Assorted Treats from Eat Street, Hamilton Harbour

Eat Street Markets
http://www.eatstreetmarkets.com/

Our friend Garthritis had the brilliant suggestion of checking out the Eat Street container market in Hamilton. Once upon a time, I was an individually whose finger was very much on the pulse of the Brisbane Dining scene but work, age, tiredness and poverty have gotten in the way and more often than not, I spend the weekends previously dedicated to documenting food to watching movies at home with takeaway pizza. I'm glad that Garthritis was there to inspire us to explore beyond our hovel and experience life as cultured human beings once again.

Eat Street is news to me but I had heard about it from a variety of sources. I believe that it has become a weekly occurance (every Friday and Saturday night from 4pm to 10pm) so if you're at a lost over what to do on the weekend, pencil a visit in. On the weekend that we went, there was also the Northshore Containervale, which finished up on the 16th of November but don't worry, the food stalls will remain. I wasn't sure what to expect, especially because the term 'Containervale' drew a blank in my mind. The concept is that old shipping containers (for those who, like me, are vague with this kind of thing, shipping containers are huge units used for transporting cargo, each about the size of a large caravan) are transformed into food and drink outlets. While we were there, we also got to see some interesting boutique clothing, art and accessory stores.

Fish Roe for Dinner and Wine

Fish Roe Seafood Cafe, Milton Location
http://fishroe.net.au/

I'd like to think of myself as a very planned individual. I love organising things and scheduling things and coordinating things. Unfortunately, it's quite often that my laziness overrides my plans and the result is: things do not get done.

Long story short is that I live in an apartment and own a puppy. As toilet trained as he is now, the pee's still gotta go somewhere and it accumulates on the balcony and becomes quite a nose-full. I ordered a steam mop to help tackle the situation and had it delivered to Marc's work in the city. He rides a bike to and from work and the steam mop was decidedly too big to fit on it. I've had bad experience after bad experience of trying to pull over for a short stop in the city. The one way streets, no stopping zones and wild pedestrians fill me with fear. I point blank refuse to drive to the city during the day. But... I needed that steam mop.

Mrs Luu's for Lunch

Mrs Luu's
25 Railway Tce, Milton 

It may be many months since my last banh mi post but keep in mind that three of those months were spent in Europe where Vietnamese cuisine is rarer than gold. My desire for banh mi has in no way diminished over that time. I had listed Mrs Luu's as a restaurant I had to try because of its reputation for amazing banh mi (amongst other things). I figured that Milton is close to West End and that I'd easily get there once I moved from Carindale to West End. I didn't figure how inconvenient the stretch of river in between would be. If you, like me, are unwilling to pay a toll to travel 50m, it's not as straightforward as you'd think to get from A to B.

One day, I happened to need a filing cabinet from Officeworks so I jumped on the opportunity to try Mrs Luu's. It was actually a short stroll across Milton Road to get to the eatery from there.

Charm Sushi for Dinner and BYO

Charm Sushi
Albert Street, Brisbane CBD

My friend Jaws was really excited about this new establishment in Brisbane. He took me there when we first caught up after I got back from Europe. I had suggested we meet up over coffee but it was overridden with his suggestion of 'a Korean BYO eatery with its own bottle shop'. He touted this venue as the greatest invention to hit our city in the last decade.

Although it was described to me as a Korean restaurant, I later learnt that the place was called Charm Sushi, which sounds more Japanese. Whatever the true identity of this eatery mahy be, it does contain both Japanese and Korean style dishes and plenty of sushi options.

I've been to Charm Sushi twice now in total. The first time was with Jaws. I had dinner plans later on that night so he ate and I just had a drink. As promised, it was extremely convenient to walk on into the bottle shop corner, pick up a six-pack and plop ourselves down to eat, drink and catch up.

Swampdog for Dinner

Swampdog
http://swampdog.com.au/

Alrighty then, readers! After yet another achingly long hiatus, I'm back. This time, I haven't been jetsetting the world enjoying endless days of sun, hotels, wine and food. I've been doing the exact opposite of holidaying which is facing reality and transitioning to an 'official adult'. The lack of blog entries can be blamed on the fact that I haven't had internet until this week, after moving into my new home just over a month ago. Honestly, at this point I'm so used to things not working out smoothly that I hardly batted an eyelid. Aside from the usual stresses of relocation, I've also started a new job and adopted a puppy (my 'son' Odin, a keeshond) so unfortunately for fans of this blog and for my tastebuds, dining out has taken a backseat.

Marc and I had the rare dinner together last week. It's an oddity for us because we work on different time schedules. I've usually left for work before he's even awake and I tend to be asleep by the time he's home. I can't remember exactly what day of the week it was but we both hapened to be awake and hungry at the same time and I nominated Swampdog for an easy and nearby dinner option.

Oshin Japanese Restaurant for AYCE Sukiyaki

Oshin Japanese Restaurant
http://www.oshincity.com.au/

One of the things Marc and I missed the most about travelling through Europe was Asian food, or more specifically, Japanese food. Sushi shops were seen around the place but generally overpriced and crap quality. There are pleasures in life that I wouldn't have trouble giving up but sushi and sashimi is not one of them.

Upon coming home, it should be no surprise then that Japanese restaurants featured heavily on my must-visits. I was in town for one reason or another a couple of weeks back and stayed to have dinner with Marc. Because I was being such a cheapskate after Europe (holiday sent me broke), he suggested some kind of fast food, but I had just got a job offer and felt like a reward. It's very typical of me to want to spend money before I even officially earnt any. In any case, I suggested Oshin.

PJ Steaks for Lunch

PJ Steaks
2/173 Boundary Street, West End

I awkwardly booked myself an appointment at 4pm last week. Work finished at 2 and it normally takes me an hour or so for me to get home. The dilemma was whether I should go home first or head straight to my appointment. Or, more specifically, where and what was for lunch??

I was about 20 minutes from my house when I realised I wouldn't have time to cook food and head out again so I quickly changed my route and headed to West End. Because it wasn't lunch or dinner time (around 3pm), the first two places I tried told me their kitchens were closed. It was a relief for me when I saw that PJ Steaks was still cooking.

The first time I realised a cheese steak venue had opened up in my neighbourhood, I was immediately interested. Having never been to the USA before, I didn't really know what it was but it just sounded good. Logic tells me that cheese steak is a layer of melty cheese on a singular chunk of steak. Google tells me that cheese steak (originating from Philadelphia) is essentially a sub stuffed with thinly sliced steak mixed with onion and cheese. When I got to PJ Steaks, I saw that was exactly what they offered.

Kung Food Noodle

Kung Food Noodle
Shop 24, Pinelands Shopping Centre, Sunnybank Hills 

A couple weeks after I got back from Europe, dad suggested that we go out for lamb soup for lunch. I had never heard of lamb soup before and I wasn't working at the time so I figured, why the hell not. He started explaining the history to me before we even arrived at the restaurant. Apparently, this style of lamb soup is local to Xi'An in China. Because I was trying to cut back on carbs, I asked if there were noodles or rice involved and dad replied that "no, but there's mantou". Mantou means steamed bun in Chinese so I was really confused. How are steamed buns and lamb soup connected?

Kung Food Noodles is located in Centro Pinelands, Sunnybank Hills. The shop front is small but they clearly focus on noodle dishes. Most of the menu and photos on display featured beautiful soup noodles and stir-fried noodles.

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.