Eating Out: ChilliPadi [Melbourne Central]

I wasn't going to post this one due to the fact that I was only going to try one dish and I was eating there on a free voucher. However the food was just too good that I must share it with you guys.

I had received this voucher from uni and it was going to expire soon so I decided to go try out Chillipadi. I always had the idea that chillipadi was expensive Malaysian food but when I saw the menu I realised it wasn't. It is actually average priced (meaning most dishes around $10) in a very nice environment.

Back to the voucher it said that you had to online book before you go but since it was quite a last minute decision (12am midnight decision with the boy because he had a voucher too) I thought I'd book, then check in the morning if I got a reply, if not tweet Chillipadi. Didn't have a reply, I think there might have been a problem since the Chillipadi guy/girl told me I was supposed to get an automated reply, so I tweeted and booked through twitter. Oh technology =]

Nasi Lemak

Likes:

+ BEST RICE!!! I have no idea what they cook their rice in but it was full of flavour (chicken stock? the boy said pandan and coconut, but I felt like there was something more to it than just coconut rice)

+ Tender chicken with a rich runny curry sauce for the rice =] 

+ Fragrant sambal that didn't make me cry like the one at Nasi Lemak House

+Crunchy ikan bilis and peanuts

+ Achar, something that you don't always get with nasi lemak, good refreshing hit.

Dislikes:

- None. Does the achar being deceptively chilli count? 

This nasi lemak did make me notice something. Since whenever the boy and I go out to have Malaysian (which is probably way too often) we never get the same dish. But that day we had to because the voucher was for nasi lemak. And whilst we were both eating it, I realised we both ate it differently. The boy likes eat all the sambal (no idea how he does it)and then mix everything together like it's fried rice. Is that how Malaysians eat it? But I like to keep all my components separate. At the end the boy convinced me to try it his way and I'm not converted. Unlike how he converted me from Honkie wonton noodles to Malaysian wonton mee. I think the boy may have broken his record for downing a nasi lemak but it makes it a little awkward because then he's just watching me eat mine and I feel like I should give him some. And when you read this K仔, don't change your ways, I like it the way it is.

Also got a hot teh tarik extra because it was sooooo cold.

It was pretty frothy on the top and milky all the way through. Only complaint would be it was soooo sweet I felt like I was going to OD on sugar/condensed milk. 

Food: 9/10 The great thing about the nasi lemak was that it was so consistent through the elements, from prior Melbourne nasi lemak experience there is usually a standout component and then the rest if just average/below average. The intense sweetness of the nasi lemak wasn't my preference though I did ask the boy whether it was supposed to be this sweet and he said it varies, some people like it this way. 

Service/environment: 8.5/10 Service wise it was excellent. All service was done by one waiter, who was enthusiastic (for once!) and truly cared about your needs. He was concerned that the teh tarik wasn't super hot and to tell him if we wanted it hotter, I thought it was pretty hot...I mean the tarik-ing does cool it down. And he moved us further into the restaurant as he realised he placed us in a pretty cold spot. Which led to environment problem of Chillipadi being right in the entrance of MC and it gets very cold near the front door in Winter.

Value: 9/10 For the quality of the food, it is exceptional value. 

Accessibility: Could be a little hard to find and you might walk into Chilli India next door, but hey its the same chain of restaurants. 

Verdict: Definitely coming back to try other dishes. Damn I fell into the trap of voucher advertising but the food is just too good. 

Drinks at Old Town Mamak and Ramen Ya revisted

Sorry I haven't posted in almost a month.
Because of this awesome time of the semester called EXAMSSSS
I still have one more to go but I want to just post this stuff before I forget.

Last Friday I went out with my friends which I only saw a few times all semester due to the fact that we all go to different unis/campuses.

We went to Ramen Ya for lunch. I first visited Ramen-Ya about nine months ago. I wasn't completely blown away by it but it was pretty good for the standard of Melbourne ramen. Fastforward nine months later...in my opinion it has gotten worse. The tonkotsu base was lacked depth, no gelatinous-ness whatsoever, tasted like a cheats broth of msg. All the other components were about the same and of a relatively good standard.

September 2010


June 2011


You can see from these two pictures that the soup from the first one was a lot more milky (which is good as it means the bones in the soup have been boiled for long enough for the marrow to break down).

Later in the afternoon we decided to get some drinks because of the msg overload from lunch. We went to Old Town Kopitiam Mamak at QV.

Left: Bandung Cincau which is a rose syrup milk with grass jelly
Right: Cham which is milk tea and coffee mixed together.

I absolutely love the mugs and the great atmosphere of Old Town Mamak.

Both drinks were around $3.50-$4.