Vanhell's Corner

Welcome to Vanhell's Corner and I hope you enjoy your stay with the flying pink elephant. Please watch the squishy magic blue mushroom at your feet and this world will remain calm :)

[keiravanhell]

Happy New Years 2021

[keiravanhell]

Krafty Korner #13: Name Keepsake

So following on my previous post - I was racking my brains for a present to bring to the welcoming party. Luckily, the new mother gave me the idea of creating a name keepsake. Her original idea was to have a cut out of her daughter’s name for the guest to hold up in the photos so I decided instead of paper, why not get wood cut outs?

 We painted them and also got all the guests to write a personalised message on the back so the front was still pristine and ready for photos. A perfect keepsake with plenty of well wishes and memories :)

[keiravanhell]

Food Adventure #83: Bistro Vue

What a better way to celebrate a welcoming of a new addition to the family. My sister has given birth to a super cute little girl and has gathered the family to officially meet her at the classy yet homey Bistro Vue. Naturally, I took up the opportunity to write up a quick blog post. Upon walking through the large heavy glass doors, we were immediately greeted by well dressed waiter. We were lead to a private function room and I was seated to an array of cutlery with jokes about using the correct piece for each course shared among my siblings. 

We began with bread and butter to kick start the conversation and to ease our grumbling stomach.

Next up was entree and as a function party, the dishes were served as an alternate menu just like you would expected at a wedding. The first entree was the Kingfish, Fennel, Orange and Kale. Fresh and tangy, this dish was a perfect starter for the meal. 

The alternate dish was the Duck Egg, Kale, Pork Jowls, Cepe Emulsion. You can’t really see in the photo but under the pile of thin and crunchy kale is a yolk of a duck egg, perfect to soak the bread pieces in. Kale was surprisingly nice, not at all what I expected - it actually reminded me of crispy seaweed. This entree is a little on the heavy side for an appetizer, but delicious all the same.

There was quite a break between the courses, but it didn’t seem to bother the guests much as we were quite happy to mingle and sip on lovely refreshments. I indulged in a fruit mocktail (left) and a glass of lemon limes and bitter (right) - a nice change to the coke that I would have normally ordered. 

Mains were up next and my brother loved the duck dish - Confit Duck Leg, Rainbow Carrots, Pommes Sautees. The meat was so tender, it just falls off the bone and the vegetables were totally soaked in that wonderful sauce.

I on the other hand had the Grass Fed Fillet of Beef with Bearnaise sauce & Pommes Pont Neuf. This dish looks deceivingly plain but that steak was cooked perfectly. Served medium as recommended by the waiter, the meat was super tender and moist. I wasn’t a big fan of the sauce and it didn't really matter as the fillet didn’t need it anyways.

My sister went a little crazy on the sides and we had Pommes Frites, Witlof Waldorf Salad and Steamed Burnham Greens. We tried but there was way too much food - better more than less we say! I also didn’t get a picture of the steamed veg as my mother got to it before I even knew we had them on the menu haha.

I was totally excited about desserts and who wouldn’t be? My brother had the Tarte Tatin. It doesn’t look great, but it is so delicious - it’s like a buttery, honey sweet apple pastry with a vanilla bean sauce to balance the sugary treat.

So I got the Chocolate Fondant. When you crack the tower of chocolate, a wave of chocolate sauce flows onto the plate. Too bad we were taking pictures because the ice cream melted a bit when we sat back down. It was a little sweet, but we did have a tea and coffee service after which was a perfect ending to a slow, relaxing meal. They did serve these odd sweets in the photo below. I am not sure what they were but they were like fruit covered cakes. It did seem a little strange but it made sense if you like your coffee and tea black as they would have balanced out the bitter taste.

Well to finish off I must say that Bistro Vue is the place to go for special occasions - A classy yet homey French restaurant with friendly waiters and a comfy atmosphere. The function room we were in was perfect for private parties but the dining area was also nice for dates or intimate group dinners - so be sure to check it out and let us know how you go!

[keiravanhell]

Food Adventure #82: South Society

A friend and I decided to try out a new place so we wondered into a quiet restaurant called South Society. The place was fashioned like a wine celler, with wooden chairs and tables with steel bar frames. The setting was wonderfully classy with the wine glasses, detailed plates and silver cutlery on thick black napkins. 

