Thursday, January 27, 2011

[Noosa] Amo Gelato

Amo Gelato
Corner Thomas Street & Gympie Terrace
8am to 10pm Daily

Went in search of dessert after dinner at Maisie's.

Amo Gelato@Noosa

Costa Espresso@Noosa
Mmm, I'd love to try Costa but I can't have coffee at night.

Gelao@Amo
This is one scoop, very generous. Flavours are natural but less than intense. I think there are few places selling gelato in the vicinity but Amo is definitely worth stopping by if you are in the area.

[Brisbane] Little Hong Kong, Sunnybank

Little Hong Kong
Market Square
Shop 23A
Mains Rd (Cnr Mccullough St)
Sunnybank 4109 QLD

Oriental eatery in Market Square with menu emphasised on roast meat, congee and noodles.

Roasted pork rice@Lil HK
Roast pork belly (siew yoke) and roast pork (char siew) rice served with pickles.

Good roasts with smoky sauce, very tasty. Pickles is palette refreshing, cuts away the fat with its sweet and sour taste.

Fried noodles@Lil HK
Cantonese fried noodles

Deep fried noodles with mixed seafood and vegetables drenched in savoury starchy sauce. Very tasty with the crunchy noodle providing an interesting texture.


Cantonese fried noodles@Vietnam Corner

Vietnam Corner's version of Cantonese fried noodles. The toppings came more than the noodles! Equally tasty.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

[Noosa] Maisie's Seafood and Steakhouse

Maisie's seafood & steakhouse
247 Gympie Terrace
Noosaville
QLD 4566
Telephone : (07) 5449 7497

Maisie's@Noosa
Long established restaurant popular with locals and tourists. Decor is dated but has its charm being housed in a 100+ year old building.


Barramundi@Maisie's Noosa
Battered barramundi with salad

Barramundi was sweet and well-cooked. Salad light and refreshing. Good choice by Big King.

Nuggets &chips@Maisie's Noosa
Nuggets and fries from children menu

Maisies fisherman's basket $ 26.50
Maisies fisherman's basket $ 26.50

I was very hungry and fisherman's basket on the menu looked enticing. The thing was MASSIVE. My jaw dropped when it came. Suddenly I was not that hungry anymore. Too much food to be taken in sight.


Lobster@Maisie's Noosa
While waiting for the food to come, I spied lobster orders being ferried to tables by cheerful and friendly staff. I commented to Big King how small the lobster was and how to fill one's tummy?

Now I wished I had ordered the lobster when the humongous plate/bowl of fisherman's basket was place in front of me. Orz........I struggled to finish everything.

We walked along Gympie Terrace after dinner and spied the very savvy and buzzing IS Tapas Bar few doors away.

Next time.

Friday, January 21, 2011

[Brisbane] Breakfast at Sunnybank Oriental

Sunnybank Oriental
Sunnybank Plaza
Shop 68
Mains Rd (Cnr Mccullough St)
Sunnybank 4109 QLD

When you are in need of congee and dim sum tidbits for breakfast, this is the place to be.

They offer a range of breakfast sets from A$5.90 onwards including a hot drink.

Congee & fried noodles@Sunnybank Oriental
Congee and fried noodles set

Dim sum@Sunnybank Oriental
Dim sum set

You place your order and pay upfront at the drink bar, the staff will issue you a number. Find a table and sit down, staff will bring your order to your table.

Taste is ok for cheap and convenient food. Parking is plentiful.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Donate to the flood relief appeal

I don't know how to begin.

This harrowing mother nature disaster has knocked on Queensland's doors.

Not only did homes and businesses went under, many the city's multi-million infrastructure (Coronation Drive possibly going to slide) and massive developmets over the last few years faced massive destruction.

I am very lucky my suburb wasn't affected. I have been worried as I live close to the city. Just five minutes up the road, it's a different world..........

Life as usual in my suburb with people going about their lives. It's hard to imagine, just four days ago, I was in the local shopping centres and there was a mad dash to the shop with people clearing out milk (including UHT and tinned condensed and evaporated milk) and bread shelves and frozen chips and vegetables. It was sheer madness, I was so shocked and only left with a jar of instant coffee, a packet of biccies and a bag of frozen chips. People went away with trolly full and I was the only one with three items...........Seriously I was in shock.

