Quan Jude
299 Queen St
Melbourne -Victoria, Australia
P: +61 (0) 3 9670 0091

Mai - feasting at Peking Duck in Quanjude

I am always on the search for great Peking Duck as most of my friends are also great fans of this delicious poultry and most of our social lives revolve around eating.

I came across Quanjude by chance while I was walking by and when I saw a sign proclaiming itself as  ’Specialising in Peking Duck”,  how could I resist?  Quanjude is part of a global branch of 200 restaurants around the world.

I am making the call that Quanjude is the best Peking Duck restaurant in Melbourne and now I will share my experience and the elements that support my claim.

Ambient and Attention to Details

Quanjude with its lovely decor, pleasant ambience, friendly waiters and spacious seating.

Unlike most traditional Chinese restaurants, the Quanjude dinging area is very spacious. The waiters are friendly and well presented, the bathrooms are clean and tables are set beautifully with modern, tasteful crockery and cutlery.  I really love the ambience; other patrons of the restaurant are low key, not too noisy or loud so that allowed me to concentrate on the food and my dinner partner. I appreciate the fact that plates and cutlery are replaced for every single course and wine is served from a decanter, quite unusual and nice for a Chinese restaurant.

The Food - Peking Duck

The best Peking Duck Experience - Quan Jude

My fellow diner and I ordered one whole duck between us, Quanjude’s specialty.

A waiter arrived at our table with Peking Duck condiments of Hoisin Sauce and finely sliced cucumber and spring onions. I usually shy away from Spring Onion in Peking Duck because the usual large chunks have an unpleasant, strong, pungent taste to me. Quanjude however puts in a little extra effort to slice spring onion very finely, allowing the addition of just the right amount without that overpowering taste.

Peking Duck Condiments of sweet Hoisin sauce and finely sliced cucumber and spring onions

Next, the Master arrives at our table with the whole Peking Duck, he faces you, then begins to slice the duck as we watch in anticipation. The first plate he dishes up consists purely of the Crispy Duck Skin which we eat with the Hoisin sauce. It is very crispy and mouth watering tasty. The skin is said to be the tastiest piece of the whole duck, a true culinary experience, the way Peking Duck was originally intended. This is in line with the authentic Peking Duck experience in China where the crispy skin alone is eaten.

Peking Duck Master – Carves your duck at your table before your eyes

The Peking Duck experience begins with the tastiest bit of the duck, crispy duck skin

I noticed that the Master surgically slices the duck into fine pieces and places them neatly on a serving dish (most duck places in my experience are not this meticulous). Each of the duck meat pieces contain the EXACT amount of skin and flesh, a little of each.

Peking Duck Meat from the whole duck, each slice consists of a bit of skin and meat - layers of mouthwatering goodness :), not fatty/oily yet super moist

The pancake was really thin and plentiful, whereas other restaurants I have been to tend to skimp on this. I have to also say that pancakes here are the best I have tasted. I took a piece of pancake, placed 2-3 pieces of duck meat, some finely sliced cucumber and spring onions and a teaspoon of hoisin sauce. I then wrapped the pancake around the yummy contents before savoring my first bite..

A pancake with a slice of duck, cucumber spring onion and a dollop of Hoisin sauce, superb!

A wrapped Peking duck parcel – complete and ready to be eaten - YUM!

The first bite was divine. The pancake did not taste too doughy, the duck was not oily but still moist and the freshness of the cucumber and spring onion along with the sweetness of Hoisin sauce made this first bite a taste explosion. The spring onion added an excellent element and great after taste. I cannot believe that I had given this crucial ingredient a miss in the past.

The first bite and each one after it simply WOWed me! Compared to other Peking Duck restaurants (China Town offerings, Old Kingdom in Collingwood) the duck here is less fatty and oily but still incredibly moist. I know that some prefer their duck with more fat for that extra burst of flavour (Old Kingdom) but I found that with less oil I did not have the post duck sickness (unlike the usual experience at Old Kingdom).

Our Peking duck came with a duck soup containing pieces of fresh cucumber.

The duck soup with fresh cucumber pieces is included with the Peking Duck dish

The second dish we ordered was mixed vegetables stir fry. This dish was so tasty it had me planning my return trip to Quanjude to try other non Peking Duck dishes, particularly after seeing the fantastic looking Chinese dishes on neighbouring tables.

