MIA much? ASIA TRIP

For the last few months this blog has seen little to pretty much no proper food posts. I haven't been happy with my photos of my cooking, mainly due to my want to just dig in instead and also I've been forgetting my camera when I've been going out to eat, and don't mention using my phone, it's a piece of shit. Wish I could throw it at Vodafone for selling me such a dodge phone, but then all their customers want to do that, it's nicknamed Vodafail for a reason.

Back to food, I've been cooking but nothing really worthy of blogging *ahem supermarket roast chicken for dinner*. And if I'm not eating at home then I'm probably eating at work/sneaking freshly fried chips and then paying the consequence by burning my mouth from both oil and steam burn. But I've found the perfect combination, freshly fried chips with mayo, rib sauce and hot sauce(basting as we call it at work). Sooooo good, too bad customers can't try it.

And I've been working a second job lately (all that shopping and eating in HK doesn't fund itself) that has required me to wake up at 6:40am to get to work at 7:45am. I am most definitely not a morning person which meant a buttered raisin toast sandwich in the car on the way to work, where my brother would drive and I'd hold his sandwich until we hit a red light. (Umm is that illegal? I have an inkling it is).

Otherwise, I'm leaving in 3 days for Beijing, then Tokyo and then to Hong Kong. In my mind I know I should be overjoyed that I'm finally visiting my most wanted to visit country (Japan) at last and not to mention my favourite cuisine but I'm not for some reason. Not even motivated to look up places to eat. I think I've decided this time, I'm just going to not have a 30 dish long list of things I really really want to eat in Hong Kong. Just going to eat local and what I can't get here.

As I was cleaning my room, I found two books on Honkie food that I had gotten for my Vce Chinese Detail Study *shudders* and flicked through them to see if there is anything that I didn't try last trip.

• The book starts with curry fishballs which are pretty much a staple anyways and you don't need to go out of your way for. 
• But the second dish the book looks into is fake sharkfin soup which is actually a proper hawker kind of dish in Hong Kong. I think its all about the texture and treasures in the "little bowl sharkfin soup". 
• It goes on to siewmai on a stick which is usually sold at the same stall as curry fishballs. But what interests me is the more delicate dumplings that aren't done very well here which I'm looking forward to when I have yumcha in HK. 
• A breakfast item, zhu cheong fun, which are white cyclindrical rolled rice sheets the size of a finger drizzled with special sauces (like sesame, chilli and a soy based one). Craving a nice bowl for breakfast.
• Hopefully I get to eat these fishcakes that are sold at the start of the street by distant uncle lives on in a more ruralish part of china. If the stall is still there, they were delicious, a whole bag for like a buck or two aussie.
• Razor clams and small live prawns. Razor clams because they're great for sticking to delicious sauces and we can't get them here and small live prawns that have been poached and dipped into chilli soy sauce because it's one of my favourite foods in HK. So sweet and fresh. 
• Chinese preserved meats especially on claypot rice because the prices here are ridiculous and not to mention the difference in portion size when at a restaurant. 
• Polo (pineapple) buns. Especially with a chilled chuck of butter in the middle of the hot fluffy bun, heart attack but its only once or twice during the trip!
• Egg baked fish intestines, sounds gross but tastes delicious. Supposedly its not very hygienic. 
• Congee for breakfast cos I'm an old grandma. They give you a quarter of a century egg in your congee here, over one whole one in HK, for a third of the price. 
• Prawn eggs mixed in egg noodles? Something like that, looks so delicious, texture wonderland. I'm guessing much like tobiko?
• Fried fish skin with soup noodles. Just try it. 

Thats all that I can think of for now. If you manage to read to this point, you probably want your time back, but at least you know some of the less known deliciousness' in HK. 

It's late at night and I woke up at 6:40am to go to work today, sorry that this post is all over the place. 

Rest assured, there will be a flood of posts in a week or two's time, all about Beijing, Tokyo and HK. 

Due to lack of internet I cannot say when these posts will be up, but I'll hopefully write them up at the end of each day and post them when I have internet. 

Full 360

This is not a review or a recipe post.

In a month a half's time this blog will have done a 360, a full cycle. The very reason why I started blogging was to document and share the great foods of Hong Kong, which explains the weblink name, Honkiememories, for the blog. And during the 2 years that I have been posting here I have learnt and discovered so much about food. About my passion, although there were times where I hit the blogging wall and have only recently gotten back into it.

