Super Six - Coopers Plains

Readers may remember that I am often disappointed by the quality of yumcha in Brisbane. Sometimes when I complain to foodie friends about this, they tell me to try out Super Six at Coopers Plains because it is considerably better than the other options available locally. With that in mind, I went with my family for a weekend lunch to try them out.

Going on a weekend lunch is always difficult, so I made sure to phone up and make a reservation. Our meal started off on a not so good note when the staff somehow managed to lose our reservation. As an act of saving grace though, there was one spare table which we had to commit to returning after one hour so they could serve other customers. We took what we could. Menus were soon provided, for a yumcha venue, all the usual suspects were available. We made our selections via the marker and quickly handed it to the waiter.

Although we put our food order in at 12.32pm, our first round of food didn't arrive until almost 1pm at which point we were fairly famished.

Whilst it was a long wait for our food, judging by the temperature, the food also waited a long time before it was served to us. The food itself was undeniably cool, with all dishes being lukewarm at best. Starting off with the beancurd pork and prawn rolls, these are always a must order for me at yumcha. I found thee taste to be good and the filling to be generous and fresh but the temperature was a letdown for me.

Next we had a dish of steamed beef balls with bean curd and vinegar. Again it was cool but the flavours were delicious, the beef was fresh and I enjoyed the sharpness of the sauce. The portion size was generous for what it was too.

This was the deep fried calamari, a favourite of my sister. The portion provided was fairly large, the tempura batter was light and the calamari wasn't too chewy. This is probably the best iteration I've had in Brisbane lately but again the temperature was a let down.

Ever since Haoke closed down, I have particularly missed a good beef offal. The iteration at Super six was adequate. There could have been a bigger portion but it was enough. There was a good selection of offal, including my favourite tripe with some fairly tender turnip that had absorbed the soup. 

The prawn dumpling was executed very well (other than being cold) the skin was thin and the prawns were fresh and plump. The whole table appreciated it.

The same can be said about the shiu mai, the pork was fresh and juicy whilst the skin was thin. Again, one of the best I've had in Brisbane but let down by the temperature.

One of the dishes that didn't stand out for the day would have been the turnip cake. It tasted fairly standard and not different at all from any of the others I've had at other yumcha places. It could definitely have been improved with more turnip.

At about 1.20pm, 10 minutes before our scheduled departure time, a small selection of our remaining dishes arrived. This was the bbq pork pastry. It was also not hot and was surprisingly dull instead of glazed. I don't consider this as a stand out compared to the other offerings in Brisbane.

The coconut jelly was largely the same as anywhere else so I don't have too much to say about it. 

Our final dish of the day was the BBQ pork rice noodle roll. I found this to be very delicious with a soft translucent noodle and generous serves of bbq pork, the execution was so good, I would probably return for this alone. 

Overall we had a very hit and miss experience at Super Six. From missing our reservation, slow but cold dishes, having to cancel a number of dishes because it wasn't served on time and then rushing off to return our table, the service was quite abhorrent. On the other hand, the food in theory was executed to a high standard and I found the bad service to have really reduced our enjoyment. I probably would go back again on a more quiet day to give them a second chance to see if this can be redeemed.

Price Range: $30 - $50pp

Taste: 7/10

Value: 7/10
Service: 4/10

Environment: 7/10 

888 Sizzling - Calamvale

Those of you who have been in Brisbane for more than a couple of years might remember David's Sizzling, specialising in Taiwanese hot plate steak. They started out in Little Taipei, later moving off to their own shopfront when that food court closed before eventually closing down, leaving a gigantic hot plate sized hole in my heart. Clearly there is still a demand for Taiwanese sizzling steak in Brisbane though, because when 888 Sizzling opened up in Calamvale, wait times for a seat were allegedly up to two hours. Not wanting to wait for that long, we headed there for lunch on a weekday when I last had a day off work.

Luckily for us, there was no queue and other than two tables, the place was empty. We were seated very promptly by the friendly waitress and provided menus. 

Although we were undeniably there for the sizzling dishes, there was also a variety of rice and noodle dishes. I was particularly interested in trying out the beef noodle soup which sounded spectacular. Something to come back for I guess. Having made our minds up, I ordered and paid at the counter. 

Perhaps it was due to the fact that the weren't many customers on the day but the restaurant was very speedy in preparing our meals and soon we had the familiar sizzle of a steak in front of us. 

