Dirty Dumplings Deutschland?

I don't think I'm being untruthful by saying that one of the best and most (in)famous places to eat in Melbs was Camy Shanghai dumpling, affectionately known as "Dirty Dumplings" or "DD for short. In fact, one of my favourite meals in Melbs was going out for dumplings, whether they be dim sum/yum cha, slightly less dirty xiao long baos at Hutong, or ordinary jiaozi from wherever. Little packets of joy...it's no wonder I've been missing them here :(

Well I have found a place that appears to make and sell homemade dumplings! Here! In Muenchen! Located close to where I used to live in the Univiertel again, it's a little shopfront not far away from the Kunstreal and given the prices of the dishes, a real student-y place!

My plate of dumplings - 12 for 5.20, I think. And served with vinegar!

Hmmm, the meat to veggie ratio still isn't quite what it is in Melbs but it'll do.

I don't know whether I'm simply becoming less picky with time but two particular things stood out to me - 1. I really liked the dumpling wrapper, and 2. They were definitely home made. How could I tell? Well the dumplings were of varying size, shape, and filling level. Some were bigger and plumper than others. Oh well. As the caption says, the filling itself had a higher veggie ratio than what I was used to but again, passable. It had a nice gingery flavour actually. I guess it warrants a return visit (and maybe I'll drag an Asian or an Aussie with me for cross referencing) because at the very least, it had baozi on the menu and I want to check if they're XLBs!

Also, I don't actually know if they're dirty though - I was using it for alliteration purposes ;)

Swedish Meatballs

I went on yet another trip to Ikea yesterday and found the time to have the Swedish meatballs and a Lingon berry Dryck. It meant I didn't get the €1 hotdog at the end but as I ate my meatballs, I reflected that I hadn't had them in years and therefore worth the wait.


Also, because we were there after 6pm and Ikea in German closes at 8pm (seriously, wtf), they were half price. Even more awesome. 

More German Pastries

Oddly enough, I managed to get out of my apartment a little bit earlier than normal today and so I decided to walk the *long way* to the U-bahn, hoping to meet eine Bäckerei (bakery). Now because the long way basically consists of walking in the other direction around the block, I didn't meet one, I went back to the store in the U-bahn stop and did the point and smile method of ordering again.

Today I got this:

Vanilla Pudding-schnecke

(aka, vanilla pudding snail - learning a language through food *thumbs up*) 

Believe it or not, I actually thought it was half the size of what it actually is (like a danish), and was kinda horrified when the woman picked it out of the window and put it in the paper bag. Anyway, I'm slowly making my way through it now and my preliminary thoughts are that I'm really liking the pastry, oddly not enamoured of the vanilla custard! The flavour is nice enough but the baking has given it a kinda plasticy crust as opposed to a soft Asian egg tart layer or a sugary French-style crust. No matter, oh and I'm still working my way through it!

Deep fried dough

After reading Pooey's post about QVM donuts, I felt like some deep fried dough covered in sugar. Luckily, I'm in exactly the right country for those kinds of sweeties. I got up a bit late and wasn't able to make myself breakfast but it was okay because there's a bakery of sorts in my local U-bahn stop. Mein Deutsch ist sehr crappy, so I pointed towards something donut-y looking, paid €1.35 and continued on my way.

Eating it at work, it wasn't as comforting as a warm jam donut and I think there was a meagre attempt to make it apple flavoured. Would I eat it again? Maybe, once I made my way through all the other pastries but I suspect there would be something I preferred more.  

Student food review - David & Camy's Shanghai Dumpling, Box Hill

I can't believe I've never reviewed either this place or it's dirtier sibling in the city! Because it's not the city version, I will not call it by the pseudonym *DD* and it wasn't quite as dirty as the original (and the best/worst) but the Boxy branch of this dumpling shop is just as fast and reliable (sorta) in its output of food.

We had a variety of standard dumplings as well as one dish I've actually never had before! If some of the food in the pictures look like dog food and kinda crappy, it's because we dug in before I remembered to take a photo.

