serialeaters

[serialeaters]

Too long it has been, but we are still here!

March 2013 was our last post- since then Brexit has happened, Trump has become president of the United States and Ed Sheeran has become the world’s best selling male artist. The world is ever changing but one thing that has stayed the same is the constant conflict in Syria; that and our passion for FOOD of course.

The Last Reunion

There were a few factor contributing to our last reunion- a belated surprise birthday party for the B-dawg, and also a departure party for he would be leaving us to find his future endeavours in the land of Singapore.

With that knowledge, a cake was definitely required. What was chosen was a 2 layered chocolate mirror cake with honey comb shards, macrons finished with a border of roasted hazelnut as shown below.

It is without question that a party must have food as well! We set out to provide a range of finger foods and that is exactly what we delivered; it consisted of but not limited to:

-> Kangaroo/Crocodile/Ostrich/Buffalo Burgers

-> Range of Sushi

-> Mandatory JD Chicken wings

-> Chicken / Fish Finder Wraps

With a night full of laughter, good food and more importantly good company, we all knew it would be the last time the Serial Eaters would be together in one room for a while.

A short update but that is it from me, Sei today. We will all be picking this blog up and posting more frequently this year so stay tuned.

I’ll leave you with the words a wise man once said:

“Eating food with good friends is by far the best thing you can do”

                 ---------------------- Peace out Serial Eaters ----------------------

[serialeaters]

A Chilli Dawwwwg in an amalgamation of joined rooms

The Union Rooms Newcastle

Friendly, filling and Strongbow and are just a selection of words that describe The Union Rooms.

The Union Rooms is pieced together with several rooms, each with a different purpose.  The sitting area for eating is located in the rear room of the building, while there is a separate front facing room for family dining.  There are two bars within the Unions Rooms, a long bar for the main large front facing room which is manly used for drinking, while there is a smaller bar located at the rear of the building in the more restaurant looking part. Basically, you will never be short of a drink! There is a second floor to the building, never ventured this far so unable to comment.

The Union Rooms

The menu is made up of generic pub food that is reasonably priced.  On this day I was feeling American so I ordered the chilli hot dog, while my eating buddy who was feeling obtuse chose the day brunch.

Obtuse Brunch

When ordering my food I was met by a very friendly face, which made my day a little less poo. The food didn't take long to arrive, which I guess if you are waiting for a train is fantastic.

   Chili Dawwwg

For a pub dog I have to say that this is one of the best I've ever tasted. The chilli mixed with cheese added to the flavour and meatiness of the dog. There was nothing premium about the hot dog, but knowing that this was simply pub grub added to the taste.

The dog was served with a plentiful amount of chips and onion rings which were accompanied with mustard.

My only gripe with the dog was the bread, was slightly stale!  Overall, the Union Rooms is a great place to go for a hot dog and a beer.

[serialeaters]

What diner... ? Red Diner !

Wanting to go have food in a restaurant post 21:00-22:00 is always a difficult task. Newcastle offers a wide range of Asian cuisines open til late across China Town near the City Centre. Indeed it is quite a hard task to pick which restaurant to go to, but with the help of local friends, we ended up in Red Diner, a Chinese Restaurant with karaoke functionalities.

Arriving past 22:00, it was inevitable that we would the only ones there, and indeed this was the case. The waiters sat us down and we order drinks which came swiftly. We ordered around 7 dishes, ranging from salt and pepper tofu to Hong Kong style duck. Food was brought out at a rapid pace- maybe due to no one else being in the restaurant.

With my friends coming to this restaurant quite often, they knew what food to order- all the dishes were full of flavor and reasonably sized. Some of the dishes were garnished with rather dry and dead-looking foliage- this could be easily left off for a better finish and look to the dish. Star dish was the duck, which had a high resemblance of duck dishes made in Hong Kong- it was also pretty cheap for a whole duck compared to other cities.

Other nit picking points, I did realise that my table cloth was an old one, reused to save cost? Service was average as well, with the waiter constantly standing at a rather close distance from where you were eating, making you feel like you are being watched while you eat  A smile whilst serving food wouldn't kill them. Not sure if this is a good or bad point, however, with the karaoke rooms only a floor above, we could hear people singing- i can imagine this being rather amusing to some people but annoying to others.

Red Diner is definitely a place to go to try their Hong Kong style duck. Indeed there are many things that can be improved, but this is a place I wouldn't rule off my list of places for dinner.

----------------------------   Sei ----------------------------

[serialeaters]

Serial Eaters' Weekend Trip

Hello, Benny here. So, Lady luck was on our side this weekend as the Serial Eaters were able to reconvene at the place where they first met - Newcastle!

Given the rarity of this rendezvous, we took advantage of our meeting and devoured food like a horde of zombies feasting on brains. Ha.  I'll start it off by introducing the restaurant we visited for lunch on the Saturday. The restaurant is called Tenji and it is located just outside city centre of Newcastle. It is a Japanese Buffet restaurant serving a RANGE of delectable Japanese Cuisine with a hint of Western Cuisine - yes, chips!

Luckily, Sei provided transport to Tenji in his Serial Eater-mobile otherwise we'd be strolling through the face-cutting wind. For a buffet, you'd expect some crap quantity over quality-type dishes but this place is different - honest!