Dr L opted for mushroom sauce, cooked medium. It came served with an egg, spaghetti and some veggies. The steak was allegedly 250g but it was sizeable and filling. Given it was roughly 1cm thick, I dont think that it really was cooked medium as there wasn't a hint of pink in the meat. Nevertheless it was not tough nor chewy but wonderfully tender. Before coming, we had read some reviews of the mushroom sauce being on the sweet side, this was not our experience and he said it reminded him a lot of home.

I went for the superior choice of pepper sauce, cooked rare. Again the steak was a bit too thin to tell but I think there was a hint of pinkness to my beef. It was tender and flavoursome, especially with the zing of peppercorns. The portion of spaghetti provided was also fairly generous and there was enough sauce to accompany it for flavour. I don't really have much to add about the veggies, the carrots and peas were of the frozen variety and broccoli was just boiled. All round it was a solid meal for $28 and as good as the night markets in Taiwan.

We also had a serve of Taiwanese fried chicken as a snack. For $12 the portion was a little bit smaller than I would have liked, but the chicken was well seasoned with salt and pepper and had a delicious coating of potato starch leaving it crispy but not oily. We deeply relished our meal at 888 Sizzling, I would say that it is one of the most authentic Taiwanese restaurants available in Brisbane right now and will definitely be back for some of their noodle options or maybe another sizzling dish.

Price Range: $25 - $35pp

Taste: 7.5/10

Value:  7/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: 6/10 

Queens Bapsang - Toowong

It's been a little while since I've seen the opening of a restaurant and immediately felt the desire to go try them out as soon as I can. However when I heard that Queen's Gimbap at underwood opened a new restaurant in Toowong focusing on Korean meals (Bapsang), I knew I had to drop everything and head there as fast as I could. So there we were on a Saturday evening, having dinner with Mr J. As it was fairly newly opened, we didn't try to reserve a table and it was ultimately unnecessary but I can easily imagine that there would be a significant queue when busy.

 

Having perused the menu beforehand, I was happy to try all the items. There was a wide variety of set meals that came with rice, noodles as well as side dishes. Having made our mind up, we ordered and paid at the counter.

Our meals came out before long and our table was joyfully filled to the brim.

Mr J had the Spicy Pork Dolsot Bibimbap. The rice and other toppings came as expected in a hot clay pot, he mixed it in thoroughly to ensure that the ingredients were well mixed. He said it was really delicious and the clay pot was hot enough to ensure that some rice was crispy and caramelised at the bottom.

Dr L had the Bulgogi Bapsang, being one of their signature dishes and one of the pricier things on the menu at $35. Although it was more expensive, what he was served was definitely worth the price. It was a full course meal with bulgogi beef, seaweed, tamagoyaki, kimchi, japchae, lettuce, rice and also fruit as a side. He loved this meal and finished it off in its entirety. I tried some of the beef and found it to be tender and well seasoned.

It took me a while to decide, but I settled on Galbitang because I couldn't resist the giant beef rib. This was a wonderful meal, I was initially a little bit concerned that the beef may not be well seasoned through to the middle but this was unfounded, the beef was well marinated and flavoursome through and through. I also really liked the small dish of japchae we had and the soup was wholesome and warming, going well with the rice. I would have ordered this again next time but I need to try other things on the menu.

We had two sides to share, this was the kimchi jeon. It was probably the letdown that evening. Although it was flavoursome and packed full of kimchi, it was not particularly crispy but probably a little bit undercooked and moist. If it was fried a little bit longer, I'm sure it could have lived up to its potential.

Of course we couldn't go past a some Korean Fried Chicken, so we had a half serve of Garlic Soy to sample. At almost $20, this was somewhat steep for a half serve that yielded six boneless pieces, having said that, each piece was fairly large and there was a decent serve of chips on the side. The chicken was crispy on the outside without being too hard whilst juicy on the inside. Seasoning was on the lighter side but it was ultimately very enjoyable. We had an excellent time at Queens Bapsang and this store definitely lives up to the reputation of it's original, I'll definitely be back soon and bring more friends and family to dine here.

Price Range: $20 - $40pp

Taste: 9/10

Value: 7/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: 8/10 
 

Davids Noodle and Hotpot - Upper Mt Gravatt

We haven't had much malatang lately given the weather is starting to warm up, but upon receiving a gracious invite to dine at David's Noodle and Hotpot as organised by instagrammer Amexquisites, we headed there on a Friday evening after work for a large group dinner.

