Happy New Year everyone!!! We do hope the new year brings all of you much joy, laughter, good health and happiness.
2014 is going to be rather big for us we reckon, in terms of work, this blog and our personal life in general. But first, we need to look back at the year that was.
2013 was pretty spectacular for us. We had many highlights and not very many lowlights, which is a change from our usual roller coaster ride of the last few years. Everyone around is healthy and happy and that’s the most we could ever wish for and want for.
In terms of this blog, The Boy and I continued our very many adventures in our tiny humble home kitchen and surprised even ourselves with some of the final product.
We also dined out at many a splendid cafes and restaurants. Though we didn’t travel far this year or have any holidays, we managed to keep it together, our sanity in check and our feet grounded.
So we would like to take this opportunity to thank all our friends, family and most of all, all of you readers and followers from around the world giving us much strength, courage, support and motivation to keep doing what we do.
As a quick highlight of the year that was, we have compiled the very best of 2013 (in no particular order) in our own humble opinions. We argued for days about who or what should make the cut, and have the below to show you.
Feel free to tell us if you agree or you think we missed out on a post which you think should have made our ‘Best of 2013’!
_______________________________________________________________________
Top 3 Playground Dishes of 2013
1) Smoked Pommes Puree, Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder, Crispy Red Quinoa, Micro Herbs
3) Twin Koi Fish Shaped Salmon Rillettes
_______________________________________________________________________
3 Most Memorable Home Bakes of 2013
3) Lime, Coconut & Olive Oil Cake
_______________________________________________________________________
3 Most Memorable Home Cooked Meals of 2013
2) Chinese Black Vinegar Chicken
3) Sticky Pork Belly with Nam Jim Sauce
_______________________________________________________________________
3 Most Memorable Fine Dining Dishes of 2013
1) Bentley’s Crab with Spaghetti Squash & Yuzu Cream
_______________________________________________________________________
5 Most Memorable Casual Dining Dishes of 2013
1) Mr Huang Jin’s Xiao Long Baos
3) Wayside Inn’s Pig’s Trotter ‘Pierre Koffmann’
4) Jimmy Grant’s Nonna Maria – Chicken, Mustard Aioli, Chips, Onions & Parsley
_______________________________________________________________________
5 Most Memorable Desserts/Pastries of 2013
1) Black Star Pastry’s Strawberry Watermelon Cake with Rose Scented Cream
2) LuxBite’s Opera of Banoffee
3) Lune Croissant’s Kouign Amann
4) Vue de Monde’s Tonka Bean Souffle, Smoked Cocoa Ice Cream, shaved Black Perigord Truffles
5) The Town Mouse’s Pear Sorbet
_______________________________________________________________________
3 Most Memorable Ice Cream/Gelato Flavours of 2013
1) N2 Extreme Gelato’s Creme Brûlée
2) Spring Street Grocer’s Fior de Latte
3) Gelato Messina’s Apple Pie
_______________________________________________________________________
3 Most Memorable Beverages of 2013
1) Uncle’s Iced Coffee with Condensed Milk Ice Cream
3) 2007 Château Cos d’Estournel Saint-Estèphe (Bordeaux, France) – experienced at Vue de Monde
_______________________________________________________________________
5 Most Memorable Moments of 2013
1) Lexus Marquee at Emirates Stakes Day
2) Alex Atala’s Galinhada Party – (The Age Good Food Month 2013)
3) Rene Redzepi’s A Work in Progress: Journal, Recipes and Snapshots Book Pre-Launch – (The Age Good Food Month 2013)
4) Retro Party
5) Wine Food Farmgate Trail Trip
_______________________________________________________________________
3 Most Memorable Cafes of 2013
1) Top Paddock
2) Oscar Cooper
_______________________________________________________________________
Best Newcomer of 2013
Ms I-Hua: Lee Ho Fook
The Boy: The Town Mouse Bar & Restaurant
_______________________________________________________________________
Best Restaurant of 2013
Ms I-Hua & The Boy: Vue de Monde
_______________________________________________________________________
As cliche as it sounds, we did have to place VdM as our pick for the best restaurant of the year. It was simply special (in terms of dining experience and food).
We do so hope you have enjoyed the ride with us in 2013 and we can’t wait to continue our journey with you in the next coming months.
Have a beautiful year ahead 🙂
Much love,
Ms I-Hua & The Boy
What a great list! And having tried some of them myself I found myself totally agreeing! 😀 Happy New Year to you and The Boy and I can’t wait to see what 2014 holds for you! 😀 xxx
Hey hey! Thank you so much!
What a lovely round-up, looking forward to more of you and zeboy’s foodie adventures in 2014!
And the waistline keeps expanding!
Holy smokes, what a year! And what gorgeous photos from Ms. Bee Do and Mr. Sous Vide.
Can’t wait to see what comes out of that tiny kitchen again this year! xo
Mr Sous Vide sounds so much better than Mr PVC, as that gives allllll the wrong conotations 😛
i am blown away by this post because it sounded like 2013 was a pretty big year! Love your photos, love your reviews, love your home cooked meals but most of all I love your photos! You two are a great team and I cannot wait to see what 2014 has in store for you! xx
Hi Tina! Thank you so much for your kind words and support! Wheeeeeee
You got this all wrong, Angle Babe. The best of 2013 is you and A.
Awwwww shucksssss.. I WANT A SQUISHY ANGLE BABE HUG NOW!
you & zeboy is amazing!! when can i invite myself over 😉 haha
happy new year babe!
Happy New Year to you toO! So many people self inviting 😛
Happy New Year, I-Hua and Aaron! And yes, what a year it has been for you too – can’t wait to see what sort of wonderful surprises appear on your blog in 2014!
You are sweet! Thanks for your support!
What a fantastic list! Thanks for putting it together, I’ll definitely have to check out some of these delicious things!
Wuhoo whee!!
Happy New Year 🙂 even though I’ve said it to you before hehe 2013 was so awesome for you so much cooking and BAKING! WOO HOO you’re the new baking queen hehe heres to many more years of baking and can’t wait to see what other amazing cakes you come up with!
Waaahhh I am not worthy!!! *bows*
happy new year – love your recap – and did notice vue de monde getting a lot of highlights – it is a place I would love to go and never get around to – perhaps in 2014. Sounds like you had a great year – hope 2014 is every bit as excellent
Same to you! Hope 2014 is even bigger and better for you!