Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Australia

I know this blog is meant to be about eating in Hong Kong ... but I had such amazing food on my trip to Australia that HK restaurants will have to take the backseat. Next post will be local, promise :)

I visited both Sydney and Melbourne, armed with a number of recommendations from numerous foodbloggers. These were my favourites (note the lack of anything remotely resembling fine dining :P they were all basically hole-in-the-wall restaurants):

harry's cafe de wheels

chicken & mushroom pie, doused in gravy!

This was perhaps the best pie I've ever had - though I guess Hong Kong pies aren't much of a competition. There were huge chunks of chicken and they even used fresh mushrooms! Not bad for a meal from a cart!

The following night, we trekked to Chinatown to check out Mamak. There was already a queue forming at 5:30pm! It's been a while since I've visited Singapore so I was craving this food. I was particularly excited to see how good it fared in Australia considering the sizeable Malaysian population there.

queuing up...

nasi goreng - love the fried shallots on top

teh tarik, as good as any in S'pore! had to order seconds!

roti canai in metal plates! crispy on the outside, super fluffy inside

chicken & beef satay. actually the highlight of my meal, particularly the amazing homemade peanut sauce!

dessert - sweet roti with a dollop of vanilla ice cream

I had heard a lot about Becasse, an award-winning, up-scale restaurant in Sydney. However, I was more attracted to the casual cafe they opened (plan b by becasse) next door.

wagyu beef burger

Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the burger itself but this is plan b's famous 600-day grass fed wagyu beef burger! At only $10 AUD, it was great value and simply delicious - the fillings included caramelised onions, beetroots and vintage cheddar cheese. But the meat was definitely the highlight! Juicy, succulent, thick thick patty :)

Finally, this was brunch in a small cafe in Melbourne. Forget what it's called (that's how unassuming it was) but everything was organic and super fresh.

eggs florentine. simply divine.