Mr Peng - Runcorn

 

Given my obsession with North Eastern Chinese BBQ, it was inevitable that we would find ourselves in Runcorn, checking out Mr Peng, one of the most popular Chinese BBQ places in Brisbane. Last time we walked past, I saw a bunch of Chinese uncles squatting outside the restaurant smoking cigarettes and I knew it would be authentic.

We made a reservation for date night but quite a few friends joined us for the meal and it became quite a party.

 

We ordered online via the QR codes and went all out, ordering a bit too much.

After our beer came, the crushed cucumbers showed up. These were fairly standard, refreshing and crisp. Portions were generous and there was a large amount of fragrant sesame oil.

As with all Chinese BBQ places, the skewers were grilled in the kitchen and the food was placed on a central serving plate. First to arrive were logically items that were not raw and therefore quick to cook so long as it was heated up and so the grilled dried tofu showed up first. These were very tasty and offered a good amount of surface area for the cumin and chilli seasoning.

Next were the fish cakes. I'm almost certain that they were sourced from the same asian grocery store as the pack in my own fridge. Either way they were chewy and tender, coated in the same cumin and chilli seasoning.

Quite a few came after that, including scallops, chicken wings, and beef tongue. Of these, the stand out for me was of course the beef tongue with its lightly chewy texture. Seasonings were the same as above.

Dr L is a big fan of enoki mushrooms. We ordered it in two variants, in a foil tray and also grilled. The grilled one was seasoned with the same bbq flavours but the foil tray offered a super strong garlic hit as well as some tender vermicelli.

Eggplant came with a similar flavour profile to the foil enoki, with an abundance of garlic and vermicelli inside of the tender eggplant.

A massive hit of protein arrived when our pork belly, lamb and beef arrived all at once. The lamb was more tender and fatty than the beef. The pork was also fatty and that rendered well to result in a nice crisp. These were well done but by that point I had started to get a little bored of the repetitive nature of the seasoning.

By the time we were finishing up with some squid tentacles, I was fairly bored of the same flavours again and again and welcomed the end of our meal. The squid itself was done well with a tender texture. I would have enjoyed it a lot more if it came earlier on in the meal, but at that point I was fairly tired of it and would really have enjoyed a level of variety. 

Overall I wouldn't say I had a bad time at Mr Peng's, each skewer was generally well grilled and tasty, its just that the lack of variety in tastes made the meal fairly tedious by the end. I would still come back but would prefer it as a snack more than a main meal.

Price Range: $50 - $70pp

Taste: 7/10

Value: 7/10

Service: 7/10

Environment: 7/10

Eon 雍 - Brisbane CBD

It has been said numerous times on this blog, I am not a fan of fusion food. Usually, fusion asian food is run by a westerners or a western conglomerate of some sort and doesn't inspire. I was however very interested after reading about the opening of Eon 雍 in Fortitude Valley, being a Chinese run venture. Initially they only had a social media presence on Red Note, where it initially caught my attention, however later on they started branching out to do Instagram invitations and we were lucky enough to be able to tag onto Foodie in Dream's invite to sample the food.

Parking was somewhat difficult with no designated parking lot and we were a little bit confused about the entrance but managed to find our way in eventually. The lighting was dark with pastel neon backing, decor was decidedly modern Chinese. It was moody but made it difficult for me to see our food properly and even harder for us to photograph our food.

 

The menu wasn't particularly long, but comprised of a lot of items that I wanted to try. For the indecisive, there is also a banquet menu available. Given how popular they are, I wasn't particularly surprised that a few dishes had already sold out by the time we were ordering.

 

The drinks menu was also very interesting with cocktails all having a very asian flair to them. We ordered a drink each, including the floral nectar, yuzu glow, green plum highball, tea and biscuit. The floral nectar was exceptionally fragrant, perfuming the whole table as it was set down. My yuzu glow was sharp and tangy, I particularly liked the perfectly clear ice cube. Dr L's tea and biscuit was infused with a very strong tea taste that he really enjoyed.

 

Our food came out fairly quickly with minimal gaps between courses. First to arrive was the Tiger Prawn Remoulade with Sweet and Sour Dressing and the Beef Tartare with caper and chive, caramelised roasting glaze. The prawn was an interesting dish, with a melody of flavours. The sweet and sour taste coupled with the texture of prawn made it a really unique and unexpected experience. The highlight of the meal though, was undoubtedly the beef tartare. I had read a few comments online complaining about its presentation, noting the puffed rice lokoed a bit like bugs, but this dish took our collective breath away. Everywhere else you have tartare, it doesn't really stray too much from the "big mac" kind of taste, but this was completely different with a rich umami, soy, oyster sauce flavour. The puffed rice contributed significantly to the texture. If you visit, this dish is definitely a must order.

Our next dish was the truffle layered potato with abalone and mushroom sauce. This was highly recommended on rednote and did not disappoint. The potato cakes were exceptionally crispy without being greasy whilst the mushroom and abalone sauce was delicate and refined. The scent of truffle was also light but distinct.

Next we had two serves of flank skewers served with special house glaze. We originally planned on just ordering one serve to share between four of us, but our waitress recommended two serves for the four of us so we could have one skewer each. For a flank steak, this was surprisingly tender. The meat was lean and it was coated in the sweet umami oyster sauce. We really enjoyed this dish.

