Life of a Foodie in Australia

Two Small Rooms Review

2011-05-14T21:16:00.000+10:00

Okay, okay, I know I said I'd write a post everyday starting from TOMORROW but hey, it's a Saturday night and I'm spending it IN so I'm trying to be efficient and productive here okay?? This'll give me a head start and all that jazz alright?!

Now that THAT'S out of the way.. I mentioned that last year was super hectic and busy for both T and I.. So we ate out A LOT. In fact, today T mentioned that we had eaten out enough to last us three years! Haha..

Because we were always so busy and pressed for time, Two Small Rooms was a great option for us because it is literally 3 minutes drive from our place AND it is a fine dining restaurant (which we luuuurve). And they were also almost always able to fit us in no matter how late we booked a table for. Sometimes I'd finish my waitressing shift and Tim would've just finished a late meeting and we'd go and have a huge dinner at 9.30pm!!

We almost always got the Caviar and the Oysters. They were YUMMY!! Those crisps that came with the caviar are to die for and the mignonette for the oysters was pretty good (nothing beats the one at Three Restaurant though).

For entrées, we shared the Crab & Avocado Terrine (SUPER GORGEOUS presentation!!! I actually used this as my inspiration for a dessert dish I had to plate up in class - just substitute the savoury sauce with coulis and ta-daaa!! Hehe) and the Mushroom Tart. Both were delicious.

For mains, I can't exactly remember what we got (bear in mind this was a year ago) but I think it's a Duck Leg Confit and... Salmon?

We frequented Two Small Rooms many a time in 2010 and every time, we have been served GLORIOUS food and have been met with OUTSTANDING service without fail. They know their wine and they know their food. The only downside, I would say, is that I have never been impressed with their dessert menu. And you all KNOW how much dessert means to me. I always end up putting the dessert menu down and not ordering anything (which always elicits looks and sounds of surprise from T because, let's face it, it's practically unheard of with me) OR I'll get something with much reluctance and end up not having my socks knocked off. Maybe it's me. Maybe it's just the kind of restaurant that serves desserts that doesn't appeal to me. I don't know. But it's definitely worth going for everything else that this restaurant has going for it. Who knows, you might LOVE the desserts they have to offer.

Rating: 8/10

Two Small Rooms

517 Milton Road

Toowong

Telephone: 07 3371 5251

Website: www.twosmallrooms.com

Closed on Sundays

I'm back

2011-05-14T20:46:00.000+10:00

Okay.. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I've neglected this blog for over a year and a half. I feel terrible, not because I've disappointed people who read the blog (I can probably count them on one hand) but because of ALL the restaurants that I've been to since then and now that I haven't shared with you and because of AAALLLLLL the things that I've made that I haven't been able to post about. Where do I start?

First of all, I am no longer the dumbest person in med school - haha.. I quit!!! It was at the end of 2009 and for once, I was brutally honest with myself and asked myself if I really wanted to do this for the rest of my life. The answer was no. Half the people I knew supported my crazy decision to leave med and the other half thought I was stupid and crazy. Anyway, I did it.. and in order to stay in Australia, I had to be a student but what would I study?? I decided to do a Certificate III in Patisserie and I.. LOVED IT!!! It was so different to when I was doing med when I would wake up in the morning and dread the looong day and the constant wondering if I would be able to get away with skipping a clinical skills session/lecture/PBL.. I actually jumped out of bed in the morning, excited to learn how to make this and that!

The year passed by all to quickly in a blur of full-time studying and three jobs (waitressing, data entry and making cupcakes at Cafe Baroque).. I was busy and flat out ALL the time and got cranky a lot with T (poor guy).. I was loving the course and I was also baking heaps in the little spare time that I had but I also had to work really hard to save up and pay for the course.. Needless to say, I was a very angry girl in 2010. We ate out quite a lot because both of us were so busy with work and whatnot. Unfortunately I had absolutely no time whatsoever to sit down and blog about the places we ate it. I tried to.. about five times and after two sentences, I just thought "What am I DOING?! I need to go to bed, like NOW!!". Sooo.. a post never eventuated.

It was really sad to say goodbye to the friends that I made while studying Patisserie and also the three chefs who taught us throughout the year. They were so wonderful and really made it fun. I went home to Brunei as I usually do at the end of every year and the plan was for me to continue working casually at my day job and also do some work experience at a Patisserie to learn the ropes and the ins and outs of running one so that I could eventually use that experience to open my own :)

After three months away, I came home and T surprised me by saying that he really liked it when I was home, that he would provide for me and that he would get me a car so that I wouldn't have to work. So right now, I am quite the housewife (something I said that I would NEVER be). I do all the grocery shopping, make most of the meals, bake whenever I want and I am very happy. I have tried looking into starting a home business with my baking but found out that because we live in a townhouse and not a stand alone house, I will need to put in an application for it to be considered - which will cost AUD$2000. Plus, I will need to notify the public about my intentions ie. write to all my neighbours and announce it in the paper. Soo.. that idea is on hold at the moment. I will look into selling my cakes at the markets and will see if that is a more viable option for now.

As an attempt to make up for my previous absence, I will post something EVERYDAY from tomorrow onwards.. I will go back to the photos that I have saved of food from the restaurants that we went to last year and this and try to give a brief review.. Obviously I won't remember exactly what we had but I will remember the experience and rate accordingly. Also, I have baked many, many, many things in the last year and a half and if I can, I might share those with you too. So, that's it now.. it's official.. I'm back.

Black Forest German Cafe Restaurant Review

2009-10-28T16:23:00.000+10:00

After watching an episode of Anthony Bourdain featuring German food, T went online to search for German restaurants in Brisbane and came up with Black Forest German Cafe Restaurant. He told me about this last week but we never ended up going. However, after dinner with friends last Saturday who coincidentally mentioned that they ate at Black Forest and loved their Pork Hock, we decided to make a booking and go on Monday night. On the website, it mentioned that if we wanted to have the Pork Hock for dinner, we would have to give them 4 hours notice. So I dutifully rang up at midday to make a booking for that night and also to tell them that we would be having one Pork Hock. I was a little unnerved that the woman who answered the phone had a very thick Chinese accent.

Any-hoo, we got there and the decor freaked me out a little because there was a female mannequin at the front door and there were little dolls and antiques everywhere. As we sat down I also noted a musky smell which I didn't appreciate. The waitress was a Chinese woman who we had difficulty understanding and who also had difficulty understanding US apparently because she suggested the Mixed Grill for me as my main course and I said "Ok, let me have another look" and a few moments later when I tried to order what I wanted, she said "Oh! You want to change? Ok, I'll tell ... (she trailed off at this bit)" and I was surprised and explained that I didn't want to CHANGE anything, this is what I wanted. So she went in to tell the chef who immediately shouted "Are you STUPID?! I've already put it in the pan!". T and I looked at each other with eyes the size of dinner plates and then heard him start pulverizing the pork that was about to become my schnitzel.

We were feeling quite tense there, waiting for our entree. A couple of times during dinner we heard the chef swear and yell pretty loudly. On the upside, T was loving his beer and I was happy with my super tall glass of coke :) Finally, our entree of Bratwurst with rye bread and butter arrived but hang on, where was the rye bread and butter? I whispered that we were missing the bread to T and as the waitress walked past, he said "Excuse me, does this come with bread?". The waitress sailed past us to collect the plates of the only other table of two in the restaurant. We weren't sure if she didn't hear him/thought he was talking to me/hated us because we got her yelled at by the chef so we decided to let it go. The cheese-filled sausages were yummy though and the potato salad that came with it was good.

T ordered another beer to come with the mains and finally, his Muenchener Schweinshaze (Pork Hock) served with Sauerkraut and Bavarian Dumplings ($31.90) and my Jaegerschnitzel with champignons, onions, mushrooms, creamy sauce and homemade noodles ($28.90) arrived. The pork hock looked like a force to be reckoned with, it was HUGE! My meal was pretty big as well but they were both delicious. The pork hock had ultra crispy skin and was succulent on the inside. Not too big on the sauerkraut and dumplings but the pork really was magnificent, cooked perfectly. My pork schnitzel was tender, moist and battered with buttered crumbs. The creamy sauce was tasty and sprinkled with a generous serving of mushrooms. The noodles were alright, I've never liked German noodles but these were better than a lot that I've had before.

