriander and lemongrass.  I would definitely recommend this dish – the flavour combinations were divine!

For the main meal I ordered the Mussel & Calamari Linguini with an olive oil, wine, garlic and chilli sauce. The seafood was so fresh and well cooked in this dish as well. The pasta was cooked perfectly, and the dish was very nice. I only wished that there had of been a little bit more flavour in the sauce – either more garlic or chilli, or even some capsicum might have been nice too. There was way too much in this dish so I couldn’t finish it, but I would also recommend it to a friend.

For dessert we shared some birthday cake, but washed it all down with a warm hot chocolate which came with marshmallows and a lovely chocolate swirl biscuit!

The Lobster Cave were nice enough to hand out a few $50 vouchers to the guests at our table, so I was happy to give it to my parents as I think they will enjoy the food and atmosphere.