Hong Kong Egg Waffles – Baba Sus

My Dearest Reader’s as you know my family lives in Hong Kong and I go back regularly, and every time I go back I will get Hong Kong style egg waffles. It’s actually getting harder to find them in Hong Kong as they’re not being sold on the street anymore. So I was quite excited when Michelle (The Bakeanista)  told me a new Asian inspired cafe Baba Sus was serving these egg waffles.

Baba Sus is one of those hidden cafes that you would not have found if unless you were specifically looking for them. However, it is actually very close to Burwood Train station and is adjacent to an apartment complex. The cafe has great ambience with cute retro chairs and wooden tables.

Matcha Latte $4

I actually visited Baba Sus with a friend who was visiting from Hong Kong, I’m glad she doesn’t mind coming with me because I know she’s has plenty of Egg Waffles back home. Another reason why I wanted to visit was because of their matcha (Japanese Green Tea) latte. It has great colour and also latte art which I have heard is hard to make on a matcha latte. Even though it wasn’t very strong it was made well especially with a teaspoon of sugar to bring out the flavour 🙂

Teddy Bear cappuccino $3.6

My friend ordered a cappuccino and we were so surprised to see a teddy bear face! It’s so cute that we didn’t even want to drink and ruin the latte art! Very impressive ~ I will even come back just for this cute face hehe

Japanese Chicken Caesar $17

We ordered two dishes to share, the first was this Japanese Chicken Caesar with sweet soy chicken (teriyaki) cos lettuce, pancetta crisp, salted ricotta, soft boil egg and gribiche sauce. I am a sucker for yolk pork shots haha so this definitely got me squealing. Although this is a really simple dish, it was the perfect light refreshing lunch dish.

Pork Luck $17

We then ordered a richer dish the “Pork Luck” twice cooked pork belly, apple balsamic, vermicelli and watermelon salon topped with candied walnuts. Another great dish, the pork was very crispy on the outside, it still remained tender inside and not too stringy. I was a little skeptical about the watermelon salad at first, but it complimented the pork very well with the sweetness.

Hong Kong Egg Waffles $14

Now let’s have a look at the Hong Kong egg waffles with Vanilla custard, green tea ice-cream, berry compote and pistachio praline. Another very pretty dish with all the different colours, I also found the egg waffle to be bigger than the ones we have in Hong Kong. The texture of the waffle was softer and more dense, I really enjoyed the addition of the vanilla custard inside. But I found the green tea ice-cream to be a little bland, and perhaps would have been a better match with vanilla or salted caramel ice cream.

Magic $3.6

To end this great brunch I got a Magic (double ristretto) once again latte art was perfect and the house blend had wonderful floral notes. I had such a great time catching up with Kennise and thoroughly enjoyed all the dishes at Baba Sus. Now I just need to find time to drag Mr Bao back again with me!

Allow me to share another photo of the Egg Waffle because it’s so beautiful!

Baba Sus
15-17 Bardolph St
Glen Iris
Victoria 3146
PH: 9939 6141
W: http://babasus.com.au

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Warm breakfast matcha waffle – Di Bella Coffee

Matcha Waffle

Happy Sunday my Dearest Readers 🙂 For those of us in Melbourne, I’m sure you can feel how cold it has been! But it’s not even June yet, I thought it was Autumn and we were going to ensure some nice chilly but still sunny days. And when it’s so cold, I have great difficulty waking up in the morning and that’s when coffee becomes my BFF (Best Friend Forever!).

Di Bella Coffee

Recently Di Bella Coffee sent me some coffee and asked if I would like to share a warm breakfast recipe that I enjoy on a cold winter morning. So I took this idea and started brain storming a lot of ideas, lets start with – bacon and eggs, porridge, pancakes or then a light bulb lit up WAFFLES! Especially since I’ve only used my waffle machine once oops 😛

I only then realised there are actually so many variations of waffles you can make. But for those who know me you know I will never pass the chance of making something green meaning Matcha (Japanese Green Tea). These matcha waffles were quite easy to make and the colour combinations were so pretty, green from the matcha, red from the raspberry and yellow from the honey.

