Foodie movie ticket giveaway: The Trip

Two friends, one week, six restaurants, and the journey of a lifetime. It probably sounds like an awesome trip to most of us, but you can trust the English to make something funny of it - restaurant critiques, celebrity impersonations and pure English comedy.

With the Sydney Film Festival wrapping up just last week, and having caught both El Bulli: Cooking in Progress and Jiro Dreams of Sushi food documentaries (the former deplorable in comparison to the genuinely heartfelt latter), I'm on a foodie movie roll.

The Trip, starring lookalikes Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, directed by Michael Winterbottom, is a British comedy about the importance of friendship, fame and great food, according to Madman Entertainment.

About The Trip
When Steve Coogan is commissioned by the food supplement of a Sunday newspaper to review half a dozen restaurants, he decides to mix work with pleasure and plans a trip around the north with his food-loving American girlfriend. But when she decides to leave him and return to the States, Steve is faced with a week of meals for one, not quite the trip he had in mind.

Reluctantly, he calls Rob Brydon, the only person he can think of who will be available. Never one to turn down a free lunch, Rob agrees and together they set off for a culinary adventure.

Over the course of several meals at different restaurants in and around the Lake District, Lancashire and the Yorkshire Dales, the ultimate odd couple find themselves debating the big questions of life over a series of culinary delights.

The Trip opens in select cinemas around Australia on 30 June. See the movie trailer here.

Win a double pass to see The Trip
With thanks to Nixco on behalf of Madman Entertainment, I've got 5 double passes to give away to see The Trip.

To enter the giveaway, 'Like' my Facebook page - here - and leave a comment on the Wall answering this question:

What is your dream foodie/eating destination, and why?

Entries will close on Tuesday, 28 June 2011 at 9.30pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST). Giveaway open to Australian residents only. Ticket conditions apply.

Winners will be selected based on creativity and how far your suggestion makes it to my personal 'want to do' list.

Winners will be notified via Facebook and will be required to provide postal details within 24 hours. These details will be used for the purposes of sending the giveaway tickets only.

Tickets are valid from 30 June 2011, Monday to Friday only. Excludes public holidays, cinema discount days, Gold Class cinemas. Not valid at Event Cinemas, Greater Union Cinemas, Birch Carroll and Coyle Cinemas, Hayden Orpheum, Cremorne and Dendy Premium Cinemas in Canberra. Not valid at Dendy Premium Cinemas in Canberra. Not valid at the Hobart State Cinema. Not valid with any other offer.

Asia tripping - part X: Hong Kong (again)

This is the tenth of several brief posts of my recent trip to Asia: photos, food and a few thoughts.

Fried chicken wing from some cha chaan teng on Kimberley Road,
Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

On the evening of our return ferry from Macau; feeling perhaps a little worse for wear, we headed for a simple dinner near the hotel at one of the many cha chaan teng diners lining the main roads of Tsim Sha Tsui.

With menus spanning over pages and pages, there's something for everyone at the cha chaan teng for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, supper or even a snack.

I couldn't resist the fried chicken wing as part of a noodle soup set. Greasy and salty, it was just the thing to improve my spirits after the bumpy ferry ride.

Sui gao dumplings and noodle soup

The sui gao in the noodle soup were pretty awesome: big packets of pork mince big on ginger and shallot flavours; far superior to the noodles which were relatively bland and heavy.

Beef and beef tendon with dry egg noodles

The dry noodle options were served alongside meat options: here, a combination of beef pieces and gelatinous beef tendon in a deep reddish-brown gravy.

Spicy pork with dry egg noodles

This other dry noodle dish featured strips of pork in a fiery red, spicy sauce. Both also came with a bowl of steaming hot broth.

Fish in black bean sauce with rice

The fish dish was unexpectedly battered and deep-fried fish, with a pretty array of stir-fried vegetables with rice, and unfortunately, a liberal dose of monosodium glutamate (MSG or flavour enhancer 621).

Watercress soup

Most traditional and authentic was the individual terracotta pot of watercress soup, most likely made from pork bones and featuring a wealth of Chinese herbs, vegetables and 'forest goodies' as I call them - all, of course, very good for something or other.

Cha chaan teng on Carnarvon Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Another morning we found ourselves back at the cha chaan teng near our hotel for another morning hit of salty, often oily comfort food.

Iced milk teas with grass jelly and tapioca pearls

As cool as it was outside, it was hard to go past the iced coffees and teas, served in fantastic metal mugs that had me thinking beer steins for some reason or other.

Here the options range from good old pearl milk teas, blended milk tea and coffee drinks, and red bean and grass jelly additions.

