Have a great new year! 

With love,

Alex, Lisa, Jin, Mich and Ted

How was your Christmas?

As for me, I shared it with some friends. We started off with some home made shandy, a recipe from Nigella's, followed by many others which I stopped snapping photos of. =) I absolutely adore the glass.

Thought I'll post this up too, our table display.  

Another recipe of Nigella's, Parmesan and Breadcrumbs coated Lamb Cutlets, as well as a 1kg turkey breast at the background. We also had a large bowl of salad which again I thought wasn't significant enough to be photographed. Haha.

For desserts, plum pudding served with brandy custard and vanilla icecream. I just had to make myself an Affogato. The meal lasted us hours, from lunch to dinner with breaks in the middle.

We planned a bit too much as we weren't able to

X build our gingerbread house and decorate it with lollies

X cook our chicken wings

X finish our chips

X make brandied cherries.

But, who wouldn't love amazing times like this? I've

✓played board and card games. 

✓watched a comedy

✓played more games on the Ipad

✓had a quiet rest on the couch. One of us had a nap.

✓listened to Christmas carols. One of us actually sang Christmas carols really loudly at the neighbourhood, I had to run away in embarassment.

✓had bunny ears around the neighbourhood while others had bumble bee ears or reindeer ears and nose.

The list goes on...but all I can say, I have had an amazing day bonding with friends my way. SLACK. clinks glasses with Jin. 

Hope your Christmas has been just as amazing, in your way.

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...

...unfortunately it is hot and sandy in WA without a sign of snow! But the Christmas spirit is definitely in the air! Let's keep it simple and less materialistic. =)

Merry Christmas from all of us at Food Obsession! Have a fabulous Christmas, holiday and a wonderful new year ahead! ^_^

Christmas lunch with the team!

I really have to apologise for the lack of updates recently. It has been an extremely busy and crazy few weeks. This includes random Christmas lunches back to back!

My first work lunch was with the 'family' from work. I say family because I spend who knows how many hours per day with the team and we look forward to this one afternoon every December to unwind and destress.

This year we decided to dine at the Belgian Beer Cafe. What can I say? It was delicious!

There is no better way to kick start the summer with a glass of cold **vodka** lemon and lime bitters!

My colleague and I regretted for not ordering mains that came with hot chips. So we decided to get some on the side anyway.

Yum! We were just taken away by the presentation.

For mains, I had the pan-fried salmon. I rarely order seafood thanks to my pickiness but I did not have any regrets with this one. It did not taste or smell fishy (if you know what I mean). That's my kind of seafood!


In summary, even though it is slightly on the expensive side, I recommend this place if you fancy good quality pub meals.

Belgian Beer Cafe
Corner of King and Murray Streets
Perth WA

Felix Navidad!

Ted: "One more sleep till Christmas" 

and so do we. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy 2012.

XX,

Alex, Lisa, Jin & Mich



A not-so-cheap noodle bar

From L-R: Szechuan noodles, chargrilled chicken

Dinner at Madame Wu's. Always thought they were a bit overpriced but some food can be pretty tasty. This meal, however, was disappointing. The chicken looked and tasted nothing like chargrilled chicken. The noodles, well, were possibly fried with ready made paste.

I am still apologising for the lack of posts. It doesn't help that Christmas functions have been weird and almost crazy. Imagine Indian take-away as mains with Nigella's grasshopper pie served after. =P I promise we will make it up SOMEHOW.

Madame Wu's Noodle Bar
195 The Parade
Norwood SA 5067.

Carnivores we are!

We just HAD to go to the Hahndorf Inn, only because a friend of ours who has been here for 3 years has never step foot and eaten any of their awesome goodness meat.

One girlfriend of mine doesn't like pork meat but loves these pork ribs. I have to say I do not like ribs all that much just because bits get stuck in between my teeth.

The must-order at most time, a Taste of Germany platter. Having said that, I did not order this platter once. Jin was involved. =) This platter supposedly serves 2, as stated on the menu. How is that possible- 4 different sausages, smoked pork kassler chop, pork knuckle served with sauerkraut, Rhine potato and 2 pretzels.

We wanted to order some vegies. So, we asked for vegies sufficient for 7 people. We had to laugh so hard because this plate which serves 7 is possibly my usual ONE portion of salad. The photos couldn't justify it enough. Not my point anyway, it was just blanched vegies of zucchini, corn, carrot and some rocket leaves.

