Imperial Prince @ O'Halloran Hill

There isn't really any good Chinese restaurants around my area so when a friend recommended this place as half decent I thought I'd try it out. Imperial Prince Chinese Restaurant is situated in O'Halloran Hill just after all the shops on Main South Road and before the BP petrol station. I was hoping to find myself a local takeaway or lazy night eatery. The decor was OK and the menu was what you would expect of a standard Chinese restaurant here. 

It does kind of look like an old house that has been converted. We were starving so this was probably our record time to ordering. First up: Shan tung Chicken with garlic and vinegar sauce. It was a bit of a worry when I ordered this and the waitress didn't know what it was and I had to point it to her on the menu and she told me no one has ever ordered that. Well, I hope the chef can still make it?! Shan Tung chicken is basically deep fried chicken which has been marinated in a chilli and ginger marinade. The skin was crispy and the meat still juicy and the vinegar based sauce was quite nice. I'm glad it wasn't a disappointment.

The Sizzling Chilli Beef was no where near spicy. Apart from the fumes being peppery it didn't actually taste spicy. It was tender beef in a nice sauce nonetheless. I thought it could have had more sauce.

We spotted Curry Fried Rice on the menu and had to try it. I was wondering if it's like Singapore noodles but a fried rice instead. It was actually really nice with peas, bean sprouts, shrimp and BBQ pork. I think I might try making curry fried rice at home from now on. 

Gourmet on Main @ Blackwood

One fine afternoon we decided to go to Gourmet on Main in Blackwood for a coffee. It's actually a gourmet and continental deli that also serves coffee and a few pastries. There's a counter with a few seats at the window facing outside and a long table in the middle of the shop. A little cramp but then again, it really isn't a cafe. 

My Chai Latte

The desserts on display were too tempting to pass up so I automatically went for the Chocolate and Hazenut Torte. It was all chocolate and nutty goodness. It was a beautiful soft texture and extremely yummy to gobble down. 

The Pear and Almond Tart was a also a delight to eat but it was a bit too sweet for myself. I know pear is naturally sweet and it was a beautiful tart with good shortcrust pastry.

Vietnam Restaurant @ Addison Road

Finally got round to editing my photos. For my birthday a month ago we went to Vietnam Restaurant on Addison Road, Pennington. This is only my second visit but both my visits have left a wonderful deep impression. It's one of those places that have everything; awards, cheap food, extremely tasty food, big variety on the menu and so on. Admittedly the decor inside doesn't look like much and it's always busy with tables quite close together. I noticed they have a high turnover of tables, business must be very good. Their wall is fill with newspaper clippings and awards from top to bottom.

We just had to order their specialties. Started off with Combination make your own cold rolls. It came with all the ingredients to make your own cold roll with sugarcane prawn balls and Vietnamese meatballs. Making rice paper rolls was quite an experience and can be a bit challenging at first as the rice paper is very sticky. It was all good fun and laughs though. I love cold rolls, I love how they have a nice fresh crunch. I always put extra coriander and mint in mine. Needless to say, the food there speaks for itself. It was delicious!

Make your own cold roll with Vietnamese meatballs, sugarcane prawns, rice vermicelli, mint, coriander,  pickled vegetables, lettuce and their special sauce.

Not long after their famous BBQ Quail arrived. The lemongrass and chilli marinade was beautiful and the meat so tender. I just loved it. It was spicy and sweet and juicy. Just char-grilled perfection.

Carl had to have his token salt and pepper dish so we ordered the Crispy Tofu with ginger and chilli. It was crispy, light and fresh to taste without that greasy feeling. 

Last but not least we had the Combination rice hotpot which was served in a claypot. Upon opening the lid the fragrance made me salivate instantly. The combination rice was really one melting pot of goodness consisting of chicken, BBQ pork, bamboo shoots, shiitake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, spring onions, lup cheong (Chinese sausage), shrimp and egg in this delicious soy based sauce.

What an amazing meal. Thank you Vietnam Restaurant for an amazing meal! It was definitely worth the travel.

Vietnam Restaurant

73 Addison Road

Penington 5013 SA

08-8447 3395

Ajisen Ramen visit 2

Hello hello. In the past 2 weeks we decided to dine at Ajisen Ramen once again, this time ordering a couple of other different things. The ramen was delicious as usual but the variants are just different toppings anyway. It's the same soup base. 

This time there were more of us so we ordered a few appetizers. Combination kushiyaki - beef, shiitake mushroom and chicken on skewers in yakitori sauce. It tasted okay and probably not worth the $8.50.

