[Melbourne 2022] Kitchen 8 Hastings @ Salmon Street

We were done with sightseeing for the day and was looking for a lunch place. We would also be doing some meat shopping for a grilled dinner later on. Therefore, Tracy and Hence Googled and found Kitchen 8 Hastings. From the name itself, am not sure what food it serves.

shopfront

menu

Seems like this place serves Cambodian/Chinese/Vietnamese home-style foods. Ahh, I've never had Cambodian food before.

We were there pretty late at 1.30pm, so we placed our orders quickly. I'll be having a bite from what the rest ordered. Because I don't think I can finish a whole bowl of pho on my own plus am not sure how big a serve would be at this place.

pot of tea (jasmine) @AUD3.50

The food was served pretty quickly after ordering. There weren't a lot of other customers at that late hour as well.

Beef Pho with sliced beef and beef balls @AUD14.50

a squeeze of lemon and let's eat

let's eat!

There's nothing more comforting on a cool day than a hot bowl of hearty pho. Granted the soup here didn't have enough depth, it was still nice to satisfy the hungry tummies. The noodles were cooked just right, as it was not too soft nor too hard.

Prawn Rice Paper Rolls @AUD7.50 (2 rolls)

The paper rolls were served with peanut sauce so that was interesting. Clean tasting on its own, so I had a bite of it with the chili sauce (sweet vinaigrette) served with the Crispy Chicken Red Rice dish.

Crispy Chicken with Red Rice @AUD14.50

Is the red rice from the tomato sauce used? But then, it doesn't have a strong tomato-ey taste. Hmm, it tasted like fried rice without any particular aromatics in it. The chicken was well fried and tasted good with the chili sauce.

Matt's Special (Spicy Hot) @AUD17.50

Ivan had the Matt's Special which had beef and wanton dumplings in it. I must say, the dumplings were good. It was plump and meaty. The soup for the special, wasn't that spicy actually. Tasted similar  to the beef pho soup with dashes of chili oil.

I asked the owner, like who is this mysterious Matt in the menu. Turns out, these dishes were frequently requested off the menu by their regulars, so much so that it appeared in the menu with the guest name! Hahaa, I see. Nice to know such information. =)

Kitchen 8 Hastings

Address: 8/145 Salmon St, Hastings VIC 3915, Australia

Website: https://www.facebook.com/Kitchen8Hastings

Business Hours:

Closed on Sat.

Sun: 9.30am to 2.30pm

Mon-Wed: 10.00am to 3.00pm

Thu-Fri: 10am–2:30pm, 4–7pm

[Tasting] Usher in the Year of the Ox at Famous Kitchen 名食小厨 Hong Heng Mansion

Looking for a suitable place for reunion dinner? The team at Famous Kitchen has curated prosperous set and à la carte menus featuring sumptuous Nanyang creations to pamper our palate and to bring in wealth, success, prosperity and happiness to usher in the ausipicious year of the Ox. For that something special, how about a joyful pairing of delicious food  with Auchentoshan Three Wood Single Malt Scotch Whisky? Wait no more and make your reservations today!

Prosperous Set Menus (Sapphire, Jade, Crystal and Diamond)  are available from 27 Jan to 26 Feb 2021

11 Feb (除夕) 12:00pm, 5:00pm, 7:30pm 

12 Feb (初一) 13 Feb (初二) 11:30am – 2:30pm, 5:30pm – 10:30pm.

Sapphire Set A / 4 pax $318++ (Set A1 $426++ with Exclusive Auchentoshan Three Wood 70cl Gift Pack)

Jade Set B / 6 pax $498++ (Set B1 $606++ with Exclusive Auchentoshan Three Wood 70cl Gift Pack)

Crystal Set C / 8 pax $698++ (Set C1 $806++ with Exclusive Auchentoshan Three Wood 70cl Gift Pack)

Diamond Set D / 8 pax $898++ (Set D1 $1006++ with Exclusive Auchentoshan Three Wood 70cl Gift Pack)

Jade Set B / 6 Pax

getting started

signifying abundance

for the auspicious toss

鸿运三文鱼捞生 Prosperity  Salmon' Yu Sheng'

It is a rather quiet affair this year, and hence, we enjoyed the Yu Sheng at a peaceful pace.

generous amount of salmon

Next course, the sharks fins soup.

干贝蟹肉鱼翅羹 Braised Shark’s Fin with Crabmeat & Dried Scallop Soup

Third course, was the super fresh steamed 'live' marble goby. Enjoyed by everyone.

