Wednesday 26 December 2012

Rinaldo's, Wangaratta

Rinaldo's Casa Cucina on Urbanspoon
We were in Wangaratta few months ago and went to Rinaldo's for dinner. Best Italian restaurant we've tried so far! Must try if one is visiting Wangarrata. For entree we had crispy fried soft shell crab and whitebait. We had Angus beef gnocchi and seafood fettuccine for main. Best gnocchi we've tried - basically melts in the mouth. The seafood is really fresh. For dessert we had tiramisu and creme brûlée. Very friendly and welcoming staffs. We thoroughly enjoyed our meals.


Interior
Crispy soft shell crab

Crispy whitebait

Beef Angus gnocchi

Seafood fettuccine

Creme Brulee



Tiramisu

Thursday 13 December 2012

Let's Bab, Chadstone

Let's Bab on Urbanspoon

My wife and I love this place. We visited the place again last week. It is normally very crowded with people. Why? It has good food and yet cheap price! If I am back in my uni days, I would be a frequent flyer to this joint. My favourite is the bibimbap (mix of assorted vegetables, beef and egg - comes with fried egg in normal bowl or raw egg in hot stone bowl which will get cooked once you mix everything together in the stone bowl). Caution - the stone bowl is very hot! So far all the different set meals we've tried are really good. The Korean meals here are very authentic. Like most cheap joints, you'll be expected to pay at the cashier and get your own utensils and free water/tea. There are other cold beverages for purchase if one prefers.

Bibimbap set (in normal bowl)

Chicken with sesame set

Tuesday 6 November 2012

Tatura Hot Bread

Tatura Hot Bread on Urbanspoon
We dropped by Tatura to try its famous vanilla slice for afternoon tea last weekend. The bakery is very clean and the staff are very friendly. We only ordered 1 coffee flavoured milk shake and a vanilla slice to share but the lady brought us 2 glasses for the milk shake with extra still in the milk shake machine metal container!

The vanilla slice is good but we still miss the one we had at Jean Pascal in Hobart.


The Tatura Hot Bread vanilla slice

Monday 5 November 2012

Last Straw Cafe

Last Straw Cafe on Urbanspoon
This is the most interesting cafe that we've been to so far. It's hidden in a light industrial zone that initially I thought we were lost. The building is made from wheat straw bales and hand rendered with sand and lime. Thai food is served here.

We had lunch consisted of seafood pad Thai for my wife, panang curry beef for myself and roti to share (I don't know why roti was served, as it was not Thai - a bit of fusion? - it went well with the curry though). The jasmine rice served with my panang curry was mixed with wild rice which gave it a reddish colour and extra aroma. We enjoyed our meal.

Exterior of the cafe

Seafood pad Thai

Panang curry beef with mixed wild/jasmine rice

Desi Tandoori Bite

Desi Tandoori Bite on Urbanspoon
Another hidden gem is what I would say about Desi Tandoori Bite. Just like Last Straw Cafe, it is situated in an unusual small commercial block within a residential area.

The food is great and price is reasonably cheap for indian meals! We had butter chicken, vegetable korma, roti & naan, mango lassi (Indian yogurt drink) to share. My wife recommends the butter chicken. I highly recommend the chef's special punjabi naan - indian bread with peas and potato fillings!


Interior of the restaurant


Butter chicken & vegetable korma

Roti & naan

Mango lassi



Lemon Tree Cafe, Shepparton

Lemon Tree Cafe on Urbanspoon
Last saturday we had lunch at the Lemon Tree Cafe for the first time. The food is really good though the service was a bit slow. It is very busy, so that is not uncommon.

My wife had the Worker's burger (with egg, beef patty, tomato, beet root, lettuce) & I had the Mediterranean focaccia (with salami, zucchini, mushroom, sun dried tomato). My wife's favourite Chai latte was also served here, so she was happy and quite impressed with the one served here stating it is comparable with the ones served at Friar's Cafe. We'll definitely will come visit again.


Mediterranean focaccia
Worker's burger


Thursday 25 October 2012

Cellar 47

Cellar 47 on Urbanspoon
My wife and I went to Cellar 47 a few months ago. It was her birthday so I wanted to take her somewhere special. Though the place was a bit pricey but the food was reasonably good. The place is big so plenty of areas for a quiet corner for couples and the staff are very friendly. Their seafood dishes are my recommended choice and wood oven pizzas if you want something lighter to share.

We had baked scallops to share for entrée. My wife had the signature Cellar 47 steak. My wife recommends this if you love both seafood and steak as you'll get both in one dish! I had the veal as my main. For desserts, we had Tiramisu - which my wife loved! The best Tiramisu she ever had, she said.

I do recommend giving it a try if one comes to Shepparton.


