Eating out
The last week has been quite erratic in terms of eating out/in. I was basically a zombie for much of the last two weeks, becoming quite a putrified mess by last Thursday. However, am feeling a lot better now... lots of social activities and just knowing I've cleared a bit of work on my never ending list of things to do.
Now that I'm living south of the river, I've had some opportunity to try out a number of places which I normally wouldn't bother to head to (mostly because of the distance). So for a brief update:
Hulme Court, Myaree
Many people know this place because of the number of restaurants located in this small street. Plus the fact that Yee Seng is here and has a wide selection of Asian groceries available. And the fact that it opens all weekend (barring one or two restaurants). One of the first places we visited was Spice Express, which serves Malay/Indian meals. It's very popular and thus very hard to get a seat on the weekends. The thing I like about this place is the selection of deep fried snacks, such as chicken wings, sardine curry puffs, Indian fried doughnuts and spring rolls. Next door to this is Sundays Everyday, which does not open on Sunday. Yup, pretty odd name and misleading! It's famous for its generous serving of karage chicken but other than that, Ohnamiya in Applecross is better and more authentic. However, it makes a quick and filling meal if you're into fast food Japanese.
Across these two restaurants are a selection of Chinese style places. Thus far, I've been to the Hong Kong one (can't remember its exact name), Happy Star and Utopia. There's another two called ME and the Ipoh Garden Restaurant (not to be confused with the one on Canning HIghway, which I believe though both were opened by the same person, the one in Myaree is now run by another family). There is also Nishi Japanese Restaurant and Cora Korean BBQ. It's quite a little busy little area for food. I've got Cora in my sights as I heard it's a charcoal bbq. Mmmm...
Lee Palace
Last Tuesday, despite taking a leisurely walk to our local supermarket for pizza fixings, I decided that what I really craved was laksa. So into the car we went, and I took a rather longish drive to Spencer Village. Curse you Urbanspoon! You said it was open seven days! But when we got there, it was dark and very definitely not open. Much disappointed, I decided that I'd cheer myself up by heading to Kanta, a little Japanese izakaya style restaurant in the middle of very middle class suburbia. I had heard many good things about this place and in particular that bookings were highly recommended. Obviously I was overly optimistic... no tables available at all that night. *sigh* Now on to Plan C... to Hulme Court, but on the way, harlzen recalled that we keep passing Lee Palace along Canning Highway near Bicton and thought we should try some 'neighbourhood' Chinese - as opposed to Northbridge Chinese, I suppose.
It was an unforgettable meal. For all the wrong reasons. It always seemed busy whenever we peeked in while driving by, so our experience seemed rather odd. But then again, maybe we've also turned into more discerning eaters. We only ordered two dishes: butter beef (one of their signature dishes) and ma po tofu (one of our favourites by which we tend to measure the standard of Chinese food we try). We also ordered an entree of fried wontons and when that came out, we knew the signs were bad. I mean, the wontons were battered. Yup, though wrapped in the traditional wonton skins, an extra layer of batter covered it. I had never seen anything like that before and it made me wonder if they were 'recycled' (refried, left out too long etc). The butter beef came out and that lived up to its name to an extent. It sat on a mound of fried mustard leaves (which was quite tasty. I had seen the method on Iron Chef at some point). The beef had a delicate butter flavour but that was about it. Because, as I was soon to consolidate my opinion, much of the meat had been treated by bicarbonate of soda. If it's one thing I really draw the line at it, the amount of bi carb and time that meat is allowed to soak in it.
Many people may not be aware that in most Chinese restaurants, meat is often treated in bi carb to soften it. This could be due to the cuts of meat used (cheaper, more wiry and tough). I don't mind the technique but over treatment leaves me gagging because the meat becomes tasteless and rubbery. Just enough of it can leave it tender and juicy. But I guess it's a fine line. And the bottom line for any restaurant is cost, I guess. Still, it is disappointing when my first bite doesn't fulfil the promise of the dish. The ma po tofu utilised diced chicken which was also heavily treated by bi carb. It was also rather sweet and not terribly spicey.
