Lok’s Kitchen in Thornlie

My in-law had been saying that shaumai at Lok’s Kitchen is nice, and I finally had a chance of going there for dim sum lunch.

Lok’s Kichen is located in the complex of Thornlie Square Shopping Centre in Thornlie.  It was Sunday and the place was pretty full when we got there.

We got quite lots of food on our table – shaumai, steamed prawn dumplings,  chicken feet, pork ribs, steamed tofu & prawn, fried squid tanticles, chili tofu, char siew pork buns, kailan with oyster sauce, and egg tartlets.

The shaumai was really nice. It was tasty and juicy.  I also loved fried squid tanticles. It was nicer than the one at Northbridge Chinese restaurant on Roe street. Chicks. Feet and steamed prawn dumplings are nicer in Northbridge restaurants though, I thought.

Chili tofu was nice too. I lives the crunchy skin. There was tofu and prawn inside. Although the name is chili tofu (I believe waitress said so) it wasn’t spicy at all.

Char siew pork bun was another my favorite. I’m sure they handmade them. They are smaller than usuall size, but the bun was chewy and fresh.  Custard tartlet was crispy outside and soft & fluffy inside.  Yum!

The staff was very friendly and I liked the place. Only one thing that I hesitate to go back there was that I saw a huge cockroach in the toilet….  It was a big turn-off  It was shame because the food was really good!

Lok’s Kitchen
Shop30, Thornlie Square Shopping Centre
Thornlie Ave, Thornlie WA 6108
(08) 9452 8488
Lunch:
Mon – Thu & Sun 10:30am – 2:30pm
Fri – Sat 10:00am – 3:00pm
Dinner:
Mon -Thu & Sun 5:00pm – 9:30pm
Fri – Sat 5:00 – 10:00pm

HangOut Bar N Cafe

HangOut Bar N Cafe opened its door with a new owner just 1 week ago, and they seem to be doing pretty good.  My first opportunity to walk through their door was to drop off sample of bagels, and now they added Bagelier bagels to their menu and serving to their customers along with other fabulous foods.

The owner has a passion for great foods and only uses the finest ingredients.  When I was there this morning he was cooking vegetable omelet with just egg white –  you can ask such a favour too.  All staff are very friendly and I felt at home despite being there on business.

The owner asked said their coffee is the best, and asked one of the barista to make a cup of short macchiato for me.  The macchiato was served in a cute, cool glass, and it looked / tasted great.  Nice shot of coffee and the creme was just right!   Mmmmm I love coffee!

He had purchased a big clear showcase to display my bagels, and it’s on the counter at the front.  It’s so nice….  With the foods and the service, it makes me want to visit there with friends sometime!

20 Preston Street
Como, WA 6152
(08) 9474 1914

Open
Monday – Sunday
7:00AM – late

Oh, and Lincolns 102 in Highgate is also serving Bagelier bagels now.  This cosy cafe is just off the busy Beaufort street, and serves lovely foods and drinks.  Takeaway is also available!

LINCOLNS 102

Open
Tuesday – Sunday
7:30AM – 4:00PM

102 Lincoln St
Highgate, WA 6003
(08) 9228 1759

Chinese, Indonesian, and Japanese

I’ve been eating Chinese food again. While my in-laws are here in Perth my stomach gets filled with lots of Chinese food and Indonesian food…
These cuisine use lots of oil in cooking, so I really miss Japanese food.  Not those Japanese food that you find in Japanese restaurants here like karaage and tempura, but the real homy food like nimono and nitsuke.

Anyway, my stomach was filled with Chinese/Singapore food tonight at Bamboo in Willetton.  I wasn’t too hungry thanks to 1.5 hotdogs I had at IKEA afternoon, but my in-laws ordered 4 dishes for just 4 of us.  Pan-fried tooth fish, sambal spinach, Thai-style chicken in lemongrass sauce, and 1/2 roasted duck. It was quite a lot of food as in-laws don’t usually eat much.

I went outside to have a short stroll around Hi-Mart (Korean grocery shop) next door, and when I got back to the table two dishes had already been served.
The tooth-fish was great. Crispy fish in buttery sauce did match with plain steamed rice. I found sambal spinach was bit oily, but I guess that’s what it’s supposed to be.

Thai-style chicken was the one they ignite flame underneath the aluminum foil.  Roast duck had the beautiful colored crispy skin.  It’s just what people expect roast duck to be.

We couldn’t finish the food as I expected and ended up taking the roast duck home.  Eating this type of food once in awhile is fine, but now I’m longing for a bowl of simple ochazuke for tomorrow breakfast.

Cafe for Tea Lovers

Since I wrote about this place Chapels on Whatley, they have transformed their tea shop into a nice, attractive tea-featured cafe .

This shops is located right in front of Maylands train station.  They were originally selling just ornaments, tea leaves, and tea-related products, but now they added cafe corner with great drinks and foods.

When I arrived there I could see from outside that many customers enjoying their food and drinks. Outside tables were all taken. When entered inside I was surprised to see how crowded the cafe is with customers and cafe staff moving around busily. They made the cafe counter in the centre of the shop, and there’re tables inside, outside, and at the back yard.

The shop still sells houseware, kitchenware and tea items inside and also at the detached room. We bought 3 teacups made of bamboo. It was $2.80 each.

I wanted to try the food and drinks as they were beautifully dished and looked so yummy, but I couldn’t find any seat available so I left the shop with just three bamboo cups. I definitely want to come back there for food and drinks near future – probably with my girlfriends

That’s Steak!

It was the first steak I had since I came back from snowy Japan, and it tasted GOOD!  As people may know, Japanese beef is purposely oily – fat is marbled in red meat (called “shimofuri”) and more it’s evenly marbled more it gets expensive.

Although it’s nice to have shabu-shabu and sukiyaki with thinly sliced shimofuri beef, I prefer red meat when grilling.  I love Australian beef because it’s healthy and fresh.  In Japan amount of fat makes the meat soft and juicy, but here they control the tenderness by how long you cook the meat. More you cook the red meat tougher it goes, so if you like it tender then you ask for medium or medium rare.

While I was in Japan I didn’t eat much beef because the price is quite expensive compared to chicken and pork. And I prefer chicken anyway. Here in Perth chicken is more expensive to some parts of beef.  I feel that quality of beef is better in Australia – Aussie Beef is popular in Japan too, bit pricy though.

D had burger, and our friend had banana milkshake.  He said they didn’t use ice-cream for the milkshake – just cream?  Really?  Or his taste is bit weird…?

I receive a free voucher for steak from Hog’s Breath every year for my birthday month, and I love it. Although you can only chose from selected menu, it’s free! We went there for lunch and I thought I couldn’t eat that big steak in a midday, but I did, hehe.