Crazieapple is back and reviewing: Carousel (Melbourne)

 Being single and beautiful means you'll get asked out for dates a lot. (Just kidding!! =P)

 Having the privilege of studying in Aussie means having the opportunity of having a nice sceneric view while having breakfast/lunch, enjoying the breeze, having a beer, chilling out with your date mates.

Carousel, a modern and stylish cafe, is situated in the perfect location, overlooking the serene Alberk Park Lake. Nothing about this cafe doens't scream "Perfect date place!!!" (well, unless you're going out with a date from hell)

The cafe offers an all day breakfast, lunch or even snack. The outdoor deck where we sat on is almost the perfect spot one could get. The pic below is what i eat my lunch to:

. 

 

J-E-A-L-O-U-S already? hehe 

One of the reason why i haven't been updating Augustdiners (apart from being lazy), is because i lost my camera in an unfortunate event.. =( unless you guys wanna hurt your eyes with bad quality food photos, i'll be updating alot less frequent, and try to leech on Chowvi's pro DSL.. hehe

Pics from this post are by courtesy of Chowvi:

Testing out my professional photo-taking skills.. i would say i'm doing a pretty good job!! haha make him look so cool rightt?? haha (he's actually quite lame in real life!! hahahahaha JK!)

 Chow's Duck Pie with a salad of roated celeriac, toasted hazelnuts, beetroot, frisee, rocket, radicchio and quince vinegar dressing

 When i asked, his verdict was: "Very Good!! Different from normal pies.. Best eaten while listening to the song below:"

Duck Sauce - Barbra Streisand

Erm... yea.. told you my friend is weird.. -.-''

Moving on to my meal,

Sparkling water for a start and double latte for the weirdo.. haha

I need to cut down on my caffeine intakes whenever i can afford to, since it's exam period.. I should let my body off on caffeine on weekends..

 

I ordered the infamous Carousel Burger, consist of beef hamburger, cheddar, caramelized onion, bacon, butter lettuce, tomato, fried egg, pesto aioli, garden salad and pickles. The combination of all the ingredients is like a burst of all heavenly flavour; the sinful greasy bacon, cheese, with a mix of salad n pickles.. It was messy to eat but nonetheless, a favourite pick!! Love how the hamburger doesn't taste too processed (much like McDs). Not recommended for girls on a date, not a pretty sight eating this!! hehe

This is definitely a recommended choice to those who wants for pay carousel a visit!!

 

 

Time to whip out your sunnies!! 

Happy and Satisfied Patrons

After meal, i conveniently took out my lecture notes and started revising there.. We don't wanna waste no nice weather, keeping myself at home and rot with my books, do we? hehe

Oh, and a lil' beer doesn't hurt right?? =)

Surprisingly much more productive because someone confiscated my phone and refused to talk to me.. When there's no other distractions to turn to, you'll automatically turn to your books.. haha

Chow's very artistic (konon-nye) shot. For more of his "arts", you can check out

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chowvi/

I loved everything about Carousel on this beautiful day!! The sun, the breeze, the food is superb, perfect view to cleanse your eyes, friendly (not to mention hot ) waiter... Definitely a hot spot to hang out!!

Ratings:

Food: 8/10 

(unfortunately, i heard the breakfast was nothing to rave about)

Service: 8/10 

(cashier even addressed Chow by his surname when he paid the bills: "thank you Mr Thian". Doesn't this kinda service normally happen in Business classes?)

Ambience:10/10

(nothing to complain unless it rains and ruin the sceneric)

Overall: 8.5/10

Carousel

22 Aughtie Drive
Albert Park Lake VIC 3205
(03) 8646 6000

Ms. Jazz Reviews: The Hill @ Damansara Heights

Malaysians are like that, admittedly when it comes to drinking places, most often people tend to follow the hype. (ADMIT IT MALAYSIANS, we have always been the trend follower rather than the setter!) At one point it was Ecoba @ PJ trade center where people crowded together especially during Monday for it's centurion challenge. I've always felt, while it was relatively easy to draw crowds to drinking place, it is often difficult to retain the crowd. My question is, how long can this last?

