tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39659905395896424532024-03-17T20:03:21.816-07:00Hungry KittensHungry Kittens is a Brisbane-based food blog. Join us as we explore the various culinary wonders this city has to offer from fast food to fine dining and home baking to poaching and frying.Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.comBlogger1250125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965990539589642453.post-19720409535916147012018-09-06T22:02:00.001-07:002018-09-06T22:02:41.954-07:00A formal closure<span style="font-size: large;"><b>An overdue farewell... </b></span><br />
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It's been over 2 years since I last posted on this blog. The ending was sudden. One moment, I was still painstakingly editing, uploading and reviewing every restaurant that I visited. Then one day, I felt fatigued and I stopped, never to return. It did get a bit tedious towards the end because for one, I was tired of constantly feeling pressured to try new restaurants rather than being a return customer. I was running out of ways to describe things and the writing part started to feel like work. I've always thought that whilst in theory, being a food writer would be my dream job, perhaps having deadlines and pressure to do it would take the shine away. Once there was an element of stress behind needing to get posts up before the experience was out of date, I questioned myself "why am I doing this? This isn't my job".<br />
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Now, years later and into a whole new chapter of my life, I return to this blog (briefly) with profound emotion and nostalgia. Through essentially 7 years of consistency and commitment, I'd unwittingly documented a chunk of my own history, and that of the Brisbane dining scene. It's interesting to read back and see page after page of restaurants long gone and be reminded of a significance they once held to me.<br />
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My posts can be vaguely sorted into 3 segments:<br />
<ol>
<li>Life as a uni student. I had more or less just moved out of home and discovering my interest in cooking. Masterchef had just debuted and iPhones were still relatively new. Instagram didn't exist and I still communicated with friends via MSN messenger. Although I didn't have a real job, I put all money money towards cooking and eating out.</li>
<li>Early working days. I moved to Toowoomba for my first job as a dentist. Work took up most of my weekday life so I didn't have much energy for cooking.</li>
<li>Back to Brissie. By now, I had settled into a regular adult life and was living in inner city Brisbane. I still cooked but my food blog was a lot more restaurant focused by this point. I think around now was the peak of my blog popularity too.</li>
</ol>
Now, since my last published blog post, I've relocated to West Brisbane (ironically, within walking distance of where I lived when I first started this blog; we've come full circle, geographically-speaking at least) and am mum to 2 fur babies and 1 human baby. Opportunities to eat out have diminished (and monetary priorities have changed) and though I still love to cook, it's not always easy with baby in tow. I still love food though and these days, I share my taste experiences via Instagram, so if you're reading this and at all interested, please follow <a href="https://www.instagram.com/coralia.eats/">@coralia.eats</a> .<br />
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It's time to put this blog to rest. Happy eating, everyone!<br />
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<u><b>Some stats</b></u><br />
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In this blog, I've written:<br />
<ul>
<li>1002 restaurant review posts (just cracked 1k; YES!)</li>
<li>291 home cooking posts </li>
</ul>
Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965990539589642453.post-38405420249612534702016-06-30T00:43:00.002-07:002016-06-30T00:43:24.815-07:00 The Bestaurant for Hot Pot<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>The Bestaurant</b></span><br />
<i>409 Mains Road, Sunnybank</i><br />
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It's winter in Brisbane; that time of the year when for a couple of weeks we get hit with the kind of weather other countries would find mild and fine, but as a QLDer, sends me frozen to the core. The only cure for these painfully chilly nights is hot pot.
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I love hot pot and I enjoy all versions, be it Chinese-style sliced lamb hot pot, Korean-style spicy seafood or Japanese shabu shabu. If it's bubbling and interactive, I'm a fan. We do Chinese hot pot at home a fair bit but one night, the mood struck me suddenly and I didn't have any of the necessary ingredients. Going out was the only solution.
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If I'm to be totally honest (which I always am) the thing that intrigued me most about this restaurant is its name. I'm a sucker for lame puns! I didn't even know what they served until I was Googling hot pot restaurants around Brisbane and 'Bestaurant' came up as one of the options. Since they're the "best" I definitely had to give it a go :).<br />
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The restaurant was more or less what I expected. The staff had limited English and communication skills and handed us menus without any explanation. I was confused about what the system was but one sheet had prices on it and the other just had a total so I assume there's an all you can eat option and maybe an a la carte option?!<br />
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I asked a waitress which menu we were supposed to circle items on and just went with the one that she suggested, which was the AYCE option. At least that keeps the ordering process more straight forward.<br />
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We selected some sliced lamb and beef plus various veggies and other additions. The hot pot comes out as individual pots so we chose a soup base each. Mine was original and Marc selected spicy.<br />
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There is a sauce-mixing station towards the back corner of the restaurant with all your familiar Asian condiments, spices and fresh herbs to garnish.<br />
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I won't elaborate too much on the actual hotpotting because that just involves dipping ingredients in and eating. Staff did come around to top up our soup periodically. I liked that the heat element was easy to control but my foot kept getting tangled up in electric cable... not sure about the health and safety of that set up.
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In short this was the kind of hot pot meal we could have easily prepared ourselves if we had the foresight to pre-purchase ingredients. Since I hadn't done that, The Bestaurant served as an adequate means of fixing my hot pot craving.<br />
<a href="https://www.zomato.com/brisbane/bestaurant-sunnybank" target="_blank" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about Bestaurant, Sunnybank and other Restaurants in Brisbane"><img alt="Bestaurant Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/17841420/biglink" style="border: medium none; height: 146px; padding: 0px; width: 200px;" /></a> Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965990539589642453.post-69808527766884821862016-06-21T19:18:00.000-07:002016-06-21T19:18:10.988-07:00Dinner at Atalanta<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Atalanta Bar and Greek Restaurant</b></span><br />
<i>http://atalanta.com.au/</i><br />
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Greek food is one of my favourites and although I can name a number of reliably delicious options in Brisbane (mostly around the West End area), it always excites me to see new additions to our dining scene. Atalanta opened a while back in Portside Wharf and at first I was wary because I heard some mixed reviews but then my friend Jenny said it was good and I trust her opinion more than anyone else's. We arranged to have a group dinner there last Saturday night.<br />
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The restaurant is large and quite easy to find. It's located near the entrance of Portside Wharf, directly opposite IGA. It was busy on a Saturday night and very, very noisy. A large portion of our night was spent yelling "hey? Sorry, what?" and smiling and pretending to hear what others were saying when all we (or at least, all I) could hear was the persistent drone of a very chatty crowd. As the night progressed this became slightly less of a problem, I think because we naturally got louder the more we drank.<br />
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<i>Watermelon and basil margarita </i></div>
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Speaking of drinks, there's a good selection of alcoholic beverages. The majority of the group tucked into beers but I started with a watermelon margarita (very tasty) and progressed to wine.
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The food menu at Atalana is designed for sharing. In theory, this should be perfect for a group dinner but it was actually quite a headache deciding what everyone was in the mood for. Luckily most of our table lost interest and left that ordering to Jenny and myself so we just powered through and chose a selection of starters and mains.<br />
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<i>Warm pita - with taramasalata, hummus and tzatziki</i></div>
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Breads and dips was exactly as expected. The single serve of dip was huge but for our table of 7 we added an order of extra bread to keep everyone satisfied.<br />
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<i>Slow cooked goat croquettes - with ouzo mayonnaise</i></div>
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The goat croquettes had a pulled, soft interior and crunchy crumb coating. I was amused to overhear Blossom describing them as "more sophisticated" than other croquettes she had tried, due to the flat shape. I'm sure that's not the sole reason but that's all I heard. As a non-lamb eater, Jenny liked that they weren't too gamey in flavour.<br />
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<i>Greek meatballs - with risoni, braised tomato and feta</i></div>
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The meatballs were a big hit at our table with people scooping serves of risoni and sauce long after the meatballs had run out. This is the kind of comfort dish that would be perfect for wintering and watching TV.<br />
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<i>Crab moussaka - with tomato essence</i></div>
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I personally enjoyed the crab moussaka the most. It was an awkward shape for sharing and I suspect I might have taken significantly more than one-seventh of the whole. It was so delicious though, so outwardly I'm ashamed at my greed but inwardly I have no regrets.<br />
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<i>Flash fried calamari - with white bait and mussel aioli</i></div>
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The calamari was wonderfully light and crisp. I like that Atalanta wasn't heavy-handed with the batter. I remarked on the night that the dipping sauce had a mussel flavour and was delighted to read afterwards from the menu that it was actually supposed to be mussel flavoured. It's unusual for such a specific flavour to be easily detectable that you can identify the taste without knowing it's there.<br />
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<i>Charcoal chicken skewer - with golden fried liver and hearts and herb mayo</i></div>
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I was already feeling quite full by the time the mains came but I squeezed in my belly and forced some extra room. For mains, we kept it simple with some grilled chicken and grilled mixed meat skewers, a side of lemon potatoes and honey carrots.<br />
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<i>Charcoal mixed meat skewer - with olive caper salsa and tzatziki</i></div>
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Of the proteins, I preferred the pork belly I sampled from the mixed meat plate. The chicken was a little dry but luckily it was served with creamy sauce. As an added interest, the plate of chicken also came with some crumbed, deep fried hearts and liver. That might put some people off but I thought it was a fun touch.<br />
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<i>Lemon potato - with lemon, soft feta, oregano and parsley </i></div>
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The potatoes were more lemony than I expected but I really liked them. I'm curious about making potatoes the same way at home.<br />
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<i>Roasted heirloom carrots - with soft feta and coffee bean shortbread crumble </i></div>
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Perhaps the most interesting item from our second course was the carrots. They were served with feta, sweet potato and a coffee crumb. It sounds odd but it worked surprisingly well.
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I was full to the point of falling into food coma by this point but there was one more thing I really wanted to try from Atalanta. As I get older, I have less and less of a sweet tooth but there's still the odd dessert that I can't say no to. Baklava is one such treat. Having tried amazing versions in Greece and Turkey, I have an almost sentimental attachment to baklava. Atalanta offered a tasting plate of 3 types of baklava and the group was keen to give this a try.<br />
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<i>Assorted baklava</i> </div>
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We ordered two serves of the menu option, which ended up being more than we could handle. The baklava is served as small cubes, with two of each flavour per serve. I was curious about the different flavours but couldn't not wait for someone to cut a cube up for me so I just ate it whole. I'm not sure what flavour I had but from the reports of others at our table who did compare, there wasn't too much variation between the different flavours.
