Thursday 30th March




On the very same block a few doors down was their newer sister store. I'm after milk tea and was referred to Raan Kan Eang. $3.80 but I was distracted when I got there by the awesome lunch special! Going till 4pm this is the latest lunch deal you'll find!



It's lovely by the window with happy yellow walls this place is newer than the original and suitable for a casual meal. The earlier reminded us of rose garden bbq and the likes of fast and cheap student eateries.





Pad Thai - No this is definitely Kar kweoy tao. Dry chicken but very generous serve! The box was twice the size we'd expected! Serves 3-4. not too oily. 



Still good after being bought back to life from the freezer (5 mins microwave with a glass of water). 

For $13 this (the chicken soup and huge box of noodles) is of great value. Get takeaway, pay 50c for the box and end up with at least two meals. 

Sunday 30th July 



We returned for a quick dinner a few months later and had a pad thai satay chicken on rice. While it was a satay chicken I didn't really see the pad thai influence. Though the sauce was coconuty an nice. A generous serving too and cheap eat. Sure I'd get it again. It was pretty basic though.

Thursday 30th March











I'm still not sure about that floor and the seats together... 

Damn no deep fried banana. 

Service was slightly friendly (depends on who you get) and fast.
No. 28 Tom Yum Noodle Soup $7 (small/chicken) Soup dish with thin rice noodles, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, galingale, mushroom, corn, tomato + Rice  $2 = Total Cost $10

A light tomatoy tom yum soup, with the added rice (serving suggestion) it turned the entree into a main! It was good though nothing amazing.

One of my neighbours didn't really like it and only had the soup - lunch thief! Through elimination I have a pretty good idea who it is, no.6. 

Tuesday 28th March



Gyoza Douraku is a series of $6.80 tapas - $$$ for dinner! Lunch Specials are awesome though, though this week we're working 12hr shifts, no time for lunch adventures.

Tapas are $6.80 eat in, $7.50 takeaway?! That's a bit much of a difference! No split bill, 2% charge for card. Aimed at locals while it's Japanese, the music is 'raining men' and Madonna, only white people eat here (Liven took me here).

There's a membership thing $10 to join, you get a $30 gift voucher with  $25 min spend (I assume thats after the $30) so you need to spend $55, which will cost you $10 + $25 = $35. $35 for $55 credit in summary.





Wednesday

Work was slow so they let us go, for the rest of the week. This is what working once off/annual events is like. It's more like a side gig for struggling artists. 



3.20pm Dinners are a bit crazy so we ordered take away for later, taking advantage of all the lunch deals. In hindsight it was a bad idea, but then again you can't predict when your housemates will eat your food.



I love seeing trailers for comedy shows! Bridezilla Anna Morris was quite entertaining with two great lines. Drawing upon audience participation to create the wedding party in the small chapel of the Tuxedo Cat. To create the perfect day, with the ultimate realization that she is a bridezilla, with friends like hansen and Trump, marrying an anti gay politician, and this isn't what she wants to be. Instead she wants to be herself, free to drink cheap beer and eat a cold coles brand pie.

What she didn't touch upon was how weddings are seen as a competition between girls, to outdo each other. Spending money you don't have to impress people you don't really care about.

My favorite lines?

• Men are like parking spots, all the good ones are taken, the ones that are left are too small or disabled. (Gays go under the later category, as we attended a disability conference the other year where being not straight is seen as a disability).
• All women should have the right to three things: a  house keeper, botox and the perfect wedding. Hence Brideaid, the charity was formed! To help those with no taste whatsoever.

While the show was entertaining and worth the ticket price (we paid less than $10 for two tickets), it didn't really stand out from two scrapbooks worth of shows. I have no idea how this is touring... maybe it's the appeal of the accent?



After the show we went for ice cream! $9 is a bit much for an ice cream sandwich! I feel like it should be more like  $6. She had the strawberry, and I the choc mint which went well with the chocolate cookie.

Friday



We went to see Issac's Comedy Hypnosis. The trick? Paid actors. He was such a charlatan and through matching jewelry you could easily identify that one of the actors was his girl. He'd have to have a large and varied group of actor friends. I wonder how'd it go as a corporate gig. 

Let me count all the ways you annoy me

1. 1. You ate most of my chips when I offered you a couple, claiming that cause I didn't pay for them (true, I won them) it's ok. No it is not. "They're not yours. It's not like you paid for them."
2. 2. You smoked standing right next to me! After I told you to go stand far away with the other smokers, you came back. Then lied and said you weren't smoking. 
3. 3. You spit and could outdo a lama!!

