tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80915754033588508242012-02-05T10:19:44.373+01:00Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.comBlogger771100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-84999890546187726452012-01-01T19:51:00.005+01:002012-01-03T15:46:44.886+01:00

Happy New Year 2012!!! Hubby, me and a bunch of other friends were invited to an old and new party by Pangky and Nuke with their little boy. And boy did I have a good time! Their home are so comfy and neat. Both of them were such gracious hosts. They made sure that everyone had more than enough food on their plates, brewed coffee for those who need coffee to stay awake till midnight, greeted and

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-4062549781030051052011-12-26T23:21:00.007+01:002011-12-30T22:27:30.620+01:00

Merry (belated) Christmas everyone!!  I know my blog has been extremely quiet these past couple of months. But I have good reasons! I'm still busy decorating my new home, my parents were here for the summer holiday, then I went to China (the pictures and stories are coming, after I'm done editing them :P).  So far, it's been a mild winter and no white Christmas at all. Take a look at my

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-83931904684230527552011-09-30T22:40:00.002+02:002011-10-04T23:30:46.185+02:00

A real Taiwanese beef noodle soup made by native Taiwanese right here in Hamburg. A dream  come true. Very friendly and chatty Taiwanese, may I add. Their presence makes the dining experience in this small unimpressive shop feels like having a dinner by a relative. The restaurant is small but cozy and clean.  Their menu is quite simple, they have different types of noodles soup such as beef

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-74521486249849026502011-08-10T21:05:00.001+02:002011-08-16T22:34:03.623+02:00

So, I heard from my friend via Facebook that Hamburg has its own Bubble Tea!! I challenge you to imagine my reaction (I pretty much shout at her wall, begging her to share the address of the shop).  From what I heard, this shop just opened a year ago. The shop itself is really small with only 6 stools. Actually, the main fare of the shop itself is not boba tea but an AYCE (All You Can Eat) Sushi

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-63459195787997028382011-06-15T21:35:00.001+02:002011-06-16T20:36:40.788+02:00

I just learned that Sternschanze is the "hip" part of Hamburg. If you are young, cool, chic and probably working in the advertising or fashion industry, chance are this is your turf. Bars and Cafes  littered the roads. Small shops where owner sell hand-made and self selected products. Apple store. You got the Idea? I passed through KimZen while walking around the area with Linda. I checked their

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-6745539047349281632011-05-25T19:58:00.004+02:002011-06-02T18:25:56.366+02:00

My first official Hamburg post. I'm so excited!! Let me start with some background info on Hamburg, it's the second largest city in Germany. And even though the distance from Hamburg to the sea is around 80 km, it's the third most important port in Europe. Here, you can see the people's love for sea food marked by the abundance of fish monger and supermarkets which offer tons of sea food - smoked

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-47297799719926007052011-04-27T20:44:00.000+02:002011-04-27T20:44:38.297+02:00

Dear Laupheim, Thank you for the short-yet-wonderful liaison that we shared. You showed me the beauty of nature, the solitude of living near a cornfield, the joy of waking up to the smell of pig's dung, the enjoyment of picking berries from the garden and the charm of being close to mother's nature. But, no matter how wonderful the time that we had was, I'm so sorry to have to hurt you and say: "

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-55456170435069443852011-04-02T14:46:00.000+02:002011-04-03T21:42:25.594+02:00

Fit to this weekend summerly weather. Here is a post about something icy.Back at home, Frozen yoghurt is such a rave, in every sour sally and red mango there are lines of customers waiting for the frozen yoghurt. As I'm an extremely food curios person, I tried frozen yoghurts from both stores. It was good but overpriced and I can't understand the rave. It just some ice cream similar texture stuff

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-44895353436128965862011-03-19T15:53:00.000+01:002011-03-19T17:17:57.864+01:00

A vietnamese friend of mine, To anh, who visits Berlin for work, ask me for recommendation for a good vietnamese restaurant. Because of the limited time that we have, I couldn't bring her to dong xuan center for my favourite Bun Cha. So we must find something in town but still viatnamese enough for her.I chose Minh Trang because before Dong Xuan center hits Berlin. It was the only place for

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-63283076385688959462011-03-05T08:15:00.000+01:002011-03-05T08:15:51.877+01:00

