Petaling Street @ Glen Waverley

"Say What???!!!"

Yup, Petaling Street has landed in Australia and no we weren't lost.

Note: You can see the signboard for the store next door, ABC (which is another Malaysian Restaurant, hence the ABC - Air Batu Kacang)... food there isn't that authentic is all I'm going to say.



Opened in December 2009, we had heard rave reviews from various relatives from the Boy's side (in particular the Nasi Lemak)... so of course we had to try the food at this place!



We visited this restaurant twice (including today) and both times it was packed with a line waiting outside the door!

Today was no exception, as they had closed up the whole Kingsway in Glen Waverley for the food stalls to celebrate the last day of Chinese New Year (Happy Chap Goh Meh/ Chinese Valentine's Day to all!)



The menu is impressive (maybe a little bit too impressive)...



Including beers served, they have 131 items on their menu! 131!!



Although, I'm not too sure what "Noddles" are... hehehe



When I read "Noddles", I immediately thought of Noddy...



So anyway, back to the food...

Nasi Lemak with Beef Rendang $9.90

Cousin A had this and said it was an amazingly good dish. Rendang was just nice and he polished off the whole dish!



Nasi Lemak with Chicken Curry $9.90

The Boy had this on his first visit and finished everything on the plate. Excellent Dish!

Only thing that wasn't great with the dish was the badly made acar. It tasted more of curry powder than anything else. If they left the acar off the plate (or found a better supplier/recipe), this dish would score a nice 9/10... as it is, it's only a 8/10 (for us!)



Claypot "Lou Shi Fun" Tear Drops Noodles with Minced Pork or on the Menu - "Petaling Street Style Short Rice Noodle in Claypot" $10.80
This was what I ordered on my first visit... as this is what Petaling Street (in KL) is famous for... at least at 2am in the morning after clubbing in KL...

Unfortunately, this didn't meet my expectations at all. It was edible, and tasty... but something was missing...



Dry Curry Mee (With Chicken Curry)$8.90

Now this was a very weird dish... Usually, when I order Dry Curry Noodles (any noodles), it comes dry with the Chicken Curry... this one came with the normal Wan Tan Mee and the Dark Soya Sauce, which spoilt the taste somewhat...

I finished the curry, but the noodles were too gluggy... and the quantity amazingly huge!



Nasi Pattaya $9.90



The inside of the Nasi Pattaya. The Boy had this and said that it was nice. That's all he said in between mouthfuls, "It's nice... *Nom*Nom*Nom*"



So will we come back for a 3rd visit?

Overall, I think this place is a keeper... they do some stuff well, and other's not too well (maybe cos they think it's Noddles and not Noodles?)*tee hee hee* ... if they don't change their recipe for their curries, I'm definitely going to keep coming back, there are after 131 items to be tried on their menu!!

We've had feedback from different people on their Sar Hor Fun... which isn't good, so we passed on ordering it.

Overall Food Rating: 6.5/10
Restaurant ambiance: 7/10 (Typical busy Chinese Cafe Styled Restaurant, staff aren't very polite and refuse to speak English, except for 1 and he looks like the owner)
Value for money: 7/10

Address:

111 Kingsway
Glen Waverley

Tel: (03) 9561 1388

How to get there:

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Le Petit Francais @ South Yarra

"Why didn't you take me to this place?", I questioned Ms Tinymouse when I saw her sister's post on Le Petit Francais... (To read more about their experience there... visit Melbourne Munchkin's blog) *bleik*

"Les poisson, les poissons,
how I love les poissons,
love to chop, and to serve, little fish.
First I cut off their heads,
then I pull out their bones.
Ah mais oui, ca c'est toujours delish.

Les poissons, les poissons,
Hee hee hee, hah hah hah.
With the cleaver I hack them in two.
I pull out what's inside.
and I serve it up fried.
God, I love little fishes, don't you?"

Tinymouse: YOU (in capitals), YOU said, you didn't like crepe's and that only your brother in-law likes them, and your sister learnt how to make them for him!

Me: *sheepish*.. I guessed I must have said that, otherwise, you wouldn't have known that fact at all... *geez*... you win tiny tot... you win!!!

When we finally did get to Le Petit, I was suddenly seized by a crazy Disney song (one of my favourites really)... and this was playing in my head the whole time... I held back, lest Ms Tinymouse think I was crazier than usual... she already know's I'm crazy... any more and she might run away (then again, maybe not).

They have a nice 1 page menu... which helps... and even then, it took me more than 10 minutes to decide what I wanted =P



The interior of the place is airy, bright and cheerful... and again, the song comes into my head... no reason at all... nothing that triggered it except that it was French... no fishes anywhere at all...



I really <3 cafes and restaurants that have blackboards on their walls... quaint to me =)

Many people came in just to get coffee from the very chirpy french waiter/barrista



Now I'm not usually a fan of crepes... but when this arrived on the table... my mouth was watering... (the only crepe that I usually eat is the one's served in Pancake Parlour.. yes, yes... the atrocity!)



