Chubby Dog's TableTalk

Roast Dug Leg in Red Curry

We tried something new at the restaurant today. Not sure if it will appeal to our customers. It tastes great though! A little bit troublesome to eat but quite wholesome.
Any constructive comments?

A Roti recipe that worked! (for me at least...)

I've been looking and trying to find a Roti recipe that worked...to no avail. Little did I realize that all along, non other than my wonderful Mum, had the perfect recipe!

Roti Canai
500g Plain Flour (sifted)
1/2 cup Water
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup Milk
1 Egg
20g Sugar
40g Oil & Ghee mix (approx. 60% oil and 40% ghee, as ghee has quite an overpowering flavour and aroma)

Combine flour,salt and sugar in a bowl. Mix in Milk, water and egg.
Knead well. Add more water if you feel the mixture is to dry. You should get the consistency of soft plaster cine or playdoh.

The more you knead the mixture the better the end result. Kneading makes the dough more pliable and stretchy. Not to mention getting a good workout, it was also a great stress reliever!
Set aside dough and rest for 20 - 30 mins (you and the dough).

Once rested, divide and roll dough into small balls. You should be able to get roughly 10 balls.
Rub the oil & ghee mix over the balls to prevent them from sticking to each other. Cover and leave overnight, preferably not in the fridge. Any cool & dry place is appropriate.

By breakfast the next morning, you should be able to indulge in freshly fried Roti! However, just a bit more elbow grease is needed...
Take your oil & ghee mix, rub over your hands and on a clean & dry bench. Take a ball and flatten. Using the palm of your hand evenly stretch the dough as much as you can without tearing the dough. Once thin pick up one edge and like a wet rag place it back on your bench and roll each end towards one another. You should get a small coil.

Now after all that heat your pan with a tablespoon of the oil & ghee mix. Once the pan is hot, flatten the dough coil with your fingertips and fry away. Ensure it is golden brown on each side.

Your roti is now ready for consumption either with some curry or  topped with condensed milk and caster sugar.
Happy Eating and enjoy! We certainly did : )

I was so excited it worked that I forgot to take a picture before we started eating.

Why Don’t We Give A $&#@ Anymore?

Sorry for the expletives, but I am frustrated.

Why don't people care anymore? Is the meaning of "giving" vanishing from our vocabulary? Last Sunday, we held our first Mother's Day Lunch in conjunction with Breast Cancer Australia. As you can imagine we were all excited at the prospect of raising money towards a very worthy cause. Furthermore, every past Mother's Day we had always put on a special "Mum eats Free" campaign which was always well received. Therefore in 2008, we wanted to do something different, something more meaningful. Something that would give back to the community, in this case towards Breast Cancer research.

We got the pink ribbons, the pamphlets,  the staff were all fired up, the day was shaping to be a great Sunday. However, one hitch we didn't get many customers. For the first time since we've been doing our Mothers Day Lunch we had half the usual number of customers. Even during the week, those that where enquiring to reserve a table, declined when told that we were not running our usual promotion.

Even on the day , it was difficult getting the customers that came to purchase a pink ribbon for $2. Every little bit helps...you know.

It was sad that our enthusiasm was met with indifference. Don't get me wrong I am very, very thankful to all those that booked & attended our Mother's Day special, but why not the usual numbers we were used too...year after year?

Is charity just a waste of time and money in this age of materialism? Maybe, it's true, we just don't give a $%&@ anymore...

Earth Hour 2008 at Im

We were proud to our small part in this great cause. Although it was just for one hour, once we did turn off all the lights...we (staff & customers) unanimously agreed that we should do this on a regular basis. Nothing like dinner by candle light...although making a cappuccino proved to be quite a challenge for our barista, Kunal!

We are all looking forward to Earth Hour 2009. Just by switching off for an hour, Australia was able to save 5% nationwide. Although a small percentage, across 22million people its huge!

Hats off to all those in OZ and around the world that joined in and switched off in 08!

Coconut Ice Cream

Servings: 1Litre
Description:
Ever since my last trip to Thailand, I've been fascinated by coconut ice cream. It's the combination of flavours and subtlety of textures that entice me back again and again and again. A little bit too much on my last trip but I was on holiday!

