Hong Depot for Lunch

Hong Depot
193 Melbourne St, South Brisbane

I can not, for the life of me, remember what was at the corner of Melbourne and Boundary Street before Hong Depot was there. All I know is that block is now occupied by a vibrant and inviting Korean restaurant that commands my attention every time I walked past. I really, really wanted to try it... even before they painted a silhouette of Psy on their wall. Gangnam style, peeps.

Hong Depot is open for lunch and dinner. Marc told me that their dinner menu is more 'proper' (and expensive), with barbeques and hotpots and large set menus. When we went at lunch time, the food was quite cheap but there wasn't a lot to choose from.

Banneton Bakery

Banneton Bakery at The Gabba
25 Balaclava St, Woollongabba

I was on my way to mum and dad's place last Saturday morning when I thought I'd stop off at Banneton Bakery to pick up some breakfast supplies. I had never been before but I read lots of great reviews about the breads and baked goods. The general consensus is to avoid actually eating there because the atmosphere and service is supposedly under par so I figured that by purchasing the goods and eating elsewhere, I would avoid those issues.

The bakery is located in an industrial area where there isn't much else around. I got to Banneton not long after they opened and there was already a fair few people standing around buying bread and coffee. I took some time viewing the display cabinets before deciding what to get.

La Via for Dinner

La Via
http://lavia.com.au/

To quench my recently developed thirst for Italian food, I voted to dine at an Italian restaurant last Friday. I was researching reputable establishments that were walking distance from West End, typing addresses into Google Maps and calculating routes to Paddington, New Farm and the likes. Then, I remembered La Via, which is right near us in South Bank. Definitely walkable. Sorted!

La Via is a relatively small restaurant but every time I've passed it, it's been packed. Friday night was no exception. I'm glad we made a reservation.

All you can eat Hotpot and BBQ at Little Lamb

Little Lamb
Shop 22/23 Runcorn Plaza, 254 Warrigal Rd, Runcorn

Mention 'hotpot', 'charcoal barbeque' and 'all-you-can-eat' in one sentence and you're bound to spark my interest. Even though I'm an advocate for clean eating and trying to stay healthy rarara, there is an undeniable appeal to being able to pile your plate with food from a vast selection, gob it down and then, get up and do it all again.

As soon as I heard about Little Lamb, I started baiting friends to go. Unfortunately, my immediate clique is unenthusiastic about travelling beyond the Brisbane CBD and Zone 1 suburbs and the thought of anything Sunnybank and beyond seems almost other-worldly. The circumstances under which I went to Little Lamb would sound strange to anyone who isn't aware of just how crazy I am about food/restauranting. Last night, Byron and I decided to catch up over dinner and we ended up driving down to Brisbane and back over the span of 5 hours (with a 1:4 ratio of eating to travelling time).

Breakfast at Two Trees Espresso

Two Trees Espresso
58 Vulture St, West End

I first heard about Two Trees Espresso via mention of their DIY toasting station on Twitter. I figured it was a perfect spot to visit during my weekend morning strolls through West End. Last Sunday, I had an opportunity to stop by and see what the deal was.

I was keeping an eye out for Two Trees and still managed to walk right past. It's almost like an optical illusion. If you look at it from an angle, it's too indented to spot and all you can see is couple of closed stores and garage doors side by side. Walking right up to it, the cafe emerges.

Lunch at Kimono

Kimono
119 Melbourne St, South Brisbane

As South Brisbane residents who love sushi, Kimono was something Marc and I were really glad to have around. Unfortunately, at least 2 times we tried to visit, it was closed. Both times it happened was on Sunday and finally we got the hint that Kimono was closed for Sunday lunch. Learning from our mistakes, our next attempt was Saturday and horray, we got in!

Breakfast at Cafe Wrapture

Cafe Wrapture
71 Russell St, West End

My visit to Cafe Wrapture had been a long time coming. I first heard mention of its popular haloumi wrap towards the start of this year but never got a chance to try it. This past Saturday, I woke up early and went for a morning stroll through West End. Amusingly, I had no idea it was raining so I strutted out of the apartment in a getup of singlet, shorts and thongs and was immediately greeted by wet droplets on my hair and sunnies and amused looks from tradies getting coffee outside.

I have no issues walking in the rain as long as it's not cold. Wandering around, it was refreshing and peaceful seeing the streets quiet and inactive. I found Cafe Wrapture on Russell Street, near Cup Coffee. It's in a small, renovated old building that's easy to walk past if you're not looking out for it and difficult to miss if you are.

Dinner at Siam Samrarn

Siam Samrarn
http://www.siamsamrarn.com/

Sarcasm: I love it when rain reserves itself for the weekend. It started to drizzle on Friday and by Sunday afternoon, the sun was out again. How timely. Marc and I were ducking around through the streets of West End trying to find a dinner spot last Friday night. The place we'd made a booking at was somehow taken up by a private function so that obviously didn't pan out. Bottle of wine in hand, we had the task of finding a BYO venue.

The 2012 Good Food and Wine Show with George Calombaris in the Celebrity Theatre

GFAWS 2012 Brisbane
http://www.goodfoodshow.com.au/cityhub/brisbane

I hear about the Good Food and Wine Show every year but I'd never been before. This year, I figured I'd ammend that and purchase some tickets to see what the deal was. I went with my mum and dad on Sunday, which was the last day the show was on in Brisbane.

The GFAWS was held in the Convention Centre in South Bank, taking up exhibition halls 2 and 3. We got there at about 9:30am and queued up before we were let in at 10. There were quite a lot of people already waiting in line.

Satay Chicken Lettuce Wraps (sugar free and low carb)

Satay Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Home Cooking

A major hurdle in my pledge to go low-carb and sugar-free has been "what do I eat instead of bread?" I read on a forum a suggestion of using lettuce to wrap filling rather than using a processed, grain-based item. Lettuce is not something that makes its way into my trolley very often. The only time I buy any is when I'm planning to make tacos. I know it's meant to be 'good for me' so I figured it was as good of an excuse as any to try and incorporate it into my diet.

I set about making a satay chicken filling that was sweetened with coconut products instead of sugar. Try to avoid prebought basting sauces because their sugar content is often through the roof. The types of vegetables you end up using in the satay is obviously up to you. Broccoli is popular in satay stir-fries, as are green beans. I used celery and red capsicum.