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The food at Atalanta was flavoursome, tasty and well-portioned. We all walked out burstingly full and at under $50pp including multiple drinks, it was very affordable for such a nice location. My only criticism is that the place is too loud for proper conversations but that is more a reflection of my old age and poor hearing than anything else.<br />
<a href="https://www.zomato.com/brisbane/atalanta-bar-and-greek-ascot-hamilton" target="_blank" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about Atalanta Bar and Greek, Ascot & Hamilton and other Restaurants in Brisbane"><img alt="Atalanta Bar and Greek Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/18178364/biglink" style="border: none; height: 146px; padding: 0; width: 200px;" /></a> Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965990539589642453.post-61376237256277075742016-06-05T17:57:00.000-07:002016-06-05T17:57:10.539-07:00Sydney Weekend in May 6 - Lunch at Catalina<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Catalina Restaurant</b></span><br />
<i>http://catalinarosebay.com.au/</i><br />
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After our oyster <a href="http://hungry-kittens.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/sydney-weekend-in-may-5-champagne-and.html">pitstop</a> (I wish that was something I could say every week), we boarded a ferry to Rose Bay. I had never been to that part of Sydney before but had heard many nice things. Mostly, I was just excited about the restaurant we were about to try. I booked Catalina months in advance and spent the weeks leading up to Sydney checking out their website and rethinking what I wanted to order.<br />
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The day of our booking was like something out of an ultimate lunch date fantasy. The weather was perfectly clear but not too hot. We entered the restaurant and were seated out on their expansive deck with full views of the water. The setting was dreamy and I couldn't wait to put down my (heavily rehearsed) order.<br />
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We pretty much had nothing on between lunch and boarding the plane back to Brisbane (which wasn't until early evening) so we settled down to an enjoyable long meal. That involves wine, of course. We ended up trialing a bottle of red and a bottle white because when it comes to wine, why discriminate?<br />
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The menu at Catalina is focused around seafood. There are some land proteins but I was immediately drawn to the seafood options. In our first round of ordering, we each chose some entrees and mains, plus chips and green beans to share.<br />
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<i>Complimentary bread and butter </i></div>
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Our entrees arrived all at once with clockwork regularity. Everything looked so artistically plated that with the natural day lighting, it was a food blogger's camera field day. All the photos I took looked like they were straight out of a Donna Hay magazine. Each plate was complex in its components so the thought of detailing each one terrifies me. I'm just going to upload photos of everyone's meal but only review my own dishes.<br />
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<i>Bouillabaisse of king crab, tempura scampi, red spot whiting, saffron aioli and sourdough croutons</i></div>
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My entree was the seafood bouillabaisse. I'm sure I'm not the only (non-pregnant) person to get strange cravings and I don't mean 'chocolate' or 'cake'. My cravings tend to be very specific like, I REALLY need to have middle eastern cheese pastries or in this case, I had been craving bouillabaisse for weeks. When I first saw it on Catalina's entree menu, I knew without doubt that's what I was going to order. This was a refined version of the classic stew, with a fillet of whiting, tempura scampi and king crab arranged on a plate and the aromatic broth poured over it at the table. The first spoonful gave me that rich seafood kick I was craving, along with a lustful saffron undertone. I was in heaven. There's nothing quite like the feeling of a persistent craving finally being dealt with.<br />
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Other entrees:<br />
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<i>Fremantle octopus terrine, barbecued tentacles, fennel puree, marinated olives, piquillo crumbs and chili dressing</i></div>
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<i>Pan roasted quail, celeriac puree, toasted grains, dried apricot and pedro ximenez jus</i></div>
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<i>Pan seared scallops, smoked ham hock rillettes, onion puree, longaniza oscura</i></div>
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The mains were no less elegant than their predecessors. Serving sizes were scaled up to suit the progression in courses. There was no way we were going to leave hungry.<br />
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<i>Moreton Bay bug, fettucine nero, sofrito, semi dried tomato and tarragon butter</i></div>
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For my next course I chose the Moreton Bay bug with squid ink fettuccine. This was more of a pasta dish than a bug dish but my was the pasta delicious. It goes without saying that it was perfectly cooked on a slight al dente but it was the sauce that really won the day. It was rich but light and slurpingly good.<br />
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Other mains:<br />
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<i>Crispy skin Mount Cook salmon, daikon, shiitake, asparagus, sea succulents and kombu dashi</i> </div>
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<i>Crispy skin Cone Bay barramundi with spanner crab ravioli, enoki mushroom, avruga, sage and eschalot cream </i></div>
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<i>Smoked duck breast, confit duck leg, fuet anis with black and white bean cassoulet </i></div>
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<i>Fat chips</i></div>
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<i>Green beans </i></div>
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At the start of the meal, I didn't think we would have room for dessert (a morning of oysters, wine and multi-course lunch tends to be quite filling) but everything we tasted was so good that we were very keen to try their sweet menu. Adorably, Catalina remembered it was Jenny's birthday and added a little detail to her dessert.<br />
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<i>Mango panna cotta, mango lime salad and coconut sorbet</i></div>
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My dessert was the mango panna cotta. I'm not usually that keen for panna cotta or fruit-based desserts but for some reason this item just sang out to me on the menu. This was a panna cotta to die for. I always hear them raving on Masterchef about the 'seductive wobble' and 'silky texture' of panna cotta and internally rolled my eyes thinking "meh, so what" but on this day, it all made sense to me. A perfect panna cotta is light and delicate, not stodgy and creamy and this one had a sweet, fragrant mango flavour.<br />
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Other desserts:<br />
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<i>Birthday chocolate fondant</i></div>
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<i>Caramelised fig with bitter caramel mousse, brik pastry and sugared pistachio</i></div>
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<i>Valrhona dark chocolate and caramelia mousse with caramel ice cream</i></div>
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It's probably obvious from my tone of gushing throughout this blog post that we loved our meal at Catalina. Every aspect from the setting, service and food was phenomenal. I did a lot of eating over a short 3 day trip in Sydney but this has to be the gastronomic highlight. Even now, weeks after the meal, I can close my eyes and remember every delicious mouthful. I've read with sadness about a couple of big name Sydney restaurants closing in recent times (including one I JUST blogged about) and I pray Catalina doesn't fall under the same curse.<br />
<a href="https://www.zomato.com/sydney/catalina-rose-bay" target="_blank" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about Catalina, Rose Bay and other Restaurants in Sydney"><img alt="Catalina Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/16557527/biglink" style="border: none; height: 146px; padding: 0; width: 200px;" /></a> Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965990539589642453.post-31314479111709927322016-05-30T01:21:00.001-07:002016-05-30T01:21:14.367-07:00Sydney Weekend in May 5 - Champagne and Oysters at The Sydney Cove Oyster Bar<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>The Sydney Cove Oyster Bar</b></span><br />
<i>http://sydneycoveoysterbar.com/</i><br />
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You know life is good when you decide you can stop off for a spontaneous oyster and cocktail brunch by the Sydney harbour. We had planned a ferry trip to Rose Bay for lunch but had underestimated the number of hours between check out at the hotel and lunch. It was nice weather so we took a leisurely stroll through the city to Circular Quay to enjoy the amazing views.<br />
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Chewbacca suggested we treat ourselves to some oysters. It was Jenny's birthday and there's no better way to celebrate a young ladies continued advancement through adulthood than with some bubblies and treasures from the ocean.<br />
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We apparently arrived before the kitchen was open but we cracked open a bottle of champagne and by the time we were half way through, we were able to order oysters.<br />
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<i>Oysters natural and with wakame seaweed, soy and mirin </i></div>
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The oysters come in natural or a variety of toppings and we chose half a dozen of the natural with half a dozen of wakame seaweed topping.<br />
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The combination of sunshine, waterfront views, freshly shucked oysters and chilled champagne was something out of my happiest dreams. It was a simple tasting in terms of quantity and variety but I can't think of a better way to enjoy Circular Quay. We left feeling very merry and content.<br />
<a href="https://www.zomato.com/sydney/the-sydney-cove-oyster-bar-circular-quay" target="_blank" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about The Sydney Cove Oyster Bar, Circular Quay and other Restaurants in Sydney"><img alt="The Sydney Cove Oyster Bar Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/16559118/biglink" style="border: none; height: 146px; padding: 0; width: 200px;" /></a> Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965990539589642453.post-41839094620295346132016-05-29T02:43:00.002-07:002016-05-30T01:24:44.588-07:00Sydney Weekend in May 4 - Dinner at Master<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Master Dining</b></span><br />
<i>http://masterdining.com.au/</i><br />
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Our dinner at Master was something we had planned with Sydney friends many months before the actual trip. That shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone since I only mentioned recently how meticulous I am about planning things in advance. I'm sure some find this approach to life to be stressful but for me, the earlier I plan something, the longer I have to look forward to it. And this was a dinner I was most definitely looking forward to.<br />
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In the weeks leading up to our weekend in Sydney, I kept seeing 'Master Dining' mentioned in all the up and coming restaurant guides online. Excitement grew and it was with utter glee that Marc and I approached the restaurant when the night of the booking finally came around.<br />
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Master is located in Surry Hills and is smaller and more hip than I expected. I don't know why but the name conveyed a very serious, fine dining, traditional Chinese restaurant to my mind and the actual restaurant is very much the opposite of those things. We were seated upstairs and because we were the first of our group to arrive, I had some time to soak up the atmosphere.<br />
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The decor is dark and almost warehouse-like with exposed bricks painted white and our table made of some kind of dark tiling. As I said earlier, it was anything but a traditional Chinese restaurant setting. <br />
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We ordered some drinks and waited for the rest of our friends to arrive. Our friend Sarah from Sydney was the one who recommended the restaurant to us. She is my food guide to Sydney and every place she has told me to try has been a banger. When she got to the restaurant, we let her take charge of the ordering process.<br />
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Food at Master is for sharing and the menu is full of quirky yet delicious-sounding plates to choose from. I couldn't wait to see what we were in store for.<br />
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<i>Xi-An goat bun </i></div>
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The first dishes to arrive could be considered as light starters. One plate was full of little goat buns, which were so cute to look at. They were a tidy handful each and very tasty. From the appearance I expected them to be dry but the filling was flavoursome and juicy. What a perfect start to our meal!<br />
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<i>Scallop silk - with XO sauce </i></div>
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Next, I tried one of Sarah's favourites from Master, the scallop silk. This dish tastes as good as it sounds. It is so light, slippery and delicate and we definitely made the right decision to order two serves.<br />
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<i>Strange flavour pork neck </i></div>
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I was very much intrigued by the title of the next dish. 'Strange flavour pork neck' had me desperate to find out what 'strange' meant. The pork here was thinly sliced and very tender and soaked up the delicious sauce. I would describe the flavour as a numbing, sesame, savoury sauce with creaminess and spice. It was strange, yes, but balanced and delicious.<br />
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<i>Master fried rice </i></div>
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Our fried rice was served next and I was so excited that I apparently forgot how to use my camera. I apologize for the unfocused photo but this fried rice was amazing. I'm picky with rice because I don't often eat it so it has to be good and in this version, the grains were nicely separated and it was fragrant without seeming oily.<br />
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<i>Salt and pepper veal sweetbreads</i></div>
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I'm a bit lost about the next dish because I think 'm looking at a plate of chili chicken and we were discussing chili chicken on the night (mostly the fact that there was more chili than chicken) but I simply cannot find chili chicken on the menu. Did I hallucinate the dish? I can't have because there's photographic evidence. Was it something completely different to chili chicken?? Anyway this was the most average dish of the night because fried chicken is something we've had done well elsewhere so it didn't bring anything new to the table.<br />
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Edit: I can confirm that the dish pictured above is in fact, not chicken but crumbed veal sweetbreads, served with lots of chili. I'll casually place the blame on everyone else for misdirecting me by calling the dish 'chicken' but mostly, I blame the veal sweetbreads; why you so taste like chicken?<br />
