Piefection for Lunch

Piefection Gourmet Pies
http://www.piefection.com.au/

Pies and pizza fall into the same category for me. The thought of a greasy frozen meat pie with fake mince slop, or a fast food puffy-based pizza drowned in cheese both make me want to hurl. On the other hand, gourmet, crafted pizza and pies always draw me in. I promise it's not because I'm an uppity snob. I genuinely feel that with these two groups of food, the variations are on entirely different planes.

I first heard about Piefection on my own blog, via a comment by a reader (thanks Audrey!) While I was living in Toowoomba, it wasn't easy to plan a trip there. I remember one day, I finished work at around 4pm and rushed to Brisbane in an attempt to stop by at Piefection before it closed. I think that timing-wise, I would have been fine but it just got too stressful so I went home instead.

Alfredo's for Pizza and Cocktails

Alfredo's Pizzeria
http://www.alfredos.com.au/

Alfred and Constance is one of those places that I've wanted to visit since it first opened. I even made arrangements to have drinks/food there but fate intervened and so far, it hasn't happened. Since getting back from Europe, I almost despaired to see that the guys behind Alfred and Constance have branched out a couple of new venues. What hopes do I have of ever catching up? Oh well I won't complain; now it seems, more and ever that Brisbane is getting exciting in the dining and drinking department.

I had a great opportunity to try Alfredo's Pizzeria last week. My friends Jaws and Blossom and I met up Friday night to check out the RAWartist exhibit at the Arena, Fortitude Valley. In particular, I wanted to see some of Elle Will's work up close because she is an amazing artist; killer with coloured pencils, and single-handedly inspired me to start drawing again.

Sparrow and Finch for Weekday Lunch

Sparrow and Finch
100 Creek St (corner Adelaide St), Brisbane CBD

Even though I don't actually work in Brisbane CBD, I consider myself a regular city-goer from my uni days where campus was literally a couple streets away from Queen Street Mall. Sparrow and Finch has been on my radar for a while but it wasn't until recently that I got to try the place.

I happened to have some errands to run in the city so Marc and I met up for lunch. I've been trying to maintain a healthy diet so out of all the temptations that were available, I suggested Sparrow and Finch because in my mind, it seemed like the kind of place that would serve a decent salad.

Red and White Restaurant for a Peruvian Feed

Red and White Restaurant
http://redandwhiterestaurant.com.au/

Despite having tasted an extensive list of restaurants in West End and surrounding suburbs, there was one that always eluded me. Red and White had been on my radar since around high school days, and trust me, I have been out of high school for a long, long time. It's one of those restaurants that looks unique and inviting but is very low key. It's located on the busy Melbourne Street so I drive past it frequently. Usually, by the time I notice it, I've already had dinner elsewhere.

The perfect occasion for trialling the restaurant came up last Wednesday. I had arranged to catch up with my friend JT over dinner. We were discussing venues when I remembered Red and White. It so happened that JT had travelled to Peru recently and loved it there. He had heard of this restaurant before and was dying to see if the food was authentic. I figured what better chance was there to try Peruvian food than with someone who would know if it was any good.

Huge BBQ Lunch Courtesy of Meatcart

Meatcart Online Butcher
http://www.meatcart.com.au/

One of the perks of being a food blogger is being able to try new products and services as they become available. I was approached by Meatcart, a premium online butcher that delivers to your door, to taste some of their products.

I wasn't sure what to expect but one day last week, I got a knock on the door and a guy had a huge bag of goodies for me. It was a chilled freezer bag with a package labelled 'Summer Sizzler Pack - BBQ Master'. I was excited to find a variety of meats, including US ribs, beef sausages, lamb rump steak and beef rump steak.

What better way to sample everything than by having a huge backyard barbie? We called our family and friends over and that's exactly what we did this weekend.

Flowers of the World Organic Cafe

Flowers of the World
Little Stanley Street, South Bank Parklands

Keeping in the theme of catching up with friends after my lengthy European excursion, I met with the beautiful Blossom for brunch last Sunday. We had planned to try French Martini but it was closed, so we stopped a few doors down at Flowers of the World.

The thing that drew me to this cafe were the flowers. Interestingly, just as I was gushing over how pretty all the flowers were, Blossom proclaimed that she hates flowers. How ironic, considering her nickname on this blog! There's a lesson for you guys: not all women are made equal.

Depot for Dinner

Depo, West End
http://the-depo.com/

After my long absence from Australia, I've finally started gathering material for blog posts again. I'm glad (and slightly overwhelmed) that there appears to be so many new restaurants/cafes/bars that have popped up in Brisbane in the time that I've been gone. Depo is one such venue that I'd never heard of before but is now much-mentioned in the foodie blogosphere.

With the number of catch-ups that I'm undertaking on my return, it's easy to try new places. Last night, my friend Pizza and I met up at Depo to scope the place out. It's located on Horan Street in West End, which is quiet and dark at night with ample street parking.

One last thing...

... before I get back to posting reviews.


My healthy cooking and eating blog Coralia's Kitchen has just been launched! Follow along to keep up to date with new recipes and guidelines.

Back home!

Hi friends!!

I've landed back in Australia as of last week. Still battling jet lag but otherwise, it feels like I never left.

In a turn of unfortunate events, I lost my camera overseas, had my phone stolen, got a new phone in Paris which I used to take food photos and when I tried to insert an Optus simcard inside at home, it erased all my photos.

I am BUMMED because I had heaps of blog posts drafted up and ready to go but now I have no photos to go with them.

In any case, don't worry because I'll be back to writing Brisbane reviews in no time. When I'm feeling extra determined, I might try and sort through my holiday photos to find enough to accompany my blog posts.

Since being back, I've also started a clean-eating and fitness regime so my at-home recipes will be guilt-free, delicious and good for you. To follow that along, subscribe to Coralia's Kitchen. You can follow on Instagram @coraliaskitchen.

There's not much going on with the blog at the moment but that will change once things become less chaotic.

Ciao xo