Gold Coast : Oz.han Kebabs

Whenever I ask peeps who have been to Gold Coast, what is it that they eat or where they dine at, I keep getting similar replies. Kebabs.

It seems that kebabs are the most common Halal food you can get abroad. By 'abroad', I mean Western countries. Pretty scary, actually. So I sourced online for possible Halal eats in and around Gold Coast just to make sure that we'll have a variety of eats when we're there.
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After our trip to the Movie World we ended up pretty tired and hungry, so I thought of hitting up a kebab joint and take-away some, to be eaten in the comfort of our rented apartment. In my list for Halal-eats, I have 3 different branches of Origin Kebabs. So we gun straight for the one nearest to our apartment (at Mermaid Waters).

We keyed in the address into the GPS and drove on. It wasn't long before we sensed something amiss. We seem to be getting closer and closer to a residential neighbourhood. And it wasn't long before we actually end up in front of someone's house and the GPS audio went, "Location: on the left." Wth.

We never gave up hope so we keyed in the next nearest address for Origin Kebabs (at Hooker Boulevard). All seemed well at first, until the same thing happened. Yes, the GPS lead us to somebody's house! By then the impatience and hunger almost made us hopping mad, as we frantically scan our list, the GPS and the web (thru 3G) find the next possible location. Ali Baba Kebabs at Surfers Paradise.

This time, we weren't directed to somebody's house but that restaurant was non-existent! There, we saw other restaurants but we can't verify if they're Halal and were not on our list. Oh, the frustration!

Then I recall seeing a kebab shop in front of Woolworth's supermarket at Oasis Shopping Centre, a mall very close to our apartment. Good thing also, cos' we need to replenish our groceries.

And that's how we end up here, at Oz.han Kebabs.... So the very 'drama', huh? And yeah we eventually dined here cos' we're ravenous.

shop-front
(pic courtesy of my colleague, Roza)

display for fillings
(pic courtesy of my colleague, Roza)

(L-R) Shredded lettuce & onions. Cheese and parsley + couscous mix (add-ons). Beautifully arranged sliced tomatoes. Romaine lettuce leaves. Tahini garlic sauce and hummus (in trays). Bottles and bottles of sauces and lumps of fried falafel for vegetarian kebab options.

hot chocolate
(pic courtesy of my colleague, Sri)

Ordered for Sri's hubby.

chips
(pic courtesy of my colleague, Sri)

Both my colleagues ordered a set of fries chips each, without realising that the serving was rather big. Yes, 1 paper bag full of chips. For AUD4.95.

These came out piping hot, as they we fried only upon order.

Sri's kebab
(pic courtesy of my colleague, Sri)

Roza's kebab
(pic courtesy of my colleague, Roza)

My kebab

What, too far you say?

Closer Look

The very fickle me had a hard time choosing the fillings for mine and my mum's kebabs. Eventually settled for chicken meat for my mum and mixed meats of beef & mutton for me. I chose the Doner rolls for us.

Then there were the sauces. They have like, 8 different sauces?! Tomato, BBQ, Hummus & Tahini Garlic, Sour Cream, Mayonnaise, Sweet Chili and Hot Chilli. I, or course, chose the exotic ones. Hummus. My mum wants the Tahini garlic. I eventually asked for both.

Then there are the add-ons. I so wanted to add both the cheese and the parsley & couscous mix but they were a tad generous with the meats and after the generic lettuce, tomato & onions, I realise there really wasn't any space for cheese. The lady had a hard time rolling my kebabs, what more when she had to put them in between the hot iron press.

Needless to say, my kebab roll came out to be big. I felt like a greedy lass as I first start to bite into it. What more when I was really ravenous by then. And it taste so darn good!

I wonder if there are kebab shops like this in Singapore? More options for meats or even falafel? With various sauces? And the couscous or cheese add on? Is there?

I miss the kebabs there already... :(
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PS: I've already reported the wrong addresses for Origin Kebabs to Zabihah.com, where I got my info initially. They'll verify the address again. Meanwhile, the actual (and correct addresses are listed below).

Oz.han Kebabs
Ground Floor, Shop 69 (opp. Woolworth's supermarket)
Oasis Shopping Centre
Broadbeach Mall, Victoria Avenue, Broadbeach
Phone: 07 5570 4750

Origin Kebabs
1- Westside- Ground Flr, near cinema
2- Arcade- 1st Flr, at Food Court
Pacific Fair Shopping Mall
Hooker Boulevard, Broadbeach
QLD 4218

Gold Coast : Movie World

We head down to Movie World on the 4th day (also known as Universal Studios, here in S'pore).

