Vietnam Airlines Business Class

Want a little taste of Vietnam? I'll be updating my blog with photos of my experience, from flight to food to other randomness. 

Welcome aboard to Vietnam Airlines Business Class. 

Lets talk about the cost of these airfares, the usual price range from $700 (off peak) to $1500 (peak season) on economy class, so it seems ridiculous to spend over $3k for an 8 hr return trip from Melbourne to Saigon on Business class. Have you heard of OPTIONTOWN? Optiontown is a site where you can upgrade from "economy" to "business" class on various airlines (including Vietnam Airlines). It cost approximately $300-$500 each away to upgrade (double for return cost) on top of the original airfares you paid for. For example, on off peak season you pay $700 (economy class) + $600 (optiontown upgrade return) = $1300 for a Business class seat through Optiontown. Personally I think this is a fantastic find, especially when you are going on a honeymoon or a special occasion and you want to be treated like royalty at a fraction of the original price. Is there a catch? Yes but no biggy:

1. Once you have your economy airfares, go onto Optiontown, fill in the blanks (including the PNR # on your ticket) then press show upgrade... prices and seats availability will show up. After payments are made, there will be a confirmation of your debit. However Optiontown does not guarantee customers a seat until the date of departure, if there is no available seats money will be reimburse into your account. That has never happened to me so I'm sure it won't happen to you
2. Business class customers usually get 40kg of luggages whereas economy are only allowed 30kg on Vietnam Airlines, hence upgrading your seat on Optiontown does not mean you can get that extra 10kg. Remember to pack under 30kg even if you purchase an upgrade on Optiontown
3. Business class customers have access to business lounge, even though you've got the upgrade, you have NO access into the business lounge.
4. You will get a front of line pass, so when going through customs you can go into all express lanes without queuing. 
5. When checking in, just wait at the designated gate, and listen up for your name on the overhead speakers. Once your name is called, go to the gate front desk and your upgrade ticket will be replaced with your old economy class ones... ENJOY!

How are the services? I would have thought stewardess would be extra polite and friendly on this class, besides doing a job well done, some of their attitude and snobbiness were also up there somewhere. Don't get me wrong, this isn't my first experience on business class, other groups of cabin crews who served us on other occasions were awesome... but not today. So please don't take them the wrong way if you get some attitude from a few of them. 

Another annoying thing on Vietnam Airline flights are their bad English accents, I feel sorry for those who don't understand Vietnamese on these flights because I cannot understand their strong English accent on the overhead speakers. 

On another note we had an overflow of food, the seats reclined and we could lay comfortably flat with an abundant of games and Hollywood movies to watch (The Great Gatsby was fantastic).

 Entree: smoke fish, prawns and chicken on bread. This isn't my thing, but others seemed to like it. It's chilled, salty and fish was raw. 

Another entree: coleslaw, raw beef, chicken, tomato salad and capsicum. 

 Garlic bread and the soup was delicious, I loved it!

beef steamed veggies on rice, again I didn't enjoy this that much

 

udon, scallop and veggies

rice, mango, pork, mushroom and baby corn

Dessert: fruits, coconut tart, ice cream, coffee and tea

We were welcomed by pouring rain, it was humid and sticky but that's the feeling of being in Vietnam. 

Highpoint Pancake Parlour

Back in 2008 I use to be a waitress at the Highpoint Pancake Parlour where I would take grave yard shifts and get home at like 6 AM in the morning; dynamic and work flow were great. You would only know how dirty a place is once you start working there, and Pancake Parlour isn't the most hygienic place to eat at if you are a germ freak.
Today was the first day I've ever returned as a customer since I left in 2008. Its changed a lot, but menu remained mostly unchanged with a few new items and an increase in prices.

I always get so worked up on the prices here, its unbelievably expensive for just cooked flour and ice cream (its organic Melbourne made ice cream), even the drinks are over priced. Atmosphere and staff are good, food is slow to get to the table, and it doesn't taste as extraordinary as the price. Though their specials and lunch menu isn't too badly priced. 
They are now open 24/7 at Highpoint so you're literally paying for overtime services, thats if you reckon a pancake craving at 4 AM is inevitable then its all worth the price. Where can you find a 24/7 restaurant besides McDonalds?

Strawberry Swiss Mountain Malt (essentially thick strawberry milk shake) - $8.70! I could get at least 6 litres of Big M at this price when they go on a special frenzy at the local super market.  

