Melting white chocolate dumplings??? oh YES PLEASE!!

. . .
[Oriental Tea house, 455 Chapel street South Yarra]

[From their website]:
Welcome one, welcome all! Feast your sense on the Oriental Teahouse – Melbourne’s premier tea and yum cha destination. A magical, culinary myriad of taste, aroma and atmosphere, here to welcome you with open minds, open arms and open menus.

Stace and I had a reunion over brunch the other day, and as I hadn’t seen her beautiful face since 2010, it was certainly an afternoon filled with laughter and tears of joy.

She took me to this beautiful YUM CHA style restaurant, Oriental Teahouse. Now this isn’t everyones ideal place for breakfast, and to be quite frank I did have ‘my first meal of the day’ already…. however thats what breakfast is all about isnt it? Indulging in it all day…. DROOL!

We drove to Chapel street (in Melbourne) to feast on yummies, as stace divulged in her stories of ‘yummies’ over the summer. 😉

We both decided, as the sun was high and scorching, an iced tea would be suitable.

I ordered iced toothpaste and licorice tea …(peppermint/aniseed… what a mistake!!!)

And Stace ordered a dreamy berrilicious tea

For food, we decided on a banquet for 2:

“Big dumpling lover” ($21.00 pp)
* Seafood basket dumplings
* Chive & baby pea leaves dumplings
* Variety Basket dumplings
*Pork shu mai & Buck wheat vegetable dumplings
*Satay Pork dumplings

and let me tell you, they tasted as good as they looked!!! YUM!!!

Prices:

after all that, we decided, YES we are still hungry. how?? I hear you ask? I will tell you how!

check out this: Steamed white chocolate dumplings ($5.90 for 3 pcs)

OH YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

we’re definately going back for the CHOCOLATE steamed dumplings. WHOAH!!

. . .

Tastefully yours,

Joanna

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High street, not low street

. . .
[ Grapeseed cafe, 1084 High street Armadale]

I have a friend called Angela, and all throughout highschool we called her Ang – and spelt it without an ‘e’ at the end…all of a sudden she decided to add the ‘e’… it has totally thrown my meaning of life… I guess its another reminder that nothing is permanent and I will have to get used to the change…

Change can be a wonderful thing, but often isn’t the easiest thing… so in the spirit of change, Ang(e), I have decided NOT to write about a certain amazing visit to Carlton, but in fact to complete the back log of yummies to get all up to date.

This gorgeous little place – actually not so little inside, is situated on High street near the corner of Kooyong and is a hub for the ‘yummy mummy’ type mixed in with the ‘pre-child young couple’ type and 20 somethings that wonder down for a quick bite or ‘lartay’ – clearly thats Ozzy for cafe Latte for those playing along at home. 🙂

I was here to meet my ‘little sister’ of Dining Room Diaries for a great big ol catch up since it had been a while.

We joked and ate and shopped all morning and just enjoyed the relaxing energy of High street.

She ordered 2 Free range poached eggs on Sour dough with a side of Avocado

And I ordered what I believe was from the lunch menu: Avo/Tomato/Crumbed fetta on toasted turkish bread. But in the spirit of ‘available all day’, who says you can’t eat ‘lunch’ for breaky?…. unless the waitress specifically says so, then i guess you’ve been told. *awkward*

I have to say, a little bit more on the presentation would have just done it… it was missing a gorgeous drizzle of olive oil for taste and aesthetic value. (Same goes for lil H) But it was still very delicious and very melbourne…and thats really what I was after.

And ofcourse, to wash this all down I ordered a fabulous soy chai latte which was pretty damn creamy and tasty 🙂

Prices are very average and anyone on any budget can find something delicious and quick to munch here, the service is quick and very friendly, and if you’re there on a sunny yummy day like ours – you’re mostly likely to sit back and soak in the warmth of the sun and energy of high street.

Now Ang(e), I do promise you will be ‘famous’ :), but as they say patience is a virtue… but you’re right, basically I need to stop procrastinating and get my groove on with these blogs!!!…

Please take a moment to pray for/think about the victims of the Floods in QLD and now Victoria… its time like these you realise your problems aren’t as big as others.

Please donate to the Queensland government to show your support. Click here for website

[If you’d like to view a review: click here]
. . .
Tastefully yours,

Joanna

Available all day, year in review…

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 2,700 times in 2010. That’s about 6 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 46 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 480 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 248mb. That’s about 1 pictures per day.

The busiest day of the year was September 29th with 173 views. The most popular post that day was R o y z e l : L e r o y [part 2].

