Sichuan Deli - Sunnybank

Always keen on hot soupy noodles, nothing is more warming to the soul than malatang, especially when the weather starts to get cold (except perhaps hot pot ;). Having heard of the fairly newly opened Sichuan Deli which has taken up the old lodgings of Chongqing Street Food at Sunnybank Plaza, we went there for a quick dinner after work.

 

What sets Sichuan Deli apart from all the other malatang places is their mix noodle option, which means that those monsters people who are not a fan of hot soup can have their noodles served with mixed sauce instead. At $3.28 per 100g, this makes it one of the more expensive options in the Sunnybank/Runcorn area and comparable to CBD pricing. 

By now, everyone knows the drill, you get a bowl and help yourself.

Options were one of the widest in variety I have seen in all my experiences with Malatang. 

I was especially impressed by the seafood options of crab, oyster, scallops and prawns which were included in the standard $3.28 per 100g pricing. I haven't been able to see this anywhere else in Brisbane.

Finalising my selection, I weighed up at the counter. 

A small selection of sides were also on offer if you wanted dim sims with your noodles.

Getting our number we waited patently and I decided to check out the sauce situation.

It was sadly very lacking. With only chilli and sesame along with some peppers, I left disappointed, empty handed and garlic-less. 

My companion had his noodles with the mildly spicy soup. He had considerable amounts of seafood and remarked that the prawns were fresh but the crab wasn't with meat that disintegrated quite easily. He also said that for once, mild spice was definitely mild enough for easy consumption on our part. 

Not wanting to risk it, I had my selection with non spicy chicken soup. It was surprisingly rich for chicken, but still not as tasty as pork bone at Love Malatang in Runcorn. My ingredients are cooked wonderfully, noodles are tender and soft whilst the beef and mushrooms aren't overdone and crab sticks haven't disintegrated, making it already better than a few that I've been to recently.

Sharing a small basket of xiaolongbao, these were definitely machine made, frozen and reheated, it was disappointing and not worth the price of $5.50 for 4 at all.

Price Range: $15 - $30pp

Taste: 5/10
Value: 5/10
Service: 5/10
Environment: 6/10

Kufiyah - Upper Mt Gravatt

Keen to try something new this week for date night, Adam and I found ourselves at Kufiyah Restaurant to try some middle eastern food for dinner. Located at The Village at Mt Gravatt, parking was definitely less stressful and far more spacious than the nearby Garden City.

Arriving at 6.30pm, the place was fairly empty with only a couple tables other than our own. I thought it odd that they would be that quiet, but by the time we left at 8.00pm, the place was almost full. I guess the crowd prefers a late dinner.

 

The menu was huge and colourful. It took considerable deliberation on our part before we could settle on our order.

Once we had ordered though, our food came very quickly after.

Starting off, we had two dishes to share. Neither of us could choose between the two cheese offerings, so we got both.

First up was the Grilled Haloumi with Za'atar. Thick cut, squeaky but not plasticy, it had quite a bit of elasticity to it as well and we really liked it.

Second cheese dish was the Cheese roll, comprising of cheese stuffed roll pastry. It basically tasted like spring roll stuffed with cottage cheese, mild and homely, it was a delicious comfort food that could only have been made better with dipping sauce.

We also had two mains to share, this was the Kufiyah platter with two shwarma wraps with chips and garlic served in bite sized pieces garnished with cucumber and tomato. We had both the lamb and chicken wraps. Being their signature dish, it was definitely something we needed to try. The shwarma wraps were delicious with wonderfully seasoned meats matched with complimentary vegetables. My favourite was the chicken with creamy avocado, whilst Adam liked the lamb with tomato. We found the pastry to be a little dry and brittle, but the chips to be well seasoned and enjoyable.

Our second shared main was the mix plate shish, with lamb fillet, chicken thigh and lamb koftas served with rice, hommus, garlic dip, salad and bread. There is hardly anything more joyful than the smell of burned flesh, and these were no exception. Toasted to a wonderfully charred finish, Adam liked the slightly tangy chicken, I liked the crumbly lamb koftas and we both found the lamb fillet to be quite chewy. The salads were fresh and we both loved the creamy garlic dip.

Rounding off the night we both shared some Turkish coffee. Strong and aromatic, they were served with a cute little cookie. 

Espresso and Matcha got to enjoy this complimentary meal by freeloading off FoodieAdam's invite. But as always, my opinions are solely my own. 

