White and Wongs is an Asian restaurant we've wanted to try because of its unique flavours and twists on favourite dishes, and we finally got around to it after several high recommendations. We booked in advance, as we didn't know how busy it would be, being on the waterfront and also it being a Saturday night. Our table was actually ready for us at 6:15 when we arrived 30 minutes earlier than our booking which was great. We started off with drinks, and I ordered a Shanghai Noon mocktail because of the waiter's recommendation, which was lychee, lime, cranberry and lemonade. It was very refreshing and complemented our meal really well. White and Wongs is designed to be a east meets west menu, and their portions are all sharing size, so we decided to order multiple starters to try all we could.
We asked for everything to be staggered out, so we weren't rushing to eat everything before it got cold. What came out first, was the edamame beans and the Korean Fried Chicken. The edamame is a must for me at an Asian restaurant, because it's one of my faves. This edamame was alright, because it was very lightly seasoned compared to other edamame I've had, but the sweet spicy soy that was served with the beans made up for it. It was thick, moreish and so delicious, and it actually tasted good with all the dishes. The Korean Fried Chicken was a highlight for me. It was succulent chicken with a light batter on top that was flavoured perfectly, and the chicken was served with a sticky chilli sauce that didn't overpower, but complemented. Step aside Kentucky Fried Chicken, Korean Fried Chicken is taking over. Next, the dumplings came out. My favourite part. The most recommended dish by our friends, was the crystal skin prawn and coriander dumplings, and we also tried the gua bao with yes, Korean Fried Chicken again. The dumplings were absolutely amazing. The skin was clearly very fresh, and wasn't chewy. The filling was so tasty, and had so much flavour packed into them. Mixing the sauces provided, which I think was vinegar, chilli oil and soy sauce made these dumplings taste even better, if that's possible. The gua bao bun with fried chicken was really delectable as well, The condiments were peanuts, sriracha slaw, pickled cucumber and sesame. The dough made for the bun itself was clearly made fresh, and I think that's what I liked most about the restaurant. Everything was fresh. The next few dishes to come out were the prawn toast, roti roll with Bang Bang chicken, and char siu pork and prawn fried rice. The prawn toast apparently is one of the best, and it was really good. I enjoyed the yuzu mayonaise on the side, although it was a little too rich. The prawns were minced but still visible and the mint and coriander salad refreshed the palate. The toast was crunchy and cut through the creaminess nicely. Overall, this was an alright dish. The Roti Roll with Bang Bang chicken was a bit of a letdown, as the roti was soggy with the chicken juice. The chicken was shredded, and it had a subtle flavour. I wouldn't call it 'Bang Bang' because it didn't provide the punchy flavours usually found in Bang Bang Chicken. The pork and prawn fried rice was absolutely amazing. The pork was the same as the type you would find in a BBQ pork bun, which gave the rice a great smokiness. The prawns were massive, and super juicy. The rice was sticky rice, like the type you'd find in sushi which ensured everything stuck together. We ordered one dessert which was a burnt banana parfait with a sorbet, chocolate soil and raspberry coulis. When the parfait was first served, you couldn't really taste the flavours, but as it started to soften, there was a beautiful but not overpowering caramel-y flavour that went so well with the banana. The dessert overall was a light and delicious way to end our meal. White and Wong's is a great restaurant to visit for a casual dinner, because it serves amazing food and an overall great vibe. The food was delicious and fresh, and I can't wait to come back to try more.
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Hawker and Roll is one of celebrity chef Josh Emett's lesser known restaurants. Located in the buzzing Sylvia Park food precinct, we decided to give it a try for authentic sounding Malaysian street food. Hawker and Roll is also known as Madam Woo's more casual little sister. Before you can even see the restaurant, pumping pop music comes to your ears. Mini brightly coloured plastic seats at wooden tables are outside, with some barstools. When you walk inside, there is the cute feature of every table being different. I loved the green walls at the back with all the leafy plants making a great backdrop. I thought the order at the counter aspect was quite cool because it just makes it seem that much more authentic. No fussing around and no twists and spins on it. I had glanced at the menu, but we really decided when we got there. From the entree section we got the chicken and mushroom sui mai and the pork and prawn dumplings. We also tried the coconut and sweetcorn spring rolls. The Hawker Rolls are the centre of the menu, like an Asian taco. Madam Woo also serves hawker rolls, which I thought was cute, like a running theme. We tried a Beef Rendang roll, and the Malaysian chicken roll which really stood out to me on the menu. The Nasi Lemak, we also had to try, because we tried the Indonesian version, and we wanted to see the differences between the two. The desserts, if you know me, you know I needed to try both, the Portuguese custard tarts and the spiced donuts with kaya, which is a coconut jam, it's a VERY Malaysian accompaniment to any sweet dish. So, the food verdict.
