Esca

Went here for dinner on Saturday and the weather was just right..neither too hot or cold:) And I finally did my ferris wheel shot hehe (although not the best but I'm still working on it:p).


Back to the restaurant story, the place was beautifully decorated. Despite the glamorous interior, one can dress casually here without feeling too awkward.

Prosciutto [Parma, Italy] aged 24 months served with focaccia bread~ generous portions provided and a great way to start the meal:)

Bruschetta of Swiss mushrooms, ricotta salata and olive tapenade~ another delicious appetizer:)

Lamb cutlet, char-grilled with a little pie of goat, peas and carrots~ nicely cooked lamb and creamy pea mash. I'm usually not a big fan of peas but this is an exception ;D

Linguini w local SA seafood: prawns, crab, mussels, cockles and calamari~ seafood was fresh and still retained its original flavours despite undergoing intense heat from the pan. I did find the pasta a little dry for my liking though, but overall, a good dish:)

Tartlet of summer poached peach, crème patisserie & lemon~ a simple dessert but well executed. I like the candied lemon strips and tart base. A refreshing way to end the summer!

Hahdorf

The title sums up my entire Sunday afternoon:) And because I'm quite exhausted from work, I shall let the pictures do more babbling than me:p

White House cafe~ Some German fare for brunch rather than the traditional ones in Adelaide:) I like the rustic and vintage-y deco of the place

The bread was sooo freshly baked and it was super soft on the inside. Thumbs up for excellent quality:)

Ham Noeske (if i remembered correctly)~


A little dessert cafe tucked in the midst of the streets! Chocolate-y goodness with heaps of delicious looking pastries and cakes (sadly, I couldn't try any as I was still stuffed from last night's dinner).

Cakes made by an artist!:D

Chocolate dipped strawberries and boxes of chocolate buttons~

The chocolate fountain :D


Macarons!

:DD

Duthy Street Deli

Warning! Overly delicious food pictures coming your way. Do consult your dietician should you require assistance with selecting your brunch.

The boy brought my sister and I here for brunch on a cloudy, gloomy Sunday morning and to my surprise, this place was buzzing full of people!

Was hard to get a good seat but we managed to squeeze in :) Would highly recommend making reservations if there's more people coming :S

A spoiler picture! Contemplating if should proceed now? :p

The extensive menu list.

Poached egg with hollandaise sauce and sauteed spinach on bread, served with a piece of smoked salmon. Too good.

Toasted bread served with scrambled eggs, sausages, sauteed mushrooms and rockets.


I could feel my cholesterol levels rising but this was wayyyy too good of a meal to pass up!

Chicken caesar salad~ generous portions of chicken, ham, anchovies, cheese *drools*

I've noticed that there were quite a few discontented comments about this place on urbanspoon. I disagree that the service was crap (I got served by a lovely lady) and although the food is more expensive than the average price for brunch, it was seriously good. I wouldn't mind heading here again for a second visit:)

Burger Foundry

An impromptu outing with my sister and her friend.Thankfully, the friend has a huge appetite and chose this place for lunch:) Been dying to try it out after reading much reviews about it:D

The whole place was fairly small and could only fit about 10 diners at most? We decided to takeaway and enjoy our meal in the comfort of my sister's friend's home ;P hehe.

Fries~ quite lovely although it was soggy by the time we got back:( I reckon this one would be best consumed in the outlet itself:S

My chicken classic burger~

To be honest, I was quite disappointed with my burger because it's not really a burger (more like a sandwich with grilled chicken fillets). I was expecting chicken patties. I'm not complaining about the taste (was deliciousss) but I wished I had ordered the beef burgers as it looks so much better compared to mine ;( No pictures available because some people were busy nom-nom-ing it before I could snap a picture -.-

Would love to have a second visit here soon!

Macarons!

If you have been reading my blog, you would be aware of my macaron craze (not only because they look gorgeous but also because they taste awesome!). My macaron attempts can be viewed from my early 2011 archives but 2/3 doesn't turn out that great:(

I've tried the macarons from Hong Kong Grocery in Chinatown. Not too bad but I would prefer it to be more moist:)

This time, I have used a recipe from Almost Bourdain and I am very pleased with the recipe she had so kindly provided:)


Omelette for lunch. If I can't be in Paris making macarons, I can still dream, right?:)

Lemon flavoured macarons to be!



Coffee macarons~ I have used a different recipe and I probably failed at getting the right egg white whisking consistencyT_T

No fillings in the macarons as they are to be transported under harsh, burning hot Adelaide weather. My filling basically consisted of butter, egg yolks, milk, sugar, grated lemon pieces, lemon juice. It is easy to obtain a good filling recipe but if you would like to individualize it, best to taste it before adding sugar or any other ingredients:)

Pineapple tarts

A new year calls for a new recipe post! And to start it off with a bang, I have decided to tackle the art of making the pineapple tarts, expensive cookies in Malaysia which are *apparently* super difficult to make that only skilled ladies can!

We shall tee off with 2 grated pineapples. It can get messy but worth be worthwhile in the end:)

Heat grated pineapples over a large surface pan with an anise star and cinnamon sticks. Keep "drying" up the shredded pineapple pieces until it becomes a bit more solid looking:)

I've grated every single last bit of the pineapple!

This is what happens after you add sugar to caramelize it. However, I think mine is slightly overcooked (the jam itself would caramelize without heating so best to undercook it if you are not sure).

Pastries filled with pineapple jam, ready for the oven. I have obtained my recipe from rasamalaysia.com. Quite reliable but I still need to master the art of folding it without messing the tart too much.

Don't forget to brush a layer of egg wash over it for that golden brown colour! I have used an oven temperature of 160C but it really depends on how well your oven circulates heat around.

Tadaaaaa~~~~ Doesn't it look awesome?:)

Pack them into Chinese New Year tupperwares and you're ready to go:DD