Tag Archives: Curry

Mamak in Haymarket | #ManFlu | #bestblogs13

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Last year Bron visited this place while in Sydney. She came back raving about it and how good the food is. We’re here in Sydney for a few things this weekend. So we thought we’d try out Mamak in Haymarket. It’s the sort of place that’s so popular they don’t take reservations and you need to queue to get in. I don’t mind queueing for something good. We had a dilemma on timing. We’d gone for a walk around Darling Harbour and checked out an Adriano Zumbo Pâtissier at The Star. We ventured into Chinatown to look around and given the opening time of Mamak was 1730 AEDT we just hung around. At about 1715 AEDT we walked around to Mamak and a queue had already started to form. We crossed the road and joined it.

The queue at 1715 AEDT

We've joined the queue 😃

The group waiting was a good mixture of people from a range of backgrounds.

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The menu cover

We're in 😃

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The kitchen

They are busy in the kitchen

These guys and girls were going flat out the whole time and having people on the street staring in.

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Chicken satay

Chicken satay #dinner #yummy

Grilled over flaming charcoal for that authentic Malaysian flavour. Served with a sweet and spicy peanut sauce.

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Roti planta

Roti planta buttery goodness #dinner #yummy

A rich buttery roti served with two curry dips and spicy sambal sauce.

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Lamb curry

Amazing lamb curry #dinner #yummy

Kari kambing. Spicy lamb curry slow-cooked until tender. This was the best lamb curry I’ve eaten in a long time. The meat was fall apart tender and so rich in flavour that it penetrated the glugginess of my #ManFlu and gave me a good warm feeling all over (no it wasn’t the fever of the #ManFlu).  Check the YouTube video below embedded in the post. 

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Fried chicken

Eat your heart out Colonel Sanders. This fried chicken beats KFC hands down #dinner #yummy

Ayam goreng. Malaysian-style fried chicken. Marinated with herbs and spices and full of flavour. Eat your heart out Colonel Sanders. This was so much better than KFC and really finger licking good.

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At first we wondered if we needed rice and thought about getting a plain roti. We had kept about four pieces of lamb and the curry set aside and asked for another plain roti. This was perfect and I was so keen on it I forgot to capture an image. Rather than flat it came out scrunched like a sponge. It was pretty good and the last of that lamb curry went down a treat.

We would like to have tried the sweet roti but after five dishes we were too full. We’ll have to come back. Watching the kitchen team was amazing as they made the roti on a hot plates.

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If you like Yummy Lummy I’d appreciate your voting for me in the Australian Writers’ Centre best blogs competition for 2013. You’ll have to scroll through about 5 pages before you get to Yummy Lummy. Thanks for voting.

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Mamak on Urbanspoon

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Roti menu savoury and sweet

Satay menu chicken and beef

Mains menu

Rice and noodles menu

Mamak http://www.mamak.com.au/

Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/agaXJ


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Google+ reviews https://plus.google.com/110338527731153349643/about?gl=au&hl=en

ManFlu

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Thai to die for | The best Canberra restaurant experience in some time | Morks of Florey

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On Wednesday evening Bron and I ate dinner at Morks in Florey. When Bron mentioned Morks and said it was Thai I wondered why it was named Morks. It didn’t sound Thai but what would I know. Bron had found Morks on-line (TripAdvisor.com) when searching for a good place to eat locally. She’d also heard recommendations from work friends.

Florey is in the northern suburbs of Canberra in the town of Belconnen. I didn’t realise until speaking with a friend at work that the rent at the Florey shops is pretty high and the move of Morks to the Kingston Foreshore in August this year will be economically wise.

