Crabilicious @ Omah's

Omah's

338-342 Burwood Road

Hawthorn, VIC

www.omahs.com

I have been thinking about giving Omah's another visit for a while, but my dear fellow diner, Miss P, has been putting Omah's aside and giving me a lot of reasons not to go.  One of her solid reason was that few months back, just before I started blogging, we visited Omah's for the renowned Chili crab (which I fell in love with it).  While Miss P, whom doesn't like getting her hands and fingers dirty, enjoyed the flavour but wasn't that keen on cracking the shell of the crab open for the juicy crab meat. What a princess, I must say! - LOL. 

Finally, after series of push back, I managed to win over the restaurant choice and got to have crab again...but it had to be cooked differently this time.  I agreed to Miss P's reasoning and we marched our way to Omah's. 

The set up of the restaurant gives out a warm and welcoming feeling.  I love the bird cage lighting décor! Very unique indeed! The staff were friendly and helpful, plus they weren't too attentive to the point that could annoy you. 

We had a bit of a photo session drama during our visit, so the photos were taken by the X100 - before the battery ran out - and my iPhone.  All the blame to Miss P whom stopped me from bringing my DSLR! 

We started off with Crispy Fried Kangkong - it was on a special menu and we didn't see it during our last visit. Plus the usual entrée menu didn't really tempt us enough to order them again...as we already tried some of them last time.  So this special menu worked out perfectly!  I asked them to bring it out as an entrée for us, which they kindly accommodated.  The Kangkong came with a dipping sauce, which was a mixed of coconut milk and some other ingredient, and I did not know what it was!  The Kangkong was blanched then tied together in a knot then coated with flour then deep fried.  The taste was refreshing and went well with the dipping sauce.  Though it was a deep fried dish, it didn't leave a greasy feeling at all. 

Yum Cha @ Crystal Jade

Crystal Jade

154 Little Bourke Street

Melbourne VIC

crystaljade.com.au

It has been a while since I had Yum Cha. It wasn't that I didn't have any craving or anything (like I ever not having any craving!  I always crave for food!!), the reason was mainly because I don't know where to go for a reasonable Yum Cha.  Call me crazy, but there is no lie! This trip was the third Yum Cha that I had in two years since I relocated here.


I was introduced to Crystal Jade a month or two ago by my colleague whom brought us here for Yum Cha Friday that we had in the office.  Thanks to my Yum Cha craving over the weekend, I dragged Teddy out with me.  Since we didn't want to drive so far, Crystal Jade turned out to be perfect destination as located in the CBD.

The first dish that we had was this lovely Ginger Prawn Dumplings.  I liked the outter texture of these dumpling as the crispiness factor from the fried was still there.  Also, I could sense the aroma of ginger in my mouth!

Yakitori-ya Frenzy @ Maedaya

Maedaya

400 Bridge Road

Richmond VIC

Once again, Miss P and I made a trip to our favourite local Japanese - the famous Izakaya style - Maedaya.  Our first encountered at Maedaya was back 2 years ago when we moved to Melbourne.  I stumbled upon Maedaya by just walking pass by and my eyes were caught up with the decor and the set up of the restaurant.  Since our first experience, Maedaya has been our local favourite and we always bring our dear visitors here.

It was a good thing that I rang up earlier and found out that they no longer take booking for smaller group.  It has to be group of 5 or more...other than that, we just have to wait and queue up.  Since that was the case, Miss P and I deliberately went there just a bit after the restaurant open to secure a good seat and get time to enjoy the food for the night. 

Maedaya is own by the sake master- Toshi Maeda.  During the past numerous visits, I always see him at the bar and chatting with the customers.  Unfortunately, on my latest visit with Miss P, he wasn't there, oh well, that doesn't really matter, our main purpose here was for food and good drinks :)

We were greeted with the usual 'Irasshaimase!' by the floor staff.  Once we seated, the Complimentary Daikon Chips with dips was served.  We then got our hands on the drink menu and decide on the drink for tonight. 