After the rave of BoboQ. Like mushrooms, bubble tea sprang everywhere in Berlin from the original BoboQ, the newer one in Prenzlauer Berg and this one that I'm going to blog is the one in Kantstraße.It's a modest store and the owner is a lady from mainland China. The store was divided into two parts. On the left side is the Bubble Tea bar and on the right side is a foot massage section and a shop

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-72835780487931603862011-02-20T13:48:00.000+01:002011-02-21T07:58:10.285+01:00

How low can my standard go, that I started to blog about a germanized Chinese restaurant? Well I do lower my standard after I live in Ulm. First, there's no, not even one authentic Chinese restaurant. And as a beggar can't be a chooser so I've tried some so-called Chinese Restaurants and this China Wok are decent enough, so that it moves me to blog about them.China-Wok is a typical germanized

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-41300926503451233912011-02-11T15:10:00.002+01:002011-05-25T22:37:41.432+02:00

My favourite steak restaurant in Germany is Block House. I love their T-Bone and their self created mixture of peppers & garlic. So when a friend of mine, Linda, who lives in Hamburg told me about a subsidiary company from block house, which specialized only on hamburger. I was all hot and eager to travel to hamburg on that day. But without a sound reason, why should I travel 700 km only to eat a

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-66790480636440418152011-01-25T14:40:00.002+01:002011-05-25T22:38:22.644+02:00

I hereby proudly introduce to you, my dear reader, my favourite Japanese Restaurant in Berlin, Sasaya. Let me start with this anecdote. A decade ago, before the Ishin that we all knew and love became the cheap, lower quality, franchised Japanese Deli that it is today, there was a tiny imbiss in Steglitz, Berlin also called Ishin. Everything they offered, the fresh sashimi, warm/cold dono, and

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-59363978260955920542011-01-18T13:47:00.001+01:002011-01-26T07:16:30.682+01:00

The idea behind Signora Maria is new and interesting. It's a combination of a delicatessen and a bistro/cafe at the same time. And since it's located right behind the ulmer Münster (Cathedral), so the location is quite central and well chosen. The store is divided into some sections; On one side, there are shelves filled with wine, balsamic acid, proscuttio and basically everything an Italian

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-33514233583413350152011-01-08T10:19:00.001+01:002011-05-25T22:39:03.206+02:00

My Landlady, Mrs Diebold is a true swabian lady. She cooks a typical german lunch everyday , i.e. Germans only eat one warm meal a day. It's quite a surprise for me who eat warm meal three times a day. So to introduce a real swabian Käsespätzle to me, she invited me for lunch one day. And I'm even allowed to take pictures of her Käsespätzle! Käsespätzle is actually a German version of mac and

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-28165898777194860472010-12-25T06:36:00.004+01:002010-12-25T17:07:55.416+01:00

It's white christmas, folks!It's been snowing since the end of November here in Germany, but because it's christmas, everyone is happy and enjoying a white christmas. Here is the place, where we went sleigh riding.and here is a view from the back of my homeI was invited for christmas dinner by my landlady and she served a pork medallion with cognac sauce and home made spätzle, as side dishes,

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-84937195767433549912010-12-17T15:29:00.006+01:002011-05-25T22:39:25.736+02:00

Probably the best Pizzeria in Laupheim? After eating in a lot of pseudo-Italian restaurant, I have to say, Amalfi is easily the best Italian Restaurant Laupheim can offer. The restaurant itself is pretty small. We went there on a cold friday night and we were lucky to be given the only free, unreserved two-seater table in the middle of the restaurant. It's not the best table, but then again, we

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-45106029396264348802010-12-05T00:15:00.000+01:002010-12-17T16:04:35.547+01:00

I must say, this is the most difficult post that I have ever written. I've been dreading to write this post for months. And even as I was writing, I kept rereading sentences, deleting them and then I try to rewrite them again and again. I don't think there's anything I can write to explain these complicated feelings that I have. Anyway, long story short, I'm moving out of Berlin. Scratch that.

