Let's Seafood!

Finally a post not related to babies, much to the relief of non-mother readers whom i'm sure are dwindling by now. If u're not a mom n u're still reading, thks for hanging around.

Anyway Let's Seafood is a new restaurant at sanlitun, opened by the owners of Let's Burger. Surprise surprise, their menu has a pretty wide selection of seafood including seawater fish, which are hard to find in Beijing.

To get an idea of how good they are, i had to try the boringest thing on the menu, fish n chips. I much prefer crumbs to batter anyday so this was a fail for me. I'm also actually not a fan of fish and chips so i don't know why i ordered it, must be the residual pregnancy cravings.

Mountain man ordered fried mullet (whole fish) which was actually pretty yummy! And I also did like the free selection of pestos on the side.

I won't rule out this resto yet. I'll be back for more soon!

Note to self: Don't order the fish and chips ever again.

0909 celebrations

Despite this being one of the most exciting times if my life, i don't know why i've lost the urge to blog. Maybe it's just boring to keep repeating the fact that i have not popped.


Mom's here to celebrate my birthday. 090909, what a great number but no... T decides the date is not good enough for him!




Anyway, Mountain man brought us to Made in China for a peking duck lunch.

I love love love peking duck, and this one was just fabulous. Maybe better than Dadong Roast Duck. It's really hard to get reservations.

The duck is cut up into 3 different plates- Lean meat, Crispy Skin, and Meat+skin+slight fat combi. Crispy skin is just heavenly, light, not dry, and melts in the mouth. Sorry gotta tilt ur head for this pic. Blogger is misbehaving, not me.

Here's my roll- garlic, sugar, cucumber, spring onions, peking duck sauce, a slice of lean meat and a slice of cripy skin. uhm uhHmmm.....

4.5 out of 5 stars!

Element Fresh

Element fresh has been my canteen for the past 2 years. Or at least whenever i'm in shanghai. It's an upmarket eatery targeted at health-conscious expats.

Food in china is generally oily, salty and mostly unhealthy, so Element Fresh really satisfies a strong needstate for people who want to eat better and healthier. I love it also because it has very good service in-store. You can see passion in the restaurant managers in delivering the correct orders, and screw ups are always dealt with prompt solutions. I mean there is no perfect service in China, but their effort is commendable.

One key reason why i can keep going back to EF is also because they have a very wide selection of food- salads, sandwiches (warm and cold), asian sets, smoothies and juices. Not only that, they also constantly update their menu by season- they "feed" us with constant new news so we don't get bored.

My favourite item on the menu was Spicy Tilapia Fish, but they've recently updated it to Spicy Citrus Tilapia Fish... Yummm...



They've also recently launched a loyalty programme allowing redemption not only on Element Fresh outlets, but also across brands and activities that contribute to a complete healthy lifestyle. For example, accumulate 6000 points and redeem a free biotherm moisturiser.

Basically, this is what i call great marketing.

Burger and Drinks

I love a good burger. But I've stopped (or rather cut down) on fast food after i watched Fast Food Nation. So now i only eat expensive burgers. Expensive= meat with no ecoli=i am not eating animal shit.

So I was very eager to try this new burger chain down at Sanlitun called Let's Burger. I ordered cheeseburger...



And this is blue mountain chicken burger...



To be honest, the burger is not bad despite the reviews claiming tht it's not value for money. The bread is not too heavy, the meat patty is tasty although it's a little small. It's about 58RMB (no fries) per burger. But the place is super smoky cos of the poor ventilation. It's ideal for takeout, not dine-in.

So after dinner, Mountain man and i went to Element Fresh for this open bar (read FREE DRINKS) thing with "work associates"... Our friends came by to join us later in the evening. it was all fun... especially when it's free.


Left to Right: Me, Cami, Joyce the Alcoholic


left to right: Hanwei the lucky scratch-it man, Michael and Les.

Weekend in a flash

Warning: THIS POST HAS VERY WEIRD LAYOUT! I have given up fixing it.

Friday....

