Tag: No Pork

A list of restaurants in my blog that is considered to contain no pork to the best of my knowledge

Sate Kelinci Pak Sapri

Rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7/10

Price: $2 – $2.5 per plate

Place: 7/10

Review:

This week, we will take you to a typical Indonesian restaurant with a pretty unusual (for some people) ingredient. Sate Kelinci Pak Sapri is a restaurant specialises in rabbit satay. Great-tasting restaurants in Indonesia have predominantly one champion dish with some other dishes that people rarely ordered.

As expected, the first ten items in their menu are all about satay and all of its variation. However, since it took a while to grill them, the first two that came was ‘Gule Kelinci’ and ‘Paha Kelinci Goreng’. ‘Gule Kelinci’ is a soup-based, curry-like dish that was a bit spicy and quite bone-full. ‘Paha Kelinci Goreng’ (deep fried rabbit’s thigh) on the other hand was quite yummy and perfectly accompanied by the pickles and tomatoes on sweet soy sauce.

Now comes the rabbit satay. The regular ‘Sate Kelinci’ came with the usual peanut and sweet soy sauce, with a side of pickles. Rabbit meat is considered a white meat, so it tasted quite close to chicken, although some claimed to be healthier. The second one was a variation of it, Sate Kelinci Barbeque. So, instead of the peanut sauce, they were soaked with pre-made barbecue sauce. It is definitely quite an interesting combo, but I still like the regular one.

The next two items weren’t on the menu but we know it’s there, because we asked them. The first one was Karedok. Karedok is a kind of vegetable salad with peanut and garlic sauce. It is a dish originated from West Java and you could pretty much find it in any traditional restaurants. The second one is called Otak-otak. It is a grilled fish cake wrapped in banana leaf. They are enjoyed with spicy peanut sauce. Otak-otak is a pretty interesting dish because it’s soft and charry with a rich peanut sauce taste.

The final verdict for Sate Kelinci Pak Sapri

Sate Kelinci Pak Sapri gave us an authentic lesehan experience with a nice and affordable serving of satay. This might not be the restaurant for rabbit lovers, or people allergic to peanuts, because there are plenty of them.

Did you know?

There are quite a few of ‘Sate Kelinci’ restaurants on the way to Lembang. However, we picked Sate Kelinci Pak Sapri restaurant because it has a pretty spacious parking and the restaurant looked pretty presentable. This restaurant is pretty un-miss-able because it is located at a right bend of the road.

You can either enjoy your meal the normal table and chair way, or ‘lesehan’. ‘Lesehan’ is when you enjoy food in a restaurant where you sit on the floor/mat-covered floor, instead of sitting on the chair. I always choose lesehan, because it creates a sense of informality.

Details:

Jalan Raya Lembang, West Java, Indonesia

Aug 26, 2013
Fish Shack Manly

Rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7/10

Price: $15-$32 per person

Place: 7/10

Review:

This week we go to a relatively new shop in Manly, called Fish Shack. We came across the shop as we strolled around Manly beach. I was particularly interested in their worn-out beach shack setting.

It was lunch time when we came and the restaurant was fairly buzzing, there were some people outside waiting for their takeaway orders (another give away that it should be a good restaurant!).

We only ordered two share items on the menu. The first one was Fisherman’s basket for two. At $32 a dish, I think it was a good deal, considering you get all of these stuffs (2 each of prawn cutlets, crumbed calamari, fillets of market fresh fish, fresh oysters, large chips, lemon, tartare). The oysters looked a bit out of place, but the rest was fantastic, especially the chips. We couldn’t get enough of the chips. They were perfectly cooked! There was that very crunchy bits on the outside with very soft potato inside.

Our other dish was Bucket of crisp fried soft shell crab, lime aioli. It was quite pricey ($18) when compared with Fish Shack’s fish and chips ($15). There was a hint of spicey, peppery taste on the soft shell crab and quite sour aioli.

The final verdict for Fish Shack Manly

One review I read about Fish Shack recommended us to stick with the fish and chips (and I fully agreed with her!). Their fish and chips were very nice and fresh.

Did you know?

Fish Shack’s take away menu is far cheaper than their restaurant menu. We actually were interested to try because we saw a seafood basket of $20.

Details:

33 South Steyne, Manly 2095

+61 2 9976 3886

Fish Shack Manly on Facebook

Aug 7, 2013
Ahmet’s Licensed Turkish Restaurant

Rating:

7 / 10

Taste: 7/10

Price: $46 per person

Place: 7.5/10

Review:

Welcome to my first review on Brisbane’s restaurant. I was lucky that I stayed in South Bank, a suburb known for its restaurants. It is also my first review on Turkish restaurant. The restaurant is simply known as Ahmet’s.