We decided to order to share a Rib Eye on the Bone with Borderlaise sauce. The meat was already cut, displaying the perfectly cooked medium rare beef. 

We ordered Mixed Mushrooms, Peas and Truffle Oil as a side. It was a tiny portion, wrapped in baking paper that it has been steamed in. 

Overall, the place was a nice after work restaurant. Was quiet on the day we went but we were early for dinner. The only complaint was the food was a bit pricey for the portions but the food quality does make up for it! A lovely, local place to sit down and relax after the hustle and bustle of a busy day.  

[keiravanhell]

Food Adventure #81: Oakridge Wines Cellar Door & Restaurant

Oakridge Wines, if you were as lucky as us, is beautiful on a warm sunny day. We came for lunch and without a booking, but we still got a seat outside under the warm sun with the lush vineyards as a backdrop. 

Oakridge offered a 2 or 3 course set meals for weekends which was fine with us. They started off with complimentary sour dough bread and olive oil. Was a delicious start to a wonderful laid back meal. 

For her entree, my friend selected the crispy pork belly. It was super crunchy and light. 

I had the Wagyu Beef with raw egg. Was like a western style of the Japanese Steak Tartare and I loved it. Was so deliciously smooth and coupled with the raw egg - perfect!

For the main, she tried the Beef Eye Fillet, served medium rare on a base of spinach and mushroom sauce. Look at that presentation...

I had the Snapper which was cooked to perfection, crispy on the outside and smooth on the inside. The meat was really fresh and the flavors simple but wonderful. 

Maybe it is true. Food is more wonderful when you are seated in a beautiful setting. This was one experience I think I will remember for a while. A little bit on the pricey side, but if you are lucky - you have to be pretty lucky with the erratic weather here in Melbourne - then you are in for a beautiful meal. A must try!

[keiravanhell]

Food Adventure #80: Chin Chin

And so here we go with the crowd and the long lines to Chin Chin. Well... actually we left our number and bummed at Lord of the Fries to kill time with some indulgent gravy and cheese chips - soooooooo good. 

Anyways, once we finally got to our table, these were the menus - I thought it was quite amusing and creative they had a R18+ menu for alcohol. 

And the first dish to come was the Crispy Barramundi & Green Apple Salad with Caramelised Pork, Peanuts Chilli and Lemongrass. I remember this tasting pretty good, until I ran into the pile of chilly that was in hiding.  

Next was the Crab and Pork Cakes - Salted Duck Egg & Tamarind Nam Prick. The crab and pork cakes were hot and crispy and the dip on the side worked really well with the flavours. 

The fish was great in this seared Yellow Fin Tuna with thai basil, pink grapefruit & ginger salad, chili jam and coconut. But I wasn’t too sure about the accompanying flavours in the side salad. 

The massive draw of Chin Chin is still a mystery to me, but it could be that we ordered dishes that wasn't suited to us - we felt like the ones that had chilly, had a bit too overpowering. Nevertheless, there are so many great reviews and I still have people around me recommending it, so maybe it was something that we missed. Maybe give it a try and let us know? Just remember to book in advance...

[keiravanhell]

Food Adventure #79: Food Trucks Northcote - BeatBox Kitchen & Billy Van Creamy

Ah foodtrucks - gotta catch them when you can :) We caught BeatBox Kitchen down at Northcote.. and look at that tasty burger...

I think it was now when it hit me that food trucks has completely revolutionized. They serve quality food that may even surprise those that you get at a normal burger joint - you must admit that that burger looks a hell of a lot better then any McD burger. This was a Chilly Billy Burger that consists of 170gm grass fed beef with cos lettuce, tomato, cheese, onion, stereo sauce, spicy chipotle sauce, jalapeno and pickles. Was so juicy and delicious, especially on this wet dreary day...

Another one we visited was the Billy Van Creamy truck for ice-cream. 

Billy’s Van Creamery offered all natural gelato and sorbets in quite a few different funky flavours such as hazelnut, peanut butter, blood plum and more! So soft and smooth :)

The trends of Food trucks and sky rocketed and they really have up their game in the competition, try chase yours down and let me know your favourites!

