JooMak is my Korean favourite

Let's start the spring with a little Korean goodness. Joomak is a hidden gem (literally) in the Melbourne CBD. It opens from 5pm till wee hours of the morning daily and I have seldom seen it without customers. Tables are normally fully booked dinner time as I never seem to be able to get a table if I walked in anytime between 7pm and 9pm.
To ensure a place at this basement restaurant, I called to reserve a table for 2. Fast forward to the food, ordered cheesy spicy seafood ($25), kimchi tofu soup ($18-comes with a bowl of rice) and a grilled mackerel. I must say, this visit was a bit disappointing as only the soup and the condiments were delicious. I suggest you stay to the original menu and avoid swaying towards their specials which we ordered.
I can say the kimchi tofu soup was spicy, packed a punch in kimchi flavour and hot, perfect for winter. Oh, and their Soju cocktails are awesome too. Any flavour is fine by me.

This place is always packed with students, and please make a booking if you want to guarantee yourself a table. Happy hunting!

407-409, Swanston Street, Melbourne 3000 VIC
Tel: (03) 9663 7123

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Eat faster than I post

It is a wonder that this blog is still available considering my inactivity for nearly a year. I have been blessed with lots of food adventures, but have not had the time to post them online. I think it could also be the fact that the idea of taking photos of my food before I eat them has been daunting. It is reflective of a typical Asian (as my cousin's partner puts it... "again??"). Anyways, my resolution from this point forward is to try to update this blog as often as I am eating all those wonderful food Melbourne and world has to offer. Till then, look forward to posting the next blog again.

Eat, eat and eat...

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Zam Zam ala kazaam!

Ok. How should I put this? A mamak in Melbourne? Oh yeah. Not the 'fake' one, like Papa Rich, but the real deal! I found this gem of a place right in the CBD. I ordered Deal 4 (1 roti, 1/2 biryani rice, 2 meat and 1 veg) for AUD10. I picked the lamb curry, butter chicken and pumpkin.
So I took my first bite of the rice mixed with some lamb. OMG...it's so goood.... The lamb was tender, and the spices in the curry was just right. I would have preferred the curry to be spicier though. Butter chicken was ok, nothing to shout about as it didn't taste like the butter chicken I eat in regular Indian restaurants. Maybe this is 'Malaysian' style. Anyways, when I finally had the roti, I was like, this is it. This is my mamak to go to from now on. The roti canai tasted exactly like the ones I loved back home, and it is only AUD1.50 if ordered individually. Cheap considering this is Melbourne, where other places charge at least AUD3.00 a piece.They have roti tisu, roti bom, dosai, cendol and teh tarik too.
Give this place a try if you miss the mamak back home. I am going to try the mee goreng next time...

Zam Zam Restaurant
364, Lonsdale Street,
3000 Melbourne.

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Nabiha @ Moonee Ponds

Nabiha is a nice little joint at Moonee Central Shopping Centre in Moonee Ponds. A simple cafe with limited menu items, which is good as staff are able to cope with the demands of the customers. I ordered the baked eggs, which was the most elaborate compared to other menu items. The eggs would have been perfect they were runny instead of overcooked. The baked beans and spinach underneath were a bit dry. However, I loved the balance in taste, and the fact that the staff were friendly. Would I return? Yes, I think they deserve a second chance.

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Mee Tuaran in Tuaran, Sabah

My visit would not be complete without at least trying the infamous Mee Tuaran. Obviously, my parents and I had to make our way to the town where it all started, Tuaran. Being adventurous, we had rented a car for the day to check out towns and resorts in the North area of KK. My dad was not sure where the shop was, so we had to ask for directions from one of the hardware shops in the area. With little knowledge of Mandarin and no knowledge of Hakka, my mom received a new recommendation for another shop that was favoured by the locals, Restaurant Tai Fatt.

The restaurant was an old coffee shop with a few locals enjoying their noodles. They seemed fascinated with our presence as my we were snapping photos as tourists do.

The menu was a big white board on a wall with the different cooking styles of noodles and rice, including a drinks menu. We ordered the kon-lou mee, which turned out to look like the wantan noodles in West Malaysia.

The noodles were springy. I was informed by mom that the charsiew was made exactly the same as in the old days (1960s-70s). The pork sausage slices were mediocre, and tasted like fish cakes. All in all, we loved the noodles and would later share our verdict with my father's friend.

2 days later, we were able to try the actual shop recommended by my father's friend, Lok Kyun Restaurant. The shop was busier than Tai Fatt. It's other specialties included tofu with stuffed meat and braised yam with pork. They had other specialties which I can't remember, and could not try too as we had a full breakfast in the morning at the hotel. As such, the 3 of us ordered 1 plate of Fried Mee Tuaran to try.

The mee was quite oily, but tasted good. The noodles were fried with egg, similar to our char kuey teow but without the bean sprouts, chilli and prawns, then topped with charsiew, some pork sausage slices and pork pieces. The thing with Mee Tuaran is, it reminds me of instant noodles. It tastes a lot like the fresh version of Myojo's Mee Poh Goreng.

All in all, I loved both the kon-lou version and the fried version. I have finally tasted the real Mee Tuaran, both ways.

Tai Fatt Restaurant is located at 7 Jalan Teo Teck Ong, Tuaran, Sabah. Open 7am-10pm daily.

Lok Kyun Restaurant is located at GPS: N6 10.654 E116 13.964. Tuaran, Sabah

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Kah Hiong Beef Noodles in KK

Last week, for the first time, I visited Kota Kinabalu. It was a good five days. I had the privilege of eating at local eateries as my father's friend is from KK. Our first stop when we arrived was 'Ngau Chap' aka Mixed Beef Noodles at Kah Hiong Ngiu Chap. The establishment is located in the Hilltop area. We ordered a bowl of beef noodles (choice of kuey teow, mee or meehoon) each and a big bowl of tendon, brisket, lung and tongue to share. The beef soup was thick and very tasty, one of the best I've tasted. These are complemented with home made chilli sauce which is very spicy. The chilli sauce is bottled, and is available for sale at RM10 each, a high price to pay for a bottle of chilli sauce. A bowl of beef noodles cost an average RM9 each.

My kon-lou beef noodles

Address: 2-0-10, Block A, Ground Floor, Kolam Centre Phase 2, Jalan Lintas, Hilltop, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah 93450 Contact No: 019-870 0080 Business Hours: 7am- 3pm

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