哈瓦納 Havana Steak and Pasta - Taoyuan, Taiwan

Address: 桃園市自強路171號（青溪國小正對面）
Phone: 03-3470920

Today, I ordered the Spaghetti with Seafood and Cream Sauce (as a meal). The spaghetti by itself is NT$180 (approx AUD$5.90). But if you pay NT$260 (approx AUD$8.50) for the set meal, as well as the main, you also get a bowl of soup + a side salad + a drink + fruit for dessert (for an extra NT$20, you can upgrade to a slice of cake).

We began with a creamy, yet light and flavourful vegetable soup.

Next came a refreshing salad of lettuce sprinkled with nuts, raisins and a drizzle of thousand island dressing.

I hardly ever say this, but the dish tasted every bit as good as it looks in the photo! The spaghetti was not overcooked and neither was the seafood, of which there was a generous amount (it was all hidden under the spaghetti!). Ribbons of carrot and green capsicum added freshness and a summer-like feel to the dish. The sauce was creamy but not at all cloying. The delicate flavours infused into the sauce complemented the overall lightness of the dish.

In Taiwan, when you order a set meal, drinks come after you have finished your main. I had a cold milk tea. Two people in my party were sharing a set meal and the wait staff were nice enough to let both have a drink each :)

Well-picked fruit was the perfect way to end a fantastic meal. A special note on oranges in Taiwan. This may sound weird, but if you are ever in Taiwan, try an orange. It will change your life and you won't be able to stop at just one. The Taiwanese orange is the reason why I don't ever buy Australian oranges :P

極品軒 Ji Pin Xuan - Taipei

I'm currently holidaying in Taiwan and thought I'd take this opportunity to showcase the fantastic food Taiwan has to offer. :)

First up - 極品軒 (Ji Pin Xuan) in ZhongZheng District in Taipei City. The interior was lovely.

The main event was the 烤方 House Special Roast Meat (small) NT$418. (Approx AUD$13.70)

This is a very rich and flavourful braised pork belly dish. It was accompanied by a plate of sliced buns. When a piece of pork belly is placed between two flaps of bun, this is what the Taiwanese call, "虎咬豬" (Ho ka ti) translated as "Tiger bites pig". The pork meat was succulent, the fat was deliciously oozy and the skin was tender, yet had a slight give to it. The perfectly balanced sauce was thick and indulgent - a delicious rice puller!

We couldn't not order a tray of 小籠湯包 (soup dumplings), as made famous by Taiwan's 鼎泰豐 Din Tai Fung restaurant.

The pot on the left contained some cooking oil, which was added to the dish on the right (清炒鱔魚 Stir Fried Eel NT$428) at the table while it was still hot. The wait staff then stirred the dish to evenly distribute the oil, which released delicious aromas.

We also ordered Braised Bean Curd in Brown Sauce and Clam Soup. I can't remember what the fish dish was called, but the sauce was incredible and the whole fish had been braised and slow cooked for so long that you could eat every part of the fish - even the bones! At the end of the meal, we were each given a complimentary bowl of sweet red bean soup :)

Address: 台北市衡陽路18號
Phone：(02)2388-5880~2

Wednesday night ribs @ Legends in Manuka, Canberra

Have you got 20 bucks to spend for dinner? Do you like ribs? If you answered yes to both questions, then you need to do yourself a favour and get yourself to Legends for their Wednesday night ribs. It will be the best $20 you’ve ever spent on a meal in Canberra. I’m not even kidding. But don’t forget to book and let them know you’ll be ordering ribs when you book. They only make a limited amount.

When the wait staff came round to take our orders, I ordered ribs and was horrified when she told me she’d have to check if there were any left. It wasn’t even 7:30pm and the place was half empty! I would have gone home and cried if they’d said they were out. Luckily, the person who had booked our table had also pre-booked our ribs. Huzzah!!!

They say ribs are best eaten without cutlery. After tonight’s experience, I beg to differ. The meat was so succulent and tender that it was IMPOSSIBLE to eat it without cutlery! I didn’t even need to use a steak knife – a slight jab with the fork and the meat literally fell off the bone.