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-4748562980629694042010-11-28T15:37:00.000+01:002010-11-28T15:37:00.101+01:00

After I re-read my post about Zha Jiang Mian at Tian Fu restaurant. I remembered that I have a photo of the egg tart from Tian Fu Supermarket. I Bought one back home and took a picture of it in the darkness of my room.And it's really good, the filling is sweet, soft and custardy without beeing overly sweet and the so good flaky pies are barely strong enough to hold the soft filling. so they just

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-58964960154980834502010-11-26T14:36:00.001+01:002010-11-26T14:36:00.857+01:00

Honestly saying, the first time I heard about this black bean noodles is from Korean Drama (Shame on my Chinese heritage) I thought Jajangmyeon is a traditional Korean food. Little that I know it's actually an adaptation of northern China speciality. After I taste both Korean and authentic Chinese black bean paste noodle. I must say I prefer the Chinese variation better, it's meatier, the sauce

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-54312529330680849942010-10-14T16:21:00.000+02:002010-10-14T09:13:14.270+02:00

The funny thing about Aaberna is, it's not actually an imbiss. It's actually a part of a bed and breakfast. The owner is a Korean man and he is always sitting behind the bar. The cook, a Korean ahjumma is always standing in the kitchen. The moment I enter this bed and breakfast, I felt like I'm entering a Korean family's sitting room, where the father is busy in front of the computer and the

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-29347968841590537212010-10-07T11:51:00.000+02:002010-10-07T11:51:00.932+02:00

In the last couple of years, there are more and more new restaurants in Berlin that claimed to specialize in hand pulled noodles. For example, there's Le LaMian at Friedrichschein, Tian Fu food at Wilsmersdorf and my personal favourite, Selig, also known as Lan Zhou La Mian (which literally means Lan Zhou Hand Pulled Noodles) at Charlottenburg. Lan Zhou is a region in China which specialized in

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-32534348593482749532010-08-30T14:00:00.001+02:002010-09-16T14:14:58.041+02:00

While I was doing my research in the chemistry group at TU-Berlin, I learned a lot of things. Not just about chemistry, research and laboratory, but also a lot about cooking :D. One of the dish that I learned is liquid nitrogen wild berries ice cream.Liquid nitrogen is nitrogen in liquid form which only exist at a very low temperature. It's a colourless and odorless liquid that boils at -196°C at

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-63335555027697267162010-08-20T11:10:00.003+02:002011-05-25T22:40:43.809+02:00

Everytime I write a restaurant review, I try to write as fair as I can and without being bias about the service a restaurant provides. However some places have the most terrible costumer service and I just have to mention it. I really felt that I've been treated unfairly in Lon Men noodle house, and therefore, they win the price for the lousiest service ever. The Taiwanese Lao ban niang (lady

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-55402560313634991222010-08-05T10:58:00.000+02:002010-08-06T08:20:02.732+02:00

While I was doing my research at the TU Berlin chemistry group, once every month, we always have a celebration adorned with cakes and tea. Oh boy, the cakes that I tasted there, were some of the best cakes I've had in my life. The quality of course is because of the freshness. They're all home, made without preservatives! But most important of all, there's so much love that they poured into the

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-57967586110653131482010-07-29T10:22:00.007+02:002010-10-05T12:55:22.634+02:00

Let me share a little secret between the Chinese and that is Asia Deli at Seestr. This tiny Imbiss sell cheap and homey Chinese dishes. Most of people who visit this imbiss are either poor students or simply Chinese people who just crave for home-cooked style food. I visit them frequently and try almost every single dish they offered. Most of their dishes are very tasty, with their price (mind

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-26402021716371160272010-07-18T20:52:00.001+02:002010-10-05T12:55:48.788+02:00

A German TV show called 'Galileo' made a program called 'Kampf der Nationen' lit. it means battle of the nations. Every day the program compares food from other countries and its german counterparts. For example, battle of hamburger, American burger is compared to the germanized burger. Four independent judges (they are all ordinary people and not German or American) tasted and gave marks to the

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-83388772881638573892010-07-14T07:43:00.001+02:002010-10-05T12:57:00.582+02:00

After the Korean food experience at Arirang Korean Restaurant, I was hooked! I opened my eyes and looked around for other Korean Restaurant in Berlin. Surprsingly many Korean Restaurant sprang out in the last few years for example there are Kimchi princess, Yam Yam and Omoni at Prenzlauer berg and also Madang which just opened their doors last year. After reading many positive reviews about this

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-25911308148335353182010-07-04T17:32:00.000+02:002010-07-04T17:32:00.371+02:00

Do you see anything different from the boxes in the picture above? Okay they are all packaged orange juices but they are different. In Germany there are three different types of orange juices; simple orange juice, directly squeezed orange juice and orange nectar. I'm pretty sure you're confused with all these descriptions. Well, I was anyway. I mean who knows what's the difference between orange

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-25491087427735773352010-06-30T21:07:00.002+02:002010-06-30T21:07:00.104+02:00

