Macdonald's third pounder

My boyfriend was dying to try the new burger at McDonald's, so I humored him and tried it as well. McDonald's new third ponder is smaller than we expected. We got this during the 50% off special at $2.78.

The bun has a nice firm texture. The burger is less salty than the other burgers. Flavor is dominated by mayo and mushroom. Not necessarily a bad combination but reminiscence of greasy Jack in the Box burger. We ordered the Swiss and mushroom burger. The patty itself actually resemble meat instead of the usual dry grey cardboard serve at McDonald. He thinks the Angus burger can finally trump the gristle burger at Dairy Queen.

What we liked:

• Nice bun with good texture. Am improvement from their existing buns
  
• Mushroom and swiss option was a good variation
  
• Lots of mayonnaise
  
• Meaty patty

What we did not like:

• Expensive for fast food. Over $5 for the burger at regular price.
  
• So much mayonnaise, it can kill you ( This coming from a guy it says a lot)
  
• Where is my veggie? Mushroom is not officially veggie in my book (This was his comment as well)
  

Chef hung taiwaneese beef noodle

Located in Aberdeen center, this restaurant advertises to have won multiple awards for the best beef noodle in Taiwan. Upon arrival, the decor feels welcoming and the restaurant design is quite spacious. There is an open kitchen at the front of the restaurant.

For the side dish we chose The spicy beef tendons. For 5.95, it was quite expensive given the small portion. The tension did not taste spicy at all. The most spicy was the sliced chilies on top. Standard fair.

For our mains we ordered two noodle dishes. First is the champion braised beef shank, tendon and tripe with noodle soup. We choose the thick noodle. The noodle arrived in a timely manner. The noodles looked like fresh noodles, however the noodle shape was inconsistent in both width and thickness. First impression, my counterpart described it as tasting like Chef Boyardee. At first taste it seems the soup is pretty light, but there is a can soup aftertaste that reminds him of Chef Boyardee.

The second noodle is the champion braised beef shank with noodle in tomato soup. The description indicates that red yeast is used in dish. I do not believe I have seen that anywhere else. I give them points for originality. Imho this version of the noodle did not use a lot of soup stock. It seems they went with less salt but more msg. I was very very thirsty after the meal. The sweetness from the soup tasted like it was from sugar, and I could not taste much of the tomato flavor. I was somewhat disapointed as I was looking for more of the sourness from the tomatoes.

For drinks, we ordered a taro milk tea. Given that this cost $4, the drink was made from instant powder. I was kinda looking for a larger cup than what was they served.

Given the prices we paid, I would have expected the soup noodle to be served at least in glass bowls. Instead everything was serve in plastic dishes, including the taro milk tea. The only ceramics on the table were the 2 glass of hot tea. How is this a better dining experience than the food court at the other end of the mall that serves noodle dishes at much lower prices?

What we liked:

• The braised beef shank was cooked to perfection. Tender but not overdone
• The location. Aberdeen is conveniently located close to public transit and has lots of people flow.
• The noodle was not overcooked.
  

What we did not like:

• The price was expensive. Given the choice of restaurants and the food court nearby, this restaurant was not that busy during Saturday lunch hour.
• Please no plastic bowls. Not that I am worried about BHP levels, but the plastic bowls was not doing anything for the restaurant image.
  
• The MSG. I was still drinking water a good 2 hours after lunch.
• The noodle had a weird oily texture.

The Essence of chocolate - Chocolate cake

My latest creation was That chocolate cake recipe for the Scharffen Berger's. I have included the link at the end of this page.

The chocolate batter after the cocoa was added. I used olive oil in place of canola oil for this recipe. You can't really taste the difference, but at least we were consuming good fats. I only baked using once tin instead of separating the batter into 2 baking tins. I had to leave the cake in longer in order for it to cook thoroughly. I had enough batter leftover for about 3 cupcakes which tasted delicious too.

Making the icing was probably more work than the cake batter. I had to make sure not to overcook the cream. After mixing in the chocolate, the instructions requests that you whisk it lightly while it cools. Given how much icing I had left over, I could have easily cut the icing amount by half.

Icing the cake. This is the bottom layer.

The finished cake. This cake was moist and delicious. I would have loved the cake even without the icing, however the icing definitely gave it a more polished look. Loved this recipe. It does not require too much prior baking skills. Would tweak the sugar level a little as I find it a smidgen sweet. Apart from that I would not mess with this recipe at all. Two thumbs up!

http://www.scharffenberger.com/re0218.asp

La Hacienda

We happen to be in Everett this day and was looking for a quick bite to eat. This place was located close to Trader Joes.

