When you live with a chef...

I have been blessed throughout my stay here in Sydney to have housemates who either enjoy cooking or work in the culinary line. One of them is Michael, who is sous chef at Cargo Bar.

So, when you live with a chef, you would get great home-cooked food tweaked to your unique liking, such as... 

Our own version of prawn noodles without prawn. Haha... but with everything else.

Our own version of Hainanese chicken rice with lots and lots of spring onion!

My ex was an avid cook and fussy eater, which was good for me because I would get good stuff. Below is his version of an Aussie brekkie. All freshly made.

Do I cook? Well, you would have to wait to find out. ;)

The Rag Land

Not too long ago, Jenny forwarded to me a Time Out Sydney link with an accompanying question: You want to go try or not? They got nasi lemak.

... Jenny knows me very well for that DEFINITELY caught my attention.

I was a little confused because the title of the article was Rag Land Cafe. In my tired mind, I asked: A cafe that serves nasi lemak? So what cafe is this? A Malaysian one or an Aussie one? Photos with non-Asian patrons further fueled my confusion but wait, a familiar surname caught my sight - Jiew. Could it be someone related to my high school classmate? I did a search using my best friend, Google and as it turned out, the place is Malaysian. After some Facebook stalking (yes, I am scary that way or for a more positive term, resourceful) and some messages, I found out that they are relatives indeed!

Evidently, the name "The Rag Land" stemmed from the name of the street it is situated on, Raglan Street. The street name rang a bell but I could not place my finger on it. Jenny reminded me that it was where Masterchef Billy had his pop-up Halloween Dessert Degustation last year. Oh, there! I do not recall a cafe across the road!

The indoor set-up is no fuss with recycled furniture (would you like to be seated at the ironing board, miss?) and a simple background of white all round. Outdoors, I could hardly tell that it was there. Talk about blending in!

A little retro, old-school, antique-ish in decor with a cardboard moose to boot.

Haha, and while some of us thought of 3 Little Pigs, some others thought of the pork belly that they are famous for. Obviously, some of us are more gastronomically-inclined than others.

As critics (the SMH Good Cafe Guide, ahem) have been raving about the coffee (regular $3.50, large $4.00), we decided to try it out. One mocha, one flat white, one latte and one cappuccino for us, please. Haha, just happened to want different ones, we did not plan on that! But when David worked his magic on the Golden Cobra to serve up the four variations, we all agreed on the verdict - awesome!

May I add that it was pretty damn awesome for someone with an engineering background.

The description on that cardboard said it all. How apt to nickname our national dish the brekkie of champions. Only served on weekends, it was well worth the $12. Oh, and be there early, meaning before 10:30am. Both times we were there, we just managed to order the last servings.

Replacing fried anchovies and groundnuts for tomatoes, we could not find any fault in this dish. The portion was generous, the sambal was Malaysian-standard spicy and the curry chicken drumstick with potatoes were fragrant and tender. I would easily rate this the best nasi lemak in Sydney.

On our second visit, instead of trying their famous pork belly and egg roll, we tried their simple pork belly sandwich ($8.50). When it was served, we pulled it apart to check the content. I looked at Jenny and said, "It looks like char siew to me". When Dave found out that it was us seated at the table (wine barrel, more like), he skipped over to explain, "No la, not char siew la, more like tau yew bak," and hopped back to man the coffee machine.

Tau yew bak, like seriously? But no kidding, he was right! If you want a fusion of Western and Asian, or specifically Malaysian brekkie, you got to have this!

Our third visit saw us finally trying their famous pork belly and egg roll ($8.00). Not a good idea to have this after a plate of nasi lemak, to be honest. But I could not resist after watching the waitress walk back and forth serving at least four plates of this, I had to order one to try.

The pork had a little too much caramel sauce sweetness but otherwise had the right tenderness and the egg, well, I am an egg addict so anything with egg gets two ticks from me. Wash all the fatty food down with a refreshing glass of minty lemonade ($3.50).

The washroom is a little tight on space but clean. A trip to the washroom also allowed me to catch a snippet of the action in the kitchen. I wonder if it's a family affair because the conversations were in Hokkien and Cantonese, or at least the bits I heard.

Thank you, Dave, I shall call in again!

*And enjoy fatherhood!



The Rag Land
129 Raglan Street, Redfern, NSW 2017, Australia
Tel: +61 414 770 107
Tuesday to Friday 7:00am to 3:00pm
Saturday 8:00am to 3:00pm
Sunday 9:00am to 2:00pm
Closed on Monday and Public holidays

Takeru Victoria Plaza Chatswood

The group of young Malaysian students training to be English teachers here in Macquarie introduced me to the Victoria Plaza branch of Takeru. As they are tucked away in a corner of the plaza and not clearly visible from the street, I did not know of their existence. Also, perhaps because the year they started, 2008, was a really busy year for me.

Like many modern Japanese and Taiwanese restaurants, Takeru also use technology for the ordering process.

Another F&B trend - open kitchen concept - patrons get to see what happens.