One more visit to Hahndorf Inn before the year ends! And before I forget, they have a 1 metre long hotdog with Bratwurst sausage challenge!

The Famous Hahndorf Inn

35 Main Street

Hahndorf SA 5245

08 8388 7063

Golden boy a.k.a Kintaro

Sorry for the MIA. December has been truly crazy in terms of personal life as well as work life. And I shall say that it has been the same for all of us.

L-R: Avocado roll, chicken karage, tempura prawn with an extra slice of salmon [personal touch]

Anyway, the focus has never been on US but on the blog despite all the procrastination and lack of posts. So here it is, another review but a disappointing one indeed.

My favourite little girl and I went to this fairly new sushi place around my area, Sushi Kintaro. She loves it there because she gets to sit on the high chairs and watch the sushi train. I can't trust her taste in sushi all that much because she eats only sushi rice. Having said that, good sushi rice is the foundation of it all.

I remembered taking the avocado roll first. Then, I waited. And waited. There was a distinctive lack of choices available to the customers. A customer next to me asked for sashimi tuna and there was none. It was on the menu but the staff merely said ''We do not have tuna yet. We only have salmon''. I actually thought of leaving after a plate but my girl was with me. She will happily eat sushi rice; which she did. Speaking of that, the tempura prawn sushi had its personal touch because she wanted only the rice and gave me the salmon instead. =)

Friends who have visited the place were also greatly disappointed by the choices available. They truly did leave after a plate. I have also read somewhere else where it lacked vego options. Maybe someday, they will pick up their game. For now, there is no way I'll walk through those doors again.

Sushi Kintaro
147 The Parade
Norwood SA 5067.

Kick start summer with a jug of margarita!

The title of this post is almost a bit too long but I just had to do it. And I'll do it again! Kick start summer with a jug of margarita!!! It took us 3 attempts, week after week [It is the busy month of the year after all], before we could finally dine at Grace the Establishment.

It was one of their Thursday specials where a jug of margarita costs only $15 instead of the usual $25. We are mindful that margarita is served with salt at the rim of the glass, however, our first word was ''Salty''. The whole jug did last us the entire sitting.

Fried chicken with buttermilk dipping sauce $9.50. We were disappointed. Chicken wasn't cripsy hot and the buttermilk dipping sauce also did not bring the fried bits to life.

Boston Bay Mussels with chorizo, lemon thyme and cider $24. Interesting flavours. If you do not know me by now, I get sucked into dishes with chorizo on the menu. =D

Slow-cooked pork belly with pickled daikon heirloom carrots $27. We thought this dish was a little overpriced and we weren't particularly impressed by the flavours. We were impressed with the presentation but I guess we do pay for that effort. The rhubarb was left on the plate only because we discovered we did not enjoy it cooked this way.

For the finale, Chocolate bar salted caramel and peanut nougat $7.50. Again, it wasn't what I had imagined. For some reason, I was expecting three separate distinctive elements on the plate. Having said that, we were glad we ordered a dessert to share as it was truly rich and satisfying to end our night.

I have to say we went to Grace with a different set of expectations. We were not allowed to order food from the bar, it does not help that the menu does look a lot more interesting at the bar. Live music was again not up to expectations and the place was loud, even at the restaurant itself. Nevertheless, I did have fun and will most definitely return to dine at the bar.

Grace the Establishment
127 The Parade
Norwood SA 5067.
0883331007.

Feeling generous?

Pub food is quite a popular choice for work lunches. It seems like an Aussie thing to have a beer or two to accompany their steak sandwich. Well, since I don’t really do alcohol or steak, I ended up having the Roast Vegetable Tart and a glass of lemon lime bitters at The Generous Squire during a colleague’s farewell lunch.

Look, how pretty!

The meal itself looked awesome but I was really disappointed with the lack of taste and flavour. To sum it up in one word – bland. Don’t be that stingy and be a bit more generous with the sauce!

*p/s: the ambience of the place wasn’t even that great; however, it was the company I was with that made the lunch wonderful*

The Generous Squire
397 Murray Street, Shafto Lane,
Perth WA 6000

Sweetie sweets

From left to right: Mango sorbet, Tia Maria Cheesecake, Berry slushie, Chocolate Tart

I just found out that I did not mention friends in Season's eatings of our Special Projects. It is not too late though. =) FRIENDS make festive seasons extra special.