Yesterday I went out to check on the supermarket and relieved to find stock has been replenished with no sign of price increase. Petrol stations have also reopened after being out for the last three days.

Premier Anna Bligh and Lord Mayor have been dealing with the situation very well, kudos to them. The TV channels has been doing a great coverage to keep us updated.

Please give whatever you can to the flood relief , Queensland need your help and we thank you.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

[Noosa] Mod Oz at Berardo's on the Beach

Berardo's Bistro,
on the beach resort,
hastings street,
noosa heads, q 4567

opening hours
monday - sunday
breakfast from 7.30am
lunch from 12pm - 4pm
dinner from 5pm

Web:
http://www.berardos.com.au/Bistro/Berardos/Home

Berardo's on the beach
Stunning view over Noosa main beach

Seafood linguini@Berardo's
Linguine, Local Prawns, Mussels, Scallops, Chilli, Garlic & Parsley $24(entree size)

One of the mussel had beard and hurt my tooth filling, ouch!! The dish came out less than warm, I heard the service bell rang three times before anyone bothered to walk over and serve the thing. Truly disappointing service.

Duck in filo@Berardo's
Board special: Duck in filo served with olive tapenade and sweet potato mash

This was also entree size, tastewise, not agreeing with my palate. I like clean and uncomplicated flavours. But sometimes complicated can be good, all depends on the chef's skill.

Fish&chips@Berardo's
Kid's menu: Fish and chips

This was horrible, the fish was cooked to death and had a rubbery texture. Very weird.

I read so much about Berardo's, all good things and came with HIGH expectation but left without bothering to try the desserts (a first for me!) eventhough the lunch hardly filled our tummy.

The idea of visiting the restaurant was quickly scrapped after this.

I am not saying the food was below par, well, except the fish, just you know, not my type of food.

呵呵相見不如懷念; 美食可是非常主觀的.

Noosa beach
Lazed on the beach after lunch.

The only sunny day in two weeks. Started raining again the following late morning.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

If GOD has a voice...............

I always thought he would sound like Andrea Bocelli.

Until I heard Miljenko Matijevic.

steelheart

Such a talented man with a hauntingly beautiful voice, no-one/nothing in the world over can compare (in my opinion, of course) with. Pushed Freddie Mercury right off my top vocalist of all time with a vengeance.

The man should be doing greater things than just cover albums and receives/deserves so much more accolades than the world has bestowed him.



It's the sort of sound/voice/music I think the world should be filled with. Well, my world, at least.



震撼 again and again.

THIS IS the voice of GOD. Period.

[Eumundi] Chocolate overdose at Cocoa Chocolat

Cocoa Chocolat Pty Ltd
Etheridge Street
Eumundi
Queensland 4562
Australia
T: +61 7 5442 7841


Open Monday - Friday 8am - 5pm
Saturday 8am - 4pm
Sunday 10am - 2pm

Website:
http://www.cocoachocolat.com.au/index.html


Cocoa Chocolat@Eumundi

Cocoa Chocolat1
The shop was empty when I entered. But a succession of customers suddenly started to stream in and the spacious shop was suddely full with hardly any moving space after five minutes.

Lucky I was there first and got served immediately after quickly scanning the selection and making my choices.

Quite a number of customers looked and left without buying. I reckon it's the biggest loss of their day!!

Cocoa Chocolat2
The shop was so busy, the owner herself came out and helped to serve.

Cocoa Chocolat4
There was a good selection and I brought home quite a few to try.

Cocoa Chocolat3
They were all very good. My favourite chocolate shop so far in Australia.

I recommend the passion fruit chocolate in either white, milk or dark chocolate. Princess liked the strawberry cream. The flavour was intense and quality of chocolate was superb. Big King liked the boozy ones.

[Brunei] Random dinner at Chempaka

Dinner with friends in a make-shift eating place set up in owner's backyard.

Salted yolk chicken wing@Chempaka
Fried chicken wings coated in salted egg yolk.

Deep fried chicken fritters@Chempaka
Deep fried chicken fritters served with lettuce leaves and sweet chilli sauce.

Steamed spareribs@Chempaka
Steamed spareribs.

