3 Kingdoms, Box Hill

My temp dental assistant from Laos recommended 3 Kingdoms so on that very same night, we went there to eat. The place was relatively busy for a Friday night but we got seated quickly. The people sitting in the table next to us were eating something which smelt and looked delicious. I had high hopes for 3 Kingdoms. Their menu had Chinese, Korean and Japanese food.

For starters, we ordered fried dumplings, kimchi pancake and spring onion pancake to share.

Usually korean pancakes are presented in the formation of a round pancake with slices, like a pizza. But this was just plonked onto a rectangular plate. Sadly, the starters weren't that impressive. Adding to my annoyance was the fact that the starters came out at uncoordinated times, i.e. we'd finish one starter and then sit and wait until the next starter came out.

And then came our mains. Hubby ordered beef bulgogi which was yummy. The meat was well marinaded and was very tasty indeed.

The couple - Minda and Steve - both ordered bibimbap which is stone pot rice with beef and vegetables topped with a fried egg. They seemed to enjoy it.

As for me, I ordered teriyaki fried fish. And boy, it was a long wait before I got my dinner! By the time it had arrived, Steve and Noah had finished their dinner!!!

Was it worth the wait? NO!!! The fish was salty and the sauce was overly sweet = bad combination of flavours. Sigh. I didn't finish my dinner even though I was hungry from the long wait.

Would I go back to 3 Kingdoms? NO! Service was poor. Long and uncoordinated waiting times.

Grain Asian Cafe, Box Hill

Melbourne City's Chinatown seems puny in comparison to the suburb of Box Hill. Seriously, there are Asian eateries all over the place here. We fancied a change from our usual haunt, Wong's Lucky Bar (which I have yet to write a review about)and decided to try Grain Asian Cafe which is located in Box Hill Shopping Centre.

However, the guys weren't hungry so I ended up ordering food for myself and they got drinks. Yeah, how weird is that? The only female eats while the guys just have a drink!!??

Anyway, I'm from Scotland so I LOVE anything deep fried. Can you guess what I chose to eat?

Pat yourself on the back if you answered correctly. I ordered the chicken rib with spiced salt on rice. The funny thing about this cafe is that once the waitress takes your order, you have to pay. A bit weird...but maybe they have had bad experiences with customers who left without paying??

I was pleasantly surprised at the large portion. The chicken ribs had been coated in a light batter and then deep fried perfectly. I enjoyed munching the crispy chicken skin. BUT I could feel the MSG burning my throat after I chowed down 2 ribs. I was also rather disappointed with the lack of spice - the topping of minced garlic, spring onions and specks of chilli were inadequate to satisfy me - it needed more fire. Also, because the ribs were dry, I found it really hard to swallow the dry rice. The dish needed something to help with the dryness, e.g. some cucumber or soy sauce would really help.

In the end, I only ate half and packed the rest into a plastic container to take home. It actually tasted even better when I reheated it for lunch the next day because I added soy sauce and chilli sauce.

Would I return to Grain Asian Cafe? Yes. I saw lots of people order dumplings with soup noodles - so that's something I want to try next time.

Instant Congee

From all my posts so far, it's easy to assume that I never eat at home.  But I do.

Eating at home is cheaper than eating out, but cooking for one is not easy, plus I am not exactly a great cook.

Easy solution : instant congee.

Congee is a Chinese savoury rice porridge commonly eaten for breakfast and when you're sick.

Yep, just add hot water and 3 minutes later, instant chicken congee!

This was my first time trying instant congee and to be honest, it wasn't bad.  Healthier than instant noodles, I hope.

Food Porn Factor : 4.5 out of 10 - tastier than it looks but that's probably because of the MSG

Yum Cha At East Ocean

I was so confused.  Being a Scottish Asian, I am used to the term "dim sum", but in Australia, this is known as "yum cha".  So I wiki'd it and found this :-

"Yum cha" is a dining experience which involves drinking Chinese tea and eating dim sum dishes.  "Yum cha" is Cantonese which literally means "drink tea". In the US and UK, the phrase "dim sum" is often used in place of yum cha; in Cantonese, "dim sum" refers to the wide range of small dishes, whereas yum cha, or "drinking tea", refers to the entire dining experience.

Confused much?

Yeah, who cares?  Let's eat!  Yum cha at East Ocean.

Trolleys go round the restaurant - just like Hong Kong!  Weird!  I am used to ticking the boxes on a leaflet!  The 3 of us just went crazy and ordered random dishes - har gao dumplings, siew mai, XO long beans, congee, pork ribs, etc.

However, my Chinese palate told me that the dim sum was not all that great.  Too much MSG and grease!!!  

But the company was excellent.  I was making my dining companions laugh with my stories about breastmilk!!  Breastmilk?  Yes, breastmilk!  Share with you another time.  Stay tuned.  LOL