It has been an interesting phase of my life lately and it also has been fun-filled with some amazing people in my life. To celebrate a friend's next phase of life, we went for dinner and of course, desserts. Another new dessert house in the city, Sweety, this place has the atmosphere of a bar but somehow has board games during their ''happy hours''. I thought that was pretty cool and there was live music too! We thought the desserts could be overpriced but I guess we are paying for the atmosphere somewhat (and the pianist!). Don't look at it as a fancy dessert place with expectations of french macarons but as another late hang-out joint and you'll be just fine. Having said that, the cheesecake and chocolate tart is pretty decent. Mango sorbet is really refreshing but at the same time gives me more of a citrusy flavour.

Mongkok Sweety (upstairs)
Gouger St (could not get add from google)
Adelaide SA 5000

note: Black sesame soup has been blacklisted.

Celebrations

Since Friday, I have been eating all weekend long. My junk intake definitely skyrocketed but it was all worth it! Thank you to the lovely and wonderful people in my life. You guys have made this weekend the most awesome weekend of the year! ^_^

My pre-celebrations began with a Friday afternoon tea and wonderful pressies (which I will upload in a later post). And you cannot have an afternoon tea without saying hello to…
…the giant Mexican marshmallows which were in my cupboard for at least 3 months. Yes, I really mean giant. Just look how huge the packet is compared to my backpack! I only remember laughter that afternoon. We laughed for 15 minutes non-stop. And that was just after consuming one marshmallow.

The Friday evening food binge began at the Twilight Hawker Festival…

...and I gave in to peer pressure. I ate the entire deep-fried potato, or Spiral Spud Stick as it is called (with my choice of chilli salt).

My main, proper meal for the day – vegetarian Gozleme. The boys said the meat one was nicer, but I actually quite enjoyed my cheesy and spinach-filled Gozleme.

Our dessert for the night! Ok, I lied. They wouldn’t let me eat this macaron Christmas tree... =(
I did get to eat proper macarons though…

...and we bought one of every flavour! Boy, was I sugar high that night.

**********

The celebrations continued on Saturday with a dose authentic Indian curry from Mela!

The yummiest chicken briyani in Perth!

Masala dosa! I love dosas. I grew up with eating dosas.

Yummy curried potatoes inside my dosa. I should have ordered another one. *reminisces*

**********

Post celebrations began with the best Sunday suprise!

My casual visit to a friend's house for afternoon tea turned into a surprise - with a special cheesecake, singing, making wishes and blowing the candle. ^_^

I look back over the years now, and I realise yes, I am grateful and very blessed. =)

At Sorelle's!

Post birthday celebration =)

Am always so blessed to get extended celebrations.

Spinach Gnocchi. When it appearred on the table, my first thought was ''It looks like a very healthy dish- it's GREEN!'' It was yummy but a little bit heavy due to the creaminess in it.

I always make the most interesting orders. *laughs at myself* I ordered this because of the clams and thought the main was red meat. Only till I dig my fork in I found out it was white meat and fish it was. South East Murray Fillet with clams in red wine jus. I could not see clearly what was written on the board that night and placed my order as such ''Can I get the specials with clams?'' The fish was good but I thought the clams were slightly overcooked.

Something with mash? Tiramisu! It was one very popular dessert, a must-order, when the place was managed as Parisis. The tiramisu doesn't present itself the same way as it does now with Sorelle, however.

I think we did really well that night-appetite wise as we both just hit the gym before. We had wedges before our mains too! *hearts* great catch-ups and birthday meals. 

Sorelle
613 Magill Road
Adelaide SA 5072
0883318844

More love for Thai food =)

We came here for convenience but it is truly a pretty decent place for Thai food in the area. This is not the first review of this place which is a stone's throw away.

 Som Tum [Thai salad of grated carrot and ground peanut with slightly sweet dressing]

According to a friend who lived in Bangkok for 4 years, this is nothing like the actual Somtum. It was missing papaya seeds. Having said that, it was a refreshing salad and the issue of missing papaya seeds could be easily justified, couldn't it?

Pork Pepper and Garlic [Pork panfried with crispy garlic flakes and chilli]

This dish, well, reminds me a lot of the Chinese ''Pau Siew Yok''. Slices of pork, fried in a huge wok till crisp. I love it. =)

Drunken Noodles [Stir fried egg noodles with chicken, vegetables, chilli and fresh basil]

I had a laugh over this. I had all along thought that rice noodles should be used instead of egg noodles. So when it appearred on the table, I was tremendously disappointed. It was my bad- I obviously did not read the print 'Stir fried EGG noodles'. I just wanted drunken noodles!

