vickichowder: BREAKFAST

GUISADOS, LA WEHO

There's this youtube channel I watch consistently (there are ones that I don't frequent because the content is not the most interesting --> really all channels except for this one I am going to disclose), called Munchies.

The series, Chef's Night Out, is the one I watch to decide where I want to eat next (Night and Market was one of them), and Guisado's is another. Basically a bunch of chefs plus their friends going out for drinks and food for a night, and Guisado's was one of the restaurants where the chefs went out.

I only started liking Mexican food ever since I worked in Bay Area for a bit (but to be honest, I don't think I've had any Mexican food besides a quesadilla at Taco Bell, which cannot even be deemed as Mexican food, I'm afraid). And so since the start of my love for Mexican food, I've been very open to saucy meats on soft corn tortillas:

I love the chili verde here, it's not too spicy and would be nice if it was spicier. It's heavy cause it's meat but fresh because, chili verde, and if anything, it's the verde part of the chili verde (I'm assuming verde = green here, correct me if I'm wrong. I could easily Google up the actual translation here as I'm typing this too, but I'm not) that makes it so fresh and pleasant to eat.

The seafood one here is grilled fish, and topped with dressed salad (cabbage, onions - too much and too raw. I should have had the seafood one first so that the meat could somehow overpower the raw onion taste in my mouth).

Cousin got the steak as well, and a chicken one I think. I added a beer to start my morning which I immediately regretted like 15 minutes into the meal and realized I should have just stuck with my routine morning coffee, which I ended up having later (I think).

We sat on the outside seats. A man came by during our meal and asked for a smoke. And to light it for him too

Then we went to Santa Monica Seafood, where cousin previously bought some really good candied salmon (I had a version of that from Waterloo, but it wasn't as good as this one, which is less hard/dry and jerky-like). I didn't end up taking a picture. We snacked on it at home in the morning or night or both times of the day.

From here we went to Santa Monica Beverley Centre, where I almost bought a rimowa luggage but cousin stopped me and I ended up buying two other suitcases at a price still much less than that light pink rimowa one I ~~slightly~~ do not regret not getting.

We went to santa monica beach that night:

, by vickichowder

ABE

ABE ERB, WATERLOO

I'm a really lazy kind of friend. The kind that doesn't bother meeting up with my other friends because there is no one to drive me (because I don't drive unless it's to take my brother out to his extracurricular activities or friends' birthday parties = get mistaken for being a young mom).

Although I'm fully aware of it, I still haven't gotten rid of my lack of motivation. So here is to declaring yet another improvement I need to work on starting this year *yay*

So when I do get to see my friends who I don't see in a while, it is nice, and we go to eat food.

When we wake up early enough, we go for breakfast. But most of the time we don't and so we go for brunch.

My girlfriend had raved about how good the lamb sausage was one night after she went to try from their night menu. The bread was not a crusty roll as they had described on their menu. The disappointing bread was saved by the sweet caramelized red peppers. Could also be saved with a denser toasted bread that was not used as a vehicle for the sausage. Fries were sweet, salty, and just beautifully seasoned. I also asked for a side of mayo (to eat with the fries). Minus the bread = Good

I didn't eat the burger but had more of the fries from this (friend that visited and I shared the sausage and eggs benedict below). Loving the fries = Very good

Spinach would've been good if wilted slightly with some olive oil and garlic. Nothing special here, but the homefries were not amazing - no sweet/salty/seasoned flavours like the regular fries, but just the usual salt and pepper. Crunchier than the regular ones too because they're smaller. I prefer my fries a little soggier and softer. Okay

Bottomless self serve coffee from morning to midday all weekend. If you have a caffeine addiction that cannot be cured, this is the place.

Long communal tables, booths, smaller tables with shorter/higher chairs all available.

They're known for their guest beers, and their own brews. But it was too early for a beer flight.

Want to come back again for their late night menu + beers.

P/S

Sometimes when I discover something new and amazing I'll tend to make it whenever I get the chance. Like that one holiday season when I made a croquembouche to every holiday party.