Brinjal@Chempaka
Stir fried eggplant with minced pork.

Wednesday, January 05, 2011

[Singapore] Ramen Santouka

Ramen Santouka
Central
6 Eu Tong Sen St, SG 059817
6224 0668

Subway: Clarke Quay

Open Daily 11am-9:30pm

Ramen Santouka
Very busy at weekday lunch service. We waited for 20 minutes for a table. Some valuable time was lost looking for the restaurant which was tucked in an obscure corner of a side elevator. So we didn't manage to beat the lunch crowd :-(. It didn't help much the place is tiny, only about 20 plus seats.

View outside Santouka
The restaurant overlooked Singapore River. It will be a plus if you score the window seats.

Karaage chicken set with shio ramen
Fried chicken with shoyu (soy sauce) ramen S$23

I had the fried chicken ramen set with a regular sized ramen portion, original set is a small bowl. I was rather shocked when the fried chicken came out looking overdone and each piece the size of my palm!

I needn't have worried, the chicken pieces were well marinated and juicy. For an extra dollar, you get a komi tamago, braised egg. It's good but I wished the yolk was more runny.

Tonkotsu ramen with grilled pork neck
Tokusen Toroniku Ramen S$19.50

This was what drawn me to Santouka, grilled pork neck, limited to about 60 portions a day. I was curious about it being the restaurant's specialty and limited. Worthy of the price tag?

It didn't look much when arrived. I put a piece in my mouth (I know, extravagance much!), a wave of euphoria washed over me. Oh my gawd, the meat was soooo tender and melt in the mouth, it was so good, I wanted to swallow my tongue. I even ate the fat attached (I never ever eat fatty meat, I remove every bit of fat from meat before putting into my mouth), I don't like the taste and feel of fats in my mouth. But the fat on the grilled pork neck was so tasty, it didn't taste like fat at all. I can't believe I am talking about 'fats'.

Ooooh, I'll be back.

Mmm, on my next top ramen haunt list is Ippudo. I hope it lives up to its hype.

Eumundi Market

School holiday in september 2010, weather was horrible, much more so than the last few weeks. It rained throughout the whole holiday with some scary thunderstorms on certain days.

No matter, we still feel like a beach holiday.

Road to Sunshine Coast
Road to Sunshine Coast, weather was dark and gloomy in the morning with some drizzle.

Etamogah Pub
If you are travelling from Brisbane or south, you will definitely go past Ettamogah Pub at Aussie World.

Eumundi market1
Weather suddenly cleared when we arrived at Eumundi and we saw the sun for the first time in many days.

Eumundi market2
We came on a Wednesday, I was disappointed, there were lots of stalls but mostly arts, crafts and knick-knacks. There were only a few fresh produce and food stalls.

Eumundi market3
Spices and sweets stall. I bought some chocolates.

Eumundi market4
I bought only four to try. Heaven awaits me further up the road....

Churros@Eumundi market
We bought churros with chocolate dip minus the cinnamon sugar. They were really good.

Eumundi market6
We saw lots of stalls of this kind in most markets we visited except of course the purely food and fresh produce markets. Those toddler's clothings were so cute. They are not cheap, most items selling at more than A$30.

Eumundi market5
We finished at Eumundi market after doing one round, the sun was shining bright and it got rather sweaty.

Next, we went up the road to look for Cocoa Chocolat.

Sunday, January 02, 2011

[Singapore] The Buffet Hotpot @ M Hotel

M Hotel Singapore
81 Anson Road
Singapore 079908

Hotpot dinner at The Buffet, level 2.

Steamboat rest@Millenium H

Steam boat@Millenium H
Chicken broth and tom yum

Prawn in herbal stock@Millenium H
Once we sat down, the server quickly brought over a bowl of drunken prawns for each diner.

Veges@Millenium H

Assortm plate@Millenium H

Seafood@millenium H
Seafood was extremely fresh.

Balls@Millenium H

Veges1@Millenium H

Noodles@Millenium H
Homemade green spinach noodle is good.

Meats@Millenium H

Sauces&condiments@Millenium H

Desserts@Millenium H
Small selection of desserts including mousses, fruits, nyonya kuih, durian penyet and ice-cream.