It was to no doubt that the newest member admist the Damansara heights F&B scene, The HILLS @ Damansara Heights will be the next favourite hangout place for people who is out for some relaxing time with friends, be it happy hour, or happily drunk hours. Already there are several celebrations and weddings lining up in their reservation list. With the mix of good ambiance and convenience, i can forsee that this particular establishment will hit the home run and is there to stay for many years to come.

Behind the scene are the pioneer of the ever so popular Tom, Dick and Harry also known as TDH @ TTDI. Having experience already in this industry, they are now converting an old bungalow building to a 3-in-1 restaurant, whisky bar, and alfresco drinking place which looks amazing. The setup of the restaurant emphasize the use of recycled materials and 2nd hand furnitures. Who says getting them cheap necessary means looking cheap. With the careful play with the gradient of existing slope on the bungalow, and using raw trees and used glass frames, THE HILLS manage to segregate with sections into different mode altogther and its looking very chic indeed. Currently it was still at its initial set-up so only drinks and finger food was served, we braced for a hiccup in their operation given that it was only 2 days since their official launch, but there wasn't any. Servers were friendly, and efficient enough.

Some section like these has a really nice view overlooking the quiet elite neighbourhood.

There's already a steady flow of customers, and a popular place for happy hour. I was told that for every pint of beer you ordered, you get half a pint free, happy hour starts at 4pm

There is a good range of draught beer, be it ale or cider. Most of them is the usual offerings of carlsbery, stella, frazishaner but they have LEFFE BRUNE for draught!Woohoo! a great lover to most man and a change from the usual HOEGAARDEN don't you think? For normal hours, prices are slightly higher than the offerings in the vicinity with one pint of Stella being RM34 and half a pint Leffe RM18

For a more girlie drink, there is a good range of cocktails served in a creative way. I had a watermelon slush (RM40), a refreshing drink that was surprisingly quite potent in alkie content.

This is suitable for sharing since i couldnt finish mine (only because i'm more a beer drinker than cocktails)

Mr. B is finally back in the scene with his macho drink *ahem*

I was FAMISHED. Haven't had dinner as our Happy Hour dragged on longer than expected. I settled for some fish fingers and flavoured fries. The simple bar food served in no frills small bucket.

Try their flavoured fries, its yummy! We were given a choice of onion or wasabi dipping, but we demanded for both. =)

One of the owner, Roen served us complimentary PATRON coffee liquer, it was delicious! Gonna stock this up in my bar at home.

Finishing off with more beers (who's complaining)

The dining scene in this area seems to be picking up, will it be the new changkat? Let's see.
I'm looking forward to the opening of their restaurant, envisioning myself having a full blown 3 hours happy hour before heading upstairs for some proper food and wine.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Hill

23, Lorong Dungun

Damansara Height

(Just down the street from Jarrod & Rawlins and Courtyard)

Tel: 016-2291505

Crazieapple Reviews: Kobe Jones (Melbourne)

Kobe Jones is an option of Japanese food if you prefer a more modern take with innovative dishes and unique tastes. The extensive menu offers a wide range of options including a selection of Kobe Jones signature dishes which are an absolute must.

Prepare to salivate as you scroll down: (Don't say i didn't warn you!! hehe)

Sashimi Platter- chef's selection of sashimi inclusive of kingfish, yellow tail, oyster, scallop, salmon, snapper.

This platter of sashimi was fresh and melts in your mouth.. If only it wasn't 64aud, i'd gobble down the entire platter to myself!!! Too Heavenly~~ ♥ ♥ ♥

 

NUMBER ONE SPECIAL- 21aud

two pieces of crab salad with avocado wrapped in kingfish and baked with our secret sauce 

(additional pieces 10.0 each) 

I know, i know.. The price is ridiculous. 10 aud for one fish-ball sized dish?? Who are they kidding?

