Limited Lobster Special | Fat Noodle - Treasury Casino

Led by Luke Nguyen, Australia's Vietnamese leading celebrity chef and owner of award-winning restaurant Red Lantern in Sydney, Fat Noodle offers a dynamic mix of Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai and Malay cuisines.

Stylish chopsticks and wok décor gives Fat Noodle a sophisticated oriental ambience.

Upon arrival, you get complimentary jasmine tea served in an iron cast teapot.

Inspired by other Asian cuisines, Fat Noodle offers Sashimi, Hainan Chicken Rice, Roasted Duck in addition to various Vietnamese dishes such as Pho and Grilled Pork Cutlet.

Since Fat Noodle was having a promotion, we ordered the Lobster Chow Mein with Singapore Sauce for $25. Wok-tossed lobster served on a bed of fried egg noodles and steamed Asian greens (gai lan), drizzled with a delicate sambal and shrimp sauce. Delightfully sweet and spicy, the shrimp sauce complemented the lobster well but I wish there was more. My egg noodles was overly fried which made it quite dry (and was also bland and stale).

 

Lobster Chow Mein with Singapore Sauce ($25)

 

Next came the Singapore Laksa ($22) - rice noodles with generous prawns, fish cakes, scallops, chicken breast, tofu, and egg in a rich coconut broth. Although the Laksa was not authentic and actually quite unorthodox, I really enjoyed it. Unlike traditional laksa, it was not spicy and didn't come with egg noodles. However, the sweet coconut flavours was insanely addictive and I basically drank it all, leaving my Fellow Food Extinguisher with nothing but plain rice noodles :P.

 

Singapore Laksa ($22)

 

Verdict

If you want authentic Vietnamese food, Fat Noodle isn't the right place for you. But if you're feeling particularly adventurous, then Fat Noodle is the perfect place for you. Decent Asian dishes with an interesting twist.

 

 

Cheap Lobster Special | Kitchen - Treasury Casino

Open 24 hours, 7 days a week, you can drop by the Kitchen at anytime for hearty breakfasts, gourmet salads, juicy roasts, melt-on-the-tongue steaks, or even just a quick coffee and cake.

For the month of February, Kitchen is offering Lobster Mornay for only $19 (Absolute Rewards Members). Whole-baked with delicious creamy mozzarella cheese, the lobster was quite enjoyable. The flesh, however, was slightly flaky, but I really can't complain when it's only $19. On the other hand, the chips were undercooked and soggy.

 

Whole-baked lobster mornay served with chips and a fresh garden salad $19

We also ordered a succulent 280 gram MSA scotch fillet with thick cut chips and fresh garden salad ($15). Tender medium rare steak with thick battered chips, accompanied by a rich pepper sauce, was definitely a heavenly combination.

Scotch Fillet Served with an exciting peppery sauce ($15)

Perfectly medium rare with a glowing red tinge



Verdict
Certainly not the best, but pretty decent for the price. These promotions don't last - if you feel like a cheap lobster or scotch fillet, you better go quick! Luckily, Kitchen always has new promotions, so if you miss out, you can always try something new.

The Imperial Seafood Restaurant - Riverside Centre | 123 Eagle Street Brisbane QLD 4000

With a spectacular 360 degree view of the Brisbane River, The Imperial Seafood Restaurant would have been a wonderful place to spend Chinese New Year. Unfortunately, not for those with Groupons. Shoved in a lonely dark corner of the bar with absolutely no views (despite the restaurant being completely empty), I felt like a second-class citizen. Those who came after us were led to the main dining hall with spectacular views of the river.

Spectacular views of the Brisbane River which I did not get

Fair enough, I only paid $49 for an 8 "course" meal for 4 people and I came for the food not the views anyway (but it would have been a nice bonus).

In general, traditional favourites like Pork Ribs with Black Bean Sauce, Steamed BBQ Pork Buns, Salt & Pepper Calamari, Egg Yolk Buns, Chicken Feet with Black Bean Sauce, and Steamed BBQ Pork Buns were quite tasty. Unfortunately it was served lukewarm bordering cold which made it difficult for me to enjoy the taste. I don't know about you, but I prefer my Dim Sims to be freshly steamed and not microwaved.

Dim Sims Galore

The Steamed Pork and Prawn Dim Sim was delicious but it wasn't tender and was slightly chewy. Likewise, I wasn't too impressed with the Vegetable Spring Rolls and the Steamed Prawn Dumplings either as the pastry was quite thick and hard. The Mango Puddings had a rich mango flavour but I wish it was just a little creamier.

The Pan Fried Pork Dumplings was also served cold (and oily).