Managed to finish the schnitzel between us but we couldn't finish the pork! We asked the waitress if we could take it away and when she came back, she had squished everything into one container - the pork (magically boneless), sauerkraut and dumplings. I don't think we even got any noodles! We really wanted the bones for Cocoa but I told T not to ask because of the language barrier. When we were paying at the counter, he did anyway, of course, and she said "Oh! You want the bone?! It's already in the bin!" and then she just walked away and started clearing our table. Sooo.. decor and service was pretty horrible but Black Forest was saved by the food. Don't think we'll be going back there again though.. Unless for some crazy reason we feel like being misunderstood and listening to the chef swear and yell throughout a tense dinner.

Rating: 5/10

Black Forest Cafe Restaurant
196 Gladstone Road
Highgate Hill

Telephone: 07 3217 2180
Website: www.blackforestrestaurant.com.au

Bellaggio Woodfired Pizzeria & Ristorante Review

2009-10-26T17:10:00.001+10:00

Interesting night.. T really wanted to get some cheesy pizza so while I was out, he looked up Italian restaurants online and when I got back, announced that we would be going to Bellaggio in New Farm. I checked out the menu online and was a little doubtful but agreed to go anyway because they had pastas as well AND because the website looked really nice (sucker). We were absolutely starving and immediately ordered the Frittura di pesce ($25) which is fried calamari, prawns and whiting fillets with their special dressing as a starter. I then proceeded to order the Tagliolini Carbonara ($21.50) - boring, I know but I wanted to compare it to the one at Tomatos where I work. And T could not even begin to pick a pizza from their extremely, extremely extensive pizza menu. Even I gave up after the first 10. Everything just started to sound the same. So we asked our waiter to recommend one and he told us about the special pizza ($22) which consisted of mushrooms, spicy salamai cacciatore, provolone and freshly diced tomatoes and so we got that (there may have been a few other things on the pizza but that was all I could catch through his accent).

The entree arrived and although I didn't have any because of the calamari, T said that they were really good and perfect as a starter so we started to feel a little better about the food that was to come. The pizzas that were being sent out to the other tables seemed to look good too. Soon, our pasta and pizza came and sadly, were VERY disappointing. The carbonara tasted like it had come out of a packet and was greasy. I could hardly have more than a few bites. T had some and he too, thought it was horrible. Size-wise, it was considerably smaller than the one offered at Tomatos which only cost $16.90 for double the size and definitely tastes heaps better. The pizza was below average, quite bland - T's made far better pizzas at home than the one we had.

When our waiter came over to ask us how everything was going, I responded with a bright "Good!" at exactly the same time T said "This carbonara is not very good, just being honest" and the waiter, English not being his first language said "Oh, it is good? Thank you!" and T said "No, it is NOT good, it's fine, just telling you" and the waiter said "Oh! I will tell them!".. all this while I was staring bug-eyed at T. After a few minutes, a lady came over and asked if there was a problem, upon which I immediately replied "No!" and T said "This carbonara wasn't very good that's all, it tasted like it came out of a packet". The woman then said "Oh no, this is made fresh on the premises, it must not be what you expected because we do a traditional carbonara" and I smiled and said "Yes, that must be it.. Can we take the rest of it home please?". She smiled and said "Oh! You're just saving your tummy!" and Tim said "The dog will like it". I swivelled my eyeballs towards him in shock and the lady replied "That's nice" in a sarcastic tone that really meant "You're an asshole" and T said "Well, we paid money for it, SOMEONE'S gotta eat it".. O-MY-GOD. I tried to shrink into my chair and appear as invisible as possible.

Needless to say, the lady was icy-cold to T when he paid at the counter. Afterwards in the car, he admitted that he probably shouldn't have blurted out the painful truth like that. TOO late! Putting that all behind us, I decided that I wanted to go to Freestyle Tout at the Emporium for dessert. When we parked the car, T jokingly suggested thae we go into Three Bistro for some oysters and garlic and gruyere bread that we love so much. I jumped at the suggestion and we walked into Three Bistro, shaking our heads in disbelief that we were actually going to do this.

A waiter that we were familiar with seated us and when we informed him that we were only there for oysters and bread he was totally cool with it but said that he had only a dozen natural oysters left and it all depended on whether a couple who just sat down would order them or not. If they did, they wouldn't have any natural oysters left for us! So we waited in nervous anticipation while our waiter went to take their order and as he walked past he said "I've got the dozen oysters!" Phew! We breathed a sigh of relief and T ordered 6 kilpatrick oysters for himself while I got 8 natural oysters with the champagne vinagrette that is absolutely to-die-for. T makes himself a little oyster sandwich with the gruyere bread which the waitstaff at Three started doing after seeing him do it a few times. We were fully stuffed after having that 2nd dinner and I thought I could still fit dessert in the end, declared myself filled to bursting point so we went home after a very unusual night of dining out. A proper review of Three Bistro to come soon (but you can tell already that it's going to be a positive one).

As for Bellaggio, one of the worst restaurants I have ever been to. The decor was cheap and tacky, it was uncomfortably cold and the food is really horrible. Adding insult to injury was the fact that their food was SO overpriced. Last time I let T pick the restaurant, ha-ha! Just kidding (maybe).

Rating: 3/10

Bellaggio Woodfired Pizzeria & Ristorante
695 Brunswick Street
New Farm QLD 4005

Phone: 07 3254 0275
Website: http://www.bellaggio.com.au/

Kim Khanh Review

2009-10-24T19:43:00.000+10:00

Ok, I'll admit upfront that this is not going to be a very good review as we've been going to this restaurant for years and order the same thing EVERY single time. However, I'm still going to do it because if you don't already know about it, you should! Every now and then I get cravings for this place and we just have to go. Now, it is a vietnamese restaurant and as you can imagine, the decor is terrible and when you sit down you kind of question the level of hygiene of the whole place. But it's one of those places where you just don't care.

As always, we start with a plate of Sugarcane Prawn and Roast Pork each which comes with fish sauce, a stack of rice paper rolls, a plate of vegetables (carrots, cucumber, mint, lettuce) and a bowl of boiling hot water to soften the rice paper rolls. As you can see, T and I requested only cucumber because what with me not eating any greens, the big plate of vegetables usually go to waste. The fun part is making your own vietnamese spring roll, putting whatever you want it in and rolling it up! It gets a little messy if you're inexperienced but we LOVE it and have gotten pretty good at it over the years :)

The combination of the juicy prawn and pork with a fresh hint of whatever vegetable you use and the sweet and sourness of the fish sauce is just indescribable. My mouth is watering just thinking about it now. Come to think of it, I should've taken a photo of a finished roll that one of us had. Oh well!

Next, we had the Deep Fried Flounder which is always cooked perfectly. The meat is juicy and tender and the skin is crunchy and crispy. It is my absolute favourite dish! With the flounder we also had Moreton Bay Bugs on noodles cooked with ginger and shallots. I'm not a huge fan of this dish but T absolutely loves it. I just think that bugs in general taste a bit bland and ditto for the noodles.

Kim Khanh is one of those restaurants that will go on forever just because their food tastes so good. It's always packed with big tables of people celebrating some occasion or other and although I rarely see people order what WE order, they seem to love whatever they're having just as much. It's BYO and we have never ever made a booking but have always managed to get a table. Just-try-it.

Rating: 7.5/10

Kim Khanh
67 Cardiff Road
Darra QLD4076

Phone: 07 3375 3014

Closed on Mondays

Quiche, Pumpkin Salad, Chocolate Tart & Chocolate Pots!

2009-10-20T15:49:00.000+10:00

Remember how I said I had tons of egg yolks over and T requested that I make a chocolate tart? W-ell, he ALSO requested that I make a quiche lorraine since I was "making pastry anyway" and so I borrowed a large food processor from Y and went shopping with T to buy all the ingredients I needed (not much). To cut a long story short, I spent HOURS multi-tasking to make the quiche, a roasted pumpkin salad to go with it and a chocolate tart for dessert when I should REALLY have been studying!!! T came home to find me standing in the kitchen with a crazed look in my eyes as he tentatively stepped closer to give me a hug.

It got pretty hectic - I forgot to put the walnut meal in the pastry for the chocolate tart and I officially hate cutting up butternut pumpkin (first time, so I had no idea how hard it was). However, when we sat down to the delicious quiche and salad (both recipes provided by Exclusively Food, by the way), all the tension just dissipated and it was an awesomely yummy dinner.

