Ruby Red Trout from White Chocolate Grille - $16.99

1803 Freedom Drive, Naperville, IL - 630.505.8300

http://whitechocolategrill.com

I'm not exactly sure where the white chocolate comes into play, but when you can make fish glisten like that, who cares!

My one complaint about this dish is how uniform its taste is. Yea, it was scrumptious, but each bite tasted exactly like the last. I know this is being nit-picky so I won't delve into it, but basically, it would've been nice to have another side along with it.

Tan Kim Hock Durian Candy - $1.90

Some shop in Yong Peng, Johor Darul Takzim, Malaysia.

You’re gonna get a kick outta this post… Durian Candy! From a shop I normally visit to get Otak-Otak (I’ll post about that some time later) in Yong Peng, Johor. It’s about 125 miles from home, but whenever I go to Singapore I’d stop by Yong Peng for some otak-otak on my way home.

At $1.90 a pack with probably 20-25 pieces inside, it’s pretty expensive by Malaysian standards. This is also not the best durian candy I’ve tried. I’m no fan of durian but I’d at least like durian flavoured products to taste a bit like actual durian.  So no, this candy doesn’t have a strong flavour, doesn’t leave you smelling like durian after, there’s just nothing outstanding about this.

So in an effort to make this post worthwhile I’ll add some more pics from the night BEFORE I bought the durian candy. Stayed a night in Johor Bahru for the fun of it and bought the following for dinner: nasi lemak, keropok ikan (fish crackers), A Capricciosa pizza slice from Monty’s, and otak-otak.

You should know about nasi lemak by now, except this is the other way you find it; in a wrapped triangle. Banana leaf inlay and paper under that, wrapped into a little triangle, usually no more than 1-2 ringgit depending on size. This one I paid RM1.50 for, so $0.50 cents. But notice the serving is not exactly a full meal by your standards.

Nor mine of course, hence the Capricciosa pizza slice. I’m not gonna say much except that it’s a whole lotta bread and not enough toppings, I remembered it being much much better the last time I had this over 1.5 years ago, but that was the morning after some heavy drinking so maybe that’s why.

For sides I also got some keropok ikan or fish crackers, deep fried of course. Sorry for the lousy pics I was half high on a cheap bottle of Highland Park 12 year old scotch, and also starving so that’s the only pic of the keropok I got.

Anyways, last thing I got was some otak-otak. That’s basically blended fish and I’m assuming some spices cos it’s usually very slightly spicy. The typical way of serving it as you can see is to wrap it in between 2 banana leaf folds stapled on ends and grilled over charcoal fire. If I’m not wrong this is an authentic Malaysian dish, a Peranakan invention from north Malaysia. I think. It’s good shit. Fun fact: otak means “brain” in Malay, and in the language the same word said twice with a dash usually means plural…. So otak-otak would mean brains.

The end.

Cedar-Seared Salmon Pasta from TGI Friday's - $9.39

650 South College Avenue, Newark, DE - (302)737-3700

"Succulent pan–seared salmon fillet, coated with cedar smoke seasoning, served over al dente fettuccine ribbons tossed with golden brown zucchini and a blend of creamy Alfredo, bruschetta marinara and tangy lemon sauce."

I had this dish months ago and I can still recall loving its silky, creamy texture. In fact, that memory is so pleasant that I'm going to order another one right now.

Crispy Pork from Cafe Uno - $1.50

1 Bonifacio St, Vigan City, Philippines

This is my first in a series of Philippine posts, of food I had during my 2 week trip to Philippines end of last year.

This was the first meal we had since landing in Philippines and taking a 10 hour bus ride to Vigan from Angeles City, with the last meal before this being a crappy eggs benedict from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, about 14-15 hours before.

I’ll confess, I forgot the name and price of the dish. It IS essentially crispy pork but I don’t remember the Filipino name. The closest I’ve come to via googling is Lechon Kawali. But the price is accurate to about USD0.40 so it’s a fair estimate on my behalf.

First thing to note about Filipino food, it’s very similar to Malay / Chinese cuisine. This is no exception, reminding me very much of Chinese Roast Pork, only this is cut into chunks before roasting. I liked it, not too much seasoning so you get to enjoy all the porkiness.

We also ordered a serving of fish, I really don’t remember the name, and the price is around the vicinity of $1.50 as well. Because I have no idea what it is, I didn’t include it into the topic of this post, but here’s a picture.  It was okay, standard fare, fried fish cuts, with sauce that was starchy and quite flavourless, maybe that’s why it also came with pickled vegetables mixed with a fermented sauce, I don’t know what it was but it tasted incredibly similar to a Malaysian sauce called Cincalok, which is basically fermented shrimp.

