Dined at Toscani’s Wine & Dine at Waterfront, Kota Kinabalu, during my trip in March 2009; the restaurant is specialised in Italian and Spanish fusion…

Dined at Toscani’s Wine & Dine at Waterfront, Kota Kinabalu, during my trip in March 2009; the restaurant is specialised in Italian and Spanish fusion…

Cha Ca La Vong is a restaurant in Hanoi famous for its grilled fish (Cha Ca) dish which was created some 130 years ago. The restaurant/dish is so famous that the street is named after it, and it’s featured in almost every single Hanoi’s travel guide.
There’s one problem though, as some other restaurants are riding on its fame with similar name and menu to take advantage of naive foreign travellers, and I was one of the fallen prey of the conspiracy during my Hanoi trip in July 2008…

Japanese chocolate manufacturer Lotte is teaming up with popular ramen shop Menya Musashi to create a chocolate flavoured ramen (chocolate as garnish to be precise).

The name of the dish is Ghana Miso and will be available until February 15th in honour of Valentine’s Day, where Japanese women would give give men chocolate as an expression of love or friendship [via Cscoutjapan]
Phở (pronounced like ‘fuh?’) is a traditional rice noodle soup and one of the most iconic Vietnamese foods. Pho is normally served as a bowl of flat-rice-noodles in beef broth, with some beef slices or other options like tripe or chicken etc.
There are a few variations of pho depending on the regions in Vietnam. The pho in Hanoi is called phở Hà Nội or phở bắc (northern pho), which is normally served with green onions; while the other regions are using different herbs instead.

A new found friend brought me to one of the locals’ favourite to try the pho when I was in Hanoi in July 2008. The place is Pho Thin, located at 13 Lo Duc St.
The restaurant was packed on the Saturday morning. The customers were sitting shoulder to shoulder while some others lining up for their seats. It’s not difficult to understand the crowdiness after tasting the pho, because it was really good.
The rice noodles were smooth and chewy, and the broth was rich in flavour despite looking mild and clear… and their chillies were nice too. Simplicity to its best.
Most Asian Pacific countries have some sort of rice cake dishes of their own; could be sweet, salty, spicy, and come in variety of shapes.

There are a few versions of rice cakes in Malaysia; the one above is commonly referred as stir-fried-cake, originated from China but has pretty much evolved into a Malaysian Chinese delicacy. Basically it’s a dish with rice-cake cubes stirred fried in soy sauce, with bean sprouts, Chinese chives, and often chillies and eggs.