My BIG Brisbane post

Last week I was lucky enough to go up and visit my old man in Brisbane. My week was spent relaxing by the pool with mumma, various day trips to the beach and lotsa eating out. This post is dedicated to some of the places we ate at, as well as various other foodie pics.

During our first day exploring the CBD, we stumbled upon a Filipino festival. There were stalls and music, and for some strange reason, ice-cream dots. Couldn't think of how this resembled Filipino food in the slightest, but enjoyed it regardless.  

The Filipino festival also featured Hungarian pastries...? This one was chorizo & fetta, with za'ztar & sour cream dip.

That night for dinner we took the ferry across to Kangaroo Point. I don't know whether you've ever been to Brisbane, but every suburb is a stone throw away from each other. We decided to go and enjoy a pub meal, and went to the Story Bridge Hotel. We ordered from the share plates menu and enjoyed things like chilli and coriander crispy chicken wings with lemon mayo (6 pieces for $8), steamed prawn dumplings with soya chilli dressing ($9.20), el grande peppered beef strips with skordallia aioli and beer battered fries ($16.50) and Moroccan spiced calamari with green pea puree and saffron lemon jam ($13.50).

Story Bridge Hotel
200 Main Street, Kangaroo Point

The morning after was spent exploring South Bank. We visited the South Bank Surf Club for some breaky in the sun. 

South Bank Surf Club,
30 aa Stanley Plaza,
Parklands, South Brisbane

Aussie asian eggs with crispy bacon, BBQ tiger prawns, deep fried free range egg, oyster sauce, chilli & shallots ($19.50)

Fresh fruit plate with natural yoghurt ($12.50)

Corn fritters with avocado, tomato, spring onion and coriander salsa with bacon ($19.50)

That night we caught the ferry across to Bulimba, a trendy little suburb about 5-10 mins from the CBD. We were in the mood for some Greek or Lebanese, but found a nice Turkish restaurant called Ahmets. We ordered some beautiful dishes to share such as trio of dips platter with Turkish bread ($17), tavuklu pide (garlic chicken, capsicum, mushrooms and mozzarella- ($22), shepherds salad with tomato, spanish onion, cucumber, parsley, lemon dressing & shredded fetta ($8), lamb guvec (traditional slow cooked lamb stew with vegetables, tomatoes and spices and rice pilav ($25) and lastly the chicken shish  (marinated pieces of chicken cooked on a charcoal grill, served with potato and rice pilav ($25). Not only was the food amazing, it came with its own little belly dancing show. Theres nothing better than seeing the awkward expression on people's faces when the belly dancer goes right up and dances next to the table... 

Ahmets Turkish Restaurant
136 Oxford Street, Bulimba

Both Mum, Dad and I had gotten a little boozy at dinner so decided to head across to Max Brenner for some heart attack inducing sweets. I didn't have my glasses with me so couldn't read the menu too well...plus I was ready to eat any chocolate item that was placed in front of me...so mum chose and we settled on the Euphoria Banana Split Waffle Sundae ($14.50).

Double vanilla ice cream scoops, waffle squares, crunchy waffle balls, gooey toffee and fresh bananas served with pure melted chocolate and caramelised pecans.

One beautiful sunny morning we decided to road trip down to Byron Bay. I hadn't been before, and spent the day enjoying the beach and trying to get a table at a cafe in town..
We managed to find a busy little cafe called Byron Fresh Cafe and had some brunch.

Bacon and egg roll with wild rocket & homemade tomato relish ($14)

Bircher muesli with green apples, yoghurt & mixed berry compote ($11)

Buttermilk pancakes with banana, blueberries, lemon curd & strawberries ($16)

Byron Fresh Cafe
7 Jonson Street, Byron Bay

If you're a sushi lover, you will be mind boggled by the number of sushi and japanese eateries in the CBD. They are literally on every corner, and are chockers with corporates around lunch time. There is one particular sushi shop called Sushiro which I always visit. Their sushi rolls are the shit, they are HUGE and have a variety of over 25 flavours. I can't go past ordering the king prawn tempura roll...literally the best sushi I have ever tasted. Melbourne, get your act together.

Another Japanese restaurant Dad and I tried was Wagamama. Obviously not extremely authentic, but they served up some yummy dishes which we shared.

Tori kara age- deep fried chicken pieces marinated with soy sauce, sake, mirin, dried oregano, thyme and fresh ginger, served with a chilli, garlic sesame and soy sauce ($9.70)

Thai style stir fried noodles (sa japanese) ($18.90)

Chicken teiryaki raisu ($18.90)

Gyoza ($9.90)

A good friend from high school moved over to Brisbane 10 or so years ago, and we still manage to stay in touch. Whenever I go up to QLD it's most likely we will catch up. This time she took me to breakfast at Cliff's Cafe, a beautiful little cafe at Kangaroo Point, on the cliff (no way) overlooking the whole city.

The Cliff's Cafe
29 River Terrace, Kangaroo Point

Eggs benedict- poached eggs, wilted spinach, hollandaise sauce on sourdough toast with smoked leg ham ($18)

Orange zest and cinnamon porridge w rosella compote ($10.50)

Staying in the Brisbane CBD definitely has it's perks, and during the week the streets are buzzing with cafes and restaurants. However, on a weekend, the city feels like a ghost town. Apparently all the best cafes are found in the suburbs- so theres no doubt that next time I head up I will be scouting them out!

Wish I could have stayed just a few mooooore days....oh well....Christmas will be spent up there this year, and you can bet I'll be counting down the days!

