Showing posts with label Dumplings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dumplings. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Trip to Melbourne (July 16-19th 2013)

So I went on a trip with my 3 best girl friends to Melbourne between July 16-19th.

When we arrived at Melbourne airport, we were approached by a man with an accent wearing a suit who asked us whether we were looking for a taxi (which we were). However, he was not working for any taxi company provided by the airport so we denied his services. After checking-in into our apartment, we caught the free tram (number 35) which circles around CBD every 13 minutes (and you don't need to purchase a myki card). We were heading to DFO South Wharf where we spent the rest of our afternoon shopping. It is a lot larger in size in comparison to DFO Homebush in Sydney. There are 3 levels of stores with the top level reserved for furniture and bedding. There are way better sales and a greater variety of stores (Of course because of the larger size). For a quick bite to eat, we stopped by Dumpling Dynasty and got some dumplings. I think they were selling 5 pcs for $5.90.




The skin is thick and tough but it's reasonable considering it is not actually a dumpling specialty store.

We spent about 2 hours at DFO before we had to head off to buy groceries to make dinner.

---

On the following day we enjoyed our first breakfast in Melbourne at The Hardware Societe. I started off my meal with an Iced Mocha which I found to be sweet but there is a big scoop of ice cream!

Iced Mocha ($5)
Baked eggs with chorizo sausage ($17)
For my main, I ordered Baked eggs with chorizo sausage, paprika spiced tomato concasse and idiazabal ewes milk cheese. I really enjoyed eating this. Good flavours and is quite filling. I think I had like 3 eggs in mine, of which 2 were poached!

THE HARDWARE SOCIETE
Address: 120 Hardware Street, Melbourne

---

The following day we planned to have a full day of shopping. We went along Bourke street then somehow ended up at Australia on collins and then headed to QV. As we were walking towards QV, we were approached by staff from a hair salon called Millenium. They offered us a package to help promote awareness of their salon which included getting our hair coloured followed by treatment which was for $45 and then a style cut worth $60 ($80 for long hair). It was quite an enjoyable experience. The senior hair dresser who took care of me was very friendly and gave me suggestions on what hairstyle and colour would look good on me, keeping in mind the choice of hair colour I wanted. I was quite pleased with hair cut! I wish I remembered his name (I think it was Daniel) but I was told he had won awards while working in the industry.

Some pictures of performers were bumped into whilst shopping:





Couldn't resist showing this! Soo many cakes!!

For lunch, we visited Roll'd which was on the same level as Millenium. I went for the Roll'd soldiers (rice paper rolls). I ordered tofu and lemongrass pork and prawns and opted for hoisin sauce (you can choose from others available such as nuoc mam and chilli mayonnaise). 

Roll'd Soldiers
AUSTRALIA ON COLLINS
Address: 260 Collins Street

QV RETAIL
Address: 221 Little Lonsdale Street










Friday, May 31, 2013

Din Tai Fung, Sydney

Hiiiii!

I decided to give myself a reward, and a little break from uni, before final exams start (and cause I was having the munchies for dumplings!). I went with a mate to Starbucks for a green tea latte to start off the day. We then headed off to Din Tai Fung at World Square for brunch before the lunch rush. As soon as I was seated, the staff had placed a carrier next to me, advising me that I could place my bag inside. The bags were then covered with a red cloth to prevent any food spilling. I thought it was pretty nifty having my bag seated next to me at waist level rather than it being placed on the floor. We then proceed to order: Hot and Sour Soup, Xiao Long Bao, Crab and Pork Dumplings, Prawn and Pork Wonton Noodles served with Spicy Sauce, and Golden Lava Bun for dessert.

Hot and Sour Soup (small) - $5.80
The soup is as the name suggests - hot and sour. I'm not someone who can tolerate chilli foods well but I did find it a little chilli and as I kept eating, I did start to find it more chilli. There were pieces of tofu which I actually thought were little chunks of noodles haha. Would I order it again? Most likely.

Xiao Long Bao (6 pcs) - $10.80
The dumplings were de-licious! The soup inside was amazing and so was the flavour! The only criticism about this would be the SIZE. They were seriously small, I expected them to be larger. Notice that there was a piece of garlic placed for differentiation.

Crab and Pork Dumplings (6 pcs) - $17.80
These dumplings had a similar taste to prawn har gow. Was equally delicious as the Xiao Long Bao (Pork dumplings) :)

We also had ordered the Prawn and Pork Wonton Noodles with Spicy Sauce but I forgot to take a picture! But it looks like this :D It does get more spicy as you keep eating it!

Finally to end our meal, we ordered the Golden Lava Buns. They were honestly amazing! You wouldn't believe the smile I had on my face while I was eating it haha! These buns were sweeter and more runny than the ones you would find at Iron Chef Chinese Restaurant @ Cabramatta however the sizes of their buns are much larger than Din Tai Fung and appear yellow.

Golden Lava Buns (3 pcs) - $6

Inside the Golden Lava Bun
It is a lot more gooey than it seems!

Overall, the food was great. The staff were very friendly and were constantly on alert for empty plates, and a great atmosphere. The restaurant does get crowded pretty fast so if possible, arrive early to avoid the lunch rush!


Din Tai Fung @ World Square
LEVEL 1, SHOP 11.04
644 GEORGE STREET
SYDNEY NSW 2000
PH: (02) 9264 6010
Lunch
Mon-Fri: 11:30am - 2:30pm
Sat & Sun: 11:00am - 3:00pm

Dinner
Mon-Wed: 5:30pm - 9:00pm
Thu & Fri: 5:00pm - 10:00pm
Saturday: 5:00pm - 10:00pm
Sunday: 5:00pm - 9:00pm


Tam x