Just some take-away Chili con carne...

that I ate last week for lunch at work. It's available at The Roast for 5,90€ and includes an onion bagel, which was delicious (and unfortunately isn't in the pic).
The Chili con carne is moderately spicy, has loads of minced meat, some beans and some corn in it. I was full from half the cup and the bagel... so the price is pretty ok. I just wished it came with two bagels haha, but you can buy an extra one for 1€ anyway...

Maredo... like 3rd, 4th time?!

I went there relatively often as you can see... their food is good and something besides Pizza that my bf likes.
So here is another piled up salad. They never change the range of salads though. Even though I love what's there I'd be happy to see a new noodles salad or something every once in a while.
My rib-eye steak rare, with sourcreme and french fries. Nice meat, but I still prefer the much tender filet.

My bf's rumpsteak an wedges.

Fried veggies as side dish. This wasn't that good though, mainly onions and peppers. Wouldn't order it again (actually my bf ordered it).

Well, I'd recommend you going there for lunch (between 11 AM and 5PM) since they have special prices for the steak+salad+potatoe side. The 180g filet steak is ideal for my and the whole menu 'only' costs 12,80€, while you usually (dinnertime, weekend and holidays) have to pay 18€ (I believe) for the filet steak alone.

Luxemburgerli

It's been a while, this week has been really busy. I had visitors, started working fulltime and finally I have time to post some new things. Let's start with the Luxemburgerlis that my friend brought with her from Zurich. You usually can't get them anywhere else besides Switzerland, they need to be eaten on the same day (or at least the following day), BUT they are the swiss version of the french Macaroons, just a tiny bit smaller and with different flavors.

The glittering one in the bottom row middle is light champagne. Yes, it really shimmers, as if they dusted some golden shimmering pigment (MAC Vanilla ^^) on it. The pink one is raspberry, the dark brown chocolate (obviously), the orange tastes like mandarins and the other ones are cinnamon, hazelnut, coffee.
Had to show you the shimmer up close. It doesn't only look great, but also tastes great. There are other flavors to choose from when you're in Switzerland though. The one that intrigues me most is the Grand Cru (Black with gold dust...). Will definitely try that one if I have the chance. I'll also get several gold champagne ones since they taste really good.

All in all they're quite expensive from what I've heard, but really tasty. Not comparable with the so-so Macarons in Vienna... but I have yet to try more French Macarons. I ate some years ago, but can't remember if they were Laduree or not.

Dots Lounge - Fabulous Sushi again!

Today I went to Dots again with an old friend who is reading this blog frequently :D She loves butterfish too... so we went here again, around dinnertime.
The pics here are only of a small part of the lounge. There are several rooms at the back which seem to be for bigger groups (we saw them while looking for the restrooms).

For drinks I had a passion fruit lemonade (on the left) and my friend had a strawberry lemonade because they ran out of raspberry sirup... both tasted fruity and sweet without being overwhelming. We actually got bigger sizes and only paid what was stated for the 0.25l (2€).

Next came prawn crackers with a mayonnaise-dip for appetizers. They are included in the cover charge (2,90€) and came out cold, but crispy.

Finally our Sushi Mixed Sets arrived. I had butterfish, salmon and tuna (4 maki, 6 nigiri, 6 sashimi).
My friend had the butterfish-only set, also 4 maki, 6 nigiri and 6 sashimi.
Both Sets cost 19,90€ and is a decent price for what you get. The fish slices are generous, fresh, juicy and oh so yummy! The rice is well seasoned, the maki more complex than your average maki, the carrot and radish stripes under the sashimi is moist/fresh (not dried out as at other places), the wasabi has a good strenght and never came out stinky, like I already experienced at other places.

So Dots is staying my favorite place for sushi right now. Not only is their butterfish to-die-for, the tuna and salmon are delicious as well. If only they were cheaper... then I'd probably eat more often there (get fatter), but perhaps a lower price would give you not-so-nice quality... so my real hope is that the food simply stays the way it is ^^.

9/10 overall, upgraded because I love the butterfish so much... I ordered the mixed fish set since I didn't wanna order all the same things as my friend XD and to see whether their other fish would be as great too... they are, but I'll take the butterfish set too next time since it's my all time favorite. Salmon comes close, but it's just not the same delicious taste. And tuna is totally different, good in it's own sense, but doesn't have that buttery fattyness I love.

Haribo Frogs...PEACH???

I was munching on some of these
(pic from worldofsweets.de)
When I looked up product info on them. So according to Haribo they should have a peach taste... WOW, after 23 years I finally get to know they should actually resemble a fruit taste... I mean I always liked the way they taste, but the brigh green color was always most intriguing. So I'm pretty surprised those bright green froggies have the taste of an orange-red fruit... well, random thoughts.