Stir Fry Mixed Vegetables

Conclusion

I thoroughly enjoyed the whole Peking duck experience at Quan Jude. The cost for a whole Peking Duck is $68, a little pricier than the average restaurant, but certainly not by much. Not to mention that this is not your average Peking Duck restaurant, to me it is superior on all fronts, service, ambience, décor and of course, food to die for! I will be returning to Quanjude and this time with more friends and a larger appetite.

Mai at Ottawa

So I am in Canada, a friend had suggested that I go to Ottawa to celebrate Canada Day. Ottawa is the capital city of Canada located in Ontario, the same province of Toronto (Canada biggest city). Ottawa is the central of all Canadian government activities.

A stage in front of Canada Parliament House

The centre of the celebrations was on a stage in front of Parliament House. There were heaps of people celebrating with plenty of parades, even the Queen of England (Queen Elizabeth) made an appearance at midday. Despite the crowds, it was a very civilised celebration concentrating on a family theme.

Unlike us Aussies when we celebrate Australia Day back home everyone here seemed sober? What’s up with that?

Canada Day celebration in a full swing

The crowd in Ottawa for Canada Day Byward MarketFresh vegetables on offer at Byward Market

Byward Market

Fresh vegetables on offer at Byward Market

After spending awhile enjoying the free entertainment in front of Parliament House, I decided to make my way to Ottawa’s Byward Market. Established in 1826, Byward market is the oldest and largest public markets in Canada.

Byward market sells the freshest fruit and vegetables. I was in time to catch the last remaining berry season as this year, the berries arrived really early. Byward market is also the best place to get your souvenir shopping done. Nearby, there were lots of cafes, restaurants, places to indulge alcoholic beverges and places where you can work your credit card a little more in cute little boutique and shops.

Lunch at Fairmont Chateau Laurier

Fairmont Chateau Laurier - where I had lunch

I was suggested to have lunch at Fairmont Chateau Laurier which I gladly did. Chateau Laurier is a hotel chain by Fairmont which owns other wonderful looking hotels around Canada. Throughout my eastern Canada trip, I had a chance to visit each of Fairmont hotel in Quebec City and Toronto.

I had a really late lunch. It’s an opportunity for me to re-fill my energy, rest my feet, getting away from the crowd and get the best seat in town for the Queen’s parade :).

I sat next to the window overlooking the major street where the Queen Elizabeth will be driving past for the Canada Day parade

I munched on sticky chicken drummettes, green salad dressed in raspberry vinagerettes and Italian prosecco (sparkling wine) in the indoor cafe of Fairmont Chateau Laurier. I had a great  time relaxing in a softly spoken ambient. Straight after I finished my meal and had a chance to digest, a black car with Queen Elizabeth who wore a red jacket drove past :).

Mai's lunch at Fairmont Chateau Laurier - sticky chicken drummettes, green salad with raspberry vinagerettes and a glass of prosecco (Italian sparkling wine)

Rideau Canal

Rideau Canal with its locks in operation to date

After lunch at Fairmont Chateau Laurier (next to the hotel is Rideau Canal) I decided to work off my lunch by going to the Canal.

Rideau Canal was built in 1812 to serve both as military and commercial purposes. For the military, it served as a communcation waterway between Montreal and Kingston to bypass St Lawrence river. Commercially it functions as a busy waterway pass (as it’s easier to navigate than St Lawrence river due to harsh rapids between Montreal and Kingston). The locks are in operation to date between mid May and mid October.

This was a perfect way to visit Ottawa and experiencing my first the Canadian Day celebration.

Mai in Ottawa (with the Canada Day Crowd), in front of the Canada Parliament Building

Sorry guys for not posting for awhile, I just came back from my travel of Eastern Canada

First of all - WOW, what a country. This was my first time travelling to Canada and must say its one of the best trips Ive ever had. Did you know Canadians are very good looking :P. I noticed from the moment I was greeted by the customs at Montreal (Quebec Province). What a way to welcome visitors to your country.

Maybe it’s their french accent. I thought you went to Canada is what your thinking? If you’re wondering what’s up with the French language, well, eastern Canada especially the Quebec Province where major cities such as Montreal and Quebec - their first language is French. Need not worry though, if you visit Montreal, they generally speaks bi-lingual English and French.

I managed to visit (details to come) -

Ottawa on Canada Day

Believe it or not I managed to visit Ottawa (Capital of Canada) during Canada Day (It was a coincidence). The Canadians celebrated their country with a serenade by the Barenaked Ladies. Queen of England (Queen Elizabeth) also drove past in the parade. I alsomanaged to enjoy what Ottawa has to offer such as their infamous Byward Market, their Rideu Canal and their grandeur display of Parliament house and other amazing federal buildings.