Ingredients:
750ml (26 fl oz/3 cups) coconut cream
250ml (9 fl oz/1 cup) pouring cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
170g (6 oz/3/4 cup) caster sugar
6 egg yolks (keep your whites for a heart friendly omelette, after consuming all the goodness that is coconut milk)

Directions:
Put the coconut cream, cream & vanilla extract in a saucepan over medium heat. Stirring constantly for a few minutes, remove from heat as the coconut cream is just about to boil.

Whisk the sugar and egg yolks in a large bowl. Whisk in 60ml (2 fl oz/1/4 cup) of the hot cream mixture until smooth. Whisk in the remainder, and then return the mix to a clean saucepan. Stir constantly over a low to medium heat for approx. 10 minutes or until the mixture thickens. Do not allow to boil. Cool slightly and refrigerate until it is cold.

Transfer to an ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. Alternatively, transfer to a shallow tray (metal preferably) and freeze. Whisk every 2 hours until frozen and creamy. Freeze an additional 5 hours.

Donto Sapporo - Japanese restaurant

You know how you get cravings for things at the darndest of moments? Well, I had a craving today and I took action! Japanese food...craving level 9.5! Had to have and had we did.
We chose an institution on the Gold Coast in Broadbeach - Donto Sapporo. This japanese restaurant has been on the Coast for the past 10 years.

Our initial impression that while the restaurant stuck true to their Hokaido theme, the exterior looked quite tired. However upon entering we were greeted by a lovely smiling and friendly wait person dressed in a casual kimono. The interior & decor is certainly japanese in feel - all tables are tatami style , wood lined walls, lanterns and bamboo screens.

We ordered the following items (we ordered alot but we were hungry...and its a sunday so we are allowed to indulge, are we not?!):
The Donto Bento - typical bento box served with rice, sashimi (unfortunately did not look or taste fresh), tempura (slightly soggy), chawamushi (fantastic), karage and miso.
Oyster Donto - Oysters done in a klipatrick style but topped with a wasabi type dressing.
Cold Soba - very traditional and usually...I stress usually very yummy (not today though). a unique balance of salty, slight sweetness and spice from the wasabi...all eaten cold. An excellent dish if correctly executed.

Our verdict:
We were really looking forward to a good japanese meal, unfortunately, today was not to be the day. Just like the exterior of this long standing restaurant, its food was tired and uninspiring. It seemed that their chefs had lost their passion and created dull stock standard japanese food you'd find at a typical sushi train not something you'd expect to find in a proper Japanese full service restaurant.
On the positive side, I commed our friendly waitress, who was by herself attending to all the customers and making all the desserts and drinks!

Veg-O-Rama

Funny things, fruit & veg...just like humans they come in all shapes & sizes. Just take a look at what popped out of my carrot bag the other day!?!

Taken from a more alluring angle:

Please don't think this is all I think about...but it is quite amusing isn't it?

What's wrong with people?

What is it with restaurants and customers complaining? Look, I run a thai restaurant and we have our share of complainers. Most we try to appease to a win win situation, some we bend over backwards for, others we let go and move on.
I mean if something's really wrong with your meal...you'd complain. I would! It's only natural, we pay for what we expect should be an enjoyable meal and great evening. So by right if things don't go our way we seek redemption, we seek some form of acceptance by the restaurant that they were at fault.
Now, why am I raving like this? Well, it all boils down to this customer we had who complained about their food. Normally, this would be a standard occurance, with any restaurant, no matter up market or by the street stall...we all get complaints from time to time.
So standard occurance elicits a standard response...but not this time.
This customer complained that her portions were too small...ok fair enough, they're entitiled to their own opinion. But this customer took it one step further...they started to compare us to 5 other thai restaurants. I mean come on..every restaurant is different. We all cook differently therefore we serve our food differently. Contrary to popular belief we are not part of some gigantic multinational franchise! Furthermore, she even got a 20% discount because she took advantage of our Early Bird special!
Get a cheap meal and still complain about your portions!
Why do some poeple out there think that just because we call ourselves a "thai" restaurant, they can automatically lump us in one basket with all the others? Is this fair?
I would really like to know if others out there think the same way? Am I being to over the top? Or is the customer always right?
Please help! Let me know what you think! Am I in the wrong to have this opinion? It'd be interesting to know.
Good night and happy eating!