Go grab a bag of Haribo Quaxi! They're only 11 calories a piece (yeah, counted the frogs in my packet and did the maths...).
pic again from worldofsweets.de

Cookie cutter results and a recipe

Remember my post about new cookie cutters? Well I have been experimenting with not so stable dough (chocolate cookies and oat cookies), but finally tried a receipt again, with slight modifications. It gives you a dough which is perfect for cookie cutters.
Here is the batch of what I call 'Spekulatius with a hint of orange'. They can be stored for quite some time without losing their flavor or shape.

The following recipe will give you about 1.5 times the amount of what is pictured.

- 100g butter

- 50g white sugar

- 25g brown sugar

- 200g flour

- 50g grated almonds

- 1/3 teaspoon of baking powder

- 9g Spekulatius spice (I use the Kotanyi brand)

- 5g grated orange peel (you can buy it packed by the Dr. Oetker brand)

- 1 pinch of salt

- 1 egg

Mix the butter with the sugar, then add the egg for a creamy mixture. Then mix in all the other ingredients and knead it thoroughly, but not too long. Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. Then roll it out (3-4mm thickness) and play with the cookie cutter... place the cookies on a baking sheet and let them bake for ~15min in the preheated oven at 180° Celsius.

Feel free to coat them with a sugar glaze or a dark chocolate glaze (would suit them better than milk chocolate IMO).

The easiest Oreo-Shake...

consists of 3 ingredients:
- 250ml cold milk
- 4 oreo cookies
- 1 tablespoon of vanilla flavored mass gainer OR sweet white chocolate powder OR sugar (then I'd use less than a full tablespoon lol)

Ok, the mass gainer sounds funny, but it's one of the few vanilla flavored things I have at home that isn't vanilla sugar or even vanilla itself. If you happen to have vanilla or milk ice cream at home you can leave out the spoonful of whatever and add a scoop of ice cream to the milk and Oreo cookies. The sweetness depends on your third ingredient. Mix thoroughly with a (hand) blender and enjoy! Even though Oreo cookies are a bit expensive in Austria it's still more affordable than the Oreo shake at the Coffee Shop, around 4€ and so easy to recreate.

Maredo with pics and how to load a plate...

As promised I'm posting pics of my second Maredo visit. This time I knew better and loaded my salad plate to the fullest (you pay 4,50 or 4,95€, can't remember, for loading your plate as full as you can). I'm skilled thanks to our Mensa, have the same programm, with less salad choice and lower price. Below you see how my plate looked from above.
Doesn't look that much until you realize how high it was piled up. After taking several mouthfuls my plate looked like this:

And I didn't turn the plate or something. All of that hidden below... ok actually that was just my sides. Bf wondered if I would be able to finish the salad at all. A few minutes later came my lamb steaks, rare of course. They were tender and juicy, not as soft as the beef filet from last time, but quite good.

My bf, his bro and mom ordered a plate intended for 2. It's called Argentina-Plate and gives you 2 rump steaks (I believe), 2 spare ribs, 2 pieces of pork and chicken. The sides are wedges, fries, corn and grilled veggies. You'll get 3 kinds of sauces too (all for under 34€).

Even though I had quite some stuff on my own I got some bites from the mixed plate, just to know how it is... The spareribs stood out as the best, tender and nice flavor. The pork was surprinsingly tender as well (even the left-over pork that I baked again in our oven to warm it up was softer than what I usually make out of pork pieces... wow). The rump steak and the chicken were on the tough side though. The corn was overcooked for my taste, very, very soft and nothing like the corn I'm used to (cooked for 5-7min. in boiling water...). The potatoe sides were delicious, crispy and full of flavor.

Now to the final:

We had the mixed desserts (9,70€) with chocolate mousse on cake with cherry sauce (on the left), pancake filled with curd and raisins, topped with dulce de leche-caramel sauce (top middle); frozen caramel and chocolate cream topped with caramel-flakes (bottom middle), frozen orange sorbet (bottom right) and 2 scoops of ice cream (strawberry, walnut). Now the outstanding thing was the frozen caramel and chocolate cream (the brown thing that looks like a piece of cake in the middle). Delicious caramel and nuts flavor. Not to sweet, just so pleasant everyone was spooning at it in the end. The walnut ice cream was also great, full of flavor, melting in your mouth with some pieces of crunchy caramelized walnuts. The filled pancake wasn't so great as the filling didn't have much taste, the chocolate mousse had the kind of chocolate taste that I don't like and fruit ice cream is not my thing, but I think they're pretty good if you like fruity ice creams.

So the verdict this time: 9/10 again for overall (with last time included), even though the service this time wasn't as good. Had to wait for a waiter to come by whereas last time one would come before I even blink.