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<i>Eggplant - with zucchini and black garlic</i> </div>
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My pick of the lot was the eggplant with black garlic. I can't imagine anyone else choosing a vegetarian dish but I am a huge fan of eggplant, especially when served with Asian flavours. This version had a striking presentation with the vivid green zucchini puree forming a backdrop to the black garlic spots.<br />
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<i>Wagyu beef intercostal - with chives, pear and egg yolks </i></div>
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The wagyu beef is a dish that didn't leave a huge impression on me, probably because it was towards the end of our feast and I was getting very full. I'll include the photo here for completeness sake and skip onto the next dish...<br />
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<i>Peking style pork jowl - with pancake and condiments </i></div>
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Our last main was a new take on Peking duck with pork instead of duck. I loved the combination of melty pork jowl with the flaky roti-like pancakes. This is a cracker of a dish and I really pushed the limit of my fullness because I liked this so much.<br />
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<i>A roasted potato </i></div>
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We didn't have much room for dessert but one item on the menu stood out: 'a roasted potato'. That might seem boring on any other menu but this was listed in the dessert section and we just had to try it. What we were served was an unusual roast potato ice-cream in batter. It was ice-cream with a savoury note and surprisingly tasty. I thought this was a clever twist on deep fried ice-cream.<br />
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I absolutely loved our meal at Master Dining. Something that is getting increasingly rare in today's dining scene is to find a restaurant that genuinely has something new and exciting to offer. I feel like I've been there and tried that to most foods but Master's spin on Chinese food is innovative, tasty and definitely new. I would highly recommend a visit.<br />
<a href="https://www.zomato.com/sydney/master-surry-hills" target="_blank" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about Master, Surry Hills and other Restaurants in Sydney"><img alt="Master Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/15545209/biglink" style="border: none; height: 146px; padding: 0; width: 200px;" /></a> Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965990539589642453.post-55661501356429190472016-05-24T23:54:00.001-07:002016-05-24T23:55:19.808-07:00Sydney Weekend in May 3 - Dessert at RivaReno Gelato<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>RivaReno Gelato Barangaroo</b></span><br />
<i>http://rivareno.com.au/</i><br />
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After our delicious dinner at <a href="http://hungry-kittens.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/sydney-weekend-in-may-2-dinner-at.html">Rockpool Bar and Grill</a>, an ordinary couple would've been full and content to give their stomachs a rest. Not us!<br />
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Marc knew of a gelato store that had
recently expanded and it was getting glowing online reviews. We happened
to pass through the area on our way back to the hotel (more accurately
we Googled the address and spent an hour getting lost in construction
sites but determined to get gelato) and finally came across the shop front.<br />
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I eagerly raced inside to see what flavours they had on offer. All the classics were present as well as some more creative options. Both Marc and I are boringly conservative with what we like in gelato. We have our 'old faithful' flavours we rarely divert from.<br />
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To add interest, the ice-cream lady suggested that Marc add their RivaReno chocolate sauce to his already very chocolatey gelato. I expected this would be too much chocolate but he said this made the night for him. The chocolate sauce was apparently the standout! <br />
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I'll summarize my choice as being silky smooth and creamy with lovely flavours. The pistachio was true to taste and I felt childlike in my enjoyment of the Nutella-like hazelnut gelato. Both were a bit too sweet for my liking but I'm notorious for my intolerance of sugar in dessert form. Marc had no such complaint.<br />
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The best part about the gelato at RivaReno was definitely the texture. It definitely highlighted how different authentic gelato is from other types of ice-cream. The lightness and smoothness was on another level. </div>
<a href="https://www.zomato.com/sydney/rivareno-gelato-barrangaroo" target="_blank" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about RivaReno Gelato, Barrangaroo and other Restaurants in Sydney"><img alt="RivaReno Gelato Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/15547152/biglink" style="border: none; height: 146px; padding: 0; width: 200px;" /></a> Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965990539589642453.post-70937911631781840112016-05-22T15:32:00.001-07:002016-05-23T14:08:13.635-07:00Sydney weekend in May 2 - Dinner at Rockpool Bar and Grill<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Rockpool Bar and Grill</b></span><br />
<i>http://www.rockpool.com/rockpoolbarandgrillsydney/</i><br />
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Because of my anxious personality, I always need to plan things well in advance. If anyone asks me to think of a restaurant to visit on the fly, I freeze up and my mind goes blank. It's alright for when I'm in Brisbane because I live here and have a supply of general 'go to' places (mostly eateries around Sunnybank) for when I have no other ideas. On an interstate trip, it's less desirable to be unplanned because I don't know other cities well so unless I have a booking made at a restaurant pre-researched, I assume we'll sit down somewhere unremarkable.<br />
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Friday night of our Sydney weekend, this exact scenario happened where we had no actual plan of where to go but wanted to have dinner out. By some stroke of good fate we happened to walk past Rockpool Bar and Grill and I remembered this was a restaurant I'd been wanting to try for a long, long time. I had once walked into this Rockpool building before, <a href="http://hungry-kittens.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/rockpool-in-sydney.html">by accident, when I was looking for their fine dining restaurant</a> so everything looked vaguely familiar.<br />
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We didn't have a booking and I didn't know if we could get a table but amusingly, the restaurant wasn't even officially open when we rocked up. The efficient front of house staff made arrangements for us, provided we finished eating by a certain time (it was ample time to eat without rushing). We then hopped over to the bar to enjoy a drink before service started.<br />
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Even though it was too early for dinner, the bar was packed with guys in suits. I had a wistful moment daydreaming about a corporate office worker in Sydney, thinking this could be the kind of place I drink at every Friday evening. We sat at the bar and soaked up the theatre of it all. One of the drinks we ordered was smoked in front of us and I tried to take a photo but it turned out blurry (see above). The resultant drink was <b>strong</b>.<br />
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Before long, a waitress collected us and ushered us to our table. The restaurant is huge and expansive, with high ceilings and marble accents that made me think of a prestigious old bank. I was surprised by how comprehensive the menu was. I expect most restaurants at this price point to limit what they have on offer but as well as a very thorough grill section, there are plenty of seafood, poultry and even pasta dishes.<br />
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<i>Complimentary bread and butter </i></div>
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I read through everything but when we're at a steak restaurant, I'm not going to go past the steaks. I got dumbstruck by what was on order and even asked our waitress to explain to me the differences. In the end we chose two cuts from different sections and the waitress arranged for the chef to serve them in halves so we could both try each type. We also chose some entrees that were also split into shared serves.<br />
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<i>Steamed Kinkawooka mussels - with fregola, tomato, white wine and chili </i></div>
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Our first entree was the steamed mussels. It was so delicious. I've had mussels at several restaurants before and generally prefer creamy garlic sauce to tomato-based sauce but this was absolutely divine. As a soup-lover, I could easily live off this mussel sauce for the rest of my life. The mussels themselves were juicy and paired with the fregola (I had to look up what it was; I thought they were pearl cous cous, which I suppose is similar) and umami broth it was a heavenly combination. Pictured here is just one half of the listed entree serving. As I mentioned above, Rockpool split our entrees so we had a serve (like that pictured) each. That's very generous compared to how sparse and garnish-like entrees can be at other restaurants.<br />
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<i>Slow cooked hens egg - with toasted brioche, bone marrow and red wine butter sauce</i> </div>
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The next entree I chose was something that caught my eye straight away. I'm often accused of being drawn to what others think of as 'weird' dishes but to me, bone marrow and slow-cooked egg aren't things that sound 'weird'. I ordered it because I think it sounds delicious and exciting. What arrived at our table was very much to my expectation. The toasted brioche was buttery and rich and incredible when soaked with gooey egg yolk and the toasty flavour of bone marrow. I enjoyed the richness of the red wine butter sauce too. This is a dish that you couldn't eat too much of but what we did have, I enjoyed very much.<br />
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<i>Steak is served, plus sides of brussel sprouts with chestnut and speck and fat chips in the back</i> </div>
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The steaks were brought out next with a jug of Bearnaise sauce and other condiments available to our liking. I chose hot English mustard. As well as mains, we had ordered some sides to share: the fat chips and brussel sprouts with chestnut and speck.<br />
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<i>David Blackmore's dry aged wagyu skirt and Pinnacle dry aged young prime black Angus rib eye on the bone </i></div>
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It is recommended to order the steaks medium rare and that's what we selected for both cuts. By this point, I'd made good progress in a bottle of red (and that's after the cocktail and some beers earlier in the evening) so please don't test me on the exact differences between the two steaks we tasted. Both were cooked perfectly (I expected nothing less from a Neil Perry restaurant, considering I learned to cook steaks from his video and cookbook) and I personally liked the wagyu more.<br />
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The chips were crunchy and great for filling any holes in the stomach (not that we had any but we made room for the chips anyway) and I enjoyed dipping the chips in steak juice. Classy? Perhaps not but for me, enjoying my food is more important than being ladylike any day of the week.<br />
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I know that brussel sprouts are a turn off for many people but for whatever reason, I love them. I'd only really tasted them in Chinese cooking so I was curious about how it tasted with a Western treatment. The brussel sprout here was smokey and bacony and very yum but I couldn't detect any chestnut. If I was to be critical of my own ordering process, I should have picked a fresher salad to act as relief from the steak.<br />
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I had an amazing time at Rockpool Bar and Grill. It's one of those restaurants I went into with high expectations and every aspect of our dining experience, from service to environment, to drinks and food, was impeccable. I don't say this very often about higher priced restaurants but this is a place I would revisit at the expense of trying someplace new. Our courses were brought out with such precision in timing that I never once felt like I was rushed or waiting for the next item to come. Rockpool is a well-oiled machine and their delicious food and professional staff reflect why this establishment remains successful after so many years.<br />
<a href="https://www.zomato.com/sydney/rockpool-bar-grill-cbd" target="_blank" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about Rockpool Bar & Grill, CBD and other Restaurants in Sydney"><img alt="Rockpool Bar & Grill Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/16559790/biglink" style="border: none; height: 146px; padding: 0; width: 200px;" /></a> Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965990539589642453.post-61001497475112940902016-05-21T03:31:00.002-07:002016-05-21T03:31:31.464-07:00Sydney weekend in May 1 - Lunch at Izakaya Yebisu<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Izakaya Yebisu</b></span><br />
<i>10/501 George Street, Sydney</i><br />
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I managed to do that thing again last weekend, while we were in Sydney, where we ate at so many places that I simply got overwhelmed by the amount of blog posts I had to write. The end result is that I procrastinate and put it off and end up writing nothing. This weekend, I'm forcing myself to do some reviews before I forget everything and make it harder on myself.<br />
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Marc and I arrived early afternoon on a Friday. I had slept through the flight so I missed out on the refreshments and I was hangry. We found where our hotel was and decided for simplicity sake to get lunch nearby. This being Sydney, we stumbled across a little shopping mall full of food after crossing just one street so I thought "this will do" and we ended up lunching at Izakaya Yebisu.<br />
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To be perfectly honest, we were immediately attracted by the touch screen menus. Call us childish or antisocial or whatever (both is true) but touch screen menus are so much fun! We scurried to a table and started flicking through the icons.<br />
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We were in a casual mood so we clicked through a bunch of items to munch on and sat down to a jug of beer. It was a huge jug and did a great job setting the weekend mood. The table we sat at was small but I noticed that they had trolleys that could be brought out if the food you ordered didn't fit on the table.<br />
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<i>Teriyaki beef salad </i></div>
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Our first item was a fresh and healthy teriyaki beef salad. There was a good amount of beef and the salad balanced out the protein and carb-heavy aspects of our other dishes.<br />
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<i>Sashimi platter </i></div>
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Next, we sampled their sashimi platter. This had more variety on it than I've seen at Japanese stores in Brisbane. Marc and I love sashimi but we're absolutely hopeless at identifying anything that isn't salmon or tuna. We did enjoy the different items on this platter and everything tasted fresh.<br />