Now...this was supposed to be the dandan mian...I think it was actually zhajiang mian with extra chilli thrown in to make it spicy. And it was really spicy! Cue hilarious moment when Clinty bites in a chilli on the expectation that the sauce wasn't hot. It was. Hehehehe. Not bad, just not what we ordered, or at least, what we were expecting.

Fried pork dumplings! Pretty much as expected *thumbs up*

Boiled chicken and prawn dumpling. Not as good (read - prawn chunky) as previous times we've had it here but definitely on par with the city branch.

Thai fried rice! I've never had this before but saw some people getting this dish as we walked in and I was *oooh! egg pancake over fried rice! I want it!* And it was pretty good! Nice light, thin egg, good fried rice with pieces of chicken, egg, lettuce...can't remember what else but a good addition to my eating repertoire.

The real disappoinment of the night - xiaolongbaos. As you can see, they had very thick skins and look more like dimsims. To be honest, I still happily ate them because the quality is probably on par with the city branch but Clinty was particularly devastated as he knows they can do better.

And the ability of the Boxy branch to do better is probably the main lesson of the story. Being in the 'burbs and less under the pump than the city branch, I can say from experience that the food has been better (esp. the xlb) on previous visits. But on a busy Friday night and having a queue of people in the restaurant, I'm guessing they took shortcuts resulting in the okay but not as good as expected meal.

Still, for $10/head, can't complain too much! Otherwise, perhaps go for lunch. And to finish, I'm just going to post a screencap of this googlesearch I attempted.

Kekeke

Cha siu bao and poison pork rolls

The other night as I made my way home after an exhausting day in the lab, Pooey requested that I get her a snack. The choice of snack was up to me. I decided to go to Nam Loong on Russell St. to pick up some cha siu baos (roast pork buns). At $1.50 each, I think it's a pretty good deal when you're standing in the cold with a bag of steaming hot buns in one hand and digging into the bun with the other (and your mouth).

Mmmm, steamy

Mmmm, porky

When I got home with the buns, Ma was so insulted at the idea that I paid for the buns that she declared she was going to make some for us! And she did!

But then because Spuey was coming back from G-town, Ma also got us some poison pork rolls! Or more correctly, banh mi thit. We only call them that because a few years ago they were linked to salmonella poisoning. But the danger only makes the meal more worthy!

My poison pork roll. Sneaky Spuey nearly ate his and mine!

Mmmm, fillings

I actually don't know what's the going rate for these bread rolls anymore. About 10 years ago they were $2.20 which means they're probably around the $3 mark? I dunno. I just eat them.

Horoki take two!

Pooey is back in Melbs and happy to no longer be eating alone. Other than eating at...er....Mrs. Parmas, Pooey was greatly enticed to eat at Horoki after reading this post of mine from last week. So, for the SECOND time in one week, I was back eating at Horoki. But that's okay with me because I love Horoki so I got to eat some favourites again :D. Mimi, who shall henceforth be known as SEM (to be explained later) joined us for some utter deliciousness.

Green tea! A few years ago, I read a manga and a character said that it's good luck to have tea with a stick floating vertically in it. I hope that means I've got good luck!!!

To start! The special of the night, some beef tataki...

..and the tuna carpaccio. Miam, raw food!

Followed by even more raw food! The Daikon and sashimi salad comes up again!!!

The spicy cod roe and butter pasta! DISH OF THE NIGHT!!!

And a close-up of the pasta because the Vanderpoons are trying to replicate the dish! It definitely has a touch of cream and paprika - definitely not just butter and definitely not chilli-chilli. Happy recreating - always happy to taste test!

The duck breast and eggplant. I've had this previously and really liked it, especially the sauce, but tonight I found it still tasty but little dry :(

Didn't stop Mimi from trying to be a seagull and steal Pooey's duck!
She's now called the Sneaky Eating Machine (SEM) from trying to get extra duck!

After realising we were still hungry, we decided to order some salmon and spinach croquettes. Mimi didn't try to steal any of these from our chopsticks.

For dessert, some green tea ice cream. Green tea-y.

Dinner ended at the relatively early time of 8:30 and decided to get some hot buttered mulled wine from 1806. Pooey thought it was so delicious that she ordered two! Happily for us, the bartender told us that the drink wasn't seasonal - he can always make it for us whenever we want it during bar hours.

