Kangaroo Fillet @ Melbourne

 

I was having my transit in Melbourne, Australia the other day before heading back to Malaysia. It was a full whole day which I fully utilized on just food rather than sight seeing in that second largest metropolitan of Australia. Topping my list was, of course the one and only aborigine of the OZ land; the Kangaroo. It wasnt as common as I thought to sample Kangaroo steak in restaurant downtown. I went through quite a few restaurants only to find none on their menu. Well, I do came across a raw one in the mighty Queen Victoria Market. I was left devastated and seeking help from the tourist information center.

 With the direction from the I-site, I managed to track this goodness in one of the restaurant located @ south bank of Yarra River. They are serving it just as an entree, a kangaroo fillet, instead of steak.

 Priced @ AUD14.90. Kangaroo tasted like as you may already know, beef. Well, at least its texture is close enough to beef. Since both of them are from the "red meat" family, you dont need a culinary expert's taste bud to justify that. The fillets had been heavily marinated and was served with a lime. I wonder if Kangaroo meat has the same strong odour smell as lamb ? 

Mummy !! I need more $$ for food !!

Whats up yo !! A Hello from KL. After 8 months away on working holiday to NZ, I'm finally back home. I'm still struggling with jetlag and the difference of time zone. Well, getting to bed at 10pm and waking up at 6am does certainly helps me to get into working mode again anyway.

"Recycle Pic"

 

 

 

 

 

Food back home have certainly been badly missed. Yesterday I drop by Cha Cha Pan Mee @ Dataran Prima to have my usual order, their original version for breakfast. Only to my surprise that their prices have gone up. RM5.50 will ensure you a large bowl 8 months ago. However, that is the price for a small bowl now. And the large bowl have gone up by RM1 to RM6.50. That's one hell of inflation in just 8 months time. I'm sure, soon when I start venturing more to my usual food place; I will get more and more inflation hit.

So life is tough simply anywhere you go around the globe. The GST increase in New Zealand and I'm greeted with sky high price tag back home. Only one thing for sure, the salary cap stay the same. -_-

Coffee Culture @ Timaru - Every good thing does come to an end.

 

 Today is the last day of my whole working holiday journey in New Zealand. It has been 8 months since. 8 months of sweet and sour. I will be departing to Melbourne before flying home.

 The sweet little her thought of buying me a breakfast. So we head to her favourite cafe, Coffee Culture.

 

Her favourite order, Iced chocolate. Dear, it is just not very nice to order yourself an iced drink in the morning though.  Seriously think the barista there has a very poor sense of decoration. Ugly mess ehh. ^^

 My cup of chocolate latte. Double shots of espresso, double shots of chocolate and double shots of steamed milk. That is what it claimed to be.

 The Jelly-tip cheese cake @ NZD6.90. With Yogurt. Cheese cake + Yogurt ?? Unique, I would say. The sour taste of Yogurt does seem to over power the cheese cake. We had to leave the Yogurt to a waste.

 Fresh fruit salad @ NZD7. That is a real burn in the wallet with those tiny little pieces. Hell.

Salamis & Gherkins with seeded topping bagel @ NZD5.90. Well, at least this one is very delightful and reasonably priced.

You have pretty much form a large part of my memories in New Zealand. Sincerely wishing you the very best of health and a blissful future ahead. May we meet again someday, somewhere. Thanks for the treat and more of all, been such a meaningful character. Take care sweetie. ^^

Osaka Restaurant @ Christchurch NZ - Cheap but Cool

  

 If you happen to be in Christchurch, feeling hungry and looking for a budget yet filling mid-day lunch. Or if you are just a poor traveler like me, who is looking to be well-fed in order to skip a meal in between. Then Osaka Restaurant of 129 Gloucester st is the place to be.

 

Yes, NZD8 for a lunch meal may not be the most economic. The catchy deal is that they are offering unlimited salads, Miso soup and hot steamy white rice !!! Considering that most of the Asian meal in NZD will range from NZD 8 onwards anyway, why not feast yourself with unlimited Miso soup and rice ?

 The unlimited salads with Japanese sauce. Gosh !! I just love the word *UNLIMITED.

 This is my lunch meal special, spicy fried chicken curry. Thought I have never been a fan of Japanese curry which is rather to the sweet side. But mind me, this one is actually pretty good. Anything gravy is good to go with white rice anyway. And I really enjoy their Miso soup too. Thumbs up.

Salmon Sashimi with a Kiwi twist

 

 There are a lot of salmon farms right along the highway from Queenstown to Lake Tekapo. High country salmon is one of those farms that has been commercialized to attract large volume of tourists like us who will be using the highway. They advertised free salmon feeding as an attraction.

 These Salmons are claimed to be fed in the glacier water of the Southern Alps. Hence, of finest quality of its kind n New Zealand.

 But what really attracted us is the super duper fresh salmon Sashimi. Priced @ NZD25 a box. Hearty enough to feed 4 pax.

To savour freshly prepare Sashimi in a Kiwi Salmon farm is one hell experience itself than the usual Japanese restaurant.

 Just a mere kilometers away from High Country Farm, there is Mt Cook Salmon. A friend of mine was giving the statement that this salmon is actually melt-in-the-mouth. How can I miss that ???

 There you go. Priced @ 23 for half a KG of pure Salmon Sashimi. Even after the currency conversion, it is still a steal. You hardly get as fresh in Malaysia with this price.

Does the salmon stand along to the Melt-in-the-mouth statement ? These salmons do seems to be fattier. My theory is if High Country Salmon required five chews then Mt Cook Salmon required just 3 chews. These Sashimi may not be of perfect cut as of  Japanese's standard but it is still a pleasant experience to enjoy just the freshness with merely no slight fishy taste at all.

Kiwi's salmon sashimi comes with Kikoman soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger just as the Japanese counterpart. Globalization it is. A land of the rising sun's delicacy with a Kiwi twist.