Makan Makan Melbourne!

2011-06-08T21:30:00.002+10:00

Hakataya Noodle Shop
Shop27b, Sunnybank Plaza
Sunnybank Brisbane
http://www.hakatayanoodle.com/

Ok, so Brisbane is not quite Melbourne but both cities have a Southbank so there! :P MMM doesn't have to be about Melbourne, it can be about Melbourne foodies giving food from other cities a try :)

Hakataya, started in Gold Coast, has to be one of the best ramen shops I have ever eaten at. Not even the ones from Japan compare. So I may be exaggerating a bit but seriously, Hakataya wins over Momotaro, Ramen Ya, Ito's and Ajisen Ramen (full of msg) hands down. Don't even get me started on the over priced try hard ramen from Chocolate Buddha either.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but this little shop in Sunnybank Brisbane always has a line and if you go too late in the evening, you risk going home hungry because they can run out of soup and noodles. It's a tiny little shop with a few seats inside at a bar and 2 tables and a few more bar seats outside.

The soup is boiled for 39hours and the broth is milky and full of flavour. The noodles are perfectly hand made and doesn't remind me of wonton noodles at all. If you still have soup left over, you can ask for a free serve of noodles and additional serves are $1.80. You are also serve with a little dish of spicy pickled seaweed which reminded me of Chinese salty pickled vegetable. The addition of sesame seeds also enhances the flavour (check out the cute little sesame dispenser below).

Not as good as the ramen but I decided to try their tonmeshi since we were eating there the day after we had our first bowl of noodles. The tonmeshi is rice cooked in the pork bone broth, served with fresh chopped spring onions and pork. The flavour was subtle and the topping of spring onions and slightly sweet pork meat worked well together. It was even better when I topped up my rice with a bit of extra soup from M's ramen.

Apart from the classic pork soup base, you can also choose a spicy soup, and spicy miso soup. New to their menu is a spicy seafood soup base. Gyoza and rice balls can be ordered as well.

So if you are ever Brisbane or Gold Coast, go and try Hakataya. Also a big thanks to the friends who took us to eat this 2 days in a row. You guys have now made me not want to eat Melbourne ramen any more!

2011-04-01T17:22:00.000+11:00

Garage Cafe
221 Berkeley St, Melbourne VIC 3000

www.garagecafe.com.au

When I was first heard of Garage Cafe, I thought it was a really cool concept. Close to Melbourne Uni, this is a cafe inside a big warehouse where on one side there are pool tables and a few car spaces whilst on the other, dark wooden outdoor tables and chairs are placed next to the bar. It's a nice place to hang out I suppose, except for when in winter, the cold wafts in and makes you wish you were curled up at home instead.

I was introduced to their deep fried chicken skin which is basically chicken skin deep fried - heart attack inducing stuff. It's not something I would order again, but if you like your chicken skin, then this is something you should try. I also find their Pisang Goreng Keju which is deep fried banana fritters and cheese with ice cream an interesting dessert. But aside from that, I am quite often disappointed whenever I go to eat there.

Their Soto Ayam is on the salty side, Ayam Bakar and Ayam Penyet too dry. I am always dousing mine with plenty of kecap manis. They tend to be stingy with the sides of vegie and the dishes are overall quite plain. And when ever I see someone order the Garage Full Penyet, I just shudder at how everything is deep fried and the big of cabbage, tomato and cucumber on the side just doesn't seem to offset the grease.

There are definitely better indonesian cafes/restaurants out there, but I am yet to try their noodle dishes at Garage Cafe so that would be an update for another time.

: Ratings :

Service: 8/10 - The owner is always welcoming and friendly and service is always quite fast, except the lose points for the time when they gave my order to somebody else who ate it.
Food: 6/10 - I didn't quite like the pork, but I really enjoyed the jelly so I'm a bit torn on grading this category. The food's not superb or anything, but it is decent, so it shall get a decent grading of 6.

Layout: 6/10 - Good spacious place for larger groups and as the area is quite large, it doesn't get too noisy. The heating is a bit lacking in winter and the toilet is definitely the biggest let down.
Overall: 6.5/10 - As mentioned, there are definitely better Indonesian cafes out there but if you are after a spacious cafe then this is the perfect place.

2011-01-19T13:35:00.003+11:00

Year of the Rabbit

Chinese New Year is almost upon us. In fact, there is only 2 weeks to go. Are many of you celebrating with family?

I love how multicultural Melbourne is. I have noticed that Chinese New Year is always a big event, with multiple locations throwing massive street festivals with food, drinks and entertainment. My favourites are Victoria Street in Richmond which is good for Vietnamese food, Box Hill for Taiwanese and Hong Kong food, and Crown's Riverside Hawker stalls which has a good mix of Asian fares to try.

Check out this page for a list of when each festival is on: http://www.onlymelbourne.com.au/melbourne_details.php?id=5912

Also a quick heads up. My mum is involved with a business that makes a lot of yummy Malaysian desserts and Nyonya goodies. Come and check out the R&S(Sue) stall at Crown Casino this year from 4th Feb to the 6th Feb and Glen Waverley on the 13th Feb this year.

Hope to see you there! :)

2011-01-19T13:21:00.002+11:00

Update! - a new decade no longer the nought-ies

Happy New Year everyone!! I can't believe it is now 2011. I am still signing off 2010 at work and can't seem to adjust.

It's been so long since I have even looked our blog that I didn't even realise my fellow blogger Shopaholic has updated the look of the site.

It has indeed been a looong while as life has been incredibly busy. Since my last post, I have bought a house, got engaged - now a "Mrs", fell in love with cake decorating and baking, and now love to read other people's blogs about their food adventures. Their beautifully written articles and photos have inspired me to no end to get my act together.

With the aid of Facebook, I have occasionally shared my experiments and creations with friends and family. However, its not the same without extra the details and feelings that a proper posting allows.

Many a times when I have sampled something truly yummy...or not, or having made a dish that I've been proud of, I have wanted to tell the world. So I think it is time to really to do it properly.

2010-01-27T23:46:00.002+11:00

It's been ages, but it's also time to revamp this blog.

Will have a think about the next steps in the coming weeks - hopefully will sort things out and reviews will start again by the end of Feb '10.

Until then!

2007-09-23T11:46:00.000+10:00

I Scream for Ice Cream
Licketty Licks Shop 3, 372 Mt Dandenong Tourist Rd, Sassafras.

It was a beautiful Saturday. The sun was out and not a cloud was to be seen in the sky. Without a doubt, my one really free Saturday would be wasted if I just sat at home infront of the tv whilst there were so many things going on this weekend. In Box Hill stalls were set up to celebrate the Moon Festival, in Mt Dandenong the annual tulip festival is on, and my other "to-do" list includes the Pixar exhibition at the NGV.

Michael suggested a drive up to Mt Dandenong in his beloved wife aka Integra. I suggested afternoon tea at Miss Marple's but, Miss Marple's being extremely popular, had a loooong waiting time. As soon as we walked out though, any disappointment disappeared as my ice cream radar worked overtime. I'd sniffed out a woman who was walking past with the last bit of her waffle cone.

A few shops down the road, there was an ice cream shop called Licketty Licks selling the "world's best". We stepped inside to find an extremely welcoming and friendly shop owner who immediately made us try 2 types of vanilla ice cream. One was of the Mototo dairy and gluten free variety which wasn't very sweet or tasty. The other was a rich and creamy vanilla ice cream that made my mouth go "oooo i want more!!".

We sampled a few other flavours such as orange and cardamon, lemon, and walnut and honey. For me, the walnut and honey was an instant winner! We ended up buying a double waffle cone with 4 different flavours. We picked the vanilla, lemon and walnut and honey from the ice cream fridge plus one scoop of tiramisu from the gelato fridge. All up we paid $5.20.

Why am I raving about this place? Well, everything was made with natural ingredients. You can actually see little flecks of black vanilla, pieces of walnut, bits of preserved lemon skin, and other real ingredients in the ice creams being sold.

Compared with other gelati/ice cream places in Melbourne, Licketty Licks is definitely going up on my ice cream list as one of the best. Personally, the quality of ice cream at Licketty Licks is better than my other favourite, Il Dolce Freddo on Lygon St who does great durian and pandan ice creams like no where else.

Apart from ice creams and gelati, Licketty Licks also makes hot chocolate and chai lattes and sells yummy looking Belgium chocolate truffles, organic pies, hot dogs and donuts.

2007-08-31T00:15:00.000+10:00

What do you do at 3.30pm, on a relatively warm and windy day?
When you only have half an hour to walk around?
With no one to go around with?

. . . . *thinks thinks thinks* . . . .

You go out and try snacks and drinks from other countries of course! So off I went into one of the many Asian Groceries in the city and got myself this:

I must admit I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I was worried I might have to toss it out after a sip or two...

Verdict: The "Sweet Taro" in the drink was exactly the same as Yam-flavoured Bubble Tea; or more precisely - the same as Malaysian/Singaporean yam-flavoured ice-cream. The milk tea also tasted similar to Lipton's Boxed Milk Tea (which I will put up a pic of once I find it!), making the drink sweet and thirst quenching! Mmm.. Priced at $1.40 a box, I have a feeling I'm going to get addicted to this drink very soon..
Repeat Factor: 9/10 - Can't wait to try it again!

Korean Deep Fried Corn (drizzled with Honey) Snack

The first thing to note is that this snack is oily. Beware. You have been warned.

