Deal Voucher - Little Snail Restaurant, Pyrmont

Purchasing online deal vouchers for dining out in restaurants is one of my favourite activities. Besides obtaining good food deals, another advantage is I have the chance to be more adventurous in trying out new restaurants. 

I used to be really conservative and the restaurants I usually went can be counted by fingers. Just thinking about the risk of wasting my money in a restaurant which served up food that I might not enjoy really pushed me to go back to the usual restaurants I always visited. The much stronger reason was due to my tight financial situation, the normal case for university students unless your parents shower you with tons of money (lucky you)! 

Little Snail (My Rating: 6.5/10)

The BF snapped the OurDeal voucher online as they offered $69 for 3 course meals for 2. The normal price charged for a 3 course dinner per person is $60. 

This is a semi fine-dining restaurant so wearing a casual outfit is perfectly fine. It is located in Pyrmont close to Darling Harbour but do not expect to catch a glimpse of the harbour as the restaurant does not face the waterfront. 

"Planters Punch" (far left) and Chili, Cheese & Honey Bread

As part of the deal, I ordered the "Planters Punch" mocktail (pineapple, orange, lemon, grenadine). It was too sweet for me and tasted like a mix of ready made fruit juices.

The bread was not part of the deal. It had a mix of interesting combination of the sweet honey, salty cheese and spicy chili. All the ingredients harmonised perfectly in my tongue and we both loved it!

Escargot de Bourgogne - Snails Marinated In Herb-Infused Court Bouillon & Garlic Butter

This dish was the highlight of the night and being branded as the Little Snail, the reputation of the restaurant is hanging on their escargot dishes. The cutlery on the plate was used to smoothen the journey of the snails taken out from their shells straight into my mouth. However the two pieces of bread were not enough to soak up the garlic butter.

I Adore The Plate Which Was Designed To Hold The Empty Shells On The Side

With A Plate Which Was Bigger Than Me!

My Main Course: Seafood Plate of Grilled Salmon, Garlic Prawns, Salt & Pepper Squids,
Chili Mussels, Soft Shell Crab & Salad

Although the portion of the dish was enormous and all the seafood was cooked to perfection, this dish did not have the "wow" factor. It was so obvious that the sweet chili sauce came from a bottle which you can find in the supermarket. I would be happier enjoying the seafood plate at the Sydney Fish Market.

The BF's MainCourse: Cote de Veau (Veal Tenderloin with Champignon &
Cardonnay Beurre Blanc, Potato Croquette & Greens)

The dish was not photogenic at all but the flavours were extremely good with the tender veal soaked in a generous amount of sauce.

My Dessert: Classic Creme Caramel

The texture of the creme caramel was so soft it melted in my mouth. It tasted like an egg pudding which was nicely complemented with a sweet creme caramel sauce. Such a simple dessert dish but very delicious!

The BF's Dessert: Handmade Profiterole With Creme Patissiere & Mint Choc Sauce

Try to eat the custard cream together with the cream and the mint choc sauce to counter the sweetness of the custard. The profiterole was served a bit warm, I am wondering if that is how it should be served? In overall our experience at the Little Snail was pretty enjoyable and although the food was not up to the highest level I couldn't complain with the great deal could I?!

WHERE CAN I FIND THE FOOD LISTED ABOVE?
The Little Snail - 50 Murray St Pyrmont Sydney

Melbourne Day 4 - ATTENTION Sweetness Overload!!!

Daiso Japanese Shop

My Favourite Aisle at Daiso: Cooking Appliances Aisle

Perfect Solution For Removing Oil On The Surface Of Your Cooking

Nigiri Sushi - Rice Shaper

What I Brought Home from Daiso: Sushi Shaper, Mandolin Slicer, Dumpling Shaper, Soda Drink

Daiso has become one of my favourite shop and everything is sold at $2.80, apparently Daiso in Japan sells for Y105 (around AU$1). So far the products I noticed are made in Japan and the products look reasonably durable. I need the sushi shaper really badly to help me create an uniform size of sushi, the sushis I usually make range from extra small to jumbo size.


Shalom Indonesian Restaurant

Lunch at Shalom: Grilled Chicken w/ Chili Sauce, Grilled Chicken w/ Balinese Sauce, Tofu Tempe, Curry Lamb, Oxtail Soup/Sop Buntut

Each plate of the chicken came with a serve of steam rice came at a cost of $9. The chili sauce had 5-star rating of spiciness and a fair amount of shredded kaffir lime leaves which made it so fragrant. The spicy sauce made me a bit dizzy, my ears were a bit blocked and mucus was flowing like a fountain from my nose but I still managed to finished it off (proud of myself)!