Here is a list of dishes that took me by surprise:

- Fresh Salmon Sashimi

- Mussels

- Prawns

- Edamame beans

- Sushi Wraps

- Sweetcorn sushi?

The presentation was pretty good, the decor of the restaurant attempts to provide you with a real Asian ambience - which was successful. Staff were friendly and some waiter called our cutlery "weapons". There's a drinks deal where you pay £5 for all-you-can-drink. 

Here are a few snaps of the Restaurant and the food: 

As well as sushi, Tenji's hot dishes included traditional Japanese beef katsu curry, some really nice fried udon, Japanese rice, tofu pots, dumplings, Teppenyaki bar where you can order skewers of chicken, pork, garlic and turkey kidney(?), 

It was £10.90 per person for lunch which is served from 12:00 - 4:30pm. The price was extremely good for what it had to offer! If you go for dinner, they offer more pricey stuff such as steak, lamb chops and fresh fish at the teppanyaki bar, it's definitely worth a visit. Tenji offered some quite nice desserts, a fridge full packed with mini-tubs of icecream (flavours I remember are mint choc chip, caramel, mango, vanilla, strawb and a berry one..), Creme Brulee, AMAZING ice-cream filled profiteroles, jelly and small slices of sponge cake). 

One flaw with our visit was the Creme Brulee, which tasted so BURNT, it was like eating coal. Sei told the waitress and she responded "it's supposed to taste a little burnt". Hmm DEBATABLE.

Anyway, if you're in/visiting Newcastle in the future and looking for some decent Japanese food that is NOT Yo Sushi! then I would recommend visiting Tenji. It's good value, good quality, good range and pretty good service!

More info from their website -http://tenjijapanesebuffet.co.uk/japanese-buffet

More entries to come from Newcastle..

[serialeaters]

Baking- the practical aspect of Science with little boring theory

It has been years since I have been in a science lab, burning magnesium, measuring specific quantities of Hydrochloric acid in pipettes and changing the colour of litmus paper. The closest thing to scientific practicals now is the measuring of butter on electronic scales and the constantly whisking of egg whites to a certain level of stiffness in the art of baking.

Being born in England with a Chinese back ground has given me an insight to how different both cultures are. Baking in particular, the Chinese prefer a lot more savory baking, with different flavours and tastes. The more common English baking consists mostly of something cover in chocolate, a good cookie or fudge cake. Furthermore, you would not find a cake made with Royal icing, or fondant icing in Hong Kong. 

There seems to be a million different ways to cook a simple sponge cake ranging from whipping eggs until stiff to mixing all ingredients together until smooth- all yielding different textured cakes. I suppose that is one of the wonders of baking, not knowing the exact outcome of your actions.

I share some of my past baking experiences in the rest of this post 

15 inch chocolate fresh cream fruit cake for my Grans 90th birthday

Much unlike the British people, the Chinese like to bombard their cakes with fruit, making a colourful and vibrant decoration display on top of the cake, appealing to the eye. Cutting through the cake will reveal more fruit pieces embedded within the three layers of sponge. The sponge must pack a punch of flavour which are enhanced with the cream which is not too sweet.

Three layered chocolate Genoise sponge sandiwiched with raspberry ram and encased in lightly whisked Chantilly cream coated with chocolate strands and topped of with shards of chocolate shavings.

Most recent cake made up to date, made for my fellow Serial Eaters. Apart from its lack of visual appearance, i expect this cake will be a hit. 

A homemade Chinese egg tart- a buttery sweet crust pastry with a smooth custard filing.

It has taken many years to finally bake an egg tart that slightly resembles one from Hong Kong. Every egg tart in UK cannot be compared to ones that are baked in HK. Baking comes down to the finest details, change in air temperature can even effect the outcome of the bake.

Apart from baking in my spare time, I like to go out and have a great meal. Many a time have i gone out and had food which I personally could have made better. Working in a kitchen since I was able to hold a knife, I can tell what food tastes good and what does not. I intend to start blogging restaurants I go to and provide my personal opinions about these places.

Life needs a balance of sugar, salt and seasoning. Life needs the Serial Eaters.

------------------------     Sei     -----------------------

[serialeaters]

"Food not be for bitches"

[serialeaters]

Hello 2 U

Welcome to the Serial Eaters' blog. A blog about eating food and making food.

This blog is a step into the world of glorious and not-so glorious-food. Unlike your conventional food blogs, Serial Eaters have no desire to focus on consuming the best quality food (although there will be the odd occasion where we'll have the luxury of fine-dining at some 'nice' restaurant), we are all about eating the most yummy, random, grease-inducing, junk, possibly horse meat types of nourishment that awaits to infiltrate the taste buds.

As well as blogging about eating food, we'll also be writing about our own concoctions which some may deem as unhealthy, outrageous or even appetising! 

The Serial Eaters primarily consist of three people; Jonny, Benny and Sei - but will no doubt be encouraging potential Serial Eaters to join in on this food journey as it will offer readers a broader range of reviews and ideas.

[serialeaters]

1. Serial Eater

A person who lives for eating delicious food, like a serial killer he's always on the hunt and no good food is safe with him around. Like a serial killer he chooses his victims, so the serial eaters don't eat everything without criterion. They love yummy food and they're always hungry for that. 

You know, I always want delicious food, I'm a serial eater.