The starters and the Hawker Rolls arrived at the same time, and all the food was delish! The Chicken and Mushroom Sui Mai had a great thin wrapper like it was supposed to, but personally the filling tasted quite watery. I'm guessing it was because of the mushrooms, but otherwise there was plenty of filling and flavour too. It was slightly bland, but with some soy sauce and chilli oil to stir things up, it tasted great! The pork and prawn dumplings were the other steamed entree and wow these tasted good. The skin was the translucent crystal wrapper which is currently my favourite style of dumpling. The chicken kind of surrounded or coated a whole prawn/shrimp which was a great little surprise when you bite into the pillow of goodness. You could actually taste meat! So anyway, these were superb dumplings. These two steamed starters were 12 dollars each, and both came with 6 pieces each. We only tried one fried starter which was the Sweetcorn and Coconut spring rolls. I was a little dubious because I assumed these would be sweet. When these 2 properly sized, big spring rolls arrived at the table, fresh out the deep fryer, I took a big bite. Of course I burnt my tongue, and of course there was the mouth open panting for air, but the spring roll was really tasty. The wrapper was evidently freshly made and was golden brown, which really adds something to the dish. No matter how good the filling, the wrapper has to be perfect. I digress. The coconut and sweetcorn filling was slightly sweet, to be honest, it could have been an addition to the dessert menu. However it was delicious. The corn was proper kernels of corn which was nice and added a sweetness to the spring rolls. The coconut was creamy and overall the dish was tasty and worth the 9 dollars for the two massive spring rolls. The Hawker Roll is comprised of a Roti Canai which is a flaky roti or paratha which is stuffed your topping choices. There were so many to choose from, like chickpea curry, pulled sticky pork, honey szechuan and roast duck hoisin. We tried the Beef Rendang, a classic favourite and Malaysian Chicken Laksa, which I thought we had to try. These were served in those cute little red plastic baskets and sheets of Hawker and Roll paper with their emblem, which is the tiger prowling around. The Beef Rendang was juicy, tender and so flavorsome. I thought it had quite a bit of cinnamon, but it was delicious. The salad was some shaved cucumber with some fresh red chillies on top. The combination was delicious and fresh, and I thought this Hawker Roll tasted great. The other roll, the Malaysian Chicken Laksa exceeded my expectations and went even further. It was so good, and the chicken was also cooked perfectly. I wouldn't call it coated, but the chicken was marinated in spices and delicious flavours. It was complemented perfectly by mung beans which I don't usually like, but they absorbed the chicken flavours so well. It also had some lettuce leaves which were really fresh and tasted great. These Hawker Rolls both tasted amazing, and I think for the amount you got, they were definitely worth 14 dollars. My dad also tried the Nasi Lemak, which is a speciality of Malaysia. It is basically coconut rice, with sambal, peanuts, eggs and anchovies. The coconut rice was plump and flavourful. It tasted great with the spicy sambal and the salted peanuts. I didn't try the egg, and let's just say anchovies are not my favourite. You can also choose to add on Malaysian chicken wings, which could possibly be my favourite part of the menu. These were coated in a batter and then 'soaked' in a Malaysian spicy gooey sauce. The chicken was lovely and tender, and I'm drooling thinking about these wings. I could have eaten a plateful of those wings. The Nasi Lemak cost 10 dollars, plus 6 dollars for the Malaysian chicken wings. So soon, dessert time rolled around! The first dessert that popped up was the Portuguese Custard Tart which was maybe the best thing that I've ever tried. The pastry was a flaky base and the custard was not too eggy but had a beautiful vanilla taste and just oozed out of the shell. What else can I say?You just HAVE to try them for yourselves. Like you HAVE to. The other dessert was the spiced donuts with kaya. The donuts were served piping hot, and they are dusted in sugar and cinnamon. They were light, fluffy and still doughy. Kaya is basically a coconut jam which is sweet, thick and really delicious. It tasted so good and like I said before, there's not much I can say for the desserts. These are just things you have to experience for yourself. The Custard Tarts were $3 per tart, and the Kaya Donuts were 6 dollars for 6. So there you go, a comprehensive review of Hawker and Roll, a newly opened Malaysian street food joint in Sylvia Park. Great food, great service and great value for money. I'd definitely recommend trying it, because I promise, you won't regret it. Ahh, I haven't posted in so long! It's my holidays now, so be prepared for lots