Ding Hao

Ding Hao and I go way back. This is where I used to come for yum cha as a uni student, and thankfully it hasn’t changed a bit. It’s still overcrowded, packed to the brim, and dishing up fast, fresh Chinese food. I actually went to catch up with friends from uni – the six of us got stuck right in, with no shortage of dishes coming around to enjoy. I am a sucker for prawn dumplings, and the seafood ones that Ding Hao serve are huge, tasty and definitely not full of mush. You can feel the disparate textures of the filling – so good. We indulged in a plate of salt and pepper calamari, deep-fried and full of flavour, not rubbery at all. The crispy beef was another favourite, coated in a thick sauce and with a slight chilli kick, they vanished pretty quickly. No yum cha is complete without prawn-filled long rolls (not the technical name, but hopefully you know what I mean), and I devoured my share of those before munching on some oyster sauce-drenched greens. Finally, it was time for mango pudding (more, please!) and farewells. Yum.

Ding Hao, 26-28 Gouger Street, Adelaide SA, no website

Movenpick

Set up in Adelaide’s super trendy West End, Movenpick offers their top quality icecreams and sorbets as well as a range of other desserts. We decided to get the icecream tasting plate to share between 3, which comes with 6 scoops ($14.95). We picked: creme brulee, macadamia, rum & raisin, choc mint, strawberry and the lemon & lime sorbet. My pick of the bunch was the strawberry – it was like eating creamy, rich strawberry jam without being sickly. Give me a tub and leave me alone, I’ll be a happy woman. My next favourite was the lemon & lime sorbet – it was just so refreshing and the citrus flavour was perfection. Macadamia would probably come next, one of those great icecreams where the more you eat, the better it tastes, followed by the choc mint, which had awesome quality flakes of chocolate and was really quite minty. I’m not a huge rum & raisin fan, but the quality and richness of flavour was evident, even to me. We all felt the creme brulee seemed a bit bland, but only by comparison. Alone, it was subtle and rich. So basically there were no real duds – six for six Movenpick, well played.

Movenpick, 6 Leigh Street, Adelaide SA, http://www.moevenpick-icecream.com/au

Each A Cup

Flashback post! I couldn’t resist trying the local bubble tea in Singapore – it’s not something that I’m hugely into in Australia, but when it’s 35 degrees outside and 70 per cent humidity, an iced tea sounds more and more appealing! I thought their tagline ‘for people who go for quality’ was cute and so I put them to the test. I ordered a lychee ‘fruity iced blend’, although there were a number of tempting flavours including peach, green apple and ‘love fruit’ (whatever that is!). You can add extras into your drink, and having been so close to picking the green apple flavour, I instead chose to add green apple pearls as an extra, because what is bubble tea without the bubbles? They were somewhat busy, although my order didn’t take long to prepare. The drink was very icy and hit the spot perfectly on a warm day. The lychee flavour wasn’t sickly sweet, and the pops of green apple pearls matched really well, although I did find that the ‘skins’ were a bit tough at times. Each A Cup has so many options that you could easily try one a day for months – hmm, what an interesting idea…

Each A Cup, ION Orchard, 2 Orchard Turn #B4-45 Singapore      http://www.each-a-cup.com/

Chez Kimchi

Sometimes you just need… ha! Thought I was going to say ‘a burger’, didn’t you? No, this time I acknowledge that there is indeed a time and a place for KFC. Korean fried chicken, obviously. A friend and I caught up for KFC at Chez Kimchi on a Friday night, getting a table without a problem. We started with iced apricot tea – served in a large glass it was beautifully refreshing, and kept us going until our first dish arrived. Hello kimchi and pork dumplings! Wrapped into perfect little rings, the serve of 4 ($6.80) was a perfect starter for two. We loved the spicy kick of the kimchi and enjoyed trying the dipping sauces provided. I was also a bit enthusiastic about the pickle sides – so, so good. The main event was the half-size fried chicken. Curious to see what the wasabi sauce was like, we picked the Spring Onion Chicken ($18), which had 7 pieces of chicken (so tricky to split, but we managed). Unfortunately we didn’t get any wasabi sauce with it, but the chicken was so perfectly crispy and delicious that we didn’t really mind. The food here is such great value too – definitely one to come back to.

