Anouk

Anouk
212 Given Tce, Paddington



I've started the grueling task of Christmas shopping. One of my stops was a gourmet food store (Gourmet Providores) on Given Terrace so we decided to also get lunch around there.

It's been a while since I ventured onto Given Terrace. I remember the last time I went, I spotted a cafe that I wanted to try. We walked past it again yesterday and I realized it was Anouk.



Anouk was packed. We decided to try our luck by asking for a table and if there weren't any free, we would move on to someplace else. Amazingly, we acquired a table for 2 (what appeared to be the last vacant spot in the entire cafe).

UQ Schonell Pizza Caffe

UQ Schonell Pizza Caffe
Schonell Theatre, Uni Of Qld Union Rd, St Lucia



The past couple of years, the only time I've stepped into St Lucia campus was for exam revision so I don't exactly have kind associations there. Yesterday was graduation day and I took the chance to enjoy the only thing one thing I'm guaranteed to miss from uni - the pizza cafe (which is spelt with double 'f' on their website).

No one is allowed to touch the food before I get my shots :D

To provide some scene setting, I'll first say that yesterday was steaming hot. I was sweating so much I had to peel myself from the seat of my car, and that's WITH the air-conditioning provided by my car. When I got outside, I had to deal with the impossibilities of trying to find my mum ("Where are you??? The library?? There are more than 5 libraries here!!! Which one are you at?? What do you mean there's grass here?? There's grass everywhere!!!").

Siana in the Valley for a platter with bubbly

Siana Bar Dining Lounge in Fortitude Valley
http://www.sianavalley.com.au/



I've been to the city Siana once before for a curry Buffet and dessert platter. The meal was lovely and I left with a good impression so I was keen to see if the Valley Siana was in the same vein.



After the trouble finding parking (I think they have on-site parking but we missed the turn and parked a few streets away), we got to the restaurant, which is located on the ground floor of the HQ complex. On first sight, it looks like an office building, tall with lots of glass.

Fab Fish & Burger Grill

Fab Fish and Burger Grill
Shop 12, The Barracks, 61 Petrie Terrace, Paddington



I don't often head to Paddington because I've got it in my head that parking is really difficult to find. Luckily, that's not an issue when someone else is driving and it's their job to find parking.

Paddington street art

I heard about Fab as I was browsing other food blogs and suddenly got a burger craving. We headed there today for lunch.

Banana Cake with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting and Cashew Praline

Banana Cake with White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting and Cashew Praline
Home Cooking



We had a banana crisis in our house last week. Usually, bananas get eating up fairly quickly because they're easy to eat and don't require washing or cutting (we're very lazy). This particular bunch contained GIANT bananas that no one seemed to want to touch. Mum went through a few by cutting them in half and eating a bit at a time but by the end of the week, we had these giant, browning bananas and dad, who never gives me baking requests said 'please do something with those'.


I've made many banana breads before so to try something different, I typed banana cake into Google to see what would come up. I was instantly attracted by this recipe and ended up using it. I followed it for the most part but forgot to buy sour cream so I substituted that for yogurt instead. I know it's normal to substitute natural yogurt for sour cream but I admit mine was just a normal flavored tub, the type you snack on. The cake still turned out fine and I couldn't taste any of the yogurt at all... though, if you must know, I used 'stick date pudding' flavor. I also modified the frosting a bit (left out the sour cream).

Garnish Bistro

Garnish Bistro
http://www.garnishbistro.com/



I have a special short list of restaurants that NEED to be attended to before I leave for Toowoomba. We decided on Garnish for today and drove out to Kangaroo Point in the rain to see what they were all about.



The Garnish Bistro website is put together with some cheesy graphics and a retirement village color scheme (sorry web design team!) so I expected it to be, well, amateurish... but when I saw the actual restaurant, I was pleasantly surprised.

Pasta with Ben and Jerry

Pasta with Ben and Jerry
Home Cooking



Today, a tray of 4 tomatoes cost me $13.

This is the story...

Last night, I was watching Gourmet Farmer on SBS and Matt made this really simple pasta that somehow looked amazing. He was investigating the use of goat produce, namely goat's milk and goat's cheese. The pasta involved fresh tomato, basil, olive oil and goat's cheese tossed with freshly cooked pasta. Sounds easy, yeh?



I woke up today with a huge craving for it and thought 'I won't even need lots of ingredients... this will be a cinch'.