The Balinese sauce was much sweeter than the chili sauce so it is perfect for those who can't stand chili. The saltiness of the oxtail soup was indescribable even when mixed with rice :( The curry lamb had a very strong lamb taste. I would only recommend the chicken dishes among all the orders.


Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio (B&P)

B&P is popular among Melbournians and aside from supplying their amazing sweet creations from the shop, they also collaborate with the Langham Hotel Melbourne for High Teas.

The Ohhh So Cute Window Display Made Entirely From Chocolates

Strawberry & Passionfruit Meringue Clouds Topped With Freezed Dried Fruits

Look Who I Spotted There?! Kylie (On The Right), My Favo Ex-Masterchef Australia 2012 Contestant
Is Working As An Apprentice at B&P 

Left: Caramelised White Choc, Banana, Vanilla Cheesecake ($9)
Right: Pineapple, Mango, Chocolate ($9)

Left: Coconut, Passionfruit, Ginger & Mint Served In An Acrylic Tube
Centre: Greentea, Pistachio, Cassis, White Chocolate ($9)
Right: Raspberry, White Chocolate, Honey, Lychee ($9)

Posted On Instagram (Instagnez): Truly A Masterpiece Creation!
Edible Choc Flower Garden, Wanna Sink My Face In It :D

Lux Bite

The heavy rain didn't stop us from taking a tram from Chapel St to visit Lux Bite. The popularity of Lux Bite arose due to the appearance of the Lolly Bag Cake on the Masterchef Australia 2013, introduced as the 7 Layers of HELL in the "Heaven & Hell Week".

Places to sit down were limited as customers jammed in to sit inside thanks to the pouring rain. While we were waiting for a table, I used the opportunity to capture the wonderful sweets on the camera as if they were calling me to snap the pretty pictures of them!

The Unique Flavours Of Macarons From LuxBite

My favourite macaron is the peanut butter jelly and while I was eating it I looked for a bread to spread the butter to :p

The Infamous Lolly Bag Cake A.k.a 7 Layers of Hell

The Endless Love had a mild rose scent which was so pleasant to smell (reminded me of the SKII facial cleanser) and eat, combined with the fresh raspberries which countered the sweetness of it. It's hard not to fall in love with it as stated by the name!

Our Greedy Order Just Before Dinner

The Meringue Monster (White-coloured) was a soft cake, I expected it to be hard like the usual meringue that has been blowtorched. It was so delicious that my fork kept going back for the second bite. It was made with green tea sponge, pistachio, watermelon yoghurt, sour strawberry mousse and meringue.

Unfortunately with the Meringue Monster and the Endless Love being my favourite of the night, the Lolly Bag Cake and other cakes did not stand out much for me.

Macarons Madness!!! So Nice That LuxBite Provided The Menu Of Their Macarons

WHERE CAN I FIND THE SHOP/FOOD LISTED ABOVE???
Daiso Melbourne - 246 Bourke St, Melbourne
Shalom Indonesian Restaurant - 474 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne
Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio - 647 Chapel St, South Yarra
Lux Bite - 38 Toorak Road, South Yarra

Melbourne Day 3 - Victoria, The Place To Be!

The little round pretty meringue-based confection, MACARONS have spread their wings around the world and Australia is not excluded.

Here is my confession, I am usually self-controllable in terms of shopping however I can't seem to resist the temptation of macarons. Everytime I see a shop selling the pretty macarons, my eyes just constantly light up and the next thing I know is I happily take out my wallet from my bag. So here comes the role of the BF: dragging me far away (so far far away) so that my eyes can't even catch the shadows of the little roundies! Pathetic!

Since I was having a break, it was fine to splurge myself a bit wasn't it?! :)

Raspberry & Violet Blueberry Macarons ($2.50)

Macarons Display at La Belle Miette

The shells of La Belle Miette macarons are not as crispy as those of Laduree and they are sweeter than Laduree's macarons. In terms of flavours, La Belle offers a lot more twist to them instead of the basic boring flavours. The unique flavours currently on the market are:

• Cherry Blossom Sake;
• Earl Grey Choc (my favourite so far, it is a match made in heaven!); 
• Moet Et Chandon Champagne & Blackcurrant; and
• Scone with Jam & Cream.