Lemon Ice Tea - $5.70

Short Stack - $11.90! I'd rather eat Hot cakes at McDonalds + free maple syrup. Special maple syrup at Pancake Parlour comes with a price

Fresh Strawberries on Crepes - $20.50! crepes were cold and leathery in texture, strawberries were fresh but I'd rather buy my own punnet and add expensive ice cream at home

Ham Chicken Schnitzel, butter, side salad, cheese pancake and wedges - $25.90! Well I guess this was the best value dish we got, because each item on this plate if ordered separately would add up to a ridiculous price. This was delicious too, hot ham crispy chicken with great wedges

7 Oak Tree

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I work in Point Cook, but have never heard of 7 Oak Tree, until I decided to do some googling. The overall feel, food, services were great.

tea for two, cutleries and utensils here are very elegant from maxwell williams designer homeware

Slow cooked beef in some sort of mushroom gravy sauce with sides… sauce and sides all tasted great but one advice I would give this cook would be to add maybe pumpkin, sweet potato and/or potato! This would compliment even better then the steamed veggies.

Lamb riblets + special BBQ sauce… this reminded me of the American BBQ pork ribs and TGIF ribs, YUM, sweet, sour, salty oh so good. This is an Aussie twist to the infamous BBQ ribs of the USA, because instead of Pork this restaurant has used Lamb. It is tender, meat does fall off the bones and the sauce was just right. Fries were ok cause they were a bit salty. This was on the lunch menu + your choice of juice/soft drink for $9.90

Overall we had two mains and 2 drinks for under $36 at a fancy looking restaurant. I am happy I have found this new place (my dentist is just next door and I never knew this place existed).

Seddon Deadly Sins Cafe

Breakfast at Seddon Deadly Sins was overall very good, service was excellent, décor was unique in a nice way, food was average (but how many ways can you eat bacon and eggs + bread? I couldn’t have asked for more, it was breakfast), drinks had its good and bad, and prices were decent.

Hot Chocolate – I’ve never been satisfied with any hot chocolate I’ve made or ordered, it’s been too rich, too bitter or too bland, this hot chocolate was perfect, each to their own, you may find this too sweet… I really liked it! Coffee was great too; they’re pretty famous for their coffees here.

On the other hand, the orange juice were freshly squeezed I think, but it wasn’t fresh orange, it tasted somewhat rotten.

Herbed Polenta – with Oven Roasted Tomatoes on Baby Spinach with Two Poach Eggs and Topped with Harrisa. I didn’t enjoy this that much, it was just eggs, spinach, special potato starch like bread pancakes (don't know what that yellow thing was) and nice sauce, typical normal flavours which can be replicated at home.

Wrath (Spanish Eggs) – Eggs cooked in Salsa with Olives, Onion, Parmesan and Chorizo Sausage, I enjoyed this combo with the extra side of harsh browns. Hint of hot spice, sour, sweet and savory, compromised really well. I do recommend this

Side of harsh browns, this is usually good when freshly fried, crunchy and delicious. McDonalds hash browns are also on my favourites list.

FIRST TASTE

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First taste is an authentic Chinese/Asian restaurant in Footscray, it’s got an extensive herbal soup and claypot range; majority is good if you like the bitterness in soup. I’m not a fan of soup or hard, crunchy, crusty rice in claypots but my partner loves this stuff. Other than that they have added crab on the menu, and if you are going to order dishes to share with steamed rice, overall, dishes here are good and prices are very decent especially for cooked crab (about $50 a pound depending on the season, but its always top quality grab).
I like dinner here for price, service and quality, do try it.

Claypot and Chinese herbal soup is the most renown here, but at lunch people tend to order the wonton noodle soup as well (good too)

Black Pepper Crab, it's really good even better then Chef Lagenda but not as good as Omah (the best in my opinion)

Chilli Crab is delicious too, but they don't provide roti or bread so B.Y.O (you are allowed to hehehe, we do it all the time). I've tried this crab mixed with egg noodles but it made the crab more boring and you get full too quick

Stir fried beef eggs and veggies - don't know how they make the beef tender and crunchy, its good. I wouldn't order this if I didn't eat with a group of people.

Boring Mie Goreng - don't try it, make the 2 min packet at home cheaper and you get the same result.

Chilli shrimp paste stir fried Okra - gooeyness, saltiness, fishiness, chilliness ...yummy, hehehe may turn people off but this makes a good dish with steamed rice. 

LITTLE CREATURES

LITTLE CREATURES

Another Melbourne hidden gem, I must thank my friends for taking me out that night. The ambiance is very unique like a large shed with high ceilings and long hanging lights with a bar and bikes. 

Food was overall very good and not over priced. I see people complaining about the slow service, untrue to my experience, the food came out fairly quick that night.

Fresh cut chips, garlic aioli - $9: was good but I forgot to take a photo of it, I think its one of their most popular dishes. 

Spicy chicken wing, ranch sauce - $15: like Nando's Chicken but saltier

Special beetroot pumpkin salad: the pumpkin and beetroot was really sweet with that extra cheese ... yummy

Chilli, tomato, mussels - $19.50: I LOVED IT!