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, mail.live.com, thediningroomdiaries.blogspot.com, blogger.com, and en.wordpress.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for weihnachtsmarkt gluhwein, available all day blog, violet darkling, christmas market trier, and availableallday.wordpress.com.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

R o y z e l : L e r o y [part 2] September 2010
2 comments

2

D e l i c i o u s : & : b e a u t i f u l October 2010
2 comments

3

B e r n k a s t e l-K u e s : B e i l s t e i n October 2010
2 comments and 1 Like on WordPress.com,

4

D i a g o n a l l y : s h o p p i n g [part 1] October 2010

5

D i a g o n a l l y : s h o p p i n g [part 2] October 2010

Weihnachtsmarkt [Christmas Markets] in Germany

[Trier, Germany]

Its beginning to look a lot like christmas… 🙂 [I’m totally singing to myself right now]

A lot of people seem dislike this time of year, for various reasons. But for me, I reaaaaaaaaaaally really love it!. Its energetic, frantic, emotional and usually a sign that schools, uni, work and WINTER is coming to a halt…however in the northern hemisphere, winter is FULL STEAM AHEAD… but less steam, MORE SNOW!

Being my first German Christmas/winter, everything is wonderful, and new and awe-inspiring. It truly is  a winter wonderland. Everything makes little more sense celebrating the holiday season when its ‘brain-freezingly’ cold. Like, singing ‘baby its cold outside’ when its ACTUALLY cold outside…

However, I crave the sun, the heat and wearing floaty shimmery dresses to christmas lunch/dinner and all December long.

For me, there is something very odd, but beautiful about rugging up to head outdoors this time of year… making sure you’re layered up like an onion and putting on your hats and scarves. But I think, as much as I adore it and admire it, I would take slipping on a floaty number, popping on my haviannas and wearing SUNSCREEN over a scarf any day…

Yes, I may sound a tad homesick, and maybe thats b/c in a few days I’ll be in Melbourne and sweating like a ‘p***’ eating my words :)…ahh *sigh* the grass is always greener…

Anywho, whilst being in the most random place in Europe, we discovered the joys of European Christmas – the Weihnachtsmart [Christmas markets]. But especially the on in our town – Trier Weihnachtsmarkt. And the sheer joy of Christmas market food!

*Gluhwein [mulled wine]
*Hot chocolate with baileys
*Eggnog

*Poffetjes [dutch pancakes]
*waffles
*crepes

*Schocofruecte [delicious chocolate covered fresh fruit]
*Mushrooms/panfried potatoes
*Potato cakes with apple sauce

and SO MUCH MORE!!!!

If you’re on a diet – forget about it. Indulge in deep-fried, sugar-coated salty numbers and pile on the christmas weight to keep you cosy for this jolly season.

Heres a Christmas mishmash of delicious yummies and the magical backdrop that was my home for the greater part of this year….Trier

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If you don’t celebrate christmas, I hope you enjoy your holiday season and for those who do, wherever you are I hope you’re enjoying some good food and taking time to reflect on the year that has been…2010.

. . .

Tastefully yours,

Joanna

V a l e n c i a : d e l i c i o u s !!!

[Valencia, Spain]

In search of the best Paella….

Day 1: Coast side restaurant in Valencia

Paella is always served for a minimum of 2 ppl, its always best enjoyed together in other words 🙂

‘Paella (Spanish pronunciation: [paˈeʎa]) is a Valencian rice dish that originated in its modern form in the mid-19th century near lake Albufera, alagoon in Valencia, on the east coast of Spain.^[1]

Many non-Spaniards view paella as Spain’s national dish, but most Spaniards consider it to be a regional Valencian dish. Valencians, in turn, regard paella as one of their identifying symbols.

There are three widely known types of paella: Valencian paella (Spanish: paella valenciana), seafood paella (Spanish: paella de marisco) and mixed paella (Spanish: paella mixta), but there are many others as well. Valencian paella consists of white rice, green vegetables, meat (rabbit, chicken), land snails, beans and seasoning. Seafood paella replaces meat and snails with seafood and omits beans and green vegetables. Mixed paella is a free-style combination of meat, seafood, vegetables and sometimes beans.

Most paella chefs use calasparra^[2][3] or bomba^[3] rices for this dish. Other key ingredients include saffron and olive oil.’

Seafood Paella + Sangria + hot night = trouble!… I think I shortly fell into a food coma after this meal!

Day 2: something different 🙂

Entree was a local potatoe and egg dish, I’m not the biggest fan of sunny side, but it was a very interesting meal nonetheless.