 

Miss P opted for the Santory Premium Malts, while I chose the cocktails - Choya Blush.  We both then ordered Special Sake Tasting set of the month to share.  No complaints on the drinks...they always serve up really good drink, especially the sake.  The range of beers here also quite extensive but not as many as their sake.

Chin Chin, gimme gimme more, gimme more!

Chin Chin

125 Flinders Lane

Melbourne VIC

www.chinchinrestaurant.com.au

Finally, the day has come...I managed to set foot in Chin Chin after the long battle within me (and sometimes my diner mates) about queuing up for hours when we were awfully hungry!  Since I didn't have much luck on getting a seat during dinner service, I changed my strategy to 'lunch out' at Chin Chin on weekend instead.

After fixing the date to catch up with Miss Y, whom I last met around a year ago, and sussing out that she hasn't paid a visit to Chin Chin, I had my 'lunch out' plan ready in place.  We were there around lunch time on the weekend, and to my surprise, we got a table.  They were crowded but still have few tables avail. 

Miss Y and I chattering away for a bit and ordered some drinks along the way, then with our hungry stomachs calling, we decided to start the ordering.  There were so many choices to pick from the menu and a lot of them sound delicious and we were so tempted by them.  But since there were only two of us, we limited the choices down.

Started off with the Pork Roll-Ups as an entrée.  Some actions required to assemble this dish.  Well, it was a Pork Roll-Ups, so we needed to roll it up.  It was a fun thing to do and reminded me of when I went to a Vietnamese restaurant and tried to put together a spring roll.  Apart from a little fun time,  on the taste scale, it was delicious.  I didn't add dip a lot of sauce to it since I didn't want the sauce to overpower the dish.  the combination was great, the salad gave out the freshness while the tender pork gave away the sweetness.

Brunch with the Duchess @ Duchess of Spotwood

Duchess of Spotwood

87 Hudsons Road
Spotwood VIC

It has been quite a while since I had a decent brunch, and I am sure that Teddy would agree on it too...especially I had turned down so many suggestions during the past months due to the stuff that went on in my life.  Just couple of days before the weekend, the talk about trying out new places of brunch came up, and I suggested to Teddy that I wanted to go to Duchess of Spotwood. 

We did went out of our usual route a bit by crossing the Westgate and went all the way to Spotwood.  Well, we had our aim in mind and food was the key that kept us going!  

We arrived at Duchess of Spotwood not long after and were greeted by lovely staff, whom immediately guided us to the table.  We then chose our drink and sat idly for a while and observing the ambiance of the cafe.  While Teddy was checking out the menu, my eyes were caught up at the red espresso machine...the familiar looking La Marzocco was used at the Duchess.  Plus they used coffee beans from Seven Seeds, which made me wanting to get our hands on the coffee even more.

While my fellow diner order the cold drink from Parkers Organic for the hot day, I opted for my usual  Latte.  The coffee was nicely made, the flavour was a bit mild, but still maintained the sweetness from creama. 

 

Délicieux dîner @ Le Bangkok

Le Bangkok

195 Lonsdale Street

Melbourne VIC

www.lebangkok.com.au

I've heard about Le Bangkok from Thai magazines and Tommy the chef for a while, but it's never occur to me to go and try until today.  Tommy the chef came for a visit and yes, it was a time to hang out and celebrate.  Tommy actually suggested that we should do dinner at Le Bangkok, after he heard that neither Miss P nor myself had ever been there.  

So our journey began...

 

We started off with Thai milk tea.  Thai ice tea here tasted wonderful and the colour was right too! It had a right mixture of tea and milk, so I could actually get to enjoy the taste & aroma of Thai tea that I've been longing for.

 Then it was time for Thai snack - Miang Kham.  Tommy the chef actually recommended this snack and told Miss P and I that it was yum.  So we gave it a go, and we gladly thanks Tommy for the recommendation.  I haven't had Miang Kham for ages...so this actually brought a nostalgic moment back to me since my mum usually made them back home for our snack.  To eat it, first, start of with Miang (betel leaf) and add all of the ingredients - chilli, small wedge of lime (here they used lemon), roasted peanut (here they used roasted cashew), small dried shrimp, fresh shallot and roasted coconut, on to the Miang and topped with palm sugar syrup mixture.  Then wrap it inside the Miang and place right into the mouth!  The trick to get the full taste of Miang Kham is to eat it all in one go, so the flavour and aroma of those ingredients will be exploded.  Do not try to bite or eat it bit by bit, you won't get to enjoy what Miang Kham has to offer! 