Verdict: Aside from that, the snack itself is pretty good in my opinion. It starts off salty but when you start crunching, you end up biting the honey drizzles, leaving a sweet after-taste. The only downside to this snack would be that it's so oily you might feel a bit queasy after a few pieces. Make sure you have access to water/tea/drinkable liquid when you eat this one!
Repeat Factor: 6/10 - An occasional indulgence that is not so great on the cholesterol levels.

Note: Comments on this new 'Snacks + Drinks' section would be very much appreciated!

2007-08-20T22:06:00.001+10:00

Ten Ren's Tea Time
146 Swanston Street, Melbourne
Tel: 9653 3268

After reading Iron Eater's post on TenRen, I decided to head there for lunch with Andy.I was tempted to just go for their snacks, but my ~~greediness~~ hunger got the better of me, and I ended up with one of their lunch sets.

The ambiance of the place was pretty casual as the layout was pretty simple. The front of the shop was dedicated to tea-goods and the restaurant was a few steps behind. I was seated facing the kitchen, and noticed the chef repeatedly coming out from the kitchen to scoop rice from the rice cooker located outside the kitchen. I found it amusing that after he scooped the rice into the bowl, he had to go back into the kitchen to ring the bell indicating that the food was ready to be served.

This is what my lunch set looks like -

The extra side dishes were a pleasant surprise, and the egg and mixed vege combination wasn't all too bad.

The chinese cabbage tasted as how stir-fried chinese cabbages would normally taste. The tofu/preserved vege combination was a strange one though. The tofu didn't quite taste like tofu and when I asked Andy what did he think the dish actually was, he told me that maybe I should just to stop eating it. haha. That was probably the only odd dish in the whole set.

The pork in itself was quite hard to chew, and quite salty. To their credit, they did try to ease up the biting challenge by cutting up the pork into chewable sizes. Taste-wise I have a feeling it may have been marinated with fermented beancurd, which probably explains the saltiness.

I almost forgot about the jelly till they placed it on the table.It was tea jelly with honey drizzled on top. It reminded me of the Pasar Malam "Taiwanese Healthy Jelly" (I think it's called "Ai Yu Ping" Jelly) they sell back home. The jelly on its own was pretty tasteless, so the honey complemented it well. I have been having jelly cravings; so I was very satisfied with the dessert.
: Ratings :

Service: 7/10 - The drinks came pretty much 3-5 minutes after we ordered, and the food didn't take too long to come either. The best part was probably when the waiter smiled and said "Thank you, have a nice day!" when we paid. Either he was really nice, or he perhaps, fancied Andy... haha XD

Food: 6/10 - I didn't quite like the pork, but I really enjoyed the jelly so I'm a bit torn on grading this category. The food's not superb or anything, but it is decent, so it shall get a decent grading of 6.

Layout: 6/10 - As mentioned, the place is pretty casual, and there's nothing too fancy about it aside from the numerous tea products you get to browse at the front of the store.

Overall: 6.5/10 - I'm sure Ten Ren has more potential that I'm grading it for, and with the relatively low prices, it makes a pretty decent eating destination.

p.s: A BIG Thank You to Andy for paying for lunch!

2007-08-14T18:56:00.000+10:00

T.G.I.F
1239 Nepean Hwy,
Westfield Shoppingtown,
Southland
Tel: 9584 9597

Eating in TGI's always brings me down a trip to memory lane. I've always felt that the TGI concept here is slightly different from the one back home, although their level of service, (sadly) is the same.

For appetisers, it was a toss up between half a dozen of Loaded Potato Skins or Chicken Nachos. After repeatedly asking one another "Why don't you choose the appetisers?", we settled for playing Scissors, Paper, Stone whereby the winner has to choose. We ended up with this -

TGIF's Three-For-All

So I did end up having some Loaded Potato Skins, which I thought were pretty average. TJ was disappointed to find that the bacon bits have been tossed unevenly to one side, although you can't really tell from the photo.

The Pork Riblets were not bad, and the amount of sweet glaze was just nice. I thought it was a bit odd how they served it with BBQ Sauce though. I would've very much preferred a serving of their glaze so I can add more flavour to the ribs :B

I've always enjoyed TGI's Bleu Cheese dips. Friends have always complained that it smells really bad, but when you dip the Buffalo Wings and celery in it, it's simply sensational! Yum! My only complaint here is that the dip was lumpy this time round. It's not meant to be like that :(

Before we could finish the appetisers, our mains came. I decided to be a bit more adventurous this time round and tried the Buffalo Chicken Salad. The dish was essentially grilled buffalo-glazed chicken breast served over crisp romaine, topped with Colby cheese, pico de gallo, and a Jalapeño Bleu Cheese dressing.

Buffalo Chicken Salad

I must admit that the salad was rather.. interesting. The salad was drenched in dressing, which made it a challenge after a few bites. On a random note, I only managed to spot 1 jalapeño in the whole salad. Ok, I know it said Jalapeño dressing, but you would've thought there'd be more jalapeños than that! The grilled chicken was on the dry side, which helped since everything else was soaked.

World Famous TGIF's Peppercorn Burger

TJ ordered a Peppercorn Burger, which is supposedly 'World Famous'. The chips were not bad, but the burger was slightly distorted. The meat patty is much smaller than the onion/bacon/lettuce toppings which made the burger resemble an hourglass. The burger was disappointing, as it was quite dry.

When we were finished with our meal, the waiters promptly came over to take away our plates and offered us dessert. We were sorely tempted, but too full to stuff anything else into our mouth and politely declined.

We sat around for a while before deciding to pay the bill, and this is the one thing that I can never quite understand about TGI's. Almost everytime when we wanted to pay up, no one seemed to come by to give us the bill. We literally stood next to the POS machine just waiting for someone to come and punch in the bill, but waitresses who saw us just casually decided to dismiss us and serve existing customers. The number of times we could've gotten a free meal by walking out.. too bad I have a conscience :(

TGI's Booth Area

: Ratings :

Service: 6/10 - It was ok, but I wish they'd pay a bit more attention to us at the end.
Food: 6/10 - The appetiser was not bad, but the mains were a bit of a tough call. TJ had the Peppercorn Burger elsewhere which was actually pretty good, but they didn't do it so well in this outlet. There's also a healthier version of my salad which opts out one of the dressings, so it might be worth trying! (unless of course you like really drenched salads)
Layout: 6.5/10 - The decor in general has always had the same TGI's touch which gives off a fun and unique touch. My only gripe here would be that the booth tables are too small! We had to eat so carefully with the appetiser and 2 mains on the table to make sure nothing falls off..
Overall: 6.5/10 - IMO, TGI's could have performed much better, but the inconsistency of the service and food may be a bit of a turn off!

2007-08-07T13:47:00.000+10:00

The Waiters Restaurant
20 Meyers Place, Melbourne

A colleague invited a few of us to join her for lunch on her birthday. She took us through some back streets where she then led us to a dodgy looking doorway and up with a small flight of stairs. We entered an old school looking dining room where it's as if time had stood still. Apparently there has been renovations but the decor was still 1960's with faded photo prints and old school curtains hanging off the windows.

After being seated at brown laminex tables, we ordered off traditional Italian menus written on blackboards on the walls. The waitress asked if we would like garlic bread or bruschetta to start with and we chose to have a mix of both. The garlic bread was nice and crispy however, the bruschetta had too much olive oil. I ended up having a trickle of oil running down my arm after I had eaten mine.

We all settled for pastas. On our table were lasagnes, and spaghetti bolognaise, marinara and carbonara. The servings were generous and my tomato based spaghetti marinara had lots of fat prawns, scallops and mussels.

We didn't have time for desserts but I've heard their tiramisu is one of their top desserts. They also do pancakes, chocolate mousse, creme caramel and cheese and greens (we couldn't work out what the last one was).

: Ratings :

Service: 8/10 - Fast and friendly service especially during lunch rush hour makes this place a winner.

Food: 7/10 - Pasta was al dente, not overly oily and had a perfect amount of sauce. For around an average of $15 for a pasta you get a simple yet generous serving. The bruschetta was nothing special. I would opt for garlic bread next time.

Layout: 6/10 - The dining area is not very large but the owners have made good use of space. The positioning of the tables and chairs seemed a bit cramped, but it can fit up to 60 people cosily.

Overall: 7/10 - I would definitely go back again for some generous home-cooked style pasta. The simpleness of the restaurant does not detract it from the prompt service and good food.

2007-08-04T15:50:00.000+10:00

Teppansan Japanese Cafe
179 Russell St, Melbourne
Tel: 96631938

With low funds and a big sign advertising lunch specials for only $5.80, the first thing that came into mind was "Yay! Cheap food!"

There are a number of options under the $5.80 range, and if you pay a bit more, you get a bento range for $10-12. All meals come with a free bowl of miso, but if you order the bento meals you'll be able to select either Harumaki (spring rolls) or Takoyaki (octopus balls) as an entree, and you get to order a wider selection of mains, which includes a variety of Okonomiyaki. You can also order an Ice Lemon Tea or Soyabean Milk for an additional $1.50 with these set lunches.

The first time I was there I ordered Chicken Teriyaki with rice. It was quite a big bowl and surprisingly had quite a lot of meat. In fact I was struggling to finish it!

I had Fish Teriyaki with vegetables and rice on the second visit. This time round the meat serving was much smaller, and the amount of rice they gave also shrunk. I finished lunch and was still hungry!