My girlfriend specifically requested for an egg fried the way Thais did it. That cost us AUD$2. Should I be pleased? It is still just a fried egg. Anyway, I do love the dishes. Having the lady boss to serve us and speak few words of Thai also gave us a warm feeling. My friend definitely felt like being in Bangkok back again.

The Chabaar
230 The Parade
Norwood SA 5067.

Time to bounce off the walls!

Homemade Sesame and Peanut Tong Yuen, Mango Cream Dessert, Lemon Cheesecake from Michel's

Looks like a Junkie Friday night to me!!!

Anyway, I have these amazing talented friends who can make yummy desserts [ignore Cafe Michel's cheesecake]. They make things sound so easy, for instance ''The mango cream dessert is a no baking one. Just chuck everything together." Oh, do I need to say that this friend of mine looks nothing like a baker? You would think he is a gym junkie. Before I drift off topic too far, I love the fresh mango in it!

We only had one main course and possibly 5 different desserts?! Besides these three, we had tapioca kueh, ice cream and fresh fruits [last minute change from a chocolate fondue]. Oh, six it is!

Malaysians' new hang-out joint at this point

I do not have to give captions to these pictures, do I? *laughs* If you do not know it, just read along. Roti canai and teh tarik [pulled tea] are the two items which come to mind when people think of mamak or specifically mamak food. Seriously, people would go crazy over mamak food but I was never one of them.

Having said that, my friends and I persisted one random late night [well, I merely followed the crowd]. One of the staff told us they were already closed for the night but we managed to score ourselves a table [thanks to connections, yay!]. They agreed initially to only hot drinks, but we ended up with roti canai, roti telur [egg roti?] and roti planta [margarine roti?]. I did not take pictures of everything because rotis just look like rotis regardless.

This place is really popular with many international students as it is not expensive. However, it is a small ''corner'' which literally translates itself to ''limited places available''. I see the food served as a healthier version of mamak food as the roti planta was the only one which tasted much like home. *hints oily* I do not think I would initiate meals at Mamak Corner only because I am not a big fan of Asian food outside home but would enjoy the place with my peers as we think of home. Note to self, I have to go there with Malaysians and maybe, Singaporeans too.

Mamak Corner
8 Bank Street
Adelaide SA

My secret stash

This is what happens when chocolates go on sale...

Okay, I rarely get that carried away but imported Meiji chocolates for $1?! And to be fair, these have lasted me for quite awhile, being my loyal companion throughout my stressful moments like tonight, hence the Junkie Friday post.

I did not buy the 95% dark cocoa, though. With each nibble (yes, nibble!), you can taste true cocoa and then the aftermath of bitterness hits you. Just think of all the antioxidants you have consumed! Hehe =P

Trick or treat?

“Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble” ~ from Macbeth.

Happy Halloween everyone! At work we managed to celebrate Halloween with a morning tea. And no, there were no costumes or candy, unfortunately. The most fancy we got to was placing pumpkins, cotton 'cobwebs' and fake spiders around the good old Aussie meat pie and sausage rolls. >.<It would have been interesting to see a few witches and monsters wandering about, working in front of computers. Food for thought, perhaps? Dressing up for Halloween does remind me of my childhood – where fairies, gypsies and angels wannabes gather together one night for a sleepover in a cotton-cobwebbed room; we even had tomato sauce splattered on our snacks to replicate a 'gory' night.

How 'bout dyeing cake?

Okay, I don't literally mean dyeing cake but batik is a fabric dyeing technique This treat from Malaysia [specifically Sarawak] is known as the 'batik cake' [or the hedgehog slice in Oz]. Having said that, I never knew about it being 'Malaysian' until recently. Baked and brought to a gathering by my friends, I finally had a taste of this rich sweet goodness.

So why did I consider this a junkie treat besides the fact that sweets should always be taken in moderation? This batik cake requires only 4 ingredients and boy, they are seriously naughty ingredients; condensed milk, milo, butter and marie biscuits. The no-bake recipe can be provided upon request, however there are many similar recipes available on the web.

