Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock

Holy Moly.........Look at this countdown

I cant believe in 5 days Jake and I will be on a plane heading to Europe for my very first time.
All I can think of is the AMAZING food we be eating.
I promise to keep posting as much as I can.

I wonder if I'm being too ambitious by wanting to post about every meal I have while we're away.......
Yeah maybe, but i'll try. I'm just hoping that every meal will be worth writing about.

MEAL WISH LIST
- Rendang (Kuala Lumpur)
- Chai Kway Tow (Kuala Lumpur)
- Curry & Chips (London) I know its not classy, but hey I've heard my british friends tell me how good it is.
- An Indian Curry (London) Apparently far better than the Indian we get in Australia
- Paella (Spain)
- Tapas & Pintxos (Spain)
- Macarons & Croissants (France)
- A good Cassoulet or Coq au vin (France)
- And lots of Pizza and Pasta (Italy)

I know they are your obvious dishes, but I want to know if they are that much better in their country of origin. I've got plenty of tips from friends, from their past trips for Europe. But by all means if you know of any great places to eat (especially if its where the locals go) I'd love to hear from you.
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More More Dumplings...

Gosh the weeks are just flying by, today is only 3 weeks until Jake an I leave on a Jet plane. I've totally been missing my blogging but have been soooo busy, I'm working 6 days a week until we leave, so it doesn't leave much time for the fun stuff. But when the tummy is rumbling, we must treat ourselves to a short trip to foodie paradise also known as 'Footscray'.
 Jake and I have our favorites but are also keen to venture out of our comfort zones and try something new.
On recommendation from the lovely Lauren at Footscray Food Blog we decided to give Dumplings and More a go.

My hunger was getting the better of me, my head was slightly throbbing, but to a beat of dumpling, dumpling, dumpling......  "Hold on Tummy it's a coming"..but what else to order? The drumming of dumpling was overwhelming me, so I gave ordering power over to Jake.

Jake started to get a little carried away with his new found power, he was throwing orders at our waiter at a furious pace. The poor waiter had to kindly interrupt Jake and tell him that what he had ordered was clearly enough. A wise and professional move from the waiter as you will soon see in the following photos that Jake had ordered enough for 4, not 2. But thats why I love him, he loves food as much as I do.

First to arrive was the Potato salad only $2 for all of that...Amazing! this was one of Lauren's favs so we had to give it a crack. It was fabulous...not what you would expect from a potato salad at all. Its Tangy, the potato still has a nice bite to it, and laced with a little chilli. Its a perfect little refresher between bites, kinda like your picked Carrot and Daikon usually served on the side of a lot of Vietnamese dishes.

Next up was the Spring Onion Pancakes. These were awesome and only $2.50 for 2 pancakes. They were deliciously crispy and great topped with potato salad. I can imagine going back next time and sopping up a nice saucy dish with these.

Lamb skewer and Chicken Giblet skewer. $1.50 each. Not what I expected at all, these were heavily seasoned in what I can only describe as an African blend of spices, and spicy to boot! Really delicious but my lips were on fire.

Finally the Dumplings arrived these ones are the steamed Prawn meat and pork with chives dumplings 12pcs for $8.00 ( yep you heard right! bargain)

Also fried Lamb dumplings 15pcs for $8.00

The prawn, pork and chive dumplings were tasty, packed with chives although not very much prawn meat, but the dumpling dough itself was nice.

The Lamb dumplings were great, rich and meaty. I dont know how traditional Lamb is in dumplings but I give it the thumbs up!

So our waiter was indeed correct, we had to ask for 2 take-away containers to take our leftovers home. But i'm still smiling, this just means I get to have a totally delicious lunch tomorrow and stink out the office...Sorry girls :)

I cant wait wait to get back to Dumplings and more, so many more dishes to over order, feast, and take home to enjoy again

Dumplings & More
96 Hopkins St, Footscray
Phone: 9689 2165
Hours: 11.00 a.m. - 9.30 p.m -  7 days

What on (You Tube) Earth....?????

There are no words, watch at your own risk!!! 

The Colonial Tramcar Restaurant

After a crappy day at work, there are no better words than those uttered from partners lips, "Get dressed babe, I'm taking you out for dinner"

Yipppppeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

"Where are we going?" I asked

"It's a Surprise" Jake said (Second best words uttered)

So I jumped in and out of the shower, Curled my hair all nice, a little bit of make-up and popped on a pretty dress. We got into the car and headed off, my curiosity was getting the better of me when we started making our way over the West Gate Bridge. We finally pulled into a car park round the corner from the Casino. But rather than head towards the Casino, we headed towards a group of people milling around a tram stop??

Huh..?!?!?!?!?