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<i>Spider roll </i></div>
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The spider roll was our final order of the day. The rice was well-cooked and the soft shell crab had an excellent crunch. The other dishes were 'lighter' so it was good to have something to fill us up. I did miss having some Kewpie mayonnaise on the side though.<br />
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We had a fun, easy experience at Izakaya Yebisu. The service was fast and efficient. The food was well-priced and reasonable. I'm sure that Sydney has a lot of Japanese on offer but this is the one we happened to stumble upon and we left satisfied.<br />
<a href="https://www.zomato.com/sydney/yebisu-izakaya-cbd" target="_blank" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about Yebisu Izakaya, CBD and other Restaurants in Sydney"><img alt="Yebisu Izakaya Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/16566774/biglink" style="border: none; height: 146px; padding: 0; width: 200px;" /></a> Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965990539589642453.post-13004580813175757492016-05-11T03:51:00.003-07:002016-05-11T03:51:38.447-07:00Food and Drink at The Apo<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">The APO</span></b><br />
<i>http://www.theapo.com.au/</i><br />
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The older I get the more I learn to appreciate any opportunity I have to catch up with good friends. A couple of weekends ago, a group of us met up for share plates and (lots of) drinks at The Apo in Fortitude Valley. <br />
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The Apo is located just past Laruche on Ann Street. The shop front is small but there's some depth to the actual dining space, with a long bar and open kitchen to look into. I didn't go exploring but from what others told me, there is an upstairs section with balcony as well. We had a really cosy table tucked under the stairs with space to lie down (perfect for once we've had a few too many drinks and nibblies).<br />
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There is a hefty drinks menu with plenty of choices of cocktails, beers and wines. I started my night with cocktails and everything I tried went down a treat.<br />
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The food menu is designed to be shared. Reading through the options I got quickly overwhelmed because this is not your standard tapas fare. Each dish sounded exciting and adventurous and I didn't even know how to begin narrowing down. Luckily, Goldilocks was much more decisive and started laying down the order. We ended up choosing a wide range of varying sized share dishes, doubling up where necessary to ensure enough for our group of 6.<br />
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<i>Parmesan and pea croquettes (left) and stuffed green olives </i></div>
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The first items to arrive were the stuffed crumbed olives and parmesan pea croquettes. Several members of our group expressed dislike for olives and my inner greedy child chuckled gleefully. I personally love olives. My idea of a perfect night at home involves nothing but olives and red wine. If others were going to skip this starter, I figured it would be more for me. I found both the starters to be perfect drink accompaniments that hinted at the quality of dishes to come. The chili sauce for the croquettes was very tasty as well.<br />
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<i>Sand crab - with beach plants, roasted fish bone dressing and nasturtium</i></div>
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Next came the crab and wallaby. The sand crab was kept simple and really showcased the delicate sweetness of the meat.<br />
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<i>Wallaby - with fermented muntries, green chili and wild leaves </i></div>
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Contrary to our expectations, the wallaby was served as a tartare with fresh herb garnish. I've never tried wallaby in this form and thought the gamey flavour worked surprisingly well. It's probably not a dish for everyone though as it is rather strong.<br />
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<i>Lamb ribs - with fermented harissa, pickled onion and sour cream </i></div>
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The lamb ribs were one of the most universally well-received dishes of the night. Each rib was flavoursome and juicy and went well with the accompanying sour cream and harissa. There were talks about ordering another serve of this but by the end of our meal we were too full.<br />
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<i>Toastie - with raclette, comte and gruyere </i></div>
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What I was looking forward to the most was the cheese toastie. It's something that sounds so simple on the menu but instantly tugs at my nostalgic heartstrings. Foods that remind me of childhood have a special place in my heart and lets admit it, are usually naughty and yummy. This cheese toastie lived up to my expectations. The gooey, melty centre and the thick buttery crunchy toast that crackled with each bite was heavenly. This is comfort food at its best and so easy to eat as well.<br />
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<i>Spice rubbed chicken - with iceberg lettuce and buttermilk </i></div>
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The spiced rubbed chicken was the biggest serve of food of the night and if the boys were worried about not ordering enough food, by the time they got through this they were satisfied. The chicken pieces were large and generous but cooked perfectly to be juicy and moist without any dryness. The chicken was actually something I felt 'meh' about when I read it on the menu but once I tried it, it was a lot tastier than I imagined.<br />
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Lamb rump - with potato, jersey cream, garlic and salt bush </div>
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We followed up the proteins with another lamb dish, this time lamb rump. Again, the cooking of the lamb was on point as you can clearly see with the beautifully pink cross-sections. I was too full by this point to be able to judge fairly but this dish got inhaled by the rest of the group so I can only assume positive things.<br />
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<i>Baby carrot - with bee pollen, honeycomb, yoghurt and brown butter</i> </div>
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To balance out all the carnivorous dishes, we also had a side of carrot. I know that carrot isn't everyone's idea of a good time but this was another of my favourite dishes of the night. It's simple but the combination of sweet baby carrot, powdered yoghurt and honey was delicious. We didn't have room for dessert but this had a pleasant desserty twang to it so my sweet tooth was satisfied.<br />
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The Apo offers a new level of bar dining. The dishes are small and designed to be shared, with drinks being the focus of the day but it goes to show there is no reason to resign to chicken wings and chips just because you want to drink and chat. The menu is expansive and thoughtful so you get a fun bar experience plus fine-dining quality of dishes scaled down. I'm loving this gastro-bar trend in Brisbane because it offers two of my favourite things (good food and good drink) without sacrifice. <br />
<a href="https://www.zomato.com/brisbane/the-apo-fortitude-valley" target="_blank" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about The Apo, Fortitude Valley and other Restaurants in Brisbane"><img alt="The Apo Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/18097740/biglink" style="border: none; height: 146px; padding: 0; width: 200px;" /></a> Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965990539589642453.post-88883305239932582062016-05-06T22:57:00.002-07:002016-05-06T22:58:17.349-07:00Crustacean Feast at St James Crabhouse<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>St James Crabhouse and Kitchen</b></span><br />
<i>22 Baildon Street, Kangaroo Point</i><br />
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This was my MOST anticipated restaurant opening of 2016. I heard about these guys around the start of the year when they announced they were opening Brisbane's first American-style crabhouse. Since then, I've been following them religiously on social media and listening out for news and updates. St James opened its doors not that long ago and already, it's generated a lot of hype. All of my friends were talking about it and all the Brisbane lifestyle news forum I followed were raving. I couldn't wait to try it out.<br />
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I gave it a couple of weeks for the restaurant to find their footing and for the initial chaos to cool. Tidbits of information were flowing through my food network from people who had tried it or wanted to try it and the word on the street was a) they don't take bookings and b) it's a small restaurant so be prepared to wait. Marc and I are really impatient and have a general principle of not waiting for food. We decided to only go on a weekday when it was less likely to be busy.<br />
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I ended up taking my mum and dad on a Wednesday night. We got there around 6pm by car and driving past, I felt a wave of relief that there was no queue outside and I could even spot a number of empty tables. Unfortunately in the time it took us to park our car and walk back, these spots were taken. It was a case of superbly bad timing because that meant most of the groups in 4 seat tables had just sat down and hadn't even ordered. We buckled down for a long wait.<br />
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If it was just the wait itself, we wouldn't have minded so much but it was fairly awkward. For a while we were the only people standing outside so I felt like a rude bystander over-seeing the people eating inside and willing them to hurry up. It's easy to tell yourself not to look but every now and again the eyes can't help but peer in. I offered to leave my number so we could walk away and come back when a table was ready but they don't do that so you physically have to stand there. All this could be solved if the restaurant was bigger or at least had a bar you could wait at so I'm hopeful that if St James expands, they find a larger venue for their follow-up venture.<br />
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It was probably a good 40min before we got seated and ordinarily I have no patience for that type of thing but I had heard so much positive feedback about the food I was determined to try it. What helped was a friendly waitstaff who popped out every now and again to check up on us and give us updates. We never felt forgotten about or neglected.<br />
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Once we did get seated, things got better and better. We were able to order food and drink immediately and as soon as beers were brought out all our waiting woes were forgotten.<br />
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<i>Shoestring truffle fries with parmesan, cabbage slaw with apple and pinenuts in creamy dressing</i></div>
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True to what I head read from other bloggers, the food didn't take long to come out. The sides arrived first, which included the truffled parmesan fries and coleslaw we ordered, plus complimentary garlic bread that comes served with the crab. The fries were incredible. They had the perfect amount of crunch and there was a distinct truffly undertone. Both my parents commented on how delicious this was.<br />
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The coleslaw ended up being the only pinch of green in our entire feast. It was a welcome burst of freshness. At any other restaurant, I could go on about the salad because it was definitely well-made but here, the dishes that followed soon overshadowed this.<br />
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<i>Seafood spread </i></div>
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The crabs at St James are served in practical plastic bags that hold all the delicious sauce. They are served in 1/2kg lots so rather than restricting yourself to one whole crab you can try a variety. There are then a selection of sauces you can select to go with the crab. We went for Alaskan snow crab with the Baltimore sauce and it was dynamite.<br />
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<i>Alaskan snow crab with Baltimore sauce </i></div>
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I don't know what Baltimore sauce is and Googling it now doesn't provide further insight but it was simply incredible. Despite the fact that we wore gloves throughout the meal, our hands continued to smell buttery and delicious through the night. The crab itself was meaty and succulent, tender and sweet. I'm not great at extracting crab from shell but there are tools to help. My dad somehow managed to get entire intact portions of leg out.<br />
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<i>Red crayfish with Singapore chili sauce</i></div>
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As well as a range of crab, there are seasonal specials. I took advantage of the availability of live red crayfish and we ordered that in Singapore sweet chili sauce. This is my first time eating crayfish and I liked that the body of flesh separated from the shell very easily. The main heft of crayfish comes from the head and I didn't know what to do with it so I left that be. The sauce was again, so delicious and moreish. We slurped the sauces up with the garlic bread and I even dipped the fries in. <br />
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<i>Pot of mussels with marinara sauce </i></div>
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The final main we tried was the 1kg pot of mussels with marinara sauce. The mussels were plentiful and meaty. The marinara sauce was fine but definitely inferior compared to the other sauces of the night. For mussels, I would have preferred a white wine, garlic and cream sauce but that wasn't one of the options.<br />
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After my first experience at St James Crabhouse, I'm absolutely buzzing for revisits. The crab and sauces were unreal. I thought the sides were perfectly on par and the selection of beers just adds to the all-round excellent meal. There are also non-crabby things on the menu, such as ribs and burgers and I'm just as keen to try those. Till next time...<br />
<a href="https://www.zomato.com/brisbane/st-james-crabhouse-kitchen-kangaroo-point" target="_blank" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about St. James Crabhouse & Kitchen, Kangaroo Point and other Restaurants in Brisbane"><img alt="St. James Crabhouse & Kitchen Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/18285750/biglink" style="border: none; height: 146px; padding: 0; width: 200px;" /></a> Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965990539589642453.post-59667058074738142912016-05-04T18:57:00.002-07:002016-05-04T18:57:16.970-07:00Lunch at Madtongsan IV<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Madtongsan IV</b></span><br />
<i>Market Square, Corner Main Road and McCullough Street, Sunnybank</i><br />
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When I was studying in the city, I was a fairly regular attendee of the Madtongsan franchise. The Sunnybank branch has been open for a long time now but last month was my first time trying it out.<br />
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I was starting to come down with a cold and my remedy for sore throat is always, always spicy soup. To some that may seem counter-intuitive but for me chili is the best medicine.