[keiravanhell]

Krafty Korner #12: Japanese Wedding Money Envelope #3

So once again I have been invited to celebrate a dear friend’s wedding. Another chance to try my hand at card making - I am quite enjoying this hobby of mine and the feedback I get from the lovely couples is so heartwarming. It’s nice to know people appreciate the work I enjoy <3.

Deciding to be a little different, I utilised a horizontal design and purchased some wood stickers - thin wood cut outs with strong double sided tape on the back. I drew stitch lines for a more cute effect. The wrap around card like the previous one is 2 embossed rose white pieces of paper pasted together that opens in the middle. But the hexagon is a new piece - a piece of card wrapped in pretty Japanese paper to work as the flap, attached to only the top of the embossed paper to work as a more elegant opening. 

The back of the wrap around card I kept with the double happiness symbol. I think I will keep the symbol for my wedding cards as it is so traditional to us. 

The inner card was a piece of thick white card, wrapped with patterned dark purple paper. The corner pieces are also wood cut outs with double sided tape. I decided to keep the back of the card simple so only folded one heart on the background of fanned notes (Money Origami Heart tutorial is here).

I think I will keep up this trend of wedding card making for the weddings or big events I attend. It’s such a sweet, touching project to work on <3

[keiravanhell]

Food Adventure #78: Po’ Boy Quarter

Modest food for modest prices. Po' Poy is a very casual and easy going place. You order at the counter and sit to wait for your food. Prices are pretty cheap and the food looks very casual but is very well put together.

DarkAngel ordered the Chicken & Andouille Sausage Gumbo which was served with rice and bread. We had no idea what a Gumbo was but it was a full bodied soup. The problems with these is that there is never enough bread to soak up all the soup ;) but DarkAngel surprisingly enjoyed it more then we thought he would have.

I had no idea what a Po' Boy was so I ordered the Canjun Battered Catfish. It was an honest battle between that and the deef fried chicken but boy... It doesn't look very special but when you tuck in, the fish is fresh and offered in abundance and there was just the right amount of sauce so it is well covered but not soggy. Don't take food by their looks guys, come in a have a shot, there are so many good reviews and now we know why.

[keiravanhell]

Hamburger Quest #17: The Tree Of Us

It took us a while to realise we were staring at the restaurant we were looking for - The Tree of Us. I remember walking into the small shop, not sure of what to expect. The menu was cute, starting from "Tree Burgers" for standards, "Bonsai Burgers" for mini's, "Twigs" for chips, "Greenhouse" section for salads, "Morning Feed" for the breakfast menu and most cute of all was the "Sprouts" section of the menu for the little ones.

From the menu full of puns, I ordered the Chicken Coop - that consists of a free range chicken breast with lettuce, tomato, garlic aioli and dill pickle. The burger was soft and hearty, juicy and well put together.

DarkAngel on the otherhand, picked the biggest burger he could find on the menu - "The Stelios." The Stelios includes 2 140g Beef Patties with bacon, swiss cheese, mozza, shrooms, jalapeno, relish, truffle mayo, lettuce and tomatoes. His burger was so big that instead of the normal skewer pick, it had a steak knife holding the whole burger together.

(A side note: DarkAngel looks like he is praying in the background, he actually is clutching a fork because I was making him wait so I could take photos - he was very hungry...)

We also had to order a serve of "Twigs" and it was super crunchy as it was "Tree" times cooked with rosemary salt and house mayo. Tree of us is a cute place to try their burgers. Although comfy and homey looking, they sure do take their burgers seriously - easily comparable with the more professional francises. Drop in and let us know what you think.

[keiravanhell]

Food Adventure #77: Gangnam Station

Feeling like something spicy to warm us up, we stopped by Gangnam Station. Situated in Box Hill, the range of asian cuisine that this area was providing was ever expanding.

Mmmmmmm The first think I think of with Korean food is their soup. Sometimes spicy, sometimes clear broth, a famous one is Yuk Gae Jang - spicy beef stew. The soup stew includes lean beef, egg and vegetables in a spicy red broth - like many good korean restaurants, Gangnam Station served a complimentary bowl of rice with every soup ordered.