 

 

The waffles are best served warm so I think it’s perfect for a cold morning when cereal and milk just wont do ~ And quickly about Di Bella Coffee they are used by many cafes Nationally around Australia such as all ‘In A Rush’ cafes or you can purchase online. I like how you are able to choose how fine the coffee beans are grounded for instance, I chose the ‘plunger’ type meaning I don’t need to ground it myself at home.

I am a matchaholic so I like a strong matcha flavour so I might add even more matcha next time I make these waffles, but I was really pleased with the texture soft, sponge and not dry 🙂 Hope you will like them too!

Recipe – Matcha Waffles adapted from Just Simple Eat
Yield – 5-7 waffles depending on Waffle Machine

Ingredients 
2 cups (300g) Plain flour
2 tablespoon (40g) matcha (Japanese Green Tea powder)
2 tablespoon (40g) caster sugar
1 tablespoon baking power
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup (430ml) milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 table (60ml) Vegetable oil
Handful raspberries and honey to serve

Notes
– I used about 3 tablespoons of matcha because I like it strong, but it’s completely up to you 🙂
– I prefer to use full cream milk because I think it gives the waffles a more buttery flavour
– Feel free to use an electric waffle machine or one over the stove
– Refrigerating the mixture will make the mixture thicker and keep its shape when you cook it.

Method
1) Sift plain flour, matcha, baking power, sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl, ensure everything is combined well.
2) In another bowl whisk the wet ingredients – milk, eggs, vanilla extract and vegetable oil.
3) Poor wet mixture into mixing bowl with the dry ingredients and whisk vicariously until it’s smooth with no lumps.
4) Cover and refrigerate for 10mins or even longer night. Whisk mixture again before cooking waffle.
5) Heat electric waffle machine and follow instructions from waffle manufacturer.
6) Serve warm with fresh raspberries and honey.

Enjoy for breakfast!

This is a sponsored post by Di Bella Coffee, however, recipe and opinions are all honest. 

Janice Wong High Tea – Aria, Langham Melbourne

Janice Wong High Tea

I think I will describe myself as a High Tea Addict! If there’s a high tea I will be there 😛 That explains why I have been a repeat offender and gone back to the Aria Bar at the Langham Hotel in Melbourne so many times. This time Shelle (Iron Chef Shellie) kindly took me to try out the Janice Wong High tea as part of Melbourne Food and Wine festival. For those who don’t know Janice Wong is the executive pastry chef for the renown dessert bar 2am in Singapore which I was lucky to try a couple of years ago when I visited.

Let’s jump right into the high tea, Shellie and I are both tea drinkers so we got the usuals. Yes that is English Breakfast for me (can’t be classic tea) and Earl Grey for her. I really liked the china they use too, if I remember correctly it is specially designed for Langham by Wedgewood.

We got there quite early on a Tuesday so it didn’t take long for the 3 tier stand to arrive. We started from the top with freshly made sandwiches, and I’m usually quite picky because it’s always a disappointed when they are pre-made and the bread is try. But these sandwiches were perfect, with a good selection of fillings – egg salad, tuna, chicken, cucumber and smoked salmon.

Matcha desserts!

Then moving down were two plates of desserts designed by Janice Wong. And I’m not sure if I can describe to you in words HOW excited I was to see so much GREEN on this plate! Because the green means MATCHA (Japanese Green Tea) and those who know me will know how obsessed I am about it. Let me quickly go through, there was a petite chocolate cake very moriesh reminded me a little of the Opera cake, matcha fanciers and also the warm matcha tart.

I will repeat that it’s a Warm Matcha tart meaning the centre is not set and I could feel the liquid inside wobble as I picked the tart up. The waiter suggested we started with this first as it’s best eaten when still warm. So here I go!

Green liquid gold!

I took one bite and quickly snapped this photo! Were you can see the green liquid gold as I liked to describe it flowing out! It was have to be one of the best matcha tarts and possibly desserts I have had. The tart case was still warm, with great buttery flavour and crumbly texture. But the filling was simply the best, it had such intense matcha flavour and wasn’t bitter at all! I would go back to this high tea just for this tart again.

