Bulgogi 불고기 in Pyeongchang

In Indonesia, we have this Dutch influenced Javanese stew called semur, of slowly simmered beef dominated with nutmeg and peppery undertones with a hint of sweetness from kecap manis. Every household has slightly differing version of semur, at our house we make them with potatoes and glass noodles.

It might be odd to be thinking of this dish while in Korea, but the consensus with the Indonesian tour group was that pan-cooked bulgogi is basically Korea’s semur. I am chuckling to myself here as I am writing this. It’s funny because it’s somewhat true. The bulgogi we had that night was not dissimilar to that of semur, peppery and sweet, the colour of its broth was brown from soy sauce, and it was abundant with glassy, chewy potato noodles. It wasn’t a stretch for us to make the comparison.

konro bakar in makassar, south sulawesi

Nasi + Konro bakar

When I told an Indonesian colleague at work that I was going to Makassar, he had one request: don't forget the konro!

smoked meat + mustard + bread = ?

During my research of what to eat in Montréal, the name Schwartz's came up quite a few times. To me, what was being described and pictured, seemed like slices of dry, salty, corned-silverside-like meat, wedged between two slices of dry bread that has been coated with mustard as an afterthought. I wrote a brief note on it on my list of must-go places, but I wasn’t interested and promptly put it out of my mind.

fairview dining room, 'twas a fair view indeed

Five peppercorn crusted bison carpaccio - $10

Before we tuck in for the night inside our plush king-size bed at the Fairmont Chateau in Lake Louise, we headed for dinner at the Fairview Dining Room.

We got ourselves a window-side table for two. The snow that is now falling in earnest is framed beautifully by it.

the maple leaf, classy with a lot of substance

We're in Banff, people! Ah... Finally.... We can straighten our hunched backs and uncurl our toes, stretch those arms upwards, breath in the fresh mountain air and absorb the breathtaking vista.

holy moley! holy smoke!

Three words: Oh My Gawd!

depot nguling rawon

Around the corner from Warung Brintik is a slightly more famous eatery. The more recent reason of this fame is due to a visit from a certain indonesian vice president during his official visit to Malang. But mostly because Depot Nguling has consistently been serving the best rawon in Malang, way before the aforementioned VP's visit.

warung brintik semur daging

Warung Brintik is very much a typical establishment that can be found all over Malang. And by that I mean a relatively small, perhaps even pokey, building, furnished with long benches and continuous tables that force patrons and strangers alike to eat side by side, a place that offers only a restricted number of specialty dishes done really well, a place where locals can go for breakfast and lunch for a reasonable price.

depot sulaiman ayam bakar bumbu rujak

The best way to describe ayam bumbu rujak is without words.

took be gi yukgaejang

I was expecting a slapdash food from a place like Took Be Gi.

phill bean yukgaejang

I remember a time when there was practically one korean restaurant in Perth and when looking for a korean grocery store was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. If I had a hankering for great kimchi, bad luck, there's no chance in hell of finding it.

bumbu bali nasi campur

Gedang mekuah - Rp 70,000

Gedang mekuah is a bowl of spicy green papaya and seafood soup. It was my appetiser when I went for lunch at this restaurant called Bumbu Bali.

nikujaga 肉じゃが

I bet when I say "meat and potatoes", it's probably fair to say that the image conjured up in your mind would be something like juicy, thinly sliced roast beef with mashed potatoes and loads of gravy. But, if you're a Japanese, then the image would be this beef & potatoes stew, the only seasoning required: soy sauce and honey.

hog's breath cafe hickory smoked prime rib

Every single person in my family has a Frequent Diner Card each. And you might want to know that we did not obtain these cards the easy way, by purchasing it for $50. We got it the proper way, the hard way, by getting those 6 validation stamps on the application form to show that each of us has eaten there 6 times. That's how much we love the food in Hog's Breath Cafe.

stir-fried beef with bitter melon

I remember when I was young, the garden in my childhood home was filled with a cornucopia of plants. Some grew more successfully, others not so much. One of the less successful was our attempt to grow corn, which were rewarded by some of the ugliest, gap-toothed, bland corn that we had the misfortune of eating. But, I have to admit, it was fun for us kids to be able to experiment in the garden.

One plant that had more luck was my father's bitter melon. Not one person in the house liked them, except my father. And every time he asked the cook to serve some bitter melon, with pork or beef, he would undoubtedly tout the supposed health benefits of bitter melon and try to convince us kids to try them, which were greeted with silent thoughts and plans on how to kill this evil plant.

viet hoa bò viên

Continuing on my recent foray into the Vietnamese pho, I visited Viet Hoa in Northbridge during a particularly ravenous state as I foolishly skipped breakfast that morning.

I was in the neighbourhood running some errands. When I finished getting the things I needed to get, my stomach was my next urgent priority. I carefully looked at a few restaurants before settling on Viet Hoa. About 7 years ago now, I went there with my parents, and we did not have a particularly good meal / experience, we never came back since. But I thought I should give it another try, seeing as 7 years is probably about enough for holding a grudge, not that I let go of my grudges very easily.

trà vinh phở bò viên

Trà Vinh is one of those places that I have been meaning to review but never got around to do it. So, here goes.

cafe asia stir fried chicken with fresh mushroom

Cafe Asia, or Asian Cafe as we like to call it, is a frequent hang-out, mainly because my parents and sister like this place so much. Personally, I can't see why.

Last night we went there again, the restaurant was almost at full capacity with all kinds of Northbridge riff raff. There was a multicultural family at one table, a quintessential Italian nonna and nonno at another, and there were asian students all abounds.

grill'd simply grill'd

My first encounter with Grill'd was in Melbourne, since then I kept hoping that they would soon open a branch in Perth. But I never really thought that one would actually open in Perth (just like the same hope I had with Krispy Kreme). Well, one finally did open in Mt Lawley and another one soon followed in Subiaco. So you see, I had no choice but to come up with a reason to go.

A perfect reason came up this week. I recently moved out to a new house and my ever-helpful friends Dylan and Dave (D & D) were there to help. So, what better way to repay the favour than to take them to Grill'd. Doubled as an excuse for catching up with them too.

This particular Grill'd was located in Mount Lawley's busy restaurant hub. If you know Mt Lawley at lunch time, it's really quite busy, with not a lot of parking space. So, come early if you want a parking spot / seats in the restaurant.

what the pho rice noodle soup with beef balls

A few weeks ago, my brother-in-law wanted to try out this newly opened Vietnamese noodle (Pho) shop in Northbridge. It’s funny that he couldn’t remember the name of the shop at first. I mean who could forget a witty name such as “What The Pho”.