But the rich creamy special sauce was explosively scrumptious, the ball just burst in your mouth and you jizz in your pants. That's scientifically proven!! I wanna know what's in their DAMN SECRET SAUCE!!!! Better ask Nooei for secret recipe since he used to work there.. =P

Wagyu Tenderloin Tataki - 39aud
seared and chilled, served rare with garlic, ginger and ponzu sauce.

The beef was lightly seared on the outside, left very rare inside, thinly sliced and drizzled with a citrus soy sauce. Texture was perfecto!!! Too Sensational...

Green Tea Salmon (32 aud) 

warmed six hour cold smoked seared smoke salmon, marinated in green tea, served with nori cream and wasabi mash

It was a pretty ordinary dish as the salmon has little (almost none) green tea taste.. but wasabi mash was quite interesting..

Baked Dynamite Scallops- 33aud 

Spicy Hot! Scallops baked on a bed of rice in Kobe Jones secret sauce with fresh chili sauce and sprinkled with tuna flakes

Photos might not do justice to this dish. It look like some messed up pile of crap.. But it's far from the truth.. It was an explosion of flavor, sweet secret sauce with a fiery burst in your mouth. It was flavorful and addictive really..

Spider Roll- 31 aud

Cruncy soft shell crab with avocado, crab salad and cucumber with smelt roe sprinkle

Super California Roll- 27 aud

Tamago, crab salad, avocado and cucumber roll, layered unagi and smell roe

Love their sushi, fresh and rich in flavor. 

It's important how the sauce does not outshine the taste of sushi itself, which is in my opinion, how a good sushi should be. Dont you reckon? I'd be damned to eat a soggy sushi filled with taste of the sauce. It's almost as good as eating soy sauce congee..

Tenderloin Amiyaki grilled ansd sliced, served with wasabi mash, stir fried capsicum and amiyaki sauce.

 The meat is tender and soft, medium cooked. It's almost a perfection until you look at the price- 41aud. FML.. Good things in life do come with extortionate price, dont they?? Paid 41dollars for something that wasn't even a quarter filling..

Next up,

Dynamite Roll- 21aud

Almost similar with the baked dynamite scallop with same sauce plus extra mayo. The sauce was so addictive that the boys took over the leftover sauce for their plain rice..

Happy Belated Birthday Matt!! Happy Sweet 16!! (still 16 after 5 years... -.-)

My gluttony love ♥

Group picture of the satisfied diners 

It's not my first time visiting Kobe Jones. And despite most of the reviews that are not favouring this restaurant, Kobe Jones has never disappointed me before.. Love the ambience, service might not be perfect but it was good. I mean, who wouldn't wanna please a party of 12 with the total bill of up to 1k aud!! haha

Ratings:

Food: 8.5/10

 Ambience: 7/10

Service: 6.5/10

Overall: 8/10

(If you have extra money to splurge at the end of the month, or that extra weight in your wallet is your excess baggage you wanna get rid of, this is the place to go!! hehe)

Ms. Jazz Reviews: Yuzu @ The Gardens

I wouldn’t say I’m very particular with Japanese food. Normally I’d be happy to satisfy my Japanese cravings at RAKUZEN that serves substantial choices at a fair price. But sadly their quality has somewhat deteriorate and service is no longer at par.

When YJ told me that YUZU has changed its menu, I was excited. YUZU has all these while been praised for its innovative menu and quality food; the only hiccup is prices are slightly steep comparing with other Japanese outlets at the mall.

Tucked in a secluded area of Gardens, next to Pappa Rich, YUZU occupies a large space and surprisingly despite being a weekday, the restaurant was almost crowded. Surely that is a good sign?

The interior has not changed much, a comfortable setting with the heavy use of woods and bamboos, with Japanese elements such as kimonos, sake bottles as a décor. The clever use of odd corners allows diners to enjoy private dinner in the semi-enclave spaces.