Quebec City

Chateau Frontenac at the upper town of Quebec city (old town)

The capital of Quebec Province is simply beautiful. I had a chance to do a day trip from dawn to dusk in Quebec city old town which has a fortification. Most of my activities here were strolling through nice alleyways and streets of the old town with a drink on the rooftop of Chateau Frontenac with a view of the city and St Lawrence river. I also shopped at a store called Simon, it’s as famous as Kangaroo in Australia and Royal Palace in England :).

Toronto and Niagara Falls

The almighty Horse Shoe fall (Niagara falls - the boat fits 400 people :)

I did a 3 days trip from Montreal to Niagara Falls. There’s a reason why the falls is listed to be one of the wonders of the world. It’s one of those bucket list activity you have to tick off.

• On route to the Niagara Falls, I took a boat cruise to explore 1000 islands. Some of the islands were located in USA, some in Canada.
• Niagara Falls explored on foot, on water, in the air. It’s worth staring at these almighty falls in all possible avenues! The falls extends in 2 countries - USA and Canada. However, viewing and experiencing Niagara falls from the Canadian side is much much better.
• I strolled around the quaint little town of Niagara on lake and visited one of the many Niagara vineyards. A trip won’t be complete without visiting the local vineyards for Mai

I did a quick stop over at Toronto by visiting:

• Downtown Toronto with a quick visit to their major wealth show of their bank buildings, Hockey Hall of Fame, the underground city that stretches 9 km for Toronto to connect the people from their apartments, offices, train stations and shops without re-surfacing on the ground surface during cold and harsh winter weather.
• I went up the CN Tower to get a bird eye view of Toronto.

Montreal

Montreal Olympic Stadium

During the trip I based myself in Montreal, thanks to my friend who hosted me throughout my whole travel. So a big thank you Christine.

Montreal city is home to my sporting hero Georges St Pierre. It’s a very cosmoplitan city. I had a chance to live close to the locals. I managed to find the symbol of Montreal (the Cross or known as Croix du Mont Royal) without getting lost

Bok Choy Tang
Federation Square (Corner Flinders St and Swanston St - opposite ACMI)
Melbourne
P: +61 (0) 3 9663 8665

Bok Choy Tang serves contemporary modern chinese. You get the authenticity of a chinese restaurant with a modern twist.

I really love the ambience of Bok Choy Tang, the  the seats are nicely spaced out unlike other  traditional chinese restaurants. I wasn’t in anytime rushed to finish my meal and the food was presented beautifully on a table. This is what eating out is supposed to be. Our table was located close to the window so we had a great view of Federation square. On the weekends, there’s a live piano performance. The restaurant had a really nice decor.

Lets talk about the food. Chinese food is all about sharing. The size of the dishes in Bok Choy Tang is quite generous which allows sharing a breeze. There were 6 of us, all with a big appetites

Here are some of the dishes we  ordered;

Wok Fried Pumpkin with Spinach $18

Spinach stir fried with garlic topped with Pumpkin and sesame - simply divine. I could easily eat this dish by itself

Crispy Barramundi with Lemon Sauce $24.50

This is my regular dish. The fish looks divine as it arrives on our table. Although it came as a whole fish, it has been filleted. You can just pick the flesh of the crispy barramundi without any bones. The sauce completes the dish, it’s a lemon and honey sauce with sprinkles of red capsicum and green peas pieces.

Steamed Barramundi $24.50

You’re probably wonder why I would order 2 fish dishes. There’re 2 reasons, the first one is to cater my fellow diner who likes steamed fish. The second reason is trying to compare this steam fish with other chinese restaurants. I found Bok Choy Tang steamed fish is as delicate as the one in the tradtional chinese restaurants. The key for a steam fish is the freshness of the fish. The steam fish is delicious as it comes with julliene of ginger, spring onions, the sweetness of chinese rice wine and soy sauce. It also comes with a baby bok choy.

Chairman Mao (Red Guard) Pork and Mussels $23.50

This must be the chinese version of ’surf and turf’ (Pork and Mussels). I decided to order this dish because of its name :). The pork was very delicate because it’s been simmered gently infused with ginger, spring onions, rice wine, red bean paste, star anise, a touch of chilli and soy sauce then combined with mussels. This tastes divine like a good quality braise dish.

