Travel – Page 96 – Elsie Hui

September 17, 2011May 11, 2019

Melati – London, England

While we were in London, we wanted to try some Malaysian/Indonesian Cuisine, and my brother-in-law recommended Melati on Peter Street in Soho, London. He’s got excellent taste for tasty food, and this location was no exception!

We walked into the restaurant, which looked quite big and was quickly greeted and seated. It was interesting, as one of the workers there started talking to us in Cantonese, and it was actually kind of strange he did that. Regardless, the hospitality in this restaurant was really hospitable.

This was a lighter dinner as we ate not long before this, and we were going to go for other snacks after this meal as well, so we just got enough to sample the goodies. I ordered a Lychee juice and my husband has a Sugar Cane Drink and both the drinks tasted delicious and was really refreshing – especially when used to cut some heat!

The most memorable dish for me was the Sambal Soton which was squid in Sambal sauce, which really means a chili based sauce. The squid was tender and soft but the sauce made it memorable. To my surprise, it wasn’t super spicy as the sambal sauce would make me think. It was sweet and spicy which was just what I was looking for, as we had some other dishes that was super spicy.

One of the super spicy dishes that we enjoyed was Kachang Panjan Belachan which was Malaysian long beans with dried shrimp paste, garlic and other spices. Belachan means shrimp paste, which is a common ingredient in Asian cooking – even the Chinese use and like it. It’s got a very distinctive smell and taste, which of course is an acquired taste like most other Chinese goodies! Most of the time, this isn’t this spicy, but the choice of chili’s and spices used by Melati made it the spiciest dish we enjoyed for the evening! The balance of flavours made this long bean dish really made this dish very enjoyable.

We often have a chicken dish, and for this meal, Kam Heong Ayam cooked with the chicken off the bone was what we ordered. The chicken is cooked in a mild Malaysian spiced dried shrimp sauce and this tasty dish is often enjoyed in Chinese and Malaysian cuisine. With the sauce over the chicken, I ate a lot of this dish with coconut rice. It really satisfied my belly.

The last dish we ordered would be Kari Kambing, which is your traditional lamb curry with potatoes. The lamb was cut into slices and was cooked to perfection – tender and juicy without to much “lamb” taste. The potatoes soaked up the delicious curry sauce flavour, and this was a very filling dish with rice, but well worth it!

There was no room for dessert this evening, as my sister was going to make us some scones with clotted cream for dessert! 🙂

Everything about the food at Melati was so good I would highly recommend this location to anyone who’s craving a bit of flavour in their lives! Bold flavour on top of a bed of rice – you can’t go wrong! We went for both coconut rice and jasmine rice and they both taste so good with all the flavours of Malaysia and Indonesia. The concept of this restaurant was well thought out, and the quality of food will please anyone!

Melati

30-31 Peter St
London,
(020) 7437 2011

September 14, 2011May 11, 2019

Indian Edge – Kenilworth, England

Indian food in England is actually quite different than Indian food in Calgary. My brother-in-Law really wanted to take us for curry, and brought us to Indian Edge and I’m really glad he did. The food is so delicious, and it’s not all about spice, it’s about the flavours – which I appreciate! Here in Calgary, it’s almost a contest of how much spice you can eat, but not here – everything was really good, and the best part is, we didn’t have any stomach aches afterwards.

I ordered a Mango Lassi drink, which was done really nice here at Indian Edge. I’ve had a few experiences where it’s just pureed mangoes, and it’s really hard to slurp up a straw. The consistency is still thick enough that there is substance, and it’s not watered down. It’s by far my favourite one so far.

We started the evening with some Papadum, and when I tried it from Indian Edge, I actually said “it doesn’t taste burnt!”. I’m not sure why, but from all my previous experiences, I remembered a distinct burnt taste associated with it. So, I am glad we got some papadum, and that I tried them regardless of previous experiences. There were plenty of sauce options that came with the papadum, five of them, and I’m not sure what all of them where. I know that the one I enjoyed the most is the one most like fresh salsa!

