Gyradiko for Lunch

Gyradiko
http://gyradikobrisbane.com.au/

Gyradiko started popping up on my Instagram feed and every photo that people uploaded of the food simply looked jaw droppingly irresistible. I love gyros wraps. I love chips. Gyros wraps with chips INSIDE the wrap?!?!? Genius!

I don't find myself at James Street much and when we went there last Saturday, I was reminded of why. Parking is such a pain. Marc and I bickered non-stop as we each thought we had a better idea about where to go.

Once we finally managed to score a parking spot, we located Gyradiko without much drama. It's decent-sized for what is essentially a takeaway shop. There was a line but it moved fast. Marc and I ate there at one of their many outside tables but I noticed most people grabbed their wraps and left.

Madame Wu

Madame Wu
http://www.madamewu.com.au/

It's that time of the year again, what I like to call 'my birthday week'. My actual birthday was still looming in the semi-distance when I started using it as an excuse for every unnecessary shopping/eating experience for this past month. I'm sure I'm not the only person who does this.

A couple of weeks ago, my friend PDizzle recommended Madame Wu to me and he made it sound so good that I instantly put a plan into motion to get there. This involved sending the website URL to Marc, followed by a not so subtle hint of "it's my birthday soon!" Because we had activities lined up all weekend, we ended up bringing this dinner event forward to last Wednesday night.

1889 Enoteca for Dinner

1889 Enoteca
http://www.1889enoteca.com.au/

Now that I'm through with my short term French food fling, my appetite has a new focus on Italian. I've also noticed a trend with dining out at Italian restaurants. If I order something other than pasta at one, I find myself craving pasta the whole following week. This happened at Dell U'go when I ordered a steak main. I had to curb my subsequent pasta craving somehow and what better way to do that than by knocking one of Brisbane's most reputable Italian restaurants off my 'must try' list. Like Montrachet, which I finally got to visit a couple of weeks ago, 1889 Enoteca has been a restaurant I've wanted to try for years and years but never got a chance to. Well, the thing with opportunity is sometimes you just have to make things happen for yourself.

I made a spontaneous booking, by which I mean I filled out their online booking request form no more than 3hrs before we actually wanted the table. Neither Marc or I was surprised that they hadn't received the booking request when we showed up. Fortunately, Enoteca was able to accommodate by offering us a table street side. We were actually glad because it was the most perfect outdoor eating weather and we were dressed a bit more casually than the guests seated inside. I think this seating arrangement worked out well for everyone.

RAW Juicery, Indooroopilly

RAW Juicery, Indooroopilly
http://go-raw.com.au/

I'm pretty sure part of why I'm so broke this year (aside from having a wedding to plan/pay for) is my new found obsession with juice. One of my annoying catch phrases is that I "hate overly sweet drinks"; I don't like soft drink and I can't stomach thickshakes or overly sweet cocktails. It might seem strange then that I have a soft spot for juice. I can't drink regular supermarket variety apple juice, orange juice or the like (at least not without diluting it heaps) but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE veggie juices and green juices. The problem is, they're bloody expensive so I often have a juice as a meal replacement or eat a peasant meal with it to keep the wallet balanced.

I stumbled across RAW on my recent excursions to Indooroopilly Shopping Centre and have been back a couple of times. Each visit, I'ven purchased a juice and a little trinket on the side (just so that I'd have more to blog about). This typically sets me back $15 bucks or so. The juice itself is about the same as a burger meal at Maccas, so go figure. I like to pretend that the placebo effect of healthiness and good conscious makes it well worth it.

Dell' Ugo, New Farm for Dinner

Dell' Ugo
http://www.dellugo.com.au/

Another week, another dinner date. I highly recommend planting restaurant bookings through your weekdays to break up the working week and make life more tolerable. Whenever I'm feeling overwhelmed and despondent, the thought of "at least I'm going out for dinner tomorrow night" helps perk up the mood ever so slightly.

We headed to Dell' Ugo in New Farm last week for a lateish dinner, approaching 8:30pm. As expected, the restaurant was rather quiet when we got there but that's exactly what I was in the mood for that night.

Doughnut Time

Doughnut Time
http://doughnuttime.com.au/

I'm a self-proclaimed Instagram addict and most of the accounts I follow are food related. It's good to be able to keep up with the latest venue openings and food trends but also bad in the way that food eye candy photos can catch my attention at work and create urgent cravings I have no way of satisfying. This happened recently when it seemed like every second person on my Instagram feed was photographing the products from newly opened Doughnut Time.

I was never a big doughnut fan. I mean, I loved Krispy Kreme's original glazed, because I'm a normal healthy human, but doughnuts in general weren't exciting to me. That is, until they got the gourmet foodie makeover by Doughnut Time and transformed into fun, trendy and inviting creations with imaginative toppings and fillings galore. Every photo I saw of Doughnut Time doughnuts were colourful, glossy and plump. They were begging to be eaten.

Long overdue Revisit to Lefkas Taverna

Lefkas Taverna Revisit
http://lefkas.com.au/

Ask any Greek person in Brisbane for their favourite Greek restaurant recommendation and 9 out of 10 will mention Lefkas in the mix. It's reputable, authentic and conveniently right near my house. I visited once back in early 2011. Why has it taken me so long to make another trip? This is part of the curse of being a food blogger. The constant call of new restaurants hinders me from repeating many wonderful experiences. I wanted to go back to Lefkas, I really did, but it wasn't until dad came over one weekday that I had a reason to go. My dad's a lover of food but he doesn't have the confidence to venture much beyond his comfort zone. I know that Greek isn't that unusual or exotic to most people but for him, it was an exciting new taste journey.

As mentioned, this was a weekday lunch and because my parents work on a farmer's biological clock, they do everything early and we got there just after 11:30am. I think we were the second group of people at the restaurant; I was surprised we weren't the first.

Lunch at A Slice of New York

A Slice of New York Pizza
http://www.asliceofny.com.au/

In an obvious display of lack of self-control, Kat told me about a new pizza place that had opened in Westfield Carindale; I said "ok let's look at the menu but we won't eat there today because I want a healthier lunch" and we stopped by and ended up eating pizza and chili fries. I challenge anyone to step into this shop, see the menu, smell the air and not stop in for a feed. It's impossible!

We parked ourselves at one of the tables inside. There was a peak hour rush when we got there and soon there were no tables and a bit of a queue to boot. I'm glad we were two people because I could guard our table while Kat ordered.

Dinner at Montrachet

Montrachet
http://www.montrachet.com.au/

The last of my French dining adventures takes us to a restaurant that had eluded me for close to a decade. Montrachet is well known in Brisbane as not only the best French restaurant in town but also one of the best fine dining experiences period. It's a classic establishment that's been around for as long as I've been interested in food. It's still as popular to this day and I think in the wake of so much restaurant competition, this can only be a good sign.

The 'problem' with Montrachet is that they don't do weekend dinners. That's the meal slot I'm most likely going to use for a special occasion dinner and Montrachet doesn't give me that option. As someone who values sleep, I can never bring myself to do anything exciting on a school night (i.e. any night I have to work the next morning). My options opened up when I started working part time so knowing I had a Wednesday morning off last week, I booked Montrachet for the Tuesday night.