Chez Kimchi, Shop 11, 70-86 Bunda Street Civic, ACT, no website

Woah Nelly Bakes

How gorgeous are the doughnuts by Woah Nelly Bakes? I mean seriously, look at them! They taste just as good, I promise – every flavour delivered exactly what it says it will ($5 per doughnut). My favourite from the bunch had to be the PB&J – the combination of strawberry jam inside and peanut butter icing on top was to die for. I also loved the subtle sweetness of the Orange & Pistachio – the icing had a great citrus flavour without being at all artificial, and the pistachio added great crunch! I couldn’t help but order two of the Homer Simpson classic strawberry with sprinkles – utter doughnut perfection. All of the doughnuts themselves are lovely and dense, not greasy at all and had the perfect childhood-memory-inducing doughnut flavour. The Maple Bacon should get a special mention for being divine – the combination of sweet and salty plus doughnut ticked all the boxes for me (my fairy godmother, who I shared them with, agreed). I was slightly less wowed by the caramel rough – caramel icing with coconut and chocolate drizzle, but the flavours were still clear and went well together. Oh and the salted caramel with pretzel had just the right amount of sweet and salt, and the Nutella-filled one dusted in sugar took me right back to every European pastry I’ve ever had. Is that all of them? Phew. Yum. Woah!

Woah Nelly Bakes, http://woahnellybakes.com/

Scroll

Oh, hello novelty #icecreamthurs! When someone is passionate about something, it can be infectious; Danny from Scroll is passionate about creating a fun, quality experience for customers visiting Australia’s first teppanyaki icecream parlour, Scroll. The experience is unique – you order one of six icecream and topping combinations, and watch your Scroll master create icecream right in front of you on a cold plate. I ordered the Perfect Matcha ($9, $8 if you check in on Facebook), made with Matcha Maiden tea and Fleurieu milk (yay for supporting local!), and topped with lychee, strawberry Pocky and blueberries. Wow. There is a huge amount of icecream in the cup, and I really liked the addition of fruit for balance. The icecream itself is incredibly creamy (Danny tells me there are no stabilisers or preservatives), and the green tea flavour is beautiful – not too sweet and very clearly full of high quality matcha powder. The Pocky (a Japanese snack) add a fun twist and a different flavour/texture combination that goes well with the matcha. Yum. Being social media savvy, Scroll is also encouraging customers to tag their photos with #scrollin on Instagram, for the chance of a repost and free icecream. Yes, please.

Scroll, 35 York Street, Adelaide SA, http://www.scrollicecream.com.au/

Madame Hanoi

Part One is here. Next was the rare beef with white anchovies served on toast with anchovy paste. I love anchovies and found the strong fish and salt flavour delightful, although the beef was left as nothing but texture with the strength of the anchovy taste. Tier two was our unanimous favourite – the soft shell crab buns, packed with deep-fried crab and dressed with coriander a very spicy mayonnaise that was one of the tastiest things I’ve ever eaten. Seriously, go and eat this now. Amazing. The final tier was dessert, with more French influence – pistachio, salted caramel and vanilla macarons, all with perfect feet and true flavours. We all liked the pistachio best, although the salted caramel was a close second. We saved the best until last, although again the experience wasn’t top notch as there was no cutlery provided to eat the hazelnut cake covered in gooey chocolate glaze – we had to steal the cutlery bucket from a vacant table to be able to eat it (after having to ask for a water refill, we felt a bit neglected). But oh my, it was fabulous, with a rich dark chocolate mousse and a crispy hazelnut base – super rich, but utterly divine. Food perfection, but the experience didn’t have the same degree of class as other high tea venues.

Madame Hanoi, Adelaide Casino, North Terrace, Adelaide SA, http://www.adelaidecasino.com.au/restaurants/madame-hanoi/