Taste-wise, the chicken teriyaki was very home-made and was not at all authentic. They did have a fair bit of sauce on the rice, although that was a little bit starchy. As for the fish, they actually pan-fried it till the outer layers were crispy (which was nice!) and drizzled the teriyaki sauce on top. The veges were stir-fried, and was there solely (in my opinion) to compensate for the size of the fish.

: Ratings :

Service: 6/10 - They seat you quickly and pass you the menu at once, but depending on who you get service is very average. There is a guy that looks like Yamino from Ragnarok Loki though, and he's always smiling, bowing and saying thank you or welcome. If he was the only waiter who served me I would've given him a 7.5! XD
Food: 6/10 - Home-cooked rather than authentic, the food tastes okay, but don't expect the fish/chicken teriyaki to knock your socks off. If anything, when you start eating you'd probably be thinking "Hmm.. I'm pretty sure I can whip up something like this.."
* Note: When I went there again the 2nd time, the selections had changed, and the $5.80 range seemed to have downgraded.
Layout: 6/10 - The restaurant is long rather than wide, and they have figure drawings of Japanese people on the wall.
Overall: 6/10 - Overall this restaurant is reasonable, considering its cheap lunch prices. It's a must-go if it's lunchtime; you're hungry; low on cash and/or food supplies; and the kitchen's worst nightmare. * Just an additional note though, that this review is based solely on the lunch specials. IMO Teppansan's not really somewhere to go and pay full price for..

2007-07-28T12:57:00.000+10:00

Mrs Parmas
25 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne
http://www.mrsparmas.com.au

A micro brewery and a specialist parmagiana bistro in one? Mrs Parmas is Melbourne's one and only. They claim that their parmas are crumbed daily; never frozen, never processed and never deep fried.

There is a choice of chicken ($18.50) or eggplant ($16) and an interesting selection of toppings for the parmagiana. You can choose from the original topping of ham, napoli and cheese OR you can be more adventurous and give the Matriciana, Pizza Parma or the Aussie Parma a go, just to name a few.

Our meals were served with a side of chips and salad. The fat chips were crispy on the outside yet soft on the inside and were sprinkled with chicken salt. I found the salad to be quite bland and too oily.

As for the beers, some of Victoria's 24 microbreweries are featured at Mrs Parmas Beer Bar. You can order the beer on tap, by the bottle and bottle shop beers are also available.

(Baked Field Mushroom)

: Ratings :

Service: 6/10 - There was a distinct lack of smiley faces when we were there. Maybe it was a Friday but no one smiled, be it the waitress who took our orders or the people behind the bar.
Food: 7/10 - The humble parma is everywhere, but I doubt anywhere else will do it as creatively as Mrs Parmas. It was smart of them to serve the chips on the side to prevent them from going soggy. Only complaint I would have is that it was so big I couldn't finish mine.
Layout: 7/10 - Clean and spacious, there was an area allocated for sit down meals and another to high bar tables and stools.
Overall: 7/10 - Listed as one of the best in town, its definitely a must try.

2007-07-16T22:54:00.000+10:00

Shark Fin Inn (Keysborough)
328, Cheltenham Rd, Keysborough
Tel: 9798 8788
www.sharkfin.com.au
BYO & Fully Licensed

Been meaning to write a review on this restaurant for a while now, but procastination got the better of me! We ate at this restaurant for a friend's farewell dinner.

The restaurant was pretty empty since we ate during the middle of the week at an odd hour of about 8 something at night. Service was decent, and it helped that TJ saw his friend working there! Food came pretty quickly, and we didn't even get to finish camwhoring!

We ordered ...

Deep Fried Calamari Tentacles with Chilli and Spices

Seafood Combination & Veges in Hot Pot

Deep Fried Chicken Spare Ribs with Chef’s Secret Recipe

Mongolian Lamb

Greens

Overall, I'd have to say the food was pretty satisfying. The 5 dishes were sufficient for a hungry lot of 6. The prices were not very expensive, though it did burn a hole in our then miserable uni student-pockets. Most dishes start from around $16 onwards.

: Ratings :

Service: 7/10 - We've heard that the wait-times for food in this place can sometimes really test your patience levels; but in this case TJ's friend was there to save the day, so 7 it is!
Food: 7/10 - The calamari was really good, and so were the chicken spare ribs and Mongolian lamb. Yum! If you're feeling a bit more adventurous, they do have seasonal specials of Crocodile for a meager $25..
Layout: 6/10 - The inside of the restaurant actually looked a little shabby. The lighting was pretty dim for some reason, and I suspect it's because there weren't a lot of people in the restaurant (saving costs?) They had Chinese-styled wooden room screens which shields the dining area from the kitchen, which I thought was a nice touch.
Overall: 7/10. I surprisingly did enjoy eating at this restaurant, and wouldn't mind going back again. I read that they do Yumcha as well, so maybe one day..

2007-07-01T20:19:00.000+10:00

The Chocolate Bar @ Aria Lounge (Langham Hotel)
http://www.langhamhotelmelbourne.com.au/restaurants/aria.php#article87

The Chocolate Bar hosted at The Langham Hotel's Aria Lounge serves gourmet sandwiches, scones and coffee and tea alongside its chocolate dessert buffet.

Between 1-4pm on the weekend, chocolate lovers or lovers of all sweet things can indulge in an afternoon delight of chocolate cakes, mouses, fondue, soufflé and other scrumptious desserts for $45 a head.

After taste testing our first round of cakes and mouse, the sandwiches provided a good break from the sweetness of the desserts and trust me, you will need something savoury to neutralise the sugars! Tea and coffee is free flowing however, other drinks or food items can be ordered from the Aria Lounge menu.

The price is a bit steep but for a once in a life time experience, it is something worth considering if your girlfriend, mother or your boyfriend enjoys getting a sugar high. It also makes a fun afternoon out with the girls even though you end up feeling a little bloated and a little sickened.

Would I do it again? Probably not. However, I highly recommend for others who has not been to give it a go.

2007-07-01T19:15:00.000+10:00

EQ Cafe
Melbourne Concert Hall
100 St Kilda Road
Southbank VIC 3000

Located just a few minutes walk from the Concert Hall in the Arts Centre, EQ Cafe seems like your typical pricey European restaurant. However, I thought the trendy front of the restaurant was a nice "I look expensive but I'm not really" touch.

A group of us had just a little over an hour to have dinner before our symphony started, and Le suggested we dine nearby. We waited for a table for a little while but no one seemed to be paying us much attention for the first few minutes. After telling the waitress we didn't have a booking, we were seated about 5 minutes later.

The selection of food available was somewhat disappointing. The mains were limited and were medianly priced at approximately $25. After ordering, a waitress came around to serve bread and butter. The bread was disappointingly cold and not very fresh, but since we were a hungry lot we ended up gorging it rather quickly.

The food took its time, and no one bothered coming around to fill up our glasses of water. It wasn't exactly very busy that night - it just seemed that the waiters/waitresses had something to do other than serve us :(

We finally got our food about 30-35 minutes later, so we had to eat fast! I ordered the Smoked chicken, Loganiza sausage, potato and grapes in a light mayonnaise sauce and TJ ordered a Spaghettini with a ragu of pork and beef.

The smoked chicken was decent, but I personally thought the chicken wasn't very cooked. It was also a relatively small meal - with about 6 slices of chicken. The sausage was just average, and the sauce tasted strange with the combination. The grapes were also warm! I didn't like the idea of warm grapes, so I didn't quite enjoy it.

Presentation-wise, the spagetthini wasn't all that appealing. It looked slightly lumpy and the reddish-grey colour really threw me off. As for the taste, it was very ordinary and "totally not worth the money".

A friend selected an appetizer as she wasn't very hungry. It was small serving of prawns, rocket salad, avocado and tomato jelly. The tomato jelly was interesting though - it was a serving of cubed mashed-up, frozen tomato. Despite the interesting touch, it was a bit hard getting used to.

After we finished our meal, the bill took its time as well, and we finally left in time to catch the symphony! Overall, I'd say this restaurant was a bit disappointing. It looked fancy, but the food and service was below average. I read in another blogger's post that the fish cakes were good though, so if you do decide to eat at EQ, try that.

: Ratings :

Service: 3/10 - Ho-hum. The fact that there were so many waiters/waitresses around doing nothing lowered the score even further.
Food: 5/10 - Ordinary, or ... different. Depends on your food selection.
Layout: 7 - The inside of the restaurant was nice, and the ambience was good. I liked the lights in the restaurant and how it overlooks the Yarra river.
Overall: 4/10. I'd suggest trying out another restaurant unless you have free time to spare and want a dish that's light and interesting.

2007-06-30T23:15:00.000+10:00

Firstly, many apologies for the long absence!
We're now officially awakening from our long, relaxing slumber..
With both Le & I's schedule, we should be able to provide you with food reviews at least once a week.

MakanMakanMelbourne is on the lookout for contributors though, so if you've got some time and would love to write, leave us a comment and we'll get back to you asap!

As usual, any complaints/criticisms/suggestions/love notes, please leave us a post under the "Comments" link.

Enjoy the reviews for the weekend!

2007-01-06T04:35:00.000+11:00

Hiatus Announcement

lack of photos, updates ... but certainly not food!

MMM is going through a bit of a hiatus right now - the writers are full to the brim with other commitments (including immensely slow connections) to update this site 'regularly' at the moment, so we do ask for your patience and a million apologies to food lovers out there!

MMM should be back in full operation by March at the latest, so keep checking back!

2006-09-12T19:07:00.001+10:00

Back in action...

