Singapore 2 - Kraze Burgers

Kraze Burgers
http://krazeburger.com/ 

This is my first, full overseas restaurant review of this recent trip. It didn't take long (maybe 2-3 days?) before I started craving Western food over noodle and rice dishes. Shameful, isn't it? I was day-dreaming about Grill'd when I spied this burger store in the Maria Bay Sands Shopping Centre food court. There are other burger stores like this, by which I mean they're burger stores with an Asian origin and theme. MOS Burger (now in Brisbane) is another such example.

Kraze Burgers has an interesting fitting that's a cross between Western steakhouse and fast food outlet with elements of American comic strip thrown in. I liked it!

Singapore 1 - Singaporean Must-Eats

Top 10 Singaporean Must-Eats

I'll take a deep breath before diving into my mass of overseas dining photos.

To start with... before I left for Singapore I did some research on the food culture there. The general consensus was that it wasn't so much the fine dining culture that was unique but the street food. By the end of the trip, I started to realize that this translates to most of SE-Asia.

In any case, there are some uniquely Singaporean dishes that are most frequently recommended. I'll share what I managed to get a taste of. Some of the items may be considered Malaysian, or indeed just generally Indo-Chinese but I've put them on here anyway.

Cocktails and Tapas at Subsolo, Sydney

Subsolo Spanish Restaurant and Bar
http://www.subsolo.com.au/

Saturday night, our good friend Dani decided she would take us 'Asian-clubbing'. Being a Sydney local, she was also responsible for feeding us beforehand. We met up at Subsolo, which is an underground Spanish restaurant. Despite having a booking for 8:30, our table wasn't ready for a significant period of time... so we stood around waiting for a bit.

The place was packed! There was a festive, happy vibe about the restaurant, which lightened the underground feel. I liked the rustic brick walls with red lamps and gothic chandeliers. Noice.

Gourmet Traveller's Restaurant of the Year, 2012 - Marque, Sydney

Marque Restaurant
http://www.marquerestaurant.com.au/

Last Thursday, I got straight off a plane from Singapore, had a micro nap, did some shopping/repacking and returned to the airport for a CPD conference in Sydney. Although the conference was work-related and hence quite a contrast from the 3 weeks of relaxation I'd been enjoying prior, it was a great chance to catch up with old friends and I was also looking forward to being in another city that wasn't Toowoomba.

Being the food enthusiasts we are, Mochi and I started planning the dinner trips months in advance. Apparently that's what you have to do in this town too! I had tried Quay but it was fully booked so we scratched that off the list. Marque Restaurant has a much smarter booking system that allows you to get an instant confirmation online, rather than enquiring via e-mail and getting rejected (as with Quay) so we were happy to secure our booking there.

Back in town...

On recovery mode from my holiday 

View from the infinity pool at night, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

If you've noticed the sudden depletion in new posts, it's because I've been overseas for 3 weeks, followed by a back-to-back (literally flew back to Brisbane in the morning and out again by evening) dental course in Sydney. But I'm back, baby, and ready to roll.

Verve Birthday Dinner

Verve Cafe and Bar
http://www.vervecafe.com.au/



Another year goes by, another birthday, another notch up the age ladder. This past year marked my milestone of no longer getting asked for ID at bottle shops. It took me a while to notice this trend but once I did, I realized it wasn't every now and again but every single time. A sad, sad development.



That aside, I decided this year I'd be celebrating my birthday with a hand plucked select group of close friends in Brisbane. Gone are the years of splashing out invites for huge parties - probably another indication of my getting older.

Ginga Sushi Bar

Ginga Sushi Bar
http://www.gingarestaurant.com.au/southbank/



Sunday lunch after a big night out (breakfast was skipped due to being queasy)... Marc and I decided we'd go to Southbank and definitely find something there. However, once we arrived at Southbank, inspiration did not suddenly strike. Indeed we walked up and down the precinct before deciding on the Burrito Bar. Unfortunately it was not open nor did it open at 11am as stated on their trading hours sign (we gave it a good 10min before giving up). Conveniently next door was Ginga, which was my second choice.



After living in Brisbane for double digit years, it's strange that I never tried Ginga Sushi Bar. I had heard good things about it though. We were literally one of the first customers through the door but the ring of seats around the sushi train area filled up rather quickly.

Red Lotus

Red Lotus
http://www.red-lotus.com.au/



Saturday night. Rainy. Half drunk. In need of food. Marc and I are the absolute worst combination of people for deciding on what to eat. We're both 'anything goes' and 'whatever' which is great when there's someone assertive who knows what they want to eat but not so great when neither of us can come up with a single prominent idea. After lots of stuffing around, we figured we'd brave the rain and head to the valley where there was bound to be something good.



The only thing we both really KNEW we wanted was a place that also sold alcoholic drinks, but not swanky $100000 drinks. The first place we came across that met this criteria was Red Lotus. It looked inviting enough and we were sick of being drizzled on so we eagerly stepped in.

Tank Restaurant and Bar for our 2 Year Anniversary

Tank Restaurant and Bar
http://www.tankrestaurant.com.au/



Neither Byron and I are the 'anniversary' types; in fact, we didn't even know how long we'd been together. After stretching our poor memories trying to remember how many Christmases we'd spent together, we worked out it was 2years around the start of this year. Since there was no official date, I plucked a free weekend out of my calendar and decided this would be a fine time to celebrate life and love with food, drinks and more.



We started our night at the Tank Restaurant and Bar. It's officially on Tank Street but after walking up and down Tank Street for a bit, we Googled the place again and read that it was located within Santos Place, which is this courtyard type deal sandwiched between 2 buildings. It can be accessed from Tank Street but you kind of have to know what you're looking for.

Teppanyaki Lovers

Teppanyaki Lovers
Shop 7, The Myer Centre, Brisbane CBD



It's astounding that I practically lived in the city for 3+ years doing uni and never ate at this place. I recall they refurbished at one point and came up with the current cartoony shop front and food that wasn't just teppanyaki-based.



Byron and I were in town last weekend. We arrived absolutely famished some time in the afternoon. It was pouring too. We had planned to go to Ajisen on George Street but with the increase in hunger and rainfall, we quickly changed our plans to somewhere closer.

After fleeing to the Myer Centre for shelter, we spotted Teppanyaki Lovers and thought BAM: fast food Japanese. How perfecto.