Tag: Restaurant

Thai Feast : Middle Fish

17 Comments

Thai feast at Middle Fish

I absolutely love thai food! I don’t know about you, dear readers, but I just love how thai food always packs a punch with their flavours! Somehow, they get to squeeze in the salty, sweet, sour and spicy all in a dish and equally in a mouthful, and leave you wanting more! It is definitely one of the cuisines I enjoy the most and would never turn down a thai meal. hehe

Middle Fish

I was introduced to Middle Fish by my dearest Miss D, and when I saw the pictures she was posting on Instagram of the food she was having, I knew we needed to head there, ASAP! Last weekend, the mr ended early at work so I headed down to Carlton to meet him and Melissa for some deliciousness! The sky had the most beautiful shade of blue and excited couldn’t really describe how I was feeling when I got there!

Middle Fish - Entrance

I love love love the entrance to the warehouse converted restaurant, so welcoming! (: The colours of the signage and furniture just pops out and everyone there were so friendly. The moment I stepped in, I was greeted by the owner, Pla, who has the most infectious smile and oh-so bubbly. You just feel so comfortable and just an amazing atmosphere!

Middle Fish - Inside

One side of the restaurant had booth seats and the other was a mix-match of tables and chairs which made the place so vibrant. I was so ready to order and feed our hungry tummies the moment I sat down! Truth is, I was salivating just looking through what the had to offer!

Our drinks

While deciding on what to order, we ordered our drinks first. I have always been a huge fan of thai ice milk tea and I remember Daisy highly recommending it, so I had to try it! Boy was it good! Plus, how cute is the metal bowl that it’s served in? I kept going “WAH WAH WAH!” when it arrived at our table! hehe The Mr and Melissa ordered their usual drinks of latte and hot chocolate respectively, and they were good too! (:

thai ice milk tea

Had to snap another shot of my thai ice milk tea, just cause I love the metal bowl so much! And it was quite a big bowl as well, I almost couldn’t finish it after scoffing down all the food we ordered. hehe But I did, every single drop of it!

Crying Tiger

We covered almost all the different kinds of protein that afternoon. First of : Crying Tiger. The name just cracks me up! But when you had a bite of it, you would understand why they had the “crying” part. The chilli in this salad dish added a good kick and there was a really good balance of flavours. The angus rump slices were so flavourful and tender, and the herbs added a freshness as well. DELISH! I could have this for lunch any day. hehe

Kao gapi

 Our next dish had pork : Kao Gapi. It was presented almost like a bibimbap! hehe So we called this a thai version of bibimbap. The shrimp paste rice was pungent and flavoursome, although the caramelised pork neck could have been a little more tender. Mixing in the green apple, red onion, bean shoots and carrot gave a crunch to the dish. Like I’ve said many times before, I love dishes with different textures so that was definitely a plus! The omelette tasted like it was made using salted eggs, and I just love having egg with rice. Somehow it’s a perfect combination to me. hehe

Crispy chicken ribs

We ordered a street food dish as well : Gai Tod which is crispy chicken ribs with a sweet and spicy sauce which was SO GOOD! We just wanted more of those ribs. So crispy and so juicy on the inside. Couldn’t get enough! hehe But this was meant to be a snack, so the portion was smaller than the others, but perfect for the 3 of us. (:

Middle Fish famous crunchy mussels omelette

This, my lovely readers, was our favourite dish of the day : Middle Fish’s famous Crunchy Mussels Omelette. Before Pla placed this dish on the table, she did a short dance and almost sang the name of the dish and told us it’s their best dish at the restaurant in her opinion, but we TOTALLY agreed! The outside layer is so crispy and there is a “crunch” with every bite/chew! The middle had the texture of fried carrot cake and there was a generous number of juicy mussels! With a similar sauce to the crispy chicken ribs, it was a match-made in heaven and we couldn’t stop singing praises about it!

It was a pity that we were too full to try the desserts they had to offer. But I’m sure we will be back again and the next time, we will! (: If you love thai food as much as I do, do visit Middle Fish and let me know what you think! Do note that they are only open 8-5pm (Monday-Friday) and 10-4pm (Saturday & Sunday), and they have breakfast too!

Happy mid week everyone, and remember to always cook and bake with love! (:

Middle Fish on Urbanspoon

Mr Hive Kitchen & Bar

9 Comments

I was really excited to head to Mr Hive Kitchen & Bar for a couple of reasons. One of which is that I was going for my very first bloggers meet up with Daisy and Julie! The other reason is that I’ve seen the gorgeous desserts that Daisy posted and just couldn’t wait till the end of meal to dive in to the desserts! When you want dessert, you can always count on Daisy cause she’s the dessert queen in my book! (:

So if you know me, you know that I’m definitely not considered as sociable. Comfort is what I thrive in. So meeting up with these awesome food bloggers, you can imagine how nervous I was! But it felt like we already knew each other for a long time. All my nervousness went away instantly the second we met! Which was great! hehe I was actually quite shocked when I arrived at Mr Hive Kitchen & Bar because it’s where Maze use to be. I actually didn’t know Maze was gone. Oops. Haven’t been to Crown for the longest time! That’s a real pity, loved the food at Maze. Anywho, back to the yums!

So we decided to order a starter each but share it and a main each. The starters were all really delicious. There wasn’t one that I didn’t like to be honest.

Cured kingfish, finger lime and smoked yogurt. Really refreshing and the kingfish was almost melt in your mouth. A good dish to start with!

Roasted scallop, wild rice and spice! The wild rice was puffed and crispy and added a really nice texture to the really well cooked scallops. I was very happy after having it. haha

I thought the kingfish and scallop was good. But let me tell you. This crispy little pig was AMAZING! There was one for each of us, and I just couldn’t bear to finish it. It was garnished with the crispiest crackling you can get! The only thing we didn’t really fancy was the round veg (we didn’t know what it was haha) that was pickled! But was a fantastic starter, a must have according to me!

