Quang Vinh

With the fantastic hospitality we received in Melbourne, I really felt I needed to buy my hosts a dinner. Unfortunately, Joyce was not with us. Alan stayed back in Melbourne after work (he lives in Geelong), and we all went for a Vietnamese meal in St. Albans. 

St Albans is a Melbourne suburb very near to Eddy's place. It has a large Vietnamese population and I particularly like their pho bo (beef noodles) there. The restaurant that Eddy and Alan chose was the Quang Vinh - a Vietnam and Chinese place. The place is apparently very popular with the locals in St Albans and the neighboring suburbs. It occupies 2 shop lots and was almost full house when we arrived.

The menu in this restaurant was wide-ranging. It had the Vietnamese pho bo which I observed a lot of people eating and Chinese dishes. Service was brisk, efficient and business-like. No friendly personal touches. Like all Vietnamese eating places in the vicinity, tea was complimentary and served in small thermo flasks.

Eddy, being the "resident" diner, did the ordering. He hesitated on the first dish - the Vietnamese salad - which he deemed too expensive at 30 Aussies. I plodded him to go ahead to order. And was I glad I did. For it turned up to be fantastic. This so-called salad had lots of boiled pork, prawns, jelly fish, some onions, basil leaves and carrots, topped with some crunchy peanuts. The whole thing was mixed in a spicy sweet and sourish clear sauce. It was delicious. The pieces of pork was wonderful in taste and texture. The jelly fish was crunchy to the bite. The prawns were very fresh. Good to the last morsel.

This clay pot tofu was cooked with salted fish, and some minced pork and mushroom. It was another delightful dish. The aroma of the salt fish was tantalizing. It went very well with the rice. The tofu was soft and smooth. It was simple yet so very delicious.

The next dish was perhaps a typical mat-salleh selection. It was pork ribs in a sweet and sour tomato sauce. It was as stereo-type as it could get. Yet it was delicious. The pork was tender and deep fried to a nice crisp before being stirred in the tomato-based sauce. 

I think we asked for choy sum but the vege dish turned up to be kangkong. But heck, no complaint. The kangkong was great. It was fried in a spicy sauce, but it wasn't sambal belacan. All the same, it looked and tasted like the kangkong we have at home.

The squid was deep fried in a salted egg yolk batter. Salted egg yolk batter is rather new and is now very popular in Malaysia. I was surprised to find it down under as well. The aroma of the salted egg yolk was rich and enticing. The squid was very fresh. It was a superb combination. A great sinful dish.

The last dish was the Mongolian beef. It was sizzling beef on a hot plate cooked, I believe, with oyster and soy sauces. It basically was the same hot plate beef that are so common in Malaysia. I don't know why they call it Mongolian beef. I seriously doubt the Mongolians cook their beef this way. Anyway, it wasn't bad at all. The beef was tender - typically Aussie quality. The taste was good.

I have to mention the custard apple juice that Crystal ordered. I have tasted some fabulous Australian custard apples - in Malaysia, not in Australia. They are darn expensive - up to RM45 for a fruit. These Aussie custard apples are super sweet (unlike the sour Malaysian variety) and smooth. The juice that Crystal had was a concentrated glass of this delightful fruit. It was sweet and absolutely marvelous. 

The dinner at St Albans was most enjoyable. The food was great. We talked about our lives, my hosts' Aussie experiences and reminisced on our Malaysian pasts. Could the evening be better than this?

Moroccan Soup Bar

The Moroccan Soup Bar is a vegetarian restaurant in Melbourne. It was our nephew KJ and his girlfriend Ann who took us there. I had never experienced Moroccan food before, let alone vegetarian, and I was immensely curious and eager. 

It was a small crowded place, with a simple yet pleasant ambience; brightly painted and furnished with an assortment of tables and chairs. It was really quite homely, except perhaps a little too noisy. It is located on 183, St. Georges Road, Fitzroy North in downtown Melbourne. 

I liked the many artifacts on display. I wanted some pictures of them but it was very crowded. When I moved in to take some shots, the lady boss (apparently named Hanna) gave me a "Hey!". I didn't what she meant. Perhaps I was in their way or perhaps they do not encourage photography in the restaurant. 

I didn't see a menu. I don't think they have one. Hanna came over to take our orders. She recommended the banquet. It was a set meal. They had the banquet for AUD20 per head and the banquet extra for an additional AUD5. We opted for the extra. 