Call it lazy, unmotivated, distracted, preoccupied...it all describes me. This is not really an excuse for having no write ups, but I've recently had my wisdom teeth taken out. I only had to have 3 out but the experience reminded me of how much I really LOVE food. Whilst I was swollen, in pain and starving due to the fact that I kept to a liquid diet, images of yummy things just kept popping up in my head. It doesn't help that people decide to eat steak in the middle of my ordeal just to remind me that I have to stick to boring soup and porridge.

Anyways, a few kilos lighter, I am able to enjoy food again. Friends whom I hadn't caught up with in a while decided to have Korean and sing Karaoke after.

Theres this great little place next to Korean BBQ Restaurant in Box Hill's Bank Street. Its called some sort of Korean Deli and I do apologise for not remembering the name because whats in a name? That which we call a restaurant by any other would be as good.

Its a quaint little place with dolls of all sorts decorating its colourful walls. Furniture is plain and whole place, along with its owner that doesn't speak much English, gives off a very homely vibe.

There is nothing better on a chilly night to have homely food. For starters, we ordered some dumplings and a seafood/vegie pancake (warning for those who can't take chilli - there were little red bits hidden in the pancake that can catch you unawares). We also ordered the Ginseng Chicken soup which had a small chicken cooked with Ginseng, other herbs and goodies, and a bit of rice. Then for our other mains, we choose a marinated squid, a chicken and a good ol' favourite, Bolgogi Beef. And as usual, our meal was accompanied by a variety of side dishes including kim chi.

My only complaint or note to self is to not try the squid again. It was slighly undercooked and I've had better squid or octopus at other korean eateries. The best thing to try is definitely the Ginseng Chicken!

For the 5 of us, the bill came to only abt $70, making it $14 per head. I'd say thats not bad for the number of dishes we ordered.

2006-07-08T20:24:00.000+10:00

A Sydney Food Post!

okays. for those who read my blog, ull know i headed up to sydney a couple of days back and i gathered some food reviews of places i went so here it is!

Tuesday Breakfast
I flew a budget airline at 9am that morning so I didnt really have time to make and catch any sort of breakfast before I left for the airport at freaking-far-Avalon. So here's what I did: I bought food on board the budget flight! Was feeling peckish although I later suffered from motion sickness, so I got myself a cookie!

Surprise surprise!

Jetstar sells the premier range of Emporio Arnotts cookies! There was only one flavour which was triple chocolate chip and because I was so excited that the flight sold premier brands of cookies I decided to blog about this as well. Haha.

But frankly the cookie was really nice. Melts in your mouth and not too sweet. Perfect if you had a cuppa beside you as well.

Rating: 7/10. =)

Tuesday Lunch:
the moment i arrived, my friends whisked me to yumcha! the restaurant was opposite The Peak Apartments at Market City.

Marigold Restaurant.
Can you read this?

Yumcha there was realllieee good! It's the best one i've had thus far and its better than the reallie expensive ones in Melbourne! Complete with the cantonese waiters and waitresses with trolleys and pushcarts, they had a delectable variety of yumcha dishes to choose from. there were even trolleys that made fried carrot cake for you on the spot!

Let's see what we had..

We ordered:
- Siew mai and har gao
- Char siew bao
- Char siew soh
- Vegetarian mock meat roll
- Fong zhao (Chicken feet)
- Steamed pork spare ribs
- Fried noodles
- Pei dan porridge
- Fried yam balls with prawn
- Paper prawn with mayonaise
- Lor mai gai (Sticky rice)
- Beancurd
- Mango pudding
- Mango crepe

I think that should be it although I believe there was more though coz we were stuffed after that!

Helping ourselves to the food..

And wah lah! Almost gone!

The service there was really good with friendly staff peddling their food to each table. Tea was refilled promptly like almost every 5-10 minutes. I wasnt sure which session we caught because we went to eat yumcha at about 1pm. The trolleys continued going around even though they had already passed us once or twice, which was good because in some places in Melbourne you actually have to grab the chance when the food is there coz it only comes once. So like for desserts, you have to grab it even though you havent even had your fill of the salty food yet.

The har gao was okay because their prawns werent big enough for me, hee.. but their char siew bao and char siew sohs were really good! the char siew was really well done and it was dark red and not artifically coloured like those bright red ones you sometimes get in chinatown or cheap chinese places.. and the meat wasnt too fatty with only one or two pieces of fat in the bun itself.. the lor mai gai (sticky rice) was pretty yummy too given that i hadnt had lor mai gai in a while now..Pei dan porridge was also tasty.. i didnt have to add any pepper in it and it was tasty enough! =)

But the highlight for me here would have to be the desserts. We tried the mango crepes which were new to me. I wasnt too sure about what the crepe was made of, whether it had mango in the batter or it just consisted of egg yolks and flour but inside.. it was heavenly.. there was cream and mango pieces inside the crepe which was delectable when you bit into it.. you know like how doughnuts have cream in them and it oozes out after you bite into it, this was the same.. the cream had a tinge of mango flavour in it as well which made it really nice.. The beancurd was really good as well, as it was really smooth and it wasnt all too sweet. There was a slight tinge of ginger in the sugar syrup but I didnt notice it until we almost finished the bowl. One of the better beancurds I have had in Australia but of course it cannot beat the ones we have back home..

The best dessert in the house was the mango pudding. This mango pudding is heavenly upon heavens. If I thought the mango crepe was good, this was excellent! Its the best mango pudding I have had so far and the milk on top made it even niceeerrr..

As you can see from the picture, the layer of milk was on top and the mango pudding and real bite-sized mango pieces in it! the pudding itself had mango puree like stuff in it so it was really mango-y but it wasnt sickeningly sweet to that extent.. you could finish up the whole thing on your own! =)

Rating: 7.5-8/10. The service there really made the difference. It was the first time I've come across such good service for someone who doesnt speak cantonese but english at a yumcha place in Australia..

Tuesday Tea Time!
Yes we had tea. Of coz you could tell by this time we were on an eating mission in sydney. we were at bondi beach and walking along the street when my friend introduced me to this:

Looook..

Ta dah! Fried Mars Bar!

I know i know.. you may go 'eEEEewww.. Fried mars bar???' I did that too and couldnt figure out how they would make such a thing.. well, I didnt get to find out how they actually fried the thing but when i tried it, it really tasted good! the icing sugar on top made it sweet with the crispy batter and when you sink your teeth into it, mars chocolate flows out! you know how the mars bar is layed with chocolate, caramel and some soft nougat? this is the same! so its really quite an interesting combination.. but its not something you'll have on your own after a full stomach though.. haha..

Rating: 7.5/10 for the fried mars bar.

Tuesday Dinner:
Hoookays. I cant believe how much food i managed to gorge on the entire day of tuesday but im glad it was only for tuesday. haha. lets see. for dinner we had korean! at this place called Seoul Ria along George Street in the city of Sydney!

Seoul Ria, with authentic korean waiters and waitresses as well a head korean mistress in charge of the place

We had a window seat and this was what we saw if we looked out of the window!

We ordered a soup dish, chicken and pork bulgogi on hotplates, fried glass noodles and stew rice.
Lookie here..

Rating: 6/10

Hmm.. my previous blog about korean food was much better than this place, but I guess why i would pass this review was because of its location and ambience.. It was a really nice and busy restaurant where you can see people hustling and bustling around with food for the customers. each table also had a buzzer where you pressed it and your table number would come up on the display near the cashier and notify whoever was free to attend to that table. cool huh.. it looked busily organised.. haha..

Wednesday Lunch
Location: Pancake on the Rocks at Circular Quay

Pancake on the Rocks - very much like Melbourne's very own pancake parlour. Except ours is better. =p

What I had with the girls:
- Chicken Caesar Salad
- BBQ Pork Ribs
- Hot 'N Tropp Pancakes

Here we see the salad on the right and the pancakes with the melting chocolate icecream on the left.

The salad was really good. One of the better chicken caesar salads I've had around with well-marinated chicken pieces as well as a sufficient amount of dressing among the leaves, croutons and bacon bits. A boiled/poached egg was missing though but the cheese in the salad made up for it.

The pancakes had grilled bananas, walnuts and chocolate icecream with cream on it. The pancake itself was abit too thick and it wasnt sweet enough unless you took a bite of the bananas as well. Abit disappointing but nevertheless it was sufficient as a dessert.

Our BBQ Pork Ribs.

It was served with wedges and sour cream and salad greens on the side. The sauce was pretty good but the ribs were so tiny in size! The ones in Cafe Cartel in Singapore are even larger than the ribs here! So, a no-no if you're a ribs lover and you decide to come here. Best choice here was definitely the caesar salad.

This was a pancake ordered by one of the guys. It was chocolate pancakes with chocolate fudge and strawberries. I tried a mouthful of the chocolate pancake and my verdict? Pancake parlour's chocolate pancakes are nicer in tasty chocolate flavour than this one.

Rating: 6.5/10.

Thursday Brunch
Sydney Fish Market was the last stop in Sydney.

I had a lobster and shared sashimi with chengy. The sashimi was really gooooooodd. Fresh and refreshing. It was the first time I had tasted good maguro.. in the past ive always only had salmon sashimi and i decided to give this a go anyway.. and it turned out really yummy~~ oishii~

The lobster on the other hand was ok. So-so. It had melted cheese and cream inside the half lobster shell. Wasnt fantastic but i guess i had too high an expectation. =p

Rating: 7/10 for sashimi, 6/10 for the lobster.

On the way back
Krispy Kremes!

I bought three boxes back. Hahaha. My first time buying Krispy Kremes!