I'm giving the mixed plate a cumulated 8/10, the lamb 8.5/10, salad 8.5/10, mixed desserts 7.5/10 (the frozen cream cake piece would get a 9/10 on its own, same for the walnut ice cream).

So, go there even if you only want to eat mixed salads until you're full...

Oh, concerning loading your plate: I place solid things like noodle or potatoe salad on the bottom, then fill with some small pieced salad like corn or beans. Then comes a layer of more fluffy stuff like green salads, soy sprouts, then again some solid, bigger chunks (radish slices) to press the fluffy down, then finally top with things that might fit somewhere and won't slip off the layer below... the art of loading more than you can/should eat...

Maredo again

Yesterday we went to Maredo again to celebrate my bf's mom's birthday. This time I loaded the plate with salads and got a lamb steak. Additionally I got some bites from the Argentinia plate (intended for 2 persons, but actually makes 4 full...). Pics will follow soon!

Self-made pizza II

I've already written about self-made pizza here (click me). Now I'll deliver the pictures. The dough I posted in the recipe will be enough for 2 persons, as you can see in the pic...
Next up is the pizza in the oven. You have to take a certain sequence into account when garnishing your pizza (unless you don't want it to look like a pizza). First spread the seasoned tomato sauce, then sprinkle grated cheese over it, then add the meat and veggies. Sprinkle some pizza seasoning over it, a bit of salt if the dough, sauce and toppings aren't salty enough and some oil if you want.

The finished pizza will look like this.

I don't really know if it's cheaper to make your own pizza (especially counting your own time in), but you have more control over the quality of toppings and it's fun. Today I actually made cookies, some chewy chocolate ones and some oat ones. Both turned out deliciously thanks to the great recipes some users of a cooking platform posted. Will take pics and post the recipes next time.

It's cookie time! Cookie cutter tip included...

Christmas is almost around (at least the economy wants you to believe this), so what could be more fun than cutting, baking and decorating your own cookies.
If you didn't know yet, I love the japanese cartoon character Totoro.

So much I even make cookies looking like them... if only there were ready-made cookie cutters shaped like them... if you can't buy it, make your own! So I took the shape of my very favorite plush Totoro, drawed one half on a once-folded paper (see the folding line on the shape on the left) and cut it out. Then I put the paper figure on a sturdy (but cuttable with a scissor) piece of plastic (used the lid of a huge dairy box). Draw the whole shape with a suitable pen, and cut it out. Make sure to wash the color off again with dishwasher or something, we don't want non-foodsafe color on our future cookies...Then you just take the plastic piece, put it on your rolled dough and cut around the shape with a knife... can take a bit of time and will make the butter in your dough warm up again, so only take little dough at a time for 1 or 2 figures. Look, so many Totoros ^^

Now to some classic cookie cutters. I went to Interio today to get these wonderful cutters I saw a couple of days ago:
The snowflakes were sold in a set and I almost didn't get one. The first shop was already sold out of them as they're really popular (I'm sure you understand why lol), but the nice sales assistants managed to locate a shop with a couple sets left. Thank god, or once again I'd be kicking my own ass for not buying instantly... (they're 6,90€, not that exp. for 5 pieces, but still, I don't wanna make impulse buys I regret later lol).

If you want the snowflakes too: Interio on Mariahilferstraße still had two sets when I went there a couple of hours ago. The cat is still widely available though. Got that one and a cookie tin at the first store in Ringstraßengallerien first.

Now I only need to find a great cookie recipe... then you'll get some cat- and snowflake-shaped cookie pics too... suggestions much appreciated!

Grape Jelly

It's jelly time again... I recently tried this japanese white/green grape jelly that I bought in Taiwan. It's definitely not gelatine-based, as the liquid gets a jelly consistency as soon as it is cooled. Since I can't read japanese nor chinese I'll never know if it's konjac or agar agar... if you know please write a comment!
Anyway, you just boil 300ml of water, then let it cool down to 80° and then mix in the powder. After cooling for a few hours the jelly will look like this (when cut with a spoon already lol).

Here it is on a plate. Nice color...

Look at that piece! It feels harder than gelatine based jellies too.

I could stare at jelly all the time, probably because they look like huge raw gems ^^ However, this one also tastes very nice. It has the typical Muscat flavor and the sweetness is just right. It's also chewy, which I prefer to the melt-in-your-mouth quality of gelatine-based jellos.

As far as I remember the powder wasn't too pricey either, so I'll give it a 9/10 and would buy it again for that grape fix in jello form. I also have another package, but blue grape flavor. Will report on that one too once I make it.

