Foodview 3.2 Hong Kong BBQ Restaurant, Footscray

I like how this restaurant name is so generic. I think I'd name my chinese restaurant, "Hyper Prosperous Lucky Restaurant 888". Anyways, my search for Melbourne's best 'dry thin egg noodles' continues! Today's contestant is in Footscray.

Located on the infamous street where there are more clearways than cars.... Barkly street! or it is Hopkins street?

Anel Bum told me about this place... its a couple of shops away from Melbourne's greatest Vietnamese Pork Roll Bun, Nhu Lan. (Introduced by Mr.P and will review it one day)

mmmmmm Looks good the meats... great advertising tool.

Argh! Reflections!

Its quite small inside. The chopsticks were sticky as. BRING WET WIPES!

Nice decor. See that tiny poster with girls on it... It's the Miss Melbourne Chinese Pageant 2010!

That lady is not a customer but she's filling up jugs of tea concentrate.

Like OH MY GOSH AWESOME SOUP! This is the second restaurant in Melbourne (first is Pacific house in Richmond) that serves soup made with real veggies and meat! Not the plain soup that is made from MSG. So hearty and yummy. I would have paid for a big bowl.

I would definite add 1 star for nice hot chinese tea.

Nyam, nyam, Crispy skin pork. So tender, so juicy, not so fatty. AAA+++

Portions are great for AUD9


Cant speak much for the noodles. Dry and sticking together. Thank goodness for the soup. Not alot of sauce again!

Doing something different as of today, no more stars but

Value : Under $10! No complaints!

Final comments : The only thing that let me down was the noodles.I will definitely recommend and come back myself but I will bring my own wet wipes to clean the utensils. But will continue my search for the perfect thin egg noodles served by a restaurant.

Foodview 3.1 Minh Xuong, Melbourne

So on Sunday, I was craving for Dry Egg noodles like, for the like all of last week like.

That's enough likes for the year 2010.

Anyways, I strolled myself down russell street, until I hit the corner of russell and little bourke street... the entrance to Melbourne city's china town.

I was short of time and cash and I hit the first asian restaurant I could find.

I found a target and chose to eat at Minh Xuong

Standing in front of Minh Xuong and thats my ride... not. I wish it was. :(

For non-Melbournian readers, here are a couple more shots of beautiful Melbourne

Click here for That's Me!bourne!

Looking to my right (along Russell Street towards Lonsdale Street)

Looking to my left (along Russell Street towards Little Bourke Street)

Grrr I had to request for my chinese tea! But when the waiter came back, it was in a pot and the first thought running through my mind was, "Oh noes, do I have to pay for that?" (Bearing in mind that I was low on cash) Fortunately it was free. *sigh of relief*

The soup was not overly salty but salty enough to complement that tasteless noodles to follow...

One of these does not belong:

So which is it?

Correct guess for the top left corner! Its just zoomed-in closer than the others. As Cookie Monster said, "You're so clever!"

Ok not sure why I took so many of the same photos. Anyways moving ahead, let's break down this foodview:

Egg noodles:

Not cooked to softness that I would have come to expect from any asian restaurant. It could have been cooked a bit more. But I gobbled it down.

Sauce:

The flavour is missing. Yes it was. Gone to chinatown, I imagined. Perhaps thats why the lightly salty soup was served together with this dish?

Pork:

Perhaps this could be the saving grace for this dish. They did give a generous portion of meat. The meat was tender and divine. Well done! However! The skin was not crispy at all. It was more like chewy and not a trace of crispy-ness.

Everyone should take a lesson in Crispy-skin pork from wiki or even Pacific House.

Overall :

For AUD9, I think these guys could have

a) given more noodles. It was paltry!

b) though the meat was excellent, it was let down by the skin. :(

c) put in more flavour in the sauce!

Taste : 3 out of 5 (thanks to the pork)

Value : 2 out of 5

Let's end this foodview with The Colbert Report and Cookie Monster.

Oh! Happy belated birthday to Cookie Monster! (2nd November)

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Cookie Monster
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election March to Keep Fear Alive

Foodview 3.0 DC Dumpling, Box Hill

I swear that Box Hill is the greatest place on earth. So many chinese cuisines. Nyam nyam!

With a claim like "dumpling specialist" especially in dumpling mecca that is Box Hill, I had to try out this place.

Sure enough it lived up to its claim. This particular dumpling was different from the other dumpling restaurants in Box Hill. It was mince-y.

Spicy Chicken and cashew on rice. Sweet and spicy indeed.

The chicken pieces was fresh as.

The Mandarin pork chop on rice was awesome.

The pork was cooked to perfection.

Taste : 5 out of 5

Value : 5 out of 5

Final comments:

A lovely cosy restaurant. Very popular with the asians and caucasians too. The chef is quite a character. Can be quite cramp in there. Highly recommend.

DC Dumpling "The Dumpling Specialist"

(03) 9898 1620

590 Station StreetBox Hill, 3128

Foodview 1.8b Pacific house, Melbourne

A legendary asian cuisine. Fried rice noodles. It can be served dry or 'wet' (meaning with an egg sauce gravy)

This is my second foodview from a favourite restaurant, Pacific House.

Comparing this to the mighty Laksa King restaurant of Flemington. It would win no problem.

Choc a block of goodies, meat, crabstick, fishcake, fishballs. OH MY GOSH. The egg gravy is much thicker compared Laksa King's watery egg sauce. Has more taste the Laksa King's bland fried rice noodles.

We have a winner.

Taste : 4 of out 5

Value : 3 of out 5

If you havent visited Pacific house... What are you waiting for?

Foodview 2.8 Mosskito, Clifton Hill

A short foodview coming from Clifton Hill, Mosskito.