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We drove down to Market Square on a Friday at lunch time. I thought it might have been really busy around there but it actually wasn't too bad. I guess there's just so many restaurants that it's easy to get a table no matter which one you pick.<br />
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Once we were seated we started looking through the menu. There's lots on offer but Marc and I focused on the lunch specials. I already knew what I wanted so we put an order down ASAP.<br />
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<i>Seafood pancake </i></div>
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We chose a large seafood pancake to share, which ended up being too big considering we had a main each as well. The pancake might have been tasty but the batter consistency wasn't to our liking. Marc and I prefer crunchy Korean pancakes or at least, minimal batter to content ratio. This version was soggy and eggy.<br />
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<i>Korean spicy beef stew </i></div>
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My main was much more palatable. I ordered the spicy beef soup, which came with a little bowl of rice. The soup was packed with content and spice and best of all, I felt instantly nourished and vitalized. I admit the latter is probably placebo but even if there are no medically proven studies that show the effect Korean soup cures colds, I can say that at the least my soul and taste buds were soaring. I still think I enjoy Korean seafood stews more but I order that all the time so it was nice to try something different.<br />
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<i>Pork bibimbap </i></div>
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Marc ordered a pork bibimbap in an effort to be healthy. I always think of bibimbap as the ultimate, well-rounded Asian meal with a perfect balance of rice, veggies and meat. Best of all, it tastes amazing. I could eat this stuff every day for the rest of my life.<br />
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We enjoyed the food at Madtongsan IV. It's not quite as good at the other Madtongsan locations (the ones in the city) but it's easily accessible to us and with the lunch specials, very cheap. There are, however, plenty of Korean restaurants in Brisbane though so I'm not sure that there's enough going for it for us to be back, especially considering the parking situation around Market Square.<br />
<a href="https://www.zomato.com/brisbane/madtongsan-iv-sunnybank" target="_blank" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about Madtongsan IV, Sunnybank and other Restaurants in Brisbane"><img alt="Madtongsan IV Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/16594584/ibiglink" style="border: none; height: 146px; padding: 0px; width: 200px;" /></a> Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965990539589642453.post-51661572618398197152016-05-02T20:08:00.001-07:002016-05-02T20:08:42.155-07:00Dinner at LONgTIME<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Longtime Restaurant and Bar</b></span><br />
<i>http://www.longtime.com.au/</i><br />
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There's no shortage of Asian-themed bars in Brisbane. Just off the top of my head, <a href="http://hungry-kittens.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/kwan-brothers-for-cocktails-and-dinner.html">Kwan Brothers</a> and <a href="http://hungry-kittens.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/madame-wu.html">Madame Wu</a> come to mind and both left fairly positive impressions for me. You would think my mental quota for this genre of venue would be satisfied but for whatever reason, when I heard of Longtime, I was newly intrigued. I'm not sure how long ago Longtime opened; it seems 'newish' but not brand new. When it opened, I did a spot of casual research and found that they were hosting a theme night with guest chef Dan Hong from <a href="http://hungry-kittens.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/sydney-in-august-1-banquet-at-ms-gs.html">Ms G's in Sydney</a>. I loved that restaurant so I was super keen to try this special event but alas I was working on the nights it was on.<br />
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Fast forward a year or so and I still hadn't been to Longtime. A friend of mine was visiting from Sydney and requested someplace 'cool' to dine. I know there are funky, thematic venues littered throughout Brisbane but my skeptic's voice told me there wasn't going to be anything on par with Sydney or Melbourne. My mind went blank and I panicked momentarily until Longtime presented itself as an option. It's difficult to know whether a restaurant classifies as 'cool' when you haven't been there yourself but the website looks hip and the font is edgy so what the heck, I made the booking.<br />
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Unlike many other restaurants, there is no live online booking service. I sent a booking request through via e-mail and got a reply fairly quickly. You can only make a booking for the 5:30, 6pm and 6:30 time slots. After that, it's a walk in and wait system.<br />
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The reservation making was a smooth process but the reservation keeping left something to be desired. We got there at 6:30pm, right in time for our booking and the place was overflowing with panicky staff/confused patrons. Longtime is not easy to find unless you're observant and have a good grasp of the Valley. I had Google Maps on my phone and still nearly walked past the entrance. There's a tiny, dark sign stating 'LONgTIME' at which point you turn into a tiny alleyway. The alley has bar stools and high tables for people to enjoy a drink while they wait to be seated. This works well in theory but our group of 4 were waiting aimlessly as there was no one to take our drink orders. Without a drink in hand, waiting is very boring. It was too noisy in the courtyard for any decent conversation so we sat awkwardly assuming our table wouldn't be long.<br />
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I chased up the staff at some point and learned that our table was 'getting prepared'. It was probably a good half hour before we actually got seated. That's not the worst I've had to wait but more than I expect when there's a booking in place. Again, if we had successfully received drinks while we were waiting it wouldn't have been as painful. Having said all that, the guy who seated us was extremely apologetic and explained there were two large group functions on that night so we understood their struggle.<br />
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Now that we were comfortably seated, we all put down our drinks orders and took some time to take in the surroundings. The actual interior dining space at Longtime is a lot larger than it looks from the outside. It's an expansive hall with hanging greenery and lights. The decor reminded me of my wedding, which is to say that I loved it even though it wasn't in line with the style of food they were serving.<br />
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Our cocktails were fantastic, well-presented, delicious and adequately boozy. Our night was starting to pick up, fast.<br />
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<i>Isan taco of five spiced eggplant and house smoked chili sauce, and Longtime fried chicken burger with white pepper mayo</i></div>
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The food at Longtime, like that at many other fusion Asian restaurants, is designed to be shared. The tapas are sold as individual items, so we were free to choose specifically what we wanted from that menu. For the mains, we ordered a variety, plus rice.<br />
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<i>Soft shell crab bao with apple slaw </i></div>
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The little starters were so adorable to behold. Bee and Davy both chose the soft shell crab bao. Marc ordered the mini chicken slider and I went for the eggplant taco. All were not only cute but tasty and successful in whetting our appetites for the mains to come.<br />
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<i>Spicy green papaya salad - with mint, chili, coriander, red nahm jim, shallots and crispy garlic</i></div>
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The first of our mains was the spicy green papaya salad. I love green papaya salad and it's one dish that I know I'll never make at home because I can't be bothered to source and grate green papayas. This version was very delicious with a perfectly balanced spicy, sweet, sour, funky dressing and fresh, crunchy strands of green papaya. It had just the right amount of heat for me.<br />
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<i>Slow cooked rib fillet salad - with pickled cucumber, thai basil and roast chili dressing</i></div>
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Bee chose for our group the beef salad. This comprised of marinated meat, topped with a mountain of cucumber, herbs and fried onion. It was another taste explosion and helped to build to the heavier dishes of the night. The steak slices were very tender.<br />
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<i>Slow-roasted pork belly - on a bed of chinese broccoli and smoked oyster sauce </i></div>
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The pork belly was beautiful to look at but was a tad salty for our liking. The meat itself was cooked well and there was nothing wrong with the veggies but the sauce was just that bit too salty. It was OK when offset with the rice.<br />
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<i>Penang curry - of slow cooked beef cheek, peanuts and ginger </i></div>
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Our final main was one that was recommended by our waitress, the beef cheek penang curry. This dish was perfection with a delicious, creamy yet not overly heavy curry and melt-in-the-mouth morsels of beef. With the rice, it was a simply irresistible combination.<br />
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We loved the food at Longtime Restaurant and Bar. There was a bit of a wait to get our table, despite the fact that we made a booking in advance but they made up for it by owning up to the issue and then knocking out delicious drinks and dishes. The beef cheek curry was our group favourite.<br />
<a href="https://www.zomato.com/brisbane/longtime-fortitude-valley" target="_blank" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about Longtime, Fortitude Valley and other Restaurants in Brisbane"><img alt="Longtime Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/16595377/biglink" style="border: none; height: 146px; padding: 0; width: 200px;" /></a> Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965990539589642453.post-84694240851968626662016-04-27T16:21:00.001-07:002016-04-27T16:21:39.241-07:00Thai Terrace for Dinner<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Thai Terrace</b></span><br />
<i>http://www.thaiterrace.com.au/</i><br />
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I was in a burger mood a couple of weeks ago and Marc suggested we try this burger place we saw that had just opened in Rosalie. When we got there, we realised it had already closed down and after lamenting over how fickle and competitive the hospitality industry is, we settled in for some Thai instead.<br />
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Thai Terrace is a restaurant I've walked past numerous times and always found inviting but never actually ventured into before. The external wall has these lit up pink window panels that I really like the look of. It's like... a classy lounge bar setting for Thai food.<br />
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When we entered the restaurant, we found it to be quiet with only a couple other tables of diners. There was one waitress on duty and she was more than capable of managing all of us.<br />
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The menu has a good variety of Thai style mains, sides and entrees. Curiously, there's also a section of Cantonese dishes. We decided on two mains with coconut rice to share and a starter to line the stomach.<br />
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<i>Golden cups </i></div>
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I wasn't too enthused about the usual starters like spring rolls etc so we opted for the most unique-sounding item on the menu, the golden cups. These were canapé sized, easy to eat and very tasty. The filling was a savoury, sweet mince and the shell gave it a nice waffly crunch.<br />
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<i>Red duck curry </i></div>
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The duck red curry had lots of succulent duck pieces. I liked the balance of the sauce and found it to be a good amount of spice. We ordered some coconut rice to go with the curry and together, it was slurpingly delicious<br />
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<i>Spicy Thai lamb</i> </div>
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Marc chose the lamb dish because it had four chilies on the menu. This was a bit spicier than the curry but not what we'd consider very spicy. I think people who are chili fanatics would need to specify 'genuine Thai hot' when they order.
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Thai Terrace offered well-portioned, tasty Thai dishes in a pleasant environment. Service was very much on the ball and we were able to relax with some beer and wine.<br />
<a href="https://www.zomato.com/brisbane/thai-terrace-rosalie" target="_blank" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about Thai Terrace, Rosalie and other Restaurants in Brisbane"><img alt="Thai Terrace Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/16590461/ibiglink" style="border: none; height: 146px; padding: 0px; width: 200px;" /></a> Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965990539589642453.post-51863939363542605782016-04-19T04:46:00.003-07:002016-04-19T04:46:24.965-07:00Dinner at Spaghetti House Trattoria<b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Spaghetti House Trattoria</span></b><br />
<i>http://www.spaghettihouse.com.au/</i><br />
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Marc and I <a href="http://hungry-kittens.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/dinner-at-spaghetti-house.html">stumbled across Spaghetti House once</a>, many years ago when it was in West End. I enjoyed the food we had that night and kept meaning to go back but things got in the way and suddenly there were all these new other restaurants to try. Before I knew it, Spaghetti House had relocated to South Bank. <br />
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Revisits continued to alude me and once we then moved to Sinnamon Park, South Bank was a chore to get to. Last weekend, our group of friends caught up over dinner. When brainstorming for dinner locations, dozens of new establishments jumped into my brain for attention but for whatever reason, I got hooked on the idea of Spaghetti House. It was an irresistible combination of nostalgia, promise of carbohydrates and their limited edition lobster gnocchi that drew me in and blocked off all other suggestions.<br />
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I made the booking online and in doing so, came across some less than complimentary online reviews. Alarm bells went off but I when I researched the menu, I found it hadn't changed much since the West End days so I assumed standards would be the same. I put the bad reviews down to service issues and pushed through with the dinner plans.<br />
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We met on a Saturday night and were seated just after 8:30pm. The place was packed when we first got there but as our meal came to a conclusion, Spaghetti House was packing up around us, which I guess is fair enough considering it would have been quite late by then.<br />
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I didn't see much of the inside of the restaurant but the outside space is huge. The weather in Brisbane these days is as close to perfection as there ever will be in the world so it was an ideal time to embrace the elements.<br />
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Members of our group arrived at different times so we kicked the night off with drinks. There are Italian beers on tap, quirky craft beers, wine and cocktails. The girls mostly stuck to cocktails and the boys drank Peroni.<br />
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The menu at Spaghetti House actually looks quite promising if you're after wide options of standard Italian fare. There are starters, a section for gnocchi and risotto, and a mix and match pasta section to marry the flavours you want with your favourite pasta shape. There is another section with chef's recommendations, all of which sounded very appealing to me.<br />
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<i>Arancini al gamberi, polpette con pomodoro and calamari friti</i></div>
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As a group we decided to order shared starters and choose our own mains. The food didn't take too long to start arriving, and I for one was ravenous so after an awkward moment where no one wanted to be the first to dig in, I broke the seal.<br />
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The calamari was dry but I didn't mind the other two starters. Jenny reprimanded my lack of judgement and exclaimed "can't you tell the arancini is undercooked?" I tried a few more bites and can now confirm there were indeed chalky risotto grains all throughout. I'm not sure what she had against the meatballs (possibly the sauce?); to me they weren't anything special but at least edible.<br />
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When the mains arrived, I could no longer ignore the low quality of food. I went around the table sampling everyone's dishes and the general consensus is poor. I'll start with the positive by saying serving sizes for the most part were quite generous. The pasta was offered in 'small' or 'large' sizes and we found the large to be probably too large, even for the boys with big appetites.<br />
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<i>Cannelloni con granchio - baked sand crab, pomodoro and bechamel cannelloni</i></div>
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The only exception I found was my sand crab cannelloni, which I ordered in small. The plate was sizeable but it was literally just one thin cannelloni swimming in a wide pool of sauce. I left this feedback elsewhere and Spaghetti House retorted that I should have ordered large... maybe so but as someone who had not observed their varying sizes of cannelloni before, one single cannelloni is barely an entree and can not compare to the adequate servings of the other mains that were also ordered in 'small'. The sauce was quite tasty but overly sweet for my liking and I couldn't find salt on the table. There were no detectable traces of sand crab meat in the cannelloni.<br />
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<i>Spaghetti ragu a la bolognese - slow cooked pork and beef with sofrito, wine and tomato</i></div>
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Mork's spaghetti was bloated and overcooked. The sauce is supposed to be slow cooked pork and beef, which evokes the thought of pulled meat but the actual textural composition was just mince particles. Flavourwise, it was much too tart; I felt like I had just sucked on a lemon after my mouthful.<br />
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<i>Fettucine vongole - baby clams, chili, garlic, wine and parsley </i></div>
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Unicorn described her pasta as 'unflavoured cooked pasta'. I had to try some for myself and have to agree that it tasted exactly like unflavoured, cooked pasta. There was no sauce to this dish so she was eating plain fettuccine with garnishes of clam.<br />
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<i>Pappardelle con ragu d'agnello - four hour cooked lamb shoulder ragu with pappardelle</i></div>
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Marc ordered the lamb ragu pappardelle, a dish we had tried at West End Spaghetti House. At the time I had mostly positive things to say about this dish but something must have changed because the current version lacked flavour and barely had any meat.<br />
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<i>Pesce marinara - prawns, mussels, calamari, clams, salmon and tomato</i></div>
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Like the bolognaise and the meatballs, the marinara sauce was too acidic and there was so much sauce. All we could taste was tomato, which is a lovely flavour and integral to Italian cuisine but needs to be balanced or cooked out. There was a combination of small and large prawns, suggesting that the seafood mix is likely to be prepackaged and frozen...<br />
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<i>Lobster gnocchi - limited time special </i></div>
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The last item I have to cover is Jenny's lobster gnocchi. In terms of flavour, I liked this sauce the best. It was a nice mix of sweet, savoury and creamy with a (very) mild seafoody twang. I wouldn't have known this was lobster if it wasn't on the menu and I think I may have scored the only piece of 'lobster' in the entire dish. I personally don't enjoy large servings of gnocchi because it tastes too gluggy to me but that's not really the fault of the dish.<br />
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We had a disappointing meal experience at Spaghetti House. The service was reasonable, aside from one moment when the wrong dishes were brought to our table and then whisked away without any explanation.<br />
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What I do take issue to is the fact that I summarized my feelings on <a href="https://www.dimmi.com.au/restaurant/spaghetti-house">Dimmi (which has since mysteriously disappeared)</a> and Spaghetti House replied with an air of indignity, claiming we should have said something on the night. If it was just one or two dishes I can understand how raising the issue would help matters but when it was practically every dish we tasted that fell flat, it's difficult to bring that up to the busy waiters on the night. We are just a group of friends trying to catch up over dinner and when I'm dining out at a restaurant, I don't expect to have to give a stream of feedback to staff to keep the food acceptable and edible.<br />
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Spaghetti House also alluded to the fact that my negative review was against the grain of public opinion. Give me a break. If the management was more familiar with what other diners are saying about them they would realise it is not us but they who have a problem. There are too many good Italian restaurants in Brisbane to waste our carbohydrate allowance on mediocre food. We won't be going back.<br />
<a href="https://www.zomato.com/brisbane/the-spaghetti-house-trattoria-southbank" target="_blank" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about The Spaghetti House Trattoria, Southbank and other Restaurants in Brisbane"><img alt="The Spaghetti House Trattoria Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/17810521/ibiglink" style="border: none; height: 146px; padding: 0px; width: 200px;" /></a> Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965990539589642453.post-79699323023936925252016-04-15T02:00:00.000-07:002016-04-15T02:00:06.457-07:00Bare Bones Society for Brunch<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Bare Bones Society</b></span><br />
<i>http://barebonessociety.com/</i><br />
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Moving to the west of Brisbane, the restaurant I was most keen to try was Bare Bones Society. It has been on my radar for a long time but always felt too far away. Now, it's barely 5 minutes drive so there were no more excuses.<br />
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I've been to Bare Bones twice now for weekday brunch. They're also open for dinner on Friday nights with a changing menu. The restaurant is smack bang in the middle of the Homemaker Centre in Jindalee, so there are lots of parking spots.<br />
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The first time I visited, it was extremely busy and it took me forever to get the attention of waitstaff. More recently I went again and it was much quieter with spot on efficient service. Both visits happened during the week around the same time so I guess it just depends on your luck on the day.<br />
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There's a generous indoor seating space with some extra tables set out the front if you want to enjoy fresh air.<br />
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The menu is my kind of dream cafe menu. There are so many things on there that sound good to me. On my first visit I ordered the green power smoothie and the heirloom tomatoes on flat bread.
