Sydney weekend in May 2 - Dinner at Rockpool Bar and Grill

Rockpool Bar and Grill
http://www.rockpool.com/rockpoolbarandgrillsydney/

Because of my anxious personality, I always need to plan things well in advance. If anyone asks me to think of a restaurant to visit on the fly, I freeze up and my mind goes blank. It's alright for when I'm in Brisbane because I live here and have a supply of general 'go to' places (mostly eateries around Sunnybank) for when I have no other ideas. On an interstate trip, it's less desirable to be unplanned because I don't know other cities well so unless I have a booking made at a restaurant pre-researched, I assume we'll sit down somewhere unremarkable.

Burleigh Heads Hotel

Burleigh Heads Hotel
http://www.burleighheadshotel.com.au/

In what could only be described as a fit of very temporary life motivation, I thought it would be a great idea to take advantage of the peak summer weather and head to the coast. I picked Burleigh heads for its hiking trail and figured that even on a weekend, it should be less busy than Surfer's. Oh how wrong I was.

We went as a small group via two vehicles and navigated through tremendous traffic pains. Car number 2 was involved in a slight vehicular incident. None of us could find parking and this added another half hour or so to the journey. We ended up at our destination 3hrs past the original speculated time.

Dinner at Les Bubbles

Les Bubbles
http://www.lesbubbles.com.au/

My Korean friends told me that in Korea, rather than every restaurant serving a range of different dishes, you tend to find local establishments that feature a dish they're good at. For instance, one corner store might be the bees knees in chicken broth whilst its neighbour is the expert in bulgogi stew. When you dine there, that's what you order. I always liked that as an idea... the concept of offering one thing on the menu but doing it very well. This is probably why Les Bubbles intrigued me right from the start.

Steak and chips is a winner any day of the week but at Les Bubbles, it is the constant star of the show. Aside from a choice of three sauces, your meal is set for the day with the signature steak, soft leaf salad and bottomless fries.

CHE Asado for Meaty Feast

CHE Asado and Bar
http://cheasado.com.au/

Alright I'll readily admit I'm crap at dieting. I would say my overall pre-wedding effort can be "rounded up" as good but there have definitely been occasions where I've used twisty excuses to allow myself some treats. My excuse for dinner at CHE was that it would be mostly meat and therefore categorically low carb. Of course I didn't take into account the jugs of sweet sangria we'd be ingesting...

That aside, last Saturday we completed an anxiety and comedy laden rehearsal for our ceremony. I'm awkward in all walks of life and unfortunately this seems to extend to tasks like repeating vows and even hand holding. By the end of it all I was sweating and exhausted and ready for a feed. We were at Kangaroo Point and figured Southbank would just be a quick walk away

Dinner at The Charming Squire

The Charming Squire
133 Grey Street, South Brisbane

Trying to find a place to have dinner on a public holiday is a pain. We probably shouldn't have picked Boxing Day to have a date night out but the truth was, there was no food in the fridge, the grocery stores were closed and it was either head out or starve. I wanted to try Jamie's Italy because I feel like everyone in Brisbane has been there except me. The online booking said they were booked out and we didn't want to pay for parking only to be told we couldn't get a table or had to wait over an hr.

After tossing up and declining a few other options, we went for a random drive around West End and became disheartened by how many restaurants weren't open. We ended up in Southbank and to our relief, almost everything was open. We made a beeline for The Charming Squire because that's a venue I've been meaning to try since it first opened.

We had predicted that The Charming Squire would be packed with people drinking up before the weekend. It was busy but it wasn't crazy busy, which was a relief to us. There's a more casual bar area but we decided to try out the restaurant section. We didn't realise at the time but the two sides have different menus.

Gold Coast Fling 2 - Dinner at Hurricane's Grill

Hurricane's Grill and Bar, Surfers Paradise
https://surfers.hurricanesgrill.com.au/

I'd been to Hurricanes at Darling Harbour in Sydney once before in my life but that was a hazy affair because high volumes of alcohol had been consumed earlier that night. All I could remember was that the ribs were really, really, really good. Imagine my excitement over Hurricane's bring their delicious creations to Queensland with a store at Surfers Paradise.

Marc and I had been wanting to go for a while but areas like Surfers where parking is always a challenge can be a heavy deterrent. A couple of weekends ago, I got to experience the convenience of the new light rail service. We were staying opposite Jupiter's in Broadbeach and from there it was a quick 5 minute walk and short tram ride from Cavill Mall. After that, however, we managed to misread Google Maps and walk in the complete opposite direction to where we were supposed to be going.

