'Successor of the Dragon', it's Dragon-i 龍的傳人

Once I'm scolded for taking a picture inside Dragon-i 龍的傳人 that I've given up the idea to write an article about this restaurant. For my interest to try their specialties of Ramen拉面 and Meat Dumplings小籠包, Attila has fulfilled my wish by taking me here on our Saturday brunch. I dare not to take any pictures neither about the surrounding nor about the Terracotta Warriors anymore.

First dish as a starter is their famous Shanghainese Steamed Meat Dumplings上海小笼包. The minced pork is wrapped inside the dumpling skin before being steamed. I like the juicy meat dumpling for the soup that is trapped inside the dumpling wrapper. The dumpling skin is not too thick either that I find the dish tasty. I prefer to couple the meat dumpling with sliced ginger for a little spiciness to add on the refreshing taste, what about you?

Next to follow is the La Mian with Shanghainese Deep-fried Pork Ribs上海炸排骨拉面. The La Mian is as well the specialty of Dragon-i whereby the noodle is hand-pulled by the Chef from Lanzhou兰州 with the imported flour from Canada. They provide 6 shapes of La Mian for customers' selection but only "Double Width" La Mian二细拉面 is available on the day. The Shanghainese Pork Ribs are fried in a non-greasy way that the meat is still tender and juicy inside the crunchy exterior. Attila likes the light taste of the soup that it's just perfect after a heavy alcoholic night. Oppositely, I find the taste to be too vegetarian. Anyway, the succulent La Mian does match the soup. On the other hand, the Pork Ribs taste alike to have been marinated with a type of fermented bean curd that the saltiness has been absorbed completely into the meat. We do quite enjoy the taste of the meat except that we find ourselves in diffulty to enjoy the ribs with chopsticks. We've then decided to order the Deep-fried Crispy Aroma Duck香酥脆皮鸭 and the Tossed Jelly Fish with Smoked Pig Shank燻蹄拌海蜇. The duck tastes a little dry yet it's still quite delicious with sufficient saltiness in the meat. The sauce is definitely not our preference as it tastes too sour. They're not the best for this cuisine as the duck meat matches neither the sauce nor the pancake skin. The succulent jelly fish is good to go with the vinegar as dipping sauce. I don't try the smoked pig shank as I dislike the thick fatty skin. Anyway, Attila likes it as it brings the memory of Mom's cooking.

Personally, Dragon-i 龍的傳人 is good in certain dishes but the taste is in over all not really satisfying. At least, the brunch doesn't trigger my eagerness to come back here again as a must.

Azuma, the Japanese

We've once banned Azuma Japanese Restaurant that is located inside Queensbay Mall for the quality of the food that is not worthwhile for money. I've no idea the motivation that we've had on the night, we've decided to visit the restaurant again. I guess we just want to prove if we've once made a wrong comment about this restaurant.

In the mood for Sushi, Attila and I've chosen their special roll whereby we've ordered the mixture of Una Cheese Maki and Salmon Tataki Maki. The sushi is rolled with vegetable, crab stick and fried egg sheet that is then being topped with Eel with cheese and smoked Salmon respectively. We like the sushi for the compactness of the rice that it doesn't fall off everywhere while picking it on the chopsticks. Furthermore, both the eel and the salmon meat taste delicious whether in its sweet Teriyaki sauce or just the ordinary smoking's smell.

We're quite unhappy that we don't get the fried or grilled tentacles as listed in the menu whereby they're claimed as 'out of order'. Thus, we've decided to go for the Beef Enoki Maki that is the sliced beef being rolled with golden mushroom and the assorted Tempura or the mixture of fried prawn and vegetable that is called Tempura Moriawase. Both of the dishes taste quite good but there's nothing that I'm really amazed of. I've indeed enjoyed the taste of the mushroom than the beef. On the other hand, I'm not fancy about the salty dipping sauce that I normally prefer to eat the Tempura with the mixture of wasabi and soy sauce instead. We've then decided to share the Gyu Kimuchi Ramen that is the noodle with beef in Kimchee soup. I like the spiciness of the Kimchee that it has indeed stimulated my appetite.

I still find the price to be too expensive that it's sort of over-charged as the food is not very delicious to worth for the amount. But, I'll still visit Azuma for their delicious sushi roll.

