Anniversary at Anise

Last week, Mark and I celebrated our 4^th wedding anniversary and to honour this occasion, we did what we do best – go out to dinner! We ventured back to our old neck of the woods, New Farm to go to a restaurant which we have never been to before even though it has been there for many years – Anise!

Anise is a small, 21 seat European style wine bar and restaurant. There are no tables and chairs, everyone sits around the bar. I must admit at first I was not too keen on this but it turned out to be heaps of fun and really added to the ambience of the place.

The bar featured an impressive wine, spirit and cocktail menu. The friendly staff were really knowledgeable about the menu and were more than happy to chat with you about the different wines/spirits and even offered a taste of anything you weren’t familiar with.

The food menu is French inspired and it changes seasonally. We were treated with the winter menu which featured a great range of warming comfort food. My dinner consisted of the following.

· Entrée: pan seared scallops with boudin noir, celeriac puree & Caperberry noisette

· Main: grain eye fillet with carrot & Swede dauphinoise, truffle honey glazed carrots

· Dessert: profiteroles with gianduia (choc/hazelnut) ice cream, praline and chocolate ganache.

Each dish was cooked brilliantly and combined a variety of different flavours and textures. Very cool.

Find Anise at 697 Brunswick Street, New Farm

Finally, a cool coffee place in Brisbane City!

Have you checked out the great new coffee shop in the city called The Coffee Supplier? Mark calls it "under the boom gate" because it is just that - it is located down a lane way (off Elizabeth St in the city), then under a boom gate and then at the end of a warehouse. The interior is very industrial with exposed bricks and wooden beams, and the original artworks adjourn the walls. The actual coffee is great and they roast their own beans. I recommend you venture down the laneway and under the boom gate!

Aria Adventures

Last Thursday, I ventured out to Aria. No not the music awards, Matt Moran's Brisbane version of his iconic Sydney restaurant. May I say that I was most impressed and the whole experience lived up to my expectations. The food was amazing and the service was friendly and efficient.

For entree, I had the Kingfish (serviced with spanner crab, avocado, harissa and a smoked tea seasoning). I am told by a reliable source (ie fellow foodie and babysitter of Colin, Jono) this is one of Moran's signature dishes. Very nice indeed and as Matt Preston would say, it was plated beautifully.

Main course consisted of a roasted rump of lamb with piperade, smoked eggplant and a roast onion jus. Everything but the eggplant was delicious. The lamb was cooked perfectly and it was super tender.

For dessert, I had the jam doughnuts with strawberries and cinnamon ice cream. I am not sure why I was drawn to this because I am not really a big doughnut fan and they had a dark chocolate tart on the menu, but I am glad I did. I am still day dreaming about these little babies and I had no idea that doughnuts could taste this good. If you go to Aria and have only one course, make it the doughnuts!!

I also recommend going for lunch as they have a set price. It is $55 for 2 courses or $70 for 3. If I went at dinner time, I would have paid $30 for the entree, $50 for main and $20 for dessert. Lunch is definitely a bargain!! Just a little hint!

Now go on and enjoy it for yourself.

Bundy, steak and Belgian delights

My apologies for the hiatus, I’ve been too busy going out and around, in and around! This means that I now have plenty to write about in this blog post.

Last weekend Mark, Colin and I made the trek up to Bundaberg to take advantage of the long weekend and to see the family.

On the way to Bundy, we stopped at Laurel Tree Cottage coffee shop in Childers for a much needed coffee and breakfast stop. Coffee and bread is obviously very rare in Childers as the price of coffee and toast was astronomical! We paid $4.50 for a small (very average) coffee, and $4.50 for 2 pieces of thin toast with vegemite. Definitely by-pass this place if you ever venture for a Bundy or beyond adventure.

We stayed at one of the very few pet friendly accommodation options in Bundy, Absolute Ocean Front Caravan Park at Bargara. As the name suggests, the park is absolute ocean front. Our cabin was right next to the water, if we were any closer, we would have been in the ocean! The cabin was basic but contained everything you need for a weekend away. I highly recommend it. Address is 117 Woongarra Scenic Drive, Bargara.

Unfortunately I didn’t experience any gastronomical delights in Bundy this time but can I just add that I enjoyed 2 local delicacies – a rooster roll from Red Rooster and a fruit flan from the Cheesecake Shop. I will not comment any further...

On Wednesday night, I had dinner at the Regatta Boatshed and can I just say that its steaks definitely give the Breakkie Creek Hotel and the Norman Hotel a run for their money. I ordered the 300g eye fillet. A tasty bit of meat from the Angus, Hereford cross from the southern darling downs farming group. The lucky cow was pasture fed for 30 months and 100 day grain fed before it ended up on my plate. I have not had a steak that tender in a long, long time; it just melted in my mouth. The Regatta Boatshed is located at 543 Coronation Drive, Toowong.