It was a bit heavy for entree, but I think for a breakfast – it would be lovely after a big night out or on a cold sunday morning.

then, we tried NOODLE Paella! that was VERY interesting. Apparently it was a local speciality, it was surprisingly salty but very tasty and bursting at the seams with seafood! 🙂 yummm!!!

Day 3: Amstelleria, Aqua shopping centre.

We were staying accross the road at Hotel Melia Valencia (which was an absolute treat at a bargain price), and we ventured towards the new shopping complex to see what it was all about.

It was an interesting space – all very open and no use of air-conditioning in the foyer area because it had been designed with the environment in mind – it used the natural flow of air as ventilation.

For lunch, we decided to try something different, and I think we both agreed this place was amazing!

Beer on tap on you table!!! – what a seriously cool idea!!!

I ordered a salmon bocadillo and we were on our merry way to becoming a little tipsy 🙂

[Last day brunch]

At the only place that seemed busy on the Sunday we were leaving, we were treated to a massive brunch including drinks and coffee for only 10 Euros each!

Paul got an amazing roast entree and lunch…I think it was a bunny rabbit (:( )

and I got this pan fried egg and potatoe thing again – with patee this time.

I’ll have to say, I probably wouldnt go back to try the same, but Paul’s roast was seriously melting off the bone type deal. yum!

It wasn’t the best service, as there on only one woman pretty much running the front, but she did the best she could.

And given the circumstances, it was all very quick and filling.

Desert was also simply, but fresh and delicious.

[strawberry sponge cake & fresh melon]

Overall a pretty ‘delicious’ Spanish summer holiday, and would definitely go back to try the other parts of Spain’s specialities.

…………………………………………

tastefully yours,

Joanna

C a p i t a l : K i t c h e n

[ Chaddy, Melbourne ]

Is the capital of kitchen ‘YUM’??

I wrote an imaginary letter to my non-imaginary friend the other day…it involved a totally real toasted sandwich made from the toased, buttery heavens above!!! (yes, I did just watch the ‘The Imaginarium of Dr Parnasses’…. and yes, I am now MORE all-sorts-of confused…but that’s a story for another day kids!)

Dear Schpacey, (thats my friend stacey, but she likes to be called schpacey arrrrr sinepy…)

I had a yummy, fatty dream the other night…. it involved, you + me + buttery + cheesy + droooooooly yum waiter + my iphone?….haha!! 😀

I was in Trier when I had this dream, so obviously it was more like a fantasy…

Imagine the pain that I was in when I woke to find

a) there is no capital kitchen in Trier

b) there is no ‘secret ingredient is lemon’ toasted fatty goodies

and sadly c) there was no you…

but still!!! – whilst I was having the dream, it was super! I wish skype allowed for tasting… like a tastaphone, or maybe it should be called a fatty-phone…. b/c thats pretty much what happens when you eat them right?

When I get back you’d better be 20 kg heavier!!!! (otherwise I’ll know you really didn’t miss me… ) 😉

xoxo, Jo

So you see, not only can I not speak and German in Germanland… I now dream about toasted, buttery (non)imaginary sandwiches from a place called ‘Yum’…..worst day of my liiife (jokes!! jokes!!) 🙂

………………………….

tastefully yours,

Joanna

New York state of mind

. . .
[ New York tomato: Cnr New & York Streets, Richmond ]

For months I was calling this place New York Apple-for obvious reasons…It wasn’t until I went back for an encore I realised I’d been telling everyone about a mystery location! Oops!

So, a good travel buddy of mine suggested this amazing place nestled in the little streets of Richmond that was the perfect hang over cure! (good food, cosy, and you can wear your dark glasses and still look a little bit ‘last night’ and it’s totally ok!)

Boy was I in for a treat, this place is a cosy little hide out to discuss last night, to have a date, to be alone, to meet like-minded locals and just to enjoy your Sunday late morning nourishing your mind and feeding your soul.

The selection is wide and the choices are many… Sweet or savoury, fresh or fried, big or small… Soo many choices!!!

The first time I went was a bit of a tired blur to be honest, but I do remember the servings were hearty and much like the culinary equivalent of a cuddle! Just what the Dr. ordered right!!!??

The second time I took “miss Dior”, and boy was it as yummy as I remembered!!!

I had something freshish this time- polenta stack:

& Caz ordered ‘make ur own’ – yummy smoked salmon/poached eggs/ avocado!

It was sooo good, there was a lot of purring and silence. Mmmm yummys for our tummys 🙂

We’d been going to turtle for so many a breakfast date, it was always going to be rough to rip that bandaid off, however we has found the perfect substitute to heal that wound….

……………………….

Tastefully yours,
Joanna