Sea cucumber and chinese mushroom $38

This dish is about textures.  Sea cucumber, chinese mushrooms and brocollis. It’s a pity for such a price, there were only a small pieces of sea cucumber. This is where the traditional chinese wins, as usually they will serve generous amounts of sea cucumber. Although very tasty, I would probably never order this dish due to the insufficient amount of sea cucumber for such a price.

Babao Duck $56 (requires 3-4 people to share)

According to the menu, this dish is good for the chi. The dish requires a minimum 20 minutes to prepare before being served so if you are in a hurry don’t order this dish. But I have to say its worth the wait! This has to be the star dish for the night.

Babao duck is stuffed with a force-meat of sticky rice, ginseng, mushrooms, chinese dates, wolfberries, ginger and spring onions which is deep fried until golden brown then gently steamed for four hours. When I took a bite of the duck, the meat fell off the bone and all the goodies gave an explosion of goodness. Simply Divine.

If you enjoy good quality chinese food with great ambiance at reasonable price, Bok Choy Tang is worth a visit as an alternate to your traditional chinese restaurant.

Ankara Archeological Museum (Anatolian Civilisation Museum)

After staying overnight at Sheraton Ankara, I decided to end my Turkey trip by visiting the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations (Hittite Museum), established in 1921 and after a renovation, it was opened to the public as Ankara archeological museum in 1968.

As the name suggested, it hosts the archeological artifacts for the Anatolian Civilisations. In 1997, it was named the European Museum of the Year. Without going through details, the museum exhibits a range of artifacts from the period of - Paleolithic, Neolithic, chalcolithic age, early bronze age then continues on to Assyrian trade colonies, hittite, phyrgian, late hittite, urartian, lydian, classical period through the ages.

The stunning dome of the museum

Burials exhibit

Driving back to Istanbul, I looked back at my trip, I really like Turkey and I believe it is the the best country in Europe to visit..

Good Bye Ankara, as I drove back to Istanbul.

Good Bye Ankara, as I drove back to Istanbul

Mai in front of Ataturk's tomb

Today I’m in Ankara and is my final day in Turkey. There are 2 points of interest I’d like to visit before I leave - The Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (Modern Turkey Great Leader) and Hittite Museum (Museum of Anatolian Civilisations).

Anit Kabir's square

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk led the war in Gallipoli against the ANZACs. He was the first president of Turkey Republic and is buried here.

The Mausoleum acts as a monument and memorial. It was built by Professor Emin Onat and Associate Professor Orhan Arda as the winning prize to design the Mausoleum. It was completedin 1953. The second president of Turkey Ismet Inonu is also buried here. The building looks like greek style architecture.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's Tomb

A guard in the entrance of the tomb

Anit Kabir - The Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

Ismet Inonu (Second Turkey Republic President) Tomb

There are plenty of things to do around here including a walk around the Peace Garden which hosts 50,000 plants donated by 25 countries. The Peace Garden was built in honor of Ataturk’s famous expression of Peace at home, Peace in the world.

Peace Park in honor of Ataturk's famous expression of "Peace at Home, Peace in the World"

The locals

As I was taking photos of myself, I patiently waited for the locals to finish taking their snap. The longer I waited, the more they jumped off the queue. I decided instead to take with them and then later crop the final photos.

However no matter what I did the locals would just get closer to me no matter what. A girl came up to me and asked me whether she can take a picture with me. After letting the girl taking a picture with me, her whole family came one by one and started standing next to me taking turns to take a picture.

What was going on? Was my blog that famous? Later I found out that it wasn’t It seemed like they wanted the photo with me because of my asian appearance. Now I know how my caucasian friend felt when she went to china ! haha

I had to politely asked the locals to let me take a picture without them

Marching

Around Ceremonial Plaza

Goreme - a unique region of volcanic landscapes

I get a people asking me if they only had a short trip to Turkey, which region other than Istanbul they should visit?. Cappadocia region has to be the one. In Cappadocia, there are plenty of interesting places to visit - Goreme and the underground city of Kaymakli.

Goreme Valley

Goreme

Mai at Goreme (Cappadocia)

Goreme is a unique region of volcanic landscapes and ro-hewn churches decorated with ancient wall paintings. As I entered the open air museum, I saw lots of awesome formations. Goreme was listed as the world heritage site by UNESCO in 1985.

Other than the unique fairy chimney city, what’s worth exploring further are the churches inside those caves. The practise of Christianity seems to be practiced in the past in an ‘underground’ manner. As I entered the churches, there were many evidences of Christianity shown in the wall paintings.

the wall paintings inside Goreme church

I spent a good amount of time exploring the open air museum and enjoying the view and soaking up the ‘fairy tale land’ atmosphere.