Hong Kong Style Steamed 'Live' Marble Goby with Superior Soya Sauce

香港蒸‘活’笋壳鱼

For Scotch whisky lovers, you will enjoy the oakey tobacco-ey flavours of Auchentoshan Three Woods Malt. Matured in three different cask types; American Bourbon, Spanish Oloroso Sherry and finally Pedro Ximenez Sherry casks.

Auchentoshan Three Wood Malt

golden bronze in colour

Am a novice whisky drinker, and it does pair well with Asian food. Spicy and smooth. 

Next, the Braised Sea Cucumber with Fish Maw & Mushroom was served. Chunky, slippery pieces of sea cucumber which I like. Loved the crunchy greens and underneath, there are plenty of fish maw to go around.

红烧花菇海参鱼鳔 Braised Sea Cucumber with Fish Maw & Mushroom

mine

The fifth course, was the Double Boiled Herbs 'Kampung Chicken'. Without looking at the the menu, one could tell that it is Kampung Chicken by the yellowish skin. But, the version here had amazingly tender flesh. Wow!

御膳药材炖甘榜鸡 Double Boiled Herbs 'Kampung Chicken'

The herbal taste was just a hint and I would think that this dish will be a hit amongst the young and old. Next up, a vibrant looking prawn dish. Succulent prawns that tasted sweet and tangy.

茶香焗老虎虾 Wok-Fried Tiger Prawn with Tea Leaf

For carbs, we had the Stir-Fried E-Fu Noodles with Straw Mushroom. Did I tell you that one of my favourite noodles is e-fu noodles? No? Well you know now! Liked the chives in there too.

锅烧草菇伊面 Stir-Fried E-Fu Noodles with Straw Mushroom

Somehow, the noodles leaned slightly towards the sweet side but not to worry, a dab of the powerful spicy sambal belachan would do the trick to balance things up. But be careful as the chili is really powerful!

Last course was dessert, and we enjoyed a warm bowl of Water Chestnut with Snow Fungus & Egg White. The water chestnut was super crunchy and sweet, and snow fungus was soothing overall.

百花雪茸马蹄露 Water Chestnut with Snow Fungus & Egg White

The last dish made us feel warm all over , or it could be the whisky haha! Here's wishing everyone a heartwarming reunion. 

Thank you Jennifer for the invite, Jenny and Jeffrey for your hospitality and Famous Kitchen team for the delicious food. 

For reservations and takeaway, please call 8128 7900 / 6636 8333/ 6257 1843, or email fkreservation@singnet.com.sg

The Famous Kitchen  名食小厨

Address: 54 Sembawang Road Hong Heng Mansions, 779085

Website: https://www.famouskitchen.com.sg/

Contact: 6257 1843

Business Hours:

Daily 11:30am–2:30pm, 5:30–10:30pm

Xi Yan 囍宴 @ Shaw Centre

Visited Xi Yan by Celebrity Chef Jacky Yu (余健志) at Shaw Centre recently. Had quite a nice experience with the food when we tried its Katong outlet way back in 2019, so this prompted a revisit albeit to a different outlet since the Katong one is not available.

shiny

First impression was this outlet is smaller than expected. At 6pm on a weekend, we were the first table. Diners started to trickle in around 6.40pm and by 7pm, the place was buzzing.

interior

table for 4

The menu is familiar and spotted a few items that I had tried before. To order, just tick-off the items in the order chit and pass it to the service staff. 

Chef Jacky Yu

order chit

While waiting, I had the lychee drink. Tasted like lychee in Sprite and water. 

As we handed in the order chit, the friendly staff informed that the current promo is you can get an appetizer dish (below $12) for $1 with min. spend of $50, or $1 for any dish (below $20) with min. spend of $100. Nice!

Lychee drink @$4.80

When you eat out with friends, our delegated role will be each one to order one dish of our choice. For mine, I ordered the Jiu Rong Vegetables. Turned out to be a very good choice as the vegetable was fresh and crunchy. with well cooked garlic. Those thin strips of Yunnan ham seemed scarce...

Jiu Rong Vegetables with Yunnan Ham and Garlic 云南火腿炒青龙菜 @$12.80

Fried Lo Shi Fan with Xi Yan XO Sauce  @$13.50

The fried bee tai mak (lo shi fan) was a crowd favourite. But it was missing the 'wok-hei' that was found in this dish from its Katong outlet.

The radish cake was good too, but because it was also XO sauce, the taste was actually similar to the fried lo shi fan. So, recommend to get either of this dish and probably not both. My group was divided in opinion and it was about half preferred the carrot cake while the other half preferred the lo shi fan.