The idea for this dish comes from a game called Cafe World on Facebook (*sheepish*) yes! I play a lot of games on Facebook. As you can see, one can always learn even from games :P. All the dishes that you can "prepare" in this game are well known dishes such as Hamburger, Pie, Chasu Ramen, Shumai dumpling. They do have some fantasy dishes like "dino drumstick". I know all the dishes they have

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-87767087541292063162010-06-26T19:27:00.002+02:002010-10-05T12:57:55.286+02:00

After I read a post at berlin.unlike about Tandur Lasan and read how nimmersatt rave about this place. I was excited and went there the next weekend. Exactly as berlin.unlike has described. It is a hole in a wall and they made flatbread as fast as a machine would do. I was naturally impressed by the freshness of the bread. Remember? Everything which is freshly made, taste better! And Gosh, How

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-83756996289479442042010-06-22T17:56:00.008+02:002010-10-05T12:58:28.939+02:00

Everytime I shop at Oriental Supermarket, I pass through this cute japanese restaurant and I'm intrigued by its cute wooden japanese billboard. So I went in and found out that they have one of the simplest menu I've ever seen. They only serve gyu-don aka beef over rice, some udon and curry rice/udon, miso soup and onigiri.I must say the gyu don is terrific & authentic, fine beef stripes salty

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-73102491081948216592010-06-16T22:04:00.000+02:002010-06-16T22:04:00.840+02:00

I surely mentioned that I don't really cook Indonesian food in my kitchen. But my spouse loves Indonesian food and he can really cooks them too. (Psst, that's how he won my heart, Love surely goes through the stomach) So last weekend, when he was in good mood, he declared that he wanted to cook central-Javanese Pecel (Indonesian salad). Now you wonder, why I emphazise on the central-Javanese. You

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-44690997995328258992010-06-10T16:21:00.001+02:002010-10-05T12:59:12.554+02:00

Are you a coffee addict? Well I am! I can't function well if I don't drink a shot of coffee. Like a hungry beggar, I'll even drink the beverage my college's cafetarias try to pass as "coffee". In TU-Berlin, that's the grad school I'm attending now, there are several cafetarias. And Studentenwerk Cafetaria in our main building have the best coffee. For a mere 35 cent you got filtered coffee that

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-1261326328417697922010-06-09T13:29:00.001+02:002010-07-05T12:43:22.262+02:00

I am veeery picky with my own dip. I have been buying dips for past 2 months because they are always on special!!! - 2 for $4 - 50% off - buy 3 get 1 free and so on....List of the dips that I have eaten;tzatzikihummusgarlic hummuscorn relish cream and herbbasil with roasted cashew nutssalmon After two months eating commercially-made dips - I realised that maybe I should make my own.Trying to be

Alobertnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-71321019232935189902010-06-05T17:00:00.001+02:002010-10-05T12:59:37.773+02:00

Remember Ho Lee China Restaurant? The one that Jacky Chan visited when he was in Berlin while filming his movie "80 days around the world"? Anyway, when I was there the last time, I saw that they also sell beef noodle soup (it was pasted on their window). They even claimed that they're the king of beef noodle soup (written in Chinese). I was naturally intrigued, would theirs be better than my

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-85018142732749092152010-06-01T20:00:00.002+02:002010-06-02T10:35:09.308+02:00

My Father was born in a small fishing village and because of that he loves seafood more than everything. And he shares this love for seafood with his children too. Since I was a kid, he brought me and my siblings to a seafood market at the harbour. He showed us how to choose fresh fish and how to recognize the different types of fishes, while enjoying fresh salty sea air and jumping around the

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-53824767719841078272010-05-27T17:10:00.001+02:002010-10-05T13:00:16.092+02:00

El-Reda is definitely a popular spot for Persian food in Berlin, you never see them without customers, young and old, families with children & poor students. They even operate until early in the morning like say 3 a.m. And I can understand why they are so popular. The Kebabs are freshly grilled, they serve a generous portion of basmati rice and a plateful of fresh salad which consists of

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-11194519308829841642010-05-24T05:31:00.001+02:002010-07-05T12:44:09.029+02:00

I would love to thank Mel for letting me to write in your blog. Talented is not the best way to describe me, appropriately, adventurous-discover-disaster would be better. my first dish in your blog would be Parmesan crumbed baked fish with baked veggies.Ingredients (serve 2)Baked Vegies1 medium size carrot - slice thinly1 medium size zucchini -slice thinly1 medium size potato - slice thinly1 big

Alobertnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-52932602795988090452010-05-23T22:01:00.000+02:002010-05-23T22:06:28.044+02:00

Growing up in south-east Asia, I've eaten a lot of fried rice, fried bihun, fried noodles and nasi lemak/uduk as breakfast. They are like the typical Indonesian/Malaysian breakfast that one can get in every corner. Sometimes my parents (they're chinese descendant) craved for typical Chinese breakfast and would take my siblings and me to yong-he taiwanese brand for soy milk and Chinese crullers.

