Meatballs and Mash

Meatballs and Mash
Home Cooking



Here's a brief summary of recent life events to put things in context:

1. I have just finished 1 semester's worth of placement and for the first time in several months, am sitting through lectures as part of our week of block learning
2. Once again, I've packed my things and moved. Bye bye, share house and expansive, industrial-style kitchen. Bye bye, sporadic meal options consisting of either edible dirt (i.e. cuppa soup and frozen bread) or indulgent, boyfriend-provided home cooking. Hello to my parents' generous supply of fresh fruit and pantry items
3. Third important change of late is that it's freezing. Maybe not to international standards but I'm a Brisbane girl. I've been chilled to the bones and constantly wishing for a chance to hibernate. Alas, life is too busy

Given these facts, I can set up the scenario that lead to our meatball creation. It was the day after I moved and I was sitting in a lecture. Someone (ahem, mum) had accidentally packed a lamp that did not belong to me. It was then my responsibility to return it and that was what I was planning to do later in the afternoon. Since I was stopping in the area, I was going to visit Byron and drop a few things off. I thought it'd be nice to do a meal thing and he agreed but said I'd have to decide what to make.

Oishii Sushi Bar

Oishii Sushi Bar
Shop 2, 70 Pinelands Road, Sunnybank Hills



About 2 weeks ago, I discovered that restaurants, like many other things in life, can be very 'trend-based'. I first heard about Oishii Sushi a while back... my goldfish memory forbids me from recalling the exact source but comments that prompted interest included 'have you been to that new sushi place in Sunnybank Hills?' and 'oh, so good'.



I then forgot all about this. I mean, come on, I absorb an average of 3 restaurants weekly that make it to my 'must visit' list and I end up going to maybe a quarter. Oishii Sushi faded from my mind until Byron mentioned he saw appealing photos taken there on Facebook.

Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff
Home Cooking



This post does nothing to dispel any notion that my food cravings come solely from MasterChef. Yes, there was a stroganoff challenge and yes, that's why we ended up making this. In an effort to reclaim some kind of independence, I'll say that we didn't follow the recipe on the MasterChef website but did our own thing instead.

The basic components of a strog are beef and mushrooms and the sauce is finished off with a sour cream. Aside from that, it's open to interpretation. The show featured beef that was coated in flour and paprika. I had paprika but stupidly forgot to bring it so we went without.

Melbourne Index

Slow and steady... I have finally finished my Melbourne posts. It's taken me 2 + weeks to finish 3 day's worth of eating. Typical lazy self.



On my trip to Melbourne, I discovered that:

1. Kat and I are perfectly in sync as travel buddies
2. I'm more cold-tolerant that I thought. But...
3. I'm not at all rain-tolerant
4. Eating can be more exhausting that shopping
5. Good food can make me forgive questionable service
6. I'm growing in favor of cheap bubbly wine
7. Other cities might be fun for the weekend but I like nothing more than Brisbane for living

Now, onto my list of food experiences for easy perusing.

Index of Melbourne Restaurants:

Asian:

• Dumplings Plus
• Yum Cha Cafe

Desserts/Cafes:

• Aix Cafe Creperie Salon
• Brunetti
• Cacao Fine Chocolate
• San Churro
• Stuzzichino

Mediterranean:

• MoVida
• Stalactites

Melbourne Day 3: Lunch at MoVida

MoVida
http://www.movida.com.au/



This is my last Melbourne post and if not my favorite part of the trip, then at least the peak of the culinary aspect. It's no coincidence that MoVida was featured on MasterChef during a celebrity chef episode. I will admit that my desire to go there initially came from the show. However, after reading everywhere that reservations were necessary, I decided I didn't want to bog myself down since Kat and I didn't have a clear idea of how our days were going to be planned out.

Melbourne Day 3: Refreshments at Stuzzichino

Stuzzichino
http://www.stuzzichino.com.au/



This will just be a short post because it was a quick trip. We were trawling down Lygon St and I decided my core body temperature was fast becoming insufficient.



A hot drink rest stop is indicated for such events.

Melbourne Day 3: Breakfast at Brunetti

Brunetti
www.brunetti.com.au/



I have already admitted that the main drive behind my desire to go to Melbourne was to use store credit that I had. Whilst I was browsing the racks, Kat started chatting with the shop lady who recommended that we try Brunetti for cakes. Cakes? Uh... we LOVE cakes! Yes please.



We asked for directions at the hotel and ended up tramming it there.

Melbourne Day 2: Dinner at Yum Cha Cafe

Yum Cha Cafe
http://yumchacafe.com.au/



We had plans for Saturday night. We rested in the afternoon (by rest I mean that Kat lay in bed fully clothed with her eyes closed and I was bouncing around taking ridiculous photos of myself in the hotel room) and prepared to have a big night out.



The idea was to purchase a couple bottles of wine for consumption in the hotel and then head out for a cocktail crawl.

But first, a meal.

Melbourne Day 2: Lunch at Stalactites

Stalactites Restaurant
177-183 Lonsdale St, Melbourne CBD



No holiday is complete without some kind of misunderstanding with directions. Kat only had one compulsory objective for the trip: buy a mug from a Greek shop. We didn't know where the Greek district was. She remembered it being Lygon St but my food knowledge told me (correctly) that this was the Italian district. I wanted to check out Lygon St anyway for completeness sake so we made our way in that general direction.



