Potluck session!

this Potluck session was meant to be on last Saturday but it was postponed to today as Del was held up with work.. my housemate, Teapot, didnt report for work today and joined us.. we ended up with:

.: Coffee Queen's pasta
.: Manami's sushi and apple pie
.: Good Fortune's Roast Pork and BBQ Pork (Del cheated! he didnt cook!)
.: Teapot's fried chicken

when Manami and Del arrived, i havent even started cooking! i have prepared all the ingredients but have to get some mushrooms from Coles.. i have only just got back from Coles and they have already arrived! and Teapot was still at Coles, shopping for her contribution.. haha.. the hostesses were late in the end~ anyway, we had a fun time cooking, eating and chatting.. it was great!

Manami's sushi..

there was Chicken/Cucumber Roll, Avocado/Cucumber Roll and Chicken/Omelette Roll.. i like it! Manami also brought soy sauce and wasabi for us..

Del's BBQ Pork and Roasted Pork..

Del cheated and bought his share from Northbridge before going to pick Manami up! *hmph* i was still waiting for my Tom Yam Soup and Phad Thai~ *dreams vanished!* haha.. the portions he bought were humongous and we cant even finish half of it!

Teapot's fried chicken..

this, i tell you, is not normal fried chicken! Teapot learned it from a Cambodian housemate she was living with before.. the chicken wings are fried in the 'normal' way.. coated with egg and then flour.. what's special about it is the sauce used for coating the chicken wings.. the chicken wings are dipped into the boiling sauce for coating once they are removed from the oil.. the sauce consists of:

- fish sauce
- white vinegar
- water
- sugar

the final step is to sprinkle a little bit of white pepper on the chicken wings once they are coated with the special sauce! and you'll have yummy~ chicken wings..

we had the apple pie with some of Teapot's ice cream.. i forgot to take photos of it~ i was busy eating, you see.. hehez.. and as for my own pasta.. i forgot about it too! but there will be photos of it soon, that's for sure..

Happy potluck session!

The first judging & Dessert Queen

Harlow! i'm quite excited about today's posting! it's the first judging and the Guest Judge for today is.. *drums roll* Dessert Queen! wahaha! she was pretty quick in coming up with her nickname on this blog.. yes, she's all ready to name herself the "Dessert Queen"!

Before i go into details, i just want to say that this is all currently taking place in Perth, Western Australia! i have been here for 3 and a half years.. and half a year is spent in Europe last year.. and from August onwards, i'll be back in my hometown, Malaysia, for quite a few months.. but for now, i'll try my best to introduce some of my favourite yummy hunts in Perth.. alright, let's start!

Met up with Dessert Queen outside of Wellington Street train station, just before we cross over to Northbridge.. we were scheduled to meet at 2.30pm and i was late for 5mins.. and Dessert Queen was late for *ahem* 30mins!!! *ahem* hehez..

by the time she arrived, my stomach was growling loudly.. and i went for the first thing across the road.. Tra Vinh! that was what Dessert Queen initially wanted the day before but i suggested another Vietnamese restaurant (Viet Hoa) further down Northbridge, which we have never tried.. but by then i was too hungry and i think it's safer to stick to something familiar when i'm hungry.. if not, i'll get very grumpy if the food turn out otherwise! at least i can be guaranteed the food i like at Tra Vinh.. so Tra Vinh it was!

all that Dessert Queen ordered was the Cha Gio Tom (Prawn Spring Rolls) and i ordered my favourite, the Mi Vit Tiem (Egg Noodle Soup with Braised Duck).. i always have this dish dry (i'm not a very soup person) and changed the egg noodles to rice noodles..

Cha Gio Tom (Prawn Spring Rolls)

Mi Vit Tiem (Clear Noodle with Braised Duck - dry)

the Prawn Spring Rolls are crispy on the outside and you'll find one prawn on the inside.. i'm not a prawn person either.. so i only ate one of that.. i'll give credit to the Fish Sauce.. hehez.. without it, the Prawn Spring Rolls would be rather plain.. but Dessert Queen likes them.. she added the Fish Sauce with the Chilli Sauce (in the first photo on the right.. meant for my noodles) and Voila! she has her new dipping sauce for her Prawn Spring Rolls!

the Mi Vit Tiem was served separately on 3 dishes.. the noodles in a large white bowl, the duck drumstick on a plate and the soup in a bowl.. for convenience's sake, i dropped the duck drumstick onto the noodles and took the photo above.. the duck has been braised just about right.. very soft and yum~ there was a generous serving of bak choy, lettuce, bean sprouts, cashew nuts and pork lard on the noodles.. the noodles are served with this sweet sauce.. i have no idea what it is.. but i really enjoyed it!

Results - Tra Vinh - Dessert Queen
1. Prawn Spring Rolls

~Colour 0.7/1
~Smell 0.5/1
~Taste 0.6/1
~Texture 0.6/1
~Presentation 0.7/1

=Total 3.1/5

2. Braised Duck Noodles

~Colour 0.5/1
~Smell 0.5/1
~Taste 0.7/1
~Texture 0.7/1
~Presentation 0.7/1

=Total 3.1/5

Results - Tra Vinh - Coffee Queen
1. Prawn Spring Rolls
*My results for the Prawn Spring Rolls are exactly the same as Dessert Queen.