Our main curry dishes, we ordered Mattar Paneer which was a dish of green peas and Indian cheese. It’s my least favourite from the dishes we ordered, but it was a good dish.

Not as tasty as the Lamb Jalfrezi which was the spiciest dish we ordered for the evening. The lamb was cooked until tender in a sauce with a combination of peppers, onions cooked medium with a Bangladeshi sauce.

We also ordered 2 chicken dishes, we got to try chicken tikka massala which was a creamy and tender chicken dish, with delicious sauce that was made of a tomato sauce with mild creamy coconut and almond sauce. The Chicken Tikka Massala was my favourite!

The other chicken dish that we tried was the chicken shashlik which wasn’t like the usual curries we eat, as this dish was not covered in sauce, but had fresh succulent dry roasted chicken pieces cooked in clay oven with sweet peppers,onions, tomatoes and spices – and was skewered like a kebab.

Last but not least, we ordered the Salmon tikka which pieces of salmon fillets, barbecued in tandoor in light tandoori fragrant spices. This was also a relatively dry dish, and very tasty. Large chucks of salmon and the spices was a wonderful combination.

To eat with the curry dishes, we ordered a variety of options – just to try different things! We ordered Basmati Pilau Rice, and the Mushroom Pilau Rice which was used as a vehicle to eat the curry! Both rices was really good, and it added another dimension to the curries. I think I enjoyed the normal Basmati Pilau rice more, but the mushroom pilau rice was a really close second!

We also ordered 2 types of naan, which I’ve never tried until now!! We tried the Keema Naan which was your typical naan filled with flavourful and delicious minced lamb. This was by far my favourite naan and I can eat it on it’s own! The other naan we had was Peshwari Naan which was a naan filled with coconut and fruits! I really enjoyed this as well, especially when I was indulging in a super spicy curry, it helps cut down the heat and adds sweetness! It is one of the most delicious naans, and I thought “garlic naan” was the best thing ever…

Overall, Indian Edge now sits on the top of my favourite list for Indian cuisine, which really isn’t too good. I can’t just go to Indian Edge next time I have a craving for curry. But, I still have my favourite locations in Calgary I can go to in the mean time!

Indian Edge

50 Warwick Road,
Kenilworth
(01926) 850100

September 13, 2011May 11, 2019

Marra’s Way Sushi Ltd – Canmore, Alberta

We were wanting sushi this one evening from Canmore, and even though this wasn’t the original location we were looking for, I’m happy we stopped to experienced Marra’s Way Sushi, located just off the main street in downtown Canmore.

We tried many types of sushi, from specialty sushi such as three sister, smoked salmon and spicy shrimp salad, all which were really good. I really liked the fact they used a local attraction to make the “three sisters sushi”, which really was quite tasty. I believe it was salmon, shrimp and tuna, which made a very good “sample sushi” plate. The smoked salmon was quite fresh, and I actually didn’t get a lot of smoked salmon flavour – maybe there was too much rice, or too little smoked salmon… or even the pretty pink wrap took flavour away. It was still really good, even if it was just a plain salmon roll, the quality of the fish was there.

Of course, our usual suspects as well surf clam, inari, and gyoza with Green Tea and Miso Soup to drink! The gyoza was actually quite disappointing for me, and it came deep fried without stating that on the menu. It was not only fried to a crisp, which is good, but the flavour of the pork filling was just tasteless, so it was a bad note to end with. Regardless, I think I will be back (just not for the gyoza’s), especially if I’m looking for a “fast food sushi”! Very fast, convenient, delicious and cost effective! Each plate of sushi was on a coloured plate, and with the colour, it had a price (Orange plate = $2.40, Blue Plate = $3.99, and White Plate = $5.99)

Marra’s Way Sushi Ltd.