Morks

Dinner last night was here

It will be interesting to see the new shop front presentation in Kingston. As you walk out of the restaurant you are confronted by a Dominos pizza sign which immediately makes you feel happy you’ve had a fantastic meal in Morks :-)

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Tasting menu

The tasting menu from last night at Morks. Best restaurant I've been to in a long time. Follow them at @morksrestaurant

Sorry about this poorly focused shot, it gives you an idea of the tasting menu. As soon as I saw this I wanted it. Then I looked at the rest of the menu and wanted that as well. Bron and I have agreed we will return to eat through the menu.  Tasting menus are fantastic to get an idea of the style and tastes of a restaurant. This tasting menu had us wanting to try everything. We’ve had degustation meals before which we’ve always enjoyed but this one just looked so balanced.

Mork’s menu PDF

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Scallop and pig

Scallop and pig's ear terrine. #yummy #dinner

Okay, so it doesn’t sound that great unless you’re an offal lover like me and @DrOffal http://droffal.wordpress.com/ The scallop and the pig’s ear were beautifully cooked. The chilli relish and grilled spring onion gave the flesh amazing heat and taste. The taste is amazing. I loved everything about this dish. The scallops were soft with a beautifully caramelised surface.

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Eggplant

Eggplant #yummy #dinner

I love the way the tasting menu alternates between a meat-based dish and a vegetarian offering. This eggplant was delightful. I loved the fried shallot. It had a wonderful smoky flavour and the coriander sauce was a great accompaniment.

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John Dory

John Dory #yummy #dinner

For both Bron and I this was the surprise dish of the night. I’ve been a long time fan of John Dory. I don’t think Bron has tried it before. It was cooked with a crispy crusty coating and the flesh was delicate and tender. The Kaffir lime curry was superb. Words cannot describe the sauce and the lovely wombok surprise hidden in the fish. I wanted a spoon and had to make do by applying the back of my fork to the sauce and quickly licking the sauce from it and repeating the process. I seriously was wanting to lick the plate and mentioned this to Bron. I asked her to distract the other customers somehow while I applied my tongue to the plate. She declined :-( When Benn took our plates we mentioned how much we loved the sauce and he jokingly offered to get us more.

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Lychee sorbet

Lychee sorbet. #yummy #dinner

This sorbet did exactly as it was meant to. It refreshed our palates. On putting a spoonful in my mouth I was transported to my childhood in Brisbane. My grandparents and my grandfather’s brothers all lived together and raised me when I was very young. There was a farm just outside of Brisbane and the owners grew lychees with small seeds. I remember going there once a year and getting large wooden boxes of lychees and spending days eating lychees. We also grew a tree in our back yard and it was right up to when my parents sold the house a few years ago that we were still enjoying lychees from that tree. Thank you Morks for reviving olfactory memories.

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Cauliflower

Amazing cauliflower. #yummy #dinner

Bron mentioned she needs to do more with cauliflower after tasting this dish. The cauliflower was coated in a crumb and cooked just right. All too often we over or undercook cauliflower. I want to know how these fritters were cooked. I could eat this all day. It’s a vegetable right? It must be good for me and more must be better for me.

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Prawn

Prawn #yummy #dinner

I’ve been watching MasterChef Australia the Professionals and admiring Marco Pierre White. His common refrain when served one of something is why wasn’t there two. This prawn and pea open wonton dish (it says prawns [plural] on the menu Mork) was delightful and I wanted a second prawn :-) http://www.marcopierrewhite.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Pierre_White

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Pork rib

Pork ribs. #yummy #dinner

I assumed when we sat down and decided on the tasting Menu that this would be the dish of the night. It almost made it. The John Dory pipped it for me. That said, this was a great dish. The flesh fell from the bones and melted in my mouth. We got some rice to soak up the sauce which was so nice. The sauce was a perfect consistency, not too thick not too thin. It was soy salty and soy sweet.

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Coconut

Coconut and Passionfruit #yummy #dinner

This dainty dessert was just right. Coconut and passionfruit together. A party time of happiness in my mouth. The ice cream was complemented nicely with the warm sticky sweet rice it was served on.