2. Braised Duck Noodles

~Colour 0.6/1
~Smell 0.6/1
~Taste 0.8/1
~Texture 0.7/1
~Presentation 0.6/1

=Total 3.3/5

For Tra Vinh, both Dessert Queen and Coffee Queen came to the conclusion that:

-Ambiance: 0.5/1
-Service: 0.5/1
-Pricing: Average
-Overall: 2 Stars

=> Recommendable if you can withstand non-existent service.

Tra Vinh
149A Brisbane Street
Northbridge WA 6003

after Tra Vinh, Dessert Queen went to get Bubble Tea at Tea Fusion.. she got the Lychee Green Tea with Lychee Jelly.. erm.. very lychee-like.. haha.. and by the time we reached Icey Ice Snow Ice.. she has already finished her green tea.. we are new at this place and the lady boss (Dessert Queen says she IS the lady boss; she looks like it!) was very friendly and introduced us her more popular products.. and we ended up getting the Peanut Ice with chocolate sauce and eatra peanut toppings as well as the Original Milk Ice with fresh mango and mango sauce..

Icey Ice Snow Ice's interior..

their serviettes and little take-away menu.. so cute~

Original Milk Ice with Fresh Mango and Mango sauce &
Peanut Ice with Chocolate sauce and extra Peanut toppings

Peanut Ice with extra peanut toppings..

as can be seen, Dessert Queen is a very happy girl indeed.. hehez..

the Snow Ice is really different to what we normally get for our 'Ice Kachang'.. and Dessert Queen was explaining to me how they did it.. she's the Food Nutritionist, you know~ but it was pretty technical about freezing the ice immediately at -40C? Sorry, Dessert Queen.. hehez.. i quite enjoy it.. even though it's kind of cold for me.. and Dessert Queen was really very happy with all the sweet stuff before her!

a very enjoyable day indeed.. all spent with food.. hehez.. now, now.. for the judging!

Results - Icey Ice Snow Ice - Dessert Queen
1. Peanut Ice with extra peanut topping

~Colour 0.7/1
~Smell 0.6/1
~Taste 0.9/1
~Texture 0.9/1
~Presentation 0.7/1

=Total 3.8/5

2. Original Milk Ice with Fresh Mango and Mango Sauce

~Colour 0.8/1
~Smell 0.6/1
~Taste 0.7/1
~Texture 0.9/1
~Presentation 0.9/1

=Total 3.9/5

Results - Icey Ice Snow Ice - Coffee Queen
1. Peanut Ice with extra peanut topping

~Colour 0.6/1
~Smell 0.6/1
~Taste 0.6/1
~Texture 0.8/1
~Presentation 0.6/1

=Total 3.2/5

2. Original Milk Ice with Fresh Mango and Mango Sauce

~Colour 0.7/1
~Smell 0.7/1
~Taste 0.8/1
~Texture 0.6/1
~Presentation 0.7/1

=Total 3.5/5

For Icey Ice Snow Ice, Dessert Queen was very happy with it:

-Ambiance: 0.8/1
-Service: 0.9/1
-Pricing: Very Reasonable
-Overall: 4 Stars

Coffee Queen was happy with the find too:

-Ambiance: 0.8/1
-Service: 0.8/1
-Pricing: Reasonable
-Overall: 3 Stars

=> Highly recommendable!!!

Icey Ice Snow Ice
297 William Street
Northbridge WA

Finally! the first judging is done! get a rough idea of how judging is done? for future postings, there will only be the total results for the individual dishes but the Ambiance, Service, Pricing and Overall results will still be posted for each category.. this is just to let you know how judging is done.. what a long post~ hehez..

Opening Ceremony!

Harlow, harlow! Welcome to Dribble~ Nibble.. Scribble!! Today's the official opening ceremony of this food blog!

It's been a year since i came back from Europe (exactly a year!) and my fingers are getting itchy from not writing (typing) for too long! Tried and tested writing a few blogs but they didnt seemed to get anywhere and i gave them up! Wahaha! This time round, i have a new idea and goal for myself and for this blog!

I will be writing about places which i will visit with my various Guest Judges and post them up here with our reviews! Of course, this wouldnt be new as there are heaps of Food Blogs online, way before me. However, i will try to make this blog as interesting as i can and try to bring out my own style of recommending restaurants, cafes, etc, with the help of my Guest Judges, of course!

There will be photographs, definitely! Food judging will be based on 5 categories:

~ Colour
~ Smell
~ Taste
~ Texture
~ Presentation

There will also be the judging of the venue based on 4 categories:

- Prices
- Service
- Ambiance
- Overall

Last but not least, my Guest Judges will have to supply their own nicknames on this blog and their names must be food related! I cannot promise professional cookery skills or food knowledge.. but i reckon my taste buds are up to it, and so are the taste buds of my Guest Judges!

Will be back with more ideas!