Miss Unicorn - Sunnybank Hills

For those who have been familiar with Sunnybank for quite a while would no doubt remember the days when Sweet Treats was the place to be for dessert after dinner over at Pinelands Plaza. Since its eventual closure after the uprising of Sonder nearby, there have been a continuous revolving door of dessert places to try their luck at the venue. The newest iteration is Miss Unicorn which had just opened up recently. Feeling peckish after a Korean dinner, we wandered over to try our luck with dessert.

The setup was largely the same as before with most fixtures remaining in place but quite a few new decorations to go with the new theme of unicorns. The menu was a little surprising for me, with a Korean theme, there were not only desserts including crepes, cakes, pancakes and waffles but there were also savoury options like cheese hotdog which some people had also ordered. 

Some cakes and macarons were also available at the pastry cabinet, I noted that at around 8pm on a Friday about half were already gone.

Ordering at the counter, we got a number and waited outside as it was full inside. It was definitely very chilly with the wind factor and lack of heating.

Our drinks came fairly soon after. Wanting to try out some more unique drinks we had the Sesame Cheese Foam Potted Plant and a Hazelnut latte. His cheese foam pot plant was quite sweet but not overly rich but had a fairly strong taste of sesame. As for my hazelnut latte, I suspect they went overboard with the syrup as it was excessively sweet but also very strong in terms of hazelnut flavour. 

 

To share we also had the Teddy Bear Crepe and a Bunny Crepe. Both crepes were made fresh and were fairly moist and warm. The ice cream was fairly standard supermarket variety, but the designs were still super cute and we enjoyed the sweet treat. 

Price Range: $5 - $15pp

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

Spaghetti House - Southbank

Always keen to investigate controversial venues, tonight Adam and I decided to check out the long established but heavily criticised Spaghetti House at Southbank. Despite all the feedback online, it was still exceptionally popular on a Saturday night dinner, with a considerable line to get in and reservations are definitely recommended.

 

There was a fair selection of pizzas, pastas and sides that you would want from an Italian restaurant. 

Kicking off with a Bellini, the fruity raspberry and refreshing prosecco blended together for a tasty drink. I really enjoyed it and it took a fair amount of self restraint not to order seconds.

Despite being fairly understaffed and with almost a full house of customers (on top of takeaways and deliveries), food came fairly quickly. Our shared starter comprised of the Polpette Con Pomodoro, a traditional Italian Pork and Veal Meatball with rich tomato sauce. I found these to be quite enjoyable. The meatballs were large and generous with a crumbly meaty texture. The parmesan crisps added sharpness to the dish and the sauce was tangy and fresh.

Although the entrees were enjoyable the same could not be said for mains. Adam ordered the Truffled Macaroni Cheese. This turned out to be bland and very floury. Although we did order a dish which didn't come with meat, I think that there should have been some sort of centrepiece to the dish, or at least a sharper cheese could have been used to add more flavour to it.

Not one to deviate too far from my favourites, this was the Lasagne. Tasting far better than the Truffled Macaroni, I offered some of it to Adam. The sauce was thick and meaty, there is hardly anything better than a tomato and cheese combination, and it was abundant in flavour. My only criticism of this is that it was fairly overcooked with crunchy edges to the pasta which I didn't particularly like. The rocket on the side wasn't overly fresh and there was a little too much cheese on top.

Not a particular fan of desserts, so I let Adam do the choosing and I had a taste only. He decided on the Zeppole Marmellata de Fiche. The ricotta doughnuts were fairly large, each the size of a child's fist. they were served hot but very floury and doughy on the inside without much by way of bounce in texture. Ricotta was delicious and though.

Price Range: $40 - $60pp

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

Botanical Lab - Fortitude Valley

Fortitude Valley regulars would know that there is no shortage when it comes to choices of cafes or bars for your caffeine and alcoholic needs. Surprisingly though, there isn't too much by way of bubble tea, despite there almost being one on every street corner in the CBD. We almost thought there was none at all, that was until we stumbled upon Botanical Lab in Fortitude Valley whilst we were ambling around bakery lane. 

 

There quite a few tea options with or without milk and we really liked the customiseable options with the large variety of toppings. With the cost of bubble tea in this day and age, prices were fairly reasonable too.

Unable to decide on what we wanted, we had three to share between us.