Horoki

This post is mostly written for Spuey. I don't know if he actually reads my blog, I think he does in a sort of random manner, but we contemplated coming here for dinner on Saturday except I couldn't guarantee him that dinner would be less than $30 per person and I couldn't get a table for 5 at short notice (it's a small restaurant).

Anyway! Tonight after attending a lecture with the Vanderpoons about the potential for climate change to affect disease rates (e.g. malaria, hookwork, influenza), we decided to celebrate Clinty's dirty 30 by going to Hutong. Not having booked, we naturally didn't get in and so instead we came up with the BRILLIANT idea to go to HOROKI!!! Horoki serves a kind of Japanese-fusion menu but before you roll your eyes at the *fusion* bit, I can say that they do it wonderfully. Not only will these photos show how wonderfully the food is presented, but the flavours were so clean and simple!

Daikon and sashimi salad ($14.50)
Despite being a bit *meh* about ordering salads (and salad in general), whenever I go here, I order this! The great contrast of the daikon and assorted leaved with the crunchy garnish (not sure what it is), containing pieces of prawn, kingfish, tuna, and salmon then liberally sprinkled with roe, and finished with a soy/sesame dressing...dare I say, best salad in Melbs?!

Tuna carpaccio with light soy dressing with parmagiano reggiano ($14.80)
It might sound kinda weird to have the raw tuna in shoyu and sesame dressing then covered with parmesan cheese with jap mayo on the side but the contrasting flavours were so crisp and clean! And kinda funky!!!

Beef Tatar ($13.50)
While furiously trying to scrounge up a menu on Saturday, I came across a review that claimed this dish is more pretty than tasty and lacked seasoning. Random reviewer, you are wrong. I've had tartare that's been over seasoned or over onioned (*cough rockpool cough*), this was just right with the delicate sesame and quail egg allowing the beef flavour to come through.

Creamy crab dumplings ($13.00)
Like individual serves of crab-filled tortellini. Not too heavy handed with the cream and therefore highly appropriate for those intolerant of lactose (I hope).

Soft-shelled crab with lemon sour cream mayo ($14.80)
Again, another dish with simple crisp flavours. My one complaint (other than not having more of it) is that because the crabs are fried, they didn't pick up the dressing very well. That was easily solved by running the crabs through the dressing. Hehehe.

Horoki Original Pasta with spicy cod roe butter sauce ($15.00)
Now, Rachiepoo actually pulled a bit of a face when I suggested this but she not only ate the dish, she ATE HER WORDS. I didn't detect much spice but the contrast of the creamy butter with the salty roe and a touch of green tea...I chose this as my plate to finish and greedily ran my spoon through the dregs to make sure those fish eggs didn't die in vain.

This photo came after I'd dished it out - this is my poor attempt at a Donna Hay-esque pasta swirl presentation.

This is not really a student food review - it doesn't fit the *cheap* criteria at all other than the $15 lunch deal which is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Although it wasn't that expensive either - all up, I think it came to around $35 per person including drinks and a 300ml bottle of sake. Hehehehe. Regardless of cost, I feel that if your student life in Melbs is transient, you'll be missing out by not eating here. The wonderful flavours and quality of the food mean it is a bargain. So if you can, eat here! And therefore, to end,

Happy birthday, male Vanderpoon. BANZAIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!

Hills BBQ, Box Hill

Hills BBQ in Box Hill is one of those iconic restaurants for Asians who grew up in certain parts of Melbourne. We may mock it for its dirty appearance and the somewhat shoddy service, but you know it's the place to go when you want some comforting beef hor fun or a cheap dish of assorted bbq meats. And by golly, that's what we got last night.

But oddly enough, we also got a very helpful waitress! I was eyeing off the lemon flavoured teas in the fridge but when I pulled out the peach tea, she said it was her favourite and, I must admit, it WAS very good! She also helped RachiePoo pick out some lemon flavoured tea for herself and Clinty.

Peach tea!
Oddly enough, it reminded me of all the peach tea I downed in Italy.
Mmmm, memories...

Anyway, onto the food. We came to Hills for some comforting Asian food, and that's what we got.