Since we didn’t quite know what to order, we’ve decided to order Ahmet’s King Feast (whoa!! Such a grand name, eh?). Ahmet’s King Feast is an 8-course share plates for the whole table (I list the food descriptions at the very end). Interestingly, you don’t need to order with the number of people on the table. I suggest you only order four when you come with a group of five (they are massive!!!). Let’s get the show on the road…

I am glad they decided to bring freshly baked Turkish bread & Turkish garlic bread served with dips (eggplant and hommus) as the first one as we were quite hungry then. The second was Kisir. It was very spicy for my taste and I am not sure where the spicy taste came from as the ingredients were only bulgur, parsley, tomato on a lettuce.

According to the menu, the third one was Ege Bogrek. They were deep fried cheese balls with sour cream on the side. Another quite filling dish (my tummy was quickly filling up just on the third dish!). Luckily the fourth was a simple Falafel with Hommus. Another type of carbs comes in for the fifth dish, Kiymali Pide! At this stage, some of us have already started feeling the pressure and it wasn’t even the main dish.

After waiting quite a long time with tummy almost at a capacity, the main course arrives. It was Mixed Grill Platter (a massive one!!) with Yesil Salad on the side. There were five kinds of grill on this one and they were all cooked perfectly!

Last, but not least, we have a petite dessert of Turkish Delight. Obviously a lot smoother than the ones you bought at the supermarket, but didn’t taste more special.

The final verdict for Ahmet’s Turkish Restaurant

Phew! That would be the first word we said at the end of the day at Ahmet’s. We were indulged by the grandeur of Ahmet’s King Feast and for a price that won’t drain your pocket!

Details:

Shop 10 / 168 Grey Street, South Bank, Brisbane

07 3846 6699

http://www.ahmets.com/

Descriptions:

Kisir – Bulgur, Parsley & tomato wrapped in lettuce

Ege Bogrek – Filo Pastry hand rolled with three cheeses, parsley, shallots & dill

Kiymali Pide – Turkish pizza with lamb mince, tomato, onion, parsley, red capsicum, green chilli, sweet chilli & garlic

Yesil Salad – Green leaf, tomato, Spanish onion, cucumber, parsley, sumac, fetta and lemon dressing

Mixed grill platter – Lamb cutlets, prawns, chicken, lamb & adana skewers

Jul 4, 2013
Oven-Baked Avocado and Egg
My wife got this dead-simple recipe from somewhere on the net (apology for forgetting the link – I’ll update it here when I found it again).

It will only take around five minutes of preparation time and you can leave it until it is cooked 15 minutes later.

Let me repeat myself: it’s easy, it’s fast, and it’s super yummy!

So what do we need for making this Avocado and Egg?
1. Avocado – it’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?
2. Egg
3. Salt
4. Pepper
5. Garlic Granules
How do we make this Avocado and Egg?
1. Pre-heat oven to 200^o Celcius. The term pre-heat means you leave it on for around 5 minutes in that temperature before you put in your avocado.
2. Cut the avocado in half
3. Throw away its seed (not really edible!).
4. Crack open the egg on the avocado concave (it’s the hole left by the seed).
5. Sprinkle salt, pepper and garlic granules with a combination of your liking.
6. Put it in oven for 15 minutes on a fan-forced oven. This time frame might vary depending on the oven’s power.
A little tips to make a perfect avocado and egg?
1. Scoop a bit of its meat out if your avocado is too small as the egg whites would overflow.
2. Leave it a bit longer if you want your egg to be well-cooked – I strongly advise against this as I’d rather see a gooey egg yolk.
Oven-baked Avocado and Egg

Did you know?

In Indonesia, avocado is rarely used as a savoury dish like salad and we don’t even eat it as a fruit. Indonesians love to make what we called Avocado Juice. It’s essentially an Avocado milkshake with a sprinkle of chocolate and/or condensed chocolate milk. The variance to that is avocado milk shake with sweet coffee syrup.

Another typical Indonesian dish with avocado was something called ‘Es Teler‘ (literally translated into Drunk Ice). Es teler is a shaved ice and condensed milk with a combination of fruits such as coconut, jack fruit, and avocado (cubed).