Now what would a post be without some reference to French food. Tomorrow Mark and I are off to the Belgian Beer Café (Ok so it’s technically not French food but it is close enough). Mark and I are also celebrating our 12 month anniversary in our lovely townhouse. We will be cracking a open a bottle of Moet (very French) to celebrate. More on all that next week…

Cheap Eats

I may try and sound all fancy schmancy by eating out at nice restaurants, and cooking decadent food but everyone who knows me knows that I am a Torana short of being a bogan. The bogan inside me often likes to venture out so here’s a selection of my favourite cheap eats:

Brisbane City
AJ Vietnamese Noodle House. Great, cheap Vietnamese food. I recommend the spring rolls, pork and prawn rolls, and any of the noodle salads, and the won ton soup. Location 70 Charlotte Street, Brisbane.

Auchenflower
My Thai. I love this place and would have to be one of my favourite Brisbane restaurants. The food is to die for! I recommend the spring rolls and thai fish cakes for entree. For mains I recommend the Thai Green Curry, Massaman Beef, Pad Thai and the Thai Beef Basil stir fry. For dessert, you can't go past the black sticky rice. They also hold cooking classess which I highly recommend (I've been to 2). Location 115 Haig Road, Auchenflower.

Corinda (it’s my home suburb so I’m a little Corinda biased)
Lucky Corner Chinese Restaurant: good reliable chinese foods. Awesome steamed dim sims. I love the chicken cashew and the chicken chow mein. Location Shop 1/660 Oxley Road, Corinda.
Singh’s Indian Restaurant: this is a family run restaurant so the staff are really welcoming and friendly (they even come out and say hello to Colin when we pick up our take away). I recommend the Palak chicken, and the butter chicken. I love the Location 5/670 Oxley Road, Corinda.

Oxley
Pellegrini Italian Restaurant: this recommendation is actually courtesy of my mates Tan and Dan who only recently told us about this place. We tested it for the first time last Friday night and we weren’t disappointed. The pasta is so tasty. Mark had the lasagne and I had the Penne Arabiata which was beautiful. Really authentic Italian food. Location Shop 4, 113 Station Road, Oxley.

Taringa
Dos Amigos: tasty mexican food! Again my mates Tan and Dan told us about this place. Great tacos and enchiladas and cheap Coronas! Location 185 Moggill Road, Taringa, QLD 4068.

Clayfield
Sultans Kitchen: when Mark and I lived at Teneriffe, Sultans Kitchen was a favourite. They have the greatest Chicken Tikka Masala EVER and I still day dream about the meat samosas. Oh Sultan man, will you move to Corinda for me? Location: 689 Sandgate Road, Clayfield.

Oui, Oui, it is good

As the name suggests, “C’est Bon” is good! Very good in fact. The Thomas clan ventured there on Saturday night to celebrate my mother in law’s birthday. It was my 4th visit to the restaurant (I’ve also been to the Port Melbourne C’est Bon) and I wasn’t let down. The menu features classic French dishes, and the décor is typical of a Parisienne bistro (ie white linen table clothes and small yet cosy rooms). For entrée I had the salade de canard confit. The confit duck was so tender and flavoursome, and the mango and ginger vinaigrette complimented the dish beautifully. For the main, I had the carre d’agneau which was tasty and the lamb was cooked perfectly however, the serving size was really small. The restaurant usually has very generous portions so I was a little disappointed at the size of the rack of lamb. The small main did mean I had plenty of room for dessert and this time I ordered the tarte tatin which was delicious. The menu is reasonably priced, and the service is very efficient. C’est Bon is located at 609 Stanley Street, Woolloongabba, QLD.

Eating humble pie in Lowood

This blog serves 2 main purposes, (1) to post my cooking experiences and favourite recipes, and (2) provide reviews of restaurants where I’ve eaten. (There is a side purpose too – to share my random thoughts and cute pics of Colin).

I consider myself to be a bit of a foodie, because I like eating out at different places however, when my friend Serena invited me out to have a seafood platter at the Club Hotel, Lowood, I didn’t exactly have high expectations (to be honest, I thought if I manage to avoid food poisoning, I’m doing well). But can I say that I am now eating humble pie because the food was really good. I didn’t have the seafood platter (Serena did and it looked pretty good), I had a 200g rib fillet steak with chips and salad. I ordered a medium rare steak and guess what, they cooked it medium rare. The chips were battered and really tasty and the salad was fresh. The service was friendly and efficient. What more could you ask plus, the steak was $17 – I’d pay at least $25 for the same meal in Brisbane. Plus, you could help yourself to free tea and coffee! Looks like there may be a few more road trips to Lowood!

Olé Miro's

Last Friday night, Mark and I ventured over to our old neck of the woods, Teneriffe, to pay a visit to our favourite Brisbane restaurant, Miros. When we lived at Teneriffe, we would go there about once a month (Mark would have been there weekly if he had his own way!) Miro’s is a relaxed, unpretentious, casual restaurant and it serves authentic Spanish food from the Catalan region. As the name suggests, Joan Miro prints adjourn the walls which give a nice vibrancy to the walls. I’ve been to Spain twice (it’s my favourite county to visit) and I reckon Miros serves the most authentic Spanish food in the whole of Brisbane! I recommend you try the following tapas: patatas bravas (spicy potatoes), jamon serrano on crusty bread, albondigas (meatballs), and sepia a la plancha (grilled squid). For mains, you can’t go past the steak and lamb shanks. They also have a great range of Spanish beers, wines and of course, you can’t go past the sangria! Miro’s can be found at 154 Merthyr Rd, New Farm QLD.