"We're going on the Tram Car Restaurant!!!" Jake finally proclaimed

 "Really...?!?! How awesome.....!!!!!"

The Tramcar  Restaurant pulls up and waits for us to board

I couldn't wait to get inside, I had no idea what to expect, and my tummy was rumbling!!!

We were served Australian Sparkling wine on arrival

We made our order with our gorgeous waitress Belinda, Jake and I split our choices for Entree, Mains and Dessert so we got to try everything.

Everyone got starters of Chicken Liver and Cognac Pate and Roasted Red Capsicum Dip with crisp bread, Jake was rapt, he loooooves Pate. Both were really lovely, I could've kept scoffing but I knew I had a few more courses coming

 For Entree I had the Tasmanian Ocean Trout served on julienne vegetables with a soy ginger reduction. This was really lovely, the trout was really fresh and I loved the sweet sauce. Jake had the Duck Risotto with wild mushrooms and peas, drizzled with truffle oil and topped with crisp leek, this was another winner, nice pieces of duck and the rice cooked right. I prefered mine....but i'm not much of a risotto eater

This is Jake tucking into his Victorian farmed Eye Fillet of Beef (Jake ordered Rare, and it was done perfectly) served with a potato and herb rosti, seasoned vegetables, onion marmalade and a rich beef jus. Jake loved his Beef, the Rosti was very tasty too although I thought Rostis were meant to be thinner, almost like a potato cake. I had the Macadamia Chicken, a grilled chicken breast on sweet potato mash and baby spinach with a macadamia pesto sauce, this was great, the chicken breast was huge and I had nice chunks of macadamias in the pesto which added great texture to the dish. I was starting to feel absolutely stuffed by this point, there was just so much food.

The Fantastically entertaining, the wonderfully singing waiter Joe. Joe was brilliant, you were never without a drink for longer than a second or in most cases topped up while you weren't looking. Joe had the whole Tram Car singing, smiling, and laughing. I wish there were more like him. Joe's a man who is obviously very dedicated to providing excellent service every journey. If only every restaurant had a 'Joe'

We were served an amazing Cheese Platter  with crisp bread and fruit bread ad two types of Australian cheeses, then dessert arrived Sticky Date Pudding Yummmmmmmmo. There was no way I could finish the dessert, but I gave it a good go.

After a Fantastic 3 Hours, 5 Courses, and too many drinks to remember we regretfully departed the Tram Car Restaurant. I had such an amazing time, even though I have lived in Melbourne all my life, I saw a different side to her tonight. To tell you the truth we couldv'e been anywhere in the world. But i'm glad Melbourne does have such great entertainment to offer tourists and locals alike. I would recommend the Tram Car for anybody. I'm already thinking of buying my parents a trip for their Christmas presents this year.

http://www.tramrestaurant.com.au/en/

The Countdown revisited

This holiday is getting closer and closer, yet still seems years away. To tell you the truth...we havn't planned much yet. The gist of our holiday so far is......
- Date of Departure - June 16 2011
- Length - 8 weeks
- Destinations - Kuala Lumpur, London, Spain, Italy, France and possibly Morocco
- Itinerary - Glastonbury Music Festival June 22-26 and Ibiza to meet some friends on their Honeymoon July 9 - 12, and basically thats it 8 weeks away and about 9 days planned. And I'm absolutely fine with that, but am always open to recommendations so If you read this and you know of something to do, something amazing to eat, somewhere special to go, please by all means drop me a line.
I am going to try my best to blog while im away. I hope to at least take a photo of every meal we have while we are away. I couldn't be more excited..this is going to be a trip of a lifetime, and so so many amazing things to gorge on

The Tittie Cake

What cake do you make for a joint 30th boys Birthday.....?

 A Boob!!  Surely not one to share....??

Two Boobs!!!! One naturally Bigger than the other too ( Well that's the excuse I used)

Oi keep your Mits off!!!

Happy Birthday Boys!!!!

Happy Chinese New Year

Whats not to love about celebrating another New Year. Especially when the Chinese know how to throw a party.

Jake and I decided to go into the city to see the whole shebang in China Town, I invited a couple of friends to join us to make a nice day of it.

A very packed Chinatown

Cute kiddies watching the festivities from above

Hanging the Cabbage as an offering to the Lion for Wealth

Someones spotted the food stalls.........

A vendor cooking up Delicious Treats

See the green skewers..? Bo La Lop (Bo La Lot) Beef wrapped in Betel Leaf. One of my absolute Favorites

Hmmmm interesting!

Jake went for the Chilli Pork

Lucky Beer for a Lucky Year....?

I won a lucky rabbit money box for being able to say "Happy new year" in Cantonese

Happy New Year to all, I hope it's a great year for you :)