GOOD ONE BBQ RESTAURANT
808 Albany Highway, Victoria Park
Today Jocelyn, David, Mum and I went for lunch in Victoria Park. A late lunch. It was 3pm and most places had closed to prepare for the dinner service. Fortunately, we didn't have to walk far to find that
Good One was still open.
combination of 3 meats:
roast duck
roast pork
barbecue pork
pak choy in garlic sauce
seafood ho fun with egg sauceAfterwards, we walked past
Baskin-Robbins for dessert.
my Green Tea Ice CreamELIE'S TENT - Lebanese Restaurant
610 Albany Highway, Victoria Park
Tonight we went out for dinner to celebrate Ling's birthday.I scrapbooked him a card with a magnet at the back so he can keep it on the fridge.
We were rather early and needed to draw out our entree and main course so that we could stay to watch the belly dancer at 8:30pm. On arrival, we thought the place looked cosy and rather ethnic looking from the outside. We felt a bit rushed by the unprofessional waitstaff though. I think they're a family run business so they lacked the etiquette and training. We felt a bit harrassed when they kept asking us every few minutes if we were ready to order. There were only two tables at the time so there was no need to rush us.
I liked the menus.The photos of the entrees are shocking because we were eager to just dig in when they arrived.
Entrees
Moutabbal (baba ghannouj with tahini sauce)
smoked eggplant blended with tahini, garlic, fresh lemon juice and spices
Warakinab (vine leaves with lamb)
selected grape leaves, fresh tomato, onion, parsley and ground lamb
Falafel
combination of beans, fresh onion, garlic, parsley and special spices - deepfried
Bastorma
thin slices of hot seasoned smoked beefI was disappointed with the entrees. The baba ghannouj needed a bit of seasoning. The stuffed vine leaves required seasoning and just flavour in general. The falafel were nice but deep fried for too long. The bastorma was rather nice - sort of like soft jerky. Yeah...nothing special.
After another bout of pestering to order our mains, we ordered after we had finished our entrees. Ling and Shallen brought a 1999 Pepper Tree Cabernet Sauvignon (I think!??) and one of the ladies asked if we wanted it opened and we replied 'yes please'. A few minutes later, Kong noticed that she had gone to place it on the table beside us and they were busy greeting their friends who had just turned up so they didn't really notice. Thank F*** Kong saw because he hurriedly went to retrieve our precious bottle. We ordered several main dishes to share.
Mains
King Prawns Mishwee
specially marinated king prawns, charcoal grilled and served with sayyadieh rice
Seafood Platter
a selection of snapper fillet, octopus, king prawns and scallops,
marinated, charcoal grilled and served with hoummos and tabbouleh
Shidrawi Chilli Chicken
skinless chicken maryland, marinated with their own recipe of piquant sauce, charcoal grilled and served with hot chips and salad
Shish Tawook
two skewers of marinated skinless chicken cubes, charcoal grilled and served with moujaddara (rice and lentils) and vegetarian stewOh boy were we disappointed! The first thing we all did was gasp at the dismally tiny seafood 'platter' and dive for the hot chips that were served with the chilli chicken. I don't think any of the meat impressed me but I did enjoy the moujaddara, vegetarian stew and tabbouleh. So basically, the salads and sides were the most tasty part of the meal.
Half a scallop from the seafood platter.
Ling's half of the scallop and my half.
No, they're not giant forks.
It definitely was a memorable night when the belly dancer performed. She picked Ling (yay for the birthday boy!) to join her out on the floor and he did his best to entertain us!
Back at home, we were all a bit unsatisfied with dinner so we looked forward to dessert. I'd brought all the ingredients so I set about preparing it.
I bought this pastry flan from Coles today.
I whipped together mascarpone cheese, cream and sugar.
This photo looked a bit naughty...go on - use your imagination!
I spread the mascarpone mixture into the flan and then spooned frozen berries on top. We baked it in the oven for about fifteen minutes. When we took it out of the oven, it looked absolutely delicious!
I dusted some icing sugar over it.
As it was Ling's birthday, we scrounged around for a candle and sang 'Happy Birthday' to him.I probably could have ommitted the baking step because when we went to slice it up, the mascarpone mixture had melted into a soft gooey consistency and it was difficult to cut nice neat slices.
This was the best looking slice!Alas! We were still hungry! We had some prawns in the freezer that were left over after our last steamboat dinner so we took them out and all gathered around the kitchen counter to watch Shallen cook them for us. She marinated the prawns in chopped garlic, chillies, coriander, mirin and olive oil. She skewered the prawns and then cooked them on the sandwich press.
I love the sandwich press. Such a versatile appliance and easy to clean afterwards.
Delicious!
Meng loves eating prawns!
Recently, two of my good friends tied the knot but I wasn't able to make it to the wedding as I was in Bangkok. However, on my return I made them a card and sent them a little gift.
It's been a while since I've done any scrapbooking. It's time consuming to drag all my bits and pieces out, let alone finding time and inspiration. I also just don't have enough table space either. I can't wait to get into my house and set up one of the bedrooms as an arts and crafts studio. I'd love to get one of those drafting tables that architects use!
In the evening I busied myself making cupcakes to take to work tomorrow for everyone. I used the prepackaged White Wings chocolate cake mixture but instead of using milk, I used buttermilk.
By adding drops of green food colouring, I transformed some of the frosting to green and piped little 'christmas trees' on some of the cupcakes.
I didn't have time to find a cutter to make holly leaves, so I had another idea. Here's how to make holly leaves from green musk sticks:
As you can see, one side gets flattened against the chopping board when you slice it. Using a blunt utensil, make an indentation into the flattened side and this should reshape the musk stick slice to look like a holly leaf!
Unfortunately, however, it's an old fashioned sewing machine that does not run on electricity. I spent about half an hour trying to figure out to use the foot pedal. I was squealing with delight when I finally figured it out though.
Mum cut the meat off the bone from the pork hock. I love the gelatinous meat and skin. Soooo tasty!
After about ten minutes, I let it rest for about five minutes and then served the fish with a squeeze of lime and salad. For the salad I threw together some fresh rocket from the garden, pinenuts and roasted slices of pumpkin.
Last night I cooked the prawns using my little itsy bitsy Le Chasseur pot. I seasoned them with sweet paprika, turmeric, and cayenne pepper. When the prawns had cooled down, I threw them into the salad and with the oil remaining in the pot, I added some whole egg mayo, whisked it up and made it into the dressing for the salad.
This is what the girls at work got up to today when it was unbelieably quiet.
Today Jocelyn, David, Mum and I went for lunch in Victoria Park. A late lunch. It was 3pm and most places had closed to prepare for the dinner service. Fortunately, we didn't have to walk far to find that Good One was still open.
It definitely was a memorable night when the belly dancer performed. She picked Ling (yay for the birthday boy!) to join her out on the floor and he did his best to entertain us!
I spread the mascarpone mixture into the flan and then spooned frozen berries on top. We baked it in the oven for about fifteen minutes. When we took it out of the oven, it looked absolutely delicious!
