Winter comforts

The buttery layers of a salted caramel cronut oh how I love thee. #winteriscoming #cbr #canberra #food #cronut #foodie #foodblog #dessert

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The Wedding collection – Canapes @ The National Museum of Australia

I wasn’t sure if Skyfire 2014 would go ahead with the looming rain clouds but sure enough, the rain kept away long enough for us to enjoy the night at the National Museum of Australia where Broadbean catering was hosting an elegant cocktail party to enjoy the fireworks with great vantage points.

I was invited to attend this event as a guest of Broadbean catering to sample a wide variety of canapés as they knew I wasn’t going to choose a wedding venue without tasting their food. I had high expectations as they were recommended to me by another blogger (Thanks Bronwyn!)The party was being held in the cafe where they have balconies overlooking the lake.They had unlimited drinks for the duration of the event as far as I could tell but unfortunately my guest and I stuck with orange juice and soft drink for the night.The menu! There were a few things that caught my eye, the thing that made me most excited was the Momofuku pork buns! I like how they have noted the dietary requirements and the variety of food that they had on offer.I love this decorating idea using green lentils.They have a DJ all set up inside but my friend and I headed outside for a better view. It was much cooler due to the wind chill factor but it had a great views of the lake.Families have set up their picnic rugs all around on the grassy area.Prime positioning meant that I almost fell off my seat when all the jets flew over us.Elegant canapés ~

This is what I was here for! Canapés were trickling through from the kitchen after we were settled down with our drinks.

Fresh fig with goat curd wrapped in jamon. I’m not usually a fan of goat or sheep dairy products but the flavours were rather subtle and didn’t have that ‘dirty’ after taste. Cured meat pairs very well with a sweet fruit, you can ask anyone who has ever eaten sweet rock melon with prosciutto. A great choice for this time of year as figs are delicious!Homemade chorizo sausage roll with a lime aioli. Photo complete with me snatching one off the tray. Once I took a bite, I vowed to only eat homemade sausage rolls especially those which contain chorizo.As delicious as it was, the lime aioli  really made it for me.Roasted cherry tomato, basil and taleggio tartlets. I couldn’t believe that there was so much deliciousness in one tiny morsel. I was encouraged to take two so one wouldn’t be left oh so lonely on the tray.Haloumi, chilli and mint cigars with a lemon tahini yoghurt. The flavours of these ingredients work so well together and I was super impressed as they were encased in a perfectly crisp spring roll wrapper. These vegetarian options are just as good, if not better than their meat counterparts.

Hot and sour prawn skewers with a coriander mayo. I could see how this is one of their more popular canapés. Great flavours on the prawns and even better with the coriander mayo. I had to stop myself from sliding half the tray onto my napkin.

Palette cleanser~

Broad bean gelato shot. I was excited yet disappointed at the same time when I received this. Excited because this is an unusual but obvious witty choice of flavour but disappointed because if I’m receiving my palette cleanser that means we were moving onto the substantial canapés without me having tried all the elegant canapés.

I don’t know how many broad beans I have eaten in my life, but apparently not enough to pin point the flavour. There wasn’t an overwhelming ‘bean taste’, it had subtle flavours that would leave you wondering what it was if you hadn’t seen the menu.

Sorry for the poor photo, another downside of sitting outside in the cold.

Substantial canapes~

Momofuku steamed pork buns. I stared at the waiter from afar, some how trying to wield him to come in my direction using telepathy. He eventually comes over and before he tells me what it was, I excitedly ask for one. The bun is super soft with the right amount of sweetness, the pork is layered with fat sandwiching the tender meat which melts in your mouth. There is a bit of chilli flavour in there with cucumber where I would usually expect kewpie mayonnaise and ice berg lettuce, but it comes as a pleasant surprise.I must admit while everyone was admiring the fireworks and taking lots of photos, I was in the back leaning towards the interior light to get a better shot of my bourguignonne. As good as the fireworks were, my main reason for being there was for the food.Waygu beef bourguignonne on a creamy mash. The beef was exceptionally tender and it was the perfect Winter warmer food. Comparatively to the rest of the menu of the night, there was nothing special about this dish albeit it was executed very well.Crumbed fish, tomato and chipotle salsa taco cup with bajar sauce. I didn’t want to miss out on another dish having seen the people seated inside with multiple mains and I could see dessert was being served, so I asked one of the friendly staff to see if there were any still available. He was able to grab the last one for my friend and I to share. The salsa was really good and the fish was crumbed very well giving it a really good crispy coating. This was a bit hard to eat in a taco shell, when I went to break it in halves, bits went flying in all directions.Something sweet~

Eton “mess” of passionfruit curd, forrest berries and macadamia praline. Not overly sweet, natural fruit flavours and a variety of textures, everything I look for in a dessert. I particularly liked the praline.

 I was super impressed with the canapés that we were able to sample. It was a shame that we weren’t able to sample everything based on where we sat for the evening but everything we did taste, we thoroughly enjoyed.

I thought it was going to be hard to compare other venues to Broadbean considering we weren’t comparing ‘apples with apples’ and Timmy C wasn’t able to join me for the event so we later arranged a proper tasting at the National Museum so it was easier to compare (blog post soon to follow).