Maredo@Opernring

Remember the last post about bad steak? Here comes another steak review, but this time a good one... last night bf and I went to Maredo@Opernring while he had an hour off. I was curious to see if their steaks were really good.
Besides steaks they also offer many other (mostly Argentina-inspired) dishes based on meat. In addition there is a nice selection of salads at the salad buffet where you can choose between loading your plate as full as you can once (4,50€) or all you can eat (6,70€). Right now they also offer the first option for 3€ if you get one of their beef steaks. Anyway, I got a beef filet menu with salad and potatoe wedges. I didn't load my plate since I thought I had the all you can eat actually until my bf wondered why I took so little... Oh well, I'll know it for next time. The salads are fresh, you have many different ones to choose from (noodle salad, yummy ^^; thuna, olives, eggs, cheese and all kinds of vegetables).
Then you get some soft baguette as side.
Soon after finishing the salads our steaks with sides came, pretty quick (perhaps because I had my steak rare ^^). I only took potatoe wedges as side since I wasn't too hungry. They came with a sourcream dip.
Now to the meat... I first cut a piece on the side, fearing it might be medium and it looked medium until I took a second cut/bite where nice red flesh was peeking out ^^. Sooo the first impression is good, and the second: whooaaa the meat is soo tender. Almost melts in your mouth (beef can be tough like leather if made wrong) and is very juicy. The only (minor) gripe, the outside wasn't crispy. I don't know if it can be crispy anyway as a rare steak, but my bf's well-done rump steak was crispy although it was tough in comparison to my filet. You trade in one for another I guess... oh well, look at the blood :D sorry for the bad pic lighting, but I don't use flash in order to avoid shocking other guests lol-Before I forget: the wedges were nice tasting, the sourcream too, but I prefer some kind of garlic mayonnaise for wedges. Shoud try the garlic dip next time (they offer a nice variety of sauces too). In summary I'll give Maredo 9/10 this time, will definitely go there again since the food is great, the service is attentive, nice and quick and we got 15% coupons... and I still have to try a dessert with dulce de leche. The prices are a bit steep, comparable to Aston's, but better quality. Since I still have the receipt I'll list down for you:
- Bionade Litschi 2,70€
- Beef filet steak 180g including salad bar once and wedges 17,90€ (this is a promotion price, you usually pay 18,90€ for the filet alone)
- Beef rump steak 250g 14,90€
- Potatoe wedges 2,70€
- Garlic bread 1,55€ (2 pieces)

Until next time...

Aston's Specialties@The Cathay Singapore

A friend of mine has birthday today and is planning on getting steak. This reminded me of my bfs birthday 08 in Singapore, where we went to a popular place to have some steak too. If you've been to the Cathay Building you've probably seen people outside Aston's Specialties queuing. If a lot of people queue, it can only be good, right? Well, we'll see...
For a start we had garlic bread. A yummy appetizer that simply belongs to steak.















Afterwards my bfs steak and side dishes came. Mixed veggies and deep-fried onion rings.





















After some minutes waiting my Wagyu beef (rare) also arrived. BUT, it wasn't rare... more of a medium. I like my steak almost raw, but this one was almost well-done.





















A close-up of my bfs steak, he had a different one, sirloin or something but I can hardly remember.

The summary: the meat was not as soft and juicy as we expected from such queues. It wasn't bad either, but for the price (my Wagyu was 34S$, around 17€ at that time) I expect much more. Otherwise I could buy some meat from a butcher and go fry it myself. 7.5/10 overall.

I hope the steak place (Maredo) in Vienna is better, but since they import (say frozen) the meat from South America I'm curious if I'll get something bloody, soft and juicy there. Will take pics and tell ya of course.

Oysters and brains...

Today I discovered some pics that people would usually cringe about... (I just say: brains...). But first I wanna show you some nice raw oysters.

Nice, big pieces served with ice and lime. Each oyster costs around 3-4€. Steep price, but they're sooo worth it, if you like the taste of raw oysters that is. The pics were taken in Taipei, but you can get smaller oysters @ Naschmarkt for 1,80€ already. They cost you 1,80€ if you eat them there (will be opened for you), if you choose to have them at home, you only pay 1€ per piece, but since I have no clue about opening them without hurting myself I'll eat them at the market... The only gripe: they are saltier than what I'm used too in Asia. I'll give the oysters in Taipei a 9.5/10 and those in Vienna an 8.5/10.

Now something more unusual: pork brain in herbal soup. The orange things are a small species of dates. The soup usually contains those dates, some other herbs and some kind of meat (sometimes chicken). Here we have some brains ^^

If you never had brains (no pun intended) you should try some, because it's sooo soft and yummy. The flavor is mild, very much like bone marrow (another thing that might make you cringe... but I'm talking bout beef or lamb bones, so chill).

Nice pics eh? Next time you'll get something more usual again ^^