of posts. Last Saturday, we were picking up dinner and stopped in at Farro Fresh. Farro is like this really cool gourmet grocery store which has pretty neat stuff. I thought as we were walking around, there would be some pretty cool stuff in here for a blog post! And here we are. Beetroot Feta, gluten free bagels, the freshest pasta you will get in a supermarket, desserts galore, wine tastings in store and quirky, interesting and I'm sure delicious foods. There was so much I wanted to take photos of, but not enough time! I managed to get some of my faves though. Let's get into it! Their patisserie and bakery which is to die for honestly. They have such a massive selection, I wanted to try everything! It includes mille-fueille, macarons, tarts, cakes and pretty much anything sweet you can think of. I find it really cool that they cater to vegans because plant-based diets are a really big thing in this age. One thing I really, really wanted to try was either the Nutella Chocolate Tart *drools* *drools again* Me being the biggest fan of those salty, perfect, oval olives, I was so excited when I saw these olives. From this photo alone you can see 6 different types of olives. Personally, to me the olive salad looks the best, a variety of my favourite fruit. (wait what?!) Yes olives are fruits. I personally don't know if I'd eat the blue cheese ones because I don't like blue very much but oh yes, I can think of many people who would. Kolachi Kitchen cookies in a jar - Chocolate Cranberry Cookies. I love the idea of cookies in a jar, I think it just makes everything so much easier. All you have to do is add the wet ingredients and, voila, you are done! I like the Kolachi Kitchen ones specifically because it's a big jar, which makes a lot of cookies. Yum yum yum! A similar thing to the Kolachi Kitchen cookies above, The Caker mixes. An innovative idea that I would love to try and oh, do some of their flavours sound good. Think about a dreamy Lemon Plum cake mix, or a bite of The Caker x Karen Walker White Chocolate Orange Hazelnut Cookies. The one that stands out to me is the Dutch spice dark chocolate cookie mix, mmmm divine. I'm sullivating just thinking about it! Oh my gosh, the packaging looks absolutely divine, a simplistic design with touches of pastel colours and rose gold. Pretty! Karma Cola, a drink that I haven't had in so long! The sister drinks to Karma Cola are Lemony Lemonade and Gingerella which are also delicious. In my opinion, these Fair Trade drinks are in a different league to other fizzy drinks. I first tried Karma Cola at Hallertau Brewery alongside the coolest hot dog you'll ever see, it was a black roll which was coloured with squid ink! Even the sesame seeds were black. So yup, I fell in love with Karma Cola and searched everywhere for it, but to no result. Farro is the first place I've found it and it makes really happy to know I can get my Karma Cola fix from somewhere local. Definitely going to stock up! I saw these at the checkout and tell me, would you not want to buy these?! They are hot chocolate stirrers by Chocolate Brown. I've seen edible chocolate spoons before, but never like this. These look like marshmallows that have been dunked in chocolate. Basically what you have to do is stir warm milk with one of these, and apparently it turns out decadent and gooey. I guess you could really make it your own as well. A spiced hot chocolate, easily achieved by combining this with cinnamon and nutmeg etc. Smoked Salmon is one of my recent favourites. I never really had a taste for it before, but I tried it at some point last year with bagels, avocado and cream cheese, and I love that combination a lot. Sadly, with braces you can't eat bagels, but my new substitute is English Muffins, which works just as well. Regal is one of my top salmon brands because their quality is at a really high standard. I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! Farro's selections of artisan ice creams is amazing! In the first photo you can see a Lewis Road Creamery Rose Ice Cream! Rose! Wooden Spoon's unique flavours also sound divine. A flavour that is making a comeback is the familiar flavour of birthday cake which is actually limited edition. Also in the second photo you can see Movie Night ice cream. I took a double take as well, but it's buttery popcorn flavoured with caramel through it. This ice cream has actually won awards! mmmm. Cookie dough has always been one of my favourites, but I was ecstatic to see my favourite cookie brands, Mrs Higgins has come out with frozen cookie dough balls for convenience. Last of all, can I just comment on Duck Island's AMAZING sounding flavour, Churros and Dulce de Leche ice cream?! Wow I know I could eat that whole tub. You've also got your classics done right, coffee, vanilla and a delicious sounding Salted Caramel with Cacao crumb. Well, that was a bumper post, but I hope you enjoyed. I think it sums up my faves and what's also really trending right now.
