Makan @ Alice’s
262—264 Pennant Hills Rd
Thornleigh, NSW 2120
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I haven’t been to Makan @ Alice’s in far too long… around 11 months! Time really flies. So was determined me to go there and get my fix over the weekend 😉 I wanted their Popiah, which was perfectly done – a thin, moist crepe encasing tasty marinated turnip and assorted vegetables. Sounds unappetizing but it was excellent – and considering I hate veggies and never really eat them, it’s a pretty big call coming from me 😉 I would have appreciated a tasty dipping sauce to go with it though…

Char Kway Teow was, of course, ordered. The waitress was new (or at least we hadn’t seen her around before) and completely forgot that we specifically said “no bean sprouts” – to the extent that she tried to claim that we never told her. WHAT?! It was clearly said to her, and she chose to ignore it, so I don’t see how she could have blamed the customer?? Was getting quite huffy but then the replacement came (sans beansprouts) a mere 5 mins later and with a quick apology, so all was okay 🙂

Got some takeaway desserts to take to a couple’s place (Chris’ colleague and her husband) afterwards – kueh dar dar and some kaya jelly on rice. Delish!! No chendol or other desserts as we were trying to be healthy *coughs*

Popiah

Char Kway Teow

Savory Yam Cake

(previous reviews HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE!)

Later in the afternoon, we headed off to Chris’ colleague’s place to chill out and have dinner with her and her hubby. We kicked off with some lovely Pina Coladas (must remember to search for the recipe online, they make a great party cocktail!) then were treated to an AWESOME Southern American dinner!!! I’ve never had a proper home-cooked Southern dinner before, so was quite fascinated and delighted. The closest I’ve had is Kenny Rogers and Tony Romas, but they’re mass produced and not as good.

The Pork Ribs, I learned, were slow-cooked for about 5 hours, so the meat was literally falling apart with the touch of a fork. It had just a simple bbq+honey marinade, but the flavour was awesome. Chris and I went a little bonkers and polished off all the ribs.. and I’ve made note to make those ribs next time I cook dinner for friends 🙂 We were also treated to some freshly baked Cornbread. I LOVE cornbread but have never had it fresh-out-of-the-oven before. It’s different and spectacular, even more so with the honey-butter spread onto the piping hot cornbread. Mmmmm…. I want to bake this too and keep it in the fridge, so I can have it as a snack when I’m hungry.

Dinner left us a bit woozy and really full, so the guys retreated to the spa whilst the ladies washed up (or rather, I just wandered around and wasn’t of much help!). Then we collapsed on these massive leather day-beds and watched a movie with the huuuuuge projector – which has inspired me to build the same home theatre system and furniture when I buy my own place – especially when we played Xbox’s Guitar Hero on the mega screen. OMG!! (Un?)fortunately, the day-beds were waaaaay too comfortable and I fell asleep within about 10mins into the movie – how embarassing! Was just too warm, too full, too comfortable… a combination too powerful to resist drowsiness…….. 😉

Slow-Cooked Pork Ribs straight out of the oven. Ahhhhhh….

A proper Southern meal

We ate outdoors on the verandah – you can see I was
greedy and took another slab of ribs 😛 And then a 3rd
slab afterwards ‘cos they were just tooooo good!

It was actually almost pitch black but I sneakily took this pic with the bright flash – haha!