Eight Ounce Cafe - Springwood

Very recently, I've seen a series of Japanese cafes open in Brisbane with a wide assortment of Matcha themed food and drink. One that really stood out to me was Eight Ounce Cafe, located out in Springwood. With a reputation of hours long waits and menus that sell out if you dared show up later in the morning, I was intrigued. So we set out from home at 7.30am in the morning on a Saturday to ensure we got there at opening time to try it out.

The cafe itself wasn't too big and all seats were undercover but not indoors. This would probably be an issue later in the summer and I am glad I came before it was very hot. The menu was very unique by Brisbane standards, with a variety of Japanese style pastries and sandos as well as their signature chazuke. Prices were very steep and I sincerely hoped they were worth what we paid.

I had a matcha latte with a shot of coffee. My companion had a hojicha shake. Both were delicious. My matcha was particularly high quality and the intensity reminded me strongly of cafe creasion in Sydney. With the added shot of coffee, it was the perfect drink in the morning. 

My companion had the toriniku chazuke. I managed to sample some and found it delightful. The chazuke came with soup already poured over. The soup itself was creamy and wholesome without being too heavy. The chicken was probably cooked with a sous vide machine because it was so tender and moist without drying out. 

Opting for the (most expensive) signature dish, I had the Unagi Chazuke. Having seen pictures of it online, I was afraid it would be small, however it was actually as filling as you would expect for a main meal. The rice was seasoned with crunchy furikake and topped with a whole grilled eel, garnished with tempura perilla and enoki. The whole eel was generous in size and made the $32 price tag worthwhile. I think it erred on the side of being a bit undercooked as the skin was still a little bit too chewy rather than crispy, but the flavours were very wholesome and complementary. The soup was clear and umami. 

Overall we had a fantastic time at eight ounce cafe. The prices were high but we were given value for what we paid. I am very keen to come back for another matcha latte and perhaps a sando.

Price Range: $35 - $45pp

Taste: 8.5/10

Value: 7/10

Service: 7/10

Environment: 6/10 

Daon - Calamvale

Daon is one of those places that have long been on my list. Situated in Calamvale, it is slightly out of the way but I have consistently heard great things about the place. We only managed to get there by virtue of a dinner with friends and I regret not going earlier.

The restaurant itself is very small with roughly a dozen tables inside and perhaps half a dozen outside. A reservation is definitely recommended if you want to ensure you get a seat.

 

The menu was fairly short and we ordered via QR code. The menu largely comprised of stews, korean fried chicken, stir fries and some side dishes. As a fairly large group, we managed to order a good assortment to try.

First to arrive was the banchan with unlimited refill. We don't get seaweed much and I really enjoyed it. The kimchi was richer than usual and also very delicious.

First to arrive was the Budae Jjigae which comprised sausage, spam, pork mince, baked beans, kimchi, cheese, tofu, enoki mushroom, sliced pork and instant noodle. What made it different (and better) in my opinion from other budae jjigaes I've had is the fact that rather than chicken stock, it was cooked in a rich beef bone broth. We enjoyed it to the end and even enjoyed every last drop of broth with the rice.

We also had their signature Chef's Speical Bo Ssam which came on a giant platter. It comprised of a soft boiled pork belly with radish pickle, chives salad, soy pickle, lettuce, garlic, chilli, Korean Dipping sauce and Korean soybean soup. The amount of pork provided was definitely less than their competitors (Tasty Rumour, Holy Hock), but the pork was tender and delicious. The amount of sides were also generous and the flavours complimented the pork well. I especially enjoyed the soybean soup.

On soup, we also had a serve of Korean style rice cake soup with dumplings and glass noodle. This was surprisingly my favourite dish of the evening. The bone broth was rich and umami, coupled with the soft rice cake and dumplings with the fragrant sesame oil made it an absolutely irresistible dish. I would come back for this alone.

We also had a serve of Soy marinated pork, this came on a cast iron platter served with a side of lettuce and onion salad. Like the Bossam, this pork was tender but it was extremely flavoursome with a delicious sweet soy glaze, it went well with rice.

Rounding off our meal, we also had a serve of DIY Seaweed Rice Ball There was a generous amount of seaweed and the rice was again doused in a substantial amount of sesame oil. It went well with all our other dishes and overall we had a fantastic meal, probably one of the best meals I've had for the last couple months and even writing this makes me want to go back for more.

Price Range: $30 - $40pp

Taste: 9/10

Value: 8.5/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: 7/10

Daiki - Sunnybank Hills

Those of you who frequent social media would no doubt have seen the extensive posts about the flashing neon restaurant that is Daiki at Sunnybank Hills. Earlier on, Dr L and I were lucky enough to dine as guests of Brisvegustation and share our thoughts about the place.

The menu offered a very diverse range of dishes from BBQ skewers, rice, noodle, dry pot and some seafood and a fairly extensive drink menu. We placed our order and service was friendly and attentive throughout the evening.