 

Left to right, we have the Tropical Green Tea with Pearls, Milk tea with Oreo and Strawberry Milk with  Milo. Served in beakers, these were unique and cute whilst environmentally friendly. Across both the green tea and milk tea, the tea flavours weren't particularly strong. The strawberry milk was refreshing and had a nice fruity taste to it, the addition of milo was nostalgic and novel at the same time.

Price Range: Under $10pp

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

The Stand - Fortitude Valley

We had just finished another long week's work at the office last Friday and wanted to relax a bit before a hectic weekend of eating. Not entirely having a plan, we found ourselves walking around the laneways of Fortitude Valley and we came across The Stand, a dessert and cocktail bar situated in California Lane. With a bit of time before dinner, we decided to check it out.

As expected, the menu comprised almost solely of sweets, except for a couple of cheese and antipasto boards. Desserts largely comprised of baked goods, and ice creams. There were also a selection of loaded shakes and dessert themed cocktails.

Grabbing a table in the laneway, the ground was a little uneven and we spent the duration of our meal trying hard not to knock the table. Other than that, the passing tradesmen with supplies and boards proved a bit of a distraction to our experience.

To eat, we had the chocolate brownie, this came with a scoop of ice cream and was served atop some delectable chocolate ganache. We liked the warm brownie and the temperature contrast it served with the ice cream, however the caramel was a bit on the sweeter side. My favourite element though was definitely the chocolate ganache which was rich and smooth.

We also wanted a mint shake but this was sold out so we had a Snickertini cocktail instead. This was also rich with caramel and amazingly sweet but not particularly strong in baileys. Will definitely have to come back at a later point to try out their mint loaded shake.

Price Range: $10 - $20pp

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

Xclsve Hype Tea - Brisbane CBD

Although he may not look it, Adam is one of the leading Bubble Tea experts in Brisbane. Always keen to try out every single store, getting weird and wonderful combinations every time, he's had more bubble tea than any one else I know. So when he heard of Hype Tea opening down on an alleyway off Elizabeth Street, next to the ever popular Stauss, he had to check it out. Having missed it a few times as it wasn't open when we wanted to go, we finally made our way over after work last week. Selling tea, clothes and sneakers was an interesting combination to say the least.

The drinks menu was situated right at the cashier. It meant awkward pauses whilst staff waited for us to choose our order under time constraints. Varieties include yogurt, fresh tea, milk tea and fruit tea along with a few desserts.

Sweets were available at the counter. During happy hour they have discounts for desserts.

 

Our drinks were prepared fairly quickly and we grabbed a seat at the alleyway outside. I had the Matcha Marble Fresh Milk and he had the Cheese Caramel Milk Tea. Both of these tasted as if it were made with minimal amounts of supermarket bought syrup and the remaining 98% was fresh milk. My matcha had no matcha taste whatsoever, and it was fairly poor value to have paid $7.50 for essentially a glass of milk. Interestingly his was also unsweetened, even though I asked for mine without sugar and his standard sugar. Cheese foam on top was so little that it was almost negligible and again, his was a glass of milk for an exorbitant price. Definitely not one to come back to.

Price Range: $7 - $15pp

Taste: 4/10
Value: 4/10
Service: 5/10
Environment: 6/10

Brooklyn Donut & Coffee Co - Chermside

Always a fan of donuts, I was quite keen when I heard about the opening of Brooklyn Donut & Coffee Co, up at Westfield Chermside. Luckily for me, I was able to send my recon unit to venture up north and scope it out for me without having to personally attend.

There were about half a dozen variety of donuts on display, flavours vary day to day and price point ranges from $4.90 for the OG to $5.90 for other flavours. Peanut butter cookies and Brooklyn Brownies were also for sale.

Bringing back two, the first one was always going to be the OG glazed. The glaze was fairly similar to Krispy Kreme but thicker. It was still just as sweet and brittle, crumbling off as you bite into it. Texture wise, it was about half way between the softness of Krispy Kreme and the bread like doughiness of Doughnut Time.

I had initially also wanted to try the Choc Hazelnut but this wasn't available on the day so I had a Boston Cream instead. For some reason the dough was far more bread like in this doughnut. The cream inside was a lot more similar to custard and didn't pack the vanilla taste I was hoping for. A dark chocolate top is always nice though.

Price Range: $5 - $10pp

Taste: 6.5/10
Value: 6/10
Service: 7/10
Environment: 7/10