Needless to say I'm incredibly excited. The thought of the shopping and food is driving me through this exam period. However things in HK aren't very cheap any more, especially since the exchange rate has dropped =[ Meaning I'll have to work extra shifts at work and save up more.

I'll probably blog as often as I can in HK so I don't end up with a backlog of posts. So if you're interested, come and check every now and then over summer or you can look at my Hong Kong posts from the start of the blog. However, I'm considering to end this blog after the trip. It just feels like I've accomplished what I want with the blog.

Please drop a comment if you have any good suggestions on where to eat in HK, or what foods are must eats.

Malaysian Festival QV Market

On Sunday, at Queen Victoria market was the Malaysia Festival which mainly consisted of delicious food. There weren't many stalls, I would say 15 or so including a chorizo and churros one, a takoyaki one and a few tornado potato ones. If you've been following this blog for a while, you'll probably realise 80% of the time I eat out it's Malaysian food. It's no coincidence, I love the cuisine. 

Curry Puff $2

From the stall that sold the satay, I really wish I looked at their stall name because their satay sticks were sooo good. The curry puffs, crisp but nothing spectacular inside. Not saying it was bad but the quality of the other foods on offer were just so high. 

Assam Laksa $5 and Teh Tarik $3

I was expecting a msg flavoured soup with soggy mushy noodles but this was good quality assam laksa. The noodles were very springy still except the fork provided were incredibly inappropriate as the gaps between the prongs were a lot thinner than the fat noodle. But the noodles weren't the highlight of this dish, it was the soup. They were definitely not stingy on the ingredients, plenty of fish and spices, giving the soup a massive punch of flavour. The teh tarik was decent but not amazing as it wasn't very "pulled" but had a strong tea flavour. The bag it came in was like in true Malaysian style. There was more in the bag than in the picture, it was just too tempting before I took a picture. 

Satay $10 (for 10)

Best satay I've had in Melbourne hands down. They were done on charcoal which gave it that delicious smoky flavour. The beef had a little fat on it which made it even tastier whereas the chicken was leaner but still incredibly delicious. The satay sauce was the proper stuff. A little part of me cries every time I read a satay recipe that only uses a jar of peanut butter and coconut milk to make satay sauce, it is so much more. Lemongrass, shallots, garlic, spices all combine to make an incredibly delicious sauce. The pressed rice cakes were great for soaking up the rest of the satay sauce. This satay reminded me a lot of the ones from Mamak in Sydney. 

The charred crispy bits =]

Most definitely coming back next year. Hopefully they promote it a bit more as I only found out from the boy who got an email from the Malaysian club at uni. There were a few flyers up at uni but they weren't very noticeable.

Eating Out: Menya [City, 3000]

We were originally planning on going to Coconut House but as we were walking there we remembered that Menya was only a few doors down. With Malaysian and Japanese my two favourite cuisines we were faced with a dilemma. The prices at both are about the same ($8-$10) and meals come out very promptly. The difference is Coconut House is more flavour packed whereas Menya has much larger portion sizes. 

Curry Katsu Don $8.50

Likes:

+ One whole crispy pork cutlet

+ Very Japanese curry

+ Tender vegetables

Disikes:

- The large portion size felt like a waste as it was impossible to finish

- The pork coating was very salty

Oyako Don $8.50

Likes:

+ Heaps of egg, chicken and crunchy veggies

+ Nice sweetish sauce

Dislikes:

- Lacked seasoning (I think more sauce would have made it even better)

Food: It’s decent but nothing incredible, usually Japanese has very distinct flavours and good seasoning. Just felt lacking here.

Service: You get led to your table, you order +pay at the counter, grab a number and the meals will come out promptly. Tea and water are all self service.

Environment: A rather large restaurant for the city and clean but you’re still packed like sardines and during lunch it runs at full capacity.

Value: I challenge anyone to finish 2/3 of the rice, an impossible feat unless you are starving.

Eating Out: Ajisen Ramen [Glen Waverley]

85 Kingsway
Glen Waverley, 3150

This post is about a month late =S Been soo caught up in other things (*ahem* tetris addiction).
If you haven't heard Ajisen has also decided to join the Asian empires in Glen Waverley. Has anyone else realised that every restaurant has more than one location in Melbourne? (Petaling Street, Ampang Tofu, RaRamen, Claypot King, Crazy Wing, Monga Dessert)

Like usual all the floor staff speak Chinese, it's incredibly cramped and noisy.