I really did not know what exactly we ate. There was various combinations of vegetables, beans, nuts, grains, roots, mushrooms, diary products - all vegan. I cannot provide the names of the dishes - just the visuals. I will however attempt to describe the taste as I remember them.

The dishes came in 3 waves. First, the starters. The main dish of the starters was this combination of yoghurt and hummus. Hummus is a middle-eastern paste of grounded chickpeas, sesame, lemon and garlic in olive oil. Added to the yoghurt and hummus were potato, egg plant, olive, beet, some other un-identified vegetables seasoned with un-identified spices. The taste was a combination of diary sourness and aromatic spices. It was eaten with some pita bread.

Then there was this bowl of beans, peas, corn and other stuffs. 

A small bowl of assorted vegetable with cheese.

Another small bowl of cauliflower and potato.

And a spoonful of I-have-no-idea-what. It looked like sambal but tasted more like a pickle, apparently to be taken in minute amount.

The starters were served together with cups of sweet mint tea. I liked the tea. It had a very pleasant and mild flavor of mint.

The table was then cleared and the entree arrived. Dominating the main meal was this large bowl of baked chickpea and lentils. Above it was a layer of cheese and sprinklings of almonds flakes. It was baked with various spices including some saffron. It was delicious. 

This was a rice dish. I cannot remember what the accompaniment was. I think it was potato and mushroom in a thick and rich sauce. The rice was cooked in a tomato sauce. I liked the rich flavor.

This was a couscous dish. It was the first time I tasted couscous. Couscous is a North African grain - look like rice but taste very differently. The couscous was buried below a rich mixture of potato, carrot, onion, tomato and egg plant. I did not have the presence of mind to take a shot of the couscous below. I did not find the dish exceptional. The couscous was rather insignificant. It did not have any peculiar flavor or texture. 

Another rice dish. I think it was saffron rice. The accompaniment was beans. This dish did not leave much of an impression in my mind. I cannot recall how it tasted. I think I preferred the first rice dish.

Finally, it was a dish of egg plant, rice and sour cream. The egg plant was good but the cream was a little too sour for my liking. I believe we were supposed to mix the egg plant and rice into the sour cream. But we did not. The dish was just so-so.

The 3rd wave of our meal was dessert. There were 2 small plates of sweet Moroccan cakes. I had no idea what they were made of. I was expecting a grander closing to our meal. The cakes were quite mild and were not exceptional. 

Coffee was served from a strange perpendicular kettle into small cups. The waitress warned us that it would be strong. We were just to sip it. But it did not turn out to be that mighty. I had tasted much stronger coffee than this. Still, after a heavy meal, it was nice to have a cup of aromatic coffee.

I do not know why the restaurant is so named, for no soup was served with their "banquet". It would had been nice to try what Moroccan soup to all about. All in all, I enjoyed the meal. It was something new. Some of the dishes were delicious. Some were just so-so. But my wife did not quite like it. The meal was too sourish for her. Indeed, with the yoghurt, sour cream, tomato, etc, the meal was on the sour side. Also, there was a lot of food - all vegan - cooked in manners new and strange to us. At the end of it, I did yearn for some meat.

Eddy's Cooking in Melbourne

We have just returned from Melbourne. We were there to help Crystal settle down in her Monash campus in Gippsland. The hospitality we received in Melbourne was awesome. Alan most graciously let us use his car - a Honda Accord Euro - great vehicle. Eddy and Bee were wonderful hosts. We had comfortable lodgings and marvelous meals and a wonderful time.

Eddy is a great cook. He enjoys doing it. He often cooks for his workmates. In the course of our week's stay, we relished many of his dishes. This posting is a tribute to his skills and hospitality.

On the second evening of our visit, he whipped up a storm of a meal. He had a few friends over and we had a whale of a time - not just the food but the very good company.

His master piece that evening was without doubt the sambal petai prawn. Yes, we had petai in Melbourne. The sambal was genuine and the petai were big and fresh. So were the prawns. Fabulous!

And the mussels. They were big and fresh and cooked in a very nice spicy sauce. Yummy.

The curry fish head was prepared by Joyce. The fish was very fresh.

This was the teriyaki chicken. 

And some deep fried mackerel to complete the meal. 