The chocolate tart literally took HOURS to bake in the oven (I have no idea why, ask Donna Hay) and when it came out, still didn't look too good which was probably due to the fact that I was doing 10 things at the same time while melting the chocolate. I hated it on sight because it looked so ugly but T raved about how good it was and how it was "the best dessert you've ever made". I thought he was just saying it to make me feel better but he has had a huge amount of it ever since (only a small slice left in the fridge now) so I guess it wasn't bad. I had a tiny spoonful but as I'm not a fan of dark chocolate, didn't like it much. No photos of the chocolate tart because it looked hideous.

So this all happened about a week ago and while I was looking up recipes that used lots of egg yolks, I came across one from Exclusively Food - Chocolate Pots! Since I had heaps of the frosting left over from my Lemon Angel Food Cupcakes, I decided to make another batch of those (this time I could actually pipe the frosting because it had hardened from sitting in the fridge) and use the egg yolks to make the chocolate pots. Managed to do that yesterday and because I was only doing one thing at a time, stirred the chocolate and cream over heat CONTINUOUSLY and got a lovely, smooth mixture which I then ran through a sieve. Refrigerated overnight and voila! Beautiful chocolate pots.. woohoo!! Yummy too, recipe is highly recommended!

Liquorish Bistro + Bar Review

2009-10-19T13:23:00.000+10:00

T and I felt like another nice dinner so we perused some menus online and eventually decided on Liquorish, mainly because their dinner menu sounded pretty good and also because we haven't been there in months and months! So I made a booking for that night and there we were, seated in the plush, cosy setting of Liquorish. It's all dark, rich colours except the huge, classy white leather bench seating on one side of the room. I love the decor, it just relaxes me somehow. T got himself a glass of red wine and I ordered a hot chocolate for myself. What arrived at the table was the smallest hot chocolate I had ever seen. It was so cute, like a shot of hot chocolate (almost). The taste? Pleasant, but could do with MORE chocolate! Hehe..

Liquorish provides a list of tapas for entrees and we started with FOUR to share because they all sounded so good! I didn't have the oysters this time *shock* but we did get the Seared Scallops with cucumber, seaweed salad & wasabi mayonnaise ($17), the Bangalow Pork Pie with apple pork pie and riddichio salad ($15), the Tiger Prawn & Crab Spring Rolls with coriander, ginger & palm sugar dressing ($16) and the 250 Day Grain Fed Beef Carpaccio with foie gras toast, balsamic onions & chive oil ($18). The scallops were by far my favourite because they were so cute and perfectly cooked (not too mushy or rubbery) and because I looooove seaweed. Combined with the wasabi mayonnaise (couldn't really taste any wasabi), it was great! A nice mix of textures with the chewy scallops and the crunchy seaweed.

The pork pie was also presented adorably with the pork in miniature puff pastry case and tiny jug of sauce. The overall flavours worked really well and was yummy (as you would expect from a meat pie) but the pastry was a little hard and chewy - not good! If the pastry had been light and fluffy, it would've been a cracking dish. The spring rolls were like any other spring rolls I guess, but for me, the vegetables in them overpowered the taste of the prawns and crabs. I could hardly taste them, it felt like I was eating a vegetarian spring roll and as you know, that does not bode well with me. Note to self, NEVER order spring rolls from ANYWHERE ever again!! T had most of the beef carpaccio and he absolutely loved it. He piled on the carpaccio on top of the foie gras toast and added balsamic onions on top - and he was in heaven.

While waiting for our mains, T just couldn't help himself so he ordered another tapas dish to come together with our mains. He had been eyeing the Crispy Fried Squid with shoe string fries & tomato chilli chutney ($15) longingly but didn't order it because I'm allergic to squid. After he kept talking about it, I urged him to get it so it came together with our mains of the Spanner Crab Lasagne with spiced avocado, tomato, basil dressing, creme fraiche & salmon pearls ($34) for me and the Barramundi Fillet with sweet potato gratin, shaved fennel, hazelnut, watercress salad & citrus sauce ($36) for T. I was secretly hoping that T would get the Roast Duck Leg so that I could have one but alas, it didn't happen :(

Obviously I didn't have any squid but T was making orgasmic expressions and going on and on about how tender the squid was and that it totally made the whole dinner blah blah blah.. Oh, how I wish I could have had some! Good to hear that he enjoyed them so much though! Hehe.. The crab lasagne for me was average. It probably could have been a little cheesier and would have done well with more crab in it (again, could hardly taste any). The phrase that popped into my head when I had my first bite was "Mexican Lasagne" because of the avocado, tomato and creme fraiche. T wasn't all that impressed with his barramundi fish and when I tried some, it was a little overcooked in my opinion. The flavours that went with it were good though, I DID like the creamy sauce (what else is new?) and T had no problem finishing it at all.

For dessert, T had the Espresso Creme Brulee with tonka bean poached prunes & orange biscotti ($14) while I had the Triple Chocolate Fudge Brownie with vanilla ice cream & candied pecans ($14). The creme brulee had a VERY strong coffee taste and T really liked it. He didn't care much for the prunes though but he did say that the espresso creme brulee was better than the one he had at Cha Cha Char. The brownie surprised me because I'm not really a fan of brownies, I tend to find them a bit dense and hard. But THIS one was chocolatey, soft, moist and crumbly - infused with crunchy pecans. YUM! The last time I was at Liquorish, I ordered the chocolate tart with the same feeling of apprehension and it was the best chocolate tart I have ever had in my whole life. The pastry was soft, crumbly and buttery and the chocolate just melted in your mouth. I am still waiting with bated breath for it to come back on the menu!

To sum up, Liquorish would make a great dining venue any day of the week. It's ambience is wonderfully relaxed and posh and the service there is impeccable. The food is good and the desserts are smashingly awesome.

Rating: 7/10

Liquorish Bistro + Bar
Shop 2/140 Oxford Street
Bulimba

Phone: 07 3399 1520
Website: http://www.liquorishbistro.com.au/

Open Tuesday to Sunday for lunch and dinner.

Baking - 3, Studying - 0

2009-10-13T22:04:00.002+10:00

I just couldn't help myself when I saw that Clara on http://www.iheartcuppycakes.com/ had posted up a new cupcake recipe - eek! I have been traversing her site (and others) daily just as a way of procrastinating and just yesterday I said to T that no one had posted up any new cupcake recipes in aeons!! And to that he wisely said "There'll be something sooner or later, it all comes and goes in waves doesn't it?" to which I glumly nodded my head. And then this morning, ta-daa!! A post on Angel Food Cupcakes!! The only problem was.. I had no strawberries left :(

When T went out to run some errands for work, I asked him to get me a punnet of strawberries if he came across any (highly unlikely, of course) and then later on, I saw Y online and because I knew she was coming over to pick something up, I tried my luck to see if she had any strawberries lying around that she didn't want. Sadly, she said she didn't but a few minutes later, I got a glorious SMS from her saying that she'd bought me some on the way over to my place!! Woo-hoo!! Bless her little heart, within 15 minutes I had my strawberries! (T got back a few minutes before Y got here and of course, HE didn't get me any strawberries, hmpf!) J/k! :)

So I made the cupcakes with much zest and zelousness, partly because I had an excuse not to study and partly because these cupcakes sounded VERY promising indeed! In total, I used 8 egg whites and my right arm ached from all the beating I had to do with my handheld beater but the cupcakes turned out very pretty (they were all puffy when I first took them out of the oven but upon standing, shrunk considerably!!). However, the strawberry swiss meringue buttercream frosting turned out to be runny so I couldn't pipe them onto the cupcakes! I tried putting the bowl of frosting in the fridge so it would harden up but in the end I just couldn't wait anymore and spooned a dollop onto each cupcake.

Lemon Angel Food Cupcakes with Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting

Now I have 8 egg yolks left over and I gave T the choice of me making creme brulee or a chocolate tart tomorrow and you know what he said? "QUICHE!!" Haha.. He eventually settled on the chocolate tart so we will be shopping for some ingredients for that as well as ingredients for the quiche and salad that I will make tomorrow.

You can see the numerous ways that I have been procrastinating and wasting my time NOT studying the last few days - multiple blog entries a day, baking, planning for baking the next time and also.. I've been dreaming about getting a GREAT standing mixer. All of the bakers whose blogs I follow seem to be using Kitchenaid so I googled it and because it's Breast Cancer Awareness month, they've got a special PINK one!!!! Of course, it costs like AUD$800 but a girl can dream right?

Sigh.. love love love it *stares off in space dreamily* Oh, I also need a huge-ass food processor for making the pastry for the quiches! More dreaming.. until next time everyone!!

