Chuan Wang Restaurant

Chuan Wang Restaurant is under-rated! 

It’s natural to see me without my DSLR but on a day like this, how could I not Blog about Chuan Wang? I went back to my trusty Iphone camera, which can also take some beautiful shots. Here’s what we had:

Left: Hot and Sour soup - Perfect, but if you can't handle the heat then don't bother with this dish, its spicy

Rigth: Tofu Seafood Soup - also good

Left: Chilled Cumcumber Salad - Loved it, so refreshing and flavoursome

Right: Sliced Fish in Chilli Oil - this was very spicy, it made my tongue numb, but some people are addicted to this numbing sensation. 

Left: Stir Fried Greens with Garlic - PERFECT! I loved the fried garlic combo, it was yumminess. 

Right: Fried Quail - this was average, I've had better because it was on the blander side of things and the meat was too dry. 

Pigs ear marinated in sweet sourness with spices - too salty and it was chewy, I prefer my pigs ears crunchy, this was the worst dish out of all the dishes we had. We managed to finish everything between four people. 

This is the place to be if you don’t want to wait in line at Dumplings Plus (Highpoint)! Prices and menu are similar but I personally think Chuan Wang has something good going on. They’ve recently taken over the old “Lucky Star” in Footscray Market.

If you want to be impressed by décor and furnishing then don’t come here. I lived in China for 3 months many years ago, and this place brought back some great memories.

I eat a lot of Asian food and this is the place to be if you enjoy your hot, spicey, oily, sweet, sour & salty flavours. You can personalize a Sichuan Hot Pot, have authentic Sichuan cuisine or order your typical fried rice. Overall the food was authentically delicious and customer service (with broken English) was good too. I will be back!

I’ve heard they’ve been so quiet they want to change up their menu and head into a different direction with other Asian Cuisines. So please come and support what’s “original” so we can keep a good Sichuan restaurant alive in the heart of Footscray.

Queen Victoria Market

A beautiful Sunday to visit the iconic Queen Victoria Market, more so for the food then the shopping. It's been a while since I've stepped foot here, and OMG its popularity and food varieties have grown dramatically, I loved it!!! You may not know but I've had 4 wisdoms removed a week ago, so my cravings were satisfied today :)

this guy is making the Devil's Chicken - sweet, sour, spicy, crunchy with beautiful veggies

Roti and Beef Curry, my friends loved this

 The best Sri - Lankan/ Indian Chicken Curry I've had - it's called the Devils Chicken $12

Meanwhile at the Great Australian BBQ - Taste of Australia

Sorry to say this, but everyone on my table who tried this Kangaroo Meat Burger did not enjoy it one bit, it was bland, flavourless, sauce was too and the bun itself was soft and powdery. 

This Chicken wing salad unfortunately was not so good, chicken was bland and the salad was too sour.

Awesomely tasting chilled Cannoli - the cream was fortunately just right, I've always disliked the overly sweet ones. Thumbs up from me and my friends

Chooh La La (the original French praline) - these warmly toasted caramelised macadamias were delicious, the medium packet was $15 and smaller was $10, the guys who served us were very friendly and just wanted us to try everything, it was like all you can try before you buy. hehehehhe

 You could hear these guys from a mile away, it was soothing music so my ears were in a happy place.

Can you guess what this line is for? the ATM! it was ridiculously long, all ATMs on both corners were packed with people. My recommendation before coming to Victoria Market would be have some cash in your pocket as some stalls and shops only accepts CASH.

As for thirst, we had freshly squeezed lemonade (this was good) and the usual soft drinks.

Prahran Maket

Didn't realise Prahran Market has been around for 150 yrs, I only stumbled upon it while looking for a joint to brunch. It's very similar to Vic Market and South Melbourne Market. It's just more high end, with their extra special organic variety and price, poultry, fish and pre made meals. 
They offer a variety of food and drinks here, this is what we tried:

Anatolia Gozleme Kitchen is a place to find some authentic Turkish hand made bread known as "Gozleme". We tried their "lamb and spinach borek" ($5) and thought the bread was pretty good but the filling wasn't so special. Overall this was just bland and boring, I thought some sauce would go down well with this but the lady didn't recommend any. Again maybe I'm not use to eating Turkish food, so this is just my personal thoughts on this dish, maybe their other variety would have tasted much better. 