Pan Fried Dumplings, with an oily, soggy glow

Only the Rice was served steaming hot, but it came with an interesting addition - a dead fly.

Steaming Hot Rice

 

Verdict

To be honest, most of the Dim Sims were actually quite tasty, but I was feeling quite hungry after my 8 course meal (i.e. 1 course = 1 Dim Sim) . I suspect that I would have a better experience if I paid full price - at least I would have a nice view and my Dim Sims would probably be steaming hot.

 

Dim Sims are a bit pricier than other Yum Cha restaurants

 

Dumpling Republic - Winter Garden Shopping Centre

Legend has it that the more dumplings you eat during Chinese New Year, the more money you make in the coming New Year. To test out this myth, we hurried to Dumpling Republic to try some dumplings.
 

 
As soon as we walked in, we were welcomed into an elegant and sophisticated dining area with plenty of booths and tables.
 
Dumpling Republic offers a wide selection of snacks, soups, homemade noodles, fried rice, and most important of all, pan-fried and speciality dumplings made fresh to order.
 

 
So, in order to earn stacks of money this year, we started off with Pan-fried Vegetable Dumplings (6 pieces for $9.80), which were perfectly pan-fried with a wonderfully crunchy base. Inside these small parcels of perfection are fresh juicy vegetables with shredded carrots, wombak, and vermicelli. It really amazes me how Dumpling Republic can pack so much flavour and soup in such a small vegetable dumpling.
 

Pan-fried Vegetable Dumplings ($9.8)

 
Keen to earn more this year, we followed up with more dumplings, Steamed Prawn & Scallop Dumplings (10 pieces for $15.9). Stuffed generously with prawns and scallops, these tiny morsels were quite enjoyable. However, the pastry was a little too thick and chewy. 

Steamed Prawn & Scallop Dumplings (10 pieces for $15.9)

Next, we had the Steamed Chicken & Leek Dumplings (10 pieces for $13.2). Again, the pastry was a little hard and firm. I wasn't too keen on the chicken and leek filling either as it was dry and juiceless, but my Fellow Food Extinguisher really liked it.

Steamed Chicken & Leek Dumplings (10 pieces for $13.2)

We ended our dumplingful meal with, not surprisingly, more dumplings (obviously we are super duper keen to earn more $$$ this year). The Steamed Pork Dumplings (10 pieces for $11.8) was bursting with broth, but the broth was quite bland and not as flavourful as the ones you get in New Shanghai. At least it came with thinly sliced ginger.

Steamed Pork Dumplings (10 pieces for $11.8)

Verdict
Despite eating so many dumplings, I am not earning any more than what I used to earn. Not to mention I'm now $50.7 poorer.

At least the dumplings were decent, especially the pan-fried dumplings.

Happy Chinese New Year!!

The Food Extinguisher wishes everyone a very Happy Chinese New Year.

Caption: Happy New Year - Hand Food Over!

To celebrate the New Year, the Food Extinguisher has been very busy - sampling various Nian Gou (年糕) from all over the world. Nian Gou, also known as Chinese New Year cake, is a sweet and sticky dessert made from glutinous rice, and is generally eaten during Chinese New Year because it symbolises good luck. The word Nian means year, and the word Gou sounds similar to higher/taller, so the Asians believe that by eating Nian Gou, you would get a "higher year". In other words, by eating this cake, children would grow taller and adults would get promotions.

Over the past few days, the Food Extinguisher has eaten many many Nian Gou. Obviously the Food Extinguisher is desperately in need of a higher year.

Day 1:

Traditional Jiangnan Nian Gao made by mixing rice with glutinous rice
The word 福 is stamped on the Nian Gou means "luck". 

Day 2:

An Unorthodox Version - the Baked Nian Gou

Day 3:

Nian Gou with a Pilipino twist - typically dipped in egg before frying
The Pandan gives it a vibrant green colour

On the first day of Chinese New Year, it is customary to eat Luo Han Zhai (羅漢齋), a vegetarian dish (mainly to avoid any "cruelty" for the start of a new year). The dish is generally made with at least 10 ingredients - 10 is considered a lucky number as it symbolises "perfect". Dried oysters (for some sort of weird reason, oysters are considered vegetarian in Hong Kong cuisine) and Dried Seaweed are generally used as it sounds similar to "good things" and "prosperity".

See if you can spot the 10 ingredients!

And of course, red packets (利事) are always given out from married couples to unmarried juniors for good luck, a smooth-sailing year and good health.

Woo hoo - MONEY!!

To kick off a wonderful year, this arrived in the mail for me on the day before Chinese New Year (18/02/2015), which, as weird as it sounds, made me super excited :D.

