Soup – ohdenny

Shanghai 1930

August 26, 2016 Posted in Box Hill, Chinese, Food Reviews, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

From the outside, Shanghai 1930‘s appearance can be a bit deceiving. However, once you enter its doors you’ll find that it has a lovely contemporary yet traditional aesthetic. Shanghai 1930 offers traditional Chinese cuisine, with Shanghai influences on the menu as well. Their menu has a variety of dumplings to choose from, and many chicken, beef, seafood and vegetarian options as well.

Their Crispy Noodles with Beef was actually quite tasty with tender beef. The sauce that it comes with, however, is quite strong, and leans on the salty side but nonetheless the combination of crispy noodles and beef and vegetables, is a winning combination.

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Shanghai 1930 offer what they call “Grandma’s Secret Fried Rice”, and it’s apparent that it isn’t your typical fried rice. The use of chives and I believe spinach adds to the flavour of the fried rice, and it’s cooked with the traditionally used Chinese sausage.

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If you ever walk past this restaurant, you may notice the image of these dumplings. These are the Steamed Shanghai Dumplings that are fried on the bottom with sesame seeds. The pastry (or dough) reminds me of the dough used in Pork Buns, but a bit thinner. The crispy bottom with the traditional pork and ginger filling is an amazingly tasty combination and I’m so glad I tried it.

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Their soups you can order as one serve or for sharing. The Hot & Sour soup is what you’d expect, and has that lovely balance of heat and sourness, and just enough sweetness that nothing overwhelms the other. Yum.

Last words

While, Shanghai 1930 may not be one of the “cheap eats” in Box Hill, it certainly makes up for it with its delicious dishes on offer.

Shanghai 1930
959 Whitehorse Road
Box Hill VIC 3128

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CJ Lunchbar

August 19, 2016 Posted in Food Reviews, Korean, Melbourne, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

CJ Lunchbar situated on the corner of Little Lonsdale St and Hardware St is a popular little eat out for those wanting a taste of Korea. CJ Lunchbar doesn’t just open for lunch like its name suggests, so you can get your Korean fix for dinner as well. What’s great about this place is that the food is good, very good and the servings are generous and value for money and their menu offers bento boxes, rice dishes, and a wide selection of hotplate and soup dishes to choose from.

Their Stonepot Bibimbap has all the ingredients for a tasty Bibimbap but it doesn’t come with the chilli paste that you’d often find provided with other Korean restaurants. Sometimes you find that the Bibimbap can be very bland, but fortunately this isn’t the case here.

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One of their popular items is the Cheese Chicken Bulgogi, one night I saw like the majority of tables order it. It’s a little bit spicy, but the combination of melted cheese and marinated chicken on a hotplate is one of the best dishes you’d find around. So good.

Last words

CJ Lunchbar won’t win awards for being a relaxing dining experience, the tables are small and service is so-so but the food here is worth it.

CJ Lunchbar
Shop 2/391 Little Lonsdale Street (entrance on Hardware Street)
Melbourne VIC 3000
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Pocha Korean Restaurant – Vancouver Series

December 13, 2013 Posted in Food Reviews, Korean, Restaurant Reviews, VancouverLeave a comment

We actually stumbled upon Pocha Restaurant as we initially wanted to dine at the Thai restaurant next door but being such a petite space, it was unfortunately full. Luckily enough we looked next door and saw this Korean restaurant opened. From the outside, Pocha didn’t really seem open. It was very dark inside, and no signs it was open. Somehow being desperate for some place to dine we walked in and found this very interesting restaurant. There is a long walkway with each side having this little covered/tent-like dining spaces. It looked like you were in some sort of food market and these were the outside tents to eat in, but somewhat private.

The menu was slightly on the pricer side of things, and we didn’t really know what to order. We ended up ordering meal combo, choosing from the four dishes (you can select two). We ordered the spicy pork bulgogi (pictured above). Lovely flavours, subtle spiciness and a tad sweet marinated pork cooked with onions and carrots. Although, it was on the oilier side of things. It was very tasty.

The other beef dish was also nicely cooked, and again with onions and carrots. Meat just cooked right but I preferred if they used less sugar on the sauce/marinade. Not too exciting but it’s still satisfying.

The tofu soup was very light in flavour or seasoning but with the more robust flavours from the two meat dishes I think it complements each other well.

It also comes with a salad that is dressed with a vinaigrette. Very strong dressing and with the lettuce in large chunks, it was more difficult to eat. I would have liked the Korean/Japanese sesame seed dressing that is creamier and light brown in colour.