We were enticed over the colorful and appealing food pictures in the menu, can’t help but to go “gaga” over some of them. Having to read a lot from foodies on their set menus, we decided to take a different route and head for ala carte, only because we were two very greedy girls and wanted to try more varieties! After careful minutes of debating on our orders before we compromise on a few choice of everything!

For starters we went with Chutoro Sashimi (RM120) comprising of 5 tiny albeit thick slices of medium grade tuna belly, presented on a bed of ice. We were dissapointed as the tuna belly was not thawed properly hence the texture slightly frozen. A good chutoro (in my opinion) is marbled with thin line of fats giving it a melt in your mouth sensation. Clearly something is missing here.

Under the "Special Sushi" section, is the President Roll (RM68) filled with some of my favourite ingredients of wagyu, foie gras, tuna belly, avocado layered with chicken floss. It was a creative dish, and i was curious how these ingredients will go together in flavours.
The servings was HUGE, and definitely not bite size so i wasnt able to devour all ingredients at one go. Having to eat them eperately because all the ingredients were scattered, the flavours was ordinary but nevertheless i enjoyed it.

Yuzu volcano roll (RM45) was an afterthought, when we saw the chef serving this dish to the table next to us, and we thought, by golly gosh.. how pretty it looks and were tempted to order, and order we did.
Turns out to be a right decision. Just like its name, the presentation and taste of this sushi rolls resembles a volcano eruption whereby the baked seafood roll was toppled with generous amount of their special sauce mix of what suspect to be mayonaise and chilli sauce. Comment from YJ that while the sauce complements each other, the amount that was heaped on the sushi can be quite overwhelming after a few bites.

We were contemplating with the several options of beef available, there was choice of kobe steak and various wagyu cuts. In the end we settled for Wagyu Ishiyaki (RM55), Stone Grilled japanese beef with level of doneness to be medium. The beef while not being extremely tender, was pretty satisfying considering the price was quite reasonable. Simple marination and was well seasoned.

Foie Gras Butter Saute (RM120) was a must must order because we were given 100GM worth of them and there's no complaining about having too much foie gras, you know?
Out came 4 large pieces of foie gras, all stacked on top of each other. Hiding underneath all the glorious treat is the crumbled mashed potato, which we didnt touch since it pretty much soaked up all the oil of the foie gras making it quite difficult to enjoy. But Foie gras ohhh foie gras... how lovely you are, if only less oily :)

Ikura Chawan Mushi (RM18), where the combination of Ikura and the silky egg works well together. Sometimes simple does not mean ordinary.

When i saw Special Yuzu dessert (RM50) on the menu, i was delighted with the pictures. While there was nothing special about a simple arrangement of mixed fruit, macha cake, and ice cream, what is note-worthy is the homemade coconut ice-cream which was packed with intense creamy coconut flavours. The macha cake however was a bit parched and the dessert definitely does not worth an exorcist of RM50

If you want to taste something different, there is the Macha Coffee (RM18). The coffee was not brewed with green tea coffee bean *roll eyes at YJ* but assembled with bottom layer of coffee with another layer of what is suspected as green tea powder mixed with milk subsequently topped up with whipped cream.

Atsukan Sake (RM24) per serving, served warm

Our bill came up to RM600 between two

Ratings:

Food: 7/10

(one of the better japanese restaurant in town, probably wont be there for foie gras on a regular basis, but their sushis, and bentos are quite reasonably priced, dont worry you'll still have a satisfying meal under RM50 per pax!)

Service: 5/10

(Servers were not particularly friendly but efficient enough)

Ambience: 7/10

(comfortable without being too rigid)

Presentation of food: 7.5/10

Overall: 6.5/10

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YUZU Japanese Restaurant

T236, 3rd Floor

The Gardens

Mid Valley City

Tel: 03-2284 7663