Arriving at around 6, the place was about half full but filled up soon after we ordered and sat down. I'm not sure if they would entertain bookings but there might be a queue during busy periods, so definitely come prepared.

There were two large cabinets of ingredients for us to choose from. One largely meat based and the other plant based. Staff were helpful and attentive throughout, working hard to keep all items well stocked.

Also worth mentioning, they have a small selection of seafood on offer, which we took full advantage of.

Having made our selections, we headed to the counter for a weigh up. At $3.80/100g, pricing was fairly mid range for malatang.

There was also a small sauce station were we loaded up on extra flavour for our bowls. There wasn't much to choose from but it contained everything I would have wanted.

There were also a selection of drinks on offer. Wanting to sample something more unique, we went for an unsweetened oolong tea and a chinese herbal drink that goes well with hot pot.

Our food took a little while to arrive but that was probably because staff had to cook a significant amount of food for each of us. Both bowls were hefty, not just with ingredients but also with the soup.

I had my bowl served with the orignal pork bone soup. This was originally non spicy but because it looked very pale and white, I added a bit of chilli oil for visual appeal. The soup was quite umami but not as rich and creamy as other malatang places. My toppings were cooked well with the meat definitely not being overdone but not pink either. I found the veggies to have erred on the side of being softer than I would have preferred but everything else was fine.

Dr L went for a seafood heavy meal. Also not particularly spice tolerant, he had the tomato soup. I tried a bit and it was tangy but light at the same time, making for a very appetising flavour profile. Even though the bowl was huge (1.2kg of ingredients), he managed to polish it all off by himself. He particularly enjoyed the mussels and sliced meat as well as the quail eggs. Overall, David's is definitely one of the better malatang places in Brisbane and without a doubt we would come back if we were nearby.

Espresso and Matcha dined as guests of David's noodle and hot pot but as always, our opinions are our own.

Price Range: $20 - $40pp

Taste: 7/10

Value: 7.5/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: 8/10 

Wagyu Hub - Fortitude Valley

Wagyu hub is a little spin off restaurant by the owners of Magnolia Modern Chinese. On days they are not using the space  for Chinese fine dining courses, they host sukiyaki and shabu shabu. Notably with MB9+ wagyu for $46.80 per person. I have been keen to try for quite a while but had seen a bit of controversy online so waited a little bit for the reviews to settle before making a reservation to go.

Although their instagram profile says that they welcome walk ins, it was a full house on the Thursday evening that we went so bookings are definitely recommended if you want a guaranteed seat.

  

All ordering was done by way of QR code and service was exceptionally fast which was fantastic for a buffet. At the offset you decide if you want to have sukiyaki or shabu shabu and pay for the selection, then you could order unlimited serves of beef, chicken, veggies, sides and rice. 

As mentioned, food came out extremely quickly and our table was soon set for us to start.

Whilst all our neighbours opted for sukiyaki, I am not a fan of the overly sweet soy broth, and preferred the more mellow umami broth of shabu shabu. I also appreciated not having to keep an eye on the stove for the water drying out regularly either too.

Despite the controversy I had read online, the meat was of a substantially high quality. It was thinly sliced, well marbled and wonderfully tender. We went through quite a few plates.

There was a small selection of veggies to go with our meat, this included carrots, wombok, enoki tofu and vermicelli noodles. These were fairly standard, the enoki could have been a bit more fresh but everything was of a standard I would have expected.

Not wanting to only be having beef, I had a serve of the organic free range chicken breast. This was moderately thinly sliced to roughly half a centimetre thickness and was tender and flavoursome with our shabu shabu.

Rather than have a completely raw egg, we had onsen eggs to go with our meat, this was cooked well with the yolk forming a delicious gelatinous consistency whilst the white was still fairly runny. It went well with our wagyu beef.

Other than food to cook with shabu shabu, they also had a small selection of fried entrees. I had a small portion of karaage chicken and takoyaki. These were probably the let down of the meal, the batter for both were very thick and they were not served particularly hot. It satisfied my curiosity but when I come back next time, I probably wouldn't order this. 

Rounding off the review, I have to take the time to mention that every dish of subsequent beef that we ordered was of an equally high standard as our first dish. The plating may not have been as neat but the meat was just as delicious. Overall we had an amazing time at Wagyu Hub. It is probably the best value hot pot buffet in Brisbane right now based purely on the quality of meat offered, although the menu could definitely be expanded a little more. Dr L has already said that we need to go back very soon.

Price Range: $46.80pp

Taste: 8.5/10

Value: 9/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: 7/10