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We got home to my place and I still had macarons that Bron had given me.

#dessert Look what Bron came and gave me today. Homemade macarons #superyummy

Rose water and vanilla macarons

Bron's rose water and vanilla macarons. #amazing #yummy

These were lovely with a cup of peppermint tea.

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The Tasting Menu cost $130 for both of us. The restaurant is BYO and doesn’t sell alcohol. This suited us well. I cannot say in words just how much we both enjoyed this dining experience. We’ve both eaten well in Canberra and have had many dining experiences, but this rates amongst the top of any resturant we’ve eaten in in Canberra. The service was perfectly paced. We were never ignored and plates weren’t removed in haste. The team were friendly and they all looked like they worked well together. There was a familiarity amongst them that was clear to the entire restaurant. It was nice to see Adul out and about from the kitchen. Benn was friendly and helpful when he could see I was posting images to Instagram he told us the Instagram handle for the restaurant and the blog address.

Morks is so worthwhile, I’d say if you live in Canberra and if you like food, you should eat here. I know we will be going back again (and again and again).

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Morks on Urbanspoon

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Morks http://morks.com.au/
Google map http://goo.gl/maps/AO0WX


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Morks Dining Menu http://morks.com.au/index.php/menus/main
http://morks.com.au/templates/wa_theme/images/mork_menu.pdf

Meet the team at http://morks.com.au/index.php/team I am assuming Benn maintains the social accounts.
You can follow Morks on instagram at morksrestaurant facebook and Tumblr

Ruchi Belconnen Southern Indian dining for a #CBRTweetUp Shout out @Sister_Ratched

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Last year I blogged a couple of times about the food at Ramas in Pearce. I have enjoyed the food there and the company on the occasions we dined there helped make the evenings memorable. After blogging about Ramas a Canberra Twitter friend, viz., Jude @Sister_Ratched commented (via Twitter and on my blog) that she thought there were better places in Canberra and Sydney for Indian cuisine. She suggested she could introduce me to such places. I was very happy to be introduced to new dining experiences.
Jude is lovely, she avidly comments on my blog and given the amount of food I post on Twitter and Instagram, Jude has shared her thoughts. At times this has been a concern for the quantity and quality of food I would post. I believe in some ways, the recent changes in my diet have been influenced by Jude’s comments about cholesterol, the importance of fresh ethically harvested produce and the health benefits of salad :-) Jude is a Registered Nurse and currently practises in gastroenterology. I respect her opinion.

On Friday night Jude organised a Canberra Tweetup. I regret not taking names and Twitter handles because I’ll offend some new friends if I don’t mention them. Suffice to say this is not the last #CBRTweetUp I will attend. It was a most enjoyable evening and it really is great to meet tweeps in real life and get to get to know them a little better. One of my favourite Canberra bloggers was also there. T1 from InTheTaratory fame. T1 has been prolific recently on Twitter as part of the #LikeCanberra campaign for the Centennial celebrations of the Australia’s capital city.

We all met at Ruchi Belconnen. Ruchi specialises in Southern Indian cuisine. Jude recommended I try a Thali. A Thali is a tasting plate made up of a selection of various dishes. The food is served in small bowls on a round tray. In the middle there was bread and plus a piece of flesh (fish in my case). I asked for the Ruchi Special Non­‐Vegetarian Thali for $24.50. This consisted of Chapatti, channa curry, Kerala chicken, beef vindaloo, pickles, thayir pachadi, rasam, and boiled rice. When the food was being served I heard the waiter say “special non-vegetarian Thali” and I assumed it was mine. It turned out not to be what I asked for but it was a Mysore Maharajah Non-­Vegetarian Thali which consisted of Meen porichadu, chapathi, boiled rice, sambar, Mysore chilli chicken, daal, lamb korma, rasam, thayir pachadi, pickles, and a coconut dessert. This dish was considerably hotter in terms of spices than what I was expecting. It was not at all unpleasant, on the contrary it was delightful. I really enjoyed this tasting plate of Southern Indian delights. The company was great and in the end it was not a late evening but it was certainly a very enjoyable one. The next #CBRTweetUp is being organised. I’m looking forward to it.