 

Continuing with the desserts, we moved onto the Singapore inspired choux the green and yellow puffs. The green actually had a kaya custard filling and for anyone who enjoys kaya would have really liked these. The chocolate tart with golden pop rocks was another impressive tart and even the caramel popcorn with freeze dried raspberries were delicious. I definitely had trouble pacing myself and kept popping them into my mouth.

This is a short post, not many photos because I was too busy chatting and catching up with one of my favourite girl Shellie and I really enjoyed everything! Thanks again girl for taking me as my birthday present! Before I forget the tea set also comes with scones (fruit & plain) butter, clotted cream and jam 🙂 The Janice Wong High Tea is still available for $65 per person until the 13th of March (2 days left) so if you’re quick you might be able to score table.

My favourite Matcha Softserve – Via Tokyo, Hong Kong

My Dearest Readers! I’m back 🙂 I arrived back home in Melbourne on Monday morning. And even though it’s great to be home, I’m already starting to miss my family, friends and one of the best matcha soft serve I’ve had! I don’t use these words lightly, but I honestly liked the matcha soft serve so much from Via Tokyo, I visited 3 times in during my short stay.

Via Tokyo in Causeway bay

Via Tokyo is one of Kosei Kamatani many ventures in Melbourne, he’s also the owner and operator of Ramen Jo which is just a stores down from Via Tokyo and believe it or not he also owns a Shisha bar. A lot of my foodie friends in Hong Kong are friends with Kosei so I was lucky enough to meet him in person. He was surprisingly young, friendly and very dedicated to his businesses, I’ve visited both Ramen Jo and Via Tokyo and they’re both brilliant, will have to try the Shisha bar as well next time 🙂

*Warning* Via Tokyo is definitely designed for matchaholics! More than half of their menu is matcha based and the rest is focused on soft serve made from Hokkaido milk and a range of coffees. My first visit was on my 3rd night in town and I dragged my friend Mary to come with me. We arrived at around 8pm and there was already a queue outside. We were told to stand line up and given the menu to look at, I couldn’t decide I just wanted it all!

Matcha Azuki Parfait $45HKD ($6.3AUD)

We were both quite full from dinner so we only ordered two things, the first was the Match Azuki Parfait, the base is a matcha soft serve, Azuki beans puree, mochi (glutinous balls), sliced banana and rice puffs. I didn’t even pay much attention to the toppings and just dived straight into the matcha soft serve, and it was everything I expected but more! It had the smoothest texture but what really impressed me was the strong matcha flavour. That is the main issue I have when I go to most places for matcha soft serve, it always look green in colour but usually the matcha flavour is really light and merely tastes like green vanilla ice-cream. But here at Via Tokyo the matcha flavour is not only strong enough but it doesn’t have that bitter aftertaste 😀

Sample Set $45HKD ($6.3AUD)

We then got the sample set with mochis azuki beans, matcha soft serve and a soft jelly served with a brown sugar syrup. Once again I had my eyes and mind set on the matcha soft serve, which was just as nice but the other two sides was also nice and shouldn’t be ignored especially the mochi which was chewy on the outside but still soft in the middle. That concludes my first visit to Via Tokyo and I can only describe it as ‘impressive’.

Matcha Addicts!

I went home with a huge smile on my face, and kept bugging my other matcha loving friends (Ivan, Minnie, Winnie, Margaret and Ann) and kept telling them we have to go back together as soon as possible. So about a week later we finally found the time to go, conveniently, we had dinner at Ramen Jo first (blog post to come) then walked over to Via Tokyo. Its a small store and we had 5 of us so we wanted for a good 20 minutes before we got a table. And we went nuts hahaha we ordered a whole table of matcha desserts and drinks!

Matcha Affogato $42HKD ($6AUD)

I’ve heard and seen so much about the Matcha Affogato that I was so excited to try. But note that this isn’t on the menu so if you want to try simply order it at the cashier 🙂 It’s basically a serve of matcha soft serve topped with matcha latte. It’s a genius idea! Because we get the best of both worlds.

Moving on we got the Okome Shiratoma Matcha Soft serve, which is similar to the Azuki Parfait with the matcha soft serve base and I found out the Shiratoma are not really mochi but more sweet rice flour dumplings. I particularly liked the rice puffs which gave the soft serve a little crunchiness.