Salt @ Rosalie for Dessert

Salt Food Wine Coffee
5 Nash St, Paddington



After finishing a gloriously heavy meal at Archive, what better to do than find somewhere to have dessert? Look, it's not because I'm piggy, alright? I haven't been out to eat in a long while. I have obligations as a food blogger. This is about doing it for Hungry Kittens! And not at all about my sweet tooth :D.



I've exhausted most of the 'dessert' places around Brisbane. It's a mark of how dedicated I am to finding new restaurants to write about that I resisted the temptation of going to Max Brenner. Where else then? With Freestyle out of the question (I've blogged that place twice now), there are limited options. Most cafes that specialize in desserts don't last long (I only just found out today that Room4Dessert has closed down) or have been visited already (Milany and Mud come to mind) so we thought we'd just find a random restaurant and try out their dessert menu.

Archive 2 for 1 Wednesday

Archive Beer Boutique and Bistro
www.archivebeerboutique.com.au



I'd heard about the Archive two for one special a few times from Hien but just never really paid attention. Then, I stumbled across the information myself and told him on Facebook 'hey, check this out!' and he did the whole exasperated 'I told you this already' thing.



Irrespective of whose good idea it was, we went to Archive tonight to take advantage of their sweet deal. It is located in West End beneath the Uber night club. As I approached the restaurant from across the street, I said 'it looks pretty quiet'. The moment we stepped up to it (passing the bouncer who checked ID and decided we were of legal dining age), I ate my words... the place was packed.

Vue Restaurant at Pacific Golf Course

Vue Restaurant at Pacific Golf Course
430 Pine Mountain Rd, Carindale



Today was an interesting today. I got my car (aka a lump of metal that barely runs) serviced for the first time. While we were waiting, grandpa took us to the Pacific Golf Course to get signed up.

How strange.

I did mention to him that I was moving to Toowoomba and would perhaps not benefit greatly from a membership at a local Brisbane golf club, but he insisted.



We sat around enjoying the view. It was actually very nice. The weather was great today and a golf course is always, well, green and smooth.

After lounging around for 2hrs or so, during which time the topic of golf was covered at least 3 times, we finally made it to lunch time.

Hungry Kittens now has a new Facebook page!

Ahhh technology...



I can admit unabashedly that Facebook is part of my life. I am one of those people that opens up then Facebook App on my iPhone even when I already have Facebook loaded up on my computer.

It then makes sense that my beloved food blog should have its own Facebook page so that readers who, like me, are Facebook addicts can get notified of new posts via their favorite social network website. This idea was suggested to me by a fan of this blog (thanks again Idrhys) and I put it into action right away.

If you like this blog and enjoy reading my posts, please click 'Like' to show your support. I ADORE going out to eat, cooking and writing reviews and it's great to know that others are following along.

Everyone feel free to write on my wall and give suggestions, either about the blog, the page, restaurants you think are good (or not so good) or recipes you're digging right now.
Food is social (and messy)

To me, food is such a social activity, whether you're eating out or cooking at home. Brisbane is still (as I write) a relatively small town and we don't have as much of a foodie network as say, Sydney or Melbourne. Let's change that and get in touch with others who have similar interests. Restaurant reviews, like many things (including where to get your hair cut or your car serviced), is best spread through word of mouth. Similarly, recipes are open to improvements and adjustments.

So everyone, let's get talking :D.

6 course degustation at O Bar & Grill

O Bar and Grill Restaurant
www.obarandgrill.com.au



It seems as though everything I'm blogging these days is for some kind of celebration or other. It's just that time of the year I suppose! Mum found these Spreets deals for O Bar and Grill and bought vouchers for 6 people. She then delegated the task of booking to me. Apparently I was supposed to wait until after graduation (yes, this is another graduation event) but I got hasty.


The booking wasn't easy to get because I kept getting either a busy line or no one picking up. When I finally did get through, the lady couldn't hear half of what I was saying because someone else was trying to call and so the phone was beeping.

Pre-graduation graduation dinner at the UQ Customs House

UQ Customs House
http://www.customshouse.com.au/



Graduation day is looming and our year got together for one final formal celebration before we don the cloaks and hats and wave uni goodbye forever (except for those crazies who want to pursue post-grad of course).



Our oral path lecturer not-so-kindly pointed out that having a celebratory dinner before we've graduated is a bit presumptuous but we weren't to let those fearful thoughts deter us.

Veggie Breakfast Fry-up

Veggie Breakfast Fry-up

Home Cooking

I haven't done a breakfast post in a while! Part of that is because I've just forgotten about them and also because during exam time, my eating got really erratic and breakfast was often missed.