Or last holiday season when we bought 7+ bries and baked them all in a similar fashion.

A very childish (impromptu) cake for a 24th birthday

Nowadays it's Peking duck at home.

I feel like this maybe (stressing the maybe here) deserves its own post. Again, maybe.

Dear readers, what is the new thing you've discovered this week?

, by vickichowder

BACON

RECIPE: BETTER BACON & EGGS

, by vickichowder

BREAKFAST

MICKEY X MINNIE WAFFLES

Short mid-week post because all my Asia trip pictures are back at home on my 2TB hard drive *boo*

Last week I made these extremely cute Disney waffles from what is actually a sandwich maker! I've been using this machine the entire time as a waffle maker but I just found out then that it was for grilling sandwiches encased with yummy fillings.

If you haven't read my previous waffle post, here's the link, where I have put my lazy waffle recipe. This time, I made it with much more effort, separating the egg yolks and whites because my mom prefers waffles on the fluffier and lighter side. So here's another recipe I use for waffles:

I added coffee powder to my batter

~ Ingredients ~

3 eggs, separated
1 cup milk
1.5 cup flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
6 tbsp oil or melted butter

~ Method ~

1. Beat yolks, oil, and flavouring essence (optional)
2. Mix flour, salt, sugar, baking powder in another bowl.
3. Beat whites with sugar until stiff peaks
4. Mix yolk mixture with dry ingredients.
5. Mix milk with yolk mixture.
6. Fold the whites into the yolk mixture
7. Pour in waffle pan and cook according to your waffle (or sandwich) maker's instructions!

I had to buy something from Williams-Sonoma one day. So it was this honey dipping thing

I've loved Winnie-the-Pooh since I was very young, and many things in my room are officially Winnie-the-Pooh (because there are knock-off ones which look similar but very uncanny, and hence quite freaky). Since Pooh bear enjoys his bread with honey and butter, although we all know it's really honey that he actually wants, I enjoy my waffles with honey and butter.

And if you were wondering, I do like my toast with honey and butter as well.
But after my trip to Malaysia, I think kaya (coconut curd, pronounced guy-yang), can easily replace this delicious honey-butter combo.

My mom really likes peanut butter and we had a much-too-ripe banana

Breakfast with Mommy

MUAH MUAH MUAH

VICKI CHOW

P/S

School never feels like school during the first week. I suppose this is good for me since now I'll have a little transitioning period. But what hasn't changed is my gym attendance *yay*

$1 + free coffee = a wonderful breakfast

My friends and I unintentionally spent 6 hours in IKEA one summer day. It was originally supposed to be for their $1 breakfast (pictured), but then we arrived 10 minutes before their breakfast switched to lunch. And lunch means IKEA swedish meatballs plus lingonberry jam (pictured), which we did eat an hour and a half after breakfast. After which we continued to walk around IKEA and open cabinets, peek into closets, sit in sofas, lie on beds, spin in chairs, and do everything else you do when you go to IKEA. We ended with their frozen yogurt because there was just too many people buying it - so I had to buy one too.

Do you enjoy waking up for breakfast?

, by vickichowder

BEAN SPROUT

IPOH, MALAYSIA

If there is only one dish you can eat during your first visit to Ipoh, it is undoubtedly their bean sprout chicken (served with their hor fun noodles).

At one of the four corners of a very busy intersection filled with people cars and other means of transport, the restaurant Lou Wong stands out from the rest as tables and people occupy a good portion of the street to eat, or wait to eat here.

We ate here instead of Lou Wong

I came with a large group of people (more than 15 if I remember correctly), and it would have been a very slim chance that there would have been a table (or two side by side ones) that could accommodate us without having to wait a ridiculous wait time. So instead of standing there hopelessly waiting for seats, we walked a bit down the street and found an air-conditioned restaurant that just had their largest table vacant.