Cha Cha Char Wine Bar & Grill Review

2009-10-13T21:08:00.001+10:00

Continuing on in my theme of being a bad girl.. that same Sunday night, T and I went to Anise for their newly started Sunday Supper REALLY craving for some of their awesome oysters and crab crepes but when we sat down, we realised that their Sunday supper menu was a condensed version of their normal menu and that the oysters and crepes were not on it (totally understandable because it's the kitchen's only day off so the owner wanted to keep it sweet and simple) sooo.. we were brats and we left to go to Cha Cha Char, shame on us!

We've been to Cha Cha Char many many times and I've always only tolerated going there because T loved their Highly Marbled Wagyu ($95 for 150g) and everything I had tried was just alright. The desserts varied, they had changed their menu 3 times since the first time we dined there. The first time, I didn't like any of the 2 desserts I tried. The second time, I loooved their orange creme brulee and since their third menu change, I've tried the honey creme brulee and didn't enjoy it because I don't really like the strong taste of honey. T thought it was pretty good though! As for their entrees and mains, the first two menus didn't quite cut it for me but on the new menu, I tried the Crisp Duck Leg Confit with parmesan polenta, pickled cherries, poached prunes and mustard cress ($34) and fell in loooooooove. I am SUCH a big fan of crispy skinned duck leg confit AND polenta. The texture of the polenta was smooth and creamy with just the right amount of grainy-ness (is that even a word?!) and the cherries and prunes brought a nice sweet punch to the whole dish.

So back to Sunday!! For entrees we ordered 6 oysters ($22) - 4 kilpatrick and 2 mornay (3 kilpatrick for T and the rest for me) as well as the Prosciutto Wrapped Quail baked with porcini mushroom & pistachio nut farce, braise of leek, caramelised fig and goats cheese ($26.50) which I've had a couple of times before as a main.

The oysters were yummy! Not much I can say about kilpatrick and mornay oysters but these ones really hit the spot. The quail was good as always, perfectly cooked and wrapped in salty prosciutto, yum! I loved the fig and T loved the braise of leek - it was a wonderfully tasty dish. After we'd finished our entrees, we guiltily ordered another half a dozen oysters, this time 4 mornay and 2 kilpatrick - more mornay for mee!! Mmmm..

For our mains, of course T ordered the Highly Marble Wagyu but the new menu serves it with Green Tea Soba Noodle, Wasabi Leaf & Enoki Salad, Yamato Raw Woy, Pickled Ginger which T absolutely hated when he first tried it. He didn't think it went well with the steak at all so this time he had it served with the sides that came with the T-bone which was Baked Chorizo, Squid, Red Pepper & Tomato Salsa, Lemon Vinaigrette which he really liked, except for the chorizo. He also ordered a side of Double Cream Mash ($6.50) and I forgot to mention, T gets TWO serves of the steak so he gets not 150g, but 300g of steak!! No, I am not kidding - there has been a waiter who mistakenly thought that they were for the both of us and moved to remove our menus before I had ordered my food! He did a double take when he realised they were both for T. Yes, we are a couple of piglets hehe. No prizes for guessing what I had for my mains - the duck of course!! And shock shock, horror horror.. I DID NOT have any dessert *gasp* Not that I was too full or anything, just waiting for them to change the dessert menu again to better suit my liking!

Cha Cha Char is a great place to dine, it has an extensive menu and most things are done extremely well. The wait staff are pleasant and effcient, there is also an abundance of them. The place is very well managed and it has that informal yet classy feel to it. No wonder it is always packed on Fridays after work and late at night. T and I are there many a late night when every other restaurant's kitchen has closed so when it's 9.30pm and you're hungry and desperate for some good food and great service, pick up the phone and call Cha Cha Char! :)

Rating: 8/10

Cha Cha Char Wine Bar & Grill
Shop 5, Plaza Level,
Eagle Street Pier, Brisbane

Phone: 07 3211 9944
Website: http://www.chachachar.com.au/

NED'S Cafe Review

2009-10-13T13:47:00.001+10:00

On Sunday I was a very bad girl.. I didn't do an ounce of studying and went to the Gold Coast with T, Y and Cocoa instead! It was sort of T's belated birthday present to Cocoa since we didn't do anything special for her and she's been acting bored and moping around the house a bit (maybe because she just turned 4!!). We really didn't feel like having fish and chips at the coast again as we usually do because that's one of the only places we can take Cocoa for lunch, so I remembered that the Brisbane News had a little write up on a little place called Ned's Cafe in Yeronga and suggested it to T. I bulldozed into the pile of old Brisbane News's that we had lying on the floor and lo and behold, actually FOUND the write up and proceeded to read it out to T. It was a fairly glowing review with no negatives whatsoever although they did give it an average rating of 7.5 so I called up to make a booking for a table outside so we could have Cocoa there with us.

To my delight, I discovere that they had milkshakes so I ordered a chocolate one of course, while T got a mocha and Y got herself a skinny latte as she always does. The chocolate milkshake was quite good, although still not up to par with the one ones at Pearl Cafe. I didn't bother asking T and Y what they thought of their beverages, sorry!

All of us ordered from the breakfast menu even though the lunch menu did sound quite enticing. T got NED'S famous gourmet eggs with bacon, onion, garlic, parmesan, spinach, mushroom & tomato tossed through creamy scrambled eggs served with toast ($16.50) with a side of hash browns and sausages ($2.50 each), Y got the Potato leek and parsley rosti with smokey bacon, parmesan rocket served with tomato creme fraiche ($16.50) while I got the Eggs Benedict with salmon ($16.50).

NED'S famous gourmet eggs looked haphazardly thrown together, the toast looked a little burnt and unsightly and as T said, "I don't know what's so famous about these eggs". He thought the whole dish was a bit bland and wasn't a fan of the sausage. Y liked her rosti but commented that it was a little on the dry side whereas T deemed it tastier than his own meal. I enjoyed my Eggs Benedict - the sauce and the spinach were good but the toast could've been better and one of the yolks in my poached eggs was cooked through.

I had gone inside to have a look at the deserts offered in their display cabinet and made my choice pretty quickly! I had to have the Chocolate Velvet Tart ($5.50) after my mains and it was the main reason why I didn't have the buttermilk pancakes for breakfast ;) The tart was indeed velvety and rich and although I thought it was a little too "dark" for my liking, once you mix it with the cream that it's served with, it was beautiful - worth every penny!

The waitstaff were generally pleasant although we did get the sense that again, the place was understaffed and there was an undercurrent of tension and flurry. When we were done with our meals, a waitress even came out with the exact dishes that we had ordered and consumed and when we shook our heads in bewilderment, ran off back inside, no doubt to an irate chef that had to prepare 3 meals twice for nothing.

Overall, a nice place for a quick bite and we appreciated that we could have Cocoa with us while we ate. They might want to get a manager in so that everything runs smoothly (there was also an issue with booking the table and with a muffin that Y got to take away but I won't get into that).

Rating: 6/10

NED'S Cafe
Shop 3.4, The Village
Cnr Fairfield Road and Kadumba Street
Yeronga

Phone: 07 3848 4406
Website: http://www.neds.com.au/

Sono Portside Wharf Review

2009-10-12T13:41:00.002+10:00

I have no idea why T suggested going to Sono Portside Wharf Restaurant as he'd been there about half a year ago with his friend and said it wasn't that great. I guess he wanted to give it another chance and having never been before, I decided to give it a go. The word 'posh' springs tomind when I try to describe the ambience and decor of this japanese restaurant. We were seated immediately and the good thing was that there didn't seem to be a shortage of waitstaff like alot of other restaurants nowadays. T noted that there were waitstaff coming at us at all angles providing us with food and water haha! He had no intention of having more than one beer at dinner as we had a movie to see right after but upon seeing 'Sancere' on the wine list, he pounced and proceeded to get intoxicated glass by glass.

The menu was VERY extensive and again, this worried us a little. We settled on Ebi Tempura ($26), Yakitori ($15) and a large Sashimi Moriawase ($48) to share and a California hand roll ($12) and Prawn Tempura large sushi roll ($15) for me. I'll cut a long, repetitive story short - EVERYTHING was pretty mediocre. Nothing that we couldn't get from Ginga Restaurant in Southbank and for half the price too! We felt that the sashimi was B grade and not that fresh. I had to stop after a few slices. The ebi tempura and yakitori were similar to what we've had at cheaper restaurants and the sushi didn't even match up to those that are found in sushi trains!

Oh, and I almost forgot.. T ordered the Scampi Springrolls ($18) as an afterthought and they, too fit the theme of the evening of blandness, mediocrity and poor value for money (2 measly pieces!!).