Feeling the Love at Love Bites

I come across a dessert type of special toast by Love Bites Fusion Cuisine that is located at Nagore Road from my friend. Out of my curiosity, the girls have decided to gather again for our eating trip. It's not difficult to find the restaurant as it's just on the right and you'll notice the red lighting of the signboard with its white background. Can you sense the romance and the artistic before entering?

We've decided to share the Vietnamese Spring Roll as the starter. The Vietnamese Rice Paper is wrapped with the Thai Basil, black fungus, cucumber, pickle papaya and shrimp and being served with the Vietnamese Hot Dips or the Thai sweet chili sauce. We love the freshness of the vegetable in the spring roll.

It's a non-Halal restaurant and I've decided to go for their Hot & Sexy Pork Ribs. The slowly braised pork ribs are grilled and rubbed with their secret tangy barbecue sauce that are then being served with the Pilaf Rice and the season salad. I like the tenderness and the juiciness that the meat just falls apart from the bone directly and melts in the mouth. The sauce tastes a little weird by itself yet it matches the ribs completely. To my surprise is the Pilaf Rice that is not only looking good with its heart shape yet it tastes delicious and the aroma is nice. The girls have decided to go for the Vietnamese Lamb and the Fusion Linguine Aglio-Olio. The lamb loin is coated with oriental spices and herbs and grilled to incredible flavour that is then being served together with Kampung Rice, season salad and honey mint yogurt. I'm totally impressed by the lamb as it doesn't have the disgusting smell that I've always hated and the honey mint yogurt tastes very refreshing whereby it's not only matching the saltiness of the lamb but also enhancing the tastiness of the dish. The Kampung Rice is indeed very special as it's fried with the blended shrimp with chili. This is a good combination of East with West. The Linguine is another surprise for me about the expertise of the chef whereby we're totally wrong about the dry noodle as it tastes just marvellous with the addition of the fried bacon and Serrano pepper especially being coupled with the refreshing taste of the Basil Pesto sauce on top of the Grilled King Prawn.

Not to forget our main purpose here that we've tried their Love Toast with strawberry flavour that is called Impression Of Love. The inner side of the bread that is cut and toasted into sticks are then stuffed inside the toast block together with some breadcrumbs before being decorated with the strawberry ice-cream, fresh strawberries, puree and being drizzled with white chocolate. This is a sweet temptation that will suit all berries lovers. Anyway, I'm not really fancy about the dessert as we're hardly able to finish the whole toast and especially the thick outer wall that doesn't taste sweet. Oh ya, please order 30minutes in advanced to allow for the preparation!

We're totally satisfied with the Fusion Cuisine here as the chef has prepared a table of delicious dishes for us. The portion of the food maybe slightly small for a big-eater but the deliciousness is definitely a worthwhile for the money.

M for Morganfield's

Morganfield's is one of the newly opened restaurant at Gurney Paragon yet we've never tested it. Time to check this place out and here we're after it has been started officially since few months ago. Again the big 'M' but to say Morganfield's Home of Sticky Bones. The name of 'Sticky Bones' is representing the old fashioned pork ribs that are slowly cooked in the coal and hickory wood to the mouthwatering tenderness that are then being perfected with the sweet and sour tomato-based homemade sauce. Well, I've to know by myself if they're good. The 1st impression to Attila, the menu is cheap-style.

It's of course a must to try their famous Hickory Wood-Smoked Ribs and we've taken Half Slab of Hickory BBQ Spare Ribs that are finished with their Hickory BBQ sauce and being served together with French Fries and Coleslaw. I'm kind of disappointed with the pork ribs because the meat is slightly towards hardness and dryness. As a pork ribs fan, I'm expecting that the meat is very tender and juicy that it'll just fall off from the bone with only a soft touch and it'll then melt in the mouth without too much biting and chewing. The words from the bottom of my heart, I'm not amazed by their pork ribs as I've tasted the better than theirs. Attila is in the mood for sandwich and we've ordered the Pulled Pork Sandwich. Please don't be tricked by the word 'Sandwich' as this is indeed a Burger! The pork shoulder meat is marinated with BBQ sauce and cola that is then slowly roasted till the meat falls apart before being topped with melted cheese and served in a burger bun. The meat patty is very succulent that the juice is splashing across the burger bun and the plate. We do like it, how about you?