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<i>Green power smoothie - kale, spinach, spinach, cucumber, mint, apple, chlorophyll and pineapple juice</i></div>
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The smoothie was excellent. It was refreshing and lightly sweetened with apple and pineapple juice but not too sweet. I certainly felt healthy drinking this.<br />
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<i>Scorched heirloom tomatoes - with whipped garlic, baba ganoush and goats cheese, on rosemary and garlic flatbread</i></div>
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I was extremely impressed by my breakfast order. This is probably the nicest thing I've had for breakfast in over a year. I imagine this is not a dish for everyone because some people (eg Marc) don't like tomatoes. I, on the other hand, love tomatoes. Big tomatoes from the supermarket can taste bland but the small ones, particularly heirloom varieties, are bursting with flavour. Slightly blistered with olive oil and herbs, these tomatoes were heavenly. I also enjoyed the accompaniments of goats cheese and whipped garlic. This is a dish I could eat over and over again for breakfast, lunch, whenever.<br />
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On my second visit, I ordered another juice but this time one stocked from Press'd Juices. It was good but not a product of Bare Bones so I won't elaborate.<br />
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<i>House-made savoury mince toasted jaffles - with fried eggs, haloumi and tomato relish</i></div>
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For food, I went with the savoury mince jaffles. These were served with two fried eggs, grilled haloumi and a tomato relish. The relish was delicious! I think Bare Bones Society has a magical way with tomato.<br />
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The jaffas themselves were tasty, maybe a tad dry but ok when eaten together with runny egg yolk.
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I'm glad to be so close to an establishment like Bare Bones Society. It offers up the kind of food I like eating. The heirloom tomatoes were a knock out and I'm curious to try their dinner offerings.<br />
<a href="https://www.zomato.com/brisbane/bare-bones-society-jindalee" target="_blank" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about Bare Bones Society, Jindalee and other Restaurants in Brisbane"><img alt="Bare Bones Society Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/16593960/biglink" style="border: none; height: 146px; padding: 0; width: 200px;" /></a> Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965990539589642453.post-62211538957635928502016-04-14T05:09:00.001-07:002016-04-14T05:09:34.629-07:00Spanish Feast at Toro Bravo<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Toro Bravo</b></span><br />
<i>http://torobravo.com.au/</i><br />
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Last week my close friend Blossom had a showcase at the RAW artist exhibit. We all hopped along to show our support and afterwards, wandered through the valley for a bite to eat.
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Garthritis recommended we try Toro Bravo because he had heard of their Thursday night sangria and paella special. At $45 for your choice of 2 paella and a jug of sangria, we honed in on that option.<br />
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I had been to <a href="http://hungry-kittens.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/hotel-bravo-bravo-bar-b-que.html">Hotel Bravo when it was a BBQ house</a> and we enjoyed our meal there. It has since changed to focus on a Spanish theme but steaks still feature heavily on the menu.
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Two paella plates might seem like a lot of food but it's definitely not enough for 5 hungry individuals, including 3 boys with big appetites. We chose a selection of tapas to round out our meal.<br />
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<i>Red wine sangria </i></div>
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Our sangria was brought out first. We ended up buying a second jug because our waitress suggested one might not be enough. Two ended up being excessive for us on a school night so we had left over sangria by the end of the meal.
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The first of our food took a while to be brought out but once the plates started coming, they kept coming.<br />
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<i>Turkish pide with eggplant dip and taramasalata </i></div>
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The toasted pide was nice and hot, served with a duo of dips. I liked the taramasalata best and I have a feeling the rest of the group felt the same because soon there was no trace of pink on the platter.
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<i>Sauteed field mushrooms</i></div>
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I was very impressed with the field mushrooms. On first appearances it just looked like a plate of salad but I dug around and found actual mushroom pieces and they were juicy and delicious.<br />
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<i>Crisp fried calamari </i></div>
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The fried calamari was a tad dry and chewy but the batter was crunchy. Garthritis commented that he doesn't normally like calamari but enjoyed this dish.
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<i>Lamb and haloumi skewers </i></div>
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The lamb and haloumi skewers sounded good in theory but in hindsight it's something we could have easily made at home. They tasted ok, slightly over cooked but nothing special. This was probably the most overpriced item we ordered.<br />
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<i>Chicken and chorizo paella and baby octopus and eggplant paella</i></div>
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The paella was what I was looking forward to the most. These were served in shallow clay pots rather than paella pans but somehow there still managed to be a slight crust. Both paella were chockas with ingredients and had a decent flavour.
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We enjoyed our meal at Toro Bravo. The dishes were pretty good as a whole but the paella was the best value. I would have preferred them to be crustier but they were still tasty.<br />
<a href="https://www.zomato.com/brisbane/toro-bravo-fortitude-valley" target="_blank" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about Toro Bravo, Fortitude Valley and other Restaurants in Brisbane"><img alt="Toro Bravo Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/16590922/biglink" style="border: none; height: 146px; padding: 0; width: 200px;" /></a> Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965990539589642453.post-48175307546249870452016-04-14T04:11:00.001-07:002016-04-14T05:10:19.040-07:00Lunch at Woka Woka<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Woka Woka</b></span><br />
<i>Shop 20-22 Warrigal Square, 261 Warrigal Rd, Eight Mile Plains</i><br />
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Sometimes when I'm bored on the weekend I'll pop over to mum and dad's and see what they have to offer. Their solution to entertain me is usually to feed me and I'm not one to complain about that.
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For lunch a couple of weeks back, mum and dad took me to Woka Woka at Warrigal square. I wasn't sure what type of food I was in the mood for and they reasoned that since this was fusion Asian, there would be something on the menu to appeal to me.<br />
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The restaurant was actually extremely busy. We just managed to get a table outside. Others who arrived later had to queue up or go elsewhere. I'm not sure if it was our location outdoors or the general busyness but once we were seated it took ages to get the attention of waitstaff. Dad had to go inside to hail someone to take our order.<br />
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The food menu is very varied both in terms of dishes on offer and styles of ordering. You can select from the a la carte menu or order a lunch special or choose a group set. On this day we each chose a dish from the lunch special menu.<br />
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<i>Chicken and corn soup </i></div>
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The lunch specials were served with complimentary chicken and corn soup as well as Hong Kong milk tea. It worked out well because we had ordered a soup dish as well (not realising the lunch specials already came with soup) but Woka Woka forgot to take our soup order. If they remembered the soup we would've had soup overload.<br />
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<i>Eggplant and pork mince </i></div>
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My pick from the lunch specials was the pork mince and eggplant. The eggplant was cooked well though perhaps not quite as mushy as I personally like. The sauce was delicious and a bit on the sweet side, but I enjoyed it.<br />
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<i>Beef brisket curry </i></div>
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Dad ordered the beef brisket curry. Disappointingly, parts of this dish were a bit cold. They must've not heated it up properly. The flavour itself was good and there was a smokiness to the curry that we liked.<br />
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<i>Soy chicken and char siu </i></div>
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Mum's pick of the day was a cold meat selection. This was the most average dish of the lot. The meat was ok but nothing special. We would probably stick to actual cooked dishes from Woka Woka in the future.
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It was a mixed experience at Woka Woka with some service issues (difficulty getting waitstaff attention and a forgotten order) but the food was cheap and in general quite good. There are a lot of dishes on the menu so I imagine that individual experiences would heavily depend on what is ordered.<br />
<a href="https://www.zomato.com/brisbane/woka-woka-1-eight-mile-plains" target="_blank" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about Woka Woka, Eight Mile Plains and other Restaurants in Brisbane"><img alt="Woka Woka Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/17953444/ibiglink" style="border: none; height: 146px; padding: 0px; width: 200px;" /></a> <span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Woka Woka</b></span><br />
<i>Shop 20-22 Warrigal Square, 261 Warrigal Rd, Eight Mile Plains</i><br />
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Sometimes when I'm bored on the weekend I'll pop over to mum and dad's and see what they have to offer. Their solution to entertain me is usually to feed me and I'm not one to complain about that.