Voila... it has gruyere (cheese), caramelised onions, ham... and I added mushrooms (apparently you can add whatever you feel like, and they will include it for you... with an added $1 per extra)...



I can't remember what my order was called, but it was the one with the original price of $9 (it's the only one that is $9 on the menu)... so we'll call it the number 9.

And I am now, a happy Crepe convert... feed me more please *nomnomnom*
Overall Food Rating: 8.5/10
Restaurant ambiance: 8.5/10 (Typical busy Chinese Restaurant)
Value for money: 7/10 (It is on the pricier side of food)

Address:

307 Toorak Road
South Yarra

Tel: (03) 9826 3830

Website: Le Petit Francais

Opening Hours: Mon, Wed-Sun 10am-3pm, 6pm-10pm

How to get there:

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Hakka Tea House @ Glen Waverley

Hakka cuisine is the cooking style of the Hakka people, who are primarily found in southeastern China (Guangdong and Fujian).



Being 1quarter Hakka (My Grandma is a Hakka moi)... I decided to venture out and try this cuisine.



The Boy and Cousin A had to tag along =) We had heard many good things about this place and Cousin A had been here a couple of weeks before.

The menu was huge and contained other dishes outside of the Hakka cuisine.



It was larger than I expected, taking up 2 shopfronts.



In a typical Chinese Restaurant in Melbourne (I'm not sure where else does this), you are given a starter course of soup. Usually contains pork, herbs and carrots. This was no different.



We ordered 3 dishes.

The Boy "3 kinds" bean curd.. and somehow this turned up instead.. I'm afraid the waiter heard us wrong (me and my bad Canto)... but yeah... I figured the 3 kind stuffed bean curd was going to be more yong taufoo like and this wasn't.

However, it is a traditional Hakka dish, as yong tau foo (or ngiong tew foo) is a popular dish served.



Salt and Spice (Pepper, I think's they mean) Beancurd. This wasn't that great and we've had better in other establishments.



Now, what is a Hakka meal, if one didn't have a lot of braised pork?

This is one other version (the other being braised with mustard greens).

We instead opted for the braised pork with yam in Claypot =)



Not bad at all and makes me miss my Po Po's cooking... especially now that I've just recently returned from her many snacks, lunches, breakfast and dinners (another story for another day )

It is essential to make a booking (although we didn't as we figured there were only 3 of us).

Oo... and we stopped by Happy Cup for take away Bubble Tea as well... a great end to a filling night =)

Overall Food Rating: 8/10
Restaurant ambiance: 7/10 (Typical busy Chinese Restaurant)
Value for money: 7.5/10
Address:
(Right in front of the Glen Waverley Station, 1-2 shops away from Happy Cup)

25 Railway Parade North
Glen Waverley 3150
VIC

Tel: (03) 9802 2770

How to get there:

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Day 9 - Taj al Sultan & Yuan Shan @ Cairo

Now for the final installment of the Egypt tour. I leave you with 2 food reviews. Basically that's what we did before we left Egypt. We ate.



Thank you Egypt for the memories.



Thank you Dr.Farag for being the best guide we've ever had. Thank you for being a great teacher!



Shu-kran.


Day 8 - Dinner at Taj al-Sultan (near Khan el-Khalili Bazaar, and right across the Al-Hussein Mosque)


A nice quaint spot to have our "last supper" with Farag.


Standard buffet again, last chance at all things Egyptian tasting... (get your mind out of the gutter)




Beetroot and Tzatziki.. can't get enough of those two.. I might have found a new craving just right there!


Last Egyptian bread...




AND...


Day 9 - Final Meal - Yuan Shan @ Cairo

Don't buy the breads on the streets?


Our first Chinese meal in the whole trip and our last meal of the trip...


For some reason, we were very early.. 10am (had to catch the plane), and thus, we had to access the restaurant via the fire escape.


Typical Chinese decor in a foreign country.


Very China-esque...


They even have a waiting room dedicated in selling souveneirs! How very enterprising the Chinese people are... 0_0


Chipped bowl aside, their food was okay. However being the first Chinese food we've eaten in 2 weeks, the entire tour group was ecstatic. Tears of joy from some uncles...


Chilli!! And very spicy!


Soup... tomato and egg


Fried Fish... this was really nice, although the fish wasn't very meaty, given we were sitting in a table of 11.


Vegetable dish 1 - cucumber...


Vegetable dish 2 - Cabbages


Vegetable dish 3 - Lettuce


Chicken boxing (Yum!) I had about 4 people's share...



I missed out on 3 other dishes, one which was stir-fried beef, and 2 more vegetable dishes... meh

And that's it.... Egypt trip - concluded!

Thank you for your patience!