For more recipe by All About Food blog, please check out our small (but growing) section of recipe.
Jun 14, 2013
Restoran Sederhana – Masakan Padang

Rating:

7 / 10 Taste: 7/10
Price: Rp 10k – Rp 35k per plate
Place: 7/10

Review:

Let’s kick off our holiday reviews with this uniquely Indonesian restaurant, Restoran Sederhana. This restaurant is now a well-known franchise throughout Indonesia and each restaurant has a pretty similar dishes. They serve ‘Masakan Padang’ (Padang-style) which originates from Sumatera and is known for its distinct spices that are almost curry-like (they called it ‘gulai’). I should probably tell you how the restaurant works first.

As soon as you sit on your table, there will be people coming over to your table delivering all kinds of things, like rice, various dishes, hot tea, even desserts. Your table would end up like the picture below.

‘It’s shocking!’ might be the usual response for first-timer, because within minutes all kinds of dishes are ready in front of you. You don’t need to be afraid as you are not obliged to buy all of them. The way it works was that you eat what you want to eat and leave the ones you don’t eat untouched (except for the purpose of moving the plates around).

The two dishes I loved in this place are Gulai sotong (Curry of Whole Squid) and Gulai kikil (kikil is a meat between cow’s hoof and leg). I would never miss either of them whenever I visit a restaurant with Masakan Padang. In a decent restaurant, the squid should be easily shredded and not chewy, the same goes with the kikil.

They have quite a few vegetable selections, like the hot and spicy potato and eggplant, quite a few seafood and chicken options. I think it’s better to refer you to Wikipedia for the relatively complete list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padang_food.

If you can read Indonesians, there are literally dozens other dishes on the menu and you can order like you normally would in a restaurant. I would suggest Sate Padang (Skewers of meat with special Padang-style sauce) with rice cakes. There is also the infamous Ayam Pop (not a big fan, personally), it’s a pale-coloured chicken that is said to be boiled, then fried. If you feel a bit more adventurous, perhaps you can try its Gulai Kepala Ikan (Fish Head Curry). I really love it but it gets too expensive to my liking.

You might then be compelled to ask ‘What about hygiene and stuff?’… well, if you have ever eaten from a buffet bar, I can’t see the difference.

The final verdict for Restoran Sederhana

The best thing about Restoran Sederhana is its uniformity. It can deliver delicious Padang dishes in all of its restaurants. It also features a unique presentation in which all dishes are displayed in front of you.

Did you know?

For those of you Indonesian readers, I suggest you read this article about the founder of Rumah Makan Sederhana. I think it’s pretty inspiring in his will to continue on and say no to giving up!

Restoran Sederhana in Indonesian means a simple/humble restaurant. It might be true 30 years ago, but I think it’s more for middle (or even mid-upper) class people.

Details:

Multiple Locations

We went to the one on the highway rest area between Jakarta and Bandung.

May 31, 2013
Deep Fried Meatballs Recipe
I have been pondering about this for a while and I have decided to add a section in All About Food Blog dedicated to recipe. For my first post on recipe, I’ve decided to write about Deep Fried Meatballs. I actually got this recipe from the back of a premix flour and I know it’s not the ‘proper’ way to write a recipe, but I think it’s a good start. I am also not a chef, so the writing can be quite unorthodox.

We altered the recipe slightly to substitute Mackarel fish with Basa fish. I guess you can substitute the meat from the list of ingredients to whatever you like as long as you have the right weight for each.

So, what do we need for making this Deep Fried Meatballs?
1. 1 Litre Canola/Sunflower Oil
2. NILASARI Premix Bakso Goreng
3. 125gr Fresh Prawn
4. 125gr Fresh Basa Fish
5. 250gr Chicken Thigh Fillet
6. 2 Eggs
7. 35cc Water
How do we cook the Deep Fried Meatballs?

1. Blend all the meat together. You could use either a hand blender or a conventional one.

2. Further mix eggs, the premix, and water into the blend. The instruction specifies you to mix with hand mixer for this stage.

3. Prepare a wok filled with cold oil.

4. Dust your palms with any kind of flour. This will help prevent stickiness for the next stage.

5. Spoon out the blended dough and create a dough roll with your fingers.

6. Immerse the roll you have created into the oil prepared in step three.

7. Bring the wok to a low heat and fry the meatballs until golden brown.

8. You might want to lower the heat a little bit for your second batch as it would cook a lot quicker.

Some tips to make the perfect deep fried meatballs

First tip: Do not stuff the wok with too many meatballs

A bit of advice from a friend: If your meatballs shrink after you take it off the wok, it means you haven’t cooked them long enough.

Another tip for you: To reach the perfect golden brown, you need around 15 minutes of frying time.

Deep Fried Meatballs

What’s in the premix?

The box stated that for every 250 gr of the premix, it consisted of Tapioca Flour, Wheat Flour, Chicken Flavour, pepper and salt.
Mar 19, 2013