Then the Kung Pao Butter Roasted Prawns and Roti showed up. These were flavoursome and creamy but not overly spicy. The roti was thin and flaky, mopping up the sauces well. The prawns were fresh and meaty, they went well with the sauces, but I wish they came out partially peeled, as getting our hands dirty throughout the meal was not helpful.

 

After that came the Typhoon shelter style squid with labneh and our serve of cheeseburger spring rolls. The squid was the lowlight of our meal, being barely coated, with fairly basic flavours and a rich creamy labneh. I really enjoyed the cheeseburger spring rolls with their delightful mince and cheese filling. 

Large plates started coming after, starting off with the Crispy Reef FIsh, Buddha Jumping Wall Veloute. As stated in the name, the fish was indeed crispy, but they did miss a scale or two from the skin. We found the veloute to be very light in the beginning and but had a very delicious aftertaste to it that lingers in the mouth. I did consider this serve to be a tad small for a large dish though.

Our other large plates all came out at once with the sides. 

I had read online that the 24 Hour Braised Short Rib with Signature black pepper sauce was a winner so we definitely had to order this. For a singular rib, it was huge, providing each of us a fairly generous piece to share, along with a delicious crispy potato. Like the previous dishes, the sauce had a rich umami oyster sauce flavour, this time with the additional warmth of black pepper. It would have been a very decadent main to have on my own, but sharing was just right.

Our other large was the 200g Wagyu Sirloin, also served with the signature black pepper sauce. On hindsight we probably should have tried out another sauce, but the beef was a lot more lean compared to the rib, but also tender. We enjoyed the contrast of both cuts but I probably liked the sirloin more for its meaty texture.

In terms of sides, we had the roast pumpkin with salted egg yolk, pumpkin seeds and chickpeas. This was warm with fresh salad on top. The pumpkin was tender and rich, the salty egg yolk cut through nicely.

Our final side and savoury dish of the evening was the charred peach, pecan and cos lettuce, salad with parmesan. I hadn't really tried peach on salad before but it proved a deliciously sweet addition, with the sharp contrast to our heavy meat dishes, it was well enjoyed by the table. 

Although the main menu was fairly lengthy, the dessert menu was shorter, comprising of only three items. So we ordered all of them.

Again our wait was fairly short and they all arrived together.

Apparently the signature dessert was the Burned Oolong Basque cheesecake. Again, had it not been for the fact I have three companions to share with, this would have been a very rich and decadent cake to consume on my own. The cheesecake was rich and heavy but the oolong was fragrant and strong. It would have gone down really well with a cup of tea.

 

The Coconut panna cotta with coconut almond crumb was actually the best of the desserts. Smooth and light, the coconut flavours were contrasted by crispy almond crumb. I could easily have polished off one serve without sharing. In comparison, we all agreed that the Melon and Tarragon Granita, Soy Sauce chocolate mousse was the weakest of the three as it was fairly ordinary. We were able to appreciate the freshness of the melon but the soy sauce didn't stand out from the chocolate mousse as much as we would have liked. Either way it was nice to try it by way of comparison to the other two.

All in all, we had a wonderful time at Eon. For fusion food, this would definitely be one of the best I've ever had. Rather than Asian food with a Western twist, Western food with an Asian twist is a winner for me. Although I couldn't categorically say that every dish was outstanding, there were a few that stood out for me and the ones that were a bit more basic were still definitely more than good. The only criticism I would have is that it's a tad expensive and portions could be bigger, but the food is well worth the price.

Price Range: $140 - $160pp

Taste: 8.5/10

Value: 7/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: 8/10

Amins Butcher and Grill - Springwood

Every year for mother's day, my mum never fails to ask for middle eastern food for dinner. Usually we go to Kebab HQ near home, but this year I was keen to try out Amin's Butcher and Grill at Springwood after having a fairly positive experience at their West End branch a few years ago.

It was definitely lucky that we booked ahead that night. I can't comment on other weekends but it was full on Mother's day. 

We were seated promptly and provided menus. Being a butcher and grill, there was a wide variety of meat options. If what was on the menu was not enough, they also have a helpful option where you can pick your own steak from the butcher and they can cook it for you. Ordering is done at the counter and they also had sparkling water on tap, which was a really nice touch.

We were very interested in trying out the platter for four, so that saved us a lot of deliberation. It was a very busy night but our food took close to 45 minutes to arrive. The platter was huge though, comprising of two 350g rib fillets, eight sausages, four lamb ribs, four lamb cutlets and eight chicken wings. 

Unfortunately the steak, which I presumed would have been the highlight, was a disappointment. We ordered medium rare and it came out very much well done.  The lamb was a tad chewier than what we usually enjoy at kebab HQ but I did really enjoy the chicken wings which were very flavoursome. I also enjoyed the texture of the rice. There was definitely more than enough food for four and we had considerable to take away after.

The platter also came with a side serve of chips and salad. The chips were a bit small to share between four, these came out not too hot but still fairly crispy. There was ample chicken salt on them and although not my favourite, they were good enough.

The salad was refreshing and crisp with a light vinaigrette. Capsicum in a salad is unusual for me but it added a depth of flavour that went well with the meat. All in all, we didn't have a bad time at Amin's but it really did highlight for us that the offerings we enjoy at our local is really to a high quality. I might be back to try another dish, but probably wouldn't be back for the shared platter.

Price Range: $45 - $55pp

Taste: 6.5/10

Value: 7/10

Service: 7/10

Environment: 7/10