Price Range: $20 - $30pp

Taste: 7.5/10
Value: 7.5/10
Service: 7.5/10
Environment: 8/10

Farmhouse - Kedron

Readers will know by now that as a southsider, I very rarely venture far up north, especially for breakfast, but when Adam had an invite to try out Farmhouse, a themed cafe up in Kedron, it piqued my curiosity and so I got up at the crack of dawn for the trek up north. 

Arriving at 9.30, our table was set for us and the place was packed. 

 Their drinks menu contained standard coffees as well as a large variety of shakes, juices, frappes and smoothies. The food menu contained some classics as well as some more interesting dishes like gnocchi for breakfast.

Being such a hot day, I skipped my usual hot drink and had an orange juice blended with watermelon and berry whilst he had his usual cold brew. Watermelon and orange is always a winning blend with a sweet but tangy and refreshing taste to it. 

That morning, food took a little longer to come out, but it was well worth the wait.

Always one for the sweet breakfast option, Adam had the One-Pan Ricotta Hotcake served with orange curd, toasted macadamia cacao crumbs, blood orange syrup, local berries and Miss Sophia’s vanilla bean gelato. He said it was fairly dense but still soft and moist. The ice cream also melted very quickly to form a sort of creamy milky dipping sauce.

To share, we had a Corned Beef & Rye Bread Toastie with pulled corned beef, house sauerkraut, swiss cheese, Reuben dressing, Farmhouse pickles which was highly recommended by our waiter. To be honest, I'm not usually much of a fan of reubens, but it was definitely one of the better ones I've had. Bread was toasted with a good crunch without being too coarse, corned beef was soft and just salty enough whilst the sauerkraut and swiss cheese cut through the meat, making for quite a balanced sandwich.

Never deviating from my usual, I had their eggs on toast with added bacon and mushrooms. Sadly, neither avocado nor salmon were on the menu. Eggs were poached fairly well but a little firmer than what I'm used to. Bacon was ample, but I found the mushrooms to be a bit on the oily side, but generous in portion. Overall a filling and hearty breakfast.

Espresso and Matcha got to enjoy this complimentary meal by freeloading off FoodieAdam's invite. But as always, my opinions are solely my own. 

Price Range: $15 - $25pp

Taste: 7/10
Value: 7/10
Service: 7/10
Environment: 7/10

Devon - Garden City

After considerable amounts of complaining on my part, having seen Adam's photos of going to Devon with friends for brunch and dinner, I finally got to go last Saturday when our schedule had cleared out a bit. Having been to their store in Sydney, I was keen to see how their Brisbane branch would stack up. 

Arriving at 9AM, it was only half full. Half the seating was undercover but outdoors whilst the other half had indoor seating, but air conditioning seemed fairly minimal. We were allocated the outdoors seating.

 

The menu was much alike their Sydney stores, I noted that Breakfast with the Sakumas was on their menu, having tried that last time, I was keen to have something else.

Putting through our coffee order, it came fairly soon after.

Adam had his usual cold brew. Served in a prepackaged bottle the flavours and strength were consistent to what we had interstate and it was well received, but at $6 it was a little expensive for my taste. 

Wanting to have something other than my usual cappuccino, I tried their manual filter. The colour was fairly light even compared to the cold brew. At $7 a serve it was quite expensive for coffee, unfortunately it tasted like hot water with no coffee taste whatsoever. Raising this with staff later on, a replacement was not offered.

It didn't take long for our food to come out.

Adam had the Yakuza Burger, swapping the beef patty with a chicken patty, it also contained  Devon's secret sauce, lettuce, tomato, american cheese, brioche bun, portugese chips and a large dollop of kewpie mayonnaise. The bun was toasted and crispy, the patty was fairly crunchy and thick whilst salad was fresh. Chips caught us off guard and were spicier than we thought. For the price of $20 though, this was an expensive burger.

Trying their signature Croissant St Denis, it consisted of a ghetto style omelette, blue swimmer crab and salmon, bisque beurre blanc, flying fish roe, fine herbs along with a French croissant. The croissant was unheated and came out at room temperature, it would have been a lot more enjoyable toasted. The omelette was not bad, it wasn't overcooked and had a good quantity of swimmer crab but an indistinct amount of salmon in it. The flying fish roe definitely added to it and the bisque gave the egg a bit more taste, but like the burger it was expensive for what it is.

Price Range: $25 - $35pp

Taste: 6/10
Value: 5/10
Service: 7/10
Environment: 6/10