First impressions say everything. The decorations are dated. The atmosphere feels like they were trying too hard to be authentic.

Second impressions solidify our review. We ordered a pulled pork platter with refried beans and rice. This platter was brought to our table in less than 10 minutes. The pork looked like it had been reheated many times or sitting under a heatlamp. Atleast the flour tortillas were fresh. The rice was dry and the refried beans were fairly tasteless. The pork would have been better if it was not so dry from the reheating.

What we liked:

• fast service and VERY large portions
• kid friendly restaurant with lots of space.
  

What we did not like:

• mediocre food and reheated mains.
• food was plain and had no depth to the flavour

Would not recommend this place. Food is bland, salsa is not spicy at all. If you want a meal that will fill you up then this is the place, but don't expect to get an authentic meal.

Thousand layer cake - Cramberry flavour

Cranberry Thousand Layer Cake


This cranberry thousand layer cake was a find from my last trip to Malaysia. The bakery, called Lavender creates traditional baked goods with a modern twist. This particular thousand layer cake has dried cranberries included in the layers.


Although named thousand layer cake, this particular one has around 20 layers. Known for its rich flavor, this type of cake is impossible to find here, as it is very labor intensive.

Made predominantly with egg yokes, this is definitely not a heart healthy dessert. If you every get a chance to try this I would greatly recommend it, the flavor is not like any other cake that you have tasted. The cranberry flavored one I had here has a nice tart kick from the cranberries that is perfect with a cup of tea.

Next time if I find a manageable recipe I will definitely try to make this one!

Aqua Riva

Aqua River, 200 Granville st

Located beside Canada Place, this long time restaurant has been part of the waterfront mainstay for over 10 years. Despite some dated decor and seating, the restaurant was spacious and welcoming on a Friday afternoon.

The lunch menu offered a lot of variety:


Steamed clams and mussels with greens. I substituted the salad for fries. The clams and mussels is steamed in a mildly spicy chili lemongrass broth. The broth is flavorful as a soup by itself or with bread.


Seafood Paella with scallops, clams, prawns and wood grilled seafood sausage. The saffon rice was seasoned perfectly. In addition the plentiful seafood made this a very satisfying dish.

Wood Grilled Wild Salmon with fennel potato gnocchi and asparagus. The gnocchi was outstanding. Most gnocchi I have tasted is plain and flavored with sauce. This gnocchi had the fennel flavor combined in the flour and was slightly charred to bring out its flavor.

Strawberry shortcake with white chocolate ice cream and chocolate whip cream. The ice cream and the whip was delicious. the shortcake was a bit on the dry side.

What we liked:

• The large seating area and quite ambiance
• Attentive and fast service
• Large portion sizes and properly seasoned food at reasonable prices. Mains vary from $13 to $20
  
• Harbor view. On a sunny day this would be a beautiful spot to lounge around and catch up with friends
  

What we did not like:

• Dated decor. Definitely needs and update to compete with newer restaurants such as Market by Jean-Georges, which also caters to the same office crowd.
• Paper lined tables. This practice always annoys me and it make we feel like I am having picnic in the park, instead of dinner at a good restaurant. Please just wash your table cloths.
  

In general, this was a good experience and I wouldn't mind coming back here. The waitress did say they were going to close soon, so take advantage of the dine out this year as this restaurant will probably not be here in a few months.

Pasta Zanmai

Pasta Zanmai, Sunway Pyramid, KL

A recent import into the Malaysian mainstream, this restaurant sells Japanese fusion western food. The lunch combos with 2 mains is a bargain!


Chicken pizza with tomato sauce and mayo. The crust is a little chewy. The japanese mayo adds a creaminess to the grilled chicken and tomato sauce.


Grilled chicken pasta. The pasta is El dente. The teriyaki sauce and soft poached egg is mixed in with the noodle for a flavorful sauce.


Dessert is by far my favorite. Left: chocolate ice cream with wafer. Middle: Green tea ice cream with azuka beans. Right: frozen sesame ice cream with whip cream.

What we like:

• The pasta is always El dente. The lunch specials are popular for sharing as there is pasta, rice or pizzas to choose from
• dessert was delicious. The sesame ice cream was outstanding. You can taste both the white and black sesame.

What we didn't like:

• Food was more salty that I am use to.