I ordered the Open lamb soulavki. I think it was around AUD29

On presentation, my spider sense immediately said boo

I was right, the only nice thing that I could mention was the pita bread

The meat was dry and flavourless

Chips were bland.

Final thoughts: Big servings of food but very small on taste. The overall experience doesnt justify the big pricetag.

Taste: 1 out of 5 stars

Value: 1 out of 5 stars

Foodview 2.7a Pancake Desert House, Melbourne

Back in the 90's I loved running, even went on to represent my school for 100m sprints. Of course I never won anything due to many, many factors but it had been a passion of mine. I'd watch every olympics and IAAF championships. Now in the 10's, that passion has melted like ice on the streets of Sunshine on a fine september day. Speaking of September, I really want that Mr.Men showbag just simply because I never wore a light blue cap.

And back to running, there is this marketing ploy that Nike is promoting, the Nike City Run 10K. Basically, its a challenge between two warring South East Asian countries (Malaysia vs Singapore). Those not familiar with the history of these two countries, ummm, well let's say their animosity for each other is like North Korea vs South Korea or Mr. Unicorn vs Mr.P.

So the city that runs the most km's by a certain date... will win lots of money donated to their respective charities. Being a neutral-former-south-east-asian-kid-now-residing-in-Melbourne, I hope Malaysia wins! One plan that is sure to guarantee that Malaysia wins is as follows

Plan of destruction of Singapore (at the Nike challenge of course)

1) Fly Mr.P a.k.a Mr. Calves, the current Australia distance running champion to reside in Malaysia (probably beg a couple of friends to let him bunk beds with them)

Image ripped from Dr.Clay

2) dress him like a Malaysian

Image ripped from Bigdotdot

3) do his thang... (his thang is that he loves running) and win! muahhahaha :|

Onto the foodview... BUT BE WARNED... THE FOLLOWING PHOTOS ARE GRAPHIC IN NATURE. READERS WHO HAVE A TENDENCY TO FAINT OR GET NAUSEOUS AT THE SIGHT OF GROSS OBJECTS SHOULD NOT CONTINUE READING. (Photos contains pig intestines. Rated 18+)

Located at Midcity Plaza, somewhere along the corner of Bourke Street and Russell Street in Melbourne CBD. The famous Desert house. There are a few dishes that lots of people would tell you to try. So today's foodview is on the Hong Kong Style Noodle Soup.

After promptly getting my seat, a menu is shoved in my face. Gotta love the Hong Kong service

No I cannot read chinese. But a great tip is to pretend that you can especially if you look chinese. You might not get free chinese tea but its something to do :| Oh yea, this dish cost AUD8.80

So many options, oh what is a boy to do? ewwww Pig's blood curd? gross

After selecting 3 of the options, you will be rudely asked what type of noodles and sauce and whether you like your noodles in soup or with sauce.

I picked

1) Wonton

2) Pig intestines

3) Pork spare ribs

4) Thin egg noodles

5) Beef brisket sauce

6) In a soup

Yummy these pig intestines are quite fleshy and CLEAN. I've been to restaurants where its not clean and you can find objects in there... such as marbles or a australian 5 cent coin

TIP: When going for dishes like this, Please dont waste you money on processed foods like fishball or spam. You can get these at the asian grocery store or Safeway. Go for things like real meat or prawns or chicken wings!

Pork spare ribs is always nice.

Wonton was especially nice. I saved it for last.

Cabbage?

Taste : 5 out of 5

Value : 5 out of 5

Comments : Very satisfied, not really filling, can be cheaper but I love it overall! Highly recommend!

Foodview 2.6a New Laksa King, Flemington

You gotta love Bega cheese snacks! yummmmy Click on the ADVERT >>>> for more cheesy details! Click click click

Image is ripped from Gundam wikia

A new series from the Gundam universe, Gundam 00.

Image is ripped from Mr.gundam.

This is the new robot from that series, Qan[T]

Personally, I hate it. Its very boring. Bandai needs more creativity. Please don't whack a shield type thingy on the robot's shoulder and give it a cool name... that doesn't work with me.

Anyways, Mr.gundam reported on his super popular blog news site... that an super cute version of the Qan[T] will be coming out... Now that is something of interest. I was getting worried that Bandai wont ever release more cute SD versions of the gundam... well, the actually do but they make like samurai gundams which I hate very muchly. On to the foodview...

I have finally made one of many upcoming foodviews on the King of Flemington (dare I say King of all Victoria? Queen Victoria might object to that...), Laksa King located on Pin Oak Crescent on Flemington, Victoria.

A classic dish, Combination Crispy noodles. Basically this dish is thin egg noodles which are fried til very crispy, then a thick sauce is poured over it with meat of all sorts, usually seafood such as calamari, fishcakes as well as pork and vegies, bok choy and mushrooms.

Taste and more importantly quantity has been sacrificed as presentation seems to have taken priority at the new Laksa King. HULLLLO! I am an asian and I want value for my money!!!

Usually the prawns are de-veined. Not today though but there are no crap in it. LUCKY! :|

The sauce today was a bit salty for my liking.

The calamari or squid as usual, is too rubbery for me chew. My false teeth keeps falling out when I attempt to chew them.

While it taste and looks as the same as when Laksa King was at its old location, one big shocking change to this dish is the TINY amount of noodles. Its like the amount you get in 2-minute instant noodles. NOT HAPPY, Mr. Laksa King.

Overall comment : Sauce was a bit salty, the amount of noodles was not enough - there was more at the old location, for the price this dish calls for, I expected more. The amount of meat was standard... at their old location where one can peer into the kitchen, I saw the cook count the number of squid he allocates to a dish, 4. Knowing this, I wont complain about the meat, but cutting down on noodles is unacceptable. Tastewise - nothing spectacular.

Value : 2 out of 5

Taste : 3 out of 5