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-48873754073255002412010-05-20T10:23:00.001+02:002010-10-05T13:00:46.943+02:00

My dear cousin, Lei, is a real Korean TV series addict. She watch almost all popular Korean drama. Heck! she even watch other not so popular drama to kill time while on her night shift as a doctor in a hospital. Sorry lei, I just blow out your secret :P. And because of her I start to watch Korean Drama too and I'm hooked. Come on, who doesn't dream of a good looking guy grabbing your hand,

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-23533225872351967112010-05-15T08:46:00.001+02:002010-10-05T13:01:29.504+02:00

For my birthday, I requested a celebration in a restaurant that has been awarded with the Michelin star. After much research and browsing, I chose Vău to experience my first gastronomy meal. The main reason why I chose Vău is because of Kolja Kleeberg, the maître de cuisine of this restaurant. He often appears in ZDF's cooking show: "Kerner/Lanz kocht" and I like his bubbly and cheerful

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-32134705081189263002010-05-09T20:58:00.000+02:002010-05-09T23:33:49.358+02:00

A couple of weeks ago, my brother came to visit me in Berlin during his winter break. Me, being the good ol' sis, asked him what he wanted for dinner. Of course he picked the one dish that he can't make on his own, dumpling. Then came the next question, what filling does he want? He said he wants something with chives. So again I made the shrimp-pork-chives-egg-dumpling. As you can already say,

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-38884195167818037552010-05-07T11:00:00.001+02:002010-10-05T13:01:59.714+02:00

If somebody visits Berlin and ask me, "what is the trademark dish of this city?" I wouldn't to make one second to answer: "Curry Wurst". Curry Wurst is nothing more than pan fried pork sausage cut into thick slices, seasoned with lots of tomato ketchup and a little bit of curry powder. Normally, Curry wurst is eaten together with either french fries or German bread roll.Sounds simple isn't it?

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-58244858261403093512010-05-05T00:09:00.001+02:002010-05-05T15:24:48.458+02:00

As requested by Henky O, I'm posting the recipe for my oven steamed halibut. Henky saw my post about my home-made dinner and asked me for the recipe.The key for this dish is the choice of the fish and the soy sauce. I strongly recomend fresh halibut, because it's low in fat, has mild "clear" taste, fleshy and silky. Don't ever use frozen "seelachs", it will only ruin this dish. This is because

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-71908727476362064372010-04-30T23:29:00.001+02:002010-10-05T13:02:42.216+02:00

There is a neighborhood in Berlin, Kreuzberg, that is also known as little Istanbul (Küçük Istanbul). And true to its name, this district is filled with Turkish bath, Turks-operated pizzaria, Turkish restaurants, Turkish bakeries & baklavari, Halal supermarkets. And if you pay attention, most of the apartments on the street of Little Istanbul boast Turkish names such as Aydin, Yilmiz and

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-48877103636707469132010-04-25T17:04:00.002+02:002010-10-05T13:03:23.548+02:00

Have you ever wonder where celebrities eat when they get to a new city? In all honesty, I never care about stuff like that, until I stumbled upon this Chinese Restaurant just accros KaDeWe (Berlin's equivalent of Harrods). And what do I found? Pictures of Jackie Chan on the wall!Sorry for the blurry photo, I was in hurry. After all it's just something to tickle your interestAccording to the boss

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-73301874047589398902010-04-22T15:18:00.005+02:002010-04-22T21:09:50.271+02:00

My dear cousin, Albert, who lives in Australia, is a very talented cook. I think this talent runs in the family. He specializes in cooking complicated fine western food. What's more, he really put in his labor of love to all his foods. When he's done cooking them, he'll arrange them in these photogenic ways. Another important fact about him is, he loves to indulge himself in expensive michelin

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-29818770590264696522010-04-18T15:06:00.004+02:002010-10-05T13:03:35.731+02:00