It's the Pork*Toberfest from 24th Sept to 24th October 2012 and we've decided as well for the Pork Sausage Platter that consists of Bratwurst, Smoked Sausage, Spicy Hungarian Sausage and an Emmantaller Cheese Sausage. From the left to the right, the sausages are arranged from the last to the first as mentioned above. There's nothing special about the sausages from neither the taste nor the texture. It's a surprise to Attila that they're serving the German Sausages with the French Mustard that is called Dijon Mustard. Alternatively, you can try the garlic aioli as dipping sauce.

We're totally dissatisfied by the meal as we don't find any specialty out from this restaurant. Out stomach is full yet we've not enjoyed ourselves to the fullest. One of our joys is to read through the funny wordings on the wall.

On the Way Back & Again the Porky...

The way back from Krabi and we've stopped at Trang again for our lunch break. This is the time to recharge ourselves with a meal before we continue further our long way back to Penang. It has somehow become a tradition that we'll stop by the roadside restaurant that is before the petrol station for our rice or noodle.

Attila and I are fancy about the Stewed Pork whereby the pork is boiled in the dark soy sauce for long hours that the meat is soft and juicy. The meat has absorbed the taste and the aroma of the dark soy sauce completely that it'll just melt in your mouth. Look, the meat is just alike being shredded and it's boneless! If you prefer the pork fat, you can ask particularly to have the thick pork skin instead.

To some of our bikers' friends, the Stewed Pork is more suitable for the toothless old people as they dislike the texture of the meat. For me, this is definitely a dish that can stimulate my appetite to ask for more.

Dropping By at Chaba Thai Kitchen

Staying at Ao Nang Beach in Krabi, we've indeed enjoyed the kilometres of the white sandy beach under the blue sky with the warm shiny sun. Hearing the cooling wind that is blowing through our ears puts us into a leisurely mood to laze around the comforts.

It's time for lunch and we've decided to step into Chaba Thai Kitchen that is just around the corner. It's definitely a correct idea to go for Thai food. Each of us should order at least a dish, we've then shared the Duck Green Curry Soup in Coconut Milk, Thai Tomyum Seafood, Stir Fried Shrimp with Asparagus in Oyster Sauce and Squid B.B.Q with Garlic. The milky green curry is an appetizing dish to go with the white rice. I think that the duck meat is a little too dry yet we've indeed enjoyed the taste as the curry sauce does match the duck meat perfectly. We've asked for the Tomyum Soup with Coconut milk that the spiciness will be reduced by the milkiness. The reddish soup is very interesting yet it's just not to my level of spiciness. I find the Shrimp with Asparagus and the Squid B.B.Q to be quite ordinary. I guess this is mainly because the seafood in Thailand is not as fresh as I've tasted in Penang. Anyway, I'm definitely attracted by the chopped chili.

With more guys that are joining in, we've added the Beef Salad and the Laab Gai. The beef slices are just too dry and the Thousand Island Sauce is really a bad match to the salad. Laab Gai is the minced chicken that is mixed with Thai herbs and chili that the dish is spicy yet very refreshing. This is one of the Thai cuisine that is worth to be tried, provided that you can withstand the extreme spiciness.

I've enjoyed every single Thai dishes during my trips to Thailand, especially to push my limit of spiciness to the very end...

On the Way to Thailand... Roasted Pork

Riding from Penang to Krabi, Trang is our middle station to stop for a lunch. It's the perfect time to make a break before continuing further on half of the journey. Going through the busy town and then stopping in front of a small restaurant by the corner of the roadside, our leader Uncle Francis has decided to bring us to the roasted pork.

Attila and I have shared a Mixed Pork Platter that consists of Honey Glazed Pork or Char Siew, Roasted Pork and Sausage. I don't find the pork meat here to be very tasty as I dislike especially the skin of the roasted pork that is not crispy and indeed a little chewy. They're serving the pork meat with a special bean curd sauce. The saltiness of the sauce is adding taste to enhance the deliciousness of the meat. It's really appetising yet look at the sinful brownish oil! Additionally, we've tried out the Pork Satay here. The whole slice of meat on the stick is barbecued that is then being served together with the peanut sauce and pickled cucumbers. I like the thick peanut sauce that matches the meat completely.

I'm not amazed by the roasted pork here yet I'm having fun by knowing about more dishes in Thailand. The riding trip is as well a knowledge of food culture for myself.