Morrison Hotel for Dinner

Morrison Hotel
http://www.morrisonhotel.com.au/

Leading up to my jaw surgery (i.e. 4 weeks of eating mush), I've got a bit of a 'bucket list' of food going. What it's supposed to be is a chance to chew some delicious food before I can't chew anymore. What it's actually become is an excuse for me to eat junk food non-stop and plan daily meals out. Fatty habits aside, a good steak was definitely on my bucket list so I was glad when Howl suggested this for dinner last Sunday night.

Blackbird Bar and Restaurant for Dinner

Blackbird Bar and Restaurant
http://www.blackbirdbrisbane.com.au/ 

Last night marked the break in our drought from dining out at a proper restaurant. It feels like a long, long time since we've ventured out to somewhere more upmarket than the local Asian/Indian eatery. To me, dining out isn't just about the food but about the extravagance; getting dressed up, ordering fancy drinks with descriptions I don't entirely understand, ordering way too much food in multiple courses, with sides on the side (even if your meal already comes with sides). Because most of these elements are clearly a luxury, we toned down to keep the bank balance happy but decided to splurge as a celebration for some good news.

We made a booking later on in the evening and got there later again (bus troubles) but the restaurant was still buzzing with activity. I suppose late night dinner on a Friday is nothing out of the ordinary. It was our first time visiting the Blackbird venue and we didn't expect to see bouncers out the front. I can only suppose their presence is more for the bar section of Blackbird, which we were relieved to find was a separate area to the restaurant. Why relieved? Do you realise how loud a Friday evening drinks crowd in the CBD is? I wouldn't have been able to hear myself think let alone enjoy my meal. Luckily, the restaurant was lively but not so overbearing

Norman Hotel for Dinner

Norman Hotel
http://www.normanhotel.com.au/

This place must have the most successful marketing campaign of anything in the food industry. "Worst vegetarian restaurant" really resonated with me and I became convinced that Norman was synonymous with a carnivore's paradise. Long time readers of this blog should know that I am in no way anti-vegetarian. I love vegetables and in my day to day home eating, I risk iron deficiency through my reluctance to cook meat (out of laziness rather than morality). I am often attracted to menu descriptions containing terms like 'sweet potato', 'pumpkin' and 'roast vegetable'. The thing is,even though I love veggies, I am just as enthusiastic about meat. When a venue touts itself as being exceptional at any form of cuisine, it is a sure way to peak my interest.

I was feeling particularly lacking in iron (read = "lethargic and tired") this week so I suggested to Marc that we go out for a steak dinner. He didn't really need much convincing. I wanted to try the Norman because of all those billboards I had seen and because Marc had been there once and had a good experience.

Steak Dinner at Moo Moo, Brisbane City

Moo Moo The Wine Bar and Grill, Brisbane City
39 Edward Street, Brisbane CBD

I'd been to Moo Moo at the Gold Coast but was still very interested in its Brisbane City restaurant. It feels like it only just opened not long ago but I'm sure it's been a few years now. One of the things that appeals to me the most is the location. Moo Moo has taken over what used to be Siggi's at The Stamford Plaza. I have a great memory of one of my first 'fine dining' experiences with my family at Siggi's and later on, high tea there. It's sad it's gone now but hopefully there are bigger and better things. I would soon be finding out.

Although Marc had made a booking, and for the first time ever we didn't miss it by running late, our table wasn't ready and we were encouraged to have a drink while we waited. I swear this is the oldest restaurant trick in the books to sway people over to the bar and rack up booze expenditure. Because I'm a deaf old bat, the bar was too noisy for me and I was happy when we were lead past a hall of hanging carcasses to our table in the quieter restaurant.

Vintaged Bar and Grill for Dinner

Vintaged Bar and Grill
http://www.vintagedbarandgrill.com/

Byron recently bought a new car and to celebrate, we decided to go out for dinner somewhere nice in Brisbane. The plan made sense at the time because I was giving him a lift to Brisbane from Toowoomba to pick up the vehicle and we would be dining in town. He ended up going by himself during the week so it wrecked the purpose of the whole excursion but I'm hardly one to delete a food event simply because there's no reason behind it. Isn't eating nice food reason enough?

I chose Vintaged because it was conveniently located in the city (handy for me) and focuses on meats and proteins (good for him). I never even knew this restaurant existed despite walking past it maybe every time I'm in the city. This is because it's located on level 6 at the Hilton, accessible through the back of Wintergarden Shopping Mall on Elizabeth Street. I've walked past but never thought about what was above ground floor.