Mr Bratwurst makes the best hot dogs!!! I really loved it, we had the spicy hungarian beef sausage with extra grilled onion and cheese. It was $7.50, but with the extras we paid $8.50, it was worth it. 

You see that orange drink is from the stall next to this place, it was carrot, ginger and orange, made for detoxing, tasted weird but drinkable ($6, I don't recommend if you hate ginger).

 

The mussel pot has got some awesome reviews, but on the day we had these spicy mussels with bread ($10! yep great price for some hot mussels) the sauce that it was cooked in was very salty, maybe my palate isn't into salty food, but seriously they were very salty that day, hopefully when we try them next time it'll be better. 

 This guy has won some awards for selling mushrooms, his variety is vast, so if you are a mushroom fan, give him a visit, I'm sure you'll find something you like

Gold Leaf (Sunshine)

Gold leaf is the place to eat if you want authentic Chinese, they offer Yum Cha brunch and large functions too (Banquet style). I've been to most Gold Leaf from Docklands to Springvale, to their all you can eat hot pot and here (they are scattered all over Melbourne), I must admit they do rarely go wrong. Everything I've tried has been just right, and your pocket would be happy here too, they don't overcharge. 

I think dishes below are from their banquet menu, and dessert and fruit were all inclusive, I'm not quiet sure because this was an invite only 1st birthday party. 

Staff do sound rude but thats because of their Asian background, their strong broken English can come out wrong, just look through that and you'll enjoy it more here. They all have proper uniform, the place looks nice and clean, and well decked out to suit with the Chinese red and gold lucky coloured theme. 

 cold entree: duck feet (YUM!), jelly fish, pork, octopus and salted beef (this was a lil salty)

 XO Oysters & Ginger Oysters

 Ginger Crab on Egg Noodle

 Whole Fish Steamed in Special Soya Sauce

Ask for rice anytime, as the dishes below all can be enjoyed with rice

 Fried Chicken, this is better then KFC, kids will devour it in a jiffy

 Clay Pot: tofu, mushroom, veggies, octopus, fish

Stir Fried Beans and Beef

Ing Doi

Here is the place to eat if you have never tried Thai food, there is a huge variety and it's very authentic. This place sits well on my taste buds and for $35pp all you can eat how can anyone resist? This place looks like an old cottage house next to a pub on Victoria street, it could easily be missed so if you find yourself in Richmond you are way too far.

I’ve been here many times and its mostly hits with rare misses. They offer menu orders, takeaway and all you can eat. Ing Doi all you can eat sessions are at 6pm and 8pm (2 hour intervals). Their menus don’t differ between single or all you can eat orders, everyone can enjoy everything on the menu with no restrictions, however all you can eat portions are smaller then when you order each individual dish. There is a catch, if you order too much and can’t finish your food; there is a penalty price for all you can eat leftovers.

Food are mostly spicy but not overwhelming, with salads you get to chose how spicy you want it to be, drinks and desserts are all inclusive in the all you can eat price. I didn't take any drink photos but you must try their Thai milk tea, order it in a jug to share, we always go through multiple jugs at one session. You'll find that Thai's love their sauce so there is a different sauce for each individual dish (thats effort). 

Staffs here are friendly but things can get hectic and messy so your dishes may stray to another table without you noticing, keep calm you’ll get your right order.

Seafood Tom Yum Soup: Spicy lemon glass soup filled with mushroom and seafood

Beef Salad: Thinly sliced charbroiled steak,onion and fresh roasted garlic on a bed of lettuce in spicy lime dressing

 Papaya Salad: Shredded green papaya topped with spicy garlic,lime juice, peas with/without added salted crabs (this give it the extra pungent taste, which some can't handle, but I love it). Your choice of having it Hot, moderate or mildly spicy. 

 Fried Spicy Chicken + Sauce. Kids will like this and theres no chilli in it. 

BBQ Pork + Sauce (sweet but nice)

Spring Rolls + Sauce

Fish Cake + Sauce. This is spicy so beware

Pad Thai: A traditional staple made with rice noodles, bean spouts, green onions and grounded peanut.

Crab in Curry Sauce with Veggies

Steamed Rice in a nice bowl. Fried rice is also on the menu but I forgot to take a photo of that. 

Fried Chicken on a Stick + Peanut Sauce

Green Curry

Crispy fried fish with special veggie sauce, this was delicious too.

 Banana in sticky rice + ice cream, this is everyones favourite dessert in my household. 

 Assorted Ice Cream

Fried Banana with Ice Cream