I always look forward to Halloween. I normally start brainstorming costumes like a month beforehand. 2 years ago i was the IPOD ad- I wore an afro and stood behind a cellophane sheet with an ipod drawn on it, AAA drew it on for me, but nobody got it. Last year we were the flintstones, this year we came as ... OURSELVES! no time! But nonetheless, there were good food and good company. that's all that matters.

Veron (2nd from left) very kindly organised dinner and drinks with pallies at MED.

The girlies...

This is Kia and Peter... See the little ghost on Kia's hand. She drew it on herself. Apparently she's a freelance face painter! how cool.

Saturday...

Date night!! Went to Mostos, same owner/chef as SALT. I ordered the slow-braised ribs- it comes with this wine sauce and crispy shredded potato. The flavour is quite over-powering, so i got sick of it after a while, had to swop with Mountain Man who had the snapper.

Sunday...

Wanted to do brunch outside but we got so lazy we decided to stay home and eat instant Prima Laksa. It wasn't too bad! We've also tried the prawn noodles and meesiam. Very authentic, but don't eat too much cos it's too processed and full of MSG.

Anyway, see my cute heart-shaped steel sauce plate from japan! so kawaii right!!

SALT

Mountain man and I went to SALT for brunch about 2 weeks ago, even before we left for Osaka. Usually i won't blog back-logs, but this one is worth it.

SALT serves semi-western fusion, if such a cuisine even exists. I'm not a food connoisseur, in fact i even have a bit of problem pronouncing "connoisseur", but i know a good meal when i have one.

So i'll let the pictures do the talking.

This is not your average bread basket. The tiny bread in between 2 huge buns is a yummy cheesey lil thing. Dip it in the grounded olives paste (far left) and AHRRMM... Nyum nyum nyum.

3 types of SALT (hence the name of the restaurant) will be displayed on the table. It's edible we tried, but don't know the difference, just don't sprinkle too much even though they look pretty.


The steak.... Oh man. I salivate when i think about it now. It's a huge slab, tender even tho it's medium well (blood makes me queasy). It also blends well with the pepper cream sauce.


My favourite course, The dessert, warm chocolate cake. Looks ordinary right?
Wait till u get inside. The filling is WHITE CHOCOLATE sauce... i've tasted nothing like this. It's light and heavy at the same time so u get the taste without the full guilt. I'm not saying it's low calorie, but it doesn't make u feel "jelak".


The menu has an average of 3 to 4 items for each course, so basically u either pick a 3 course or a 4 course meal, average price is about 100-150 RMB per pax. Very good value considering the quality of the food. i give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Early Celebration

Mountain man brought me to a romantic dinner at The Courtyard for an early birthday celebration. The view was breathtaking as it overlooks the Forbidden City, service was excellent, but the food was a little below my expectations.

We were alone on the 2nd floor of the restaurant. i think it was planned.


Mountain man ordered Atlantic Cod, and i ordered the Marine Scallops. The taste was somehow a wrong. The cod was too sweet, and my scallops didn't blend with the bean sauce it came with. A little disappointing, but the desert was goooood... Very thick and rich chocolate mousse on a heavy sponge, topped with some caramelly choclatey thingem. (i am NOT a good food reviewer)

After dinner, we adjourned to The Emperor's Hotel- each floor of the hotel is named after an emperor. There's a very nice rooftop bar, also overlooking the forbidden city. Drinks are quite expensive in general (above RMB 67), but the rice wine cocktails were half-off last night and they were not too bad! Can get high on rice wine OK, dun play play.

Our friend Zaheer- cool n laid back kinda guy.

Mountain Man took a nice picture of me. Actually he took some nice pictures of me, but my side profile is usually my favourite.

This isn't too bad also.

I took some pictures of mountain man too. These are my favourites.

Kinda grainy, but there was very little light so bo pian.

our National food.

Food is a very big part of culture. In fact i would go as far as saying that it is vital to the identity of a country.