I know, I know, that's bad, unhealthy, irresponsible, a form of eating sin rarara. The fact is, busy people often miss breakfast or get up so early that they're just not hungry at the time.
Soon as the stressful period was over, I treated myself to my version of a healthy, fulfilling breakfast.

Noodle City

Noodle City
359 Ruthven St, Toowoomba



Given that I have the advantage of knowing a local (Byron), it should follow that I get some inside info on where the goods are.

Having said that, Byron didn't exactly exude confidence with his recommendations, preluding everything with 'I haven't been there for years. It might not still be open'.

I nearly walked right past Noodle City. It's a small shop on a main street but I don't know if it was the time we were there but for whatever reason, the street was mostly deserted. Noodle City did have a fair few people inside ordering takeaway though.

We were promised that a) it was nothing like Noodle Box (which I find boring) and b) that it was awesome.

House hunting and pizza feasting in Toowoomba

La Porchetta for pizza OD
200A Hume Street, Toowoomba



So, everyone... I am moving to Toowoomba. My food blog is still going to be Brisbane-based but I'm going to sneak in the odd Toowoomba review, starting today.

Driving to Toowoomba

I've been going up and back quite often these days to try and secure accommodation. House inspections are fun for like... a day and then the novelty wears off when you realize how competitive it is and how much paperwork is involved.

I am SO SICK OF WRITING MY NAME AND DRIVERS LICENSE NUMBER DOWN.

You's Noodle Place

You's Noodle Place
8/200 Old Cleveland Road, Coorparoo



The sad thing about uni ending is that it'll get harder and harder to get together for group events when your friends are all going all over the place for work. I've known Mochi and T since maaaybe first year but at the latest, second year uni. We've had many awesome moments involving numerous birthday parties (our birthdays are within a week of each other), D and Ms and gossip sessions.



After finishing our final exam for our final year, we KNEW we'd have to do something together to mark the end of an 'at times rewarding, at many more times stressful' stage of our lives.

Birthday and farewell party at Modern Thai

Modern Thai Restaurant
http://www.modernthai.com.au/



A friend of mine from uni used to always rave about this Thai restaurant called Modern Thai. He had a birthday and farewell party there this past weekend and I was lucky enough to be invited along and join the celebrations. I was waaayyyy excited because after all his positive reviews, I really wanted to try the place.



Modern Thai is located on the corner of Logan and Creek roads. I drive past it all the time and it looks very snappy and contemporary (I wanted to avoid using the word 'modern' :p). There is an indoor dining area and an enclosed outside area... which is where the party was located.

Eros Cafe

Eros Cafe
76 Boundary Street, West End



Today, my plan was to get food at West End, see Harry Potter at Southbank and purchase some art supplies from the city. Well, 2 out of 3 isn't bad... Harry missed out because I couldn't figure out how to prebook tickets on my phone and we knew we didn't have a good chance of getting a seat otherwise.



As for food, I did my usual will-bending to persuade Hien out of going to a restaurant he was really in the mood for (today it was Kafe Meze) just because I'd already blogged it. I noticed Eros which seemed to also do Mediterranean food (Turkish rather than Greek) so it was a nice compromise.

Half Time Tea Bar

Half Time Tea Bar
Shop 17, Market Square, Cnr Mains Rd and McCullough St, Sunnybank



I'm close to exhausting the supply of Market Square eateries that I haven't been to. I was meeting my uni friend (soon to be just 'friend' since we're BOTH GRADUATING FROM UNI, YAY!) for dinner and he wanted to go somewhere I could blog. Which was super nice because most of my dining companions find my blogging habit to be a nuisance especially when they're craving food from a restaurant and I insist on going somewhere new instead.



Half Time Tea Bar is located next to the very popular and thoroughly-stocked Yuen's Market (an Asian grocery store). It's in a busy stretch of Market Square and like most of the eateries there, seems to target students.

The restaurant itself has a young, contemporary style that reminds me of shopping center cafes. On a side note, they had some artworks on display on the wall (not sure if they're on sale or purely decorative) but I really liked those paintings! Kudos to the artists.

Chocolate Caramel Slice

Chocolate Caramel Slice

Home Cooking



During my exam panic a week ago, I developed some odd cravings... one was for caramel slice. It's a really simple, common, basic dessert you see in certain cafes, bakeries and school fetes. I never thought much about them before but suddenly, they seemed like the most enticing sweet food item on the planet.