 

Drinks wise we got the signature Fiery Rose cocktail and the hot Thai Milk Tea with egg white. The cocktail was fairly strong and had a theatrical presentation keeping with the theme of the restaurant. It was tangy and fruity. Brisvegustation enjoyed the Thai Milk Tea but the double layered glass cup was definitely very insulating and masked the heat of the beverage well.

Our food did not take long to arrive at all, perhaps helped by the fact the restaurant wasn't too busy.

Continuing on my skewer quest across Brisbane, we had the Wagyu beef and pork belly skewers. These were generous in size with the meat being fairly consistent large chunks although the seasoning could have been a bit more flavoursome. I did however appreciate the tenderness of the wagyu and the fact that the pork belly wasn't overly fatty either.

 

Our other set of skewers was the lamb. As usual it was even more tender and juicy than the beef. We also had a serve of black truffle fried rice which was generous in portion and flavoursome, although I would have liked to see a bit more wagyu in the dish.

The main event of our meal was the Chongxing Wanzhou Roasted fish with garlic sauce. It came in a portable stove lined with paper. The fish was barely visible from underneath the garlic sauce but it was soft and tender. I particularly enjoyed the sauce which was unbelievably powerful and fragrant, going well with our fried rice.

Overall we had a fantastic time at Daiki and I would be glad to visit again soon.

Price Range: $40- $60pp (but we dined as guests of Brisvegustation)

Taste: 7/10

Value: 7/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: 8/10

Yum Cha Cuisine - Indooroopilly

For some reason the worse the economy gets, the more all you can eat restaurants pop up. I'm not sure why but I am always keen to try some out, provided the quality of food provided isn't too bad. I had recently noticed a couple yum cha cuisines offer buffet options but with different price points and different menus. The Mt Gravatt branch was $39pp with a far limited menu, so we tried out the Indooroopilly branch at $49 with a group of friends after a long days' painting.

As with most all you can eat restaurants, there was a time limit, being 90 minutes. Ordinarily this would be fine, however there were also limits for ordering (5 dishes per 15 minutes, which we managed to negotiate to 8 dishes given our large group) meaning we could only order at most six dishes per person for the session. It didn't help that they were overwhelmingly understaffed that evening and it took far longer than 15 minutes for us to flag staff down and food took a long time to arrive, meaning we were famished for the bulk of the meal.

Perhaps we were starving from the slow service, but the food that we did get served was of a very high standard for yumcha in Brisbane (which is inherently of a low standard). The prawn dumplings that showed up were freshly steamed with a thin skin and tasty plump prawns inside.

Beef tripe was also fresh, flavoursome and tender with a delicious chewy texture.

Bean curd rolls were steaming hot with generous fillings and a delicious gelatinous sauce.

Fried foods were very popular that evening and also good for sharing. This was the salt and pepper calamari with a super light and crispy batter. The whole serve was polished off in no time.

Taro dumplings were less popular and served lukewarm at best. The taro coating wasn't too thick and it was filled with a flavoursome pork and veggie mix.

One of my favourites for the night were the salt and pepper quail, definitely a higher value dish on the menu. These were juicy and plump with a crispy salt and pepper skin. I would go back for this dish alone.

We also had a crab and corn soup to share, there was a great deal of corn but hardly any crab. It was tasty but could have had a lot more by way of seafood to live up to its name.

Other steamed dishes we had included the siu mai and black been pork ribs, these were again freshly steamed and I have no complaints about them, already making them one of the better options in Brisbane.

Again with the high value picks, this was a serve of steamed scallops with vermicelli and garlic. We had ordered more but they ran out, but this was delicious and a value pick for sure.

More on the value picks, the salt and pepper king prawns were also juicy and plump, battered with the same light tempura, if I wasn't quick I wouldn't have been able to get any.

Roast meats were also on the metaphorical and literal table. These were the weaker link for dinner with the roast duck being lukewarm and not particularly well marinated.

The same could be said about the roast pork which had a chewy skin rather than crispy skin. It also was lukewarm with a thick layer of fat under the skin. Would not recommend this.

Although I wouldn't recommend ordering buns at a buffet, some companions did. This was the bbq pork buns and it was executed well. Light and fluffy with a sweet meaty interior, it met the standard for yumcha.

The custard bun was the same, although I would say it tasted no different to what I could get from supermarkets.

Onto the dessert round, we had some sesame balls with red bean paste, this was served at room temperature with a chewy exterior and a not too sweet filling.

 

Some of our table had ice cream, the deep fried ice cream wasn't well received but the banana fritter definitely was. 

I rounded off my meal with some coconut pudding, this was fresh and light. 

Overall I would say that despite my gripes with Yumcha cuisine, we had a pleasant experience. There is value for the price that we paid although service could definitely be smoother. The food was overall of a high standard despite a few let downs and I would not hesitate to revisit it at a later date.

Price Range: $49pp

Taste: 7.5/10

Value: 8.5/10

Service: 4/10

Environment: 7/10