Sushia - Brisbane CBD

Workday lunch and I decided to try out another sushi bar rather than sticking to my usual at either the very convenient Sushi Kim or the very delicious Sushi D'Lite. Making my way from Myer, the bright yellow signage of Sushia, making a good opportunity that I took advantage of.

Compared to the usual places I go to, there was a far greater variety of sushi rolls, nigiri as well as pre made donburi. In a hurry, I opted for the sushi rolls to go. Rather than being given a box, they were placed in a paper bag, which was a fairly unstable method of carrying more than a couple rolls.

Despite there being no box, there was no lack of abundance in plastic as each roll was wrapped in plastic. Ordering four to go, two salmon avocado, one chicken schnitzel and one prawn cutlet. Fillings were sufficient but not overly generous. They were fresh, but neither the chicken nor the prawn were particularly crispy. What was particularly disappointing was that the rice was quite firm and cold from refrigeration. I would definitely have preferred room temperature rice, if not fresh rice. Guess I'll be going back to my usuals next time.

Price Range: $10 - $20pp

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

Jees Burger - Brisband CBD

Last week I picked up some food after running a couple of errands before going home. Had burger cravings for some time now so there was no better opportunity than to grab some Jees Burger from Wintergarden to take away. 

Going at 12.30pm on a weekday made for peak hour traffic. Service however was fast, which was great. The menu was fairly concise with three types of burgers as well as fried chicken, sides and drinks. Having had both the chicken and beef burgers before, I was definitely far more keen on their smash patty beef burgers.

Got home within 15 minutes of the order being completed, so both burgers were still hot upon arrival and not too steamed. 

Dr L enjoyed the small cheese and bacon burger, even though it is small by namesake, it is called small as it only contained one beef patty. He really enjoyed it.

 

In comparison, I was quite hungry that day and opted for the large cheese and bacon burger. In comparison, large came with three patties but all other elements were the same. It was a very delicious burger indeed. With three smash patties, they were relatively thinner than the usual, so I was able to comfortably enjoy the burger without difficulty. Flavours were intense, especially the meaty textures, further amplified by the crisp toasty bits and the thick salty melty cheddar cheese. Salads were fresh and the lettuce was extremely crisp. The bun wasn't as enjoyable as milk buns I've had at other places, but these were quite fluffy and well toasted though.

Opting for some small fries to go with my burger, these were crisp, well seasoned and lightly salted, making for a wonderfully satisfying meal.

Price Range: $10 - $20pp

Taste: 8/10
Value: 8/10
Service: 8/10
Environment: N/A

Persone - Brisbane CBD

Thursday night dinner and we went to Persone after a along night's work. Having seen that it recently reopened after a long shutdown, we were keen to finally tick it off our list. Going on the first week of opening meant we made sure to book beforehand. Arriving at our scheduled appointment, the restaurant was roughly at half capacity, but we were unable to secure a window seat unfortunately. 

I actually never noticed before getting there that the restaurant was actually run by Gambaro, who owns black hide, of which we are huge fans. The menu comprised of starters, a selection of pastas, pizzas and mains along with sides. They do have a dessert menu, but we didn't get any.

 

Starting off, we had two glasses of Cabernet Sauvignon, with its moderate flavours, it went well with the rest of our meal. We were also given complimentary home made foccacia, which was warm, dense and wholesome. 

Our food came not long after, for a starter, we shared the Burrata which was served with onions and balsamic vinegar. I really liked the rich creamy burrata which was in itself a pleasure to cut into, contrasted with the tangy smoky caramelised onion and balsamic flavours. A really enjoyable entree to start our meal.

 

Originally, I was fairly set on going with the Crab Pasta as our pasta dish of the night, but once I heard that the special was Truffle Tagliatelle, I definitely changed my mind. With a creamy white sauce, we were surprised to find a perfectly cooked egg under the pile of truffle shavings, with a perfectly semi runny centre. We enjoyed the decadent fragrant truffle and the rich sauce. Alone, it may have been a bit rich for a whole person to enjoy as a main, but shared between two, it was wonderful.