All in my presence. I'm not saying you're beneath me, but you are of another class, to the side. Meeting new people sucks most of the time from experience. Uggh. Making friends is hard!



Through Liven we discovered Ka Chin tonight on Bridge Rd open till 11pm on a Friday! It's not a party bar, but a cozy restaurant (I say cozy because it's nice and  warm inside).

Here for a snack we had spring rolls and deep fried dumplings, so good!

Veg Spring Rolls with sweet and sour sauce on a bed of lettuce. Faired better than average though a bit oily. They were larger than normal and more like cigars though. Oh how I wish spring rolls were as easy to find as chips!

Dessert was the highlight of my night! Who can say they've had deep fried red bean dumplings before?


Saturday - 1st April



Saturday started with lag, but we made it to church, just missing the first song. Music is beautiful and fills your soul like nothing else! Even food. And I love food. Courtly baroque, Italian vs french. I haven't heard enough to determine which I prefer. But we did see a french courtly circus show that was breathtaking.



A quick dinner/snack at Oppa Oppa before a couple shows. We've been here before for dinner during fashion week. This time as it was 6pm and not right before the kitchen closed, the lights were brighter and it was full. We snagged the last table downstairs though there was more room upstairs.

I ordered the  sweet and spicy chicken served with korean noodle snacks and a potato wedge. It was the perfect balance with the freshness of shredded cabbage and radish cutting through the sauce. Of which there was plenty of, add rice and you've got a main minus the side salad.



Down to the malthouse to see two shows. Hilarious and disturbing but throughly entertaining. Gay and scifi activities... the later was very weird. Erotica. XD

Thursday 23rd March



A visit to a favourite of ours, where the food is always good though does vary between pretty good and "Can I buy this to take home?".

Located on little Lonsdale I can't imagine Angliss being a place you'd stumble upon. You'd have to know about it. The clientele would be friends and family. And me, I think I actually found this resturant through looking at open day/potential enrolment.

A training resturant for students, the only other one of its kind is homesglen gw, opposite the wave pool, a bit out of the way from public transport. 623 st kilda/gw bus from gw/mtw.

There's other student services out there like dental, hair and beauty, physio and all the likes. Student training schools. Things is they're cheap but only open till 4pm and not open on weekends. But if you can do check them out. 













*Rémoulade is a condiment invented in France that is usually aioli- or mayonnaise-based. Although similar to tartar sauce, it is often more yellowish.















We ordered medium though it was more like medium raw. The caramelized onion and peppercorn jus was beautiful while the chips were a bit weird, traditionally pan fried so not crispy as preferred.




A chewy brownie with delicious nutty ice cream and awesome caramelized banana (the best way to have banana other than deep fried).



The professor had the rice pudding which reminds of risotto XD I'm really not sure about rice in desserts unless you turn it into mush perhaps. I prefer rice in savory dishes.

Tuesday 21st March

Opposite Malvern Central is Sugo Italian, with 'Sugo' meaning the basic tomato sauce in pasta. Lured by a Liven deal we found ourselves here for an early pre-show dinner on a Tuesday Night. Spoiler - The pizza was much better than the movie!

With seats on the veranda (smoking), side and lovely air con inside! For it was a summer's day we secured a seat for one by the door I had a great view of the lantern lit part of the restaurant towards the back. Skylights added glossiness to the tables. 

It's an area full of strips of restaurants, hair dressers and the likes. Towards town hall is two burger places and froyo where the younger people hang out. Here it's mainly parents dinning with a couple kids. The place was much nicer than I'd expected, just going by the name I expected something like pizza hut with booths. 


We ordered the seafood much to Andy's dismay, the most pricey pizza, hence best value - but only if you like pizza.

A thin but doughy base with crispy but not too crispy crust. Chucks of salmon, prawns and mussels scattered generously with cherry tomatoes and red onion. There wasn't lemon though which would have taken it up to the next level.

Lots of stringy mozzarella! Heavy on toppings without a cardboard like base, use the fork to support the front/nose of the slice.

Serves 1 boy or 2 of me, with a side salad. I eat everything, but just a tiny bit of everything.



By 6.45 the place was almost full! The crowd was 30 plus with the exception of one family.

Service was very friendly though I think she was new as she didn't know the pizza offer
I love being told the daily specials :P

A great place for any occasion from dinner for one to the family or a date. The atmosphere was nice and I've never been to a place that felt like this one, in two words: Fancy Sofia.



On Mondays and Tuesdays pizzas are $16 (normally they range from $17 margarita to $24 seafood) there's happy hour drink offers to accompany the pizzas.