Radish Cake M Size @$1 (promo price, UP. $14.70)

The speed of the dishes being served was rather amazing. Most of the dishes were served within 10 minutes after the order was placed. Wow!

Sake Dongpo Pork @$20 (M size)

delicious pork belly with mei cai (preserved vegetables)

And, we must have meat. Definitely. The Sake Dongpo Pork Belly with Mei Cai (Preserved Vegetables) was a good choice. Though the pork belly could be softer, it was a balanced taste of savoury, sweet, collageny but not overwhelming (jelak). Best paired with white rice.

The most underwhelming dish was the Fried Sotong with salted egg yolk. The batter was oily and soggy. Tasted of salted egg but overall texture left much to be desired. Squid was tender though.

Fried Sotong in Butter and Salted Egg Yolk M Size @$25.50

Lastly, we tried the Hakka Duck as I've not tried anything like this before. Surprise surprise! The duck was more sweet than savoury. Homely tasting and I think goes well with beer. The sweet taste was most prominent and the duck was lightly chewy. Best part? The skin.

Hakka Marinated Duck with Sweet Sauce @$23.80 (Half)

At 7pm, we were informed that there is a next booking for our table at 8pm. This was another surprise as the reservation did not indicate that there was a next seating. Nevertheless, we ate fast and furious and by 7.30pm, we were about done.

The staff offered complimentary dessert on our next visit, and we jokingly said why not have it now and he really did bring out the ice-cream for each of us. Hahaa, thanks!

Coconut Ice-cream with palm jelly

Spent about $28 per pax for the meal.

Xi Yan Shaw, Casual Dining

Address: 1 Scotts Road, Shaw Centre, #03-12/13, S228208

Website: https://www.xiyan.com.sg/casual-dining

Contact: +65 6733 3476

Business Hours:

Daily 11.30 am to 3pm, 5.30 pm to 10 pm

The Famous Kitchen Island-Wide Delivery

If you have been missing The Famous Kitchen delicious food (click here to view the last visit), fret not. You can still da-bao the food from them or have it delivered to your home! Here's the link: http://order.famouskitchen.com.sg

Happy to know that one of the dish that I had missed the most since the first visit, the flavourful Salt Baked Flower Crab is included in the delivery menu! Yay! Will have it for the next round, maybe with one of the affordable bottles. Hehe! At the moment, am also awaiting for their classic KL Hokkien Noodles to be included. Then, it'll be an order to reminisce the classics.

Thank you Jennifer from JY Consultancy for arranging the delivery this time round.

At the moment, one could enjoy additional 10% off for takeaways and 20% off for delivery till 27 May 2020. For delivery, there is a minimum order of $50 to fulfill. Note that there will be additional delivery surcharges from their delivery partner for orders during PH or PH weekends.


Here's a video of the food:




For food that are 'saucy' like the fish head curry, it was evident that extra care was put in place to prevent spillage. Lovely and shows that the restaurant is considerate towards their diners. Thank you!

carefully packed

Traditional Fish Head Curry 亚参鱼头 @$28+/$50+ (half/whole)

Would recommend the Traditional Fish Head Cury. Am impressed with the sauce. Lemak, rich and with a nice spicy punch. The half a head was meaty and fed 2 pax adequately. If there are leftover sauce, it'll make a nice dip for bread too!

I was having a zoom dinner session with my colleagues and showed them the charcoal tofu. They were rather curious about the taste and it made me realize that not many have tried this before! The tofu was well-fried and it was still beautifully intact when arrived. However, the enoki mushrooms can't be compared with dine-in as it had turned soggy. I liked the light savoury sweet sauce for the tofu.

Charcoal Beancurd with Enoki Mushroom 金针菇黑炭豆腐 @$16+

The Salted Egg Yolk Prawn with Italian Sauce had a curious name. Like, what's an Italian Sauce doing in a zhichar dish! Hahahaa. I think the Italian sauce here is the Golden Sand sauce that we usually see for the crab dishes. Truth be told, I thought it was just a thicker version of salted egg yolk sauce.

Salted Egg Yolk Prawn with Italian Sauce 金沙香草虾球 @$27+

Venison with Ginger & Scallion 姜葱鹿肉 @$18+

An enjoyable meal of zichar favourites. If you can take spicy, go for the Traditional Curry Fish Head.

Thank you Jennifer and The Famous Kitchen for the meal.