Blue Olive – paradise point

Looking for something new to try, we found this small eatery in our local Entertainment guide. It came with a great first trial offer of 25% off the total food bill. Not being stingy but never one to pass on a risk free offer, we hopped in the car for our twenty minute journey to Paradise Point. It was an overcast day with intermittent showers, yet there was a certain freshness in the air. It seemed like the perfect day to sit back and indulge in what we hoped would be great food!

We enjoyed the simplicity of the cafe and the apparent warmth of the decor and relaxed atmosphere. Smooth jazz in the background enhanced the ambience even more. It was a small restaurant with seating for approximately 20 inside and another 20 outside. We chose to sit inside because of the weather. We noticed there was only one waitress on the floor and only one chef in the kitchen (the kitchen was really, really small!)

Seeing that our waitress was working by herself, we didn't mind the wait in getting the menus out to us. She was very friendly and seemed quite attentive. Asking whether we'd like water and seeing that we were bringing our own wine, whether we needed red or white wine glasses. Nice touch as most restaurants only have one set of wine glasses for both white and red.

The menu was limited but pleasantly interesting. It was nice to see that they had meals on offer different to the usual "cafe" fare. We settled on the Caesar Salad with Smoked Salmon and the Blue Olive signature pasta with Seafood. It took approximately 40 minutes for our order to arrive, even though we were the only ones left in the restaurant.

The dishes were well presented. I particularly liked the way the Salad came out as it was different to the norm. The semi fried egg was a nice touch as well as the toasted ciabata slices. The pasta seemed quite ordinary with quite a generous amount of spinach through it.

Overall we found the food quite frustrating, as the meals weren't as good as they looked. On the whole, the meals were quite bland. The Salad either needed more lettuce or less dressing as it was quite soggy. The sogginess didn't lend well to the overall taste and texture of the Caesar salad, it made it quite sickening.

The pasta dish wasn't much better. It was very, very spicy and it had a light Napoli sauce through it, even though there was no mention of Napoli sauce or spicy chilli in the menu description.  The pasta itself was not al dente, rather quite hard. The seafood was fine, a combination of prawns, scallops and calamari. No complaints there. Certainly not worthy of "signature" status.

Look, I don't really mind if I'd mistakenly ordered a dish after reading the menu but if it comes out different to what's been described to me, then something must be really wrong.

Furthermore, we felt that it was too overpriced for what we were served. We were charged $50 for these two mains; and we hadn't even ordered any entrees or desserts. We just felt that the quality wasn't there. Maybe it was the area, Paradise Point. Maybe they can charge more than other suburbs, because they're overlooking Sovereign Island and Ephiram Island.  But no matter where a restaurant may be located, you should never sacrifice the quality of food being served to your paying customers.

After all that's been said, the big question...would we be back? Would we give them another shot?

A resounding YES! Why? Well, me being me, I just had to forget to claim my discount when I paid the bill, much to my partner's frustration : (

Our restaurant...our life.

To all our friends,

Why start a blog? I've been mulling it for awhile, just never got around to it. I guess alot of people are like this with blogs. You see I own a restaurant with my lovely significant other. It's not a big restaurant (a bit too big for our first though!), but most importantly its all ours.

We've been open for the past two and half years and have been lucky enough to have a  growing following. Over the years we've been through so many ups and downs, lost weight and gained weight! gery hairs..too many to count. But inspite it all we're happy, happy to have something we can grow and learn from. Far from perfect, we feel there's so much more to experience and learn.

So this brings me to the 'why'. Why start a blog? Well, I hope that through this we can share. Share our experiences, the good and the bad, the new products we've found, the cookbooks we've been inspired by and the people we've met. 

Its a great industry to be in and at times, yes, it can be brutal and frustratingly fickle. Yet, at the end of the day, if we can sit back and have a laugh, then its all been worth it!