Adelaide - Wine Tastings and Weddings

I was in Adelaide recently to attend the wedding of a dear old friend to the man of her dreams (and her father's too!). The solemnisation was held at the Penfolds Estate in Magill, while the reception was held at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens Restaurant.

I was staying with a friend who lived about 10 mins walk from the Magill Estate out in Rosslyn Park, and decided to check out the cellar day the day before the wedding. It was a lovely day!

The vines are lined with lavender bushes, which were all in bloom. They smelt heavenly!

The road leading up to the cellar door and restaurant. The restaurant, which was pretty empty (considering they only open for lunch on Fridays) was horribly overpriced, with entrees and desserts at $20plus and mains at $40plus. Wines were on average almost $20 a glass, which meant that a full meal there would cost around $100 per person. Give me Yering Station or De Bortoli's anytime.

Inside the cellar door, it was almost a dream come true. My one big question was whether to buy anything, and if so, what to buy, bearing in mind that neither my palate nor wallet was of Grange standard.
This Koonunga Hill shiraz cabernet was a cellar door release only. Tasting notes available at http://www.penfolds.com/library/tasting/KoonungaHill_ShirazCabernet_2007.pdf Picked up a bottle for my father's older brother.

The wedding the following day was absolutely beautiful! The wines and canapes served after the ceremony were pretty good too : )

After that, we went to the Adelaide Botanic Gardens Restaurant for lunch. There were 3 other weddings going on in the gardens the same time.

Most Australian weddings I've attended serve 3 course meals, and they usually offer 2 choices served alternately. Which means that the chaps on your left and right will eat the same thing, and you'll get something different. It's great if you have a partner whom you can share food with, but as Asians this is a really difficult concept to accept, since we're so used to having a taste of practically everything on the table. This wedding was no different, but everything on the menu sounded so good that we all had problems deciding what to wish for.

The starter of Pork Belly, Onion Puree, Caramelised Baby Red Delicious (apples) with Soy Dressing was one of these dishes that made everyone on the table very edgy. Every good Asian wanted the pork, in comparison with the relatively sterile-sounding Talegio Souffle (more on that later). I managed to get my kind neighbour to take my cheese souffle away and to give me his pork. It was HEAVENLY. The skin was crisp. The fat was warm and practically melted in my mouth, with a rich but non-oily texture. The meat was tender and juicy. And everyone knows how good Australian apples are! I licked up every single last drop on the plate.

I also had a taste of the Double-baked Talegio Souffle, Green Pear, Rocket and Almond Dressing. It was surprisingly pretty good. The cheese was nicely melted and was very flavourful without being too sharp or salty. But the pork belly was really something else.

The mains were decent too, although not quite as mind-blowing as the pork- this was the Crispy Skin Salmon, Seeded Mustard Roast Potatoes, Finger Lime, Beurre Blanc.

The Pan-Seared Chicken Breast, Sweet Potato Puree, Pesto, Spinach and Pancetta. It was a massive serve and I couldn't finish it.

Managed to get my (Asian) friend to split the desserts with me. This was the Lemon Curd Tart, Double Cream, Passionfruit and Orange Salad. Nice, but the curd was a tad too sour.

The Flourless Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Anglaise, Chocolate Toffee Chard was really good, but unfortunately we were just so stuffed from the earlier courses that we couldn't really eat very much dessert.

You can find the restaurant menu online (2 courses $49, 3 courses $65) and the pork is still on it.

The "Old" Kiosk on the pond

Adelaide Botanic Gardens

North Terrace, Adelaide SA
Phone: 61-8-8223 3526
http://www.botanicgardenrestaurant.com.au/

Lemon Lime Bitters

One of my favourite drinks from uni days in Melbourne!

It's made with lemonade, lime juice or cordial, and bitters. The recipe, according to wikipedia, is that you need to rim the inside of the glass with 4 to 5 dashes of bitters then pour lemonade and lime juice (15-30 mL) into the glass. Drunk recently at a bar in Adelaide : )

Shan Wai Shan 山外山 in Hangzhou Botanic Gardens

One of the must-eat places in Hangzhou is this restaurant near the entrance (but within) the Hangzhou Botanic Gardens (杭州植物园). When my friend and I arrived, it was just before 12pm and the place was absolutely packed. To make things more confusing, there was no queue nor system, and neither of us was fortunate enough to spot a vacating table nor aggressive enough to bash our way through the crowds. So we came back just after 1pm, and things appeared a bit more sane. The outdoor tables were still fully taken, but we managed to snag a newly-vacated table.

You order by pointing to pictures and telling the waitress which table you're at.

The fish I didn't get to eat.

Jellyfish with vinegar - around RMB30. I love this dish, which is traditionally ordered in Chinese meals as one of the starters circling around on the lazy susan. It's crunchy with a bite!

My friend ordered this warm walnut drink which was mixed with black rice grains - it had an interesting nutty flavour.

Tiny prawns (around RMB 60) that were supposed to be eaten whole. They were very flavourful, although slightly too salty.

Beggar's Chicken - After finally getting to eat the dish, I didn't see what the hype was all about. It was quite tender and flavourful, but it tasted like ordinary steamed chicken to me.