Izakaya Chuji

This week marked the closure of a cafe that I had worked at for the past couple of months. Hey unemployment.  So last night, the now-jobless work gang decided to get together and spend what little tips money we had accumulated.

In just under 6 months, our cafe had made a grand total of $350 in tips....wow  - _-  I'd like to take a moment to thank anyone who decided to tip us more than the usual generous 5c...

We decided we would all have a night on the town and spend our earnings. There were 5 of us so decided to go somewhere were were could share dishes. We went with Izakaya Chuji.

Now I apologise in advance for how poor the photo quality is. The ol' trusty iPhone isn't so good at taking pictures in the dark...

Inside, this place was buzzing. The restaurant is quite narrow and long, however it didn't feel like we were squished or crowded. We had luckily booked a table and were seated right away. 

At the end of the corridor sat a nice little sushi and sashimi station, where a happy little sushi man was working.

The menu was about 7 pages long, and there being 5 of us meant we chose a couple of different dishes each to share.

The first dish we chose was the takoyaki (pancake balls with octopus meat). These are very popular in Japanese cuisine and are seen at most japanese cafes/restaurants.

Takoyaki (pancake balls with octopus)- 10 pieces for $10.80

Next we ordered a serve of the vegetable yaki soba noodles ($12.8)

Next came a serve of corn butter- which was practically corn and bacon cooked in a buttered sauce.

Corn butter ($8)

Then came my favourite dish, the Age Gyoza. It was found on the specials board and it was deep fried prawn and vegetable dumplings (5 pieces for $7.50). It came with big dollop of that amazing Japanese mayonnaise.

Nothing beats a good chicken teriyaki. Every Japanese restaurant will have it on their menu, and you can be guaranteed every restaurant will do it differently. This chicken teriyaki was a winner.

Teriyaki chicken ($15)

Ok I lied. Maybe this dish was my favourite (also deep fried). It was the tempura combination which featured prawn and vegetables deep fried in batter ($18.80). We felt piggy so ordered two serves :)

Tempura prawn has to be up there with the best tasting thing in the world

Nasu dengaku (eggplant with miso topping)- ($9.80)

Gyu kushi (grilled beef skewer with teriyaki sauce) $4 per piece.

Edamame (boiled soy bean pods) $7

Ok I promise we are almost finished with dishes... Another we ordered was the small sushi selection ($20). I'm not a big fan of raw fish- and am a bit of a stubborn whimp and won't try them- so I just had some of the prawn sushi.

LAST but not least we ordered the shitake ebi hasamiage (mushrooms stuffed with prawns). Once again these goodies were deep fried....so you can't really go wrong.

Prawn stuffed mushrooms ($10.80)

So that's it on the food side of things! We also ordered two bottles of wine and the bill came to a total of $260. Wow, almost $350 dollars goes fast. So with our leftover $100, we all thought we'd stop by a cool cocktail bar called Seamstress. If you haven't been, I suggest you GO. It's dimly lit (good for a sexy date) with a cool vietnamese-sweatshop and garments hanging from the ceiling kinda thing going on.

Props inside stairwell of Seamstress

Ni hao ma

So pretty, pity about my photo

The cocktail menu was very extensive and we all chose something different.

I chose the "Grapefruit Julep". It had vodka, lime, honey, mint & pomegranate topped with fresh pink grapefruit juice and was served in a ballon of crushed ice ($14).

This one was called the "Champagne Daisy", raspberry syrup, cointreau, brandy, lemon juice & whites shaken and topped with champagne ($13).

This one was my favourite- "Sherry Cobbler". It was a beautiful blend of dry sherries, orange curacao, pineapple, lemon and orange wedges with a splash of sugar ($11).

I can't remember what this was...sorry

So that was our Japanese and cocktail night out! I would love to head back to seamstress sometime to check out their dinner menu...

Izakaya Chuji

165 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne CBD

Seamstress

113 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne CBD

Kenji Japanese Dining

Hidden in a lane way in Burwood lies a great little Japanese gem. Sitting on the corner of Warrigal road and Toorak road, Kenji offers cheap and cheerful Japanese fare, from Bento boxes to sushi that is prepared right in front of your eyes.

Kenji is popular with locals, or those few from elsewhere who actually know where to find this place.

During lunch hour, sushi is sold from the counter, and the restaurant is located to the left through a doorway.

Wooden Japanesey interior

                            

A friend and I were struggling to choose something off the huge menu (the restaurant menu had more options than this picture). I had been to Kenji once before and had ordered bits and pieces like the edamame beans ($3), crumbed shrimp gourmet roll ($6.80) and gyoza ($4). Tonight we both ordered the teriyaki chicken bento box, so we could try heaps of little goodies.

Chicken teriyaki bento box with gyoza, chicken karaage, calamari ring, crumbed fried prawn, croquette, edamame + salad ($13)

What a feast for $13! Dinner Japanese tapas style. I couldn't fault anything that came in that little black box. Although most of it was deep fried, it didn't taste greasy and was very light. 

Sushi chefs doing their thing plus an orange shirt man looking a bit cautious of my picture taking

If you were lucky enough to snag a table early, you could get front row view of the chef's making sushi. I didn't get to come any closer because I would have looked weird standing over this couples table- but I'm guessing the knife skills were pretty impressive...

There is so much to order here and the food is of a consistently high quality. It's not often you find a restaurant this good, at these prices, in this area. Hands down the best Japanese food in the Eastern burbs!

Kenji Japanese Dining

10/1405-1411 Toorak Road, Camberwell