food Archives - Page 9 of 29 - The Wifey's Corner

April 4, 2017April 2, 2017

The Kettle Black, South Melbourne

Another cafe that I had wanted to go is The Kettle Black. There are numerous positive reviews and high rating of this place. Located in South Melbourne, it is easily accessible by trams from CBD or even walk past the beautiful parks. But on this occasion, we went there by tram. It was chilly and windy that morning and as always the case in Melbourne, this cafe was busy when we got there. Waited for about 15 minutes and we were shown to our table.

These were our brunch orders:

Soy chai latte for me, served with honey

Seasonal local mushroom – cooked and raw

Hot cake with ricotta, blueberries, maple, double cream, seed and nuts

Coffee was good according to hubby – maybe not wow, but good. I love my chai latte, it is warm and not overly sweet, definitely can taste the spices. Perfect drink for cold windy day!

The mushroom dish was spectacular, hubby said it was the most satisfying no meat dish he has had. All the mushroom there, whether cooked or raw, powdered, sliced, or whole; everything was beautiful and tasty. The goat curd was yummy without being too overpowering – perfectly balanced dish.

The beautifully presented hot cake, too pretty to cut into. It also tasted delicious!! The hot cake was light and fluffy, the maple syrup and double cream makes gives it just enough sweet and richness. The tartness of berries help to balance the sweetness. And those seeds and nuts gives multiple texture to the dish. This dish is probably best for sharing as it is huge, I am not kidding!

The service was great, very attentive and friendly; food came out quick. On top of that, it has a lovely environment. It was a happy visit to Kettle Black and no wonder all the praises it gets; would love to come back again in the future!

The Kettle Black

50 Albert Road, South Melbourne

Phone: (03) 9088 0721

Email: info@thekettleblack.com.au

www.thekettleblack.com.au

March 28, 2017March 26, 2017

Tokyo Japanese Restaurant, Melbourne

After a whole afternoon of walking around, chasing tram, and missed a train – we finally arrived at Melbourne Central again. It was around 7 pm and we were not sure where to head to have dinner. While walking out of Melbourne Central station, hubby noticed this big board that says Tokyo Japanese All You Can Eat! And there we went for our dinner.

The restaurant is located above a bar called The Meeting Place, in the corner of Elizabeth St and Little Lonsdale St. The cost is $29.80 per person, exclude drinks. Upon climbing the stair, this is the entrance to the restaurant:

A friendly waitress confirmed with us how many people are dining and quickly showed us our table and left us with menu. She explained just ordered whatever we want from the menu and they will prepare as order. Here are what we ordered:

We ordered hot lemon tea for drinks (left) and Chawan mushi (right) – the first order that came out

Clockwise from top left: Agedashi Tofu, Seaweed Salad, Prawn Gyoza, Sushi & Sashimi Platter

Clockwise from top left: Takoyaki, Chicken Karaage, Diced Beef Miso, and Mixed Tempura

We enjoyed our meal here, they were not superbly awesome but decent meal. I like the idea of cook as order, where the food came out nice and hot. In doing that, the deep fried food are crispy and not soggy. On top of that, the food also came out very fast – so no worries about loosing much of your time for that.

Chawan mushi was so smooth and fluffy, a very delicate dish. The diced beef miso were tasty, however few pieces of the meat were a bit chewy. The sashimi were fresh and delicious. The tempura batter was nice and light. Love the lemon tea with fresh slices of lemon and doesn’t taste like instant flavoured tea mixes. Green tea ice cream is yummy, with strong matcha flavour and not too sweet. We were happy with everything we ordered and definitely left the restaurant with full tummies.

Tokyo Japanese Restaurant

Level 1, 315 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne

Phone: (03) 9602 5616

March 26, 2017October 28, 2023

Operator 25, Melbourne

After checked-in at Best Western Atlantis, we were initially going to have lunch at Hardware Societe. Being highly rated on Zomato and seen such long queues from previous trip, we were looking forward to come back for lunch on weekday hoping it will be less crowded. And boy, we were wrong! There was a long queue just as bad as any weekends and by the look of it, we would not get a table in 30-60 minutes even.

Quick stop at Brother Baba Budan for take away flat white – a nice kick of caffeine to start our holiday!