My first thoughts on bean sprout chicken was that it was poultry cooked with bean sprouts in some way (I mean why else is it called bean sprout chicken?). So when the dish of bean sprouts arrived on the table, I was terribly surprised to find that it was just a mound of bean sprouts, and beside it, a plate of chicken. Though it was not what I had imagined, it did not disappoint me at all:

Much shorter and fatter, these bean sprouts taste nothing like any I've ever had. They are much sweeter, juicier, and have this bean sprout taste (what every bean sprout should have but unfortunately don't).

The chicken, on the other hand, is much like the chicken you eat at a better Chinese restaurant. Final verdict on this dish? Chicken is not that special but the bean sprouts are a must have.

Unlike your typical Chinese restaurant, we are in Malaysia after all, no rice is served here, but fresh-made hor fun. It's in a chicken broth that is very flavourful, but not to be consumed alone by the spoonful - instead, taken with a spoonful of noodles or bean sprout.

The chicken feet is deboned and topped with a sour and spicy dressing. Sadly, the chicken feet is very bland and tasted like nothing. I ended up just eating the onion and ginger topping.

Before you leave this restaurant though, do take a deep breath of their freshly baked batches of kaya puffs (kaya is pronounced gai yang): a flaky triangular pastry filled with a creamy coconut curd: made on-site.

The kaya puff maker let me taste a thumb-ful of their original kaya (there was also the pandan flavour) while he was making them.

Diving further into the night, we arrive at a food court:

A variety of fresh fish balls in broth

Barley beancurd ginko nut dessert soup

Variety fruit ice: jackfruit, toddy palm, dragon fruit, lychee, longan, jellies, ice, ice cream, syrup...

Pork innards congee

You pick, they grill, and you dredge them in whatever sauce(s) you fancy

Charcoal grilled chicken wings: so much better than any wings I've had in those wings restaurants and a great way to end the night

**

Like Penang, you will need comfort food for the morning meal:

This is RM 3.50 ~ CDN 1.17

This is called "lui char", where char is the character for tea, a very misleading name for this dish. It is actually a dish of two parts. The green concoction (many local herbs, mint leaves, small dried shrimp, garlics, blended and cooked to a beautiful green hue), and the bowl of diced toppings (dried tofu, beans, seaweed, fresh vegetables, preserved vegetables, peanuts), on a bed of rice.

You are to mix the two and it is like a congee that tastes just 100x better

"Chee cheong fun" toppings include: fried shallots, chilli, many sauce

You may have seen rice noodle rolls filled with various meats or shrimp during dimsums, but in Malaysia, they don't have anything inside, and are just thin rolls of slippery smooth goodness topped with different things wherever you go. In Hong Kong I've had many of the rice noodle rolls that have fillings inside, but none of them compare to the extremely fresh rice noodle rolls I've had in Malaysia in terms of their texture, thinness, and flavour.

Lo Mee topped with pork, crispy fried shallots, and yes a side of mint!

Lo mee is a thicker noodle with a thick sweetened sauce that you have to "lo" (mix) with the toppings. Need I say that this is also very delicious?

And I end the breakfast with traditional Malaysian kueh which are steamed puddings heavily made with coconut milk and coconut sugar. They vary according to the different ingredients put in such as: pumpkin puree, cassava, sago, pandan juice, glutinous rice...

In Malaysia, it's only acceptable to end even breakfasts with a sweet dessert

MUAH MUAH MUAH

VICKI CHOW

P/S

Remember the Sake Bar that I wrote a post on a while back? If not that's fine (I wasn't really intending that you did anyway) because I just wanted to bring up that the waitress that my friends and I all go there for (for she is an extremely adorable waitress) is moving to another bar across the street! *sad face*

And now that August is nearing its last days, I must make the most of the rest of my summer vacation by hopefully trying out the new Fin Izakaya that opened up in Oakville *yay*

What are your last destinations before the start of school?

, by vickichowder

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GUISADOS, LA WEHO

ABE ERB, WATERLOO

RECIPE: BETTER BACON & EGGS

MICKEY X MINNIE WAFFLES

IPOH, MALAYSIA

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GUISADOS, LA WEHO

ABE ERB, WATERLOO

RECIPE: BETTER BACON & EGGS

MICKEY X MINNIE WAFFLES

IPOH, MALAYSIA

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