Of Tapas & Paella....

Just returned from the land of tapas and paella...



Had a nasty encounter from a pickpocket experience...

While I recover from the trip...

Happy New Year!

Christmas Dinner 2007

In the absence of the warmth of celebrating Christmas with my family, a dinner of steamboat (improvised with my precious rice cooker) in front of the fire place with good friends can be just as nice...

We learnt from our lesson of the terrible hangover last year...so instead of this which was taken a year before...



We had cider with fresh fruits and desserts...





A very simple but blessed Christmas day...

Christmas Eve Dinner 2007

A simple homecooked dinner for Christmas Eve...

Appetizers of cold lobster stuffed with cottage cheese and side salad



Fusion cold vermicelli with lobster tail



Main course of mixed herbs salmon, garlic mushrooms and mature cheddar cheese topped on roasted potatoes...

And finally...desserts of chocolate mousse served with banana bread and rambutan...



And a bar of Tesco Finest chocolate coated ice cream..



Have a splendid holiday season...

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve Lunch 2007

A cold and wet Christmas eve here in UK...which also marks my final year as a student experiencing winter all wrapped up in layers and layers of clothing soaked in the festive mood.

Lunch was at the usual Zing Vaa before stocking up the fridge with food since nothing will be opened on Christmas Day itself.

Seafood Treasure Fried Rice...and at 9 pounds a plate, there's a generous amount of scallops, prawns and squid, garnished with some fried mei cai to spice up the taste.



Egg Tarts - usually available during weekends of special ocassions.



Har Kau



Bai Hua Juan



Fried Custard Bun



Bai Hua Niang Qie Zi



Nice and warm lunch at 18 pounds for 2 pax...my weekly hangout with very reasonable pricing and good variety of dim sum.


55 The Moor
City Centre, Sheffield
S1 4FP

London - Dec 07 - Hung Tao Chinese Restaurant

Just came back from my London trip and I've finally managed to get the name of the mapo tofu rice stall I mentioned in one of the previous posts.

Hung Tao Chinese Restaurant...

Address: 51 Queensway London W2 4QH
(alight at Bayswater Tube station and turn right after exiting from the station)




Sweetcorn crabmeat soup



Mapo Tofu Rice



Roast Duck and Soya Chicken Noodle Soup



Being one of the numerous chinese restaurants along Bayswater, London's old chinatown, the restaurant usually scores good attendance. And with the bill for 2 costing only roughly 16 pounds, it's cheap for authentic chinese food in London.

Paris - Dec 06 - Latin Quarter - Part IV

Latin Quarter, located on the left bank in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, is known for its many reasonably priced bistros due to it proximity to the Sorbonne University.

Come night time, the atmosphere is lively with lots of souvenir shops scattered around and bistro owners touting for business along the street.



Conveniently located right across Notre Dame.



Hmmm...I needed a toilet pretty badly then and so I believed I must have hopped into the second or third bistro in sight since almost all look very much the same offering similar seafood fare.

We ordered a fresh prawns salad as starter, crab roe and salmon as mains and a chocolate muffin as dessert. Food is good especially taking into account how difficult it is for me to find fresh seafood in UK and it's also the cheapest dinner in Paris so far costing us slightly less than 40 euros for a meal for two.









Ended the cold night with a warm and sinful nutella banana crepe.



The hotel for this trip is the conveniently located Paris Hilton, right across the street from Effiel Tower. Service is particularly good especially when on the day of our scheduled departure, alot of flights to UK were cancelled due to very bad weather and the staff went to extra mile to print out the details of my flight to assure me that the flights cancellation would not affect me (although the flight was delayed for 6 hours due to the weather after we reached the airport).



The view from the room's window



People say the French are arrogant...but I say they definitely know how to indulge in their way of life...

I like Paris...so much that I am planning for a trip again next summer...

Till then...

Paris - Dec 06 - Fastfood - Part III

Food on the go is especially convenient when there is too little time and too many places to cover, thus breakfast for the day was a simple baguette from a local bakery.

The bread was extremely fluffy and soft in the inside while moist and cripsy with the layer of cheese on top of some slices of tomatoes...simple ingredients with fantastic results.





Some sights of Paris...

Notre Dame



Arch De Triumph



The building which is a nightmare for pockets of students like me!



Centre Pmpidou

Lunch was at a local fastfood restaurant across the street from Pompidou...operated in Marche-style manner...

Final part to be up soon...

King Ludwig's Castle @ Disney Village - Paris Dec 06 - Part II

Disneyland...I imagine it must be every kid's dream to be there once in their lifetime ...immersing in the out of the world experience where all troubles are forgotten...

And despite the near zero degree weather, I have a fabulous time going from castle to castle and seeing all the disney characters coming alive!

So engrossed in the whole experience that I've forgotten to take photos of any food until my first generation camera decided to die on me after just one shot while having dinner at King Ludwig's Castle @ Disney Village...

The castle-themed restaurant was bustling with life and filled to its maximum capacity during dinner time and we waited for a good 45 minutes before getting a table...a good ending to the magical day indeed...

King Ludwig's Castle

Paris - Dec 06 - Part I

Been very busy with school currently so here's a short entry on my Paris trip last December.

Don't you love it when there's nobody rushing you through a meal...and simply indulging in the gratifying food with a glass of wine while good conversation flows...with the Effiel Tower proudly shining its Christmas lighting as the backdrop no less...

This is no dainty food...

But unpretentious cooking at its very best...

The complimentary bread served with red wine vinegar, mustard and butter.



Seafood platter on ice.

Anyone caught the Mr Bean vacation movie where he went to Paris and ordered this similar dish and felt intimidated with the chief waiter observing his take to the seafood? It was indeed so initially...imagine using the hands to deshell the prawns and such and trying not to create a mess! But for seafood this fresh, it's worth every bit (and a little mess)...



The main courses of grilled seabass and steak with roasted potatoes...





This meal alone detroys any perception that good Parisian food has got to be in tiny portions served in big plates.

More to be up soon...

Mini-break

After weeks of being in the depressing library...



It's good to still be alive :)



Cheers!