Streetside Desserts in Hanoi

Posted on Jun. 13 in General with 6 comments

K and I have a habit of joining any queue of locals that we see on our travels. Is there a queue winding around a street and no one can explain what it’s for? We’ll join it, and see where it takes us. Luckily, it hasn’t really failed us yet and we’ve been able to try some amazing food because of it!

On one of those occasions, we lined up to try some chè made by a lady on the side of the road in the Hanoi Old Quarter. With one pot full of lotus paste rice, and other pots full of sweet puddings and soups, she was making soupy desserts on demand for passerbys who ate it sitting on little stools in front of her.

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With some miming and pointing (with the associated giggling from those nearby), K and I managed to get ourselves a bowl of the lotus rice with a sweet ginger soup, and a bowl with a red bean soup. They were absolutely heavenly, and just large enough to fill that little hole in your stomach that only exists at around 4pm.

It was probably made just that little bit tastier and satisfying knowing that it had been cooked up in her kitchen at home, and we were eating someone’s genuine home cooking. That’s what I love most about travel – really taking the effort to eat where the locals eat to ensure that you’re having as authentic experience as possible.

How do you ensure you have an authentic experience when you travel?

Review: Soda Rock Cafe, South Yarra

Posted on Jun. 07 in Reviews with 1 comment

In my last two years of high school, I went through a phase where I only watched old films that were made before the 1960s. I had posters of James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn stuck up over my walls. I considered Katharine Hepburn and Grace Kelly my style icons and wanted to date Cary Grant.

As part of that phase, I embraced old rock’n'roll music, drive-in movies and fast food diners with waitresses in pinstriped shirts. The iconic Soda Rock Cafe in South Yarra was my dining establishment of choice. Ten years after my flirtation with retro, the Soda Rock Cafe is still welcoming retro-inspired diners through its doors every day. In my recent month long stay in Melbourne post-family tragedy, I dropped in for a meal with my younger brother, for old times sake.

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The King dominates Soda Rock Cafe

As soon as you walk into the diner, you’re greeted by a life-size model of the King himself, Elvis Presley. With sweet fifties rock’n'roll tunes cranking in the background, and the service staff dressed in crisp white uniforms, you almost feel like you’ve stepped back in time – perhaps dressed in a poodle skirt with bobby socks!

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Chocolate flavoured Coke and lime flavoured Coke – $3.50 each.

My brother opted for the chocolate flavoured Coke, and I tried the lime flavoured Coke. The chocolate Coke was surprisingly creamy, though with the characteristic Coke fizz – not unlike a Chocolate Spider! The lime flavoured Coke was super refreshing with a nice level of sweet tartness – not unlike a fizzy lime cordial.

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Big Bopper Burger – Beef patty, streaky bacon, egg, tasty cheese, grilled onion, lettuce, tomato, beetroot, pickles, mayonnaise and ketchup – $10.95 burger, or $17.50 for a combo with chips and a soft drink

After examining the list of burgers, sandwiches and other mains available, I decided that it was pointless to pretend that I was even vaguely interested in any of the other offerings – I was fated to get the Big Bopper. Bacon? Egg? Grilled Onion? Pickles? They are pretty much my only requirements for the burger from heaven, so it was really the only choice for me!

It was a heavenly burger – the bacon was nearly fried to a crisp which is the only way to eat bacon, and the grilled onion was thickly sliced which is much better than those wimpy thin slices you get with other burgers. The only downside from my point of view was the beetroot that was included – it’s not my favourite vegetable (I say, as crowds of Australians around the country cry out in protest at this display of anti-patriotism).

Unfortunately, the chips weren’t as crispy as I tend to prefer. While the small chips were crispy, the bigger chips could definitely have benefited from a longer relationship with the deep fryer, as they were quite soft in the middle!

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Chicken Burger – grilled whole breast fillet, marinated in our diner original recipe, with lettuce, tomato & mayonnaise. $10.95 burger, or $17.50 for a combo with chips and a soft drink

My more eminently more responsible younger brother chose the chicken burger, which was marketed on the menu as the choice for more health-conscious diners. I tried a bite of this burger, and found the chicken to be well marinated with a tangy spicy sauce. Unfortunately, it was a bit too over-grilled for my liking and the meat too dry on the inside.

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Rocky Road Sundae – extra creamy vanilla ice-cream topped with marshmallows, nuts and hot chocolate fudge, $10.95

An old-fashioned ice-cream sundae is the first thing that many people think about when it comes to a retro diner like this – can’t you just imagine being perched on a high stool at the bar with the high school football star, sharing a sundae and hoping that he would be your guy, and you would be his best gal? Or is it just me who’s slightly delusional and lives in a fantasy world?

Anyway, sharing a sundae with my younger brother was a far cry from my fantasy, but the dessert itself was more than worthwhile – the hot, sticky, sweet fudge was just heavenly with the super creamy ice-cream. The marshmallows were plentiful, though I could have done with more chopped peanuts overall.

Overall, I rate Soda Rock Cafe a 7 out of 10. It earns its points mainly on the excellence of its funky old-style drinks and desserts, and trendy retro atmosphere – it really takes you back to (what I imagine to be) a simpler time. You can almost feel your cares and worries slip away as you enter the diner!

Soda Rock Diner on Urbanspoon

Recipe: Make It Up Salad

Posted on Jun. 03 in Recipes with 3 comments

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As much as I enjoy meal planning a week in advance, I also enjoy planning to have leftovers and coming up with new meals on the fly! A few weeks ago, I created what I call a “make it up salad” – a salad that you make up on the spot with whatever you have on hand across four salad food groups. For this particular version, I used:

Ingredients

Cous cous, chickpeas, coriander, avocado, roast pork, assorted pickles.

Method

  1. Start off with your ‘filling’ carb element. I find it hard to feel satisfied with a green leafy salad as I get hungry again within an hour, but a hearty salad with a carb component always hits the spot. In this case, I used a cup of cooked cous cous, and a can of chickpeas.  Other alternatives: lentils, vermicelli noodles, pasta, etc.
  2. For energy, add protein. I used some leftover roast pork that I had in the fridge, sliced into thin strips. Other alternatives: shredded BBQ chicken, ham, turkey, seared lamb strips, etc.
  3. For health, add fruit or vegetables. I used an avocado and half a jar of leftover pickled vegetables (again, using up what’s left). I also toyed with the idea of adding some fruit like a diced pear which can be great in salads, but ultimately chose not to. Other alternatives: roast pumpkin, capsicums, carrots, lettuce, etc.
  4. For a flavour kick, add herbs. I used coriander in this instance, as K’s mum has been growing coriander and had some to spare for us. Other alternatives: mint, basil, parsley, dill, etc.

The herbs and pickled veggies actually gave enough flavour to the salad without needing a dressing, but I did squeeze a wedge of lemon over the salad for an extra zing at the end!

Follow my four rules for creating a “make it up” salad (carb, protein, vegetables, herbs) and start using up the bits and pieces in your fridge. It will be a guaranteed flavour explosion!