GRAB A YABBY

GRAB A YABBY - was it good? above average grin emoticon, but prices are obviously not entirely enticing. Do not try the LAVA WINGS - it burns from inside out, ruined my taste buds, if you're up for the challenge, tell them to put the bloody sauce on the side as a side dip (just in case you don't like it). Besides Moreton Bay bugs everything else was pretty fresh, their special sauce & XO sauce was good, not salty like the ones we've had in the U.S. Everything comes with corn and small rice, so no need to order any of that as side dishes, their garden salad complimented well with my burning mouth... they'll offer milk if you can't handle the heat

 LAVA WINGS - YES BLOODY F**KING HOT

 FRESH CLAMS IN XO - YUMMY, I RECKON I COULD HAVE EASILY FINISHED TWO POUNDS AND THIS WAS MY FAV SAUCE

 YABBY IN THEIR SPECIAL SAUCE - FRESH AND GOOD TOO (VERY BUTTERY AND GARLICY

 MORETON BAY BUGS - NOT SO FRESH, BUT SAUCE WAS GOOD 

LOBSTER TAIL - WAS GETTING SO FULL, BUT IT WAS STILL PRETTY TASTY IN THEIR BUTTER SAUCE

Phu Quoc 2014

Welcome to Phu Quoc! This is my  partners hometown, his family (the Dang family) owns a few businesses here.

The sunset from 1000 star Hotel (Ngan Sao Hotel) is magnificent. This hotel is owned by the Dang family and currently is ran by the next generation. My partner told me it was built by grandpa Dang  in 1997 (who passed away 3 yrs ago) as a three star hotel. Due to unorganised, outdated management's it's not doing very well, hence there's a lot of bad reviews. People still choose to come here because it's very cheap (some rooms are only $50 a night). 

Grandpa Dang loved his zodiac sculptures and statues hence I've read reviews describing it as "strange, scruffy, populated by plastic animals", hehehehe I agree cause it is now 2014 and it does look outdated... that's just to give you some insight to this "strange" old looking hotel. 

The food I had were all delicious from this hotel. Some People are sceptical because they are unsure of the hygiene here

Fried fresh prawns

Chicken coleslaw

Shaken beef with fries

sweet bun with marinated chicken

beef dipped in hotpot rice paper roll

Seafood hot pot

This is a working kitchen at a house I visited, best food are made with wood

Below is Phu Quoc's Night Market - seafood Galore

flan cake with ice

sugar cane juice and seaweed drink

grilled banana, corn and sweet potato... this makes you very flatulent but it's delicious, can't resist

can you guess the fruit?

This is where the Dang make and distribute their home brand Fish sauce... all interational orders welcome! They are one out of two companies in Vietnam that are authorised to ship to Japan (fact I discovered). They have over 170 of these wooden barrel baskets, each one contains over 2 tones of fish... yep do the maths! crazy amounts of fish go into one drop of fish sauce. It takes about a yr or two of fermentation to get the first drop

Curry seeds growing in the Dang's front yard

Dang's peper farm

Lẩu Cá Kèo 87

87 Bà Huyện Thanh Quan, Quận 3 - Hồ Chí Minh

I haven't had that many Eel Hotpot, but I must admit this is the best I've had by far. This is a down to earth place close to the city centre, it isn't the cleanest most hygienic restaurant I've been to in Vietnam, but it's what I love and expect. Total bill was about $25 AUD!

BBQ Goby Fish (Ca Keo Nuong) + Tamarind fish sauce - Delicious !!! especially the sauce, drools

that's an Eel's tail, don't be disgusted heheheh, it was delicious. 

Kobe Jones Riverside Teppanyaki

Kobe Jones offers Teppanyaki and Japanese dishes, I see people tend to come here with pre bought coupons, and what they had set was reasonable for what was paid. I thought my bill was pretty hefty for what we ate, then again I was sure it wouldn’t be cheap coming here. 

I loved every part of the décor and design of this place, the outside to the inside, the teppanyaki area is inside the main building, and by the river there’s a mini open/enclosed pergola type room which made the view all so more magnificent.  

Staff were good, some more helpful then others but they could have had more on floor. 

On this particular night we opt for single dishes, didn’t order any set menu or teppenyaki (would have been cheaper if we did). I would recommend buying coupons before coming here then its worth every penny, but from what we had, drinks included our bill came close to $300! 

The dishes were unique, sashimi and ingredients were fresh and presentation was simply beautiful, here's what we had:

Teppanyaki Room

Assorted Sashimi: fish & scallop (very fresh and had a sweet after taste)

WAFU OYSTER: freshly shucked oyster in the shell with ponzu dressing 

SEAFOOD POKE: Hawaiian style sashimi cubes marinated with poke sauce (we didn't like this one, the sauce was more like sesame oil, it didn't compliment well with the fish, would have been nicer raw without any marinate or sauce)

NUMBER ONE SPECIAL: crab salad stuffed with avocado, wrapped in kingfish and baked with Kobe Jones’s secret sauce (uniquely made, try it)

Bottled Mango Juice, in a fancy glass cup 

MISO CITRUS LOBSTER: lobster tail (approx 300g) lightly cooked in a wafu thermidor sauce, drizzled with miso citrus and served on a bed of steamed vegetables. 

WAGYU ROLL: robata grilled skewers of wagyu, with baby asparagus and amiyaki sauce 

Assorted Platter

PORK GYOZA: house made pork dumplings, grilled and served with ponzu sauce 

ANAGO SCALLOPS: tempura Hokkaido scallops stuffed with crab salad and asparagus, with bittersweet soy sauce glaze 

CHICKEN KARA AGE: marinated chicken in seasoned potato flour, shallow fried, served with teriyaki sauce and chilli mayonnaise 

WASAKI SHOOTERS: fresh oyster shooter, served in cold wasaki ($6.50 per shot). This was in the previous platter so skip this dish if you plan to order the platter from above