kurai @ haymarket

I've probably been here a zillion times but I got to say though, I love this place! I almost always go for the Katsu-Don but the Karage Chicken, Tofu-Don, Takoyaki, and Unagi are also my favourites. Might I add, that's only a few items off their menu; I'm still getting through it. Their udon and curry rice are definitely on my 'to try' list, will update as I get around to trying them.

Where to find it? This extremely small shop is located just opposite Market City. It might be easily missed, especially when lunch hour calls for a queue of people obscuring their front entrance. I've been in a queue everytime I've been here but rest assured that the wait here isn't as long as the wait at Ichiban Boshi up at Galleries (by far!). Like I said, it's an extremely small shop so really, grab your best mate or even just venture in yourself for a quick bite. Prices are so reasonable that you won't believe it!

Miso Soup + Green Tea.

Katsu-Don & Karage Chicken with Sweet Chilli Sauce. Be warned that both are extremely filling.

Salmon Sushi which looked too good to eat! Might add though, one meal per person is already quite enough (J&I struggled to finish this one)

I'd eat here everyday if I could! Staff are generally friendly and food is always awesome! Downside being that you can't really sit here for long and groups of more than 3 people can't really sit down for a meal (considering the shop only has spaces for about 12). There's also the pay when you order system which I've always found a bit strange. I'd rather get my food first before I have to pay (but that's just me though). To avoid the crowds, I recommend visiting before 12 or sometime after 2pm.

Love this place!

happy birthday amz!

Happy Birthday to the 'bestest' girl in the world! Hope you enjoyed your birthday and your presents (I am seriously considering stealing your bf...jk!) But I've got to say, you have to be one of the luckiest girls in the world. Thumbs up to Champs!

So it was strangely on a Sunday that the birthday girl invited a group of us out for dinner at Platinum (just where the buses are at Macquaire Centre). Given that it was a Sunday night, it wasn't a particularly big night but nonetheless, the first time in awhile since I've seen my bestie as well as the rest of the 'gang'. God, I don't even know how long it's been since we've gotten together. Proof of this -

Jenny: 'Andy (who is sitting next to me), why are you staring at me?'
Andy: 'Why can't I? I just want to look at my friend, I've haven't you in ages'
Jenny: Oh...
And this subsequently lead to the conversation of who is who's best friend and Andy's loud claim that he was Amy's best friend. Andy hasn't changed one bit.

The B'day girl and her boy. Cute!

Not sure who took this photo and I'm not sure why I'm waving my arm around.

Foodwise, I can't say that this place is particularly extraordinary. They've got quite an extensive menu and the food is generally well presented but it leans towards the pricey side for what you get. I've heard that both Platinum and Inferno's are owned by the same owner (they just sit next door to each other) and personally, I would recommend going to Inferno's (especially if you've got a big group).

Justin's Steak which was incredibly small but tasty.

Bruschetta with Pumpkin, Ricotta & Pancetta. This was what made them forget my main. I ended up having to wait another 5-10 minutes after everyone's mains came out. Boo!

My late-arriving Paperdelle with Asparagus and Salmon. Salty!

Made a new friend. Her name is Sally and us being silly.

The Girls.

A photo at our end of the table. Me glaring at Justin for being stupid.

It was a shame that we had to call it an early night. But work the next day! Happy Birthday Amz!

little egg cakes

Thanks for the recipe Kenneth! I'm not sure how you came across it but if you come across any other ones, please let me know. As promised, once I manage to get the recipe right, you're invited over to eat! Give me another week or two, and hopefully I will have mastered different flavours and variations for you to choose. Seriously dude, you're awesome!

So the story goes, Kenneth gave me this recipe late last week. At that time, I didn't actually have the right equipment to make them but I thought I'd give it a go with a regular English Waffle Pan maker. I'd planned on doing that over the weekend but as things always work, there was a slight change of plan. On Friday night, mum tells me she has a 'surprise' for me. lol... I actually thought she went to eat Maccas and got me the gingerbread man (that's another story) but I come home to find this surprise:


Is it awesome or what?! I didn't think they sold these here in Australia and even if they did, it would be heaps expensive! Turns out it was just a bit over $30 at the restaurant supply store that it's in my suburb. Mum was warned by the old lady at the store that this was just a very basic model. If you can see in the photo, it's pretty much 2 pieces held together by a nail. Definitely not as fancy as the professional ones you find in the streets of Hong Kong. Yay nonetheless!

I'm sure everyone from Hong Kong would be quite jealous now :P I don't think I know anyone (from Hong Kong) who doesn't like these cakes. If you're like me, I grew up with these and I look forward to my trips to Hong Kong where I can dig into countless servings of these cakes. Now I can make them at home!

Using Kenneth's recipe, I ended up making 3 full servings. The first turned out quite dense and well, I 'accidentally' overfilled the thing so I had batter running everywhere and caking onto the stove. As warned by the lady at the shop, you really need lots of oil/grease before you pour the mix in and I reinforce her words. The second batch I burnt quite badly (that's when I realised you can't pour the mix in when the pan's already heated up). The third I got to say was pretty much perfect. And well, that was gobbled up rather quickly.