A while ago, i attempted and succeeded in making jiaozis- a type of dumplings that is uniquely local made by every household, something everyone can afford to eat. But China don't only cater to the common people's palate, for dynasties the imperial kitchen had served delicacies fit for gods to the emperors and his imperial courts. There is one particular dish so special that it bears the name of the capital city- the peking duck.

U basically haven't experienced Beijing if u've never eaten our duck. There are a few chains who claim they serve the best, but i think i've found the answer.

大董烤鸭店 (Dadong Roast Duck)

I've never been a fan of roast duck or suckling pig cos it's too fatty. But i just had to try this Dadong Roast duck cos i've heard so much about it.

Get this ladies- it claims to be lower calories.

The duck meat was indeed very lean and flavourfull, and the skin is crispy with just the right amount of fat. they can be savoured in either thin popiah-like skin, or in these crispy little puffs...

And i've never seen so many condiments for roast duck before. There's spring onion, sweet sauce, ginger, bean paste, cucumber, radish, sugar and garlic!

I must say the combination is divine. The mix of flavours and textures blend so well. All for the price of not more than RMB 250 depending on the grades u choose. Les says it's better than Made-in-China, a restaurant in Hyatt that he supposedly thought served the best Peking Duck.

If u're STILL not a fan of duck, the restaurant also has an wide selection of intricate chinese fine dining to choose from. Here are the desserts we ordered...

Caramalised apple. It's served hot and sticky, so one must immediately separate the pieces and dip them in cold water so the caramel will harden. funky right?

And this is stewed persimmon with coconut milk, served cold like sorbet. Extremely refreshing.

One catch tho... Its hell to get a table. We went with a family of 3 (Uncle Joseph, Auntie Jasmine and Arnold)... Thankfully they were as eager to try the duck as i was, we waited almost 3 hrs in total. We actually had dinner somewhere else in between and came back to wait in line. super hardcore! and then AFTER getting a table, preparation takes another hr. So by the time we ate the duck, it was about 11pm and we were already stuffed by then. but the duck still tasted great, so it was worth the wait.

After that, still can bring the duck bone home to cook soup! Double YUMMY!!!

i give this duck 5 out of 5 stars. must try.

Our final weekends in Shanghai

Our days are numbered here. And that means, time to spend splurge on overpriced places we don't normally go!

So we were at Xintiandi's Ye Shanghai for brunch on Saturday. Turns out, is RMB 98 for a buffet dimsum, and the food was reallly yummy! The portions served were quite small, so it's good for 2 people.

Here's Sheng Jian Bao. Its like xiaolongbao but the skin is bready and panfried so the bottom is crispy. I think i shd change the blog name to loveshengjianbao.

This is friend yellow fish with black beans. I don't know if yellow fish is the same kuning that we eat with Nasi Lemak. It's very more-ish.

Lester looks slim here. Maybe he has slimmed down from working non-stop after the wedding.

For Sunday brunch, we were at SLICE.

This branch is quite far in Pudong, we were there cos we were enroute to try out a new church. The environment is very expat. At the back of me, there were people playing Cricket!! So it really doesn't feel like we're in Shanghai.

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Anyway, we've survived our first month as Mr and Mrs Ng!

Les just bought a new iPhone over the weekend. As usual, Apple products are not compatible with any other non-apple devices. Les couldn't transfer the phonebook over from his N95, he was manually punching in the data all weekend.

At one point, i went through his new list and asked, "Who's Stella Ng?" It was a sudden moment of cognitive dissonance.

Last night i was watching Desperate Housewives Season 4. Gabrielle Solis became Gabrielle Lange when she married the mayor Victor Lange, and then became Gabrielle Solis again when she re-married Carlos Solis . Bree Van Der Kamp became Bree Hodge when she married Benjamin Hodge. Susan Meyers became Susan Delfino when she married Mike Delfino.

So, i wonder if i'm the only one who has problems adjusting. Or maybe it only happens on TV shows, especially one called Desperate Housewives. I think adopting a new role is easy, but having a different identity is not.