RachiePoo's Beef Hor Fun

Clinty's Mixed BBQ on rice

Omar's Suckling Pig on Rice

My Combination on Crispy Fried Noodles

As you can see, the servings are pretty large. It didn't stop me from absolutely massacring the dish as soon as it was placed before me. Despite getting my dish last, I finished first! And all without the help of Supergut!

For the four dishes and three flavoured teas, it came to about $12 per person, meaning that if you have the free tea instead of buying something flavoured, Hills falls way into the $10 per head criteria of the studen food reviews! Cheap enough for us to go hit the Korean Supermarkets afterwards and score some Asian ice cream!

Noodle Kingdom, Russell St. City

So following the visit to Noodle Kingdom Preston, RachiePoo and I decided to visit Noodle Kingdom City to see how it stacked up.

I must admit, we were initially underwhelmed by two main things. Firstly, city is a lot dirtier than Preston.

The wall next to my seat. Got to make sure I don't lean against that!

Secondly, our table offered us a magnificent view of the kitchen's storage methods.

Ummm...I really don't know what to say about this.

But our worries were partially wiped out by the arrival of our food. We decided that without Supergut (aka Pooey), there would be no way the two of us could replicate our eating experience of Saturday. So we instead decided to not order meat harmonicas and simply limit our order to the:

Dandan mian - more chili than the Preston version *still good!*

Zhajiang mian - more beany than the Preston version *still good!*

Powerfist to the zhajiang mian!
(or constipation face)

And might I just say, I was a little confused. The reason for my confusion was then confirmed by RachiePoo - yes, these servings were indeed....larger than the Preston counterparts?!?!?! Well no matter, we were going to give them a good home!

Except we couldn't! Without Supergut, we couldn't finish our noodles! :O Having eaten to what I think would have been the equivalent of our Saturday servings, I looked up at RachiePoo and said with dismay, "I think I'm full!" to which she replied, "Me too!!!" But like any good Asian place, they gave us some takeaway boxes because like all good Asians, we can't waste half decent food!

So yes, at around $8.50 for a large bowl of noodles (and 20cents per takeaway box), I would recommend Noodle Kingdom City. I'll let you know if the dirtiness affects me any time soon.

Noodle Kingdom, High St. Preston

On Friday night, I went to Dumplings Plus on Swanston St. with a variety of friends. It was very disappointing. The chive dumplings had us burping up chive breath and the xiaolongbaos were so overcooked, the skins had broken in the steamer and the juice had streamed out! Very underwhelming. The food may be cheap (less than $10/dish) and the servings large but I felt it was not very good. You may take that as a review.

Later that night, RachiePoo asked me what I would be doing on Saturday. The answer was, "I'm going to pick up Pooey from the airport and then we're going to have lunch, probably at Noodle Kingdom in Preston. Want to come?" She said yes and it was decided that I'd pick her up before going to the airport.

Yes, the service at Noodle Kingdom isn't great - despite being a teeny 47/48kg, RachiePoo the heifer was asked to leave more space in the walkway. But at less than $50 for four HUGE dishes plus 3 bubble tea drinks, it was awesome and MUCH BETTER than Dumplings Plus. We got the zhajianmian (Chinese spagbol - the dish Marco Polo ripped off), dandanmian (much better flavour and nutty/sesame than the one we had the night before), xiaolongbao (no torn wrappings!), and some meat harmonicas. Okay, they were cumin-spiced mutton ribs. I felt so proud as we three small Asian chicks demolished all that food. It was awesome.

Believe it or not, Pooey got her blog up earlier than me so you can check out her entry for thoughts and pics of the meat harmonica!

Student food review - Eastern Kitchen, Union House Melb Uni

Dr. I is back in Melbs from NYC. She'll happily tell you that Eastern Kitchen (or EK for short) is her favourite place to eat. Yes, for her, it's right up there with Vue de Monde. I'm not sure if it's my favourite place, in fact I know it's not, but in terms of price to quality, it's right up there!