Soon after as we were in, my colleague and I got pretty excited at the sight of this churros cart. Really missed my churros. Seems like I get to have it only when I watch movies. And I hardly watch movies nowadays. :(

The churros cart

The churros were served piping hot. It seemed like they coat the cinnamon sugar on, only upon ordering. I also purchased the chocolate dipping (yes, $2 is really pricey). Got a small tub for that. After my 1st 2 dips, I gave the dipping away because it tasted too milky for my liking. The churros taste better on its own, actually.

Had our lunch at this Halal-certified restaurant located inside there - Rick's Cafe Americain.

And I thought that was a fictional restaurant that exist only in the famed film, 'Casablanca'. Well, it does show in its decor. How the interior had these Moroccan touches here and there. Seemed a lil' clichéd, though.

It's said that another eatery there, Gotham City Cafe, is Halal. but I can't seem to find any signs/notices declaring it.

The Entrance
(pic courtesy of my colleague, Sri)

The reception/cashier
(pic courtesy of my colleague, Sri)

Check out the unique ceiling fan contraption!

part of the salad & dessert bar
(pic courtesy of my colleague, Sri)

part of the hot food spread
(pic courtesy of my colleague, Sri)

I can't really say that there were a lot of varieties but I'd say that they kinda' suffice.

And pretty much of those in the hot food spread seemed... Asian. Not surprising, I guess. Seeing that this restaurant is Halal, most of their customer base might be Muslims from the likes of Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei & Singapore. And most of the folks in tour groups seem to hail from China. So I guess that's why.

closer look at the hot food spread
(pic courtesy of my colleague, Sri)

Hot foods range from (in pic, above) vegetable lasagna, fried noodles, garlic bread, 'chap chye' (chinese stir-fried mixed veggies), fries (or chips) and penne with cream sauce.

There's also (not in pic) fried spring rolls, meat curry, fried chicken, 'Poffertjes' (Mini Dutch pancakes), nachos chips (with chili beans and guacamole dips!), deep-fried battered fish and roast beef with brown sauce.

keropok!
(pic courtesy of my colleague, Sri)

Yes, 'keropok' (malay crackers, made with usually prawn or fish) galore. With chili sauce, even. Just too bad, they weren't fried that well. Right beside it is the bread basket.

corn soup

And yes, there's also corn soup. Something which I forgot to mention.

Seemed a lil' watered down. There are bits of sweet corn kernels inside, with egg beaten in. My son kinda' like it.

my salad plate

Cold pasta salad, mixed salad greens, cherry tomatoes with french dressing & croutons and potato salad. They have coleslaw but it seemed that the Aussies' way of preparing that wasn't really to my liking.

my plate of hot foods

Since I have my son to look after, I can't really afford to make many rounds so I try to dump many items onto my plate.

I have fries and nachos chips topped with chili beans & guacamole. Then there's the undercooked veggie lasagna. I also took the fried battered fish strips with chili sauce. A generous serving of roast beef slices with brown gravy. And finally, penne with cream sauce, which I shared with my son.
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I didn't really expect to eat buffet while I'm here so I was pretty much caught by surprise. It sure help, the fact that we were tired and hungry on that hot day. But the food there was ok-ok only. More like, "Jack of all trades, Master of none."

And oh, desserts were basically cut fruits and flavoured creams. No, NOT ice-cream. Just... cream. Maybe clotted cream. Oh, I don't know!

In fact, I almost thought them to be melted ice-cream, since they weren't placed in a freezer or something.... Pfft!

Price is around AUD 24.90 for adults, I think. Hmm... somewhere around that price range.

Gold Coast : Paradise Country

Visited Paradise country on our 3rd day at Gold Coast.

It's generally a very touristy Aussie Farm where we can see many of the popular Aussie creatures like the koalas, kangaroos, emus and others like sheep, Llama, camels, horses, cows etc. Yes, we city folks are very much deprived, hence visits to places like this makes us pretty excited.

We bought our tickets at a tourist booth in Pacific Fair Shopping Centre and we were told about the package price where we only pay AUD32.99 for entry + lunch. However, we were apprehensive about what food will be served there so we opt to buy the tickets only.

dining hall

I call this 'the tuckshop' (the benches remind me of my school canteen). Very country. Very cowboy-esque.

They have 6 different shows; which, if you follow in sequence, you will find that everyone end up having their meal break at the same time. Right at 1pm, all the people will flock here for their BBQ lunch & buffet.