 Pizza: mushroom, onion, rocket, Gorgonzola - $17: This was an okay pizza, my friends all liked it

Nando's

Nandos is not a cheap fast food joint, they consider themselves more of a restaurant, but the service is just like a fast pace takeaway place with a South American feel to it with all the colour schemes, decor and music.

I love portuguese flame grilled peri peri chicken at Nandos, or anything thats HOT at Nando's. Their peri peri salt on fries are great too. My favourite use to be the wings, but they have obviously taken that off the menu hence the next best thing I would eat regularly here are chicken ribs... 8 Churrasco BBQ Ribs for $8.95! This in a Meal is even more expensive, which makes these small ribs equate to >$1 a rib - rip-off! But because I love the formula, flavours and sauce I always make my return.

See due to the expensive menu, the Chicken wings which I loved was included in the Kids menu, so I did save a few dollars when I ordered the kids meals which included two sides (drink and chips) as well. But as I have mentioned, it is no longer on the menu. If I could give them some feedback I would tell them to bring back the chicken wings.

They have a variety of sauces for the chickens, from lemon and herb to extra hot.

Their coleslaw is under average, but I do recommend the garden salad ($8.95!) which include balsamic vinegar sachets on the side, add as much or as little as you want.

I was sharing with 8 people so I ordered a  whole chicken in a meal, because it worked out cheaper (and I get to eat some wings here). I have no Picture of ribs but its the same colour but in rip form. The chicken is grilled hence it could get charred in some areas. 

Peri Peri chips - its normal fries with the peri peri salt (which makes it even better in my opinion)

Graden salad with Balsamic vinegar

ROTI ROAD

Hi everyone

I’ve recently decided to post something again, since all my studies have finally finished. This is a food post on the new “ROTI ROAD” Malaysian Chinese restaurant, which I have returned on several occasions.

 

Typically this is what we usually order:

Roti Canai - $5.90

These roti sheets are made in front of us so I guess they are freshly home made accompanied by three dipping sauce – curry sauce, dal, sambal.

I must admit I’m not a curry fan but this dish is a good introduction to Malaysian Indian cuisine.

Tom Yum Soup – we ordered for a table of 10, unsure how this was calculated; on the menu it states, “Serves two - $11.90”

I’ve had my fair share of tom yum soup, this had all the right ingredients but "it" compared to others I’ve had was ordinary. A little on the salty side, non the less this is my go to soup cause its got a sour savory taste which does help with my digestion for the upcoming dishes.

Satay Chicken - $9 for 6 skewers.

Another good entrée, chicken was smoky and went well with the amazing sweet peanuty satay sauce

the chefs doing their thing.

Traditional Three Coloured Milk Tea - $4.50

I am not a coffee drinker, so I wouldn’t know how to judge this one but it was recommended by my partner and he seemed to have liked it. I hate the bitterness in coffee, but this was weak with a hint of creamy cold sweetness, which wasn’t too bad to quench my thirst (water would have done the same for free).

Rendang Beef - $19.80

By this time I was getting full and seeing curry wasn’t appetizing, I had a piece and that was that. It doesn’t hurt to try but too much meat and curry mixed together isn’t what I personally would order for myself. If you are a heavy beef curry lover you might enjoy this dish.

Fried Chicken Berempah - $16.80

Got kids tagging along? If you like fried chicken this is yummy, the coating outside is salty crispy with tender unboned chicken inside (like KFC wicked wings but with different seasoning).

Belacan Kangkung - $14.80

This is water spinach stir fried in shrimp paste. This was over cooked which made the spinach too wet and soggy, and there was an overdoes on flavoring hence the overpowering saltiness.  I usually love this dish cause it's crunchy and refreshing with the minimal seafood aroma left behind in the mouth, but all was overdone that night. Lets hope it taste better next time, or maybe this is how Roti Road make this dish?

Honey Pepper Lamb Cutlets - $28.90 (don’t remember how many pieces)

All the right flavouring in my mouth, the bomb! Loved it, spicy sweet and salty at the same time which was well balanced out by white rice and steamed broccoli.

Banana Fritter with Ice Cream -  $7.50

My mum does some great fried bananas, but to compensate for not eating at home this was a good substitute, however for this price try the Roti Tisu (cause I don’t know many who can make this at home)

Roti Tisu -$9.90

This is thin crispy fried roti lightly coated with condensed milk and dusted with sugar. YUMMY! I could finish this whole thing myself even after having that much food, the portion looks huge but its deceiving to the eyes cause it’s like a thin upside cone of flour filled with nothing inside. It was not overly sweet because the bland thin crispy roti complimented well with the condense milk and sugar then dipped in the cold creamy ice cream it worked out just right.

FINALLY:

If you live in the western suburbs of Melbourne and love Mamak or Chef Lagenda, give this place a visit, it’s new and the fresh roti is like no other.  Highly recommended. I’ve visited Malaysia many times and have taken a few local Malaysians here, we all love the food and services here (quick, friendly and efficient).