Ishin Japanese Deli is not a place where you go to eat the best sushi in town. It's more like a place you go to find mediocre but cheap sushi. Even though the maki they serve are loosely wrapped with only two tiny piece of raw salmon inside (they even mixed in crab stick and canned tuna in their maki), I'm not gonna complain since my main reason of visiting Ishin is either to enjoy their Don (raw

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-40778629572014238522010-04-13T11:09:00.003+02:002010-10-05T13:04:12.707+02:00

I dedicate this post escpecially to my friend, Edo Leonardo. He was curious about my Easter dinner, so I told him that I only prepared some simple food. Regardless, he said, he wants me to cook it for him because he's really hungry. But, since he's so far away in Indonesia, he's going to have to make do with some pictures and a blog post instead of real cooked food. So here it is, especially for

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-28595142970655693912010-04-11T21:31:00.000+02:002010-04-11T21:31:00.243+02:00

Imagine putting some air into a pouch, then try to bite into said pouch. I bet you taste "nothing" :D.Sorry for the joke, but that's what the name "Windbeutel" implies. It means "wind pouch", and that's what you're suppose to feel when you bite into a windbeutel - it's light as air. I personally think that's a pretty name for a dessert.Back in Indonesia, this cake is called "kue sus". I used to

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-64342749931489084402010-04-08T16:48:00.001+02:002010-10-05T13:04:35.973+02:00

Five years ago, almost no one in Berlin has ever heard about Sichuan food. But today, you can find this spicy cuisine (which originates from a region in China) in practically every third Chinese restaurant in Berlin. But the title of "Pioneer in Sichuan food in Germany" belongs to Tianfu restaurant. Even though Tian Fu is the first Sichuan restaurant in Berlin, IMHO, they don't retain their

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-44021896358654606022010-04-05T13:44:00.004+02:002010-04-05T14:59:08.668+02:00

Is avocado fruit or vegetable? Most Asians associate avocado with dessert and something sweet, but westerner always think that avocado is savory. My Russian neighbor was really shocked, when I made Es Teler (Indonesian dessert consisted of avocado, coconut milk and jackfruit). And I was astounded when I saw her eating avocado with cayenne pepper and salt. Don't get me wrong! I love guacamole

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-83208541989690055322010-03-30T19:42:00.001+02:002010-10-05T13:06:35.833+02:00

Seriously, this place simply called itself "Thai Imbiss". But don't judge this place from its shabby, messy interior; This is where most Thais go to eat when they want to have authentic Thai food. Like Asian's "Kopi tiam", this Imbiss is arranged like a food court. There are five food vendors which serve different types of Thai food. There's a dining area in the middle of the imbiss. Mind you,

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-18705681678793866332010-03-27T16:58:00.002+01:002010-10-05T13:07:17.696+02:00

Daruma is not a restaurant, it's more like a tiny supermarket that has expanded into a cafeteria. I like them because they have a simple menu that only has 8 items on it. This is good because it shows that they only specialize in authentic Japanese food (at least the waitress and the chef are japanese).Here is a picture of Ebifrai Bento served with Miso soup as an appetizerThis bento has all of

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-88494728640624450432010-03-22T18:22:00.002+01:002010-10-05T13:07:30.757+02:00

The long awaited spring will soon be here and I already can't wait for summer. In trying to make summer comes even faster, I went to eat some ice cream at Ben & Jerry's at Kastanien alle. I have high expectation for Ben & Jerry's Ice cream. After all, a lot of people rave about how good Ben & Jerry's Ice creams, and how fresh their waffles are. So off I went to Kastanien alle to get something

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-50231473986404276382010-03-20T18:16:00.003+01:002010-03-20T18:16:00.350+01:00

One little secret here, even though I'm born Indonesian, I really suck at cooking Indonesian food. But I love to eat them because they're so flavorful and mouth watering! But they are really complicated, to make. You need to use a lot of fresh herbs and spices that has to be sliced/minced/ground finely. Since fresh Asian ingredients in Berlin are super expensive, I usually grabbed those

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-1330058223717196042010-03-17T18:06:00.001+01:002010-10-05T13:07:48.254+02:00

Isn't "Cafe Bilderbuch" a pretty name for a cafe? It literaly means "Picture Book Cafe". The first time I've heard of this name, I imagined a cute classic cafe which sprang right out of my old Enid Bylton books.To my delight, I found that "Bildurbuch" fits the cafe perfectly! There's a grandfather's clock at the back of the cafe, and a comfortable granny's couch (you know, those fifties old couch