Like who is Stella Ng? What's her story? what defines her except for the fact that she's married to an Ng, or that she used to be an Antakusuma. But i don't used to be an Antakusuma, I still am!

So for now, I am back to being Stella Antakusuma on Lester's phonebook, but then i also readily respond to Mrs Ng or 黄太太. =)

week round-up...

shanghai experienced its best and its worst last week, weather wise that is.

On thursday, Shanghai snowed. Actually it snowed a couple of times before but the snowflakes were really bigger this time. It was gorgeous... i was in wonderland. Everyone walking along the streets seem to have a smile plastered across their face... China is polite when it snows.

However, on fri, sat, sun, i also experienced some of the most dreary days in shanghai. The sky is gray, the roads are constantly flooded, our coats are always damp, and taxis are super hard to find.

STILL, it was a productive week, depending on how u define productive.

Travelling (Beijing)
I was in Beijing Mon-Tue on business. i was "lucky" enough to meet the coldest day of the year. Minus 10. Brrr...

Gossip Girl (MUST WATCH)
I watched the entire season of Gossip Girl, thanks to Vika's recommendation. I love love love it... Its like a never ending chick flick. Brainless, cute actors, nice clothes, cool music. All i can ask for... Its from the creators of OC, so tht means i'm gonna soon buy up 6 seasons of OC and watch them all.



FOOD (Tian Jia, Japanese)
U know a restaurant is there when there are only 2 items on the menu (like how In and Out only serves cheeseburger and hamburger). THere's tuna, and there's crab.

Left to Right, Otoro (fatty tuna belly), Meguro (fatless tuna, wht we are normally served), and Combo (combi of Otoro and Megur0). Its the freshest tuna shanghai will ever see.


There's also a special item on the menu, scorched tuna sushi... they heat up the Otoro with a torch in front of u and u eat it immediately. Yum.. *salivate*

380RMB per set, but it feeds 2 pax nicely. I will recommend this place to all sashimi lovers.


SHOPPING

I also got myself a new pair of shoes!! Loook! Its 4 inches high, i'm so gonna tower over les... But its OKAY, his confidence will match up to my heels i'm sure.

COOKING

Lester decided that he wants to bring the boys home for dinner. so i whipped up dinner with the wonderful help of kimsoon (he made all the delicious stuff i just made the mess).

Menu

1. Shepherd's pie
2. Chicken Wings
3. Butter Salted Veggies
4. Pasta Vongole**** (yum from kimsoon)
5. Grounded Mushroom soup
6. Sara Lee Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

What a great way to end off the week. =)

How to Eat Hairy Crabs....

I had this unstoppable craving for Hairy Crabs today. it's all i could think about after i had my lunch.. I love crabs, i love the process of eating crabs even more. I hate the pincers cos they are no challenge to eat. And I like to get into the legs and dig out the meat in one full sweep.

Lester was sweet enough to do the research and brought me to this place called Xiao Nan Guo so i could have my fill (if not i'll keep nagging about it). The restaurant is located quite near home, within the oldest hotel in Shanghai called the Ruijin Hotel. I need to gush about that place another day. Let me get back to crabs.


Now... unlike back home where crabs are served chopped up and ready to eat, Hairy Crabs are served whole. So u gotta know how to pull it apart to get the good stuff.


Top View of Crab

Front View of Crab - u gotta ignore the eyes. It bores into me and makes me guilty... NOT. Check out the hairy pincers, the black thing. Thts why its called Hairy Crab.



I wanted to take a picture with my pet Gary, Gary the Hairy...(inside joke with Ming Yen)

Step 1: Remove the Apron...Its basically that piece of flap on the underneath of the crab. It gets seriously gross at this point but just get over it by focusing on the roe...

Step 2: Remove the top shell... Roe Roe Roe...

Step 3: Remove the gills and start EATing the ROe! Basically after this step, u can eat it however u like. Leg first, body first, top shell first. Oh and remember to dip in vinegar!


As you can see. I am very willing to be unglamourous for the sake of hairy crabs.

Satisfaction guaranteed...

Last step, Wipe ur hands and mouth!