For dessert, I just HAD to order the Chocolate Terrine ($17.50) to see what a japanese restaurant would come up with and also a hot chocolate, while T ordered a macchiato to try to sober up for the movie. I waited in nervous anticipation and the hot chocolate was surprisingly very good! It was very rich and chocolatey, yum.. The chocolate terrine, however.. was ghastly. Just looking at it, you knew it was going to be bad. It was poorly put together and crumbled into dry chunks of chocolate when we tried to cut into it with our spoons. It also had a bit of a weird taste.. made me wonder what kind of chocolate they used. Needless to say, we couldn't finish it. I guess it's our fault for daring to order a dessert like that in a japanese restaurant, we should've stuck with the green tea ice cream, yes?

Soo.. the verdict is: DON'T BOTHER. It's all the way out at Portside (for West-side locals like me), it's waaaaaaaaay overpriced for below-average food AND the desserts are crap. The only good things about this restaurant are the decor, the ambience and the great, ample service and let's face it, you can do better than Sono - you know it.

Rating: 4.5/10

Sono Japanese Restaurant, Portside
Level 1, Building 7, Portside Wharf
39 Hercules Street, Hamilton
Brisbane

Phone: 07 3268 7765
Website: http://www.sonorestaurant.com.au/

Closed on Mondays

Oops..

2009-10-07T15:59:00.001+10:00

I know I said no more baking till I'm back in Brunei but... I sorta made buttermilk pancakes today *sheepish grin* In my defense, it's not REALLY baking!! They hardly took any time to make and I didn't have to use the hand-held electric beaters for them at all! Except I made strawberry puree and whipped cream that wasn't in the original recipe and had to use the electric beaters AND the food processor but overall the whole thing probably took me about half an hour and that's pretty good. I just really wanted to use up the buttermilk and heavy cream that I had left over from the Kupcake Kabobs so I looked up Buttermilk Pancakes online and voila! A really simple recipe came up and I just added the strawberry puree and whipped cream (stolen from other previous recipes I've come across) to maaaaake:

Tried to be creative and present it artistically but as you can see, the puree just look like hastily placed globs! Pretty happy with the way the pancakes turned out, very nice and fluffy BUT will probably use more sugar next time! Must... be... SWEEET!! At least I accomplished my mission of using up the buttermilk and cream but I have to say, it was a little to early (9am) to be having such a humongous breakfast.. Cocoa ended up having some of mine, tee-hee!

No more baking...

2009-10-02T22:52:00.001+10:00

Until I'm back in Brunei!! I just spent aaaages making Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes for a potluck dinner party tomorrow night. I was really excited about making these cupcakes because let's face it, who doesn't like orange creamsicle?!

Anyway, I was halfway through making the actual cupcake and realised that my fave cupcake blogger had said something about putting in the salt somewhere and some sugar somewhere else but didn't include salt and sugar in the ingredients so I didn't know how much to put in! I guessed that it was 1/4 tsp of salt but I really had no idea how much sugar to put in (I'm not creative, I just follow recipes) so there I was, in the middle of making the cupcakes, all my ingredients spread out on the bench and I was stuck, at a total roadblock. Then I had a brilliant idea! IHCuppycakes is always on Twitter (yes, I followed her because I'm obsessed) so I logged on and checked when her last tweet was.. 44 minutes ago!! There was a ray of hope and I tweeted to her pleadingly, asking her about the salt and sugar. I waited... and waited.. 20 minutes went past and I sighed in frustration, decided to just put 1/2 a cup of sugar in and leave it at that. After mixing that in, I refreshed my Twitter page and lo and behold, a reply from her!!! She advised me on the correct amount (1 cup sugar, the salt was correct yahoo!) so I thanked her profusely and added another 1/2 cup of sugar. That went in the oven and then I had 2 other parts to make - the orange buttercream and the marshmallow filling.

I made the orange buttercream without any drama but halfway through making the marshmallow filling (the marshmallow fluff part I had to make from scratch because Brisbane doesn't SELL it - go figure), I realised that I needed a measly 1 cup of icing sugar!! Aaaargh!! Jumped on the scooter, zipped up the road to the convenience store (so convenient haha) and got it and made the filling which turned out to be 10 times more than I actually needed. It's now sitting in a bowl in the fridge, I guess I could use it to make homemade fluffer nutter sandwiches soon :)

After the cupcakes had cooled down, I had to cut out little wells in each cupcake to fill with the marshmallow filling. That caused a crick in my neck, I can tell you! I also stupidly made 24 mini cupcakes and had to make tiny wells for them and they were oh so hard to fill! THEN I had to pipe on the buttercream icing. But I stuck it out and now I have beautiful cupcakes to bring over to A&G's tomorrow.

That being said, this will be the last baking distraction I will go through for the next 6 weeks because I should SOOOOO be studying for my upcoming finals!!! I promise not to bake a single thing until I'm back in Brunei. You heard it here. Peace out.

Les Amis Review

2009-10-02T22:14:00.002+10:00

Last night we decided to try having dinner at Les Amis after I read a little mention about it in the Brisbane News. I don't know why, but I was pleasantly surprised by the decor. It was casual, chic, cosy and modern - just the way I like it. The colours were warm and soothing, the single chandelier provided class and it was very 'french' indeed. The venue is small and it is pretty much alfresco as the inside opens up to the outside. Once the weather warms up, sitting outside would be beautiful.

It was 8.15pm when we arrived and there were a few tables occupied. T and I guessed that it would be pretty packed during the day because of all the offices in the building. We were presented with the menu and the two specials of the night were explained to us. Les Amis is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday except Monday and their menu was pretty big which made T and I a little nervous, being avid watchers of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. One of the things he repeatedly says is "You want to do a few things and you want to do them right".. and then he drastically downsizes the menu!

We were immediately sucked into the entrees and the charcuterie (cured meat) and weren't too impressed with the meats/mains SO, typically of T and I, we ordered a whole heap of entrees - the soup of the day (cauliflower soup) with fresh bread roll and butter ($10.90), twice baked goats cheese souffle ($14.90), confit pork belly ($16.90) and the Les Amis salad ($14.90) - and the assiette de charcuterie ($27) which is a tasting plate of all on the charcuterie menu. I ordered a chocolate milkshake as an afterthought and I have to admit, it wasn't as good as Pearl Cafe - might've been the chocolate they used but nevertheless, I didn't finish it (which says alot).

Almost immediately after ordering, we were presented with an amuse bouche of scallop and pea soup which T liked but I definitely didn't because, if you didn't know already, I am NOT a fan of vegetables. I only started eating veggies this year and I'm still getting used to them. I don't know what half of them are called/look like, I still hate peas, broccoli and probably many more. Anyway, this soup was extremely green and pea-y so T had mine :) yay!

The cauliflower soup was for T but I had a few spoonfuls and it was good! Creamy with just a hint of cauliflower (which is probably why I liked it) BUT the winner waaaas *drum roll* the BUTTER that came with the bread roll. Why, you ask? Because, finally someone had the sense to soften the butter so that we, the starving customers, could immediately and easily spread it on our fresh, warm bread roll!! *Hallelujah music* I mean, how hard can it be? T and I have been waiting and waiting for someone to do that and finally, on the night of the 1st of October 2009, we were granted our wish. Yeesssss!!! NB: If you're reading this and you work for a restaurant that serves bread rolls with bread, pleeeeze suggest softening the butter for customers, pleeeze!

I thought the twice baked goats cheese souffle looked incredible, just sitting there on top of a smear of fennel puree on the plate instead of being in some ramekin or other. It made me just want to dive into it! A spoon cut into it oh so easily, it was fluffy and light with a good taste of goats cheese and the line of tomato and black olive mini salad was delicious too!

T wasn't too keen on ordering the confit pork belly, probably because we've had it to death in the last few months (on an apple puree, no less) but I insisted because come on, I just have a thing for pork belly okay?! The dish was beautifully presented (again), the skin crispy, the meat succulent and the apple and vanilla puree, the dried apple cracker and the marinated slice of pumpkin delicious. After having a bite, T just had to nod his head in satisfaction and there we were nodding our heads like a couple of donkeys.

The Les Amis salad consisted of haloumi cheese, roasted fennel, crispy speck, mixed leaves and balsamic dressing. I thought that the haloumi cheese was dry and not cut thinly enough but the crispy speck was tasty! Everything else was pretty average, don't think I would get it again.