Wonderful New Year presents - the Credit Act

The ancient Chinese has a famous saying "Within a book lies a golden house, Within a book lies precious jade (書中自有黃金屋, 書中自有顏如玉)". Let's just say I've been reading it a lot and have yet to find one :( - I'm not as excited about it anymore.

The Food Extinguisher's New Year Resolutions:
1) Eat more (Pfftt...as if I don't already don't eat enough)
2) Study harder (sure, if it includes pracs like eating food)
3) Work Harder (sure, if work = eating food)

Perfect Place to Mate | Coco Jungle - Sunnybank Plaza Shopping Centre

Craving for something sweet, we jiggled some coco in the jungle. Fortunately, The Coco Jungle Chocolate Lounge was close by.

After braving ferocious beasts, we ordered a yummy chocolate feast.


The dim lighting makes it a perfect place for couples to mate ... meet.

The Italian Hot Chocolate ($5.5) came first - a thick delicious concoction with rich chocolate flavours second to none. I wish it was smoother and creamier though.

Thick Italian Hot Chocolate ($5.5)

Next came the Dutch Pancakes ($18) - freshly made mini Dutch pancakes served with sweet strawberries, creamy banana, ice-cream and a light chocolate sauce. Soft and fluffy, the pancakes were delightful but the accompanying ice-cream and chocolate sauce weren't really worth mentioning (probably store bought).


Double Serve Dutch Pancakes ($18)


My Fellow Tarzan still wasn't satisfied so we got the Coco Jungle Fondue ($18) - pure melted chocolate with fresh strawberries, creamy banana, marshmallow, banana bread and Dutch pancakes. Again, the Dutch pancakes were delicious but nothing else really had the wow factor - the banana bread was a little dry and there was nothing special with the marshmallows.

Double Serve Coco Jungle Fondue ($18)

Verdict
For such a perfect place to meet, the ambience is quite hard to beat. Unfortunately there is nothing much to eat, but you should come in for a seat.

Just joking - romantically lit jungle and surrounding canopy makes it ideal for couples. Pleasant treats with great presentation.

Valentine's Day Special | Koko Black - Indooroopilly Shopping Centre

Valentine's Day - the only day you can legitimately indulge in chocolate (without feeling too guilty).

So off we went to the renowned Koko Black to get some good ol' Black Cocoa. Funny enough, everyone else had the same idea, so most of the decadent treats were already gone - I wonder why *rolls eyes*.

Fortunately, I manage to salvage three for my Valentine. ($8.9 each, or three for $23)

Pftt what Valentine? These are too good to share or to give away!


Featuring large tables and cosy couple booths, Koko Black is perfect for any occasion, whether it be a quick coffee or an intimate chocolate experience.


Large Tables

Intimate Couple Booths






Showcasing rows of premium Belgium chocolate ranging from white, milk, dark, truffles and salted caramels, I was sorely tempted.

Pity all the good flavours were gone :(

For a chocolate café, there's plenty to choose from, including appetisers, ice-cream, savoury snacks, desserts, and drinks.

I started off with a Baby Cinammon Hot Chocolate ($4). Premium Belgium chocolate with rich nutty cocoa flavours and a subtle hint of cinnamon - simply divine. What's particularly amazing with the hot chocolate here is that it's got the perfect balance of sweetness and creaminess, so you get to really savour the intense chocolate taste. But don't make the same mistake that I did - please do NOT get the baby size as the baby size is, as the name suggests, really for babies (in other words, a tad too small). For an extra $2.5 (a total of $6.5) you get double, or maybe even triple the size.

Rich Cinnamon Hot Chocolate served in a cute baby cup ($4)

My Valentine ordered the Classic Belgian Iced Chocolate ($8.5). Apparently, it was such a heavenly drink that he became speechless and couldn't tell me what it tasted like.

A thick creamy concoction -  Belgian Iced Chocolate ($8.5)

We ended our wonderful evening with a Chocolate Hazelnut Cluster ($10.5). Decadent dark hazelnut brownie topped with rich chewy salted caramel with a delightful burnt caramel aftertaste and Gianduja Cremeux (a smooth chocolate praline infused with creamy hazelnut flavours). Although the thin chocolate slice was not perfectly tempered, it still had a crisp, satisfying snap.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cluster ($10.5)
Topped with Roasted Hazelnuts covered in creamy chocolate

Verdict
Delicious premium Belgian chocolate treats - which of course, comes with a premium hefty price tag (relative to what you get). The adult-size desserts felt like baby-size, but it was an exquisite experience. At least I can finish it without feeling too guilty tomorrow, I guess.