Okome Shiratoma Matcha Soft Serve $45HKD ($6.3AUD)

Nope we still weren’t matcha-ed out and Margaret suggested we get a matcha latte, and I was so surprised to see the latte art. It was a very cute Winnie The Pooh face and also the word ‘Pooh’ with a little heart on the side! Definitely one of the prettiest lattes I’ve seen! Didn’t even want to drink and wreck the face! The matcha flavour wasn’t as strong because we’ve been overdosing in matcha but I know if I drank this first it would’ve had enough matcha flavour ~

Matcha Latte $32HKD ($3.5AUD)

Ok to give you guys a relief from matcha, we also shared a regular Affogato with Hokkaido milk soft serve and a shot of Espresso. I loved this shot! Thanks Ann for being such a great pourer hehe even though it’s not matcha, I still enjoyed this soft serve it has the richest and creamiest texture probably because they use the milk imported from Hokkaido to make all their soft serves.

Affogato $38HKD($5.30AUD)

That’s the second time I visited and I was left thinking about the matcha soft serve again, and I knew I would’ve visited even more often if it was closer to where I lived. So on the last day I was about to leave, we had peking duck with the family for lunch and then we had a couple of hours before I had to fly out … and there was only one place I wanted to visit before I left and that was Via Tokyo for the matcha soft serve yet again 🙂 And I really wanted Win Win (sister) to try because she also likes matcha ice-cream ~

Matcha affogato

I got another Matcha Affogato all for myself and no sharing 🙂 I mean it was my last day so I think I had the right to be selfish hehe still just as good! Win Win got a simple cup with the matcha soft serve and she was also impressed with the strong flavour.

Okome Shiratama Soft Serve $38HKD($5.40AUD)

My nephew Aden isn’t a fan of matcha yet probably because he’s 3 and doesn’t like the slight bitterness which comes with matcha. So got him an Okome Shiratama Soft Serve with ‘milk’ instead and the shiratama again. Aden really liked the soft serve and kept asking for more haha I think soon enough I will be able to train him to like match as much as his Auntie Daisy done 😀

And that there sums up my 3 visits to Via Tokyo and trust me when I tell you, I really really like the matcha soft serve here. One of the best I’ve had and if you’re a matchaholic like me or like really rich and creamy soft serves, I highly recommend you trying Via Tokyo! Now I can’t wait till the next time I get to visit 😀

Via Tokyo
Shop nos. 1A-1B, G/F., Leishun Court,
106-126 Leighton Road, Causeway Bay
銅鑼灣禮頓道106-126號禮信大廈地下1A-1B號舖
PH: +852 2895 1116
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/viatokyocafe

Matcha Delights – Miam Miam + Some News :)

Happy Chinese New Year my Dearest Readers 🙂 If you celebrate I wish you all a prosperous horse year!! Mr Bao and I celebrated Chinese New Years with our friends and I will be sharing that story with you soon ~ But today, I want to share with you a new French-Japanese restaurant that has recently opened in Chadstone Shopping Centre – Miam Miam.

Miam Miam is originally from Tokyo and have now opened throughout Asia including Singapore and have now ventured into Australia and landed in Melbourne 🙂 As soon as I saw photos of of the matcha lattes and desserts, I knew I had to go check it out ASAP! You know how much I love my matcha hehe

If you’re not familiar with Chadstone, Miam Miam is in the area with the other restaurants such as Pappa Rich and close to Aldi and Colonial Markets. I really like the decor of the restaurant with the aluminion chairs and bright lights. They have a no booking policy, so I arrived early to get a table for 6 as I was meeting up with Jana, her husband and some of her friends ~ The waitress was friendly and even though they didn’t have a table for us, they were willing to shuffle the tables around to accommodate us.

Matcha latte with softie $8.8

They had a whole section on the menu dedicated to matcha goodies! You should’ve seen the smile on my face 🙂 A couple of us ordered this matcha latte with matcha soft serve, I must say I was quite impressed! Because it is quite hard to find matcha lattes that have a strong matcha flavour and the soft serve had a nice creamy texture and good matcha flavour. I would have preferred if it had an even stronger matcha flavour, but its already one of the better ones I’ve had in Melbourne.