I had to make some.

 
Amazingly, I had most of the ingredients in my pantry thanks to my forgetting about a can of condensed milk that I bought. Coconut, brown sugar and flour are staples in my house. All I really had to really purchase was some chocolate (which can't be a staple in my house because temptation is too difficult to resist).

My recipe was from Exclusively Food, though I halved the quantities to make less. Please click into their site to get the original quantities.

Happy Bowl Vietnamese Kitchen

Happy Bowl Vietnamese Kitchen
Shop 121 Sunnybank Plaza Mains Rd, Sunnybank



I finished my final day of clinic last week and wanted a mini celebration to mark the event. Unfortunately it was only 4pm or so when I got to Sunnybank so many restaurants weren't open. After dawdling around, we found Happy Bowl in Sunnybank Plaza.


I actually have a bit of history with happy bowl. Back in junior highschool, I had braces (for orthodontic treatment) and every month or so, I had to leave class early to get the wires adjusted. That involved mum taking some time off work to accompany me. To make things a bit more fun, she took me out to eat after. We often went to Toscani's at Carindale where I would order a lunch-sized pasta (N.B. I just clicked the Toscani's link and realized I've told the same story before :D). Or, we would go to Happy Bowl where I'd order a crispy chicken. Back in those days, there was nothing better on the plate than crispy chicken! Of course it was excruciating to eat after getting the wires tightened but I was found it well worth it.

Congee Party

Multigrain Congee with an assortment of spicy sides
Home Cooking



A couple of weeks back, I came down with something nasty: a persistent, collaborative effort between a few bad bugs resulting in a throat and eye infection. I copped all the usual symptoms: fever, weakness, sore joints blah blah blah... but one thing I didn't seem to suffer was loss of appetite.

Part of that has to be attributed to an awesome discovery my mum made of this multigrain rice mix. It comprises of an assortment of good grains including barley, buckwheat, sorghum and etc. You can cook it as rice or increase the water content and simmer time to make congee. Mum made me the congee version and I instantly fell in love. There's something about chewing on 5 different grain textures at one time that not only tastes good but 'feels' good for the jaws. Am I odd? Perhaps.



Anyway, not long after that, Byron had a craving for congee with (and I quote) 'lots of sides and pickles and things'. I suggested using the multigrain stuff I had at home, which was accepted, and he organised the rest.

Tiramisu Layer Cake

Tiramisu Layer Cake
Home Cooking



I was in an embarrassing situation sometime last week. Or was it the week before? We had a lunch function for Melbourne Cup and everyone was instructed to bring a plate. That week I was super sick and also didn't know how 'big' the event would be so I got it into my head that a packet of biscuits and some dip would suffice.



It was rather awkward when our contributions were gathered together and everyone else had brought home-cooked meals and baked desserts. I thought I'd die from shame if someone asked me 'which one is yours?'

Luckily that never happened but I still felt internal guilt for the rest of the lunch.

Parkland Chinese Restaurant

Parkland Chinese Restaurant
Shop 38 Sunnypark Shopping Centre, corner Mains Road and McCullough Street, Sunnybank



It doesn't take long for word to spread in Brisbane. I heard from a friend that there was a new yum cha restaurant open in the shopping plaza 'across the road from Market Square'. When we went to explore a couple of weeks back, I noted that it was huge, on par with Landmark. I then found out that it was opened up by the owners of Landmark so all that kinda makes sense.



When grandpa wanted a place to host a celebration dinner party, dad suggested Parkland because we're always curious about new Chinese restaurants in Brisbane. We ended up going last Friday night.

Melting Moments

Melting Moments
Home Cooking



Now that MasterChef is over, I hardly ever have MasterChef-induced cravings that force me to make certain food items. This is probably the closest occurrence since then...

I listen to the radio every morning on the way to clinic and B105 are doing this 'Senior Masterchef' competition where listeners are encouraged to nominate their friends/family-members who are mature-aged and know how to cook. One lady was short-listed and she brought in a plate of melting moments. Obviously, because it was on radio I didn't get to see/smell the products but the way the morning crew were describing them made them sound like heaven on earth.

That was a few days ago and I had a craving for melting moments ever since.



Though I have probably got the worst social memory out of everyone I know (i.e. I can remember out of necessity e.g. for study but can barely remember my classmates from earlier this year), I vaguely recall melting moments being one of my earliest cooking attempts. I have no idea how they turned out... and bare in mind that this might not have happened at all.