Wantirna Superstars

Location:

703, Boronia Road
Wantirna, Victoria, 3152

Operating Hours:
Open 7 days - Yum Cha Daily

Lunch  : 11.30am till 3.00pm
Dinner : 5.00pm till 10.30pm

Additional Information:
Able to BYO (Wine only). Provides take aways. Contact - 98871580 or 98871508. Child and disabled friendly.

Verdict:

First chinese restaurant i've ventured into in Melbourne. Yeah.. not even in the city. >< I came to know this place cause its a sort of fancy restaurant "headquarters" for my dimsum loving family. So i tagged along! Yay!

Coming back to the main point, this restaurant specialises in chinese dumplings (usually late mornings till early afternoon) and delicacies (evening till night), or what you call in Chinese, "dim sum". But the term dim sum is not actually used here in Australia! Its called "Yum Cha".

Conclusion: This is a fancy, chinese, yum cha restaurant in Wantirna. =,= Damn i dislike the name WANTIRNA!

Coming AGAIN back to the point, the food here is REAAALLY pricey. In Malaysia, i consider dimsum an occasional treat! Well, Superstars's charging nearly 4 dollars a round-bamboo-basket. And this is just a normal-sized one. There are additional "upgrades" depending on type and basically, size of particular dishes. The PRICE upgrades too naturally. Teeh hee.

But the quality, taste, texture, and service of waitstaff provided DEFINITELY outweighs the price. Every piece of dumpling of ALL types are just so good and irresistable! Usually after consumption of these salt-based food, thirst is a yes yes yes. Not for the case of Superstar dumplings though! And you can literally taste the freshness oozing out into your mouth on your first bite and many munches after.

Ambience and atmosphere is a negative point though. Because of Superstars's popularity, this place tends to get a little crowded and noise levels will usually rise slightly above comfortable hearing. But table setting's just right, making enough room to facilitate the large crowds and also the pushing-dimsum-carts-girls.

To point out to anyone who eats here, apparently, there is a specialty here called "lai sa pau". (Picture to the right) Mind you, there are two types: baked and steamed. Baked tastes like heaven. Steamed tastes......ordinary. >< The baked "lai sa pau" is absolute hit in this restaurant, and when you enter, make that your priority order! Chef only prepares a few plates of these "pau" per session and missing the chance to try the specialty would be a waste!

I've been here bout 3 times now, 4 tomorrow, and as many times i have eaten here, food still tastes as good as the first. You won't be dissapointed trying out the food here. This i can guarantee. =)

Au revoir!

Lord of the Fries

I am back dudes and dudettes! The reason behind my many many weeks of abandonment would be cause my family came to Melbourne for a week. So imagine the adventures and places i went for 6 days! PLUS, a few days after my parents flight back to Kuala Lumpur, I went on an excursion to Great Ocean Road! Yay! So, i will have tons to write about places and food. =)

First stop, Lord of the Fries!

Location:

26 Elizabeth Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
(Corner of Flinders St and Elizabeth St)

OR

at many other locations in Victoria. (Flinders's Street Station, Melbourne Central's Knox Lane, Northland and Chadstone, both near the cinema)

Operating Hours:

All generally start from 10.30am till 10pm. But on specific days, till 3 or 4am.

Webpage: http://www.lordofthefries.com.au/

Verdict:

Before i even tasted or rather, SMELT any morsel of food from this franchise fast-food-take-away outlet, i have already heard wonderful ravings about the fries and burgers from people. And i bet there would be about a hundred reviews on this joint itself in various sites. So it ought'ta mean something right? And! The name would already be attractive enough to capture your interest in a moment of passing. =)

The pros

1. I am not much of a fast food junkie but THIS Fries with Indian Sauce would be the best fry dip i have ever tasted! Well, to be honest, the only fry dip i had is tomato sauce, chili or mayo. So this is different for me! And the indian sauce, as deceptive as it sounds, isnt "curry-ish" looking. It doesnt have a slightest hint of red for crying out loud. Its pasty white Spicy Mango Chutney mixed with Coriander. And this sauce is special cause on your 1st bite, you wouldnt think its delicious at all, but the more you eat, the BETTER it gets! My mum and bro devoured the whole thing right before my eyes. =,=
2. 10 sauces to choose from.
3. It's Vegan and Gluten-free friendly! (Burgers only) 
4. Heard the Burgers are the best!
5. Burger's available in mini sizes.
6. They prepared the fries and burger patties healthily. (Refer to site for methods)
7. 3 offered meal deals (eg. 1 fries, 1 regular burger, 1 drink - $11.85) Have a look at the menu on the site! =)

The cons

1. Its icky and oily and unhealthy! (Sorry fry lovers ><)
2. Though they might claim it's the "best tasting" in their site, i think their fries were pretty ordinary. Like my cousin says, nothing beats McDonald's fries. Agreed? =)
3. Its icky and oily and unhealthy!!!

But i would really hope to try the burgers one day. I've heard great reviews with word tags such as phenomenal, best, etc....from Google Map reviews. It's enough to make me go back some day =)

Au revoir!

Waffle On

Location:

Shop 9

Degraves Street

Melbourne 3001 VIC

Operating Hours:

Mondays till Fridays, 7am - 5pm

Verdict:

There was literally a LINE forming outside this place, a sure fire way to attract hungry passerbys looking for food at lunch time. And it certainly did me! The first thing you willl see are loads of people clutching onto their dear, (and delicious looking) waffles and baguettes, exiting the shop with satisfied looks on their faces.

Then....I KNEW....I have to try this!

Here's the interior.

This set up's French, with authentic workers from France themselves! Well, i presume that since they corrected my pronunciation with a noticable accent when i ordered my "Le Fermier". And i heard the specialty is Le Fermier and Le Normand.

The thing that really appeals to everyone, i think, would be the fantastic baguette they bake themselves! It has such a light crispy taste that is rare in any other baguettes or any form of pastry i have ever had! And i that is from a bread lover's perspective. But on the warning note, the baguette is pretty large (about an arm's length). >,-

The ingredients themselves looked pretty "blah" on the board to me, but when i bit into the sandwich, the flavour of the chicken slices, mayo and sprinkles of pepper on top werent what i had expected at all! Its fresh, its simple, its French, and most importantly, it tastes reeeaaallly good the more you gauge into the baguette.

Another thing interesting about the shop would be the wall cork board at the left side of the cashier. You wouldnt believe what it is filled with.

Seriously! Money! From ALL over the world! Imagine how good this place is to attract this many people! And i spotted many Malaysian RMs and i got all excited and started taking pictures. And some were even signed dollars!

Haha! So if you want a take-away bite, just get it from this shop when you're anywhere near Degraves and maybe put YOUR dollar note on the board.

Au Revoir!