Ham and fried egg with instant noodle soup

The cha chaan teng meal that makes me laugh the most simply has to be the instant noodle soup options. My order had the additional adornment of a crisp fried egg and two halved slices of processed ham, and tasted exactly like the Nissan instant noodles I have at home.

The only exception I think is the use of a full packet of the soup seasoning, as opposed to the half packs I normally do. And no vegies.

A plate from the buffet at Royal Pacific

Buffet meals seem very popular with the Hong Kong locals, especially when they're showing guests around town and treating them to a meal. They'll often have vouchers too (not quite like the group buying vouchers we have in Australia at the moment) for a variety of restaurants.

This buffet at the Royal Pacific Hotel featured a mind-boggling variety of stations - though this seems to be the norm at many Hong Kong/Macau buffets.

There was soup and bread, salads, seafood, sushi, noodles, a carvery, a grill, hot Chinese dishes, cakes and puddings, packaged ice cream, crepes and a Cold Rock style ice cream 'smoosher'.

And scissors to use on the Alaskan King crab legs - which is really quite ingenius and the perfect implement to ensure the crab flesh isn't ruined. (And that plate above was shared between several - not just mine).

Hung Lee Restaurant, Hau Fook Street, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Another morning, another cha chaan teng, although this one was more a congee specialist. Or at least it seemed that way because everyone who walked through the door ordered a bowl, if not something else with it as well. And with no English menus, look-point charades kind of ordering could be necessary.

Char siu ji cheung fun - BBQ pork rice noodle rolls

Within a minute of ordering, the BBQ pork filled rice noodle rolls are on our table - lukewarm and far too quick to not be pre-made.

Nonetheless, with drizzled dark soy sauce and healthy appetites, it probably only took us a little longer to polish them off; perfectly tender pork, smooth noodles and all.

Fish fillet congee

My usual congee order with fish fillets and loads of shallots. It's warming, pure and cleansing - just what a good breakfast (fine, brunch) should be.

Jia leung - deep fried dough sticks wrapped in rice noodle

The discovery was this dish. After seeing numerous ones head out of the kitchen, we manage to order ourselves a plate of the yau jia gwai fried dough sticks which are wrapped in the same white rice noodle sheets and doused in soy sauce, which I discover are called jia leung.

Despite the dough sticks being a little cooled and chewy, there's no doubt that this dish of contrasting textures and flavours is a local favourite and now one of mine.

Watermelon and aloe vera jelly drink from Hui Lau Shan, Mong Kok, Hong Kong

I guess a lot of strange, unique and downright weird drink and dessert concoctions that we see on Sydney streets (Chinatown especially) have a Hong Kong, Taiwan or Chinese heritage - think of all the tea drink places and remember back to the first time you had a pearl milk tea. Weird, but oddly fun.

Why would something out of a can or bottle suffice when you can get a drink like the above? Vibrantly red and green, "healthy" yet full of sugar and just fun. The Hui Lau Shan chain also does bowl desserts but the aloe vera jelly was like a dessert anyway.

More Asia tripping to come in Malaysia.

In position: Lotus Asian Restaurant

Several paces away from Marrickville train station on Illawarra Road may seem an unlikely position for a neighbourhood gem.

Among the numerous Vietnamese eateries in Marrickville, but away from the main road, Lotus Asian Restaurant stands out – not only for its pan-Southeast Asian approach, but for its well-appointed, zen-inspired décor.

The warm orange and red hues are especially welcome on a fiercely cold night, and with its communal table and well-spaced seats, one could easily mistake it for a postcode 2010 venue.

Inside Lotus Asian Restaurant, Illawarra Road, Marrickville

Marrickville is littered with affordable eating options, and while it’s not destination dining as such, it might well be the antithesis of the glammed-up queues for no bookings, two sittings, tiny-share-portion trendiness.

Having previously eaten at nearby casual Thai restaurant Let’s Eat – and loving that gem of a place – I was lucky and pleased to have Lotus Asian Restaurant brought to my attention.

The dining area

Lotus Asian Restaurant is unapologetically pan-Asian, with owner Kim Nguyen happy to differentiate from the plethora of Vietnamese eateries with what she calls “the best of each country”.

Having worked at Balmain’s Blue Ginger as well as restaurants in Chinatown, owner and chef Danh Cao’s menu works its way through Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore as well as China.

They pride themselves on quality ingredients, highlighting the fact that everything is made from scratch: from the Thai fish cakes to the spice pastes that form the bases of their numerous curries.