$16 for a gourmet/non chain seafood pizza served on a cheeseboard is a pretty good deal especially on the veranda with fairy lights. Minus potential smokers. I feel like they've ruined outdoor dinning. But there's the great indoors!

Where do you see yourself in five years? Going to the market in the morning, dropping off the stuff in the kitchen, popping a roast in the oven, going to church and back for lunch with the family, if we're not doing a bring-a-plate to share lunch at church that week. But does a roast really take that long? Aren't you meant to not use the oven without keeping a close eye on it? 



All questions for the future. For now we've offered to bring cake for dessert. Something easy that you can make the night before, while catching up on the blog. And so we came across Matt Preston's Flourless Nutella Cake! With more than 9.5k reviews and only two ingredients, it's something I've been meaning to try for a while, since I've had the same jar of Nutella for two years XD I might be a sugar addict but I never eat from the jar or lick the spoon.

All you need is 4 eggs, Nutella and an oven! Best to make it before bed so it can chill in the fridge overnight, or at least 4 hours before serving. We went for overnight, as I can't leave it alone on the bench, and don't trust my house mates to either (I know who ate my highly medicated tom yum soup guys!).   







Microwave the Nutella, 10 seconds at a time, stir till melted. It's important that you don't prep the Nutella till the eggs are ready. Why? Because the Nutella will start to firm up again. Also it will look like it has seized - that's normal.



In a second bowl combine Nutella and 1/3 (a third) of the eggs. You don't have to be gentle with the first batch, but with the second and third fold it into the mixture with a dessert spoon.



















As it was summer and strawberries were in season we decorated the cake with strawberries and cream. I'd expected it to be rich, hence the fruit and cream to cut through what I thought would be a dense and rich cake - but I couldn't be more wrong!



Washed, hulled and halved strawberries provided a serving guide, well cutting guide. Do you want one strawberry or two? Serves 8-16 people, or less, but at least 6 I'd say. - And as an American our serving sizes are generous. 

The strawberries also works as a boarder for the cream, whipped till soft peaks form with two dessert spoons of sifted icing sugar (sifting optional, just make sure there are no lumps).



A two strawberry slice, the first time I made it I accidentally took a nap so the eggs deflated and were twice whipped. As a result the cake didn't rise as high, but tastes the same fudgy but not rich, just like a chocolate tart minus the crust! Therefore the name of the recipe "Matt Preston's Flourless [2 Ingrdients]-ish Nutella {Pie} Cake"! Two ingredients before it's decorated, here you see: Eggs, Nutella, powdered/icing sugar, strawberries and cream. 






Here's the recipe, copy and paste from Cookaroo, with a few edits. 

Matt Preston's Flourless [2 Ingrdients]-ish Nutella {Pie} Cake
Serves 6+

4 Eggs (use large eggs, or 4 small eggs + 1 more egg white)
250g Chocolate hazelnut spread (Nutella is the most popular here)

Utensils
- Two large bowls
- Microwave jug
- Springform pan + oven tray
- Electric whisk/beaters

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade, fan forced setting. Line a 20cm springform tin with baking/grease-proof paper. If it doesn't stick to the tin, use the stick of butter as a glue stick.
2. In a large bowl break all four eggs and whisk with a hand-mixer. You want the eggs to become completely pale and frothy and quadruple in size which will take about 10 - 15 minutes of constant whisking. You can add vanilla extract if you like.
3. Meanwhile in a microwave jug, microwave 250 grams of chocolate hazelnut spread (half my 500g jar), 10 seconds at a time. - Do not do this till the eggs are ready. Why? Find the picture on this note above.
4. Add a third of the frothy eggs into the Nutella and stir until completely incorporated.
5. Fold in the rest of the eggs very carefully so that you don't completely loose the air. Use a dessert spoon, fold, fold fold.
6. Gently pour it into your springform tin, placed on a tray (otherwise have fun taking it out later), reduce heat to 160 degrees and bake for 20 minutes.
7. Remove and cool completely. Refrigerator for at least four hours before serving.

To Decorate 
- Fresh Cream
- Strawberries/Raspberries
- Powdered/Icing Sugar



Questions & Answers

How sweet is it? Not anywhere as sweet as I thought! My asian friend approves.

What's the texture like? Bouncy like thick custardy jello/firm. Pudding?? Pie filling!

Do you need the eggs to be room temperature? No, it doesn't make a difference.

Do I really need to serve it chilled? No, but it won't be the same. Also you can't have the cream on top, because the heat will melt it into a puddle.

How much strawberries and cream did you use? Less than a punnet for strawberries. Cream? Not sure, I whipped it all up and mixed the remaining strawberries and cream that weren't used for the cake, to be served with ice cream.

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