(Photo of EK not taken due to my fear they'll never let me order again)

EK is has a Chinese-Malaysian based and consists of a bain-marie foods such as black-bean beef, sweet and sour pork etc, as well as a menu of things cooked to order. Ignore the bain-marie (unless you're starving or in a rush), and order off the menu. The order menu has things such as fried rice, won ton noodles, crispy fried noodles, and so forth. All of the items on the menu are under $10 - I think the most expensive things are $7, probably because they have seafood in them like the Seafood Laksa. The regulars I order are Tom Yum Chicken soup noodles, Chicken Laksa soup noodles, and Char Kway Teo.

Cha kway teo!

All of these dishes do contain actual meat and actual vegetables. As you can see in that pic, it does actually have beanshoots, spring onions and onion onions, and beef. Okay, it doesn't have chinese sausage and prawns but I think it's still acceptable! The laksa is perhaps not a true curry flavour and I often have to spice it up by putting in a spoon of chilli sauce but I'll accept that too! The dishes are of also of a respectable size. In the past I have previously eaten only half and stored the rest for a later meal (during my hardcore days), or have consumed the entire bowl/box to the astonishment of my workmates who wondered where the food went (into my hollow leg).

Now the real kicker about EK is that when Dr. I came back after 3 years away from Uni, she took one look at the menu and said, "Three years and still the same price!" It actually wasn't - it has increased in price...but all the dishes are still $7 or cheaper! The cha kway teo is in fact only $6.50 (up from $6 in 2009) but for that price, I'll accept that lack of prawns in the mix!

Student Food Review - Old Town Kopitiam Mamak, QV Square

I met up with Suboo and we discussed how the Student Food Reviews were going to work. We didn't really nut out any hard and fast rules other than to talk about whether the food was any good and to cap prices at $15 - although under $10 would be preferred. More criteria may become apparent as more food gets eaten.

So to kick it off, we headed to Old Town Kopitiam Mamak at QV Square.
The authentic, bona fide Malaysian Suboo said this place was okay although contrary to others, she said the chicken rice was substandard based on a previous outing here and warned me off it.

That was okay for me because as a noodle fiend,

I had seafood laksa ($10.50)

Firstly, the serving size was pretty good for $10.50, I suppose if at a standard size for this kind of dish. Given that it was *seafood*, it did indeed have mussels (frozen), prawns (three!), calamari, and fish loaf in a curry-ish, not too coconutty broth. It lacked clams *sigh*, but oh well. It also lacked rice vemicelli noodles but my discussion with Suboo (who personally thinks they're not supposed to be there) make me think it's probably due to personal preferences. What was a pleasant surprise was my discovery of the presence of curry leaves actually in my soup! They actually tried to make the curry flavour from something other than paste and/or powder! The chicken and vegetarian options ARE under $10 - I think each were $9.50.

Suboo had roti canai ($4.00)...

And might I say...it looked mighty tempting and I couldn't say no when she offered me some! The bread was warm and fluffy - it also had the right scent to the extent that Suboo made me lean over and inhale the goodness. It came with some sambal sauce (meh) and a light coconutty curry sauce for dipping (very nice!). I believe Suboo was very happy with it and polished it off quick-smart!

followed by the Chinese Malaysian Rojak ($7.50)

I have never had or even heard of this before. It's apparently a *fruit salady* dish covered in a sweet...black...sauce. It consisted of pieces of pineapple, apple, cucumber, and crispy fried chinese donut (you char kwai - a pleasant surprise!). Suboo mentioned it was missing something that was supposed to give it a crispy bite but figured that the donut made up for it. Also, apparently the pineapple tasted funny but on the whole, the place was okay.

This bit might be too much information but I feel that when reviewing cheap foods, it is necessary information. Suboo and I walked out of OTKM feeling on the slightly uncomfortable side of full, but quite happy nonetheless. Within half an hour of our leaving, I started getting what I will delicately refer to as *sensitive stomach issues*, followed by *evacuating* (hi Nance!) although it did not progress to *The Sweats*. Whether this was related to food intake, I can not say for certain. But it did happen so cheap eaters, caveat emptor.

So on the whole, Old Town Kopitiam Mamak serves food on the slightly more excy side of cheap, that is not bad and in the case of the roti, pretty good. But tummy troubles may ensue although I will say that it may have been due to my gourmand tendencies.