Love your gal, Azana x Recently, we paid a visit to a highly recommended restaurant on K Road, Uncle Man. They serve really good Malaysian food with an authentic menu which tickles your tastebuds. We were seated straight away and just had to wait for them to ut two tables together as we were a group of 8. The staff are friendly, and were willing to take any questions we had. I ordered Kuey Teow Goreng, flat fried rice noodles tossed with vegetables, fish balls, chicken and juicy prawns. This is my favourite dish whenever I go to an Asian restaurant. This was probably the best one I've tried but the downfall was, which kind of ruined the eating experience was that I ordered at the same time as the rest of the table, but my dish was 'forgotten?' My dad had to go ask again, if it was ready which it wasn't. By this time, everyone at our table was near finished. I was kind of in a rush to finish after that because we were going out after that. The dish was a large portion which I couldn't finish, but it had a really good balance and the prawns they used were super juicy and were not too fishy, which meant they were super fresh. A good medium level of spice made this dish delicious. So, while I was waiting, my dad ordered Roti Canai with Chicken Curry which was my second choice, because at 2am in Singapore Changi Airport, I had the best fluffy roti. This was a very authentic and delicious dish. The roti was delicious, hot and fluffy which made this dish so tasty, because without that type of roti, the dish kind of flops. The curry itself, had small, bite sized pieces of chicken with a flavoursome gravy to dip the roti in. Overall, a great dish. My mum ordered the special Nasi Goreng which came with a thin egg omelette on top to cover the dish and add an element of surprise. The Nasi Goreng itself was bursting with flavours and tasted so good, probably the best one I've had. I found myself going back for more while I was waiting. These mains were really filling so we tried a few desserts. First off, probably my favourite was Roti Tissue, an impressive looking roti cone which was served with condensed milk. (my fave) This roti was so easy to keep eating and to dip it in the condensed milk, ahhh I'm sullivating! My dad, who doesn't like desserts as much, ordered a Teh Tarik, a spiced tea which is a very Asian thing, and I love the Indian one which is hot, steamy and also very cutting, when I say cutting, I mean strong flavours that tantalize the tastebuds. This tea was so good, and was served in a massive beer glass, so there definitely was enough to go round. We also ordered the dessert special of the day, Gadar Gulung which is essentially a green pancake filled with jaggery and coconut. Not too sweet, this cool dessert was a great end to a fantastic meal. I think we will be revisiting Uncle Man for sure.
Not long ago, I had won a voucher for Non Solo Pizza. We decided to go check the place out as our family lurrrrves Italian. There was the 4 of us, Mum, Dad, my Grandma and I. The restaurant is at 259 Parnell road, an upmarket/trendy area of Auckland. The restaurant has a really cool vibe to it and let's just say, on a Saturday night, it's PACKED. Luckily we had a reservation, so we were sweet. We straightaway ordered drinks and I went for a San Pellegrino Limonata which I have tried before and really liked. I forgot it was a concentrate and I had to add water, but then I realised why it was so strong and sweet. We were hungry as we knew we were coming and wanted to have an appetite. I love that at Italian restaurants the waiters/waitresses are always so helpful, friendly and have suggestions on what to eat. Well yeah, our waitress was so nice. Our final order was Arancini, Calamari and Scamorza, funghi e pancetta, Quattro funghi pizza, Ravioli de pollo, Tortino al ciocolatto colante and Tiramisu.
This place has dumplings, dumplings, dumplings and more dumplings. Juicy, delicious ones too.
Since my 13th birthday was on Tuesday (Happy Birthday to meee!), we decided (well I chose to) go to Gusto for dinner on Saturday. We entered the Grand and after a short walk we arrived at the entrance. Dad had made a reservation and we were seated immediately. One of the things that is quite obvious is that the restaurant is quite dimly lit. It takes some time for your eyes to adjust but other wise the decor is really nice, along one of the walls is all Italian products and an interesting painting of an octopus swimming away. The glasses of water were poured and we got the menus. The really cool touch was that our waitress gave us suggestions according to what we were looking for. She said that Italian cuisine is meant to be shared so she suggested 2 starters, 2 mains and some sides. We had an appetite, but we weren't ravenous.
On occasion of the New Year, my family decided to try Bawarchi. Bawarchi is a takeaway that serves authentic Hyderabadi Mughlai cuisine that dates back to some 500 years to the Mughal empire in India. Hyderabad, the world-famous South Indian city, is renowned for its tasty food and rich culture. Hyderabadi food claims to retain the authenticity of Mughlai cuisine in their dishes.
Yesterday- Saturday the 26th of November, I visited Casablanca in NorthWest Shopping Center. The cafe is North African / Mediterranean cuisine. We were a big group of about 14 people so we were all seated at a long table.
Last Sunday, my Mum, Dad , Auntie and I went to the Crab Shack , run by the Nourish group. It has a really cool retro and nautical vibe to it. The theme also flows because it is on the waterfront and right next to the Ferry Terminal. The Crab Shack is classified as retro - casual with dim lights, surfing videos and funky 80's music playing.We were sat at a high table right by the water .
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