Enjoying it now and i've picked up some favourites. I'm sure everyone has their favourites like Strawberries & Cream and Custurd or Original but so far I really like the Chocolate & Cream doughnut. Yummmmmieee~ =D

2006-07-08T20:03:00.000+10:00

Food review - Ocean King Restaurant
Location: Glen Waverly
Meal: Dinner for 7 girls

Menu for the night:
- Fried chicken in orange sauce
- Honey soy chicken
- Seafood tofu
- Oyster sauce stir fried vegies

Yes.. we almost wanted to order the lobster in the house but its companions looked too lonely if we ate it so we decided to order it some other day. =p haha.

And here, you can see the honey soy chicken in the foreground, with sesame seeds sprinkled on top. Not as nice as the one at Wah Kee in Clayton to me. I prefer more honey and smaller bite-sized pieces..

In the background on the left hand side, you have the orange sauce chicken which was pretty unique and yummy. It had a slight tangy taste to the fried chicken which was pleasant. Apparently it was one of the restaurant's specialty. On the right hand side, you had the seafood tofu (i think). Again, it was so-so to me. Wah Kee at Clayton serves excellent tie-ban tofu though. =/

Although it was mostly so-so, we finished everything on the table except the vegies in the far right background. I can't really remember why but I figured I only took the last picture when I realised the vegies were the last to arrive.

Complimentary dessert - sago with almond pudding, or something of that sort. It didnt go down well for me coz i dislike almond. =(

Rating: 6/10. I think it's just me though but I've had better at other chinese restaurants for dinner although their specialty orange sauce chicken was pretty good!

2006-07-04T12:19:00.000+10:00

Izu Izakaya
64a River Esplanade Yarra's Edge (70 Lorimer St, Sth Melb) Docklands
ph: 9646 2400
http://www.ikuizakaya.com.au/

Tucked away in a quiet little area of Docklands, Izu Izakaya took a little time to get to, partly because the restaurant was hidden behind a building. Parking was rather tight along the service road as there were apartments/condos nearby which probably utilised these parkings as well.

The restaurant had a dim/dark setting with mood lighting. I rather enjoyed the atmosphere of the place. Other than a nice view of the docks outside, we were required to sit on the floor/cushion japanese-style to have dinner, which was great! The only thing missing from the picture was a nice warm heater under the table =D

We ordered Umeshu (plum wine), mixed with soda water as drinks - my cousin has always raved about Choya but i never actually got down to trying it till that night. lol. and she was right! yum! i'm now a converted fan XD

We ordered Agedashi tofu for starters - it was done really well! the tofu was still crispy hot even after leaving it in the sauce for a bit of time, and who can resist the ginger/onion shavings on the top?

I also had 3 oysters with ponzu chilli lemon and flying fish roe - it looked so tantilizing on the plate! *drool drool* Apparently the restaurant only orders in a dozen oysters every day to ensure the freshness of the oysters. I was tempted to order more, but at $2.70 pp, i decided 3 was more than enough to contribute to the draining of TJ's bank account.

The oysters were REALLY fresh and silky smooth! There was one piece that had a bit of sand in it though, unfortunately. The toppings on the oysters were an interesting combination, but i think they topped a bit TOO much radish on it which hid the taste of the oysters.

Our Yakitori Platter came almost right after we had a bite of tofu, and once it arrived TJ and i knew we both ordered too much... again!

There were 2 skewers of the following: Wafu steak (Beef with Japanese radish), Tsukune (Chicken meatballs), Hotate (Grilled scallops), Bacon & Asparagus, Tori (Chicken thigh), Mushrooms, Nasu (Eggplant)

It all tasted great! Even the bacon & asparagus which initially looked (and sounded!) a bit too adventurous for us. My favourites from the platter were the Nasu, Mushrooms and Hotate! *hearts*

The next dish was the Seafood Tempura which had assorted vegetables, soft shell crab, prawns, white fish and squid. It tastes much better than it looks in the photo - i couldn't get enough of the soft shell crab and prawns! It was crispy yet moist inside, and dipped with the sauce, was just delicious!

I was literally bursting when the waitress served my Sushi and Sashimi platter. They must've thought we were crazy to be eating so much for two.

The fish was quite fresh, but I've tasted fresher tuna before so it was slightly disappointing, but still good. After force-feeing TJ nigiri rolls, I finished the plate! whew.. was so glad I convinced TJ to order it for ONE person rather than 2!

You'd think we learnt our lesson and just stop eating after that, but nooooo.. we had to have dessert. Ordered the green tea ice-cream which we polished off quickly! The ice-cream was smooth and didn't leave a slight bitter tea taste, which I enjoyed. Would've been a nice touch if there was red bean at the side though.

So that was our pig-out night - I was literally dying from over-eating all the way back and TJ's poor bank account had another major setback. Shouldn't he be relieved that anniversaries only come once a year? XD

Overall, the service was fantastic, and the food was great! Atmosphere was very good too - it's a great place for a quiet/romantic dinner, and they have a seperate room for group bookings. The only downside would probably be the prices - not exactly a weekly dining venue I guess! =) Overall rating would be 8 1/2!

2006-06-24T01:28:00.000+10:00

Hellooo~

I'm back! With really old and outdated food reviews, its time to blog! haha. I haven't been able to reply comments in the last entry though, so if you still have comments, err..comment again? =) thaaankew.

Okies. so this time. two reviews! long outdated because it was during the Easter break. =p

Review 1 - Grandma Kimchi

Expedition: girls' outing! that means lots of catching up, eating, giggling, photo-whoring (courtesy of me) and memory-capturing moments

Location: Grandma Kimchi at Bourke Street. Really nice location because it is a double storey townhouse-like structure. clear clean windows reaching up to the ceiling, good service with friendly korean staff around and an open kitchen concept at the side of the restaurant.

I recall that i really liked the ambience of the place. My first time there! Clean-cut designs with simple white table cloths and dark burgundy coloured wooden chairs and tables.

Food:

Okays. So this was my first time at Grandma Kimchi's although not my first time at trying Korean food. Doing this review although jayne was there too coz i had most of the pictures in my camera!

First, there was korean tea! really interesting flavour and i was told that it was made from corn! it was an..acquired taste really..

Our appetisers: a good variety of kimchi and err..assorted starters! It was quite yummy though coz we were hungry by then and it kicked off our appetite!

Spicy cold noodles with salmon: really spicy! but absolutely delicious. the noodles were of the right texture, not soggy but very Q. the 'chilliness' was a little bit intolerable but they had a lot of pickled carrots and salmon served with it so it was quite an enjoyable experience. hehe. jayne n phuongy did comment that each time they order this, they cant help but torture themselves coz they kinda like that dish..

the salmon was really nice and fresh to me and it was an interesting combination. a must-try really and i want to bring my friends there to try this next time! a kicker at your tastebuds! =D

A very yummilicious HotPot/HotStones/HotPlate (what is the word i forgot..=S) BBQ chicken!

okays. actually that is a very bad description of it and it does not justice to how good it tastes. but i really forgot its title coz it was so long ago! but its really nice and yummy with this teriyaki-like sauce/marination in that hotplate-like bowl and you can smell it as it approaches the table. it's served with fresh green lettuce and theres bean sprouts at the bottom of the bowl too. its like chicken bulgogi except its not called that though.. its sweetish-salty, delicious with rice and dipped with the gravy that collects at the bottom.

Another yummilicious HotPot/HotStones/HotPlate BBQ pork.

A similar dish as the one above just that this is pork. It actually tastes like char siew (sweet BBQ pork) but it has gravy at its bottom too with bean sprouts. I prefer the chicken to the pork but its a good combination to have both for different tastes. =)

Rating: 8/10. =) It put me into a really good mood this place, due to the good food, great company and nice ambience inside the restaurant although it was pouring that night! Really recommend people bringing their friends to this place for good korean. Abit more expensive than the usual korean places, but I believe it was worth my every cent.

Before and after pictures below:

Before - look at the fresh green lettuce at the foreground!

After - haha. it shows how good the food was coz although it was really quite a lot for us 3 girls, we finished everything. =)

Girly outing. =)

Review 2 - Max Brenner @ Melbourne Central

Yes! Max Brenner the chocolate man. I know how everyone goes to the MB's at QV, but did you know there's one at Melbourne Central too? It's actually quieter there and there's more variety on the menu!

So the girly outing from Grandma Kimchi transferred to MB's before we went our separate ways for the night.. (me-Amber Lounge, the others-home..hehe. really interesting night though....-ponders)

Our desserts:

Hot chocolate drinks!

Remember how I said it was pouring that night? When we finished dinner, which was about 9pm, we went over to MB's and actually decided on the outdoor sitting. -.-" so warm hot chocolate drinks had to be on the cards...

Erm. Phuongy had white chocolate and Jayne had milk but. I had english breakfast tea instead. haha. i was being anal and had tea instead becaaause.. I knew we were getting this for dessert!

Chocolate pizza! With chewy caramel and toffee bits, topped off with soft warm marshmellows and bananas!

Bananas were plentiful because this was before the cyclone hit Queensland actually..but look at that! the bread's really yummy and its not too sweet! addictive too! phuongy didnt wana have any at first because she was really full, but she caught on to it because it was that good! not scarily sweet, but it has to be shared! really a good dessert to top off the night. chocolate's endorphins made us really high and happy. =D

Rating: 7/10. I kinda liked this MB's better than the QV one although its a different crowd i guess. Melbourne Central's MB was more chill out and relax quietly whereas QV's was more of chill out but be there to be seen sorta thingy. for the city kids la. we cool girls dont have to partake in such activities. hahaha. i kid myself sometimes.