The assiette of cured meat had foie gras and duck liver parfait, Toulouse sausage, confit rolled chicken thigh with artichoke, prosciutto and truffle mash and lastly the pork rillette. I didn't have any foie gras this time but T said it was good, the sausage tasted really nice and porky (some people may not like that but I do) and the winner was the confit rolled chicken thigh. It was juicy and tender and morsels of delight, really. The pork rillette was interesting, a scoop of shredded pork molded together and a heap of celeriac remoulade to pile onto a mini toast which suprisingly worked really well and tasted cold and fresh.

For the part that everyone's waiting for (or maybe just me) - dessert! I got the white chocolate creme brulee with raspberry compote ($9.50) and we shared that. The white chocolate was prominent in the creme brulee and it tasted wonderfully rich and velvety and of course, the classic partnering with raspberries never goes wrong!

All in all, it was a wonderful dining experience. The wait staff and even the chefs were pleasant and friendly. The food went down a treat and we are already planning to go back to try the breakfast and lunch menu! Les Amis takes bookings, is licensed but accepts BYO. It also has a display cabinet that offers the daily specials of pastries and sandwiches. They also do caterings and functions and seems pretty well run for a place that has been open for only 4 months.

Rating: 8/10

Les Amis
Shop 1, Green Square North Tower
515 St Paul's Terrace
Fortitude Valley

Phone: 07 3852 6100
Website: http://www.lesamis.com.au/

Crosstown Eating House Review

2009-10-01T10:03:00.003+10:00

All of yesterday I was craving for the scallop carbonara at Pearl Cafe and in an effort to shut me up, T said we could go that night. So I was happy and excited that I was able to get my milkshake and pasta that night. Had my new dress and new bag, life was sweeet. T was sulking about us going to Pearl Cafe so much and not Crosstown (right across the road) and I said "If they've changed the menu at Pearl Cafe and don't have the scallop carbonara anymore, we'll go to Crosstown Eating House okay?!" Aaaaand... boo-hoo, they JUST changed the menu on the day!!! *pout* So I got a malt milkshake to go and took it over to Crosstown.

It was buzzing in there, really busy!! We had to sit at the bar because there were only big tables left, and by big tables I mean tables of 4. They really don't like to waste perfectly good seats at Crosstown so be prepared to share a table if it's just the two of you going! Before I start, let me tell you a little bit about this place. It's relatively new, it only opened a few months ago so it's still trying to get all the elements right - and doing a pretty good job so far. They largest tables they have seat a maximum of 8 people, they are fully licensed and don't allow BYO. They also don't do reservations AND they don't do any coffees with the exception of a short black because they don't want people to come in, order coffees and hog a table for hours. If you want a coffee, go to Pearl Cafe across the road! The food at Crosstown is meant to be shared so all the dishes are pretty small. An adorable thing they have there are bag hooks underneath the bar and also at most tables! Sooo practical and clever.

Ok, on to the food! They had changed the menu since the last time we went there which was nice so we ordered a lamb cutlet with minted yoghurt ($9) - where else can you get to order ONE lamb cutlet?! Love it! We also ordered 3 oysters ($9), duck liver paté ($12) and a white anchovy, roast garlic and toast dish ($16) as our entrees. The lamb cutlet was better than the last time I had it there - juicy, tender and savoury and the yoghurt a nice cool touch. The oysters were served oh-so-fresh, with a wedge of lemon and they were delicious and very creamy! We were tempted to order more, but wisely decided to save our stomachs for our mains. Of course, the paté was for T and he said it was very nice and creamy. The mini toasted bread looked really cute and T fed me a small bite of toast with pate on it and I nearly vomited (still trying to acquire the taste for it but miserably failing). The anchovy dish was one we'd had before and it is a very interesting looking dish with the roasted garlic being a whole bulb of garlic cut in half and roasted. The anchovies in oil were nice and sour and put them both on the toasted bread, you get a nice burst of flavour in your mouth.

As we were finishing off our entrees, we were trying to inconspicuously have a look at what other people at the bar were having (hey hey, before you shake your heads, just remember that everyone at the bar was looking at me like I was a weirdo on her first night out of the house because I was taking photos of every single dish we had!). Anyway, the couple across from us had a very colourful dish which we deduced was the citrus cured ocean trout ($22) so we ordered that as an afterthought. It was pretty good, with tiny morsels of apple and orange as well as a liberal scattering of coriander (not a fan) but I thought some dressing would have done wonders to the dish.

For our mains, we ordered the mushroom and thyme risotto ($19) and the truffled sausage, polenta and jus ($23). The risotto was average, probably not as creamy as I would've liked and I found it just a tad bland. The first bite of the truffled sausage sent me over the moon because I just LOVE truffle and there was a strong truffle essence in it. I also liked the creamy polenta in the jus but after about 5 bites, I was over it and couldn't have anymore. The polenta also became part of the jus and lost it's original flavour and texture after awhile.

There are only 3 desserts on the little menu at Crosstown. There was a melon and champagne granita, a panna cotta and a chocolate mousse - all $9. Of course I went for the chocolate mousse and it was very dainty and quite satisfying for 1 person. There was a layer of strawberry jelly at the bottom topped by a dark chocolate mousse and garnished with crunchy toffee. T didn't have any dessert, he was THISCLOSE to ordering the steak and chimichurri ($18) that almost every other table had for dessert but deemed himself too full in the end.

In summary, Crosstown is a quirky new eating place that everyone should definitely try once. The menu will intrigue you but once the food arrives on your table, it quickly wears off and you're left with average food. The wine list is not very extensive and the wait staff all look like they can't WAIT for the night to be over and get the heck outta there!

Rating: 6.5/10

Crosstown Eating House
23 Logan Road
Woolloongabba

Phone: 07 3162 3839
Website: http://www.thecrosstown.com.au/

Opening Hours;
Monday & Sunday: Closed
Tuesday: 6pm till 12 midnight (kitchen closes at 10pm)
Wednesday to Saturday: 12 noon till 12 midnight (kitchen closes at 10pm)

When everything goes right

2009-09-27T19:14:00.001+10:00

It was Tiff's surprise birthday BBQ today and because it was a barbeque, I decided to make Kupcake Kabobs - an idea I got off my favourite cupcake blogger, Clara at http://www.iheartcuppycakes.com/. Basically it's mini chocolate cupcakes with a peanut butter cream frosting on a skewer with rice krispies and strawberries. What an ingenious idea right?! That's why I love her! And her recipes are always spot on and so easy to follow too.

After my disastrous day with the muffins, I must admit I was a little apprehensive about more baking but I just had to do them because I don't go to barbeques often! So I got all the ingredients I needed and proceeded to make these creations. I had to split them up into 3 stages - baking all the cupcakes in the small amount of time I had before having to go to work (I ran a little overtime of course and managed to get to work in 5 minutes, record time!!), frosting all the cupcakes at 10.30pm after work and assembling the kabobs right before the barbeque the next day. It was a bit frantic on the day of the barbeque, the assembling took a little longer than I had anticipated but Y lent a much needed helping hand. I even suffered a skewer-stick injury, ha-ha! (Sorry, bad med joke).

But yeah, throughout the whole procedure everything just went according to plan and it was beautiful. All the cupcakes were baked perfectly and looked great, the frosting came out perfect and the kabobs were just oh-so-cute. Success at the party and they were gone in 2 minutes. Hurray! Too bad T got the wrong park (NOT happy!) and we missed the whole 'surprise' moment and because we were in such a hurry, we left the birthday present at home. D'oh!! Kupcake Kabobs are definitely a must-do again next time. Cocoa couldn't have any of course, but she did get lots of pats, a good run around and 2 balloons tied to her collar :)

Pearl Cafe Review

2009-09-26T23:52:00.002+10:00

Soo, it was a Friday night and T and I were driving home from a movie.. T asked me what we were going to do the next day and I replied enthusiastically "FUN STUFF!!" and so T said "You wanna go to that Pearl Cafe of yours??" upon which I responded with as much as a dance as I could manage while driving while singing "Miiiilkshake, I'm gonna get a milkshaaaaake" :D I've only been to Pearl Cafe once before but got fixated as I do, and have been going on about it ever since.

At the last minute, Y decided to join us with our lovely shared dog, Cocoa. As we'd heard, Pearl Cafe was packed full at lunchtime on a weekend (plus we needed an outside table because of Cocoa) so the lovely waiter took my name and number down and said he would call us when they had an outside table available. He gave us an estimated time of half an hour so we had a little stroll around, had a look at some artwork and in less than half an hour, I got a phone call and hey presto, we got ourselves a table outside!

