Lunch at La Ferme Provencale, Tamborine Mountain

La Ferme Provencale
http://www.lafermeprovencale.com/

My paternal grandparents love food in all forms. I'm pretty sure I inherited my food enthusiasm direct from my grandpa. I'll often think of nice new restaurants or interesting types of cuisines that I think they'd like. It's rare for my grandparents to find something they want to try on their own so when my dad told me they really wanted to visit this French restaurant in Tamborine Mountain, I was intrigued.

My grandparents found out about La Ferme Provencale through a local free Chinese-language newspaper. This deterred me because I couldn't imagine why a really good and confident French restaurant would find it necessary to advertise to Chinese locals/tourists. I did a bit of Googling and discovered La Ferme had reasonable reviews. Some good, some bad, but good enough that we decided it was worth trying.

Dinner at Lutece

Lutece Bistro and Wine Bar
http://lutece.com.au/

I've been on something of a french cuisine rampage these past couple of weeks. As more reviews emerge, you'll see what I mean. The first of these was our visit to Lutece late last week. The skrimp in me is always excited when restaurants on my 'to do' list offer specials. When one popped up for Lutece, I couldn't book fast enough. The downside is we had to get there a lot earlier than we like to dine out but in exchange for discounted dishes, who's complaining?

The restaurant is located in a little complex opposite Mundo Churrasco. You want to have a reasonable idea of where you're going because we didn't, and we missed the entrance and ended up having to do a gigantic loop around the block. There is parking on site so as long as you don't miss the entrance, everything is sweet.

Breakfast at Delikatessen (Surfer's Paradise)

Delikatessen Surfer's Paradise
2 Elkhorn Avenue, Surfer's Paradise

It's a sign that I'm running behind on blog posts when there are things I haven't written about that I experienced nearly a month ago. Jenny and I visited the Gold Coast for a weekend for a friend's hens celebration. The next morning, we were hung over and hungry and craving something hearty yet nourishing for breakfast.

Delicious Shared Nibblies from Hatch and Co, Newstead

Hatch and Co, Newstead
Gasworks, 76 Skyring Tce, Newstead

Hunting for a fun place to eat and drink on a Monday night poses the same sort of challenges as trying to dine out on a public holiday. A whole bunch of venues I looked up were closed. Through some poor planning, I thought Tippler's Tap was open so Hien and I drove to Newstead only to find the whole street absolutely deserted. Because the Gasworks complex was just a short stroll away, I suggested we eat there instead.

I had been to the Garden City location of Hatch and Co previously with Kat and we both loved it. Interestingly, most people I mentioned this to claimed the Newstead original was even better. Needless to say I was excited to see for myself. I hadn't been to Gasworks at night and it's actually got a really nice feel to it. Quite a few restaurants were open on Monday night but most were very empty compared to Hatch and Co. I was worried we wouldn't even get a table without a booking but we were accommodated for without dramas.

Dinner and Drinks at Tomahawk

Tomahawk Bar
http://www.tomahawkbar.com.au/

Last Thursday night Marc and I made a movie date to see American Sniper. No fun outing is complete without food so I started brainstorming dinner options. I had porked out on 2 caramel cookies for 'breakfast' and I insisted we have a light meal. Then I remembered that Tomahawk had opened in Southbank so I told Marc "that's where we're going". He looked at the menu, with its contents of burgers and fries and beer, and questioned the lightness of my choice but didn't actively try and persuade me otherwise.

We were reassured over e-mail that no bookings are necessary and there were indeed plenty of seats available. We took up a table outside to enjoy the mild weather. Because we'd looked at the menu earlier, we knew exactly what we wanted to order.

Lunch at Rice Paper Scissors

Rice Paper Scissors
Level 1, Gourmet Food Court, Indooroopilly Shopping Centre, Indooroopilly

As someone who not only loves food but loves a wide variety of food, it's hard to pinpoint any cuisine that I could call 'regular'. If I was forced to choose one, I would say that Vietnamese is the best fit. It's the type of cuisine that I most often return to when I feel like something simple mid-week. Vietnamese cuisine is clean, flavoursome and a lot more 'repeatable' than say, typical Italian fare, which is bound to make us gain weight after several subsequent meals.