<br />
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<!--more--><br />
For lunch a couple of weeks back, mum and dad took me to Woka Woka at Warrigal square. I wasn't sure what type of food I was in the mood for and they reasoned that since this was fusion Asian, there would be something on the menu to appeal to me.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu39y_IFgUp0VrXSsRQoLNrjXsZBCqCLOQcjY4JIrOO0Lvj_R7nnuJ7JcI4bmeh6aTqt3ntbidwhKQvU-Iogfg8eoLfJwhHsO476Ug5yxOwepKJzPboqRrdbkY1-4ewWgUVulfMVhclUQH/s1600/IMG_4501.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu39y_IFgUp0VrXSsRQoLNrjXsZBCqCLOQcjY4JIrOO0Lvj_R7nnuJ7JcI4bmeh6aTqt3ntbidwhKQvU-Iogfg8eoLfJwhHsO476Ug5yxOwepKJzPboqRrdbkY1-4ewWgUVulfMVhclUQH/s400/IMG_4501.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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The restaurant was actually extremely busy. We just managed to get a table outside. Others who arrived later had to queue up or go elsewhere. I'm not sure if it was our location outdoors or the general busyness but once we were seated it took ages to get the attention of waitstaff. Dad had to go inside to hail someone to take our order.<br />
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The food menu is very varied both in terms of dishes on offer and styles of ordering. You can select from the a la carte menu or order a lunch special or choose a group set. On this day we each chose a dish from the lunch special menu.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Chicken and corn soup </i></div>
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The lunch specials were served with complimentary chicken and corn soup as well as Hong Kong milk tea. It worked out well because we had ordered a soup dish as well (not realising the lunch specials already came with soup) but Woka Woka forgot to take our soup order. If they remembered the soup we would've had soup overload.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzmPMNwTsnIBo8eFi3Ahj5IIDonRXgpTjVxRyiyTGKVK5kzru4GD1XpEApi7lR8WYairfm6vQalAtO7iQKRwgvV_cjvFWFpupGowiXM5lb8ZzkFhT92-VJXzKPHYS4T4epW2jbbSXIYxji/s1600/IMG_4499.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzmPMNwTsnIBo8eFi3Ahj5IIDonRXgpTjVxRyiyTGKVK5kzru4GD1XpEApi7lR8WYairfm6vQalAtO7iQKRwgvV_cjvFWFpupGowiXM5lb8ZzkFhT92-VJXzKPHYS4T4epW2jbbSXIYxji/s400/IMG_4499.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i>Eggplant and pork mince </i></div>
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My pick from the lunch specials was the pork mince and eggplant. The eggplant was cooked well though perhaps not quite as mushy as I personally like. The sauce was delicious and a bit on the sweet side, but I enjoyed it.<br />
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<i>Beef brisket curry </i></div>
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Dad ordered the beef brisket curry. Disappointingly, parts of this dish were a bit cold. They must've not heated it up properly. The flavour itself was good and there was a smokiness to the curry that we liked.<br />
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<i>Soy chicken and char siu </i></div>
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Mum's pick of the day was a cold meat selection. This was the most average dish of the lot. The meat was ok but nothing special. We would probably stick to actual cooked dishes from Woka Woka in the future.
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It was a mixed experience at Woka Woka with some service issues (difficulty getting waitstaff attention and a forgotten order) but the food was cheap and in general quite good. There are a lot of dishes on the menu so I imagine that individual experiences would heavily depend on what is ordered.<br />
<a href="https://www.zomato.com/brisbane/woka-woka-1-eight-mile-plains" target="_blank" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about Woka Woka, Eight Mile Plains and other Restaurants in Brisbane"><img alt="Woka Woka Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/17953444/ibiglink" style="border: none; height: 146px; padding: 0px; width: 200px;" /></a> Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965990539589642453.post-88335240829607786782016-04-08T14:15:00.001-07:002016-04-08T14:15:29.808-07:00Melbourne 7 - Brunch at Trunks<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Trunk American Diner</b></span><br />
<i>http://www.trunktown.com.au/</i><br />
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It's shocking to think that I've taken a month to blog only 4 days worth of eating in Melbourne. I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise considering how much we ate but I'm somewhat relieved that I'm up to the last post for this particular trip.<br />
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We had checked out of our hotel and it was about 3hrs till our return flight... just enough time for a spot of brunch.<br />
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Staying where we did, Marc and I walked past Trunk a few times and repeatedly noted how nice it looked. There's something about an open courtyard beer garden with fairy lights that is oh-so-inviting and it was buzzing with clientele at all parts of the day. We decided that our last meal stop in Melbourne would be at the Trunk American Diner. Note: the restaurant, bar and beer garden are all separate sections with separate menus (please refer to the website).<br />
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It was another lovely day so we took up a table outside to enjoy the sunshine. The menu at Trunk Diner was fairly comprehensive with lots of breakfast options, plus some items that were a bit heavier. There was an entire section on pancakes! The milkshakes looked tempting too (Tim Tam Slam anyone?) but I feared I would start regretting anything too heavy on the flight home so we ordered the safe option of coffees instead. My soy latte was fair but Marc's cappuccino was very watery.<br />
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<i>Huevos rancheros </i></div>
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For food, I chose the huevos rancheros, which comprised of a big plate of tortilla, fried eggs, chorizo, beans and more. The feta was an odd addition but I love feta and it just goes so well with avocado. This was a great filling and reasonably light breakfast (if you ignore the chorizo).<br />
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<i>Big breakfast</i> </div>
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Marc ordered the big breakfast, which was so big he couldn't finish it. The serving size was appropriately huge and although the components were cooked well, there's only so much I can write about a 'big breakfast'. I'm going to have to force him to order something different in the future so it's less boring for me to review.<br />
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Trunk American Diner offers hearty breakfast in a bright and friendly environment. I wish I had stomach space for the milkshakes or breakfast cocktails because they sound phenomenal to me. The food we tasted was good and filling but not as outstanding or creative as other meals we tried in Melbourne. The coffee was a disappointment.<br />
<a href="https://www.zomato.com/melbourne/trunk-diner-cbd" target="_blank" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about Trunk Diner, CBD and other Restaurants in Melbourne"><img alt="Trunk Diner Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/16575983/biglink" style="border: none; height: 146px; padding: 0; width: 200px;" /></a> Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965990539589642453.post-71577448768152938572016-04-07T22:17:00.001-07:002016-04-07T22:17:21.825-07:00Melbourne 6 - Dessert at Spring Street Grocer<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Spring Street Grocer</b></span><br />
<i>http://www.springstreetgrocer.com.au/</i><br />
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After our meal at <a href="http://hungry-kittens.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/melbourne-5-dinner-at-warra-warra.html">Warra Warra</a>, I found myself craving ice-cream. This might have something to do with the in depth dinner conversation we had about the quality of gelato in Brisbane versus Melbourne. Obviously my Melbourne buddies were adamant that what we considered good gelato in Brisbane was ass water compared to what they had on offer. I got a bit offended at first but the promise of top quality gelato lured me into wanting to try a place they suggested. We headed for a night time stroll through the city and ended up on Spring Street.<br />
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As the name suggests, Spring Street Grocer is a gourmet grocery store complete with its own veggie section and cheese room. I had a quick look around but my main focus was on the gelataria, which was outside at the front of the store. Apparently one of the 'disadvantages' of getting ice-cream here was lack of choice in flavours but because I'm very simple with what flavours I like to taste, this wasn't a problem for me at all.<br />
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I ordered two flavours in a cup and tried pistachio and fior di datte. It was, in a word: heavenly. I had to concede this was much better in terms of texture and flavour than anything I could get in Brisbane by a fairly long shot. I was reminded of the very best gelato we tasted in Italy.<br />
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In the match up for Brisbane versus Melbourne, we have definitely lost on the gelato category. The pistachio gelato I tasted from Spring Street Grocer was one of the nicest things I put in my mouth this whole year. Now, that isn't fair. Why can't we get something on par in our city?<br />
<a href="https://www.zomato.com/melbourne/spring-street-grocer-cbd" target="_blank" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about Spring Street Grocer, CBD and other Restaurants in Melbourne"><img alt="Spring Street Grocer Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/16580700/biglink" style="border: none; height: 146px; padding: 0; width: 200px;" /></a> Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965990539589642453.post-26439790139746930732016-04-06T13:59:00.002-07:002016-04-06T13:59:20.070-07:00Melbourne 5 - Dinner at Warra Warra<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Warra Warra Korean Kitchen</b></span><br />
<i>http://warrawarrakitchen.com.au/</i><br />
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After one failed attempt to meet my friend Doc for brunch (I simply couldn't wake up in time), we rescheduled a catch up, this time at the safer evening time slot. We were both in the mood for Korean and he suggested Warra Warra.
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Wait a minute. Isn't there a <a href="http://hungry-kittens.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/wara-wara-izakaya.html">Wara Wara (spelt differently)</a> in Brisbane also? I asked him if it was a chain or if "Warra" was just a very common food-related word in Korea. He didn't give me a straight answer so I still have no idea. Based on the style of food I tasted and addition of extra 'r', I assume the two Warra Warras are unrelated.
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This Warra Warra was tucked in a laneway with a couple of other restaurants. We wouldn't have found it without religiously following Google Maps. There were tables inside and out but on this occasion we sat outside.
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Doc seemed to know exactly what he wanted so we let him take care of the ordering. There was a plate of sunflower seeds for us to munch on as we waited for food to arrive. This might seem barely worth mentioning but these sunflower seeds were surprisingly tasty!<br />
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<i>Spicy galbi soup</i></div>
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The first dish that was brought out was a spicy beef soup. Unlike other Korean beef soups I've tried this had actual large chunks of beef and potato. The flavour was bang on though. It made me think this is more of a casserole type dish to have with rice than a soup to drink on its own.<br />
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<i>Scallop pancake </i></div>
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The scallop pancake was very pretty to look at. There were juicy scallop pieces and the whole dish was garnished with dashi flakes and wasabi mayonnaise.<br />
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<i>Korean fried chicken </i></div>
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We selected two different flavours of Korean fried chicken. The soy battered version was delicious but the original was salty. As is often the case with Korean fried chicken, we were given some pickled daikon. I don't mind pickled veggies but I can't see how this compliments chicken.<br />
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<i>Beef bulgogi </i></div>
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Finally we also tried a bulgogi, another Korean classic. This version had a lovely charred aroma that took the dish to another level. We were provided some fresh lettuce leaves for the option of wrapping the beef.<br />
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Warra Warra provided us with a delicious and filling Korean feast. With the exception of the original fried chicken that was excessively salty, everything else was right up my alley.<br />
<a href="https://www.zomato.com/melbourne/warra-warra-kitchen-cbd" target="_blank" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about Warra Warra Kitchen, CBD and other Restaurants in Melbourne"><img alt="Warra Warra Kitchen Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/16581166/biglink" style="border: none; height: 146px; padding: 0; width: 200px;" /></a> Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965990539589642453.post-51059911642825768852016-04-05T18:33:00.001-07:002016-04-05T18:33:44.804-07:00Melbourne 4 - Shabu Shabu Lunch at Momo<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Momo Sukiyaki and Shabu Shabu</b></span><br />
<i>http://www.momoshabushabu.com.au/</i><br />
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Fast forward to the Sunday of our friend's wedding. We were in holiday mood so we probably got out of bed around noon, just in time for lunch. The hotel Marc and I stayed at was just a street away from Chinatown (Little Bourke St) so that's where we headed.<br />
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There were restaurants galore but I wanted to make a decision before we became overwhelmed with options. We thought that Japanese sounded good and gravitated towards Momo. Upon studying the menu further, Marc was disappointed that it specialised in hot pot. As an addict of hot pot and all things soupy, I couldn't be more over the moon. Marriage may be about compromise but on this occasion I put my foot down.<br />
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<i>Umeshu (plum wine) </i></div>
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Best of all, I spotted a seasonal special of black truffle soup base. Hell yeah! It was settled. That's what we would be ordering.
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Momo wasn't too busy when we dined there but I imagine it to be more so the kind of restaurant that kicks off at night. We were seated in a nice quiet nook towards the back of the building where we could much away at everything we ordered without judgement from street passers by.<br />
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<i>Condiments </i></div>
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Along with the soup base, I chose a duo of wagyu beef, an extra serve of mixed mushrooms and some seafood. We were allowed two different soup bases so the other side of our pot was spicy miso.<br />
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Our soup pot was brought out first and a waitress displayed slices of black truffle for us before dispensing it into the truffle side of soup. When you pay a premium for a special ingredient it's nice to be able to see it.<br />
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<i>Oh, my marbelling! </i></div>
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The rest of the ingredients were set on the table not long after and we wasted no time in dunking it into the boiling soup. The wagyu was phenomenal. It was so tender and excellent quality I felt no reservation in leaving some pieces rare.<br />
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<i>Mushroom lover's paradise </i></div>
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I love mixed mushrooms too and here, it really complimented the earthy truffle soup base. I'm not a huge fan of seafood but even the top shell and minced octopus was tasty. The latter was brought out in a bamboo tube and our waitress dolloped the mixture into the soup to cook.<br />
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<i>Octopus mince balls </i></div>
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I loved every single aspect of this meal. I slurped up so much soup (didn't want any to go to waste) that I nearly had to use a back up outfit for the wedding. The beef was the best I've tasted in a long time and when cooked in this manner, the pure quality of meat is really allowed to shine. If you think truffle in a shabu shabu soup base sounds gimmicky, I wholeheartedly disagree. It was so delicious I have literally been craving this dish every day since we tried it at Momo.