Bistro One Eleven

Bistro One Eleven
http://www.bistrooneeleven.com/

After a brief absence from the Brisbane dining scene, I dived back in on the weekend starting with dinner at Bistro One Eleven. I recall seeing a press release for this restaurant back before it even opened. I'd been to E'cco a couple of times in the past and loved it so Philip Johnson's new venture definitely appealed to me.

We made a reservation for late dinner, 9pm on Friday. The restaurant is located in the recently revamped One One One building and the feel is distinctly corporate. We remarked that it was strange being in an open-style restaurant on the ground floor of a building. That's often the case with lobby cafes and hotel restaurants but I've never experienced it with an indepedant restaurant before. The decor is simple and sleek with a neutral colour scheme. Again, very corporate.

Hotel Bravo - Bravo Bar b que

Bravo Bar b que
http://hotelbravo.com.au/bbq/



I remember going to Hotel Bravo a long, long time ago back when Monsoon was there. We were actually dining in Monsoon and my family (who arrived separately) accidentally found themselves at the Bravo bar and were sipping water and getting comfortable before they realized we were in the adjacent restaurant.

Well, Monsoon is gone now and in its place, Bravo's grill restaurant. I headed there one weekday night with my mate Marc for dinner. We took a seat at an outdoor table and started looking through the menu.


We decided to get a main and side each, plus a couple of desserts and a jug of sangria to wash it all down.

Meat Lovin' at Cha Cha Char

Cha Cha Char Wine Bar and Grill
http://www.chachachar.com.au/



After breaking his wagyu seal at Grossi Florentino a couple of months ago, Byron started to believe that I knew what I was talking about when it came to steak. Prior to that, he was convinced that there's no point in ordering steak from a restaurant because the taste was completely dependent on the produce and there's nothing done to it that you can't do at home.



There is some truth to that but from what I can see, there are some cuts of meat that only good restaurants seem to have access to. Aside from that, I'm sure they can do the meat more justice than my little electric stove top at home.

Vista Restaurant in Toowoomba

Vista Restaurant
39 Margaret Street, Toowoomba



This post is long overdue because I didn't write it up straight away and Melbourne interfered. I went to Vista a couple of weeks back with my work mates. To avoid the confusion of saying 'one work mate ordered blah and another ordered bleh', I'm taking the initiative to get creative with some aliases.


One I've named Pizza because she makes good pizza. One is Pony because she likes horsies and her boyfriend came up with a rad name for himself, which we've all forgotten so I'm calling him Starfish... for no good reason.

Melbourne June 2011 - Dinner at Grossi Florentino Grill

Grossi Florentino Grill
Ground floor, 80 Bourke St, Melbourne



We did make it to one restaurant that required a booking. I can't remember why I chose Grossi Florentino. Something along the lines of not wanting a really swish, fine dining venue but also not wanting upmarket Asian. The Grill seemed fitting and it was located conveniently in the city.


It was a bit confusing once we entered the door. I knew they had an upstairs restaurant and the Grill was supposed to be downstairs, but even so, as soon as you step in it's very crowded. I just headed towards the nearest door and stood there looking puzzled until a waiter kindly informed me I was in the right place and found us our table.

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.

Fire and Ice Restaurant

Fire and Ice
839 Ruthven Street, Toowoomba



When I first saw Fire and Ice, I thought it was a trendy club. Later, I found out it was a family restaurant. That made me want to go even more, which is a sign I'm getting old.

We wrote it off a few times in favor of other dining opportunities until one day, a few of our friends in Toowoomba hosted a dinner there.

Shinbashi Yakiniku

Shinbashi Yakiniku
http://www.shinbashi.com.au/



Antarctic Circle was one of my family's frequent haunts since it first opened. My grandparents are great steak lovers and it was perhaps the stone grill at AC that introduced us to the legendary wagyu beef (before it became as 'mainstream' as it is now).



The good guys at Antarctic Circle have opened up a new joint called Shinbashi - directly opposite their other restaurant. Shinbashi offers Japanese coal barbecue and in fact, yakiniku means 'grilled meat'. My family headed over on Saturday to give it a crack.

The Spotted Cow Hotel

The Spotted Cow Hotel
http://www.spottedcow.com.au/



It seems that I've made up for 3 weeks of being bored out of my brains in Toowoomba all over one weekend. Starting with the trip to Amigo's, I kept my hair let down over the next three days, doing my best to eat my way out of my small town rutt.

So far, it's working. But at the same time, I'm going to have to dial it down or risk exploding.

Last night, our restaurant marathon ended with The Spotted Cow.



We were kindly invited out for dinner by some friends living in Toowoomba. They chose the spot but Mochi and I, being keen and hungry, arrived early and snatched a table.