Ajisen Ramen+Corn
For some reason it's cheaper to get the Ajisen Ramen and add corn for $0.50 than to get the Corn Ramen which is a $1 more than the Ajisen Ramen, it applies to all the additional topping and it's just the exact same thing.

Likes:
+ Springy noodles
+ Large serving
+ Decent soup, I think better than Ramen Ya but still not a good tonkotsu.

Dislikes:
- Barely any meat
- No menma (my favourite)


Gyoza Ramen
Nothing special, very average gyozas.


Kari-age
Massive chunks of chicken with a weirdly yellow batter. Nothing special yet nothing bad either.

Food: 7/10 Can't really say anything bad about it (except for generous msg use), but also nothing particularly special. Standard ajisen.
Service/Environment: 7/10 Very cramped but decent renovation.
Value: 7/10 The most basic ramen is under $10 so it's alright however it is the only shop that does it in the area so that must be accounted for. They have entree+ramen deals for around $15 which is what I got. Be warned that it is quite a bit of food. The 2 of us had a bowl of ramen each and shared an entree and left quite full (and we went after an afternoon of badminton and ultimate frisbee)

Verdict? I wouldn't go out of my way for it, if I happened to be in the area and felt like ramen then I would go, otherwise I'd probably pass. Remember it is the only place in the area that does tonkotsu ramen.

The end of Yum Cha Inn

Uncle has decided to close the chapter of Yum Cha Inn so in the last few days of their business I had to visit one more time and eat my favourite dish, Curry chicken wrapped in bread. I had many other favourites but they were dishes that I could either get at other restaurants or there could be a chance that I could eat again at some family gathering. The curry chicken wrapped in bread was something that I have not found here yet, a Malaysian dish that some Malaysian friends have never even heard of, and not a dish that my uncle (or anyone) would probably make for a family gathering because of the amount of effort and time required to make it is quite ridiculous unless you’re making more than one at a time.

It was a bittersweet moment you could say, knowing that it would probably be the last time I’ll ever get to taste the dish until I travel to Malaysia and try to hunt for a place that sells it. I guess roti chanai will have to suffice until then or possibly brioche dipped in Malaysian curry chicken.

I do admire my uncle for being able to manage the restaurant and work 7 days a week for around 4 year s definitely requires an immense amount of motivation, passion and dedication. I question myself whether I would have the same drive to keep on making dim sum everyday for lunch service for longer than a month let alone a few years. There’s no doubt my uncle deserves to take a break.

Just an inspiration. 

P.S The restaurant has been bought by the Chinese Crazy Wing chain. They make the chilliest thing I have ever tasted, it was unimaginably chilli. However I tried it at the one in the city not Glen Waverley. 

Sorry

Been neglecting my blog a bit recently

But I've started a new job and it's really eating up my time and energy

Uni + work + homework + 3 hours travel time every day = dead teenagefoodie

Working at a "fast" food restaurant has been an experience.

I'm starting to get sick of the food that I used to love. 

I thought it would be more systematic than it is.

But I do love the rush you get from that super busy moment and trying to get all the orders under control.

My birthday was a week ago and I just went out for hotpot with friends.

Probably the last hotpot for the year as it's Spring now and getting warm. 

Went out for dinner with family to celebrate both Dad's and I's birthday.

Nothing particularly special.

The photography club at uni had a food workshop on food photography run by a food blogger which I was so excited about

However I didn't manage to get my hands on a ticket

And was pretty upset about it.

Hopefully they have a similar event next year. 

That's all for now.

I'm typing this in my class

Cooking: Olive and Rosemary Focaccia

This is not only simple but the result is amazing. Soft fluffy bread. Except I didn't realise how much it'd rise, next time I'll spread it over two trays. I've changed the steps a bit as there really isn't a point in preheating your oven 2 hours before you need it.

