Hometown Cafe

Hometown Cafe
Shop 90d, Sunnybank Plaza, Sunnybank



I've been looking for things to blog and went through one of my photo albums from last month to find this. Mum and dad took me to Hometown Cafe when I was in the mood for 'homely' Asian food. Hometown for homely food. It makes sense, right?



Hometown Cafe is located in Sunnyank Plaza, opposite Welcome Asian grocery store (in that outdoor area). It serves Taiwanese food. My dad thinks the cafe itself resembles a cafeteria because it's so simple (in terms of furnishings) and the food is very cheap.

Sling Lounge for Cocktails and Tapas

Sling Lounge
http://www.slinglounge.com/



I managed to jam pack this past weekend with a delicate balance of bad luck/stupidity and great fun. Friday night was a Toowoomba Christmas party, where I had a blast until I figuratively let my hair down too far and ended up paying a cabbie $50 for a 2min drive home and also lost my camera. To point a): I'm very disappointed that there are cabbies out there who take advantage of floozy drunk girls by not giving them change! To point b): not only was it devastating to lose my ol' faithful camera (that has been servicing this food blog for the past year), I also lost the photos I took that night and have to deal with the idea that some pervert might be hoarding pictures of me and my friends...



Ok then, how many cameras have I been through now just in the time I've been writing posts in Hungry Kittens? 3? Maybe 4?

Grove Juice

Grove Juice
http://www.grovejuice.com.au/



Grove Juice is a fresh juice company that boasts of top standard flavor with the best nutritional properties. The people at Grove Juice were nice enough to send me a few samples of this new product to try.


I'm a bit of a juice maniac. I have a $250 juicer that crushes anything into sippable oblivion, core and skin and all. I love fruit that doesn't require effort. I love interesting mixtures of fruit. I even love juice with my vodka. Needless to say, I was keen on popping open the Grove Juice bottles and giving them all a try.

Wendland Olives for Breakfast and Lunch

Wendland Olives
1/76 Bridge St (corner Mary St) Toowoomba



I remember when Mochi first told me about Wendland Olives. Man, that feels like a long time ago now. How fast has this year flown? Her sister had come up to Toowoomba for a visit so they'd been doing a whirlwind inspection of all of Toowoomba's touristy sites (you can count them on one hand).



Mochi's exact words were that Wendland Olives 'was like a cafe in New Farm'. That, for someone who lives about 130km away from New Farm, and indeed any other suburb in Brisbane that houses fine cafes, was music to my ears.

Jam Jar for Tapas and Cocktails

Jam Jar
http://www.jamjarwestend.com/



Emotionally distraught and in need of a distraction, Mochi nursed me out of my rut of sadness by invoking a girl's night out on Saturday.



We met up in West End without a clear focus on where to go... that is, until we remembered Jam Jar. Once upon a long time ago, we attempted to have dinner at Jam Jar but it was waaay too early (I think we opted for an early dinner because we had a massage appointment to rush off to afterwards) so it wasn't open.

High Tea at Miss D Cafe

Miss D Cafe
http://www.missd.com.au/



Last weekend, my dear mummy and I took a drive to an obscure cafe in Tarrigindi for high tea. I used to have an obsession with high tea. I recall that last year, or was it 2 years ago, I aimed to have high tea at every single establishment that offered it in Brisbane.

Obviously that never happened.

But anyway, I can at least tick Miss D off my insubstantial list of 'been there's.

The Chocolate Cottage

The Chocolate Cottage
10475 New England Highway, Highfields



What happens when you live in Toowoomba and you've run out of new places to eat? Drive further out.

Mochi discovered this cafe called The Chocolate Cottage about 15min out from Toowoomba CBD in an adjacent town called Highfields.



I know that on the scale of Brisbane, 15min is nothing. In fact, it would be considered 'close-by'. In Toowoomba, 15min feels really out of town.

In fact, I believe Byron actually said to me "I can't believe we're driving all this way for breakfast".

That's what happens when you live out rural - your perception of reality gets screwed.

Anyway... despite his grumbly, Byron did drive us 'all the way' to Highfields on a recent Saturday morning.

Domino's New Free Range Chicken Pizzas

Domino's New Free Range Chicken Pizzas
http://www.dominos.com.au/



Ah... Domino's pizza brings me way back. I remember as a kid, mum and dad would take me to Domino's as a little treat. We'd order Meatlovers in Deep Pan. That was our 'usual'. And we'd eat it steaming hot in the back of the car. My parents were of the opinion that pizza was best eaten IMMEDIATELY, not a minute later.



Times have changed. My favorite flavors are now vegetarian. I prefer Thin 'n' Crispy as a base. I NEVER have time to order and eat pizza out - it's gotta be delivered or nothing (those online orders/iPhone Apps help).

Cheesy Corn and Bacon Muffins

Cheesy Corn and Bacon Muffins
Home Cooking



I was doing my 'how do I use up as many existing pantry ingredients in one recipe' scan when I found a recipe for corn muffins in Woman's Weekly Bake. Ok, so it didn't encompass as much as I wanted but it was a good base. I took that recipe and beefed it up with extra meat, extra cheese and extra goodness.

How can a muffin with both bacon and ham possibly be bad?


These muffins were originally going to be a contribution to a party but there weren't enough for everyone to have at least one so I figured it was better etiquette to not bring any.

Ortiga Restaurant

Ortiga Restaurant
http://www.ortiga.com.au/



Last night I had one of those dining experiences that must be shared right away. Most of my posts are written up to a week after the fact but this time, I just can't wait that long. Although I didn't get much sleep last night and I'm tired and I'd rather be online shopping, I've got to document the memory before it fades and I start omitting details.



I know I say this about lots of restaurants but Ortiga has been on my 'must visit' for a long, long time... ever since the day I first saw it when I had dinner nearby at Mint. Mint is long gone but I still remember seeing the legs of cured meat hanging in the restaurant and thinking "I want to go there". At the time I hadn't made the connection that Isis used to be in that exact location but I soon learned that Ortiga was the follow-on.