 

Chow down @ Coda

Coda

Basement 141 Flinders Lane

Melbourne VIC

www.codarestaurant.com.au

It has been a while since Coda has made its way to my 'to do' list.  Thanks to my dear friend, Miss P, whom planted the little Coda seed into my thought, plus seeing Adam D'Sylva on Masterchef 2011, made me wanting it more and more. Finally, the day had come, Miss P and I made a pack to eat our way through Coda's menu.

 
Lucky for us that we got our table quite near the window, so there were plenty of lighting and neither Miss P nor myself have to do an embarrassing act in low lighting scenario.  The staff were superb - very friendly, approachable and made us feel welcome through out our dining journey.  After we chattering around for a bit, it was time to add a tiny bit of drink to kill our thirst.  Since we weren't really feel like having wine, we opted to beers choices. The wait staff recommended Quilmes and Moritz.  The recommendation was great indeed, both Miss P and I enjoyed our beers at first sip!

After few sips of beers, we then progress onto fulfilling our hungry stomachs.  We started off with Spanner crab, and Betel leaves.  During my first bite, I had an explosion of aroma inside my mouth, all the ingredients gave out very aromatic smell.  Unfortunately that the pomelo was slightly bitter and I found it overpowering the taste of the crab.

Late dinner @ Taiwan Cafe

Taiwan Cafe

273 Swanston Street 

Melbourne VIC 

Taiwan Cafe - the bright red restaurant situated at the corner of Swanston Street and Lonsdale Street in the middle of Melbourne city with people queuing outside managed to lure Teddy and I to set foot in.  

It was Teddy's idea that we should try this newly opened cafe.  Plus, we were looking for something quick to eat without the need to join any crazy queue up.  Lucky for us that it passed the peak dinner service time, so we managed to get a table at the ground floor quite promptly.  

I would say that this cafe is more or less like a fast food restaurant.  It was very casual and the service was quite average - it actually matched my expectation of what this cafe would set out to be (well, i had this expectation in mind before I stepped in).   Inside the cafe, the tables were placed closely and there weren't much room to move around.  It was also quite loud and we needed to speak up when we were talking - just so that we could hear each other, rather than hearing other people conversations. 

We ordered the dishes that more or less match to the usual Taiwanese meal (Teddy's friend has told us about the Taiwanese food).  The food was quite alright, not such outstanding that I would want to come back and have it on the very next day.  I think people are queuing up at this restaurant because it is still new and there aren't many Taiwanese cuisine in the city.  

The Taiwanese Fragrant Sausage ($3.90) was probably the best dish that we had that night.  It was yummy and very aromatic and the best thing was that it didn't have the usual pork smell!  I would say that the aroma was a bit like Chinese sausage.  

 

Spiced us Up @ i Spicy 2

i Spicy 2

80 Victoria Street

Richmond VIC

www.ispicy.com.au

Who would have thought you will be able to find a pretty good Thai restaurant in an area heavily loaded with Vietnamese cuisines??  You wouldn't know until you give it a try like I did. 


Miss P and I have been planning to take Mr and Miss S to try Thai food at i Spicy 2, mainly because we wanted them to experience other Thai food that they don't usually order.

It was a lovely sunny Sunday that we made our march to i Spicy 2.  Mr and Miss S left the ordering to Miss P and myself - of course, who would know what to order better than the Thais?...especially when you go to a Thai restaurant.


We started off with Yum Moo-Grob ($15) - a crispy pork salad.  The salad was refreshing with the tangy and spicy Thai dressing along with red onion, mint and coriander.  The Moo-Grob was nicely cooked, and did the job of still being crispy!