My parents would never introduce me to this and I did confirm it again. Mama goes "Condensed milk!''. After all, I was one of those kids out there with restricted access to sweets of all kinds in my childhood days.

I did enjoy little bits of it, but ''OMG, It's sweeeeeeeet.'' and I'm also not a big fan of butter! It does not mean it wasn't awesome though. =)

I *heart* pink #4

Apologies for the lack of updates. It has been a very busy few weeks lately hence this week's 'I <3 pink' post equates to:

P.i.n.k. = A girl's day off

Finally, I had a relaxing day - going out, painting nails, catching up on sleep and eating cookies. Every woman deserves time out from her busy life.

Have you been thinking P.I.N.K. this month? We definitely have!

This burger is Mine!

Texan Madness (Hand crafted meat patty, smokey bbq sauce, greens, crispy bacon, tomato salsa, grilled jalapenos pepper and cheddar cheese)

It was almost deceiving to say ''It's big.'' because it was HUGE. We girls had to squish it together before we attempt mouthfuls of everything. If I were given cutleries, I would deconstruct my burger no doubt. One of my girlfriends failed to finish her burger, the Rocky Mountain High [I really did not bother taking every single burger because they really looked similar]. A burger is a burger to me, they always look the same. Having said that, the sauces are different and there were slight changes of ingredients. Totally worth the money and totally gave me the impression of American burgers.

I loved my burger. The Aussie burger, however, apparently did not hit the mark. I can't wait for the next visit to try their smoothies or to be daring enough to go for a burger AND smoothie!

With pride, I finished my Texan Madness. With guilt, however, I cannot afford to miss gym.

Burger Foundry

389 Magill Road, St Morris

Adelaide 5068, SA

http://www.burgerfoundry.com.au/

Junkie Friday #7

First of all, I would like to apologise for the late post! Had too much fun eating junk =)

Entree

 Cucumber and carrot sticks with hommus dips

[we had an extra chunky basil pesto as a backup] note: this is an attempt to be healthy.

Main course

 Honey soy chicken wings

 [extra BBQ Spareribs Chicken wings as backup]

Desserts

Trilogy cheese [Roasted Onion and Chives, Vintage and Smoked] and Maggie Beer's plum paste served with crackers, dessert cookies with melting middle [to make it simple, chocolate fondants] and crunchie bar chocolates.

Drinks

A bottle of cab sav and a bottle of light red.

Did you think we were going to finish all the food? There were only 2 ladies eating despite having more people in the sitting. We even had a movie on, however, we ended up talking sooo much I am definite we lost track of the plot despite saying females can multitask.

Tick tick tick. It was totally a junkie night even though we had vegie sticks.

I *heart* pink #3

I am all about equations for "I *heart* pink", so today's equation is

Pink= Happiness

From top (clockwise): Chocolate mini cupcake, party spread (sushi, party pies, vegie sticks, juice and my favourite chips), orange and poppy seed cake as well as more cupcakes! 

As I always say, it is the company that makes things fantastic. With that, it is the little gestures of fantastic people in my life which makes me happy, if not extremely happy, and feeling absolutely appreciated. Not all the food are gourmet quality but I've put together a collage of some food pictures  which put that huge grin on my face ALL WEEK.

I used to be an anti-pink girl, however, a colleague of mine sees me as a ''pinkmo'' girl now. I don't mind it at all because pink is the colour of happiness and it brings warmth. =D

Think about all the people who are affected by breast cancer. Support them with extra love and warmth.

Obviously I have been thinking P.I.N.K., have you?

I *heart* pink #2

This week’s entry is a bit different. It’s my week to dedicate to pink so I don’t intend to give a full blown review; but it's also the end of the week! Apart from featuring macarons as part of this week's Junkie Friday, I hope the yummilicious treats justify my version of *I <3 Pink*

Yummy cotton candy with pop rocks; raspberry with dark chocolate; and blueberry with orange filling

I bought these from Cimbalino at Enex 100 Food Court. The different shades of pink represent the different women in the world regardless of race, background, culture and belief. At this point, you might ask why I added a blue macaroon into the picture. Well, in very rare cases, men can also be diagnosed with breast cancer.

I am thinking P.I.N.K. this October. Are you?

"For you."

Dropping by to say we are still thinking of P.I.N.K as we are supporting Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It has to be pink everywhere =) Do your part, in any way, to support the people in need and show them you care.  

We *heart* pink.