We walked around the Hardware Lane a bit and could not decide what to eat. And somehow we walked north and went to Operator 25. This is also another cafe that receives many positive comments. So, let’s check out if it really lived up to that praises 🙂

We got there around 1 pm and it was still quite packed with patrons, a few free spaces only. And there were a short queue of people getting their take away coffees. A waiter quickly showed us to our seat in the long bench, sharing it with few other patrons and handed us the menu. We ended up ordering these:

Hubby loved his meal – said the yuzu hollandaise sauce is very delicious and it has the tanginess to cut trough creaminess of hollandaise sauce. The crispy wonton was also a nice addition to the meal, provides a different texture to the dish. Overall, this dish is very well balanced, taste wise and texture wise. Yummy!

While I am as happy with my omelette as well. Those big chunks of grilled octopus turns out really tasty and not chewy at all. They are seasoned well and cooked well, the omelette is light and fluffy. Also love the wakame seaweed salad, it works well with everything else on the plate. But, I felt my toast was just normal buttered toasts, couldn’t really taste the miso in them.

Over all, I think they did a great job coming up these dishes. Must be a lot of planning and efforts to finally come up with a dish with multiple ingredients that compliment each other. Definitely live up to the positive reviews!

Operator 25

25 Wills St, Melbourne CBD

Phone: (03) 9670 3278

operator25.com.au

February 15, 2017

Mango Sago

As the temperature rose to extreme heat (according to the news lady) during last weekend and also abundance of mangoes, why not make some mango desserts right? The first time we had mango sago was at this one yum cha restaurant at Piccadilly Centre, Sydney. I don’t think have seen the same dessert on offer in any other yum cha restaurants we have been to before, where they usually only have mango pudding and mango pancakes.

Googled mango sago recipe and resulted in many variances, but this is the one I attempted to make.

Ingredients:

2 medium-sized mangoes
1/4 cup mangoes chopped
1/3 cup sago pearls
3 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup milk, boiled and cooled to room temperature
1/4 cup condensed milk

Directions:

Soak sago in water and rinse off the excess starch. Then boil water in a pot and add the sago, cook until the sago turn transparent and soft. Keep mixing them while cooking to make sure none is stuck at the bottom of you pot.

Once cooked, drain and wash under running water; then drain well and set aside to cool.

In a blender, mix the mango puree and half of the milk and sugar until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl, add in the rest of the milk and mix well.

Give it a taste test while to measure how much condensed milk you will need. Depends on how sweet your mangoes are, you may need more or less of the condensed milk.

Then add in the sago, mix until everything is combined and smooth.

Refrigerate at least one hour before serving, garnish with chopped mangoes and enjoy the sweet summery dessert!

Cooked sago pearls

I served the mango sago with a little bit more milk to tone down the sweetness 🙂

Any mangoes with less fibers would be prefect for this dessert.
Obviously, the measurement are just a guide, so please adjust level of sweetness according to your liking.
Also, if you prefer thicker consistency, you may add more sago pearls; likewise more milk if you prefer it runnier. As it chills in the fridge, it will thicken up a little bit.
For a creamier and richer taste, you might want to substitute half or all of the milk to evaporated milk.
Add some pomelo or grapefruit chunks for an even more refreshing dessert and cut through the sweetness. Notice that grapefruit will usually hint of bitterness which isn’t the case with pomelo.

February 10, 2017

Manmaruya, Ashfield

We still experience the worst of summer here in Sydney, where temperature reached up to 43 degrees in the west. Last weekend was no exception, it was really hot while we were out here and there mostly all day on Saturday. We spent first half of Saturday looking at property inspections around Ashfield and decided we should grab quick lunch in the area. After all there are plenty of choices to choose from at Ashfield, but we ended up at Manmaruya. Also on the note of Sydney heat, I think I will not do any more baking or much cooking indeed until it is cooler again 😛 So stay tune for more recipe posts probably in a little while…

We got to the restaurant around quarter past twelve and there were still plenty tables available. We ordered the special lunch bento boxes whereas hubby tried their cold ramen.

Those lunch bento boxes are really good value for your money no doubt, huge portion of rice and generous amount of delicious meat with salad and some small side items. As for the cold ramen, it really came like the normal ramen but with cold broth. The broth is so refreshing, it is a little bit tangy but very tasty, just perfect for a hot day. By the way, you can always upgrade your ramen portion to a bigger size if you feel super hungry 😀

Manmaruya Japanese Noodle Bar

217 Liverpool Rd., Ashfield NSW 2131

Phone: (02) 9799 6889

manmaruya.com.au