One morning we took it easy and slept in. When we got up in the late morning and Eddy was ready to cook us breakfast ala Penang. It was char koay teow. The koay teow was individually fried; with prawns, taugeh, egg and even chives. It was pity they do not have 'see hum' (鲜蚶 cockles) in Melbourne. It would had made his CKT perfect and complete. 

On another day, we were waiting for another friend Nee to go out for brunch. Eddy came back from morning marketing. "Why eat out?" he said. "I will cook Hainanese chicken rice." With a short time, our brunch was like this...
A plate of pan cham kai ((白斬雞)

Tau yew bak (豆油肉 soy sauce pork) with some eggs.

And curry squid.

I forgot to take a close up of the rice. It was indeed Hainanese style - fluffy, aromatic and delicious. It was complete with the traditional garlic chili sauce and chicken soup. 

In Melbourne, it was home away from home. Thank you Eddy and Bee.

Breakfast at Antipodean

The word was familiar. I had seen it used before. But I had not the faintest idea which it meant. Checking my Macbook dictionary, Antipodean generally refers to the inhabitants of Australia and New Zealand. It is commonly used by people of the northern hemisphere. It is from the word "Antipode" which means the direct opposite of something (pole and antipode). To people in Europe and America, the southern countries of Australia and New Zealand are antipodes. Thus the Aussies and Kiwis are Antipodeans.

Antipodean is also a small chic restaurant in the swanky area of Bangsar. It is located along Jalan Telawi 2, which is right in the middle of this KL action scene. We went there for a morning meal at the prompting of SP who liked the breakfasts and coffee there. 

We found the place to be very pleasant. The furnishings were tastefully simple and the staffs were friendly. They have a large counter and kitchen at the back. The dining area was not that big and tables spilled outside to the five-foot walkway. But they very considerately arranged the tables so that there was still a unhindered passage-way for pedestrians. 

They even have a kid play room where they have toys neatly arranged (unreal) and a television set.

We asked for a menu. There wasn't any. Everything they had to offer was chalk written on the wall. Which was kind of inconvenient for we were seated at a table where we could not easily see the wall. We had to get off our seats and stepped back before we could read the long list. And if we needed time to decide on our choice, it imposed additional annoyance not only to ourselves but to other diners in the restaurant.

The choices were aplenty. They had nearly 20 different breakfasts plus some very interesting lunches and dinners like the Kiwi lamb burger (I have never tasted lamb burger before - sure would like to try) and Burmese chicken salad. But we were there for breakfast and it was breakfast we had. 

This was the Big Breakfast. It came with scrambled egg, mushroom, a slice of toasted brown bread, a small piece of hash brown and a choice of bacon or beef sausage. I opted for the bacon. The name given to it - Big Breakfast - was somewhat of a misnomer, for it was not that big. The serving of bacon was definitely inadequate. There were only 3 miserable slices - enough to tease my palate, not enough to sate it. The hash brown was also very meagre. And the toast - only one slice. But the scrambled egg and mushroom was generous; perhaps a little too much. The overall flavor was good. I specially like the scrambled egg. It was excellently prepared - great taste and nice texture. The bacon was delicious. They were lightly fried thick slices of lean meat. More, more!

I think I would had enjoyed this croissant with bacon and scrambled egg more. To start with, the serving of bacon was a lot more generous. And it had some nice fresh salad too.

The All-Day Breakfast was another delightful dish. There were the same scrambled egg and toast, a good serving of baked beans, grilled tomatoes and a choice of pork, beef or chicken sausage. The sausage was really very good. Unless you detest baked beans, I would recommend this to the Big Breakfast.

If you prefer a sweet breakfast, this serving of pancakes would perhaps be great. It was served with some fruits (banana, grapes, strawberries, etc) and a cup of butterscotch. I had a taste of the pancake. It was very well done. It had a nice soft texture and the flavor was excellent.

The Antipodean serves very good coffee. I enjoyed my normal long black. My wife's latte was more elaborately prepared.

They even do kopi-luwak. Luwak is the acclaimed Indonesian coffee that is the most expensive in the world. It is made from un-digested coffee beans extracted from the excrements of civet cats (musang). I have read so much about it but have yet to give it a try. At 40 bucks per shot, perhaps next time.

Breakfast at the Antipodean was good but not a wow. But I think we will return. There are a number of things I saw on the wall that interest me. And the luwak... For this, I will need some inspiration to pamper myself.