Ruchi special non-vegetarian thallis #cbrtweetup

Mysore Maharajah Non-­Vegetarian Thali

The menu can be downloaded from http://www.outincanberra.com.au/files/client-menus/Ruchi-Menu-August-2012-Dine-in-menu.pdf

I would definitely recommend Ruchi Belconnen. I’ll be returning.

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Friday was made even better with a Mavi Breakfast wrap which meant I didn’t need lunch.

#breakfast Tongue of bacon in my Mavi breakfast wrap #yummy

A beautiful tongue of bacon.

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This afternoon. I enjoyed a pastry treat from Ricardo’s Cafe at the Jamison Plaza.

The Peanut Paste #yummy

This is the Peanut Butter. It contains a very subtle peanut paste flavoured mousse with a heart of caramel resting on a delicate chocolate crumb biscuit base. It was lovely.

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Ruchi

Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/JB0q2


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http://www.outincanberra.com.au/ruchibelconnen

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Ramas
Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/aE655


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A wonderful weekend of gardens and food

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This past week has been a bit emotional for me. On Friday we remembered the events of ten years ago in Bali. I needed a break and Bron had very kindly organised a weekend away with her sons and me. The destination was to be Cowra with nothing specific planned except dinner at Tommy’s Bistro in the Imperial Hotel. We knew that Cowra was known for the Japanese Garden and the prisoner of war camp. The POW camp is the site of the Cowra Break out.

We stayed at the Vineyard Motel on Chardonnay Street in Cowra. This is a small but well presented motel. The best thing is the heated floor of the bathroom and main living area. This is so good on cold nights and mornings. I would recommend this motel as accommodation a little out of the town centre and in amongst grape vines.

For higher resolution views, click on the images and they’ll open up into bigger clearer images.

Vineyard Motel

In amongst the grapevines

Grapevines

Bird bath

In the Afternoon we went and headed into town to find a pie for lunch and then ate it in a local park.

Tomato and onion pie with coke

After lunch we ventured to the Japanese Garden. This is truly a delightful place to visit. It is so serene and tranquil. I would highly recommend visiting.

Bonsai

Water feature

After the garden we went to the Cowra POW Camp site.

The replica guard tower

The grounds where the site was

On Saturday evening we went and had dinner at Tommy’s Bistro in the Imperial Hotel.

Both Bron and I enjoyed the crispy crackling pork belly and scallops for an entrée and then a rare Scotch fillet steak on Paris mach for our main meal. For dessert I had a sticky date pudding with Queensland nuts and ice cream. The service was fast and friendly. The decor very warm and inviting. I would highly recommend Tommy’s Bistro for a dinner.

Garlic bread

Crispy crackling pork belly with scallops

Scotch fillet and prawns with Paris mashed potato

Sticky date and Queensland nut pudding

After a good sleep we enjoyed a motel breakfast. I had peanut paste and orange marmalade on whole grain toast.

Our intention for the morning was to go for a walk in a national park and then visit a winery for lunch.

The Wallaby Walking Trail in the Conimbla National Park is an easy walk of a couple of kilometres. The brochure from the Cowra Visitors’ Centre suggested the walk would take 30 minutes. The sign at the trail suggests 1 hour. In the end it took us about 40 minutes after a couple of water stops. You can see our route on my RunKeeper site.

In the end we didn’t get to a winery but we did find Taste Canowindra. A delightful venue for wine, art and music plus great food.

I had a chicken terrine made with crushed strawberries. It was really very good. I would recommend this place to anyone who wanted a good lunch on the way home to Canberra.

When I got to my place I made myself a chicken red curry with lychees and pineapple.