637 10 St
Canmore, AB
(403) 609-0479

September 12, 2011May 11, 2019

Muku Japanese Ramen – Calgary Alberta

I’ve always loved Japanese noodles and ramen, and when I heard about Muku Japanese Ramen, it bumped a lot of places down on my “to-go” list. I was sick and exhausted and I just wanted a fantastic bowl of noodles. I think I got my hopes way up as we entered the parking lot, I couldn’t stop smiling. Well, unfortunately, that smile quickly turned flat for confusion, and then upside down.

The menu was great, it offered a lot of options and different types of ramen from different regions of Japan. Seeing the menu so specialized, I figured it didn’t matter what I ordered, it’s gotta be good. So, we got a little appetizer and we ordered the Shrimp Dumpling, which really was as it stated on the menu “steamed shrimp dumpling” which is what the Chinese has for dim sum… but here at Muku, they lacked flavour. It was really bland, and I had to add hot sauce to the dipping sauce it came with.

I tried the Shoyu Ramen and from the menu, it says it’s from the Tokyo region, with ramen cooked in chicken broth soup with a soybase sauce. The Shoyu ramen was topped with sliced chicken breast, green onions, bamboo shoots (menma), a tiny slice of Japanese fish cake (naruto) and a sheet of dried seaweed (nori). I must say, it was definitely prettier to the eye than to the taste buds. The noodles were under cooked, and there was a taste of

We also ordered the Koku-Miso Ninja Ramen mainly because it sounded cool! Who doesn’t want a bowl of ninja ramen? Well, this bowl had bbq pork, green onion, bean sprout, and corn, and the miso soup was quite different. It was yellow and much greasier.

Overall, I think someone would really have to drag me here for me to go again. I’ve heard of a few other Japanese noodles places in town that I’d love to try before returning. The prices weren’t terrible, but I was a little disappointed with the lack of flavour, and the texture of the noodles with a weird taste of the noodles, and the amount of grease in the soup just doesn’t attract me.

Muku Japanese Ramen

326 14 St NW
Calgary, AB
(403) 283-6555

September 12, 2011September 19, 2011

Lufthansa Airlines to Birmingham via Frankfurt

Ok, this is an interesting travel arrangement, and it’s not like me. It’s actually my first time flying on Lufthansa, and I must admit, I really enjoyed it! The economy class was quite spacious, and the food was really decent!

We sat pretty much at the very back of the plane, right in the centre seats where the configurations change to 3-3-3, and we were really lucky – the 2 of us had the 3 seats in the centre for the entire flight. It made getting up and going to the bathroom easier, and we got to order food and drink from which ever side came first! It was great!

We boarded this flight in the afternoon, local time, and it became an over-night flight with the time zone shifts and what not. We arrived in Frankfurt about 6:30 in the morning the following day. The transition was really good and avoided tiredness and jet lag, since I slept on the plane.

The hot dinner provided on-board in economy class was actually really good. I ordered the chicken meal, which was a hot dish of chicken meat, mashed potatoes and broccoli. All the meals had the standard bun, salad, cheese & crackers, and apple crumble.

The pasta dish was really nice as well, it was penne in a light tomato sauce, topped with olives. It’s a great portion size, and much bigger than some other airlines I’ve flown with before as well.

My favourite would be the chicken meal, and the apple crumble. I inhaled the entire thing, and it wasn’t because I was hungry, it was actually because it was a good meal!

Then, near the end of the flight, they served us a hot breakfast! It was a giant plain omelette that sat in some spinach sauce. The omelette was really quite fluffy, and a large portion of the egg as well. It had a sausage, which was really good, and not too greasy, and some potatoes. The meal also had some yoghurt and little roll which I ate with jam!

When we deplaned in Frankfurt, we were actually to walk down a set of stairs where a shuttle would take us to the terminal. It was quite an neat experience, and it was really refreshing to walk off the plane and get some fresh air right away!

Cool thing about the flight is the safety video – it’s in German! 🙂