Right, onto the hero of the dish – the sauce. After one bite, a friend proclaimed matter-of-factly, “This sauce is my new happy place”. Someone else said this was a way of eating sauce. I agreed with everyone’s assessment of the sauce; it was spectacularly well-balanced between sweet, sour, tangy, smokey flavours. The meat was simply a (delicious) vehicle for the perfect barbeque sauce.

To be honest, I was a bit too caught up having a magical moment with the delicious ribs to care much about what else was on the plate. Legends was very generous with the amount of chips and salad. I know this because every time I moved anything on my plate, a bit more salad fell onto the table.

My one critique in an otherwise superb dinner was that the amount of ribs per plate was not the same for each person. In a party of 7, most people (like me) received a decent portion of ribs, however, not all of us were as fortunate. Also, it was a bit tricky to make eye contact with wait staff as it was a fairly busy night for a Wednesday (the tables had filled up by then); however, we never had to ask for our bottles of water to be replaced, which was a pleasant surprise.

I hate to tantalise and leave you hanging but unfortunately, Legends does not do their weeknight specials in the month of December, which means I only just sneaked in for the last ribs night for 2012. Luckily for you, they open again first thing in the new year on 2 January 2013!

Food Avenue rating: 9/10

For my review on other dishes at Legends (including their tapas and paella), click here.

Smoque (Southern American BBQ) - Civic

 

Smoque has only just recently opened in Canberra and is pulling the crowds that its predecessors (Antigo’s and Pelagic) never did. Loyal repeat customers have been raving about the food like it’s the best thing since sliced bread.

Red Chilli Sichuan Restaurant - Civic, Canberra

I was very disappointed when La Pasa Singaporean closed down as it had been one of my favourite haunts in Civic. So I eagerly awaited the opening of this restaurant which has taken up the space instead. The Red Chilli Sichuan Restaurant is part of the Red Chilli Group which has restaurants in Sydney and Brisbane. The Canberra restaurant is so new that it hasn't even been included on their website nor do they have business cards yet.

Stepping into the restaurant, I thought the renovations were impressive, with majestic Chinese architectural wooden arches greeting you as you walked into the restaurant. The interior looked much fresher and brighter after the installation of more ceiling lights.

Playground Martini and Tapas Bar - Garema Place, Civic

I had a good first impression of this place - there was a definite cute, playful vibe and I really liked the canopy of ropes across the ceiling. The AV projector created the effect of flying birds fluttering about the tree on the wall, which was unexpectedly quirky. The use of the black walls as a blackboard was effective, especially with the coloured chalk.

Chong Co Thai Bar and Restaurant - Belconnen

And so begins the battle of the north-side Thai restaurants. In my last post, I reviewed Morks restaurant (located in Florey), which has been my all-time favourite restaurant in Canberra. There's a contender on the scene, and that's the relatively new Chong Co Thai Bar and Restaurant located on the outskirts of Westfield Belconnen. As soon as I walked in to the restaurant, I noticed the classy interior. It was a great balance between traditional Thai features and modern elegance. The open kitchen connected to a bar that serves a range of cocktails. I thought the centrepiece of the restaurant - the water fountains - was a lovely touch.

Morks

I think it's time I reveal the restaurant that has been my favourite restaurant in Canberra for the past four years. I was going to say it is the hidden secret of Canberra, but then discovered it was the number 1 rated restaurant in Canberra on Trip Advisor.com.au. So I guess it's not as unknown as I first thought!

Morks is a family-run Thai restaurant located in Florey and the hospitality is always warm and welcoming. It's the restaurant I always think of when there's a special occasion to celebrate or interstate visitors to entertain. I recommended Morks to my family when they visited me for a weekend. We went there on the first night and they loved it so much, they immediately booked again to come back the following night!

The menu selection is quite limited, but the trade off is you get high quality inventive dishes, which you know have been given that extra amount of care and precision.

Saigon rolls (Bánh mì) @ Saigon Fresh

Saigon rolls are back in town!!