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I would kill for Momo to come to Brisbane with its truffle menu. It's simply the stuff of my dreams. I had such a memorable meal there and our waitstaff were lovely throughout.<br />
<a href="https://www.zomato.com/melbourne/momo-sukiyaki-shabu-shabu-cbd" target="_blank" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about Momo Sukiyaki & Shabu Shabu, CBD and other Restaurants in Melbourne"><img alt="Momo Sukiyaki & Shabu Shabu Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/16585500/biglink" style="border: none; height: 146px; padding: 0; width: 200px;" /></a> Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965990539589642453.post-65878424932784035192016-04-04T03:29:00.001-07:002016-04-04T03:29:37.125-07:00Melbourne 3 - Lunch at Carmine's<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Carmine's Bistro</b></span><br />
<i>http://www.carminesbistro.com.au/</i><br />
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Marc and I did the touristy thing while we're in Melbourne and decided to take a stroll along Lygon Street. Most online articles reported the Italian strip along there to be a bit of a tourist trap with inauthentic pizza/pasta combos churned out for unsuspecting interstate/international visitors. I could picture my true Melbournian friends rolling their eyes at how naive we were but I ignored that mental image and focused on enjoying my day. Marc and I like walking as a means to take in new cities so for us, it was a chance to venture away from our hotel.<br />
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I had been to Lygon Street once before with Kat for our weekend away in Melbourne, many years ago. I even spotted <a href="http://hungry-kittens.blogspot.com.au/2010/06/melbourne-day-3-refreshments-at.html">Stuzzichino</a>, a cafe we visited at the time. I'm sure lots of things have changed since 2010 but I felt a bit of nostalgia all the same.<br />
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We were aiming to get to a pizza place that reviewed well but after 30min walking, I checked Google Maps to find it was still 40min away. That reshuffled our plans completely. I may like walking but when hunger strikes, I gotta eat. There were plenty of restaurants around us but Carmine's caught our eye because we could see what some of the other patrons were eating and it looked pretty good.<br />
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The restaurant has outdoor tables and a larger inside space but we took this opportunity to do a bit of street watching. It was an uncharacteristically sunny and warm day in Melbourne so our table was in the sun but one of the restaurant staff extended the patio covering to put us in the shade.<br />
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The food menu comprised of what I think of as standard Italian; pizza, pasta and some protein-based mains. We chose some bruschetta to start and a pizza and pasta dish to share.<br />
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<i>Traditional bruschetta - tomato, garlic and pesto on homemade crunchy bread </i></div>
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Our food arrived reasonably quickly, which was a relief because I was very much feeling the hunger pangs at this point. I chose the classic version of bruschetta with tomato and basil. It was light and fresh.<br />
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<i>Pappardelle ragu - fat pasta served with a slowly cooked rich lamb shank</i> </div>
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When our mains arrived I knew that (as usual) we had ordered too much food. This is somewhat a recurring theme for us. The serving of pappardelle was massive. I find pasta servings at some Italian restaurants can be sparse, leading you to require appetizers and desserts to fill up. This dish had no such problem. The slow cooked lamb shank dominated the plate and underneath was a generous heap of pasta soaked with ragu. I had reserved expectations but this pasta was genuinely delicious. The pappardelle was cooked just right and the ragu was full of flavour.<br />
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<i>Carmine's pizza - chorizo sausage, bocconcini cheese, fresh tomato and spinach, drilled with chili oil</i></div>
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Marc's chosen pizza contained sliced chorizo and cheese, lots and lots of cheese. The base was to my liking; thin with puffy, crunchy edges. The chorizo pieces added nice pops of spiciness. This is more of a share pizza than a solo pizza but Marc rolled up his sleeves and finished the whole thing.<br />
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We thought Carmine's Bistro had some tasty and filling food. Service was fast and we were able to enjoy watching the street goers, as well as some lovely Italian beer. There may be better on offer in Melbourne but as a Brisbane resident, I was satisfied.<br />
<a href="https://www.zomato.com/melbourne/carmines-bistro-carlton" target="_blank" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about Carmine's Bistro, Carlton and other Restaurants in Melbourne"><img alt="Carmine's Bistro Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/16585141/biglink" style="border: none; height: 146px; padding: 0; width: 200px;" /></a> Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965990539589642453.post-32454639997782790492016-04-03T00:25:00.001-07:002016-04-03T00:25:40.066-07:00Melbourne 2 - Banquet at Rumi Restaurant<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Rumi Restaurant</b></span><br />
<i>http://rumirestaurant.com.au/</i><br />
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Perhaps the most urgent meet up I had arranged in Melbourne was with Mochi, my old housemate and long ago co-eater on this blog. I told her as soon as our flights were booked to think of a restaurant we could try. Because this is such a vague request (especially considering how much Melbourne has to offer), I narrowed it down to middle-eastern cuisine.<br />
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We ended up trying Rumi which is a modern Lebanese restaurant in Brunswick East. This was a Saturday night and every restaurant we drove past was busy, busy, busy. Despite having a booking, our table wasn't quite ready but the Maitre d' was very apologetic. Honestly, we were just happy to all be catching up so there was no huge rush but I like when restaurants acknowledge service flaws.<br />
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While we waited, we had plenty of time to peruse the menu. There are lots of varying sizes of share dishes to choose from but for simplicity sake, we ordered the 4 course classic banquet (also available as 5 course with dessert).<br />
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I wasn't ready to embrace alcohol again after a previous night of festivities, so I ordered the Rumi mocktail. Marc chose a beer and Mochi tried the pomegranate juice.
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Our courses were presented as a number of share dishes per course. Each course was spaced a reasonable amount of time apart so that you could pick and graze without being rushed. Some of the components from one course (for example, labne or salad) complimented other dishes too so we had the option of carrying them over to future courses.<br />
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The first spread comprised of labne, flat bread, olives, pickled vegetables and cheese cigars. I enjoyed all of it. The cheese cigars were crunchy, oozy and delicious. Bread and dip is my favourite type of food any time of the day. I personally love olives and I was surprised at how nice the pickled cauliflower was when paired with the dips. I could honestly say that if our meal stopped here, I wouldn't have been disappointed at all. Amazingly there were still 3 courses to come.<br />
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If the first course could be summarised as "breads and appetisers", I would call the next "warm tapas". We were served tender meatballs (so soft they couldn't be picked up), fried calamari and braised mixed vegetables. The vegetables reminded me and Mochi of a Chinese dish (mei gan chai) and we liked it very much.<br />
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Course number three progressed in terms of heartiness. This time we were served grilled quail (enough for a leg and breast per person), fried cauliflower and a refreshing cabbage salad. The salad was unreal! I could eat this every day of my life. Our quail was perfectly cooked and tender too.<br />
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The banquet concluded with the main course of blacked lamb ribs, cos salad and freekah salad. The ribs were striking to look at, almost jet ink black. Contrary to appearance they didn't taste burnt at all and were in fact melt-in-the-mouth tender. I was very full by this point but still devoured my lamb with gusto. The sides were welcomingly simple and sparse (this was a LOT of food, we weren't left wanting) to let the lamb shine.<br />
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I'm so glad Mochi took us to Rumi. It was exactly what I had in mind. The food was plentiful, delicious and I love that banquet style eating allows us to try so many different things. My favourites included the dips, the meatballs, the quail, the cabbage salad and the lamb. Practically everything we ate was a favourite! Of all the cuisines in the world this is probably my favourite.<br />
<a href="https://www.zomato.com/melbourne/rumi-brunswick" target="_blank" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about Rumi, Brunswick and other Restaurants in Melbourne"><img alt="Rumi Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/16572254/biglink" style="border: none; height: 146px; padding: 0; width: 200px;" /></a> Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965990539589642453.post-46418768508934821872016-04-01T00:50:00.001-07:002016-04-03T00:25:52.742-07:00Melbourne 1 - Lunch at Laksa Bar<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Laksa Bar</b></span><br />
<i>108 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne CBD</i><br />
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It's the season for weddings! After Marc and I headed to Noosa for some friends wedding, we spent the following weekend jet setting to Melbourne for another friends wedding. Hey, it's an excuse for me to travel, eat and have time off work so I'm not complaining.<br />
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Melbourne is a good stop for us because as the years have gone on, more and more of our friends have dispersed out of Brisbane and moved interstate. The wedding itself was the highlight but we also took this opportunity to catch up with some old friends.
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I'll blog about our meals chronologically, for ease. Pretty much all Marc and I did in Melbourne was eat, drink and sleep. I'm very stubborn in just how much of a "Brisbane girl" I am and am resolute about not moving away unless absolutely necessary... but having said that, I do admit that Melbourne has got us beat on the food scene. Everywhere we turned, there was another cafe or eatery tucked away that looked amazing.
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On our first meal venture out of our hotel, I was hungover as anything and didn't want to walk far in case my stats started to drop. We spotted Laksa Bar right around the corner and not only was this suitably close, it genuinely looked good to me.<br />
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The dining environment is casual and friendly with staff handing us menus and instructing we order at the counter. The menu contains much more than mere laksa. There are plenty of shared starters, rice dishes and other noodle dishes.
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Within the laksa section alone there were multiple options of main protein, choice of size and the option of a healthier style of laksa. I selected the soft shell crab laksa in 'large' and specified the full fat version. I'm pretty sure this is the least healthy laksa you can get.<br />
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<i>Vegetable spring rolls</i> </div>
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We ordered some vegetable spring rolls to start with. I liked that they had a flakey style of pastry. That made them extra light and crunchy. Unfortunately our filling was cold in the middle. Marc and I are much too passive to ever give food back at a restaurant and we reasoned that cold vegetable centres would be as digestively risky as cold meat centre... so we finished them. And we were fine. From a taste perspective, I obviously prefer fully cooked spring rolls though.
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The laksa bowls themselves were massive. I knew straight away that it was a mistake for me to order large. That I made some decent progress through it is more a testament to my over-eating ability than an indication of how much is required for a satisfying meal.<br />
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<i>Chicken laksa</i> </div>
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Marc ordered the same thing as me but with chicken as his main protein. He also requested extra chili, which arrived in a little dish on the side. Even after emptying this into his bowl, he still didn't think it was spicy enough.<br />
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<i>Soft shell crab laksa </i></div>
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I really enjoyed the soup base. It might be mild for those who like extreme chili but it sure wasn't lacking on flavour. The creamy coconut quality made the soup deliciously drinkable on its own. With the duo texture of noodles it was just so tasty. I liked the usual laksa components like fried tofu and bean sprout. I was surprised to find still-green bok choi in there. The soft shell crab in my dish was good but slightly lacking in flavour. There were so many pieces of whole soft shell crab that I donated some to Marc. Dunked in the laksa soup they tasted pretty good.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif2-Ofv0SlPJezlTSEPsEVeYj_CSq6wqNdu8EZlKq2sMJWDTDsCYPzfVFc6bO2zCkZ7hlg2sjXZtho_Kt9HoAylIW6rxpJmXN5fd3Dj9E7EGFR85o3I8PxYvdTjVEVN2Qjk0bIKiE-ppbu/s1600/IMG_4798.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif2-Ofv0SlPJezlTSEPsEVeYj_CSq6wqNdu8EZlKq2sMJWDTDsCYPzfVFc6bO2zCkZ7hlg2sjXZtho_Kt9HoAylIW6rxpJmXN5fd3Dj9E7EGFR85o3I8PxYvdTjVEVN2Qjk0bIKiE-ppbu/s400/IMG_4798.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I did end up having a post-alcohol emergency about 3/4 way through my meal and had to rush off back to the hotel. I still fondly remember my laksa meal and in hindsight, it must have been pretty good to get me hungry and interested in food when my stomach was otherwise in turmoil. I would have loved a second return visit but the truth is Melbourne has too many food options to stay loyal to one.<br />
<a href="https://www.zomato.com/melbourne/laksa-bar-cbd" target="_blank" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about Laksa Bar, CBD and other Restaurants in Melbourne"><img alt="Laksa Bar Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/16578442/biglink" style="border: none; height: 146px; padding: 0; width: 200px;" /></a> Corahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18316346935940533797noreply@blogger.com0