The second thing that I think of with Korean food (after the surprising discovery the first time round) is Fried Chicken. I found it very amusing that Gangnam Station calls it KFC Chicken which stands for Korean Fried Chicken. They offer the original Gangnam Fried Chicken, Sweet & Chilli Chicken as well as De-Boned Fried Chicken. We prefer chicken on the bone, so we stuck with the original and they are all served with pickled radish and salad.

Set with 2 cans of coke in place of beer and this was a delicious meal. Give it a shot and let us know out of all the korean fried chicken I have blooged about, which restaurant was your favourite?

[keiravanhell]

Food Adventure #81.5: Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery

Okay, I know this is post is a bit out of order, but I wanted to let you know know about the Annual Ice Cream Festival 10 - 21 February and with my backlog of posts, this would be scheduled too late.

And there is 144 flavours in 12 days - nobody can say no to that. Unfortunately since we dropped by to have lunch at Oakridge, we arrived pretty late into the afternoon so we missed out on the taster platter of ice creams. But we were not too late to visit the chocolate factory! 

These images were from last year so it might be a bit different this year, but never the less, chocolate is chocolate!

I don’t have that much of a sweet tooth but I came back with a gift for my brother and my DarkAngel - a box of samplers each <3

[keiravanhell]

Food Adventure #76: The Last Piece

Ah another local breakfast place. The last piece is situated behind a large stadium which is a nice place to stroll around afterwards to digest the food.

My friend has the Egg Benedict with Hollandaise sauce. He said it was lovely and the poached egg was perfectly cooked with a runny inside.

My other friend had French Toast with blueberries and mascarpone mousse. Being the asian he was, we didn't realise he didn't know what French Toast was and when it arrived, he was so surprised that the dish was sweet.

I on the otherhand had the breakfast bruschetta. A pretty dish that consisted of avocado & feta mash, beirloom tomatoes, kalamata soil olive bread and a poached egg. This dish was so good with the different types of tiny tomatoes and the ingredients mixed perfectly.

Oh and of course as usual, I had a nice big pot of English Breakfast Tea :)

Come to The Last Piece and enjoy a hearty breakfast/brunch/lunch before enjoying a nice stroll around the stadium - the perfect weekend event that I highly recommend!

[keiravanhell]

Krafty Korner #11: Valentine’s Card and Deadpool Tickets

Hey, so following the previous post - I did end up working on something Krafty this Valentine’s that was worthwhile to post up. It was quite unplanned so I pretty much got the stuff designed in Photoshop and printed on one day and put it together on the next. The rushed outcome (although it had taken me 4 or 5 solid hours to cut out and put together) had impressed me but it was mostly thanks to Officework and nice shiny colour printing on quality 300gsm thick paper. Also the attendant there was so friendly. She printed my images out even though she was busy with another customer’s work - multi tasking all the way while chatting with me about our excitement about the movie. 

So just to explain, this Vday I decided to surprise my DarkAngel with Gold Class Village Tickets - it is a set meal Valentine’s experiences which cost way more then I believe it should. But it is Deadpool so I thought lets spoil us. I was thinking about what would be the coolest way to tell him my surprise so I decided to make him a card and movie tickets. 

So as I said I started off with Photoshopping the elements of my pop up cards together and printed them out on thick card. I also purchased pearl coloured card for the body. 

I didn’t have a guillotine so most of the elements was cut out with my makeshift cutter set - a steel ruler, a Stanley knife and a clipboard which I ended up mutilating. 

The card turned out to be super thick, so as I cut them out I used a black market to colour the edges so the white doesn’t become an eyesore on the black and dark burgundy background. 

I arranged the cut out pieces on the card with double sided foam tape so it had the professional pop up effect. You can’t really tell on this picture but everything on the red card is elevated by a few mm. The heart was actually wood cut outs I had purchased, coloured black and pasted red paper on top. 

Also a very important side note on the Deadpool artwork was originally a drawing I found online that I had turned into a graphic with Photoshop so I wanted to properly credit him; Rod Stears. He designs a range of super cute cards so do check him out for some nifty inspirations :)

To avoid bulking up the card too much, I just pasted the inside text normally and only made the framed image pop up again with foam. 