Steamed pork with shiitake mushrooms & water chestnut dumplings

The wonton pastry-wrapped dumplings

We start with wonton pastry-wrapped steamed dumplings, which arrive at the table in a bamboo steamer with soy sauce. The bouncy minced pork fillings are pleasing, with a good helping of both shiitake mushroom pieces and diced water chestnut, as well as coriander.

We’re also treated to a McGuigans Pinot Grigio which is full bodied and fruity, while matching the often big flavours of Asian cuisine well (the restaurant is BYO wine at $3 per person).

Char grilled lemongrass prawn on skewers

We head to Vietnamese (-ish; or Thai?) territory with the lemongrass prawns; skewered, tail-on specimens that have an amazingly crisp bite to them, subtle lemongrass aromas and a mouth-watering surface char. A double, if not triple, serve of this would have been ideal.

Braised pork belly with green papaya salad

We opt for the pork salad from the selection of four salads, with me thinking that a braised texture would be interesting in a salad. What the menu overlooks is that it while it is indeed braised pork belly – it is then deep fried to create dark and crunchy nubbins of spice-braised pork.

‘Crunchy braised pork belly’ is a winner in most books, and is certainly here – a key part of the well-balanced salad of green papaya strips, fresh mint  and coriander leaves, onion and chilli.

Salt & pepper soft-shell crab with nam jin

While I really need to stop ordering soft shell crab, it is a great dish to compare restaurants across cuisines – usually quite the impossible task.

Here, the batter is neither too thick nor thin and deep fried to an impressive crunch; although perhaps it’s just a little darker and oilier than I’d prefer. I think delicate Japanese tempura still wins out here.

Malaysian-style chili sambal beef

Arriving at Malaysia with the chilli sambal beef, there was a manageable level of heat in the dark red sambal that would probably need to be lifted for chilli lovers. The accompanying beans and fresh baby corn satisfied the vegetable quota while the tender slices of beef had a delectable smokiness to them.

Malaysian Rendang chicken - someone's already attacked it!

We stayed in Malaysia for the rendang chicken, making good use of the steamed jasmine rice to partner the rich, creamy, thick sauce. The fall-apart chicken was a twist on the usual beef, and a lighter protein at that – entirely appropriate for the amount of food we were consuming.

Crispy skin chicken with chili, basil & black vinegar dressing

Last but certainly not least of the mains was the perhaps-Chinese-inspired crispy skin chicken; thankfully mostly deboned but unexpectedly lukewarm. The breast meat was nicely tender and juicy still, and the feature skin was spot-on with an audible crunch and a moreish mix of spices flavouring it.

The black vinegar dressing was simply divine with the white meat, and it’s quite the generous dish too; gorgeously plated as all the dishes are in a modern style not really typical of your local Asian eatery.

Banana fritter with palm sugar syrup & coconut ice cream

Though I often skip desserts (give me a break – I’m no longer a sweet tooth), I find myself more inclined to have Asian desserts than otherwise. I think something misguided in me tells me that coconut cream and deep fry are somewhat better than full cream, chocolate and butter.

In any case, the simply plated banana fritter across the table looks and smells the pick of the bunch. The battered and deep-fried banana coupled with coconut ice cream is a match made in tropical Asia. We later find out that the ice creams are sourced from Paddington’s Nice Cream.

Black sticky rice pudding with coconut sauce

Most of the time I can’t resist black sticky rice and I’m not sure that it’s not entirely to do with the reddish black colour. Here, an appropriately petite bowl holds the glutinous ‘pudding’ which is gooey, yet retaining discernable grains of long rice.

The rice is sweet but lacks the big kick of coconut that I’m used to, and even the white blob of coconut sauce on top is not quite adequate. I do enjoy the toasted white and black sesame seeds sprinkled over though, adding a nutty smokiness to the sweetness.

Fried coconut ice cream with passionfruit sauce

The classy plating of the fried coconut ice cream is worlds away from that at Chinese restaurants from my childhood. Gone is the round metal bowl, replaced with a martini glass and a shot glass of passionfruit sauce.

I manage to steal but a bite of this, and confirmed that the golden-fried batter over the scoop of coconut ice cream is as good as any childhood dessert memory, while the slight tartness of the passionfruit makes for an ideal finish to the dessert.

Like many neighbourhood eateries, Lotus Asian Restaurant appears popular with the locals who eat in as well as order takeaway. But unlike your average local eatery, it’s a real dining-out experience – and for the Marrickville locals, it looks like a pretty good position to be in.

Food, booze and shoes dined as a guest of Lotus Asian Restaurant with thanks to Charlotte Foot Public Relations.