Potential wedding venue: The National Museum of Australia

Caterer: Broadbean catering

Price of tasting: I was invited as a guest of Broadbean catering to attend their Skyfire event at the National Museum of Australia as a bride-to-be and not as a food blogger. They did not know I was a blogger at the time of this event, they just thought I was a very big foodie. Tickets for this event was $85.00 pp.

 

Welcome home

A welcome home gift to myself. Having the best of the best that Canberra has to offer during my first day back. Breakfast at Red Brick followed by assorted sweets and snacks at Dream Cuisine. #canberra #cbr #food #foodie #foodblog #tart #dessert

It’s midnight at Changi airport and I’m gnawing a pork bone

Sounds a little more zombie-esque than it actually is. Does it help to say that a whole bunch of other Asians were there doing the same thing?

24 hour food courts are always handy in an airport where flights can be at all hours of the night. I literally used the last of my money to buy the bak kut teh premium set (and I still had to borrow two dollars!) and I’m happy to say it was well worth it!

The broth has a very rich pork flavour followed by garlic and mixed spices and ending on a peppery note. Asians love eating things with a bone so we weren’t shy when it came to gnawing off the tender pork while slurping on the tasty broth.

I’m very happy I was able to taste another hawker food favourite before I left Singapore.

P.S. Now I’m done!

Lounging it up at the lounge

With a stupid o’clock flight we preemptively booked the lounge with massage chairs, free internet, free food, drinks and alcohol but with my eager eating throughout the day I don’t know how much I can actually consume.

My last day in Singapore started off with a cookie filled with lotus seed paste from Fung Wong confectionery.Followed by an early lunch at The Chicken Rice Shop.With no clear direction of what to order, I just went with simple Hainanese chicken rice set with a soup and the recommended ‘3 layered drink’.

I was trying to decide if the ‘3 layered drink’ was really just a lazy chef’s milk tea who couldn’t be bothered stirring. The three layered drink tasted like if you were drinking a milk tea and chewed on the bubble at the same time, but sweeter. I couldn’t finish it, a little OTT for me.The chicken was nice enough but for me the flavours were truly in the rice and the ginger and shallot sauce accompaniment.  MMMmmmm mmmmmm.Succulent juicy chicken.I was needed back at the resort but before I jumped on the monorail, I grabbed a Portuguese tart from 8tarts n pastries. Not great, so I’m glad that I only got the one.After a browse at the Aquarium, it was time for second lunch where we headed to the ‘Malaysian street food’ at the Sentosa resort world. We grabbed a huge chicken rice claypot that could have fed a family and one last dose of char kway teow. Both were delicious and full of Chinese sausage. Humble ingredients that might not look like much, but I absolutely loved this.The noodles were stir fried fresh and proved to be very popular with a long queue.I could feel my eyes roll back into my head and my body shutting down into a food coma but I just wanted one last thing, a you tiao from Dough Culture. It was really nice. Slightly crispy, not oily and really soft and chewy. The perfect ending to my food adventure.Thank you Singapore and Penang for my fabulous foodie adventure. Now it won’t feel right when I pay for a $15.00 lunch back in freezing Canberra.

 

Where did the time go?

It seemed like 10 days on an eating adventure was enough but now I’m down to my last 10 hours and I’m trying to frantically eat everything that I can!

Dead woman eating.

Last supper in Sinagpore

It might not look like much but this is the reason why I came to Singapore. Crab cooked in butter. I wish I could capture the scent and bottle it too. #ridiculouslydelicious #singapore #crab #worthit #food #foodie #foodblog

Taste the rainbow

Went to Crystal Jade to try out their multiflavoured xiao long bao. Black truffle, spicy chicken, cheese, and many more flavours #dumpling #singapore #singaporewhyyousohot #food #foodblog #foodblog

Back in Singapore

We are now back in Singapore where I would take a TWG macaron over an Easter egg any day #macaron #macarons #twg #singapore #food #foodie #foodblog

Packing list

Leaving Penang today, packing my bag to bring the very best back with me. I hope they don’t throw my luggage around too much! #fragileluggage #penangfood #penang #food #foodie #foodblog

Fashion essentials

The must have fashion accessory in Penang #drinkonthego #penang #penangfood #food #foodie #foodblog

The best 55c I’ve ever spent

So delicious and refreshing! Teh Tarik is so cheap and amazingly good here, I’m slurping them down hard knowing I won’t get them (as good) in a few days.

Penang eats

Found the hawker centre near our resort which was dangerously close by. We ate so much and I think I’m developing an addiction to teh tarik which I’ll be left to quit cold turkey in a week. 😔 #penang #penangfood #hawkercentre #food #foodie #foodblog #noodles

Keeping hydrated

It’s a ‘coconut drinking’ type of weather here in Penang. #holidays #food #foodie #foodblog #penangfood #penang

I’m getting sleepy

My eye lids are getting heavy after a morning of eating, swimming and massages. I came out by the pool to blog but I think I’ll take a nap instead.
#betterlucknexttime