Recipe from Life Magazine (Sunday Age) by Karen Martini

Ingredients
600g bread flour
7g dried yeast
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
40ml extra virgin olive oil
250ml water (doesn't need to be warm)
160g olives, pitted and roughly chopped
1 sprig of rosemary, finely chopped.
flaked sea salt

Method

1. Mix flour, yeast and salt in an electric mixer (dough hook). Add in eggs, oil and water. Mix for 10 minutes on medium speed. Don't worry if there are little bits of flour that don't stick to the main ball, it'll stick by the end of the 10 minutes, and if not it really doesn't matter that you're missing tiny bits of flour. 
2. Turn out dough and knead into a smooth ball. Put it back into the bowl and cover with clingwrap. Leave in a warm place until doubled in size.
3. Line a baking tray.
4. Once risen, tip dough onto a lightly floured surface and fold in most of the olives and rosemary. Place it into the prepared tray and press it out. Let it prove for an hour. Preheat oven to 200 degrees with 15 minutes left to prove. 
5. Snip the top if you want for a textured surface. Drizzle over a little olive oil and sprinkle with flaked salt and remaining olives. 
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Cooking: One chicken chicken soup

I actually used Karen Martini's recipe that was in The Sunday Age's Life magazine earlier this year. However there are just too many ingredients and steps. The concept behind it is all you need, change it to suit your fridge/taste.

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken

vegies of own choice (carrots, celery, onion...)
salt and whole peppercorns
herbs of you're choice (thyme/rosemary)
2 shallots, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
 a few mushrooms of choice (choose strong flavoured type eg porcini, shiitake), rehydrated if dried and diced.
150g pasta, optional if you want to make chicken noodle soup
frozen peas, corn, optional.

Method:

1. Remove the two breasts off the chicken. Chop up all the vegies however you like (not too small as they will cook for a while). Place the chicken carcass with the legs still attached, vegies, a few peppercorns and herbs in a stockpot. Fill up with water just enough to cover and simmer for 45 minutes. 
2. Meanwhile cook the shallots and garlic in some oil until cooked then cool. Dice up the chicken breasts roughly and place into the food processor with a generous sprinkling of salt. Blitz for a minute until it is quite gelatinous, add the cooled shallots mixture and mushrooms. Blitz again until combined. Set aside. 
3. Skim the soup of oil. Then take the chicken out and place the pasta in. Shred all the meat on the chicken. Set aside.
4. Add the frozen corn and peas, bring back to the boil. Drop spoonfuls of the chicken mince mixture into the rolling boil soup. Cook until the meatballs are floating then add back in the shredded chicken. Taste and season accordingly. 
5. Serve. 

Eating Out: Darac Grill & Bar [City]

51 A'Beckett Street
Melbourne, 3000

My friend took me here for lunch as she really wanted to try it and I'm glad she did because I really like it. Food and atmosphere is great, service is lacking though.
The ordering sheet is incredibly confusing but for the lunch set menu there are 3 main steps
1. Choose steamed rice or pasta.
2. Choose you main dish (Beef, pork, prawn, tofu)
3. Choose your side (8 options)
4. Choose regular ($9.50) or large ($10.50) size meal and if you want a drink write that down too.

They have other things on the menu as well but everyone on our table went for the lunch set.


1. Rice 2. Spicy Prawn 3. Takoyaki
Likes: 
+ Presentation
+ Spicy sauce
+ Succulent prawns
+ Salad to make you feel healthy
+ Included takoyaki sauce and mayo
Dislikes
- 4 prawns the rest was just onion
- A tiny tako (octopus) piece in takoyaki.
- Wasabi mayo had no wasabi taste


1. Pasta 2. Spicy Prawn 3. Takoyaki
I like the plate =]

1. Rice 2, Beef Bulgoki 3. Takoyaki



1. Rice 2. Tofu 3. Soba salad
Not much choice for vegetarians

Food: 8/10 Nothing special but nothing to fault either. Mediocre. Well seasoned, strong flavours.
Environment: 8.5/10 It's got a really cosy bar feel to it. Very well decorated with random pieces/objects scattered everywhere.
Service: 6/10 Full house so service was slow and things were forgotten. Food took a while to come out but did come out pretty much all at once.
Value: 8/10 Lunch for under $10, nice clean presentation, reasonable serving size.

Verdict? Definitely coming back to try some non lunch set things. The environment has got me.

Cooking:Smoked Salmon & Avocado Timables

Adapted from Coles Magazine, Autumn 2011.