We ordered this double-boiled (something-宝汤) soup which cost just under RMB50. It had baby abalone, fish maw, sea cucumber, dried mushrooms, dried scallop (I think), and was very rich with all the goodness of the sea treasures. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Fish with vinegar, or 西湖醋鱼. This was very nice, and for a non-fish fan, that's pretty high praise. The fish was supposedly a local breed (I forget the name now), and therefore very fresh. The vinegar was mixed with the right amount of sugar which made it possible for the sauce to be slurped up on its own.

The entire meal cost us RMB425, or S$ 85 for 2 people. Although it was a bit more expensive than Grandma's, the food was definitely good, and the surroundings and ambience more than made up for the additional cost. Worth a splurge.

Address: 中国杭州玉泉路8号（植物园内玉泉景区旁）

Tel: 0571-87995866

Website: http://www.shanwaishan.com/

Ewwww

I wonder what Dish number 2169 does for the libido?

Looking at the Chinese translation, I think it comes from Bambi....

Fo Mo (or Fu Mao) 复茂 in Hangzhou

There is a stretch of restaurants in Hangzhou along a street called Gao Yin Jie (高银街), and it goes for about 300m with many many food options in terms of cuisine and price. It's parallel to Qinghefang Old Street, which is a shopping street consisting of conserved old shophouses with many tourist products available for purchase. I also managed to pick up a couple of jars of lovely Longjing Tea there to bring back home. It's great for shopping in the evening, and it's a short 50m walk or so to Gaoyin Jie to hunt for a place to have dinner.

Our dinner wasn't worth blogging about, but our supper certainly was. After having a very unsatisfactory meal at one of the more upmarket restaurants (which was packed, but they had run out of many things including Dongpo Pork and Beggar's Chicken - again!), we went on the hunt for something that would make us happy. And then Fo Mo appeared!


Since my last jaunt in Shanghai in Fo Mo, I had been craving the spicy mini lobsters, and was most happy to see another branch in Hangzhou.
飘香龙虾 at RMB 45. The mini-lobsters were sauteed in a mildly spicy sauce, with pepper and were very juicy and succulent.

招牌手抓蟹, or famous hand-caught crabs for RMB 68. There wasn't much meat on the crabs, but I suppose it was the experience of sucking through the shells trying to get every last bit that was enjoyable.

The bill came up to RMB 124, which was not really cheap for supper although it included drinks. This was the same price that lunch at Grandma's cost us. Still, it was good enough for us tourists, and 我们兴高采烈 （and also 依依不舍) 的回家。

杭州市上城区高银街119号（近吴山广场）Tel: 0571-87022809

or check out their website at www. xiaxie.com

The Grandma's 外婆家 in Hangzhou

Grandma's is a pretty well-known chain of restaurants serving authentic Hangzhou food. We got to one of the branches around 1.30pm for lunch, and it was still extremely packed. It took about 15 mins for us to get a table.


Appetiser of preserved radish. Crunchy and spicy.

Wai Po Ba Bao Cai （外婆八宝菜) at RMB 6. Decent but not outstanding.

Wai Po Hong Shao Rou (外婆红烧肉), RMB 35. The pork was amazingly soft, tender and even though it was oily, it was so easy to eat. It was very flavourful as well. We only ordered this after we were told that the Dongpo Pork was sold out, and so was the Beggar's Chicken. Both of them are Hangzhou specialities, and we were quite disappointed that we didn't get to try them at Grandma's.

Digging below the layers of fat to get the meat. I didn't eat the fat, but couldn't resist the skin!

响铃 - baked rolls of tofu skin. It wasn't worth the energy it took to crunch through.

Ma Po Dou Fu (麻辣豆腐) at RMB 3. It was amazingly cheap, and excellent with the steamed rice. I slurped up every last drop.

Something that was a cross between a clam and a mussel - either a pippi (found in Australi) or tua tow (found in Sg/Msia). These came sizzling on a hot plate, and when eaten hot, were simply delicious. This was about RMB 30 or so.

We also had a huge 1 litre jug of winter melon tea, which cost RMB25. Including rice, our final bill came up to RMB 125 (approx S$25), which was very reasonable. And on the whole, the food was really delicious and very enjoyable.

You can access their website, and check out their menu at http://www.waipojia.com.cn/index.asp. Unfortunately there's no English webpage, but if you're in Hangzhou, your hotel can help with making a booking at giving you directions if you just ask for the nearest Grandma's. The common line for reservations at all outlets is 400-672-6009.

Japanese Food in Tianjin

I happen to be a huge fan of standard Japanese hotel breakfasts where they give you a piece of grilled fish, with miso soup, pickles and rice. So when we stayed at the Hotel Nikko in Tianjin, and when I found the Japanese breakfast, I went totally crazy. I didn't eat anything else the whole time I was staying there - it was this everyday. The second day (not pictured) they had this amazing half-boiled egg onsen tamago thingy. Cholestrol overload - I had two!

Grilled fish, pickles, miso soup, tamago yaki and rice

Natto, mustard, soy sauce and seaweed to wrap it all up - heaven!

Funny (but true) fact about the Tianjin Nikko (amongst others): The hotel manager's name is Mr Oiishi. No kidding.