For the two tickets, I used different Deadpool images and used the actual QR code so hopefully the ticket booth attendant will play along and scan it from my homemade tickets.  

A quick tip is to pop your cards into a clear plastic pocket (I usually reuse plastic bags that my specialty paper is sold in and cut them to size - I would slide the card flat in so the receiver can open the card without having to take it out of the bag) and seal the open end with clear tape. Not only does it preserve the cards for easy safe keeping, it also add a certain professional touch to it for some reason. 

Let us know if you have any card making experience or handy tips and suggestions as I am always open to ideas :) 

[keiravanhell]

Valentines Cold Cut Platter

Happy Valentines guys. I was searching through my blog and I can’t believe I forgot to post these photos up - these are actually from last year. 

This year, I have a surprise for DarkAngel and will be taking him to watch Dead Pool at Village Gold Class so most likely will not have a post for it. I hope it turns out good, because tickets were expensive. Yes, I fell for the vday marketing ploy but I thought I haven’t been gold class in a while with him and not for their special events so might as well give it a try, set meal and all :)

I had surprised DarkAngel last year with a range of coldcuts I had purchased from a local deli in Dandenong Shopping Center. I highly recommend them for their range and price as well as friendly-ness. I explained to them I was fixing up a platter and was trying to get as many cuts into it as I could. The lady attending to me was very patient and easy going.

I also brought some fresh sour dough bread and dips as well as carrots and cucumbers to ease the pallette.

I also got a steel cutter pack from Daiso and one of them was heart shaped so had a lot of fun revisiting my kindergarten years with cutting hearts out of the food :)

Anyways, thanks for reading and hope you guys all had a special day

[keiravanhell]

Food Adventure #75: Hardware Societe

Ahhhhh brunch! My beloved... After hearing a bunch of good things about Hardware Societe, we decided to join the ever big lingering crowd waiting for their seats.

As it was very busy, we were sat in the nook - a tiny nook - a table, if I can call it that, which I highly suspect was a shelf for pot plants, I was also cramped up with the patrons behind me which was seated at the bar. Which explains the bad, unnecessarily close images of our food. The waiters on the otherhand, despite being seriously busy, still tried to make our stay pleasant and when they went to serve us our dishes, they tried to arrange the dishes so it fit on the tiny shelf.

Well back to the food, DarkAngel started off with a icy cold coffee. Was quite nice and smooth as you would expect.

I as per usual had a nice pot of English Breakfast Tea. It was served in a homey cosy - a good idea considering I didn't have much room to work with.

DarkAngel decided on the Heab Roasted Mushroom which was served with walnuts, truffled ricotta, poached egg and walnut bread.

I may have made my mistake with picking this dish - it was Pork Belly with Fried Egg. The dish was served with potatoe and bacon mash and spiced apple relish. Perhaps it was my sour mood from being hungry, long wait in the crowd to be cramped up against the wall, I felt the dish was too heavy and rather dry. Perhaps not the best choice on my part.

I do feel like my experience did not do this cafe justice - but with the crowd not ever waning in size, I don't think I will be going try it again anytime soon - just because the first experience wasn't exactly as I expected it or perhaps it just really isn't my cup of tea - and also do not wish to ever have another meal cramped up against the wall. Why don't you guys give it a shot and let me know how you went?

[keiravanhell]

Food Adventure #74: Shaanxi-Style Restaurant

Quite out of the ordinary, DarkAngel and I decided to try a very very traditional chinese restaurant that we wandered past in Box Hill.

So we began with a plate of Fried Pork Dumplings. Was a little oily but was still slightly crunchy so that was fine.

I did say traditional didn't I? This place does not cater to any western palette at all, which suited us fine. So we tried the braised beef, an unfamiliar dish, to see what it was like. It was a cold dish and tasted sort of like a strange cold ham.

Finishing off, another cold dish due to the heat, we had Chilli Oil Pig Ear. Finely sliced and crunchy tho the chilli was damn spicy.

Shaanxi-Style Restaurant is really traditional, so if you aren't that adventurous with your pallette and not Chinese, it might be a miss for you. Nothing fancy, just good ol' traditional Chinese dishes.