3 avocados, diced

1 tbsp dill (I didn't have any so I omitted)

1 tbsp mayonnaise

tabasco

1/2 lemon, juiced

1 tbsp super finely diced red/spanish onion

400g smoked salmon

In a bowl mix the avocado, dill, mayonnaise, a few dashes of tabasco, lemon juice, onion all together and add salt to taste. 

Line 4 moulds with plastic wrap and then put 2 slices of smoked salmon into it ensuring the brown/grey bits cannot be seen. 

Fill the mould with the avocado mixture, pat down firmly and then fold any overhanging salmon bits in over the avocado mixture. Refrigerate until ready to serve. 

To serve place a plate on top of the mould, flip and then pull down on the plastic wrap to unmould. Discard plastic wrap and garnish with a little bit of dill. 

Makes 4

Cooking: Tofu with Preserved/Century Egg

I've actually never had this dish before at a restaurant but I've seen pictures of it and was really curious about the taste. It's definitely a summer dish that goes quite well with rice. Just beware that you keep the tofu cold so it doesn't go off.
WARNING: Century egg is an acquired taste, if you have never tasted it don't make this dish.

Recipe
(Serve as part of a chinese meal)


1 block silken tofu
1 preserved/century eggs
2-3 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp finely sliced spring onion
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp sesame oil
XO sauce if desired

Slice the silken tofu very thinly on the plate that you are serving the dish (not plastic! as you'll be pouring hot oil on it) on as it will be very difficult to move the tofu. Dice the century egg and place on top of the tofu. Pour the soya sauce over the egg and tofu.(XO Sauce as well if desired) Scatter over spring onions. Heat the oil until smoking and then straightaway pour it over the spring onions. Drizzle the sesame oil on top and serve.

Cooking: Wicked Wings?

Background:
Who doesn't love KFC's wicked wings, crunchy on the outside, fatty juicy meat on the inside and a spicy kick. But wicked wings aren't exactly cheap $3.25 for 3. This recipe makes about 16 for the same price and most of the ingredients are ones you have in the pantry and want to use up. The secret is in the seasoning and the flour coating.

Recipe:
Ingredients:
+ 1kg wings (wings with the drummette attatched though you can use just wings if you want)
+ chilli/cayenne powder
+ cumin powder
+ garlic powder
+ onion powder
+ 2 cups plain flour
+ 2 eggs whites
+ neutral oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Chop the wingtips off the chicken wings (you can save these for stock if you wish). Then chop the wing into the wing and the drummette. Place into a large bowl.
2. Place a tsp each of chilli and cumin powder over the wings and 1/2 tsp garlic and onion powders (adjust accordingly to taste). Mix and let to marinate whilst you prepare the batter. 
3. Place the flour into a large bowl and add 2 heaped tsps of chilli powder, 1 tsp each of cumin and salt, 1/2 tsp garlic and onion powder (or use whatever "11 secret herbs and spices" coating recipes you can find on the net). Then add a tbsp of water and using fingertips rub it into the flour like if making a crumble. Continue to add small amounts of water until 1/3-1/2 of the flour mix contains little round circles of flour/crumble. This part is essential to making the super crispy crunch part to the coating. 
4. Whisk the egg whites till very frothy but not meringue consistency. 
5. Heat up the oil to 180 degrees or until a wooden chopstick bubbles when placed in the oil. 
6. One at a time dip the piece of chicken into the egg white just enough to coat, drip off excess, place into the flour and coat generously then deep fry *. Once the chicken floats and is of golden colour it should be cooked through but do check (around 5 minutes?). Place on paper towl
7. If you are worried the chicken will go cold, place it in a warm oven until ready to serve. 

*I suggest you deep fry one piece of chicken as a test first and taste it to check if any additional spices need to be added.

Cooking: Grilled Garlic Butter Mussels

Background:
I was flicking through a seafood grill cookbook and saw a few recipes for oysters, scallops and mussels all topped with flavoured butter and then put on the barbie. I really liked the idea and instead of using the barbie I just put my mussels under the grill. The results were delicious though I did learn a few things along the way and steps that I would do differently next time. Sorry I don't have exact measurements for ingredients as I just went by feel. I'm sure you can judge how much to use and it really is up to you how buttery/garlicky/chilli you prefer. Leftover butter can be used to put on steaks or even used to make a pasta sauce.