Okies. That's all for today! Will have to dig through my archived photographs for more foodie reviews!

2006-05-20T15:55:00.000+10:00

A lack of appetite? Nooo..

it's just been a lack of time!

apologies for the lack of posts on my part but exam and assignment deadlines are coming! yes i know i only have one exam but having court appearances and handling clients' files also add up and i dont have enough time for my own blog let alone this one. =X

watch this space after the 22nd of June though! more updates till then after exams!

2006-05-07T20:58:00.000+10:00

Brunch @ Greasy Joes Bar and Grill - http://www.greasyjoes.com.au/

Where you have a meal thats not quite breakfast and not quite lunch, you get a marriage of "brunch". Michael and I went to St Kilda for brunch today and boy were we famised by 11.30am. Greasy Joes does breakfast all day and you can choose from muesli, toast, pancakes and the more unhealthy combinations of bacons, sausages and eggs.

Michael ordered the Lot breakfast which came with two eggs, bacon, sausage, hash brown, grilled tomatoes, button mushrooms and sourdough toast. I had the Heckel's breakfast where I asked for scrambled eggs and it came with bacon, sausages, fries, baked beans and sourdough toast.

You are all probably wondering what are fries doing on the breakfast menu. I don't know either but I can tell you that they were great. Soft on the inside yet lightly crunchy on the outside. For that reason, I can't wait to try out their burgers one day having seen them being served to other customers. We washed our meals down with freshly squeezed orange juice, and trust me, you will need it as Greasy Joes lives up to its name!

Overall, the servings were HUGE and they were very generous with the bacon. I don't think I've ever been served so much bacon before. We also saw this on the menu > Triple bypass breakfast three eggs, three saussages, three bacon, three hasnbrowns onion rings and porterhouse steak for $23.50. I would love to see someone chow that down and not end up in hospital!
The atmosphere in Greasy Joes is relaxed and hip. There are seating outside, booths and side tables available or theres also the bar in the middle of the restaurant. Keeping us entertained whilst we wait for our meals is a large painted mural that covers a whole wall depicting Luna Park, the guy with the bike on the pole, and other frequenters in the area. Its also good to know that we are watched by surfy Jesus with his surfboard who is amongst the crowd in St Kilda.

Verdict: Our meals excluding the juice were under $15 each and I would go back again but not too soon in the near future. This would make a great place to visit after a night of heavy partying, or just to satisfy a craving for some comfort food.

2006-04-26T08:54:00.000+10:00

Two random entries

o.O its an hour to my tutoring class and i have yet to edit my paper but here i am! blogging about foodies once more! psst. its just a ~~good excuse~~ reason to ~~slack~~ relax ok! hee.

Random: Baker's Delight Hot Cross Buns - Chocolate Chip

okays. so it was Easter last sunday, and when you have Easter, (if you don't actually go to church like myself) one commercial item you can't miss besides wonderfully yummy chocolate easter eggs are hot cross buns!

~Hot Cross Buns
Hot Cross Buns
...
Hot Cross Buns~
i forgot how e song goes. =p

you see that lovely pictures of 4 HCB? it was initially half a dozen, but of coz i wolfed down 2 of them, leaving jayne 2-3 mouths of it. haha. nah im kidding. but they are seriously that good!

Baker's Delight offers two kinds of HCB, not just over Easter but throughout the year! Get them when they are just out of the oven and they are warm, fresh and simply soft and chocolaty to your tastebuds. very different from the traditional raisin/sultana/fruit filled HCB, but we opted for this flavour to try the difference.

its cross is chocolate laced on top, with bits of chocolate chip inside the soft bread. best to have fresh and warm! after we took it home, we had to heat it up again in the oven to attain its soft bouncy feel again, but it wasnt the same anymore. =( its rock hard if you are too lazy to even heat it up. pleh.

so yes. baker's delight hot cross buns, totally delightful! only when its fresh.

Review: Don Don!

Expedition: During the Easter break, jayne and i headed down to Victoria Market on a Tuesday, basically to hunt for bargains and for me to scout out some Ugg Boots. Bargains attained, but boots were a disappointed. Met one of my clique girls in the city and we decided to have jap food for lunch! jayne was trying to tell me that this place was recommended and that it was quite a dingy place. didnt really understood what she was talking abt..o.O until i linked it to Swanston St. hehe..

Location: Corner Swanston and Little Bourke St. Don Don! Note: quaint little shop, packed during lunch hours. seldom open for dinners. Excellent jap food at a cheap price!

that's the view you see the first thing you step in DD. the order counter is on the left with the small tiny kitchen (i really wonder how they manage to cook up so much orders so fast. -ponders) and on your right there are seats by the walls. there's seating somewhere to your left side for larger groups of 3-4. outdoor seating is available as well, although i wont recommend it for a cold winter's day with gigantic pigeons hovering above you to attack your food while you try to consume what best jap food it may be. -.-

so yes. its definitely a small place. not big enough for large groups unless you choose to take away and sit outside the state library's lawn on a sunny afternoon. but other than that, it wasn't veeery dingy in my opinion. just. quaint. =)

jayne's order. chicken teriyaki bowl. -hollers in a ching chong voice: only $5.50!

my order. apparently its their specialty. SUKIYAKI BEEF BOWL!

for those sgpreans. or msians too. you remember Yoshinoya? yeah? and you eat beef? good! High-Five~!coz this tastes exactly like it and at an affordable price too after you do currency conversions to Sing Dollars. the beef bowl is really quite good for beef lovers and its a must try when you go to DD.

I still remember my first time entering DD. I was in year 1 in Australia, doing my foundation studies. my first friend in school was japanese, and her name was michi. she told me that she had already been in Melbourne for quite a while and had a caucasian boyfriend as well. in terms of jap food, she recommended DD and said that along Swanston St, DD actually has one of the best jap food around as it is actually prepared by Japanese pple and it is actually up to the standard of jap food as in Japan. i was mesmerised by what she said and at the point of time i ordered the beef bowl as well. ever since then, whenever i visit DD, beef bowl has been my only choice. (ive always wanted to try the others too, but i just didnt get the urge to order them when i see e beef bowl. =p)

so yes. beef bowl. this time though, the beef was abit dry coz i think it was already waiting for a while after it got cooked. the beef bowl is served with plentiful amounts of rice and beef on top. with japanese ginger and spring onions on the side. you team that up with BOOST!blueberry blast! and its a great combination as shown in e picture above. =D

Rating: 6.5/10. Normally i would give 7/10 but that day the beef just wasn't all that salivating for me. Nonetheless, a definite must-try if you eat beef!

Don Don DOn DOn! whee~

2006-04-26T01:16:00.000+10:00

Glen Waverley Galore - Round 2!

Ok. I'm on a roll.

So, after J.G Dumpling the girls decided to head off for dessert. Someone contemplated Gelati but no way was I going to have gelati out in the cold. Someone then suggested PP, and off we went!

Pancake Parlour Restaurants, The Century City Wlk GW

I think it was Wendy's first time here. lol. should've let her handled the review.

Hot Fudge Sundae!
Ratings: 7 1/2
Organic Ice-Cream . Bananas . Nuts . Wafer . Hot Fudge = Ice-Cream Heaven!
The ice-cream was sweet and smooth and the fruit and nuts were a nice touch. The fudge was nothing to shout about, but was good as a dip for the short stacks.

Short Stack with Maple Syrup & Organic Cream
Ratings: 6 1/2
I liked the short stacks but I thought Ice-Cream was a better choice than the cream. It was a bit bland after the cream runs out - could've used more maple syrup!

Short Stack with Maple Syrup & Whipped Butter
Ratings: 7
Whipped butter is heaven-sent.

Menu Shot #1

Menu Shot #2

Pancake Parlour!

Dessert Summary: If you haven't had a chance to try organic dairy, this is probably a good place to start off. To give a rough idea of pricing, the ice-cream was approximately $10. The mains in PP are not bad, and they've got dinner and lunch specials going on now. Will do another review if we end up going for mains there. However, returning to the dessert summary - the ice-cream was just too delicious for words. Not entirely sure about the calories gained from it though.

Ratings:

Service: 5 1/2 - PP seemed understaffed.. or if there were waiters, we didn't have it easy trying to get someone's attention to order. Even after we said we were ordering to share they didn't give us enough spoons.
Food: (dessert) 7 1/2 - Can't rave enough about the organic ice-cream and whipped butter..
Layout: 7 - Interesting paintings and glass stencils. There's also a table where you can play giant chess. Would've loved to give it a go, but the table was occupied when we got there.
Overall: 7 - Desserts-wise PP did a good job. Slightly pricey for poor uni students, but a friend had a buy one free one short stack voucher, so it all turned out good. lol.

2006-04-26T00:08:00.000+10:00

Glen Waverley Galore - Round 1!

All of 3M's contributors have been hard at work, except me! ;__; here's some reviews to make up for my disappearance..

J.G Dumpling, 78 Kingsway Glen Waverley
We went to JG for a farewell dinner about 2 weeks ago. Wendy & I have been there just a week before after a club activity and at that point in time thought the restaurant was really good.

We basically ordered a majority of what we had from the previous meal:

Shanghai Noodle
Rating: 5
Noodle wasn't as nice as the previous time we came. It was a little oilier than I like my noodles to be. Looking back on the pictures now it doesn't seem very appetising..