Let's support local businesses and if you opt for delivery, there's a 20% discount from 18 to 27 May 2020 and for takeaway, there's 10% off at the moment! What's more, is that Famous Kitchen was recommended by the 2019 edition of MICHELIN Guide Singapore, and specialises in delectable Nanyang cuisine. How's that for dinner tonight?

limited time promo

Here's the order link: http://order.famouskitchen.com.sg or call 6636 8333 / 6257 1843 or email fkreservation@singnet.com.sg

Note: 

If customer orders with restaurant directly:

• For order above $100+, no delivery charge.
• 
  
• Delivery charge of $10 applies for orders below $100+.
• 
  
• For Set Menu for 1, minimum order of 2 sets.

If customer orders online via http://order.famouskitchen.com.sg,  there is a minimum order of $50.

The Famous Kitchen 名食小厨

Address: #01-01, Hong Heng Mansion, 54 Sembawang Road
Opening Hours:
Mon - Sun: 11:30 - 14:30, 17:40 - 22:30
Phone: +65 6636 8333
Website: https://www.famouskitchen.sg
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/famouskitchensg/

Enjoy Eating House And Bar 享受热食饮料 - Delivery

Was searching for food to be delivered for a small birthday celebration for the bro. Embracing the call for #stayhome and was searching via Feastbump website for restaurants that's onboard the delivery wagon. Didn't want to get from Foodpanda nor Deliveroo as these two platforms only had limited choices for CCK/Yew Tee area.

Saw "Enjoy Eating House and Bar" and thought it sounded familiar. True enough, this place was featured in NOC's Food King series under the title "Food King Singapore: Legendary Zi Char to Try in 2019!".

Ahhh, ok. Let's try to order! Very simple to place the order, and I was a bit kiasu so placed it a day earlier (around 10pm) for next day lunch time delivery. Paid and received email acknowledgement to state that it was pending completion of the payment. And, order confirmation via email came after that within the same day. Cool.

Delivery was prompt and on-time. Thank you for the safe delivery! I ordered the two dishes that Ryan and Dee Kosh liked and was impressed with, while the other two dishes was to make up the minimum order of $50. So, there was the "Grandma's Te Kah Bee Hoon", "Chef Joel's Mee Kia" (the recommended dishes). Wasabi Prawns and Har Jeong Gai (Prawn Paste Chicken).

lunch spread from Enjoy Eating House

Hey, prawn is an auspicious dish right? So, wishing my bro lots of laughter with this prawns dish. The crystal prawns were plump and varying sizes. However, the meat was a tad too cooked. Probably due to the longer time it sat inside the container for delivery. Sauce was leaning to the sweeter side with the cubed mangoes and mayo.

Prawns in Wasabi Mayo Sauce 芥末蛋黄明虾 @$17.80

The Har Jeong Kai wings, has the adequate fragrance but on hindsight, it won't be something that I'd order again, especially for delivery. By the time it reaches the customer, the wings would've turned soggy, and the oily-ness was even more apparent. Loved the shrimp paste smell, and the well marinated meat but best eaten fresh off the fryer.

ENJOY “Har Jeong Kai” Wings 虾酱炸中翅 @$11.80

How about the mee kia, did the noodles turn soggy? Well, the noodles were softer than desired but still ok.

Chef Joel's Mee Kia is an upmarket-fied version of mee kia with the inclusion of truffle onsen egg, crab meat and pork cheeks.

Chef Joel’s Mee Kia 总厨幼面 @$11.80

lardo bits and pork cheeks!

The 'liao' (ingredients) were of generous portions. At least 6 to 7 pieces of sliced pork cheeks in there! The truffle on the sous vide egg was really mild, and the pork cheeks were of a firm chew.

mee kia

Was most happy with the bee hoon. Will recommend the bee hoon. Take my money $$! But warning first. This dish is of strong flavours.

Grandma’s “Te Kah” Bee Hoon 招牌猪脚米粉 @$12.80

look at those skin~

All the things that you ever wanted in this dish; wok hei, delicious flavours, collageny skin and good portions of lean meat that's tender but still with a good bite? It's all there. Thank you, ah ma.

Overall, good prices for these bar food and efficiently prompt delivery service. Keep up the good work, guys!

Enjoy Eating House and Bar

Address: 383 Jln Besar, Kam Leng Hotel, Singapore 209001
Website:  http://enjoyeating.sg/
Delivery: https://enjoyeatinghouse.oddle.me/en_SG
Contact: 9299 1601
Business Hours:
Daily - 11am to 1am