Recipe
Makes 30-40 mussels depending on mussel size. Up to you how many per serving (4 people entree)
Ingredients:
+ 1kg mussels, debearded and scrubbed.
+ a couple of tbsps of softened butter
+ 1-2 cloves of garlic (depending on size and preference)
+ 1/2 tsp chiili flakes
+ chopped parsley (or any other subtle herb of preference)

Method:

1.  Mince the garlic as fine as you can (a japanese mincer plate is very very convenient and achieves almost puree consistency) and add it to the butter along with the chilli and chopped parsley. Mix well and then shaped into a rectangle log on clingfilm and then wrap it up and put it in the freezer to firm up. (I didn't firm up the butter which made it very hard to portion out onto the mussels, so don't skip this step, it'll save you time)
2. Boil an inch of water in a saucepan/pot that can fit all the mussels (if not possible cook the mussels in batches). Tip the mussels in and place the lid on. Give the saucepan a gentle shake every now and then. (I actually grilled open my mussels but I don't recommend it as it made the shells incredibly brittle)
3. After 2 mins take out any that are open and place onto a plate. Place the lid back on and continue cooking mussels that aren't open. Check every minute until all mussels are open, if some mussels refuse to open, chuck them out or if you're in my household, pry them open at you're own risk. 
4. Once the mussels are cool enough to handle, take away one side of the shell and discard. Align all the half shell mussels onto a baking tray. 
5. Take the butter out and cut into 1cm or less cubes and place a cube on top of each mussel.* (make sure you don't put too much as it can become very oily and slightly unpleasant mentally to eat. Thinking of that waistline.
6. Grill until the butter has melted and then an extra minute to cook the garlic. 
7. Serve! 

*I didn't add salt to the mussels as they usually are salty enough from the seawater but do taste a mussel before you put the butter on top to check, if it does need seasoning sprinkle a smidgen of salt over the mussels. 

Eating in South Australia

A couple of weeks ago my family drove up to South Australia. We stayed mainly in Adelaide which is a beautiful city. I loved the old buildings however I only had my digital camera with me, not the DSLR and it was always at night when we walked by them so I didn't manage to take many decent photos.
But this is my food blog so I'm only going to post the food I had on the trip in this post. If I have time I'll do a post on all the non food aspects of the trip on my other blog (which you can find if you click "view complete profile" in the about me section).

I don't remember all the names of every place we ate at, let alone dish names and prices.

Day 1:
At lunch at a Cafe in Horsham. Spinach, pumpkin and ricotta pie $8ish. Lots of variety in the salad.

Went Cafe Kowloon, Chinatown in Adelaide for dinner. 

We were feeling pretty adventurous that night, we chose a stir fried crocodile dish and fish poached in chilli stock/oil (水煮鱼)

This was sooooo chilli it was like delicious torture. Good to try everything once right?

These seaweed beans were good to counteract the chilli fish.

Day 2:
Went to the oldest German town in Australia, Hahndorf, and ate lunch there. We ended up at a little cafe which was actually run by an Asian (Korean?) couple and tried some German sausages which were very good.

That night we found ourselves in Chinatown once again trying a restaurant which is very famous in Melbourne.
NOODLE KINGDOM where we ordered the exact same two bowls of noodles we did when we went to the Preston one in Melbourne. The menu and prices are the exactly the same.

The sauce bottles were DISGUSTINGLY DIRTY

The Lanzhou Beef Noodles

These beef skewers were the hit of the night. Well marinated but very oily.

The spicy lamb noodles. Disappointingly bad compared to the ones at Preston.

Overall: Adelaide Noodle Kingdom sucks compared to the Preston Noodle Kingdom.

Day 3:
Headed up to the Barossa Valley and had lunch at Maggie Beer's Farm Shop. I loved the shop and I think I tried/tasted every product. I really regret not buying a bottle of vino cotto as both my brother and I loved it, but I'm pretty sure you can get it here anyways.

Pheasant Farm Pate was my favourite out of all the pate's and we got the big sized tub because we LOVE our pate. It was rich and the jelly had an intense flavour, however I wasn't a fan of the peppercorn/berry things on the top.

For dessert we got a creme caramel each because no one wanted to share. I actually really liked the slight bitterness to the caramel as it gave a sharp edge to the eggy rich custard.

