:: GourmetOrange ::

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Chinese New Year 2012 - Day 3

Wednesday, 25/01/2012

DINNER @ Kopitiam (594 Harris Street, Ultimo, Sydney NSW 2000).

Called me crazy for coming to Kopitiam again, I was here 2 days ago with my collegues. Not sure why I picked Kopitiam again?? Location wise, it is the best for everyone (7 of us), quite central for everyone to get around, especially for me, only 15 mins walk from my office. Kopitiam does great Chinese New Year menu & normal menu, more than enough to entertain everyone's preference, kinda within reasonable $$ too (if you compare to typical Chinese restaurant that charge $ 100+++ / person for their special CNY menu). Yes one of the Kopitiam lady knows me by name now since I booked table for Day 1 and Day 3 ... =)

Yee Sang is a must starter and whilst tossing the Yee Sang up high in the sky with your chopstix, you need to wish everyone good luck, good health, great career and happiness to welcome the Chinese New Year

Chicken Satay - one of the best satay in Sydney for me - tender, tasty and not overgrilled (some other places often over grilled their satay till they have cardboard texture sighhh, wasting the chicken). Peanut sauce is tops.

Roti with curry sauce - roti is kinda ordinary, curry sauce is great

Kangkung belacan (water spinach with shrimp paste) - spicy, crunchy and well cooked

Salt and pepper chicken - seems to be everyone's fave on the day. Malaysian version of KFC.

Kam Heong Prawns - spicy, crunchy, sweet and salty .. all in one. I ordered this dish last year too...no change in taste, just like last year's. I am not sure if you suppose to de-shell the prawns. I was too lazy, I ate the whole thing, the shell was soft yet crunchy.

Malaysian Mee Goreng - it is yummy and authentic but less oil please... =)

Monday, January 30, 2012

Chinese New Year 2012 - Day 1

LUNCH @ Petaling Street (760 George St, Sydney NSW 2000)
I had Yee Sang + Roast Chicken Dry Noodle
My bad, I forgot my camera & my crackberry, sorry all no photos =(

DINNER @ Kopitiam (594 Harris St, Ultimo, Sydney NSW 2000).

Staying healthy in 2012 is part of my NY's resolution. Hhmmm can I really stick to it? With my flimsy will power & foodie friends around me, the answer is 'Maybe (leaning towards ... SO NOT)'. Year 2012 is just started & I broke my promise already? Chill out, I still have 11 months to go, plenty of time to execute my NY's resolution. I will start my NY's resolution after Chinese NY, my NY's resolution is on strike for 2 weeks. Wish me luck after CNY ...

Another Yee Sang moment & other CNY goodies for now .. why not?


Kopitiam Chinese New Year Menu

Yee Sang - Raw fish salad - light, fresh and tangy

Dragon Paradise spicy vegetables - petai beans, eggplant, french beans, okra. Sauce was really awesome pity I am not a fan of okra, the slimey bits kinda errrk me. We should have order one without okra.

Empress chicken - corn fed (kampong) chicken with soy sauce. Juicy & tasty chicken, i love their soy sauce. A tad different from other soy sauce, thick & dark plus a bit on the sweeter side.

Golden Dragon Deep Fried Pork Ribs - crunchy and tender porkie.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Happy Chinese New Year

Monday 23/01/12

Hello readers,

Long time no see or hear...yeah my bad for temporarily going MIA. I was overwhelmed with entertaining several overseas visitors from pre-Christmas till now. By the time I got home, I am normally too tired to do anything and lemme blame my speed of eating out as well for being greater than my speed of blogging, with realistic ratio of approx. 20:1. Food photos starting to pile up in my vintage computer. I will blog it slowly...I promise.

Firstly....GONG XI FAT CHOI (Happy Chinese New Year), may the year of Dragon brings you good health, wealth, and unlimited supply of happiness. Thank you for visiting and reading my blog. Hopefully in 2012 and beyond you will visit me more often.

A little teaser from my dinner yesterday @ Kopitiam restaurant (594 Harris Street, Ultimo) with work collegues. Note...this is my 2nd Yee Sang on the day, I had Yee Sang during lunch as well.

By the end of this week I think I will have at least 5 Yee Sang (I do love Yee Sang, but hopefully not 5x within a week). Stay tune for my next Chinese New Year outings. Have a great Chinese New Year, love you all =)

Yee Sang @ Kopitam (raw fish salad)

Queen Victoria Building (QVB) going oriental, decorated with red lanterns

Hello Mr Dragon ... welcome to 2012

Sunday, December 18, 2011

IKEA

Thursday, 15/12/11

I went to the new IKEA in Tempe (close to airport) with a friend to buy several rather large items, we bought mini TV cabinet, wardrobe, 5 drawers tallboy, curtain rod, dining table, dining chairs, and other knick knacks. As you all know, you can do self serve to get all the items @ IKEA ... and yes we pulled stuff from the mega shelves and stack them into the 2 big trolleys, went to car park and stacked them again in the car.

After exercising our lazy muscles by lifting boxes, boxes and more boxes, we were so tired and HUNGRY at the point where I didnt want to move at all. We decided to have our dinner @ IKEA where I had the honour LOL to introduce my friend to IKEA cafe. He has never tried IKEA cafe in his life. I ordered the signature Swedish meatballs (my fave btw if I go to IKEA), chips and drinks. He was happy, we had window seats watching the stars and some view....carpark view =)

What do I like about the meatballs? It is really tasty, texture is great, good sizing, and pocket friendly hehehe.. and you cant find Swedish meatballs in any other place in Sydney unless you make your own or you buy the frozen meatballs, the lingonberry sauce and mashed potato from the IKEA foodmart.

Swedish meatballs with mashed potato, lingonberry jam and gravy for less than $10

Friday, December 2, 2011

SOKYO @ the Star

Saturday, 12/11/11

Where can I take my bestie for his birthday this year?
Arrgghh what a difficult question to answer, he has been everywhere nice, everywhere exxie, everywhere unique. I was in despo mode at the point where I had to chat with my friend in other part of the world for suggestions LOL. She suggested to try any dining places @ the Star (formerly know as Star City casino) or Claude's.

Initially I wanted to take him to Claude's or Momofoku. No success in getting table. Claude's - waiting list, Momofoku - I got frustrated by their annoying online booking system *** growwll ***.

At the end I managed to get a table @ SOKYO to celebrate his birthday. Little drama of the day, I forgot to print the address, I thought why bother, how big is the new Star? and ... I was lost in the jungle trying to find SOKYO, asked several shops and security guards & they were all clueless. The worst part was my crackberry has no signals. Finally saved by the semi hidden auto directory.

SOKYO was 1 week old when we went there and I am pretty impressed with the overall service & food quality. We were served by a great waiter (I think he's French), he was friendly and knowledgeable, designed the degustation menu for us, very attentive, keep checking with us if we were OK with the menu overall etc. Thumbs up for a newbie. I will come back for more to try other dishes.

Salmon with kim chee sauce

Beef with grape - apart from pretty looking, they are delicious, the sauce went well with the beef and not overpowering

Asparagus tempura - well fried, crunchy batter, juicy asparagus & stacked like jenga

Fish with coriander sauce - lovely sauce, fish was in smaller (and thin) cut but still juicy & firm, not too sure about the type of the fish

Foie Gras wrapped in wagyu marble with fig and plum wine soy. This is my fave!! Wagyu part was tender and moist, melt in your mouth, combining it with foie gras .. top notch !!