We took a look and discovered that they served a pretty simple fare here. BBQ meats are only beef steak, roast chicken and grilled barramundi fish. That's all. It cost $15 per person. Guess we paid a little more than the AUD32.99 package. Tix: AUD19.99 + meal: 15 = 34.99.

the sides buffet area
(pic courtesy of my colleague, Roza)

spaghetti & potato gratin
(pic courtesy of my colleague, Roza)

The sides seemed suited for vegetarians and are served buffet-style. They include carbs like plain spaghetti, white rice, bread rolls and potato gratin. Yes, potato gratin! Check out those crispy, charred edges! Yums!

other sides
(pic courtesy of my colleague, Roza)

other sides
(pic courtesy of my colleague, Sri)

There were also veggies like salad greens, coleslaw and cut fruits. Some beverages are free-flow. There were varieties of tea bags available, coffee and iced water.

Soft drinks need to be bought, though.

grilled barramundi
(pic courtesy of my colleague, Roza)

grilled barramundi
(pic courtesy of my colleague, Sri)

Since we didn't take up the package, they didn't have our advance order; so we have to wait around 10-15mins for them to prepare our grilled barramundi.

My mum was pretty excited by then, as she's been looking forward to eating barramundi; since it's Australia's specialty. It's actually freshwater seabass. And can be pretty big in size.

When the fish arrive, well, in all honesty, I thought that it looked really boring. Well, I just squeezed that lemon slice and took a bite. Not bad, actually. The flesh is flaky and pretty firm and it's not that fishy. Even my 13 month-old boy loves it.

What more when paired with the potato gratin... Bliss!

Gold Coast : Springbrook Mountain Manor

We went on a 1-day Hinterland tour on the 2nd day, to the World Heritage-listed Springbrook Mountain to view the Natural Arch, 5 cascading waterfalls and the Tropical Fruit World.

The initial idea was to pack our own lunch, seeing that we're unsure of the food served and that they specify as, "lunch at own cost" anyway.

However, I noticed this in their FAQ page:

Q: What if I have special dietary requirements?

A: We offer a vegetarian menu and can also cater for gluten free. We also however offer Halal meals.

Interesting. So I did my research and came upon THIS, a sample menu from the restaurant at Springbrook Mountain Manor (where we were to have our lunch). They specifically highlight which dish is suited for Vegetarians and which ones are Halal.

Springbrook Mountain Manor

The classic English interior

With a view out to the garden

The garden

A quaint English garden flanked by lush greenery, high up on Springbrook Mountain. The temperature here is slightly chilly, too. The air felt fresh & crisp.

There are little rose bushes and the Hydrangea shrubs are in abundance.

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And now, to the food.

We were kinda famished after all that mountain trekking so we were really looking forward to lunch. We placed our orders with this really sweet lady at the bar (she turned out to be the proprietress). We also figured out later that her husband is the main chef.

Hot chocolate with marshmallow
(pic courtesy of my colleague, Roza)

Spicy Lamb & Vegetables Cous Cous
(pic courtesy of my colleague, Roza)

One of the dishes labeled as Halal. Very Mediterranean.

It's my first time seeing and trying cous cous, which is made from coarsely ground semolina wheat. A little 'crunchy' to the bite, as compared to rice, I guess. Maybe it reminds me of those very small pastas.

The spicy lamb reminded me of 'slightly-curried' stew. Well, that's how it's seem like when I had a taste from my colleague's plate.

Vegetable Cannelloni with Spinach & Ricotta Cheese
(pic courtesy of my colleague, Roza)

I opted for the vegetarian option.

Saw the word 'spinach & ricotta cheese' and the word 'cannelloni' sounded Italian so my mind flew to the Spinach Tortellini I had at Pastamania recently. You know, those little Italian 'dumplings'...

When I placed my order, I had no idea what 'cannelloni' really was. I asked the proprietress and she explain something like, "..spinach and cheese stuffed into these tubes and baked with cheese... I dunno but it's really nice..!"

Truth to be told, I wasn't convinced but I took it anyway.

When the dish arrived, I was aghast to see the large plate filled at all corners. I expected pasta but I didn't know that it'll be served with salad and chips as well. Oh wow!

When I saw the main dish, I was like, "She could have just said Lasagne!" Well that's how it looked like, anyway. I did my research after I came back and realised that the lady was right after all. Cannelloni is actually a pretty big cylindrical/tubular pasta that is usually served with stuffings inside.

Well, after all those cheese on top, guess I can't really see how the pasta is really like. But I can tell you, that dish is awesome!!! Even the side salad has my favourite pea shoots and alfalfa sprouts. No dressing though (not that I mind).