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-14822136561990054922010-03-14T18:35:00.006+01:002010-10-05T13:08:15.644+02:00

Once upon of time in China, there was a pair of newlyweds who lived in a two different cities. The cities were separated by a river, but they are connected by a stone bridge The couple were separated because the husband must study for the imperial exam. So when he pass the exam, he can be a scholar and bring home glory and honor.So every single day, the pretty and virtuous young wife will take a

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-53414378212366694962010-03-10T18:08:00.001+01:002010-03-16T16:42:02.110+01:00

When you catch a cold or just feeling under the weather, do you have any specific food cravings? I do! And I always crave for porridge - chicken, pork or even plain porridge with side dishes. I think it's a Chinese thing. Kinda like the Americans who swears by chicken soup, we believe that when one is sick, one shouldn't eat greasy, fried food. Instead, one should eat light and soft food. Which

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-37875436580645443042010-03-07T18:10:00.009+01:002010-03-16T16:39:09.583+01:00

I'm not even sure whether I can even call this a recipe. You basically need to boil the Edamame in salt water and lightly salt them again after that. But I'm still going to give you this recipe anyway because boiled Edamame is so damn tasty! You can get a pack of frozen edamame for a mere €1.80 in Vinh-Loy Asia Markt. And with just one pack, you can serve at least 5 plates of healthy soy beans!

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-51694754465085632982010-03-06T12:10:00.005+01:002010-10-05T13:08:54.820+02:00

Unlike every other major cities in the world, there is no Chinatown in Berlin, in fact there is no Chinatown at all in Germany. There used to be a small china town in Hamburg back in the 30s. But the Nazis deported the Chinese who resided there back to China and since then, there was no development of any Chinatown at all in Germany. Recently in Berlin, Kantstraße is developing into a China

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-88919567265889820632010-03-03T22:00:00.002+01:002010-03-09T23:38:21.972+01:00

Every Chinese restaurants or "imbiss" sell hot and sour soup. I'm really confused however, on how in the world they turn hot and sour soup into tomato-red in color... makes you wonder where do they get their recipe doesn't it? And by "they", I really mean all the "imbiss". I mean, I've been to all over Germany (Münich, Ulm, Hannover and Stuttgart) and the hot and sour soup they sell all look the

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-84793101857927141772010-03-02T21:00:00.007+01:002010-03-16T16:40:23.803+01:00

Six months ago, my brother can't even fry a decent sunny-side-up egg. Recently, he made this minced pork and egg over rice (using my recipe :D) and sent me this picture. I hope our mom will be proud when she read this. After all, her youngest child is finally grown up (from cooking for himself.. hahaha). I'm also gonna quote my sister who said that this was proof that Gusteau (From Ratatouille)

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-56094669979692898112010-02-28T20:00:00.004+01:002010-03-16T16:38:19.028+01:00

Whenever I eat meaty dish like dumplings, wan tans or bao zi (steamed bun), I usually feel guilty and try to compensate with a vegetable side dish such as boiled vegetables or a simple cold dish. Here is an example of my favourite cold dish - Chinese style celery salad. It's tangy, spicy, with just a little hint of acid. The best part is, it doesn't even need any cooking and can be done in 5

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-37339919027680978962010-02-25T17:00:00.007+01:002010-10-05T13:09:14.559+02:00

Nothing beats home made dumplings, not only in term of freshness and quality but also in the variation of the fillings. For example, you can make the fillings with pork and lots of veggies such as: napa cabbage, chives (my personal favourite), scallion and celery, or beef with onion, lamb with cabbage, seafood with egg and even vegetarian variety of tofu with shitake mushroom. So you can just

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-12718120141541456372010-02-24T21:38:00.003+01:002010-02-25T00:13:38.179+01:00

Have you ever heard of the 5 minutes microwave-baked cake? No? Shame. It's nothing less than a miracle! You simply need to mix all the ingredients together in a cup and microwave it for 3 minutes at the highest power. It is edible, I can even say tasty. However it is a little bit dense and gummy for my taste. So I make some improvisations and bake them in an oven. They are great and taste similar

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-7129763526619351132010-02-23T05:00:00.010+01:002010-10-05T13:09:36.560+02:00

