Tian Ran – OMG, seriously, OMG……

It was pretty damn amazing.  We miss Magic Wok so much.  I remember when I heard about it closing, it was like a part of me died.  Yes, I’m being melodramatic, but as much as we love Kuan Yin and Loving Hut, we really don’t have a replacement for Magic Wok.  Sooooo, we decided to drop into the Gold Coast and visit Tian Ran on the way home from Byron Bay.  Woah – the Gold Coast and Byron are polar opposites! 
Enough ranting, food:

Mmmmmm we’ve become addicted to the young coconuts from Woolworths thanks to Cam’s sister.  They’re probably incredibly bad for the environment, being flown from Indonesia/Thailand, but OMG, soooooooooooo good.
Entree 1: BBQ Pork Buns

Not as good as the Magic Wok ones (they weren’t bright red in the middle), but they were good.  Very ‘meaty’ texture inside.
Entree 2: Crispy Fish Strips

From the taste, Cam worked out that these were probably Lamyong Fishy Strips (no idea what the real name is).  They were really nice (and that’s saying something, ‘cause I’m not a fan of the fishy substitutes).
Entree 3: Chicken and Corn Soup

I’ve had this soup before – Cam brought some home for me when I was writing my thesis and he went to the land of the leather people (the Gold Coast) with friends.  Nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom !
Side dish: Nasi Goreng

This was delicious!  I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was delicately flavoured (tomato and chilli powder).  And super super yummy.  (I’m going to run out of superlatives soon!)
Amy’s Main: Salt and Pepper Chicken

Deep fried tastiness.  We thought these were Lamyong Soy Nuggets.
Cam’s Main: Black Pepper Chicken

Again Lamyong Soy Nuggets.  It had that tasty cornflour glaze thingy that Chinese food has.  Not too peppery – Cam really enjoyed this.
Cam’s dessert: Banana Fritter

I can’t vouch for the flavour (I don’t eat banana), but Cam had a huge grin on his face the entire time he ate this.
We really enjoyed Tian Ran.  The service was great and not too fast.  The guy who owns it (we presume) was really lovely.
It was a great end to a fantastic weekend.

I don't want to go to school tomorrow Mummy

Or I don't want to go back to work tomorrow dammit!!!
Holidays are over :(
Here's a recap of what we've done...
We bought a BBQ!

We cooked mushrooms on it (remove stalk, add salt and wait!)

Mmmmm juicy goodness....
Made a BBQ tofu sandwich!

Watch out for the evil potato!!!!

Spent an afternoon making Pumpkin Cinnabons (from Don't Eat Off The Sidewalk)


Got Hell Pizza takeaway.  I wasn't a fan of cooked avocado (Cam was):

Scarfed down kumara chips with the pizza.  Fuck yeah....

Visited Kuan Yin (my office moved to the valley, but I still visit on holidays!).  There's some cool new menu items including:
Salt and Pepper Calamari (made with rehydrated shiitakes - we think):

Spicy Calamari

And people say vegan food is boring?  HA!!!!
Hope no-one else is as sad as I am to be returning to the coal mines.....

Vegans in Brisneyland - part one

The first in a new series of food pictures (because I got a fancy new phone that takes awesome pictures!)
First up: My Heart Garden in St Lucia (a brisk five minute walk from the main campus of the University of Queensland (suck it QUT)).
I tend to visit this with friends for lively literary discussion, but I always forget my camera. Not anymore!

Cam had this burger - no idea what the name was... It looked gorgeous!
I had two of their great salads, with Korean Tofu. I'm so going to crack the recipe for the Korean Tofu!!!!

They make the best cakes!
Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake:

Vegan Chocolate Cake (note the literary hands - she's writing her honours thesis on Anne Bronte's The Tennant of Wildfell Hall - yes we're all into old English lit!):

They're open: Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri, 8am-9pm. Wed 8am-3pm. Sat 5pm - 9pm Sun Closed. (I always forget they're not open for lunch on Saturday!)
My Heart Garden: Shop 5 / 225 Hawken Drive, St Lucia 4067. 07 3870 8898

Cam's brilliant - so we went out to dinner!

Cam got his GAMSAT results on Tuesday (it's like the MCAT in the US - a medical entrance exam) and he got in the top 7%!!!!! We were very excited about this news, so we decided to go out to our favourite asian vegetarian place - Magic Wok!

Here are the evening's tasty goods (forgive the crappy photos, we were attempting to be discreet - didn't really work):

Turnip cake - it's nothing like cake, but it is deep fried turnipy goodness:


Drumsticks - I really don't like dissing food from this place, but these weren't very nice - they'd been cooked previously and were cold - which I'm guessing is what they were trying to achieve - it just didn't work for me. It was served with a REALLY good plum sauce though!


BBQ Pork Buns - we get these EVERY time we go to Magic Wok (and when it was Leader Bowl). These are without a doubt the best buns in the entire universe. When we first had them I was still omni, and Cam freaked out because they taste so authentic. We always get two each.... Isn't the veggie flower in the middle gorgeous?


Alrighty, onto mains.

I had sweet and sour pork - oh my god it was so good! I had the leftovers for lunch.... Oh yeah, so greasy & tasty. The look of this one fooled a few omnis that I work with.


Cam had Lamb Rendang - they said it was spicy, but as always, Cam has the stomach of a crazy person (he likes hot food):


If you're ever in Brisbane you HAVE to go to this restaurant. It is insanely good. We always over order on the entrees, so we can have leftover mains for lunch or breakfast the same day....

Now all we have to do is cross our fingers that Cam gets an interview for Medicine at UQ.... Everyone has to cross their fingers until September.... :)