Baked scallops with bacon & tomato




The signature Cellar 47 steak
Veal with mushroom sauce
Tiramisu

Wednesday 24 October 2012

Ping's Dumpling Kitchen

Ping's Dumpling Kitchen on Urbanspoon
Prior to leaving Melbourne last weekend, we visited one of our favourite dumpling restaurant in Clayton. The dumplings' standard as always been consistent but we missed the best dumpling ever (so far) that we had recently in Shenyang, China. We are still searching for the best dumpling in Melbourne but so far Ping's dumpling has been on the top of the list.

For a dumpling to be good to me, the wrapping has to extra thin, juicy on the inside and the wrapping not to be broken or sticking together on serving. Though Ping's dumplings still lack the extra thinness in the wrapping, they are still well boiled, pan fried and the fillings are consistently juicy with each visit. The cleanliness though may need improvement as one of the cup served to us still has lipstick stain on it - unfortunately for that I can't give it a 'Like' rating.

We had our usual to share with my brother and sister - boiled dumpling, pan fried dumpling and Shanghai fried noodles.


Shanghai fried noodles

Pan fried dumplings

Traditional boiled dumplings

Tuesday 23 October 2012

Saving for Mobile Phone - Blocking Premium SMS

Worried about paying premium SMS - usually offered by 3rd party companies selling jokes/horoscopes/ring tones/competitions? Sometimes this could be "accidental" via wifi scam or SMS competition & trivia scam.

There is a way to stop this! I use TPG as my mobile provider and the TPG online account allows switching "off" premium SMS services. I am sure this can be done as well if you uses other providers - whether you can do it online or by phoning the mobile service company's customer service line.

Sunday 21 October 2012

Authenticity at Ho Chak, Glen Waverley

Ho Chak Malaysian Seafood Restaurant on Urbanspoon
We caught up with friends last night who suggested dinner at Ho Chak. Ho Chak is a Malaysian seafood restaurant. This is the 1st time here for us and the food was very impressive. I was surprised that food tasted so authentic like those I had in Malaysia.

We had curry fish head, stir fried green beans, pork in claypot and chicken with mushroom. If one is a fan for the extra hot curry, the curry fish head is a must try! If not, my friends stated the crab and clams are delicious too. Unfortunately for us the clam had sold out, but we'll definitely come back to try it.
Stir fried green beans
Chicken with mushroom
Clayton pork
Curry fish head

Keep your eyes opened ... For Deals!

I was driving back to Shepparton today when we stopped to get iced coffee as I couldn't keep my eyes opened. We stopped at a petrol station along the freeway to grab some. When I was grabbing for 2 x Icebreak coffees, my wife asked why 2 instead of 1? I pointed to the pop-up sign "2 for $5" and the normal retail price of $4 for 1.

Always stop for breaks when you're fatigue driving on a long trip. But also always keep your eyes opened for deals even when you're tired! *wink


2 IceBreak for $5 at Caltex

Saturday 20 October 2012

Last minute at Taipei Delight

Taipei Delight on Urbanspoon
After the fiasco at Cafe Logam, we went to Taipei Delight in Glen Waverley as we know we can get in last minute without any reservation. This place has been one of my old time favourite since my uni days at Monash University. It's a small establishment with no fancy deco but great place for fast and reasonably cheap Taiwanese munchies & snacks. We had our favourite 'must eat' fried tofu, cold noodles with shredded chicken and sesame sauce and pork mince with rice.


Fried tofu

Minced pork with rice

Cold noodles with shredded chicken & sesame sauce

Sweet Treats at Cafe Oreo, Carnegie

Since we had the afternoon off, we decided to get some coffee and cake. We are wowed by the hazelnut flavoured iced coffee and the cupcakes served at Cafe Oreo. The friendly service we got was one of the best we've experience by far There are 2 sections to this cafe but definitely worth heading upstairs if one wants to enjoy a quiet area to sit down.

Beautiful cupcakes

Counter area (upstairs)

Cafe Oreo

Cheap movie at Hoyts - Movie of the week

This may not be news to some people, but we're pleasantly surprised when we bought our tickets to watch Taken 2 at Hoyts today. The girl at the counter said that Taken 2 is 'movie of the week', so it's only $10 per ticket!

Lunch time at Maguro

Maguro Japanese Restaurant on Urbanspoon
Today I have the day off so we decided to head back to Melbourne for the weekend. This is the 2nd time we've dined in at Maguro Japanese restaurant and just like the 1st time we're very pleased with the dishes served. Tea leaves are used for our pot of green tea. We ordered takoyaki (octopus balls), salmon sushi, deep fried prawn katsu don (fried crumbed prawn with rice) and pork katsu ramen .

Takoyaki is definitely better than the ones we had on the streets in Japan! There's more octopus in them and very soft and creamy texture on the inside is just the best. The main meals are just as impressive. The salmon sushi is pretty good too though the best is still at Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo that we had 2 years ago. The lunch specials are $9.50 each at the time of writing. For the price and quality of food here, I'll recommend this restaurant anytime!

Interior - wall decoration

Interior - counter area

Takoyaki

Salmon sushi

Pork katsu ramen

Deep fried prawn katsu don