Random Vegetable
Rating: 3 1/2
Salty. Unbelievably salty. It's salt + soy sauce + more salt + vege. The sauce at the bottom wasn't tasty though, so we 'washed' our vege before eating it and voila! it's fit for human consumption once again =)

Fried Chicken & Prawn Dumpling
Rating: 7 1/2
The prawn and chicken were a good combination, and the dumplings were nicely pan fried. It's nothing like the burnt dumplings I attempt to cook at home. The skin's decievingly crispy on the outside; making you take a huge bite of the dumpling, only to find the inside is hot!

Xiao Long Bao
Ratings: 6
Little Dragon Dumplings? Like the Shanghai Noodle, the last round seemed better. The XLB's were slightly drier this time round, but still decent. A friend told us that in Shanghai the XLBs are nicely steamed with yummy hot soup to slurp in the dumpling!

Red Bean & Taro Pancake
Rating: 6
Wendy was all over the Taro pancake the last time. This time round the Red Bean was nicer than the Taro! lol. My only complaint is that this dessert is too oily. Oil was oozing out from the pancake itself. Makes you think twice about putting it in your mouth when you look at it long enough.

'Artistic' Menu Shot... lol.

Mains Summary: Prices are pretty cheap compared to other places in GW. A main is priced from $6.50 onwards. They cut out a number of items from the menu though, which is a bit of a let down. Also, they don't seem to have that many choices of mains to share - I have a feeling JGD's menu caters more for individual eating, but I'm sure you can request for a bigger portion to share.

Ratings:

Service: 5 1/2 - not sure if it was due to the pending Easter holidays, but staff seemed edgy and weren't very friendly that day.
Food: 6 - the fried dumplings were the best main we had in JGD. The rest were just major disappointments. The portions given for extras (eg: ginger and cut chilli) were ridiculously tiny and the chilli looked as if it's been soaked for days.
Layout: 4 1/2 - nothing great about the layout. they don't have shades in the front of their shop - wendy was blinded by the evening sun both times when we were there. also, i can't get over the green paint on the walls. it's such a bland colour! i thought green was supposed to be soothing, but this particular shade makes you feel a bit sick. especially once you've eaten too much..
Overall: 6 - ok place to go to for cheap food (ie: yummy fried dumplings!) the previous experience in JGD helped the overall rating. I hope the restaurant bucks up its food quality again soon!

2006-04-25T18:30:00.000+10:00

a post and two reviews

okiees. i have had a lack of updates on reviews! been so busy and did so much eating over easter break. its already over! boo-hoo~ e life of a student it is.. look at jaayne's hardwork though..loooookkkk! e site is soo nice n yummiliciously strawberry-pink. =)

so yes, there are going to be two reviews here.. both short and sweet i hope. coz theres just somuchthingstodo and yes. not enough time! grrz. im gona take jayne n hide her with me to start studying soon. okays. enough rant and back to foodies.

Yumcha at Gold Leaf Restaurant
e housemates at no11 had this quite a while ago, so its pretty backdated. but oh wells, here goes:

Location: Springvale Shopping Centre. i nv knew a chinese yumcha restaurant existed in springvale so yeaaah. this was my first time there. e session we went to was e later one at ard 1.15pm. had to make a booking for it, coz lk all other yumcha sessions, its always packed.

the inside of Gold Leaf looked lk a normal chinese yumcha place..although its elevation on e 2nd floor did somehow make me feel lk we were near e ocean.. (i thk it was coz there were grey dark clouds outside tt made me feel e ocean was right below us like in a kelong) so yes. anyways, it was usually-packed with pple.. and we were sitting somewhere near e centre of the restaurant but more towards e entrance of e place..

Menu: Yumcha usuals - siew mai (assorted with scallop, mushroom and crabmeat), har gao, century egg porridge, char siew soh, fried paper tofu, soft shell crab, egg tart, mango pudding, some coconut lined dessert with sweet stuffing inside, tau huay, assorted fruit salad. there were more food that we ordered i believe coz we were so stuffed after we walked out..but i jus cant rem wad else we ordered right now. things we definitely did not get however were: char siew baos, red bean baos, what ever form of baos; and real prawns in har gaos.

yes. so actually wad we had there was pretty disappointing for yumcha. i didnt have my all-time favourite baos and har gaos! e har gaos there were like minced prawn. not a whole, full prawn at all! so disappointing. phleh.

Rating: On the whole, 6.5/10. the desserts helped improve e rating a little coz at least they were proper desserts that were good.

recommendation if you were to go Gold Leaf: apparently e egg tarts there were good..although i didnt try them myself for personal reasons..=p and the tau huay there isnt all that bad too.

that's e girls after yumcha. yes e table looks empty but that doesnt mean e food was reallie good. we were just hungry. =p

Dinner at Niko Niko
Niko Niko!

for those who know my email address, this place will actually strike some similarity due to its name. i was intrigued by the place when jayne first mentioned it to me.. furthermore its called niko niko! sth dear to my heart already! =)

Location: eerm. not sure exactly, but near Chadstone and beside Holmesglen TAFE.

so yes. i found out that it was a HK style eatery near Holmesglen TAFE which sold cheap good food to students. it had a very nice ambience with nice soft lighting, wooden furniture against warm amber-shaded walls.. nice chinese paintings hung on e sides and e music was nice reminiscent songs u used to hear when you were in ur teens.. so yes. already a good impression!

Menu: this is the best part yet. it has food that i crave for when im not in Sg and its cheap! one of e cheapest ive seen around, and definitely not a place that stinges on its quality!

The menu we ordered for that night was Yin Yang tea, Spicy Pork with noodles, Wanton noodles and my favourite - Wanton noodles (lk those they sell back home with char siew!). okays, so in all my current excitement, i would actually only review the wanton noodles that i had..coz well, basically i only had this that night!

Yin Yang Tea, cold. i only tried a sip of this, and its not really to my liking but i shallnt rate it. basically coz i thk i duno how to appreciate tea and coffee together.

Jayne's dinner. looks yummy doesnt it? really good picture btw.

the review for today. Wanton Noodles, Singapore style. Only thing missing was the extra tomato sauce mixed with e black sauce for the noodles, and green cut chilli.

First thing you'll notice is that here in Melbourne, when you order Wanton noodles, they DO NOT serve it with char siew. back home they do, but of coz, the sizing of e meal is totally different. this is like. huge. so yes, i had to add wanton with the char siew noodles. niko niko charged different prices for the noodles when they were with soup or dry. char siew, ie bbq pork, with dry noodles was $7 i believe, while e addition of wanton was about..$3? so in total it was $10 for that big plate of wanton noodles. it may seem expensive, but when you look at it, that one plate does look like three servings back home..

Next thing that I observed in glee when my wanton mee arrived was that e soup was really good. e soup on e side was not super laden with MSG but it had a nice sesame oil feel with it. i dumped my wanton in it to make sure they didnt dry out and e effect reminded me all e more of home. =) e noodles. ohmygod. best noodles ive had in melbourne thus far. very good meekia for those who know wad im talking abt. its not soggy or soft, but very Q and chewable to the right texture. good taste too, not powdery or hard and it had a nice aroma to it too. e char siew. again. perfect with e noodles. abit fatty around e edges but enough to make it really nice n fragrant. wasnt of e fake, artificial red colouring and it was well done right down to e centre of the sliced pork. e wanton. WHOLE prawns inside! really good for wantons. huge as well. quite a mouthful when you put them in ur mouth but its all bitesized that it oozes out enough juice from its inside when you chew into it. and finally, e greens on e side. nicely blanched in hot water, topped off with soya sauce.

Rating: 8.5/10 Best Wanton Noodles I've had yet! and e closest style to home! =)

A definite must-go when my cravings for Sg food act up again. =)

2006-04-22T19:47:00.000+10:00

21st April 2006 - Mecca Bah

First of all a BIG well done to + shopoholic + for the wonderful coding!! The site is definitely looking quite pro. Keep up the good work!!

We attended a friend’s going away dinner on Friday night at the Mecca Bah at Newquay Promenade down at the Docklands. A lot of reviews around town have always given this place a great rap and having previously dined there, I also have a fairly high opinion of them as well. Friday night provided a good chance to sample the lamb tangine and spiced chicken pizza.

The lamb was served with preserved lemon, green olive and harissa on a bed a couscous with a generous amount of herb and tomato based sauce. I could really taste the preserved lemon and the olives definitely complemented the dish. 8/10

The pizza is not exactly what you would imagine a pizza to look like. For one, our pizza was not round and cheesy like the ones you get from regular pizza joints. Our chicken pizza with eggplant, rocket & tahini sauce came on long oval plate. It had some sort of tandoori or curry like paste which was slightly spicy but was well balanced by two generous dollops of yogurt and rocket. The eggplant was yummo! 8/10

Mecca Bah has a warm, cosy, romantic ambience. With views of the waterfront and a fireplace in the middle of the restaurant, it provides a great place for an intimate dinner for two, groups of friends eager to catch up or a quiet corner for drinks. The only downside is that advance booking does not happen which means trying to accommodate for large groups ie. 20+ people will be a bit of a struggle.

On a side note, Mecca Bah belongs to the group of Mecca restaurants which includes Mecca at Southbank, Live Bait at Newquay Promenade and Bar Bosh at Knox.

2006-04-22T19:46:00.000+10:00

16 April 2006 - Switch Lifestyle @ Knox

On a cold and crisp Easter Sunday evening, we ventured out to seek something yummy to warm up our tummies. We headed out to Knox, home to a few other delectable looking eateries but settled on Switch Lifestyle. Switch is a well lit, bustling restaurant with seating arrangements that includes booths, tables, benches and a lounge area. They also have a bar and grill section which has a wide selection of beers and other spirits and wine.