We ran into other tourists who pointed out the general direction but then subsequently got very lost.

Melbourne Day 2: Chocolate at Cacao Fine Chocolates

Cacao Fine Chocolate
http://www.cacao.com.au/



Day 2 was the start of our shopping adventures. Our trip could just about be summarized as shopping + food. As I mentioned in my initial post, I had store credit that needed to be used so we headed to the GPO. Slightly embarrassing admission: when I first walked past it, I thought the GPO was the general post office? Correction for those who know as little as me: it's a collection of (mostly) Australian brand boutique fashion outlets.



We wandered through the shopping complex glancing disinterestedly at clothing that we couldn't afford (note to self= return to Melbourne when I have an income).

Melbourne Day 2: Breakfast at Aix Cafe Creperie Salon

Aix Cafe Creperie Salon
24 Centre Pl, Melbourne CBD



Kat has 2 alarms set regularly for every morning.

6:30am

7:00am

This set-up baffles me. I'm the kind of person who fears alarms so much that by default, I wake up a convenient 10min earlier than whatever alarm I set, just so I can turn it off. There have been torturous occasions when I fail at the switch off and my alarm sounds anyway, despite my already waking up. This to me is just... the absolute worst way to start a day.

Melbourne Day 1: Dessert at San Churro

San Churro Chocolateria
http://www.sanchurro.com/



After our meal at Dumplings Plus, we were wandering around with the intention of finding dessert and drinks (preferably a combination of both). Because that specific request was not met with, and because we became tired/lazy, we settled for dessert. Andrew recommended either Max Brenner or San Churro. As we now have Max Brenner in Queensland, there was no way I was going for the former at the expense of trying something new. This is true food blogger dedication as I secretly would have loved a Max Brenner waffle.

Admission from self: I never had churros before.



They always called out to me at the market/Ekka and so forth but somehow, fate dictated that my first churro wouldn't be until this trip to Melbourne.

Melbourne Day 1: Dinner at Dumplings Plus

Dumplings Plus
269 Swanston St, Melbourne CBD



This is the story:

1. In March, I ordered a dress from Melbourne's Manning Cartel and it didn't fit so I returned it for store credit
2. Store credit for a store in Melbourne? Uh... I live in Brisbane
3. There was a domestic flight sale so I convinced my bff Kat to come to Melb with me later in the year
4. We christened the event our 10 year Frenaversary since, as you might guess, we've been friends since year 8 and we've been looking for an excuse to go on a holiday

So it was decided!

Dining Room at Sunnybank Hills

Dining Room Chinese Restaurant
8/223 Calam Rd, Sunnybank Hills



As unfortunate as this sounds, I don't get excited by the Chinese restaurants in Brisbane. At best, you get 'good food' but even this pales in comparison to mediocre restaurants I've been to in Shanghai. Sure it's unfair to compare like that but the fact is, there doesn't seem to be a lot on offer that fulfills all aspects of authenticity, price, service, range and consistency.

My favorite dish of the month

This is why Dining Room blew me away. My family and I have been twice now within the space of a couple of weeks. The first time, my parents' friends invited them out for dinner and as I am occasionally lacking in things to do (quite often actually), I tagged along.

Chocolate Mousse Profiteroles

Chocolate Mousse Profiteroles
Home Cooking



Sometimes, good things in life happen. I was sitting in the computer rooms one afternoon post-savory meal and thinking to myself "Gosh I really feel like something sweet". In walks a classmate with a tray of profiteroles and she offers me one.

Blessing from the sky? Yes indeed.



What really struck me about these profiteroles was that instead of the usual creme anglaise filling, she had a chocolate mousse filling. DELICIOUS. My verdict was 2 thumbs up, fueled on the fact that it was exactly what I was in the mood for.

Vagelis

Vagelis on Racecourse Rd
www.vagelis.com.au



There is something seriously frustrating about wanting to eat out on a Monday. Why is it that so many restaurants choose the start of the week to stay shut? No DON'T ANSWER. That was a rhetorical question. I'm sure there are plenty of logical/sound business-oriented justifications.



Last week (or was it the week before), I caught up with my mate Hao. It was a chance for me to take my new car out for a spin too so we decided to head up North to Hamilton. The first 2 places we wanted to eat at were shut so we finally ended up at Vagelis (I got to do a reverse park! Woot).

Slow-braised Spicy Ribs

Slow-braised Spicy Ribs
Home Cooking



Another dinner party. Another Masterchef recipe. Is anyone else spotting a trend here?

Cooking and wine-drinking with friends = my life is good

In any case, despite the repetitive nature of my home cooking posts, I make no apologies for this particular one. Everyone loves ribs (besides vegetarians I guess and even then... a taste should hook them) and ribs are one of those rare meat items I've had some degree of success with. I made slow-cooked cola ribs a long while back and dad made Korean-marinated ribs recently. He just grilled them in the oven and the difference between that and slow-cooked was quite obvious. For that reason, I went with that more time-consuming method as my contribution to the dinner party.