Our waitress gave us a run through of their daily specials which consisted of a rump sandwich with caramelised onions and tomato relish, croque-monsieur/croque-madame, a prawn salad and a haloumi salad. We arrived at 12.45pm so we were told that the breakfast menu was no longer available and we had to order from the lunch/dinner menu, upon which T responded with a grumble and a "hmmpf". T and Y ordered coffees while I, of course, ordered my much awaited chocolate milkshake. Pearl Cafe offers many flavours of milkshakes, including malt, vanilla, berry and butterscotch (all of which I intend to try in my future visits). The other two enjoyed their coffees very much and I loved my milkshake, it was rich and chocolatey and heavenly on a searing hot day like today.

T then asked the waiter about Pearl Cafe's infamous fish finger sandwiches and the waiter informed us regretfully that they had JUST sold their last one. T was infuriated that he missed out and very much disappointed and I think that just ruined the whole lunch for him, tee-hee. The best comment that came out of his mouth about the food for the rest of the meal was "It's good". To make things worse, a little while later, the last fish finger sandwich was served to someone sitting on the table next to us!

In the end, T and Y both got the croque-madame which is a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with a creamy sauce and an egg on top (hence the "madame"), I got the scallop carbonara and we just had to get the prawn salad to share between us. The scallop carbonara was absolutely delicious - smooth and creamy with bits of juicy bacon and scallops that were cooked perfectly. It was a nice-sized portion, perfect for lunch. I had half of Y's croque-madame and I did like the grilled ham and cheese and the creamy sauce but we all thought that there was a bit too much bread and that it would've been better as either an open sandwich or tightly pressed together with the bread toasted. The prawn salad was absolutely amazing - perfectly cooked prawns with spinach, artichokes, tomatoes and yes, CREAMY dressing. I'm not a salad person at all but this is probably in the top 3 category for me in terms of favourite salads I've had in my life.

Pearl Cafe has a pastry chef who comes in and uses anything that is in stock so their dessert selection changes extremely frequently. There isn't even a dessert menu, it's what's on display that day. I went and had a look right after we finished eating and I wanted about 7 desserts on display! After much debate, we made the tough decision of narrowing it down to two to share between us and we got the chocolate roll with mascarpone cheese as well as the lime and raspberry tart, both with ice cream. Y and I thought it would be great if they could have a little tasting platter of all the desserts! I bet everyone would choose that option. The chocolate roll with mascarpone was an interesting combination and the chocolate sponge was soft and spongy. The tart was zesty and fresh and got everyone's vote as the favourite. Not my favourite desserts ever and they didn't warrant an obsessive urge to have them all day everyday (as some desserts do) but still, one of the best lunches I've had in a long time.

I will be definitely be going back again and again and again to Pearl Cafe and I'm pretty sure everyone who tries it will do the same. They're not open Mondays and Sundays but they are also open for dinner so get there to try the awesome food and service there, it's totally worth it. The ambience is of a cosy, relaxed cafe and I will probably be there, slurping on my milkshake with unbridled glee :)

Rating: 9/10

Pearl Cafe
28 Logan Road
Woolloongabba

Phone: 07 3392 3300

Anise Bistro & Wine Bar Review

2009-09-24T23:03:00.002+10:00

Now, I am no stranger to Anise.. I've been going there for over a year now but I thought it would be good to do a review of it right after eating there again and actually took some (really crappy) photos on my phone! Mind you, since I only started doing this blog, I keep forgetting to bring my camera out so as a result, I keep having to resort to my phone for photos so I apologise in advance!!

We intended to go out to eat somewhere else but ended up at Anise, hoping against hope that we'd get a seat because, if you don't know already, Anise only seats 21 customers max and it's very unique in the sense that everyone sits close to each other at the bar. There are NO tables so if you're agoraphobic, you might want to give Anise a miss ;) It was a concept I was sceptical about at first but accepted it in stride, soon grew accustomed to and actually started to like.

A pleasant surprise greeted us when we opened up the menu as they had just recently tweaked the menu, yippee!! A (not so long) while ago we were going to Anise VERY frequently and inevitably, fickle ol' me got pretty bored of it and we haven't been back in awhile but I'm SO glad we went back that night because it was great :)

Let's start with the amuse bouches. We ordered the foie gras terrine (for T because I haven't quite acquired the taste for it yet.. I'll get there, I swear!!) and half a dozen oysters baked with spanner crab meat and tomato hollandaise which verged on orgasmic haha!! Just the combination of creamy oysters, bits of crab and creamy tomato hollandaise - notice the emphasis on CREAMY? Yep, we loooove our creamy, rich food.. T very generously offered me one of his oysters so I had 4! Yumm.. they still had me wanting more though.

For entrees we had the spanner crab crepe with fresh truffle, pastis creme and english spinach which had replaced the spanner crab souffle on the old menu and also the southern blue fin tuna tartare with horseradish, herb and quail egg. The terrine was a nice fresh mixture of herbs and raw fish served with mini bits of toast but the real winner was the crab crepe! It was, you guessed it, ultra creamy. The crepe was light and the truffle sauce and pastis creme pulled everything together in one mouthwatering spoonful. It was ALMOST perfect, it would've been perfect if there was a bit more crab in it.

I had the double roasted duck with cherries, dutch carrots and golden eschallots that has been on the menu for a looong time and still my utmost favourite. I'm not a fan of duck and only a few places (probably about 3) do duck the way I like it.. crispy skinned and juicy just like expensive KFC, or should I say KFD hahaha!! T had something new, the bouillabaisse of local seafood with saffron aioli crostade and though I didn't try it, he said it was really good and sigh, sorry to say this again, CREAMY. He also found the seafood very fresh.

The part of dinner that I was most excited about, dessert of course, was unfortunately the most disappointing for me. Out of aaaalll the new desserts, we chose the profiteroles with pistachio ice cream and chocolate sauce and I found the pastry to be a bit too crunchy and hard and the pistachio ice cream that reminded me of toothpaste. Sigh.. I knew we should've gone for the turkish delight semifreddo!! It's okay, there's always next time!

Anise has always been one of my favourite places to go for dinner. The waitstaff behind the bar are professional, efficient and have a vast knowledge of wine. The food is always good, unique and fresh with seasonal changes to keep things interesting. The wine list, is of course extremely extensive and if in doubt, the wait staff will recommend something to suit your liking. The ambience is comfy and sophisticated. They are now open on Sundays from 5pm and offer a Sunday supper menu which is a smaller version of their original menu and I'm soo glad they do that now because I can't tell you the number of times T and I have been craving to eat at Anise on a Sunday but haven't been able to go. Anise also offers a degustation menu which chnges every season and your choice if you want incredible matching wines or not. A word of advice, pick up the phone and book before you go if you want to be one of the 21 people eating there that night.

Rating: 8/10

Anise Bistro & Wine Bar
697 Brunswick Street
New Farm, Brisbane

Phone: 07 3398 7839
Website: http://www.anise.com.au/

Sometimes...

2009-09-21T12:23:00.002+10:00

I hate baking.. I really do

So I had like a kilo of beautiful fresh strawberries that T and I got from the markets when we were at Mt Tamborine but because we bought them a week ago, I wanted to DO something with them before they started going rotten! So I decided to bake my trusty White Chocolate & Strawberry Muffins (recipe from http://www.exclusivelyfood.com.au/ - BEST SITE EVER) because they were really easy to make and I just loooove them.

Anyway, it was all going really well.. I prepared the ingredients and all the steps were coming along nicely and I was REALLY looking forward to eating them because it all just flowed so smoothly and I thought "Man, these are gonna be the best muffins ever!!". I put them in the oven and started packing away all my stuff on the kitchen bench and then as I picked up my laptop off the bench.. *JAWS MUSIC* .. I'd forgotten to put in the BUTTER!!!! *scream*

I ran upstairs to wail to T about what had happened and he said to take them out and mix in the butter *horror* so I ran downstairs screaming "I'm NEVER gonna bake again!!" and my poor muffins, they looked so pretty, halfway done and innocent, not knowing the horror I was about to inflict on them.. I managed to stir in some butter and whereas before they looked all even and pretty, now they just looked like globs of oily lumpy batter.. So I put them in again *sigh* and now fingers crossed for edible muffins.. Gawd, please just make them EDIBLE!!