The true translation of this dish is actually "hand kneaded beef noodle soup" (shou gan niu rou mian), which means that the noodle is freshly kneaded to get that desirable chewy texture. It's unlike the dried, store bought noodle that another overrated Taiwanese noodle shop in Kantstraße (which shall remain nameless) sells. Anyway, the noodle in Dodeli CR definitely live up to its name. You can

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-13187613237344496122010-02-21T21:06:00.006+01:002010-03-09T23:44:15.155+01:00

This dish is also known as Spaghetti Italia since its ingredients includes all the colors of the Italian flag: red, green and white. So don't omit any ingredients or else the dish won't live up to its name anymore. Spaghetti alla Caprese1/2 package spaghetti1 pack cherry tomatoes, cut into half20 fresh basil leaves, slice into stripes, leave some for garnish1/2 bulb garlic, minced finely1 ball

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-55012076222169072602010-02-20T00:15:00.008+01:002010-10-05T13:10:48.962+02:00

When I was a little girl, my mother never allowed me to eat the milky slippery fat of pork belly. She would carefully crave pieces of meat for me and my siblings and leave the fat and skin inside the pot. I never know what happened to those fats. My guess is that our maid would throw them away. This is the reason why I avoid pork fat like pest. I believed that pork fat was too greasy to eat and

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-45131446035455200792010-02-19T11:53:00.006+01:002010-03-02T22:08:17.507+01:00

Why do all Chinese people cook so well? All my chinese friends in Germany are great cooks! They always told me that back in China, they never cook or even help out in the kitchen. Either they were lying or there's just something in their gene. Do they really have some special chromosomes to enable them to taste and cook built inside their DNA? If so, I want one please!One of my friends from China

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-16158482028848413552010-02-18T22:32:00.004+01:002010-02-22T21:17:39.659+01:00

It's been such a cold winter here in Berlin. The temperature even hit -20°C at the beginning of January. Now it's mid-February and there's still no sign of spring. Maybe Hades wants to keep Persephone a bit longer this year since the slippery snow from Christmas is still out there causing trouble and accidents for all Berliners. I think the way to fight this freezing weather is through my dinner

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-25361361620885070212010-02-18T21:14:00.009+01:002010-10-05T13:11:00.891+02:00

Updated (24.06.10) : I went to BoboQ again today and they have some new flavour. They also have my most favourite flavour (TARO) *squell with delight*. More squelling as I slurp the drink. It was exactly as it should be, milky and fragrant with taro! Happy happy, will visit them more often. By the way they are so popular, the store is filled with Asian. I even overheard, that a girl from

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-34208167559015903842010-02-18T16:53:00.005+01:002010-10-05T13:11:19.806+02:00

I fell in love right away in this tiny authentic Japanese "Imbiss". It feels as though it sprang out of mangas that I read occasionally. Let's start with the decoration. The owner created a portable cart to cook the ramen based on the ramen carts in Japan. Since the restaurant is fairly tiny, they needed a compact and mobile base of operation and the cart are perfect for it. After business hour

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-7191582160564749402010-02-18T09:30:00.011+01:002010-10-05T13:11:24.614+02:00

Dim Sum (it literally means "a little bit of heart") is one of my favourite meals. For some reason, I always associate Dim Sum with HongKong. I think it's because that I've always had dim sum with my family in Cantonese style restaurants. And my memories of HongKong consisted of loud Tea Houses and middle aged ladies who pushes Dim Sum-filled carts. So Chinese Mainlands people, don't get mad at

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-86998613913672959012010-02-17T21:22:00.007+01:002010-10-05T12:51:25.557+02:00

Chinese new year or Chun Jie (lit. Spring Festival) marks the beginning of spring. At this time of the year most Chinese family cooks special meals that use expensive ingredients such as shark fins, sea cucumbers and abalones. Furthermore, there are a number of fruits that are served especially for Chinese New Year. These fruits usually have hidden meanings within their names. For example

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8091575403358850824.post-53982529150256135372010-02-17T15:22:00.004+01:002010-10-05T12:50:15.555+02:00

The answer is NO! with so many food blogs and so many food porn pictures out there, I will say, it's enough. Nowadays we can just google a name of a dish and in a blink of eye come hundred thousand mouth watering picture. My bro will say: "buy a very expensive SLR-Camera and a very good lense, if possible, twice the price of the camera and that's all you need. oh yeah don't forget a lot of

Mel Chanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12291597438104260396noreply@blogger.com0