Cowra


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Tommy’s Bistro

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Japanese Garden

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Vineyard Motel

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Edgell Park

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taste Canowindra


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Fekerte’s Ethiopian Cuisine

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Last night we went out for another birthday celebration. It was M’s birthday, that is last night was the designated birthday celebration as opposed to the impromptu birthday celebration we had a few weeks ago. Apparently M has wanted to eat at Fekerte’s for a long long time.

Fekerte’s has a long Canberra tradition. I recommend reading the introduction to their menu which is very informative and explains a lot about the food there.

Last night we selected a banquet (banquet three) which consisted of:

Entrée
Samosa
Pastry filled with a mixture of whole lentils or lean minced beef, coriander, shallots and other fresh herbs served with sauce

These were amazingly good samosas. Full of meaty goodness.

Kita
Ethiopian pan bread brushed with olive oil and spices

This bread came out first and at first I didn’t know how to attack it. It was nice with a pancake consistency.

Cauliflower Fritters
Finely cut cauliflower and fresh herbs mixed with chickpea flour and egg deep-fried and served with a yoghurt sauce

These fritters were really very good.

Main
Lega Tibs
Lamb marinated in white wine and Ethiopian spices sautéed with rosemary, onions, and green peppers

The lamb was tender and very tasty. The green chilies weren’t too hot.

Key Wat
Diced beef gently simmered until tender in a blend of onion, exotic spices and berbere

The beef was tender and the sauce was great on rice and with the enjera

Zilzil Alicha
Diced lamb and seasonal vegetables slowly cooked in a green pepper sauce and seasoned with ginger and jalapeno pepper

This lamb was a lot spicier and the sauce was great.

Ater Alicha – Mildly Spiced Pea Stew
Yellow split peas cooked with garlic, turmeric and basil

Nice and spicy and full of fibre.

Assa Curry
Nile Perch fillet lightly curried with garlic and coriander

The Nile Perch is a nice flaky fish. A little mushy though. The fish tasted great.

Salad

Mixed with the sauce from the fish curry and this rocked.

Served with enjera and rice

This had a lovely citrus sourness alone and amazing with the sauces.

Traditional Spiced Tea or Traditional Coffee

This tea was great. With a little sugar it was sweet and spicy.

The entrée selection was really good. The samosas especially. They were full of meat and full of flavour. Each of the main meal dishes had its own distinctive spice mix and when eaten with rice and enjera the sauce was nicely absorbed and oh so delicious.

For dessert Bron brought along a little container of poppy seed orange biscuits with chocolate and nutella filling. These were amazing little packets of flavour. So yummy. Bron also brought a couple of pecan brownies which were fantastic.

These were full of buttery goodness.

This brownie had a nice pecan crunch and flavour.

Fekerte’s is definitely worth visiting.

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Left over curry

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Last night I made a beef curry. I had enough left over for tonight. Rather than noodles I added some rice and stirred it in until it was cooked through. Once the rice was soft I added a little coconut cream to finish it off.

This is a good way to finish a day after a –3 °C morning. It really warmed the inside of my belly.

20120514-190917.jpg

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Beef curry and The Avengers

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This afternoon we went to see The Avengers. It was all I expected and more. A great movie. It’s well worth seeing if you like that genre.

For dinner I brought out my trusty pressure cooker and put together a beef curry. I was hungry because I didn’t eat lunch after a reasonable sized breakfast.

In the pressure cooker went onions, garlic, ginger, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, celery, pepper, chili flakes, diced rib fillet steak and curry powder. I added a little white wine and some water. I brought the cooker up to pressure and let the valve dance for thirty minutes. I let the cooker decompress naturally and served the curry with some noodles.

Beef curry and noodles (Panasonic DMC-TZ10)

It was a good day :-)

 

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GOA Beef curry

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Curry beef and noodles

It’s the usual routine of frying off some onion, garlic and ginger. Add some tomato and simmer. Add the curry powder. Brown diced beef. Add to the wok. Add sliced potatoes, carrots and beans. Simmer for about 30 minutes and then add some coconut cream. Prepare the noodles and serve.