Salted caramel macaron from La Belle is a MUST TRY, it's not your usual salted caramel. The filling has a twist of sticky buttered caramel hugged by 2 salted caramel macaron shells. 

Enjoying the Raspberry Macaron

Pic Also Posted on Instagram (Instagnez) - Gift from a Cousin

Pic Posted On Instagram (Instagnez): Earlgrey Chocolate Macaron, The Solid Version Of Earlgrey Tea

We were craving for dumplings for some reasons and there we were queueing on the Little Bourke St for a seat in a small shop while observing what other customers ordered. A waitress came to note down our order while we were queueing, it did help to shorten the waiting time once we secured a table to sit down.

Lunch at Shanghai Street: Xiao Long Bao, Pan Fried Pork
Dumplings & Noodle with Spicy Pork Sauce ($26.80)

Xiao long bao 小笼包  is a Chinese steamed bun, the direct translation to English is "little basket dumpling". It is filled with meat and a gel of concentrated soup which turned into liquid soup once heated up, you should bite the top of the dumpling which will release the hot steam and then carefully sip the soup while waiting for the dumpling meat to cool down.

The xiaolongbaos at Shanghai Street were delicious and quite similar to Din Tai Fung's, the dumplings meat were extremely generous & the noodle was cooked to perfection with spicy minced pork sauce. Highly recommended food with a real bargain!

Close Up of the Bitten Xiao Long Bao - Pls Ignore the Messy Background :)

Pic Posted on Instagram (Instagnez) - St Paul's Cathedral As A Background

Pic Posted on Instagram (Instagnez) - Flinders St Station

Pic Shot from a Tram Window - Seemed Like a Scene from Downton Abbey TV Show Minus 
The Building Renovation, The Fence & The Speed Limit Sign

We met up with the BF's cousins at the Chang Go Korean restaurant, we had made the booking in advance and we must arrived there at 6pm otherwise the queue would take hours. Such a busy restaurant although it is located on somewhat isolated aisle on the Little La Trobe St.

The 8 flavors of pork bellies ($58) were ordered so that we could try everything and we ended up ordering 4 more individual pork bellies with our favourite marinades which were 2 chili, garlic & herb. Other dishes were a set of beef for BBQ ($48) & Beef Bulgogi. All set dishes came with 2 serves of rice, vegetables & tofu soup. The side dishes were unlimited with the kimchi as the star of the night, I alone finished 2 bowls of kimchi even before we ordered. OMG!

Chang Go Korean: A Waiter Barbequing Pork Bellies

The 8 Flavours of Pork Bellies: From Top to Bottom
Wine, Original, Ginseng, Garlic, Herb, Curry, Miso & Chili

ATTENTION: The quality of the videos isn't the best as they were taken via Instagram video function

Video: Barbequeing & Cutting Pork Bellies

As if we had not eaten for days, we walked to Brunetti for the last meal of the day (finally). Brunetti is an Italian cafe originated in Melbourne and has expanded to Dubai Mall. I absolutely ADORE this cafe and this is the place which moves my heart into moving to Melbourne. You can basically get everything from this place from coffee, cake, gelato, dessert, savoury, macaron & chocolate.

Even at 9.30pm the place was packed full of customers looking for good food to hang out after dinner time. It wasn't easy to find a table for a big group like us. We separated and each of us were assigned to look for a table, we communicated via mobile to inform our location and how our mission went. Hang on, were we filming Mission Impossible??? We finally got a place to sit down half an hour later.

The View of Brunetti From The Main Entrance

1st Section: Macarons Tower & Croquembouches Tower

1st Section: Celebration Cakes

Pic Posted on Instagram (Instagnez)
2nd Section: The Pretty Cakes & Cookies

Close Up - Enough to Make You Salivating?

3rd Section - A Big Round Table Full Of Baristas Making Beverage Orders

4th Section: The Savoury Section

5th Section: Gelatos & Freezed Desserts

Pic Posted on Instagram (Instagnez)
Canolli Vaniglia, Canolli Ciocolato, Mileflogie, Pistachio & Coconut Sponge, Custard Puffs on Glazed Sugar
($19.30)

Video: Cakes Excavator In Action aka The BF

WHERE CAN I FIND THE FOOD LISTED ABOVE???

La Belle Miette - 30 Hardware Lane Melbourne
Shanghai Street - 342 Little Bourke St Melbourne
Chang Go Korean BBQ - 70 Little La Trobe St Melbourne
Brunetti - 380 Lygon St Carlton