And the chips.... They came piping hot and my mum was so taken in that she made me take-away some. When the proprietress came by, I remarked to her, how much we love the chips and she told us that they were cooked personally by her husband. Those are freshly made, hand-cut spuds that are fried twice. That's why they taste so good!

Thai Chicken Basmati Rice
(pic courtesy of my colleague, Sri)

Another dish labeled as Halal. This one seemed very.. Asian. Guess it's to cater to the tastebuds of the various tourists who came by.

The basmati rice is typically soft and fluffy. The 'Thai Chicken' seem to appear like chicken in green curry. With less spice.

Honestly, this dish is a boring as it looks. But good for those who miss eating white rice, during the trip.
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Well, there you go. A nice meal high up the mountain, in a very classical English setting. What an experience!

Gold Coast : Nando's

Nando's

Order counter

Peri-peri sauce - (L-R) Medium, Extra Hot & Hot

4pcs. BBQ thigh pieces

I wanted to get something that's suitable for my little boy and they recommended this. This, in fact is my favourite. These tender, little thigh fillets were marinated with this really tasty sweet sauce (maybe honey?) and grilled.

Naturally, my son can't finish all so I'm more than happy to gobble up the remaining bits.
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We were really famished when we were there so we must have let our hungry bellies rule over our heads. We ordered the Family Feast for the 5 of us (excluding my son). That was listed as, "Peri-fic for 6-8 people."

The set consists of two whole flame-grilled chickens & one 'seriously-large' chips. Over in Down Under, their portions are naturally bigger. If 'large' portion is already quite sizable, what about the 'seriously-large'? *faints*

Seriously Large chips

That picture don't do it justice. That seriously was a huge bowl there. And their fries chips are long and thick, too.

Grilled chicken no. 1

Since there were 2 chickens in the set that we ordered, we chose for them to be basted with 2 different Peri-peri sauces.

This one here is the Mild sauce.

Grilled chicken no. 2

And this one here is basted with the Hot sauce. Maybe it's not clear here but we can see that the tone is more orange-y.

Honestly, I much prefer the Mild sauce cos' it seems more flavourful as compared to the Hot one, which somewhat numbed my tastebud. It was pretty fiery at the first few bites; after which, it starts to get easier on the tongue.

I totally dig the charred ends. And how tender the grilled meat is.
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Not surprisingly, we can't finish the chicken so we doggy-bag them back to our apartment. The next night, we re-fry the meat with mushrooms and stuffed them into Lebanese breads with salad greens, cheese, cherry tomatoes to make our own grilled chicken sandwiches.

Cleaned-out (not!)

Not all Nando's there are Halal, mind you. You can go to their website to check. This one I went to was Halal but it wasn't marked on their website. Go figure.

Nando's @ Broadbeach
Shop 17-18, Niecon Plaza,
22 Albert Ave,
QLD 4218
Tel: 07 5570 4140

Gold Coast : Airplane food

Ok, back to food-blogging after a week (or so) of hiatus. And boy, do I have pics to share!

I've divided them pics into various parts and decide to start with everyone's (not-so) favourite... Who likes airplane food anyway? Especially when you're in the cattle economy class.

To make it even more mediocre, we have to settle for the Muslim Meals, therefore there's no choosing between this and that. Everything's fixed. It's pretty redundant for the cabin crew to hand us the menu, really. Pfft.

Our Singapore Airlines flight to Brisbane lasted for around 7hrs 40mins so we get 2 different meals. A main meal and some refreshments.

FROM SINGAPORE:

Our flight took off at 12.40am and I don't really have high hopes for a proper meal to be served at that late hour so I was surprised to see this.

Late dinner/supper

It was past 1am when I receive this tray of food. The thought of eating at this hour doesn't appeal to me much but the food was warm and the aroma hit me instantly.

Fried rice with black pepper beef. Sides consist of a small bowl of salad greens with shrimps and 'risoni' pasta with vinaigrette on the side, a packet of Khong Guan biscuits, a bun/roll with butter & a small slab of cheddar cheese.

The fried rice came off as a tad dry to me and the frozen mixed vegetable was quite a turn-off. The beef, however, was pretty good. So I tore my bun, slather on some butter and stuffed the meat inside. Then I took the cheddar cheese, cut it into smaller pieces and stuff that in as well, including some salad greens.

Now, THAT is awesome stuff..! :)))

They handed me a tray of 'post-weaning meal' for my 13 mth-old son but he was already in dreamland so I asked them to keep it in the food warmer temporarily. Totally forgot about it, eventually. What a waste! I wonder what they served him... Pfft.