Matcha smoothie with red bean $7.5

Mr Bao ordered a matcha smoothie with red bean, I couldn’t really taste the red bean but it had the same matcha flavour and had a more icy texture as it was a smoothie. I think I prefer the matcha latte a little more ~

Miam Miam Spaghetti $16.8

The menu is a little small with only a handful of savoury dishes, it was made even more disappointing when a few dishes were sold out at 7pm and we were only left with either the Miam Miam spaghetti or the squid ink risotto. 3 of us got the Miam Miam Spaghetti with tomato, eggplant, bacon and a soft boiled egg. The pasta was cooked to a nice al dente texture and with good flavour, we did find it to be slightly salty.

Squid Ink Risotto $20.8

The rest of the table ordered the Squid Ink Risotto with omelette on top, once again cooked to al dente and with squid pieces through it, flavour was great and the egg top was creamy and soft. For such a small portion I find it a little overpriced for $20.8, the boys were definitely not full and wanted more food ~

Matcha Souffle

Sorry I can’t find the prices for the desserts, of course all the desserts we ordered were MATCHA 😀 Starting with the matcha soufflé, I don’t think I’ve had this before. Unfortunately, it was a little bit of a disappointment, it was very wet inside and felt a little uncooked, while matcha flavour wasn’t very strong. I think it would make a great soufflé if a few improvements were made.

Matcha soufflé pancake with soft serve

The other dessert we got was the matcha soufflé pancake with matcha soft serve, coffee jelly, matcha jelly and red bean. The pancake is thicker and dense in the middle but remained soft, once again lacked some matcha flavour but the coffee jelly actually complimented the matcha in general.

That’s the first meal I had at Miam Miam, I enjoyed some of the dishes but would’ve have liked more options no the menu and stronger matcha flavour for some desserts. However, still really glad that they have now opened up and serving so many matcha desserts.

Iced Matcha Tea

Because I am a true matchaholic, I couldn’t hope but go back two days later with my colleague and we had afternoon there. This time I had the iced matcha tea as it was quite hot and I wanted something to quench the thirst. It’s very different from the matcha latte as this iced version has no milk and not sweetened either, it had quite a lot of ice which watered down the matcha.

Matcha parfait with matcha jelly, coffee jelly, red bean and rice crisps

I didn’t get to try the parfait last time so went back to try the matcha parfait with matcha jelly, coffee jelly, red bean and rice crisps. Pretty much the same toppings that was on the matcha soufflé pancake, all matched quite well but I think I would’ve liked some other topping on the parfait to make it a little different. 

Cookie N Cream Parfait

They made a mistake with our order and brought a Cookie N Cream parfait when we ordered another pancake. They were kind enough to offer it to us so yay for us we got to try this as well. Similar to the matcha parfait it had a vanilla soft serve base chocolate rice crisps, sliced banana, chocolate syrup and some crushed Oreo cookies. Not bad but I think I prefer the matcha more hehe maybe I’m bias!

Spiced Apple soufflé pancake

Last but not least was the spiced apple soufflé pancake topped with vanilla soft serve and crushed corn flakes. I found the pancake to be slightly overcooked this time, and would have preferred if the apples were a little softer.

After two visits in 3 days, I definitely like Miam Miam especially their matcha soft serve and all their other matcha drinks and desserts. However, I find the quality of the food to be a little inconsistent and the same elements used again and again. I have also heard from others that they find the menu to be limited and for some dishes it is overpriced. I think Miam Miam needs more time to improve and expand on their menu but other than that it is a great addition to our food scene ~

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Now time to share some exciting news 🙂

My little CUPCAKE!

Mr Bao and I are very happy to announce that we are now proud parents to this gorgeous little silver toy poodle 🙂 And his name is CUPCAKE! I have actually Instagrammed some photos before so those who follow me will know about him hehe we are both so in love with this little puppy! But I do understand not everyone likes dogs so I have created a separate Instagram account for him to share his daily adventures ~ His account is @My_Mr_Cupcake

I totally underestimated the time and effort required to train a puppy, between working full-time, going to puppy school twice a week, toilet training, feeding and playing with Cupcake. It hasn’t left me with a lot of time to do my own things like blogging! But please bear with me Dearest Readers, I promise to get my act together as soon as possible! Thank you so much for being so patient with me!