My love of Saigon rolls (bánh mì) began when Hub Asian supermarket opened right next to my apartment complex in Belconnen. It was my weekend ritual to pop downstairs and grab a fresh, made-to-order Saigon roll for lunch. So when Hub grocers closed a couple of years ago, I was devastated. I searched everywhere in Canberra for bánh mì but couldn't find it anywhere! :(

When I heard that a Vietnamese place in Gungahlin was selling them, I immediately made plans with a friend to check it out!!

Any Saigon roll (pork, chicken, meatball, vegetarian) costs $5.50. A combo deal costs $8, which includes a soft drink from the fridge. For an extra $1, you can upgrade to the drinks on the menu - juice, smoothie or Vietnamese ice coffee.

Arirang Korean Restaurant - Civic

When I arrived at 6:30pm, the restaurant was already lively and customers inside were chatting away animatedly. In fact, it was so lively that my companions had managed to nab the last table. Unfortunately, it was also the worst table as it was the one closest to the door and we felt every icy gust of wind as more customers continued to come into the restaurant. The clientele appeared to be made up mostly of other Asians. I could hear various Asian languages being spoken from the nearby tables. I had a good feeling about this place.

I didn't think Arirang had been open in Civic for very long. Sure enough, when I had a look at the menu, it looked like it had been taken straight from the Gungahlin shop as there was no mention of the Civic address. We decided to order the Special Beef Soup ($40) and the Pork Bulgogi ($17) to share between the three of us.

The accompaniments arrived first. I was impressed by the kimchi. To be honest, I have no idea what authentic kimchi is meant to taste like, but I thought this had just the right amount of chilli, no odd smell from the fermentation process and the vegetables tasted extremely fresh and crisp. It had the perfect balance of flavours between sourness, saltiness and sweetness. The pickled radish was delightfully moreish and I could have easily eaten a whole jar of it. From what I could tell, the third accompaniment was dried tofu that had been lightly pickled.

Taiwanese braised pork belly

I was feeling a little cheffy the other day, and thought I'd record my first attempt at cooking my mum's braised pork belly dish. This is a very traditional Taiwanese dish - and a simple recipe, but the results were mouthwatering (as a few friends and colleagues can now attest!)

IPho

My best food scout was doing his usual patrols and noticed that a Vietnamese restaurant had opened in Garema Place so we had to check it out.

Pork and prawn rice paper rolls: $5

The dish photographed way better than it tasted. Each roll was fairly large but consisted mostly of chopped lettuce and I could not taste any fragrant Vietnamese herbs. About halfway into the roll, I noticed a discoloured piece of lettuce...oh wait, nope. It was a sliver of sliced pork that was stuck onto the lettuce. The pork was sliced so thinly (and only one slice in the roll) that I couldn't even taste the pork. It would have been preferable to have a much smaller roll with better pork/prawn to lettuce ratio.

Chairman and Yip

Roasted duck pancake with shitake mushroom

There was a complex combination of flavours and textures (juicy roast duck pieces, chives, shallots, shitake mushroom, a crispness of the chestnuts, and sweetness of the hoisin sauce). Unfortunately, I felt like the duck was chopped too finely and wished I could taste more of the duck flavour. It could have been San Choy Bao filling in a pancake with hoisin sauce.

Fun Ma Cafe

I am not normally a religious person, but I might be inclined to believe in a higher power after discovering Taiwanese cuisine in Canberra. Ever since I moved here, I have searched high and low for the nostalgic dishes from the mother country. With no luck, I began wishing someone would open up a Taiwanese restaurant in Canberra. I was beginning to give up hope when I stumbled across one last week on my way back from the dentist!

Fun Ma Cafe, describes itself as 'Canberra's first Taiwanese cuisine' on their Facebook page, and is only around the corner from my work! Hurrah!

On discovering the cafe, I was overwhelmed by the menu. Mind you, it wasn't because the menu was particularly extensive, it was because all the items were so familiar to me that I couldn't choose what to order! The dishes that jumped out at me were the pork chop with rice, the Taiwanese style chicken nuggets with rice, Taiwanese style beef noodle soup, unagi with rice and the three cup chicken with rice.