Impressions

Overall, I didn’t mind Pocha Restaurant. It’s not the best Korean food I’ve tried but not the worst. The quaint dining atmosphere is certainly a plus, along with the food. Good service too on that quiet Tuesday night.

Pocha Restaurant

1221 Thurlow St
Vancouver BC V6E

Le Lapin Saute – Quebec City Series

September 6, 2013 Posted in Canadian, Food Reviews, French, Quebec City, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a comment

Le Lapin Saute is this little cafe/restaurant/brunch eatery on rue du Petit-Champlain just on the outskirts of the inner walls of Old Quebec City. They seem to specialise in Rabbit cuisine which I’ve never really tried previously so it made it all the more tempting to try. We ate here for breakfast/almost lunch and it’s a very cute homely shop on this small but bustling street.

I ordered a rabbit dish (of course) that comes with scrambled eggs, rabbit rillette, crisp potato slices, cheese, mushrooms, bread, homemade jam and fruit. This was a large dish, probably best shared between two.

The rabbit has a light texture, and similar to a pate, it’s wonderfully soft and shredded very thinly. A delight to eat, and probably not very good for you. The scrambled eggs were also light and just cooked to perfection, buttery and simply how it should be. The hard cheese melts ever so slightly against the just cooked eggs, but still retains its shape, and eating those crunchy chips as well. Wonderful. My first experience trying rabbit and rilletes and it leaves a positive impression.

The mushroom soup here is also packed full of flavour (I think this was the soup of the day), creamy and fantastic on a nice cold winters day. Not too creamy though as some soups can be. Really tasty.

This cheesy little thing is their Casserole au Gratin with scrambled eggs, rabbit, bacon, onions confit, potatoes, hollandaise sauce, and of course cheese. I loved this, just out of the oven nice and warm. Perfect for winter, and absolutely satisfying.

Impressions

Le Lapin Saute is simply a gem in Old Quebec. I’d put this as a must visit during your stay there. Rabbit as its specialty but everything else is just wonderfully delicious as well. I can’t recommend it enough for a Canadian-French meal.

Le Lapin Saute (Breakfast Menu)

52 rue du Petit-Champlain
Québec QC G1K4H5

Thai Yim

December 28, 2012 Posted in Food Reviews, Glen Waverley, Restaurant Reviews, ThaiLeave a comment

Thai Yim used to be one of my favourite restaurants in Glen Waverley, and one of the very few close Thai restaurants close to home. Thai Yim was originally located right next to Glen Waverley railway station but due to the re-development of that area and the addition of apartments (still under construction), they have relocated to Springvale Road, next to Shira Nui. I call that address the death spot because of how quick restaurants seemed to open up and close down. It gets very little foot traffic since it’s still a walk from the main hub on Kingsway. I digress.

What I liked about Thai Yim when they were in their original location was that the food was tasty (spicy too) and the servings were generous. What happened when they moved to their larger space was that serving sizes decreased and prices went up. Although food wise I think it has mostly stayed the same. That’s why I say used to be.

We usually order a few dishes and then share around like what you’d normally do in a Chinese restaurant. We ordered the Spicy Basil and Chilli Stir Fry, Massaman Beef Curry and Tom Yum Vegetarian.

The Basil Stir Fry is quite fragrant due to the Thai basil used and it is stir fried with bamboo shoots. After trying Marion’s Green Curry that came with bamboo shoots, I can’t get enough of it. It has a pleasant spice to it, which I don’t believe is overpowering. One of my favourite stir fry’s actually.

Their Massaman Beef Curry is also another pleasant experience. It has a sweetness to it that is appealing to my tastebuds, but has a good deal of spice. Not much sourness to complete the whole Thai flavour pallet. The nuts make this dish so much more enjoyable for that crunch. Everything works in harmony of each other. It’s no Green Curry but I like it nonetheless.

The Vegetarian Tom Yum soup is another treat. It’s a strong clear base soup packed full of flavour with nice chilli hit. Sometimes Tom Yum soups can be either so lacking in flavour it’s like drinking water but this is certainly not the case. Their Chicken variation is no different but this one feels much more refreshing as a vegetarian soup.

Impressions

Thai Yim certainly impresses with its dishes, it’s probably only disappointing to those that have followed them since they were next to the train station. For the price it can lean towards overpriced for what your receive, your consolation is that the food would at least come out decent (I hope).

Thai Yim

249 Springvale Rd
Glen Waverley VIC 3150