And of course we had Chinese for dinner again BUT this was probably one of the better/top chinese meals I've had all year. The restaurant actually isn't in Chinatown, it's on Grote St, newly renovated, very spacious and slightly grand. The place is called J Restaurant and I don't know why it only has 75% on Urbanspoon but it definitely deserves higher. Exceptional value, I have no idea how they make money.

Well braised pork trotter/hock/leg. Glistening with lots of sauce to dip the meat into, great with rice.

Deep fried eggplant $10ish Crispy outside, soft inside.

Chinese celery, tofu and bamboo. Nice and refreshing.

Fried cripsy duck. Boneless duck is of course a winner =]

Fried fish, looked and tasted great.

My favourite dish of the night. The crab!! Spicy and finger lickingly good. There was so much crab that we couldn't finish it (7 people...) The crab itself wasn't the freshest but the sauce and the lotus root and other vegetables were very good. When you finish half of it they come and retop the sauce and add some more vegies to it. And it was ONLY $22.50. 


Only downside to the restaurant was that there was msg used (which is very common for chinese restaurants).

Day 4:
I didn't take a picture of lunch but it was Fish and Chips down at Victor Harbour. We went to a place that was runners up in the South Australian Fish and Chip competition or something like that. It was pretty good I must say. Not the best but up there.

Since the weather was so nice in Adelaide we couldn't resist getting ice creams. I'm actually quite surprised how well this photo turned out, I could almost just lick the screen. Cookies and Cream =]

We then went to Glenelg where we walked the entire main street trying to choose where to eat and finally gave up when we reached the end and chose Glenelg bbq inn. Little did we know that this would be the most memorable meal of the trip.

Mixed Grill $26.5
There is actually a large sausage and a lamb shaslick (kebab) under that steak.

Mixed Grill $23
Same as above except a chicken shaslick instead of lamb.

Porterhouse Steak 400g $25
Dad suggested I get the 400g instead of the 250g as it was only $3.5 more. I came to regret it as this steak was the biggest slab of meat I ever tackled. At least an inch thick an about the size of my hand I struggled but somehow managed to finish it. The char/crust was delicious, cooked medium rare as I requested.

T-Bone 850g+ $30
I have no idea how my brother managed to eat it all. It was the size my face and probably about an inch thick.
Keep in mind that my brother is probably one of the skinniest guys around, except he has a bottomless stomach.

Day 5:
Lunch we ate at KFC in Port Adelaide and I must say it was probably the best and biggest KFC I've had in YEARS. I think we all know what KFC looks like. Loved the Hot and Spicy Chicken.

For dinner we went to Mandoo Korean Dumplings which is a bit of a hole-in-the-wall kinda place. It is run by a Korean family which are extremely welcoming and kind hearted.

We had the Mandoo-jeongol for 4 $45
It was a really nice warming meal with lots of vegies to make us feel better after all the meat we had been eating. The dumplings weren't a hit as they were incredibly dry inside but it was fun discovering which dumpling you got as there were 3 or 4 different ones. I liked the corn one the most, the kimchi one was a little too strange for me.

Day 6:
We headed down to Mt Gambier and stopped at a town by the sea which I have already forgotten the name of. There I had a great cranberry chicken and avocado foccacia, something I must recreate for lunch.

That night we ate at what seemed to be the most popular restaurant in Mt Gambier on a Tuesday night, Wild Ginger. 

Thai Fish Cakes $7.90
The sauce was great but that was really all that was going for it.

The prawn special that night.
Very generous, succulent prawns and crunchy vegetables.

Phad thai $17.90
Nothing spectacular but still very tasty.

Matsaman curry $20.90 (of course we had to try it after Masterchef)
Tender falling apart beef with lots of spices. The pickled dish on the side was a good contrast to the rich curry.

Phad Char Seafood $21.90
This one was on the spicier side with lots of perfectly cooked seafood and vegetables.

Dessert of black sticky rice with coconut milk. So nice but so full.

Day 7:
Lunch bought some pies from the local bakery in Port Fairy, they sucked.

Went to Laksa King for dinner, completely packed and had to kill an hour to wait for our table. Can't say 100% worth the wait, but it was still some pretty damn good laksa. That area is starting to become MalaysiaTown with Chillipadi, Ampang Tofu, Chef Legenda all in that strip.

That concludes the South Australia trip. Took me almost 2 hours to get all the photos in and type up this post.

Up next
-Mussels with garlic chilli butter
-My Wicked Wings