I continued driving around Goreme (outside the open air museum) to the Zelve Valley where the scenery is dotted with Churches, Caves and Trogodyte dwellings. Nearby, there’s a line of souvenir shops, I saw Turkey’s version of Three Sisters - similar to the three sisters in the Blue Mountains (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia).

Mai with Three Sisters in the background (Goreme, Cappadocia - Turkey)

Kaymakli - Underground city

Mai at the underground city, once you're in, it's really hard to backout as there're other visitors behind you - really consider this before you decide to tour the underground city

I had a local tour guide (he was very fit considering he was 60 years old!) take us on an underground city tour of Kaymakli. The main attraction here is to see the cone of Uchisar. I would not recommend you to explore the underground city if you’re claustrophobic or on the little big side. The tour requires you to duck, crawl and squeezing into small confined spaces.

In the underground city, I was most impressed with the engineering and construction of the city. There are a lot of complexities for the city to accommodate living quarter for people and their animals, especially the way they built the air ventilation to keep the air fresh and the robustness of the city to prevent it from collapsing. I guess it’s like ants building their nest which consist of compartments either on top of each other or side by side.

In the underground city, it was a way for the people to protect themselves against enemy attack and the weather. There is only one way which is blocked by a massive boulder stone which can only be opened and closed from the inside.

I really had a great time travelling in Goreme, Cappadocia. I realised 2500 people actually lived in either the underground city or inside the volcanic rock formation. I thought it was a really cool way of life :).

Whirling Dervish Sect - Sufi (performing a dance to connect with God)

I really enjoyed learning about western Turkey and one of the places that is intriguing is the old capital of the Anatolian Seljuk Empire of Konya which at present time is Turkey’s most religious city and home to the mystic Whirling Dervish sect.

My day started with a visit to Mevlana Tekke, a museum and national museum. It has a beautiful fluted turquoise dome and is a home to the tomb of the Whirling Dervishes’ founder. Whirling Dervish as the name suggests, is famous for the practise of whirling as part of Sufi’s ritual to connect to God.

A beautiful Turqoise Dome

After seeing the Karatay Medrese and Ince Minaret, the night continued with a quick rest and then I headed to a performance of the Whirling Dervish ritual of Sema. The performance was held in a beautiful exotic and mystical place, makes me feel like I’m in one of the Lawrence of Arabias story book.

Mai in the courtyard of Karatay Medrese

The stage of the Sema Ceremony in the evening

Before the Sema ceremony starts which involves whirling, a dozen people walked onto a stage wearing white gowns, black cloaks and brown high caps. They look like angels. Watching Sema ceremony feels like I’m watching a musical or opera act, it gives you goose bumps and a soothing feeling at the same time.

I was told the Sema ceremony was broken up into four parts so its like opening, middle, main then closing. In the middle of the ceremony, the twirling starts, they twirl in the same axis with its skirt up and a beautiful poise of head tilting in one side with arms stretched - one palm faces up and the other palm faces down. The gown stretches as the twirling begins.

Mai at the Cotton Castle (

Today, I was driven inland to Pamukkale to see its ‘Cotton Castle’ which is a dazzling chalk-white array of fantastically shaped limestone terraces.  The white limestone terraces are a result of carbonate minerals left by flowing water. It felt surreal to walk on it, surrounded by white - it seemed like I was on another planet! You can dip your feet in the terraces without shoes to protect the ‘Cotton Castle’ surfaces. Although from a distance the Cotton Castle looks white, some of the terraces have different colours such as grey, green and orange. The terraces looked beautiful with their glistening pools and cascades in scallop-shell basins.

White terraces of Cotton Castle

A fairy tale of vast white coloured limestone deposit

After spending a while at the white terraces, I walked around the site to enjoy the ruins of ancient Hierapolis which was built on top of the Cotton Castles. There, hot springs have been used as a spa since the 2nd Century BC.

Similar to other archeological sites, the city has many point of interests. The one that strikes me most is the ancient tombs which looked like a pizza ovens.

Mai in front of Hierapolies' ancient tomb

Back in my hotel, I enjoyed a warm thermal pool, simply soothing :).

It’s about time - Australian First Female Prime Minister.

Although the Prime Minister appointment happened by default (as opposed to her pre-decessor Kevin Rudd who’s voted by the Australian Public), I’d still like to congratulate Julia Gillard for being the first Australian Prime Minister.