Memories Treasure Chest

Haoke Chinese Restaurant, Sunnybank Finally! Instead of consuming frozen dim sums, SaC brought me along to Haoke Restaurant to have a taste of Brisbane's 'yum cha'. Yum cha has always been a weekly thing I do back home, where family (grandma, uncles, aunts, cousins) sat together for breakfast; well, it's more like brunch now as more people have become late-riser. Back to Haoke now ... It was packed on a Saturday and we waited for about 15 mins before seats were available.  We had quite a lot actually, considering there's only two of us! Two things that I must have are the 'siew mai' and 'har gao' dumplings. Siew Mai - Pork dumplings Har Gao - Prawn dumplings The dumplings tasted all right, but I was more fond of the Har Gao. The prawns were fresh with soft, translucent dumpling skins. We had more dumplings to share but I can't remember their fillings now. Especially it's not easy to translate them from...

Fish Kitchen, Annerley My new housemate, Klin and myself had lunch one day in Fish Kitchen before heading off to the fish market ( really small market). The fish market is just behind the restaurant. I visited Fish Kitchen once with my classmates after a major exam and we had a good time there. This time, straying away from the fish and chips meal ( crumbed calamari, chips and drink included ), I ordered the salt and pepper calamari while Klin had the scallops. Salt & Pepper Calamari The calamari was pretty good. The coating was crunchy and they weren't overcooked, matching the tomato relish that came with it. I tried one of the scallops and it was fresh. We had a good time in Fish Kitchen. The food was pretty good albeit a little more expensive in comparison to some fish and chips shop. Fresh seafood but in smaller portions compared to others.

Quan Thanh, West End A night of impromptu dinner and the three of us (BG, LiLi and myself) landed in Quan Thanh to have a taste of Vietnamese food. It was packed on a Friday night and we had to wait before a table was available. Looking through the menu, the three of us had the same idea in mind and ended up having the vermicelli with salad. But first up, pork and prawn spring rolls to share between us! Pork and Prawn spring rolls Nothing can go wrong with the Vietnamese pork and prawn spring rolls. They were fresh and go well with the dipping sauce.  I had a taste of the tri-colour coconut drink. It was good, with shaved ice, red beans, mung beans and green-jellies in thick coconut milk. Yum! Tri-colour coconut drink LiLi had the grilled beef vermicelli while BG and myself had the grilled pork, sugar cane prawns and spring rolls with vermicelli. Grilled Beef Vermicelli Grilled pork with prawn vermicelli The serving size was huge! Th...

Comfort At My Table, Milton (again!) Quite a while ago, I brought SaC to my favourite place for brekkie, which is Comfort At My Table (CAMT). It was a Saturday and wow, it was sure busy with two parties of expecting moms having Baby Shower. Even though it was crowded and busy, service was still acceptable. Straying away from my favourite Eggs Benedict and SaC being a non-mushroom lover, we had a 'Pesto Scrambled Eggs' and an open omelette respectively. But first up, a pot of chai for myself and mocha for SaC. Chai with soy milk Mocha Both of us enjoyed our drinks. This time they served chai in a pot instead of in a cup ( from my last visit ) and it was better since I get to drink a few cups from the pot. Awesome!  SaC likes his mocha too. Open Omelette -$15.80 Smoked salmon, shallots, parmesan, lemon zest, creme fraiche Green Eggs & Ham- $10.80 scrambled with pesto, leg ham, tomato relish Excellent meals from CAMT! The open omelette...

The Hardware Societe, CBD, Melbourne Number 1 List on Melbourne Urbanspoon?  Oh yeah, I definitely need to give it a go! After staying in Melbourne for a few days and having learnt the sense of direction of Melbourne CBD ( way easier than Brisbane CBD ), I found The Hardware Societe without any difficulties. I fall in love with this place immediately. Love their decor and the ambience! I was seated on the high set tables facing the kitchen and it was awesome ... Observing the chef preparing food all the time with such calmness and excellent manual dexterity! My jaw dropped reading through their menu ... There's too much that I wanted to try but the worst possible fear was 'NO EFTPOS'! . Luckily, I still have some cash to afford a meal and a cup of coffee.  Hardware Societe's Menu So many kinds of egg version available from baked, fried, omelette, scrambled, coddled and cocette eggs! Finally, I chose the baked eggs with mushrooms, creme fraiche...

Shucked Coffee House, Newstead This visit was nearly a month ago when MXM came over to visit from Toowoomba. We just finished our exams and it's time to catch up again. Shucked Coffee House was on his wishlist and we headed there on a weekday. It is hidden among the automobile dealers and quite surprised that they are doing well despite its location. The best part on eating out on Monday? There was no queue! Unfortunately, they were quite short-staffed then and the specials of the days were only available ( instead of the usual menu ).  MXM had his usual flat white while I opted for my chai. Flat White - $3.50 Loose leaf masala chai brewed with milk -$4 We both enjoyed our drinks. It seems like chai is my go-to-drink after exams. The coffee and chai were both excellent. I love their tea pot! With four options to choose from (wild rabbit ragout, roast vegetable stack, lentil + tomato soup and savoury mince), we finally opted for: Roast ...

German Club, Wollongabba Finally, I had the opportunity to step into German Club! It was a last minute decision to go there after a friend, Siren said he really wanted to go to a place that serves alcoholic drinks. Finally, the four of us made our way to German Club. Wow, it was so busy on a Friday night and we had to park a few streets away. To enter, one of us need to be a member of German Club. It costs only $5 and Siren was happy to do that. Tagging along, we stepped inside and was surprised to see the number of people inside (due to a function or celebration) .  It was a really busy night but luckily we managed to find seats. The queue to order food was so long but in the end it was worth it! A pretzel to share among the four of us while waiting for our meals to arrive: Spatzle- $4 The pretzel was good! The bread dough was soft, warm and at the right saltiness from the sea salts... Way better than those that I made in the past! Looking at th...