Chi Restaurant, Victoria Park

It’s been awhile since we found the time to make something special, or cook for that matter! I’ve been in and out of Perth again in the last weekend, so that threw any inclinations to cook or bake out of the window! Our routine has also been a bit topsy turvy lately and my poor hubby had to fend for himself because there was no one to cook for him!

Anyhow, it explains why we’ve been eating out a lot!

Chi Restaurant is another one of those restaurants which we frequent, especially when we’re in the area and in the mood for EasyWay Bubble Tea. We decided to go to Chi after a game of squash, and also because we have a few vouchers to use there. Yes, the asians in us are out in full force that week, trying desperately to use up the Entertainment Book Vouchers!

Just a note to remember to book ahead with Chi (especially at night), because they few times that we tried going there without a booking, we had to be turned away. Having said that, we were quite surprised when we did make a booking for lunch for 1pm on a Saturday, the restaurant was quite empty.

There were 7 of us that day, and we were quite hungry after that game so we ordered 5 dishes. There’s a formula that we used to use to work out how many dishes to order in a Chinese Restaurant that would be enough to share around the table, but for the life of me, I can’t remember what it was! But this is a little snapshot of our orders…and I had no complaints about any of them – they tasted great.

Our orders:

1. Spinach with Century Egg and Salted Fish

2. Golden Spicy Pork Ribs

4. Combination Seafood with Tofu Hotpot

Our token hotpot dish – we always tend to order these when we dine in chinese restaurants – maybe because of the asian in us who will try to combine as many things as possible in one dish, therefore making it more value for money! In this hotpot we have servings of seafood, tofu and seasonal vegetables, all cooked in a tasty sauce which you can eat with rice alone..

5. Chilli Pepper Tofu

The whole chilli pepper ordering craze for us, I think, started here in Perth – I don’t think I have ever ordered anything back home that is chilli pepper! It’s yummy though and I think you can’t go wrong with chilli pepper anything – chicken, pork, squid! Crunchy, salty, slightly spicy on the outside and juicy on the inside – mark of a good chilli pepper dish..yumm

5. Steamed Herbal Chicken

Oops..I think I forgot to take this dish! But anyway, when we first ordered this dish, we thought that it would come in a form of a “paper bag” where the chicken will be cooked. But it was steamed chicken with a herbal sauce (which was quite nice) – the chicken was cooked well and it was tender..just the way I like it!

Overall, our experiences at Chi Restaurant have always been positive (unlike its’ Perth City counterpart which I hear has closed down). The waitstaff have been friendly and the food has always been prompt and delicious and with our vouchers in hand, we will be sure to come back for more!

 

Ohnamiya (Applecross)

Apologies for neglecting the blog! I have been away for about a week in the land of culinary delights – aka Melbourne 🙂 So I have been busy working, eating and obviously, not much blogging…but here I am! Since I have been away, I obviously haven’t been baking/cooking very much – so stay tuned for Sammy’s chronicles because she has been cooking up a storm lately!

We have also been eating out quite a bit because it is MAY 2011 which heralds the end of the Entertainment Book 2010-2011!! If you have one sitting pretty on your bookshelf, and if you’re kiasu and Asian like us, it’s time to dust it off and tear out all the ones that you want to use because you have exactly one more week to use it!!

Which is what we’ve been doing 😛 We’ve been busy tearing out coupons and using the ones that we have somehow saved until the last minute. Ohnamiya was one of the places that we often frequent, but somehow never used the voucher…hmm, we need to stop hoarding our vouchers and actually use them!!

A few of us went to Ohnamiya on Friday (yes, in the pouring rain!). Ohnamiya Japanese is located in Applecross and can be quite unassuming. Walking in, you can choose to either order at the counter for takeaway or be seated to be served (make sure you have your whole party!) and you can choose from a range of basic Japanese food (Katsu, Teriyaki, Karaage etc) set out in different boxes (Bento box, Rice box, Sushi Rice box, Salad etc). We often come here for cheap, quick and good dinners and I like the variety that they have. Also, we get great service from a team of very polite staff which doesn’t hurt as well! 🙂

So, I ordered Chicken Karaage in a Rice Box (comes with a side of salad and pickles), I liked it- one of the better ones I’ve tasted, chicken was tasty, the batter was crispy and goes so well with the rice – I especially love the toppings on the rice!!

The others ordered Prawn Katsu (and I can’t remember what Deb ordered!) both in a Sushi Rice Box, also came with sides of salad and pickles. Deb says she loves the sushi rice – and that definitely says something!!

Esthey also ordered Salmon sashimi which was nice and fresh – if only it was a little bit thicker! But I remember that the wasabi was really good 🙂

Once again, Ohnamiya didn’t disappoint and there is a reason why we always come back here. With the Entertainment Voucher (which gives you 50% off the total bill up to a value of $6.00) we saved some money too! Thinking back, with the howling wind and the weather outside, it would have been good to have an udon instead…oh well! I’m sure we’ll be back, and I think I know what my next order will be!

*All credits of the photographs go to Deb*