Another thing to note about the Filipino diet, they eat rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Also, most of their dishes (the flavours of Philippines, if you will) are a little too much for foreigners of the non-asian kind to handle, and a lot of the locals told me stories about how some of the Caucasian visitors would order a lot thinking they are adventurous, and when it comes some of them would only eat white rice, perhaps picking on the egg or vegetable dish only, cos the other dishes are too overwhelming. I can picture it, and have nothing to say except to shake my head at the thought.

Al's Fish Tacos from TGI Friday's - ???

650 South College Avenue, Newark, DE - (302)737-3700

I don't know who Al is, but he sure made some rockin' fish tacos. The order comes with "three flour tortillas filled with crispy, nacho-crusted tilapia, shredded lettuce, corn salsa, and creamy lemon dill remoulade sauce. Served with a side of chips & salsa."

This dish is not so much about the fish as it is the corn salsa and remoulade sauce. MmMM... creamy goodness. I wish it came with more than just three.

Fish Tacos from Ping Pong - $8

3322 North Broadway Street, Chicago, IL - (773)281-7575

These fish tacos are made with tuna tempura, lime-avocado, and guacamole. This is one of those chic restaurants that puts more weight into the appearance of the dish than its quality. That isn't to say the food is bad, but for one thing, these places tend to serve smaller portions. Boo.

That said, these tacos were probably the messiest tacos I've ever eaten. The sauce could've used more kick, because that was the main reason for the mess and I don't
recall any taste to it to make that fiasco worthwhile.

The overall taste was bland especially considering its fancy appearance, and although there was nothing terribly wrong about the dish, I would probably never opt to order it again.

Filet 'O Fish from McDonald's - $2.80

1401 Governor's Place, Bear, DE - (302)836-1308

This is perhaps my favorite sandwich from McDonald's and honestly, I prefer their fish sandwich over most others I've had anywhere else. There's something about their tartar sauce that really gets my mouth watering. The price is a wee high for the amount of food that you get which is what keeps me ordering four of these per visit.

Create Your Own Feast from Red Lobster - $20.50

1249 New Churchman's Road, Newark, DE - (302)456-1792

The Create Your Own Feast meal is a meal where you get to choose three items from a select list for $20.50. You can opt to pick only two for $16.50, but come on! As if I would ever opt to eat less. The choices available are:

- Garlic-Grilled Jumbo Shrimp
- Seafood-Stuffed Flounder
- Parrot Bay Jumbo Coconut Shrimp
- Walt's Favorite Shrimp
- Grilled Salmon
- Shrimp Linguini Alfredo
- Crab Linguini Alfredo
- Garlic Shrimp Scampi
- Steamed Snow Crab Legs
- Grilled Sirloin Steak* (3.75 additional)

It also comes with an unlimited supply of their famous cheddar biscuits, a garden or Caesar salad, and a side. The Caesar salad was captured in an earlier post found here.


The first picture illustrates the cheddar biscuits. These things are addictive. My advice is to stuff yourself with as many of these as you can and eat the main course as a leftover.


This picture shows the shrimp linguini alfredo (left), seafood-stuffed flounder (top-center), grilled salmon (right), and mashed potatoes for my side (bottom-center). The linguini is good, but a bit too oily. The flounder was a bland disappointment, and the salmon and mashed potatoes are both good, but nothing spectular or special.


My sister ordered the crab linguini alfredo (left), steamed snow crab legs (top-center), Parrot Bay jumbo coconut shrimp (bottom-center), and a baked potato (middle-center) for her side. I've eaten these all before and here's what I have to say: the crab linguini is identical to the shrimp linguini save for the crab/shrimp substitution; the coconut shrimp is tasty is small doses; and the crab legs and baked potato are once again, good, but nothing outstanding.

All in all, it's a very satisfying feast with lots of variety to keep your appetite interested.

Sushi from Sushi Train - $18

Sushi from Sushi Train at Chatswood, Sydney. Comes in a nice black carry bag, I thought that was cool. I picked this selection out myself, I can easily do double this amount but at the time I wasn't very hungry. That's salmon sushi on the bottom left, avocado sushi above it, tuna sushi above that, steamed Edamame peas above THAT, and salmon sushi roll on the right row.

The edamames were better than most I've tried. The sushi was average, not the best sushi I've ever had but definitely not the worst either.