Tossing up between whether to have the pasta or the chicken, I settled on the roast chicken just to be different. It was surprising moist and that being said, I have found that most chicken breast tends to be on the dry side. The chicken meat seemed to be lacking something and perhaps should have been seasoned better? Overall, this dish was quite light in taste, relying on the caramelised onions and sauce to infuse the chicken, bok choy and gnocchi with a light sweetness. The bok choy was well done and not overcooked, whilst the most pleasant was the fried gnocchi which was slightly crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. 7/10

Michael had chosen the fettuccine with chicken. The creamy pasta sauce was, well, creamy but nice with a bit of help from the salt and pepper. There was a decent amount of mushroom and avocado but in proportion to the amount of pasta, there was a generous helping of roast chicken. The chicken did taste great, but was on the dry side. 6/10

Overall, the mains were of generous proportion and served on large dishes. Only downfall I found was that cutlery kept falling into my food due to the curved sides of my plate.

Bailey's cheese cake

With 2 girls on an eating frenzy, how could we resist sickeningly delicious cakes? I've always enjoyed the cakes at Switch and of the two cakes we tried, I am to give my thoughts on the Bailey's cheesecake. I am not normally a huge fan of cheesecakes, but on this occasion, I drooled at the thought of Baileys. Accompanied by ice-cream, this cake was deliciously creamy. The Baileys was quite subtle and there was a hint of zesty orange undertones to the cake. The crust, although quite hard, was nice and reminded me of short bread. Even though I was feeling quite stuffed after the mains, this cake was definitely not a disappointment. 8/10

2006-04-21T16:49:00.000+10:00

3 CHEERS! HIP HIP HOORAY!

coding all done. images all up. credits properly affixed.

*collapses in exhaustion*

2006-04-19T18:39:00.000+10:00

layout = 1 . review = 0

i'm tired from coding. yes, very silly of me to take an incomplete layout and adventurously attempt to complete it by myself.

thanks to Blogskins; and Sodarnsweet5463 for the layout.
proper credits to be edited later once everything's done.

went on an eating spree over the long easter weekend and am still feeling full till today.
more reviews to be posted soon! :)

2006-04-15T14:20:00.000+10:00

1st and a half post: Coco Red's desserts

okies. so jayne did e review on e mains and here's my review on e desserts we had at CR.

The desserts are actually quite little in variety, with only about 6 to choose from the menu. We had the warm chocolate pudding, and the mocha icecream with Belgian white and dark chocolate.

yes. so that's a picture of the desserts and my two lovely housemates. =)

The mocha icecream is the one in the foreground of the picture and it initially gave us the impression that we had ordered the wrong dessert 'cos it came out looking like slices of cake. Well, icecream cake la can anot? It wasn't the first bite of dessert that I took becaaause knowing me, I got greedy and took a big bite of the warm chocolate pudding first.

The icecream was well, mocha in flavour, and unlike the other girls, my first bite of it was actually quite good. It was creamy and coffee-ish to the taste, and if I were to liken my first taste of it, it was actually like (note keyword: like) HagenDaz coffee icecream. But of cos I was soo wrong. Thereafter spoonfuls of it, and you could taste the ice crystals in it (which btw always signalled a bad icecream to me) and the sweetness of the icecream wore off.

The dish was served with strawberries which were tasteless actually, and cream on the side. Can I just say, their cream was perhaps the loveliest thing we had from that plate.. Oh wells.

Rating for the first dessert: 5/10
It was so-so. Not even anywhere near satisfying for us sweet-tooths and probably ordinary to normal folk.

So, we move on to the chocolate pudding. OKays, so it was suppose to be warm and it was. But it wasn't pudding-ish. Erm, how do I explain it. It wasn't moist enough and basically, well, not PUDDING-ISH enough! Hehe. It was served with vanilla icecream, ~~the same tasteless~~ strawberries, cream and a solid circular caramel glazing. I was not impressed by this at all. Well, basically 'cos I've had better warm chocolate pudding/cake (like the one warm chocolate cake in BakerzInn in sg!) and this just didn't hit it with my sweetbuds.

Rating for the second dessert: 4.5/10
It was worse than the icecream, 'cos at least for a while I took some joy in eating the icecream. Probably not the best choice to have desserts in CR.

I would think, based on jayne's reviews on the mains and the reviews on the desserts, the best thing to have in CR would be the coffee; which we didn't get to try but have heard about from Amy. We'll have to give it a go someday to let CR redeem its status as the posh/upmarket restaurant in uni. =p

2006-04-15T13:19:00.000+10:00

1st Random Post - The Tamarillo

You say "Tomaito" I say "Tamarillo". So what exactly is a Tamarillo? The tamarillo, also known as the tree tomato, is an unusual, exotic, subtropical fruit and is native to South America, specifically Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru.

Ever since I can remember, before I became an ABC in the land of OZ, I remember this sour, sweet, salty, slightly bitter fruit. I used to run around my relatives farm lands in Cameron Highlands (Malaysia) and pick at my aunty's Tamarillo tree. Now I have one in my very own backyard. The only name I knew to call it at the time was "Oi Qing Guo" meaning Love Fruit. Maybe because it embodies all the emotions of "Love" hence its Chinese name (I'm not so sure about the emotion 'salty' though).

Anyways, the Tamarillo fruit has an oval shape and an outer skin that is either red or purple toned, or yellow or orange toned. Additionally, the red or purple toned tamarillo fruit contains an inner flesh that is black while the yellow or orange tamarillo fruit contains an orange colored inner flesh. Although both types of tamarillos contain edible seeds, the flavor of the flesh within the two types varies considerably. Red or purple toned tamarillos have a more tart taste than their yellow or orange toned counterparts. Because of this, the red or purple toned tamarillos are more frequently used as a vegetable than as a fruit. It is also important to note that on both types of tamarillos, the skin should not be eaten and should be removed prior to using the fruit (Source).

I have discovered that the Tamarillo can be used in a variety of recipes. Instead of just scooping it out and eating it with a bit of salt or sugar to remove the tart taste, this fruit can be used in sauces, desserts, salads or any other dish to add an extra zing to it. For those of you who are curious to try this fruit, I recall Safeway selling it and should be in season now from April through to December.

For recipes, try:

http://www.tamarillos.orcon.net.nz/Tamarillorecipeone.htm

http://www.tamarillos.orcon.net.nz/Tamarillorecipetwo.htm

http://www.recipecenter.com/Recipe.asp?code=282175

http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/1999/archives/25?p=2279

2006-04-15T00:07:00.000+10:00

1st Review - Coco Red, Monash Uni Clayton Campus

I first learnt about Coco Red from Amy, who claimed they serve the 'best coffee' topped with good service. She gets her daily fix from there and the manager is on a first name basis with her. I'll admit I was rather impressed on my first visit there (not to mention jealous! the only service-oriented staff that calls me by my first name is my ex-colleagues and the people from Boost.. after i give it to them of course)

Location: Coco Red is inconspicuously located in Monash Uni's Campus Centre, right next to the Asian Noodle Bar. Personally it's a bit too obscure and is easily missed most of the time if you're not really paying attention.

Expedition: Jac, Wendy & I decided to do lunch in CR last Weds. We sat on a table that's a bit too ~~small~~ cosy for 3 of us. The layout of the restaurant was quite fancy and posh. The concept reminded me slightly of the fancy Lygon St italian restaurants; but it could've been the red colours.

I read on the Monash Resource Student Guide that the Menu in CR was predominantly European. We settled for the specials of the day which were the Chicken, Pumpkin & Pinenut Risotto and the Butterfish.

Chicken, Pumpkin & Pinenut Risotto!
Rating: 7 ½/10

This dish was one of the nicer risotto's I've had in a long long while. It could be that, or that I was really hungry at the time the food came. The pumpkin was a nice touch, although I don't recall biting into any visibly chunky nuts. The rice was still moist and the cheese & spring onion was a nice touch.

Butterfish
Rating: 4 - not recommended!

This dish turned out to be a major disappointment. The portion was small and the worst part was that the fish served wasn't fresh. The lemon didn't help all that much and despite the three of us sharing only 2 mains, the fish was touched the least.

There were also small servings of potatoes, eggplants and sweet potatoes under the fish. It was nothing out of the ordinary, and the eggplant was slightly tasteless.

Mains Summary: To be honest, there isn't exactly a wide range on the Menu, so unless you have a specific idea on what you like, you might take a while with the menu. The prices for Mains start decently from about $14, appetizers a bit less. There's also a wine & dine set where you get a main course accompanied with wine. I believe the choice of main changes every now and then.

Ratings
Service: 7 ½ - waitresses were very friendly and quite efficient
Food: 5 - the risotto pulled up the ratings!
Layout: 6 ½- very posh settings indoors; outdoors is a bit more rough edge with big tables
Overall: 5 ½ - CR just wouldn't be my first choice for dining

Otiose Info:
* Incidentally, it used to be known as Wellington's Bar & Bistro before CR took over.
* You might feel a bit out of place if you lug in a huge backpack into the restaurant.
* The main for the Wine & Dine set on the day was Ravioli!
* I have yet to drink their Coffee, so will do a review when one of us does! =)

2006-04-14T03:07:00.000+10:00

Testing Testing - MakanMakan Melbourne in Construction! =)