All in all, it was a rather disappointing meal. We won't be going back again as there's better Chinese food to be had.
We did eventually make it to Spencer Village but I'll leave that for another post.
Now that I'm living south of the river, I've had some opportunity to try out a number of places which I normally wouldn't bother to head to (mostly because of the distance). So for a brief update:
Hulme Court, Myaree
Many people know this place because of the number of restaurants located in this small street. Plus the fact that Yee Seng is here and has a wide selection of Asian groceries available. And the fact that it opens all weekend (barring one or two restaurants). One of the first places we visited was Spice Express, which serves Malay/Indian meals. It's very popular and thus very hard to get a seat on the weekends. The thing I like about this place is the selection of deep fried snacks, such as chicken wings, sardine curry puffs, Indian fried doughnuts and spring rolls. Next door to this is Sundays Everyday, which does not open on Sunday. Yup, pretty odd name and misleading! It's famous for its generous serving of karage chicken but other than that, Ohnamiya in Applecross is better and more authentic. However, it makes a quick and filling meal if you're into fast food Japanese.
Across these two restaurants are a selection of Chinese style places. Thus far, I've been to the Hong Kong one (can't remember its exact name), Happy Star and Utopia. There's another two called ME and the Ipoh Garden Restaurant (not to be confused with the one on Canning HIghway, which I believe though both were opened by the same person, the one in Myaree is now run by another family). There is also Nishi Japanese Restaurant and Cora Korean BBQ. It's quite a little busy little area for food. I've got Cora in my sights as I heard it's a charcoal bbq. Mmmm...
Lee Palace
Last Tuesday, despite taking a leisurely walk to our local supermarket for pizza fixings, I decided that what I really craved was laksa. So into the car we went, and I took a rather longish drive to Spencer Village. Curse you Urbanspoon! You said it was open seven days! But when we got there, it was dark and very definitely not open. Much disappointed, I decided that I'd cheer myself up by heading to Kanta, a little Japanese izakaya style restaurant in the middle of very middle class suburbia. I had heard many good things about this place and in particular that bookings were highly recommended. Obviously I was overly optimistic... no tables available at all that night. *sigh* Now on to Plan C... to Hulme Court, but on the way, harlzen recalled that we keep passing Lee Palace along Canning Highway near Bicton and thought we should try some 'neighbourhood' Chinese - as opposed to Northbridge Chinese, I suppose.
It was an unforgettable meal. For all the wrong reasons. It always seemed busy whenever we peeked in while driving by, so our experience seemed rather odd. But then again, maybe we've also turned into more discerning eaters. We only ordered two dishes: butter beef (one of their signature dishes) and ma po tofu (one of our favourites by which we tend to measure the standard of Chinese food we try). We also ordered an entree of fried wontons and when that came out, we knew the signs were bad. I mean, the wontons were battered. Yup, though wrapped in the traditional wonton skins, an extra layer of batter covered it. I had never seen anything like that before and it made me wonder if they were 'recycled' (refried, left out too long etc). The butter beef came out and that lived up to its name to an extent. It sat on a mound of fried mustard leaves (which was quite tasty. I had seen the method on Iron Chef at some point). The beef had a delicate butter flavour but that was about it. Because, as I was soon to consolidate my opinion, much of the meat had been treated by bicarbonate of soda. If it's one thing I really draw the line at it, the amount of bi carb and time that meat is allowed to soak in it.
Many people may not be aware that in most Chinese restaurants, meat is often treated in bi carb to soften it. This could be due to the cuts of meat used (cheaper, more wiry and tough). I don't mind the technique but over treatment leaves me gagging because the meat becomes tasteless and rubbery. Just enough of it can leave it tender and juicy. But I guess it's a fine line. And the bottom line for any restaurant is cost, I guess. Still, it is disappointing when my first bite doesn't fulfil the promise of the dish. The ma po tofu utilised diced chicken which was also heavily treated by bi carb. It was also rather sweet and not terribly spicey.
All in all, it was a rather disappointing meal. We won't be going back again as there's better Chinese food to be had.
We did eventually make it to Spencer Village but I'll leave that for another post.