Certain errands brought me to Indooroopilly Shopping Centre and I was delighted to see a new Vietnamese fast food outlet had opened up downstairs. I managed to stop over for lunch on two occasions in the past week, which has given me plenty to review.

Dinner at BBQ Tonight

BBQ Tonight Cafe and Restaurant
Shop 7, 2120 Logan Road, Upper Mount Gravatt

I went on a coupon online shopping spree last week and picked up a 3 course bargain from a restaurant I'd never heard of called BBQ Tonight. Maybe I should have felt wary about something so unknown and under-reviewed. It wouldn't be the first time a coupon destination turned out to be a sad, unpopulated hovel. However, I was drawn in by the large volume of purchases, reasonable Urbanspoon feedback and the promise of Pakistani cuisine, something I hadn't tried before.

Motto Motto for Dinner

Motto Motto
http://www.mottomotto.com.au/

Motto Motto started making waves through the Brisbane foodie network in the last few weeks. As soon as I heard of it, so many things about this restaurant ticked the right boxes that I knew I had to try it out. It's a casual Japanese restaurant serving simple and affordable lunch options. The brains behind this new venue are the same folk who own Sono (Portside and CBD locations), which has a reputation for fine dining Japanese in Brisbane. I was curious to see what their more 'everyday' counterpart would be like.

Kat and I had an early (and I mean pensioner early) dinner last Friday night at Motto Motto. Because of the time of day, shoppers had gone home and dinner-goers hadn't really set out yet. As a result, I experienced for the first time a completely stress-free parking experience at Westfield Garden City.

Lunch at Gertrude and Mabel

Gertrude and Mabel
212 Gladstone Road, Dutton Park

When I moved out of Toowoomba, it would have been nice to think I would never, ever have to go back there. I don't mean any offence to Toowoomba residents, it's more that I'm was raised a Brissie girl and circumstantially, I had a rough time there.

Unfortunately life doesn't always pan out as you would hope and in actual fact I have to drive back almost once a month for braces adjustments. Normally I force someone to come with me as a driver but I've long exhausted my supply of external kindness and support so these days, I tackle the 4hrs of driving on my lonesome.

Dinner at Colle Rosso

Colle Rosso
http://www.collerosso.com.au/

I mentioned in my review of Locanda that it was a huge decision for me not to order a pasta dish. I had to bear the weight of that sacrifice for the remainder of the week by suffering relentless pasta cravings. Finally, I caved. I booked a table for 2 at the nearest Italian restaurant I could find on Urbanspoon that I hadn't already been to. This turned out to be Colle Rosso in Red Hill.

We got there just before 8pm on a Thursday and it was fairly quiet but with enough other diners that we didn't feel out of place. I normally like restaurants to be busy but Colle Rosso had a romantic vibe with its darkish interior, red accents and video of scenic Italian landscapes playing so it suits being less packed.

Lunch at A Bite of Shandong

A Bite of Shandong
223 Calam Road, Sunnybank Hills

Nothing can fuel on a food craving faster than late night chats on Facebook with a fellow foodie. Jenny and I were having reminiscent discussions about homely dishes of our past; examples that popped up included cumin lamb skewers and braised eggplant. Jenny mentioned that her favourite version of braised eggplant came from a small Shandong-style restaurant in Sunnybank Hills. Later on, she went there with her dad and showed me their order and the photos looked so tempting I couldn't wait to try it for myself.

A failed attempt to visit A Bite of Shandong occurred on a Monday. Note: they do not open on Mondays. Not to be deterred, I went again with my parents for lunch last Sunday. It was fairly quiet when we got there (12:30pm) but it started filling up as the hour went by.