Not quite sure who ordered a bowl of edamame but we all dived into it as soon as it gets placed on the table. Haha.

As usual, I get for myself an unatamadon, a delicious bowlful of eel and scrambled egg on rice ($12.90). Sprinkle some chilli powder and I am a happy little girl. Or erm, young lady.

Then there was an order of maguro mentai mayo don, a bowlful of raw tuna, spicy cod roe and mayonnaise on rice ($12.50).

I have never had Japanese curry in a restaurant but friends seem to enjoy it. Evidently, there was an order for tonkatsu curry ($12.30).

There was a special dish called omelette chicken cheese ($12.30), which I would imagine to be very cheesy.

Some of us ordered dessert to share. I opted for a serving of cheesecake and black sesame ice-cream ($6.50). Both were yum.

Ambience, cleanliness and service were good. And I reckon the price of their food is pretty standard, too. Adds to the many Japanese options we have around.

Takeru Victoria Plaza Chatswood
Victoria Plaza Shop 10, 369 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, NSW 2067, Australia
Tel: +61 2 9412 1203, Fax: +61 2 9412 1467
Open daily for lunch and dinner

Noble Terrace Chinese Restaurant

Normally, when we visit this part of North Ryde, we dine at Praram Thai across the road. In all honestly, I have not really noticed the existence of a Chinese restaurant.

When Aunty suggested, we thought why not since we have never tried their food before. We were greeted politely and were shown to a table. Aunty likes ordering entree so we had a plateful of deep-fried usuals, such as wonton, spring roll and what not.

Hotpot beancurd was what I asked for to share. We finished it to the last drop of sauce in the pot.

The stir-fried vegetables with funghi was a refreshing light dish.

Not quite sure why we decided on sour and spicy pork ribs but we did and we did not regret. It had a good balance of sourness and spiciness.

We also enjoyed the almond prawns. The crunchiness of the baked almonds on the outside of the batter paired with the tender prawn meat inside was addictive. I kept taking more pieces.

And because they served complementary ice-cream, Shan and I had a scoop each - mixed berry and vanilla.

I did not take note of their pricing but from memory, the amount we paid was reasonable. The place was packed halfway through our meal and perhaps because that group of waitstaff was the more experience group, we had quick and responsive service. They were also clean, brightly lit and spacious, unlike some Chinese restaurants.



Noble Terrace Chinese Restaurant
11/203-213 Coxs Road, North Ryde, NSW 2113, Australia
Tel: +61 2 9887 3788
Open daily for lunch and dinner

Ma'leisia Cafe

The opening of Ma'leisia Cafe came just at the right time - when the Parramatta branch of Istana closed down. So in addition to Temasek situated just a stone's throw away, the 'youngest' supply of Malaysian food in Parramatta is Ma'leisia Cafe.

We were there for late lunch on a weekend. Pretty empty, only one other table taken. Very airy space, with French windows, which I like because then the smell of food does not get trapped indoors. This prevents patrons smelling like food when they leave the premises.

Michael wanted to satisfy his nasi lemak craving and he was not disappointed. Generous serving with good portion of chicken rendang.

I, on the other hand, had my prawn noodle craving satiated. However, perhaps I was comparing theirs to Lees Malaysian's version, I was left  a tad disappointed with how the soup could have been boiled longer with more prawn shell to bring out more flavour.

We were happy with their home-made sambal, though.

And when you dine with Michael, you must always make room for a shared something else. One order is almost never enough for him. We both shared an order of roti telur with beef rendang. Hm, not too bad la...

And ah, yes, a trip to a new Malaysian eatery is never complete without ais kacang. Haha.

Ma'leisia Cafe
5/2 Horwood Place, Parramatta, NSW 1740, Australia
Tel/Fax: +61 2 8677 9575, E-mail: maleisia@hotmail.com.au
Open for Breakfast and Lunch from Tuesday to Sunday, Dinner only on Friday and Saturday

Life #13

Not many people know that I have a collection of postcards. I love receiving snail mail and of course, postcards are no exception. In addition, postcards make easy souvenir, as they do not take up much space and do not weigh much. So if you are on a holiday somewhere, no keychains or magnets for me, please. Postcards, please!

The few friends who know of this hobby go out of their way to find some to post to me. One such person is Vince, and I have to thank him the most because we are not really close friends to begin with. But his willingness to help buy and post some to me is really touching.

He got me some from his trip to Phuket:

And also some from his trip to Bali:

And on each postcard, he has a little write up! Such a thoughtful gentleman, he.

Another 'regular' is my ex-student, Li Xin up in Brisbane. She never fails to get me postcards when she goes on roadtrips. The one below here was from her trip to Fraser Island:

She also surprised me with one from Ayers Rock:

The most recent one I received was a surprise one from my Herbalife friends, who got one from Bangkok:

Xin Wen, Miss Teoh, Yuen Chai and Alex are also friends who have me in their minds when travelling. I know because they always come back with a postcard or two for me. See, it does not take much to make me happy. :)