I ordered the special of the day : ox cheek. I had to order it when I heard the specials of the week because the night before, Andy from Masterchef made ox cheek for the elimination challenge and it looks so good and I was craving for it the whole night! And it was no mistake! The ox cheek was full of flavour and it was pretty tender. It was accompanied by some chicken liver too and it was really creamy. Loved it!

Daisy chose the panfried snapper and it was really fresh! The skin was really crispy and the fish was really tender and well cooked. Definitely a good choice!

Julie couldn’t resist ordering the tri tip steak! It was tasty but unfortunately it was a little more towards medium-well than the medium that she asked for. So I think it just got a little dry towards the end of the meal.

So after our starter and main, Daisy asked if we could go sit by the dessert bar! And lucky us scored some seats which was really surprising on a Friday night! I was super excited as it would be my first time having the pastry chef plate our desserts in front of our eyes! WHOO! *jumps*

We dessert bar was superb. I just felt like I was back to being a kid again. You not only get to see the chef in action, you are facing a whole wall (or shelve rather) of sweets. Old school sweets.

Chef is plating Daisy’s dessert : White chocolate, mango, basil and coconut.

It’s a really unique dessert, and you’ll have to eat all the different components together. I had the individual parts on their own and their flavours are strong and punchy. But together, the different textures and all the flavours work well together. It was my first time having basil ice cream!

Next up, Julie’s ricotta cheesecake with yuzu, ginger, nuts and seeds.

This was actually my favourite of the day. I love yuzu. Can’t get enough of it. I would definitely head back with the mr and have this again. (:

I was really looking forward to having my dessert : praline souffle with jasmine and coco nib ice cream. My eyes lit up when the chef came up to us with the souffle standing mighty high and he cannelled the ice cream and just stuck it right in the middle. I couldn’t stop smiling.

The night definitely ended on a high when we were given complimentary salted chocolate truffle and salted chocolate milk!

Love the old school milk bottle and the straw! It was really thick and chocolatey. Just the way I like it. Really enjoyed the hit of salt with every bite of the truffle and every sip of the milk!

We were really spoilt that night and were given some old fashioned lollies that were on that magic wall of sweets we were facing.

It was a really great night with the girls, and we have decided to do a fortnightly meet up! It’s great cause we get to try new places together so it’s really exciting! (: So glad we could click and we love the same things! Can’t wait till our next meet up!

Oh yes! and I’m definitely returning back to Mr Hive’s Kitchen and Bar and this time bringing the hubs there cause I’m really sure he will enjoy everything they have to offer! (: Especially since he has developed a sweet tooth of late hehe

ps : if you got the entertainment book, it entitles you to 20% discount, so hurry grab your Entertainment book asap! (:

New Found Gem : Kang Na Roo Korean Restaurant

12 Comments

I have something to confess : I’m a convert! Let me explain. I use to think that my favourite cuisine is Japanese food. Don’t get me wrong. I still love my sashimi and sushi. But of late, I’ve realised that I would actually rather have korean when given the choice! Just something about hot plates and hot pots that I am craving for all the time. (: And I have to admit, we’ve been a bit korean crazy lately. haha

We chanced up this small little restaurant when we were furnishing our new place and needed to get some materials. Traveling up and down to Bunnings Warehouse at Clayton and saw this restaurant, at the corner opposite Clayton train station, was still buzzing with patrons at 9pm on a weekday night! So we both decided it was a place we have to check this place out.

Of course, we decided to pop up on a Friday night at 7pm. PEAK HOUR ALERT! And waited, willingly and excitedly, for half an hour to get our seats. Standing at the doors was pure torture, only because we had to withstand the cold winds that was coming through the doors whenever customers were going in and out, and also smell the aromas from the food in front of us (and salivating non-stop because of it!). The restaurant was really cosy and everyone working there were koreans. We were excited, cause we knew we were going to get some authentic korean food.

Kang Na Roo

Address : 309-315 Clayton Road, Clayton Vic 3168

Tel : 03 95432842

I dunno about you, but I absolutely adore the small dishes that come just before the food comes. The top of my favourite list is the caramelised sweet potato! I could just have that all night, although my waist wouldn’t be too pleased about that. haha

We flipped through the menu and this hot pot dish caught our attention : Gamja Tang. It’s mild pork bone marrow stew with vegetables and potatoes. It was just the right amount of spice that we needed to warm our tummies up for the start of winter. The Mr was just happily slurping on the marrow and we finished everything in that pot.

What was special about this particular hotpot is that you could order a serve of special rice with vegetables that will come after you have finished 95% of the soup in the pot. Then one of the wait staff came to mix the rice into the hotpot and fry it on the spot! The Mr and I were just smiling non-stop cause we were so amused!

It looked simple but it tasted A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! With the flavours of the stew, it was a home run for us!

This, dear readers, was no ordinary fried chicken. It’s drizzled with a sweet chilli sauce that intrigues us. It’s almost like malt –  it’s super duper thick and sticky but not overly sweet when you taste it! We just couldn’t stop eating it even though our stomachs were starting to feel stuffed! The addition of peanuts and pine nuts just adds a bite to the dish. Just describing it now is making me hungry even though I just had dinner. haha

We could not be happier when we were done with our meal that night. Both the Mr and I had the widest smiles and the happiest bellies (: Definitely a place we will visit regularly from now, seeing that it’s about 5 mins drive away from our new place! (: And do know that you could call and book a table in advance so you won’t have to wait too long for a table!

So are you a japanese or korean food lover? Or are you a convert like me? Would love to know!