This was purchased this year at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney (Nikon D90)

Simmering in my wok (Nikon D90)

Served with noodles (Nikon D90)

 

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Rama’s Fiji-Indian Restaurant

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Last night we ate at Rama’s Fiji-Indian Restaurant in Pearce. This is one of Canberra‘s most popular restaurants. Last night was our first taste of Rama’s Fiji-Indian cuisine.

The Inside is pretty open and they have some tables outside as well. The service was very friendly and efficient. We weren’t left waiting and were well attended.

The menu is available as a PDF at http://www.ramas.com.au/Dine%20In%20Menu.pdf or in html.

We enjoyed a mixed entrée of Vegetable Samosas, Fish Pakoras, and Bhajia. It was pretty good, especially the Samosas and the Bhajia. The Pakoras were a little over cooked.

Then we asked for a couple of dishes from the specials list, viz., Aamm Chicken (Mango Chicken) [Boneless chicken pieces cooked in fresh spices and a sweet mango sauce] and Fijian Pork Curry [Cubes of pork cooked with capsicum, onion and coriander leaves in a tangy, spicy sauce]. Both of these were delicious. They were both spicy but not painfully hot.

I want to go back and try more food there. After the meal we went and had dessert at Bron’s. She made chocolate truffles and ice cream.

Ramas Restaurant on Urbanspoon

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My happy place

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Today I spent most of the day in work related meetings. I also spent some of the day out doors with work mates looking at things. That meant I was exposed to the best parts of Darwin. Warm but not hot. Moist, and by moist I mean soaking warm rain going in all directions including horizontal and wind gusts up to 100 kilometres per hour.

After work this afternoon I ambled up to Stokes Hill Wharf for dinner. Ever since learning I was coming to Darwin for these meetings I have been craving a solo walk to the wharf and sitting down to a plate of battered barramundi and chips. For those not familiar with the barramundi, it is a premier fighting fish which also happens to be a very fine eating fish. Firm white flaky flesh. It is only better when you catch it, kill it, fillet it and cook it in a pan with butter and some lemon. You can then throw the skins in the air for the eagles or into the water for the crocodiles.

On the Stokes Hill Wharf there is an eatery and an open seating area with tables and chairs. Tonight Darwin was in a post Tropical Cyclone waring phase and with a tropical low we had heavy rain and wind gusts up to 100 kilometres per hour. I didn’t want to get my iPhone wet so the images are fairly timid.

Tonight’s chips were so crispy and the barramundi so good. I was in a very happy place. My skin was warm and moist. My tongue, mouth and belly were happy. I’d had a great day and I was happy. I wish Bron had been here too.

I love the sound of heavy rain on a metal roof. Most houses in Darwin do not have roof gutters. There is no point. Listen to the power.

Normally you can see the land across the harbour. This isn’t even heavy. Later in the evening it got stronger in terms of wind and rain.

It looked ominous across the harbour.

An ominous looking scene across the water

Battered barramundi and chips

After finishing the fish and chips I sat around and tweeted and watched the weather. I knew I had to come back and do some work so I decided to walk briskly back to the hotel. It’s just under a one kilometre walk so I knew it wouldn’t be too bad. The wind was strong and the rain heavy. It. Was. So. Much. FUN.

Before I forget, did you see those chips? They were so crispy. They were the best. THE BEST!!!

When I got back to the hotel I knew I wanted dessert. I rang room service and asked for Coconut panna cotta with kaffir lime fruit salad.

Coconut panna cotta with kaffir lime fruit salad

And before I forget we had lunch at one of the best restaurants in Darwin. The Hanuman Thai.

Fish and lamb curries at The Hanuman Thai

All in all it’s been a happy day.

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