Dessert

They initially gave us a menu and I read that they serve ice-cream for dessert.

I had expected a small scoop or even a small cup of that. So imagine my surprise to see them coming by with a basket filled with these Kit Kat drumsticks!

2am or not, I wallop my dessert, anyway.

Breakfast
(pic courtesy of my colleague, Roza)

They serve breakfast sometime after 6am.

It was a simple affair with a similar bun/roll with some spreads and muffin plus some fruits. My son had a small box of cereal (honey stars) with fresh milk and muffin.

FROM BRISBANE:

Our return leg was an afternoon flight and we missed lunch before departing so we were kinda' looking forward to the in-flight meals (sad, we know...).

Lunch

Somehow, this meal doesn't really appeal to me much. The yellow rice (please don't tell me that's supposed to be biryani) appeared a tad dry and the curried meat doesn't help much either.

I ate the spiced stir-fried veggies only because I love veggies. Looks pretty sad, really.

The small dish at the corner had some salad greens, slices of cucumber and some cherry tomatoes. There's a packet of Italian salad dressing on the side. Another dish had some cut fruits, mainly melons.

That squarish bun on bottom-left was pretty delightful, actually. It was really soft and slightly hollow inside, akin to 'jenny-cake/janekek'. The only spread given was margarine.

Post-weaning meal for my son

Now this is a meal that I would love for myself.

My son had mac 'n' cheese and chicken in some sweet-oriental sauce. There's also a packet of potato chips (already taken by my mum) and a small bar of Milky Way (I eventually ate that). He had the similar bread roll with margarine & jam. And there's also chocolate cake!

Doesn't his meal appear more appealing to you?!

The food portion was too big for a 1 year-old so his mum (that yours, truly) was more than willing to help him finish it up. The chicken fillet was battered and fried before mixed with this sweet soy sauce that carried a hint of gingery taste.

And the chocolate cake was pretty moist and had this rich chocolate taste. I wonder if this was actually a 'lava cake' before it became cold. My son actually loved it (I shared with him :P).

Dessert

At least, I'm not caught by surprise when they serve the drumstick, this time. But this Australian version here seem less fancy as compared to the Kit Kat one.

And this one here is served in the afternoon, not past midnight.

Refreshments/snack
(pic courtesy of my colleague, Sri)

Sometime after 6pm, they started serving the refreshments, snacks. Once again, we were in the dark with regards to our dish since the Muslim meals doesn't really appear on the menu.

It was 2 sticks of chicken kebabs covered with sauce that looks like a mix of roasted tomatoes, red peppers and onion chunks. The chicken meat was generally tasteless so one have to scoop them up with the slightly watery sauce. Not that very easy to do when you are all belted up due to turbulence. I used up my packet of pepper on these.

My son's refreshment was mashed potato with sweetcorn kernels and chicken nuggets. Sounds good, eh?

Why is it that the kiddie meals seem more enticing to me?
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There you go. My airplane meals to and from Brisbane. Anyone there who start loving in-flight meals after reading this?

Back from Gold Coast!

It was pretty hot down there and the 7hr 40min flight was pretty daunting for a light sleeper like myself. What more with a 13 month-old toddler to handle.

And their theme parks are a lil' bit of a downer.

Other than that, everything was AWESOME!!!

I had first-hand experience of the Aussies' friendliness/helpfulness. And they have very high tolerance to little kid's antics. Well, most of them really DO love kids.

The scenic views... The sand and the surf... Totally took the sound of the waves for granted till' I woke up in Singapore expecting to hear them and got... nothing. Uwahhhh!

Well, enjoy them pics while I prepare the food posts, aite?

View from SkyPoint Observation Deck

SkyPoint Observation Deck is located on the 77th Storey of Q1 : The tallest residential tower in the world.

Their slogan, "As Far As The Eyes Can See," is truly apt. What more on a day with great weather.

The gorgeous sky above our apartment block -
The Breakers (right)

View of the beach from our rented apartment

Our apartment had a unobstructed seaview as it was right smack where the beach is. And on the 10th floor. Whoa!

The gorgeous Natural Arch/Bridge

We took a 1 day Hinterland Tour which include a visit to the Tropical Fruit World, The Natural Arch/Bridge at Springbrook National Park and 5 different waterfalls.

Eversince the 1st time I saw a picture of the Natural Arch, I've always dreamed to going there. It IS a dream come true! :)))

Waterfall

This is one of the 5 waterfalls we saw during the tour. The final one before we head back to the beach-side, namely Surfers Paradise.