So...I've got pandan essence and pandan paste at home which I have yet to use. Thinking I'll probably try a pandan flavoured batch next time. Hehe..loving my new little/big gadget! Only downside is that it's an absolute bummer to clean. Oh...and I lost one of my pastry brushes on this thing.

chocolate friands

I'm officially addicted to the chocolate scones which they've started selling at Baker's Delight! (Bought another two today when I was out shopping with mum which brings it to a grand total of 4 chocolate scones this week. Don't worry...I've haven't had all of them :P) I can't imagine getting sick of them but at the rate I'm going, it could be possible. Will keep everyone updated!

So it was a combination of these yummy chocolate scones and the horrendously cold weather of the weekend that I was encouraged to pick up my Donna Hay 'Chocolate' book and do some baking. A number of people have already noticed that I haven't been doing much baking lately and have asked if everything's ok. Aside from being frozen in this weather, I'm still baking! Just that the last two quiches I made were so hands on, I didn't really get the chance to snap away with my camera. And well, the quiches were quite a favourite and disappeared incredibly quickly after they were baked. Seems like I've mastered the Quiche Lorraine! Yay!

Anyhow, these little Chocolate Friands turned out quite well save for the time it took to unmould them. Looks like I need to be a bit more generous with the butter when it comes to greasing the pan.

Straight out of the oven. Glad I used the pastry bag to fill the tin, all the friands came out the same size and shape.
A dozen chocolate friands minus 2 :P

I've got to say, this is probably the first friand recipe which I've used which has gotten me exactly a whole tray of friands. A lot of recipes seem to only get you 10 or even just 9. Thumbs up to Donna Hay once again for getting it right! Anyway, does anyone know of a good cocoa powder I can use for baking? The Nestle one I'm using at the moment is Ok but I'm on the search for something more chocolatey.

And to add, J & I went to watch Pirates 3 with our free Hoyts tickets this weekend. We even had a discount voucher which got us a free upsize on our popcorn and drinks meal. Our popcorn came in one of those big KFC buckets. I'm never eating popcorn again!

Our big bucket of popcorn and probably a litre of coke.
Lady standing next to us in the queue 'You could feed the whole cinema with all that popcorn'

Movie was ok. Looks like there'll be a Pirates 4.

good food & wine show 2007

I was half-hoping that the weather would've kept most people at home but no luck, the Good Food & Wine Show was packed this year (and probably more people than ever!) People were crowded around every store, queues to the toilets, to the bottleshop, for book signings, for the shows and for whatever else. I spent around 6 hours walking around the show and I attribute half that time to lining up in queues. Fortunately, I was joined by mum, Justin, Mandy, Kaho as well as my cousins who made the waiting time rather enjoyable, and time really seemed to fly by. Last year I would've spent a max. of 3 hours in there.

To mark 6 hours of show visiting, mum and I ended up buying one of those shopping trolleys to carry our loot. (Next year, we'll be better prepared and bring that shopping trolley back). In between us, we bought the Donna Hay show bag, Yeo's show bag, subscribed to Delicious magazine (and received an extremely worthwhile showbag, two coffees, a cupcake and a bottle of wine!), the Adora Chocolates showbag, dips and crisps, which altogether weighed about a tonne. Plus a few more freebies, we just managed to fit everything into the trolley. I owe my non-broken shoulder to that trolley, not only did it remove the weight off my shoulders, it kept all our things dry as we made the trek back to the car after the show in the pelting rain.

Mum and I with our free Vittoria coffees

So you might be wondering what on earth I did for 6 hours. Really, it wasn't that much; a combination of eating, crowding, lining up, that sort of thing. Here were the highlights:

Number 1: Donna Hay

For a good half an hour or more, I was plonked at the Donna Hay stand. First of all, I tried to convince Mandy to buy one of Donna's cookbooks and as a result, I was joined by this guy called 'Ed Potter' (who I believe works with Donna - name rings a bell but I have no idea who he is) and he echoed 'exactly' my sentiments. Together, we gave the same 'yays' and 'nays' to Mandy and after that was done, I discussed my dilemna with this guy about not having anything for Donna to sign. All the books that were on sale were already on my bookshelf and the only thing I wanted to buy, which was the apron, wasn't on sale. Anyway, I think Ed started feeling sorry for me and gave me the low-down on upcoming Donna Hay books. Two are due for October and from memory, one of them should be salads. There'll be a citrus one and unfortunately, I've already forgotten the other two. So given Donna was about 2m away from me, Ed suggested I just join the queue and get her to sign my magazine that was in the showbag. Sounded like a good idea and I even got a photo taken with her! Thanks Ed!

My signed June issue of Donna Hay. "For Jenny. Happy Cooking. Donna Hay"

Number 2: Curtis Stone

I'd originally wanted to see Donna Hay's show again this year but by the time I went to Ticketmaster to buy tickets, the show was already booked out. After coordinating everyone that was going, I settled for everyone to go to the 12.30 Curtis Stone show. I didn't think much of it at the time but boy, I was in for the best surprise. Curtis Stone was awesome! Not only is he funny, he's cute and he can cook!

I officially have the biggest crush on Curtis Stone. Apparently he's 30 and single :P

So to sum the day up, it was awesome and I fell in love :P Justin doesn't seem too happy. Anyway, it was good to get home after the trek in the rain. Somehow all our purchased items managed to stay dry while the rest of us got soaking wet. We were all weary in our own ways; having essentially skipped lunch for the day. I'm just one of those people where little bits of food just don't count as food. I was definitely hungry by the time I got home and stuffed myself with dinner.

Our loot. I should add, 3 blocks of Lindt chocolate was selling for $5! Bargain!

I can't wait till next year's show!