The search is over

Not for KL-style Hokkien Mee (here I go again!) unfortunately, but for the next best thing: chicken rice. And I found it at the same place as Melbourne's best Char Kuay Teow. That's right, at my local, Malaymas! The last time Babes, Mans and I went there, we were flabbergasted when informed that they had run out. No doubt it was part of some elaborate conspiracy to keep me coming back, and come back I did last night. It's about 8.43 times better than any other chicken rice I've had in Melbourne. My only complaint would be that the rice could be slightly more fragrant, but of course that would mean slightly oilier too. But with such tender, tasty chicken, I can see why they usually sell out so quickly. Next time must call and 'chope' if possible...

Salad in the style of Capri

Otherwise known as Insalata Caprese, I first experienced this amazing yet simple dish at Kaz's place in Singapore. That was a good five years ago, and I've enjoyed it many more times since then. It's something non-chefs like me can prepare fairly easily, yet rather impressively! This version, however, was made by Babes. And yes, it tastes as wonderful as it looks!

Great in a sandwich, but not on our blog...

Looks like one of the negatives of modern technology has started to rear its ugly head. Some of you might have noticed dodgy sounding comments about some of my posts, with click-throughs to dodgy sites. *sigh* If any of you web-savvy people out there can tell me how to prevent 'em (instead of deleting them one by one), I'd be very grateful! Personally, I'm more than happy with Ma Ling Pork Luncheon Meat, but that's just me...

Hot chocolate, discounted lunches and AC/DC.

To be more specific, come to an ad agency called SEE in Port Melbourne. Lots of ad agencies have cafes of some kind or other, but here's the only one I know of (and that I've done work for) that has one that's open to the public. What you're looking at is Wesley's famous hot chocolate, marvellous for cold winter mornings. And his Lavazza coffee's pretty good too! But wait, there's more: full-time employees get first-class cooked lunches for a mere $3.00! That doesn't sound like that big a deal coming from Malaysia or Singapore, but it's ultra-cheap by Aussie standards! Especially for a cafe that's been featured in The Age's Cheap Eats food guide for the last couple of years. As for freelancers, well, we get 20% off which isn't too bad, I guess! And for the rock aficionados amongst you, there's even an exhibition of AC/DC's lead singer's photos and letters to his wife, "Bye Bye Bon Scott". Read more about it here: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/08/09/1154802962874.html and it's on the cafe walls as we speak!

Practising for the (not-so-near) future?

For a few hours last Sunday, the Bubsnbabes residence was transformed into a playland for five kids between the ages of one and four. Which is quite normal for a lot of (superhuman) people, but relatively new to us. Fortunately there were eleven adults to look after 'em. Oh and there was also a ton of excellent food prepared by Babes, Mans, Ngoc and Gin, including: beef and prawn rice paper rolls, seafood skewers, mee pok noodles, chicken wings, cucumber and gelatin salad, as well as THREE cakes. Happy Birthday Lulu!

An extremely professional blog!

No no, not ours obviously... Bubs n' Babes is just for fun, food, friends and family (well, mainly for fun to be honest) but check out the amazing www.chubbyhubby.net for exceptional production values and top-notch content. The food is incredible, and the photography does it justice! This, for example, is the breakfast he cooked for his wife just last week; Bill's corn fritters. Alamak, spoil market lah! Singaporean food lover Aun Koh really knows his stuff. And he's even got sponsors and everything. Well done man, keep it up...

Cafe Bubs n' Babes

It's kinda ironic that we bought (OK, I bought) this espresso machine in Singapore, land of kopi-O, and shipped it all the way to Melbourne, coffee capital of the Asia-Pacific region. But I couldn't resist (it looks pretty cool) and it was on sale. Not that I expected very much, as it's not a Gaggia, Francis Francis or one of those other hard-core espresso machine brands. But whaddyaknow, it's been giving me (and our guests) pretty decent coffee for the last few months. Think it's also due to the smooth, lovely Genovese grind that I first had in a local cafe, then went out and bought. Makes me look good, when all I do is fire it up, load and tamp the grind, press a couple of buttons and frothe the milk! So the next time you're in Thornbury, pop by for some latte. It ain't world-class or anything, but it'll do. Unless you're some coffee connoisseur, in which case we'll go down to a real cafe!

Where's this Hokkien Mee from?

I've spent quite a bit of time on this blog bemoaning the absence of authentic KL-style Hokkien Mee here in Melbourne. (I know, I know, here I go again!) Well, here's a commendable effort, with prawns, pork, cuttlefish, cabbage, lots of garlic and the all-important pork lard. The sauce isn't quite thick and black enough, but the cook (who's actually from KL, and grew up on Jalan Ampang) is working on it. He hopes to have it close to perfect by the time he gets here in October. All the best, Dad, see you and Mum soon!