Enoki beef roll - Enoki mushrooms rolled in a slice of beef. It was okay but nothing fantastic. It kinda feels like there's too much enoki mushroom in each bunch so you get a bit of the sauce on the outside and it's bland on the inside.

This time Carl went for Curry Beef Ramen - Ramen served with beef egg and vegetables in a curry based soup. It was Japanese curry so it's really not spicy but it was given 2 chillies on the menu nonetheless. Thinking it was going to be slightly spicy, we asked for their "Super Spicy" Volcano sauce. I don't think it could even be a hot spring sauce but I know, spiciness is subjective. The Volcano sauce was nice but not really spicy. 

Curry beef ramen

Volcano sauce

I just went for Chasyu Ramen this time which is like the ordinary ramen but with extra pork slices, also served with egg and vegetables. I think they forgot to put vegetables in mine because I don't classify spring onions as vegetables. 

It's still a nice cheaper eat if you don't splurge on appetizers or sides. I'll come back when I have the urge for noodles again!


Ajisen Ramen
23 Leigh St
Adelaide, 5000
08-8410 2088

Mantra on King William

Not so long ago I had the pleasure of trying the degustation menu at Mantra on King William. Situated along one of the streets with many great restaurants, this renovated old house had somehow retained it's charm despite the modernization it had gone through. Having said that they had dark wood floors and timber antique inspired furniture. 

It was still somewhat light when we got there. We had a window seat and as the night got progressively darker it became difficult to take good pictures with my point and shoot. The night started off with a beautiful loaf of sourdough rye bread, and I say loaf because there was about 5 thick slices. Also compliments of the kitchen, was a spoonful of Salmon tatare with a bit of a crunch. What a nice way to start the meal. 

First course: Woodside goat's curd bubble, Mantra garden salad, candied beetroot & olive dust

It looked so pretty! An interesting choice of ingredients for the garden salad but oh so pretty with vibrant colours. The chef is certainly very artistic with his food. The goat's curd wasn't overpowering and there was an interesting range of textures in the garden salad. We also noticed his use of edible flowers as part of his dishes which became more apparent as we progress through the menu.

Second course: Milk poached pork belly, smoked eel brandade, mustard leaves and crackling

Amazing. The pork belly was cooked to perfection with beautiful flavour. The meat falls apart nicely. Once again presentation was top. The smoked eel brandade was interesting but I liked it. It's the first time I've tried it. It's like potato mash with mashed smoked eel, and herbs. 

Third course: Confit duck leg & savoy, foie gras tortellini with mushroom consomme

I always love duck. It either has to be peking duck style or confit so as you can tell I was looking forward to this dish. The shredded duck meat was inside the little cabbage parcel. It was tender but flavour didn't blow me away. As for the tortellini, the foie gras filling oozed out when cut so I quickly put the whole piece in my mouth. Very nice but very rich flavour. I must admit by this stage I was starting to feel a bit full.

Fourth course: 12 hour braised oxtail, celeriac, vichy carrots and eggplant

The braised oxtail was very tender and flavourful it just fell apart. I enjoyed the flavour and the meat but it was a very, very rich dish. I'm glad we had a degustation menu serve. I don't think I could eat it as a main meal. The carrots broke the richness up a bit but I was feeling very full after this dish.

Fifth course: Orange curd, passionfruit, raspberry fizz and mango

This was a really interesting dessert. It didn't look too appealing and the taste wasn't incredible or anything. The flavour was fine but I found the texture a bit weird and unappetizing. Nevertheless I needed the citrus to cut through the richness from the oxtail before.

Sixth course: Cave aged English cloth bound cheddar, apple infused balsamic, walnut crunch with lavosh biscuit

We finished off on a high with this beautiful cheese. All the flavours tied in together really well.

The head chef at Mantra is Tom Reid and he definitely displays his art when it comes to presentation however sometimes there's too much going on the plate. It was a great culinary experience and I believe this restaurant is fast getting it's name out there.

Mantra on King William

36 King William Road

Goodwood, 5034 SA

08-8377 7201

Fancy burger Blackwood

It's been a while since I visited Fancy Burger up at Blackwood. I remember their rosemary chips being amazing and their burgers extra tasty. I love walking into the burger joint! It's so vibrant with splashes of orange giving a completely modern and fun feel. Not to mention the drool-worthy aroma that makes your stomach growl instantly. This time around we opted for Fancy Hotdogs instead. Well let me say, the Fancy Hotdogs are just as fancy as the burgers.


