Glamorous Wok

Glamorous Wok
Shop K4, Sunny Park Shopping Centre, 342 McCullough St, Sunnybank



Now here's a bit of a story...

A couple weeks back, mum and dad took me to this new Chinese restaurant in Sunnybank. We ate, I took photos, blah blah blah... I ended up not being able to blog the place because I didn't know what the restaurant was called in English.



I thought this was a shame because I actually had a lot to say about it.

Lo and behold, just the other day, someone posted a comment on one of my New Zealand posts saying 'you should write about Glamarous Wok!'

Cafe Mondial for Breakfast

Cafe Mondial
http://www.cafemondial.com.au/



Last weekend involved a short trip back to Brisbane for Byron's birthday. We had a tight schedule and needed to be on the way to Toowoomba before a certain time. Because of this, breakfast was a strictly timed affair.

We were staying in the city and decided to eat at the first 'ok-looking' cafe we came across.



This happened to be Cafe Mondial.

Chicken and Sweet Potato Casserole with Caramelized Red Onion

Chicken and Sweet Potato Casserole
Home Cooking



It's that time of the year when slow cooker recipes are much more in demand. For me, it's not just great because slow cooked meals tend to be thick, comforting and hearty (perfect for Winter) but because I can make a big batch to refrigerate and eat throughout the week.

I ended up at a Taste.com recipe which ironically isn't slow-cooked but it sounded so good I made it anyway. It was perfect for me because I bought a huge bag of sweet potato that I didn't know what to do with so when I saw 'sweet potato' in the title, I knew it would do.

I used the original recipe for inspiration but didn't follow the quantities that specifically.

Sweet and Sour Pork with Fried Rice

Sweet and Sour Pork with Fried Rice
Home Cooking



No points for guessing why it is that 9pm last night, after we'd already had dinner, we decided to make sweet and sour pork. I had been watching Masterchef at the gym while Byron was watching at home and though these were different situations, the same thought bubble arose: Need Sweet And Sour Pork Now.



We'd just spent the weekend with an empty fridge/pantry because we were too lazy to go grocery shopping so we stockpiled a mountain of frozen snacks and also picked up the necessary ingredients.

Steak Sandwich with Rocket Pesto

Steak Sandwich with Rocket Pesto
Home Cooking



I've been trying really hard to accumulate stuff to blog. I haven't been out anywhere spectacular for a while. I am too tired to cook anything interesting when I get home (boiled veggies with olive oil hardly deserves merit). When I've been back in Brisbane lately, I found myself gravitating to old, familiar restaurants rather than venturing to new places. Exactly NOT what a food blogger should be doing.


In the face of all this... 'unproductivity', I have been trying to make SOMETHING to write about. I attempted gnocchi last week, which turned out OK but the sauce was a disaster. Unbloggable. We saw them make rosti on Masterchef and tried to make sweet potato rosti. Unfortuantely we made the incorrect decision to take a bath while the potatoes were boiling and ended up trying to grate and fry mashed potato... not successful by any standards.

Toowoomba Fish Depot

Toowoomba Fish Depot
Shop 10, 192-198 James St, Toowoomba



Mochi had been promising me 'amazing fish and chips from this amazing fish shop' for weeks. Somehow we never got around to it until one day Byron and I couldn't figure out what to get for tea and Mochi mentioned the fish and chip shop again. Only problem was she was about to start cooking her own food. We staged a hurried intervention and peer-pressured her into showing us where the fish was.



It was an adventure getting there because whilst trains in Toowoomba are not that frequent, one somehow intercepted our route 2 times.

King Ahiram Lebanese Food

King Ahiram Lebanese Food
88 Vulture St, West End



Mochi and I were in the fabulous position of needing a quick bite before our Thai massage appointment during the Labor Day long weekend. If there ever was a good reason to rush food, that would be it.



We thought somewhere in West End would be convenient because that's where our appointment was too. After trawling up and down Boundary Street, we ended up at King Ahiram's. We're both huge fans of Greek/Turkish/Middle-Eastern food so it seemed like a good idea.

Flute Fine Food for Brunch

Flute Fine Food
4/380 Cavendish Road, Coorparoo



I was stuck in Toowoomba on Mother's Day so mum and I decided to delay it a week to this weekend. We settled for brunch on Saturday, followed by a fishing trip on Sunday.



When I started searching for a potential breakfast spot that I haven't already been to, I found Flute and was happy to see that it was close by too. Flute is located on Cavendish Road, next to Cream, which was one of my favorite cake cafes when I lived in Brisbane.

NZ Trip - PHOTOS! My 'Best of' Series

New Zealand Eye Candy



As a short interlude before I return to more local reviews (i.e. Brisbane and Toowoomba), here are the favorite of my photos from New Zealand. I hope you Enjoy!

NZ Trip - Arrowtown Bakery

Arrowtown Bakery and Cafe
http://www.arrowtownbakery.netfirms.com/



On the morning of my last day in New Zealand, we stopped at Arrowtown to look at the leaves. Mum is extreme when it comes to deciduous tree colour appreciation.

I, on the other hand, was quite excited about this cute cafe. Arrowtown has a small strip of shops, mostly cafes, restaurant and giftshops though I did spot a wine cellar too.

This cafe was the first we came across and it looked inviting and warm.

There was a full breakfast menu but we were all stuffed from the Skyline buffet which we had the night before so we settled for an assortment of smaller items.

NZ Trip - Skyline Restaurant

Skyline Gondola Restaurant and Luge
Brecon St, Queenstown



Queenstown was the last major city that we stopped at during my recent trip to New Zealand. My mum organized a ride up the gondola to the Skyline restaurant for a buffet dinner.



I'll start by mentioning that the view was spectacular. We hung out on the top floor and snapped many photos. After working up an appetite, we headed to the restaurant.

NZ trip - The Olive Tree Cafe in Te Anau

The Olive Tree Cafe
52 Town Centre, Te Anau



The rest of the gang got back from a cruise through Doubtful Sounds and were grumbling for a meal. I had just spend a day and half wandering through Te Anau aimlessly and knew there was basically one main street that contained most of the cafes and restaurants.



We stopped by The Olive Tree Cafe because it seemed cosy and busy. I asked to sit outside and instantly regretted this because it was freezing... but had too much pride to suggest changing tables.

NZ trip - ROOM SERVICE!

ROOM SERVICE!
Dining out - but... 'in'



Continuing on with the theme of my previous post i.e. Cora alone in a hotel in New Zealand. I went a bit trigger happy with self-indulgences, one of which was 2 hours worth of back-to-back massages.



To put the icing on the cake, I decided I would order myself some room service under the pretence that it was too embarrassing to dine out alone (which is true).