NB: No photos in fear that my traumatised mind will snap and make me shoot myself

Sardine Tin Review

2009-09-19T23:06:00.002+10:00

After an extremely satisfying day of shopping in the city with T on our ACTUAL 5th anniversary day, we were pretty hungry and decided to have an extremely early dinner... at 5pm :) So after tossing around a few ideas for dinner, we decided to try Sardine Tin in Southbank for the first time. The place is TINY with about 6 tables that seat about 4 people on average and a small bar area which could probably seat another 6-8 people. Some people may find the height of the tables and chairs a little uncomfortable but it adds to the quaintness of the whole place.

Both the menu and the wine list were very small and there was a specials board with about 4 items on it. Sardine Tin is mainly a tapas restaurant with the menu designed to share so as you can guess, we ordered a heap of stuff!! Prices range from about $8 to $15, with the Steak Sandwich and the Ploughman's Lunch being the biggest on the menu. We started with the Pickled Anchovies and Chorizo & Potatos. The anchovies were understandably sour and would probably be better with some bread and the chorizo was tasty with crunchy fried potatoes.

From the specials board we ordered 3 out of the 4 items. The Falafel with eggplant caviar was a little too "green" for me and after having one, didn't venture to have another one. The Tempura Sardines with sweet potato & tartare was unique and resembled a modern day fish and chips (the sweet potatoes were served in tiny deep fried strips)! Lastly, the Pork Belly with apple and leek was a great dish with the flavours all complementing each other perfectly and the pork belly skin crisp to perfection. Needless to say, T ordered another serve of the Tempura Sardines and the Pork Belly.

We then ordered the only two desserts on the menu - I got the Banana and Chocolate while T got the Espresso Creme Brulee. While we were waiting for our desserts to arrive, we noticed another table get oysters deliered to their table. We hailed the waiter to ask about them and it turned out that our first waitress forgot to mention that they had oysters as their specials that night too! T was abit annoyed (cos that's how he is) but I swiftly ordered 2 oysters and that pacified him somewhat. The oysters were served with a very generous dollop of orange sorbet which I thought was a little bit TOO generous and hard to get the whole thing in my mouth. The sorbet did not cut into the taste of the oyster as much as I wanted it so I guess I could've done without them after all!

Our desserts arrived and my Banana and Chocolate dessert turned out to be little cake dumplings filled with melted chocolate and banana and covered with cinnamon dust. I found the dumplings a little too doughy and would have liked more chocolate and banana in them. However, T's Espresso Creme Brulee was served in a little espresso cup and was creamy and had just the right amount of espresso flavour in it. I also ordered a hot chocolate which was absolutely decadent, one of the best I've had in a while. It was rich and chocolatey, just the way I like it! Definitely getting one of those when I go back there!

All our food came out VERY quickly, which T very much appreciated. The service was good - we had one who was always cheerful - although with 3 waiters in such a small place, I thought it would be a lot less flurried. All in all, the Sardine Tin is a great little place to grab a quick meal and coffee/hot chocolate or have a small intimate gathering with plenty of delicious tapas to share around.

Oh, and our bill came in the cutest little... you guessed it, sardine tin!! Love it :)

Rating: 7/10

Sardine Tin
Shop 3a, Arbour on Grey Street
Southbank

Phone: 07 3846 1146

Songbirds Restaurant Review

2009-09-19T08:52:00.013+10:00

It was 8pm, it had been a loooong day and T and I had just spent the last 1.5hours driving from Brisbane to Mt Tamborine and getting lost on the mountain in pitch black, trying to find the freakin' resort. Let me explain, it was our 5th Anniversary romantic getaway weekend and because T had meetings till 6pm that night, we were forced to start out journey A LEEEETLE later than we'd liked. We hadn't had anything to eat since lunchtime and needless to say, we were cranky and starving, not to mention the headache I got from his crazy driving up the mountain!!

So anyway, we finally found the place, parked in the parking lot and carried our bags to Reception (which turned out to be right next to the restaurant) only to find out that we had to get back into our car and drive 1 minute to our villa. T was pretty cranky that we had to carry our bags in and out but then again, that's just the way he is. So we got back into the car and drove to our villa (1 of 6 in the entire place) and did a quick look around before walking down a quaint little pathway lit up by lights back to the restaurant as we were told during check-in that the kitchen closed at 8.30pm!! By this time I had a pounding headache and felt nauseous (as I do when I really hungry) - this was NOT the way to start our romantic weekend!!

However, the bubbly waitress Jasmine and the friendly manager Justin were so professional and efficient and we got our bread rolls to start in a jiffy. Two bites into the soft, freshly homemade bread and my headache dissipated and things were starting to look up! We also got an amuse bouche of blue cheese in a cauliflower puree and macadamia nuts which was heavenly. I'm not usually a big fan of blue cheese but the cauliflower puree and macadamias cut through the strong taste of the cheese and it was a pleasant taste sensation indeed.

We ordered the Sashimi of Hiramasa Kingfish and a dozen oysters (half natural, half with Tobiko, finger lime caviar and wasabi foam) for entrees. The sashimi dish was just beautiful - fresh and tangy - and we were left wanting more whereas the oysters were fresh and the unique dressing was something different. I loved them, T.. not so much! After that, we got a palate cleanser of mango and pineapple sorbet which I think was okay.. and could be a little bit more interesting, more sophisticated.
For mains, I was tossing up between the Crisp Skinned Tasmanian Salmon and the Assiette of Lamb and eventually went with the latter because let's face it, I'm a lamb person.. T went for the Confit Duck Leg and I must say, it was the winner of the night!! The duck leg was succulent and the skin oh-so-crispy and it also came with a forest mushroom pithivier that was absolutely divine - crammed full of mushrooms, the pastry was light and fluffy and it had just the right amount of saltiness. I wasn't impressed with the lamb dish, nothing on it really stood out for me so we ended up switching plates of course! I kind of wished that I tried the salmon instead. But oh well, you can't win 'em all!

And now for my favourite part, DESSERT!!! I was almost certainly going for the Valhrona Chocolate Tart and I knew T was definitely going for the Passionfruit Souffle (because that's just what he does) but Justin came on over to our table to refill T's glass of wine and I asked him what HIS favourite dessert was. The answer? The Madagascan Vanilla Fudge.. It's not usually the kind of thing I'd order but I agreed to give it a try and YOU KNOW WHAT?! I'm soooo glad I did!! I loved every single bit of it! It came with rice crispy crunches, compressed strawberries and witches chase goats curd ice cream - O..MI..GODDDD!! It was devastatingly yummy. Every element on the plate just worked together so well and one spoonful with a little bit of everything on it was just to die for. T's souffle looked beeeautiful, rising up soo high and the colour was dreamy.. texture was soft and the chocolate sauce was awesome but I thought it was just a teensy bit too eggy for me. Of course, I'm not the biggest souffle fan around and T DID love it :)

So all in all, that first night was a HUGE success in that we arrived cranky, hungry, in pain and it turned us around into a happy, smiling, nodding-after-each-bite couple. But ahh.. the story isn't over yet! We had our SECOND night at Songbirds Restaurant as well!! I'll keep it short, we HAD to have the bread rolls again cos they were yummylicious! We also ordered an ENTREE-sized portion of the blue cheese amuse bouche that we had the inght before because we loved it so much AND we got a different amuse bouche that night!! It was a little chilli garlic prawn that was sooo cute and tasted swell :) We also got the an entree of the kingfish sashimi for EACH of us and we both ordered the duck again for our mains. The palate cleanser was the same ho-hum sorbet and now... CRUNCH-TIME!! Dessert again.. What should I do?! Should I try something DIFFERENT? Like the Valrohna dish that I wanted the night before?? ....... No, I just HAD to have the Madagascan Vanilla Fudge AGAIN. You know why?? I'd been thinking about it AAAALLLL daay and I just had to have it one more time. In fact, I've been thinking about it ever since we left that place and that was a week ago! Aaargh! Someone get me to Songbirds now pleeeze!

So as you can see, we LOVED the restaurant. The food was absolutely amazing, thanks to the wonderful head chef Trent Dawson. The wine list was extensive and the service impeccable. As we were checking out at the 3rd day, Justin was in the midst of printing out new menus for the restaurant and I'm glad to see that they're keeping things current. I really wish they were in Brisbane so I could go back there over and over again. Very very highly recommended.

Rating: 8/10

Songbirds Rainforest Retreat
Tamborine Mountain Road
P.O. Box 275
North Tamborine
Queensland 4272

Telephone: 07 5545 2563
Website: www.songbirds.com.au/restaurant

Lunch: Wednesday to Sunday - bookings essential
Dinner: Wednesday to Saturday evenings - bookings essential