We ordered the Wonder Dog - Butcher's choice sausage, fresh avodaco, cranberry sauce and caramelised onion. It was amazing. It was like a Christmas hot dog! Good sausage and you can never have too much caramelised onions! Sorry I couldn't get a picture of this. Someone was too hungry.....


Lucky dog was another great choice. A very tropical and summery feel, probably because of the pineapple. It had sausage, avocado, crispy bacon, grilled pineapple and herby mayo. I had to pry Mr. Hungry's hands away from the plate so I could take a quick snap!

I had the Smokin' Hot Dog - sausage, smoked chilli mayo, crispy bacon and cheddar cheese. Who on earth invented that smoked chilli mayo?! It is one of THE BEST sauces I've had. 

Of course we had to get a serve of chips. I love that they use rock salt and rosemary with their chips. Gives it an edge over ordinary chip shop chips. If you ask me though, could use a bit more rosemary. 

A fantastic burger joint but be prepared to pay more than McDonald's. You ARE getting quality meat and fresh ingredients. Even the bun tastes so nice I could the bun alone! I like, and I recommend. 


Fancy Burger
237 Main Road
Blackwood, 5051
08-8370 0388

Ying Chow

For my darling's birthday dinner with his friends this year he decided he wanted to go to Ying Chow as they have free BYO and everyone else seems to like that place. I've been there 3 times, and I must say, every time I've found the service average and the food extremely mediocre. Quite frankly, I should open a restaurant myself if they can have such good business. Firstly, we booked a table but still had to wait a good 20-30 minutes before we actually got a table. Service and decor aside, the food itself was ordinary. It makes me wonder why people queue to go there and why it's always so busy. Is it because of the free BYO? Or is it because there's no where else to go when it's late. I'd much rather go to Cafe Kowloon (which seems to have slipped a bit too). 

We ordered a few dishes to share and none of them really stood out. The Shallot pancakes were crispy but lacked that fragrance it should have. Mind you, I have also found the spring onions here are not as fragrant as the ones back home. Big and pretty, yes, fragrant, no.

As there were a number of us and we were incredibly hungry, I didn't take too many snaps. Nothing was really worth writing home about anyway. Having said that the Samosas were rather delicious. Very crispy with a nice curried potatoes filling. Other dishes ordered were E-Shand beef, stir fry prawn with snow peas, Vegetarian combination in claypot, Shanghai noodles, red vinegar pork ribs and aniseed tea duck. The red vinegar pork ribs was meant to be one of their signature dishes. While the flavour is commendable, the dish came out cold. In fact a few dishes were like that. Not piping hot like all Chinese food should be served.

The Aniseed Tea Duck was average. The sauce wasn't too bad and the duck was crispy skinned but it didn't really have any tea or aniseed flavour and the duck meat itself wasn't "ducky" enough. I don't know how else to say it. It just didn't have that meaty flavour a duck should have. Whether that's to do with the species of the duck they could source I'm not sure. 

Unfortunately this visit has confirmed my previous opinions on this place. Why it's still so popular is an absolute mystery to me. 

Ying Chow restaurant

114 Gouger St

Adelaide, 5000

08-8211 7998

Halloween part 2

Now on to the food part of halloween. For easiness sake we had make your own pizza with the wood oven at the back of the house but it was hard to keep an eye on the pizza because all the excitement was in front watching kids scream and laugh at the same time.

The wood oven

Pizza was delicious as usual and this time it was homemade bases which is the ONLY way to go. Anyway, when I was at the shops I found something interesting. Ghost Twisties!! Clearly a Halloween edition. Picked them up at Coles for $1 a pack.

Isn't it cute? Awwwww.......nom!

Halloween part 1

Hello everyone! I'm back. After a "long" 2 week break due to unavailability I have a backlog of content ready to share with you guys. I know, I know. Halloween was two weeks ago but I still want to share this. Not exactly food related but I was so impressed with the artistic work of my partner and his brother that I had to show the world. It was very impressive and probably the best I've seen so far around the neighbourhood.

Every Halloween Carl carves a pumpkin....except he might not be able to do it next year because hopefully we'll be on our honeymoon! Enjoy the snaps from that ghoulish night.

'Twas the day before halloween

Mum and Carl being a good sport

The candy table...grab some if you can. Muahahaha

When the night falls

The pumpkin glows

We decided to take a video tour of the Halloween Grotto to let you experience it with the sound effects. Check it out. Fantastic Halloween effort by the boys! Can you top this next year?