Our second main was the Parma Pizza. After the decadent pasta, we enjoyed the sharp tangy flavours of tomato, fior di latte, prosciutto crudo, rocket and parmesan atop the very fluffy but thin base which was one of the best I've had. The meat was a little on the salty side, but there wasn't too much of it, and  instead we had a good amount of the parmesan and rocket making for a well balanced meal. After all of this, it was no doubt we were too full for dessert.

Price Range: $50 - $70pp

Taste: 8/10
Value: 6/10
Service: 8/10
Environment: 8/10

PJs Steaks - Fortitude Valley

As mentioned, I had to get some more food after my meal at Maya. Having heard a fair bit about PJs Steaks, it made for an excellent opportunity for me to try out the fairly popular cheesesteaks which I had seen so many photos of online. Arriving not too late at night, it was empty and service was fast and friendly.

My order was prepared well within 10 minutes of ordering and took it home whilst it was still warm.

Having a strong cheese craving at that point, I ordered the Triple Cheesesteak, comprising Wagyu, Cheddar, American and Provolone cheeses. Starting with the bun, this was light and fluffy although not very toasted. Despite the cheese warning, there was really not that much at all in the sandwich, but an abundance of thinly chopped up wagyu. It wasn't as melty as I would have expected, but it was however quite salty and the meat was tender. 

What the sandwich lacked in cheese, the American Chili Fries definitely made up for. Perhaps it was the ride home, but by the time I ate it, the chips were definitely not crispy but fairly steamed. The cheese though was very stringy and extremely tasty. There was an abundance of black beans as well but not too much beef. Although not particularly outstanding, it really hit the spot that night.

Price Range: $15 - $25pp

Taste: 7/10
Value: 7/10
Service: 8/10
Environment: 7/10

Maya - Fortitude Valley

Last Friday, we had a dinner with some colleagues at Maya, a six month pop up located at Eleven Rooftop Bar. Having been to Eleven previously, I was keen to get a seat and enjoy the views again. Unfortunately for us, it was raining quite heavily and we were unable to get a seat with a view, so our main focus for the night reverted to food.

 

As a Mexican Restaurant, the menu was undoubtedly Mexican, with dishes sorted into snacks, smalls, larger dishes, sides and desserts. As a bar, there was an abundance of drinks as well.

 

Our first round of cocktails included the El Jefe and Classic Margarita. The El Jefe was a coffee infused drink which was considerably different from my usual Espresso Martini, it was sharp, smokey and tangy with its lemon wedge. Iron Fist really enjoyed his Classic Margarita too.

We ordered quite a few share plates and thought we would have too much food, but this turned out not to be the case. This was the Illegal Short Rib which was slow cooked in chipotle bbq and illegal mezcal glaze and chimichurri. Even though it was classed as a smaller dish, this was far smaller than we had expected for a share plate. The beef was very tender and flavoursome, however even for a single rib, it was surprisingly lacking in meat.

Another small we shared was the Ceviche, with its signature kingfish served with tamarind lime water, avocado, tomatillo, radish and coconut. Whilst the dish was also quite small, it had a fair amount of fish which was very fresh, doused with citrus and a light amount of spice, which we enjoyed. I did enjoy the additionn of avocado which is often not found served with ceviche, but added an element of creaminess to the dish.

Some starter dips we ordered came after, we had the Guacamole and Cauliflower Queso, both were very delicious and served with corn chips as well as dried banana chips. I found the Banana to be surprisingly tasty and not sweet at all. The guacamole was creamy and tangy wen coupled with salsa as expected but the cauliflower was definitely a highlight, served warm, it was wholesome and delicious.

 

Prior to our large dishes, we had a second round of drinks including the Margarita De Mezcal and Watermelon Margarita. These were fresh and my watermelon was very sweet and fruity.

At the recommendation of our friendly waitress, we had two large dishes to share between the three of us. The first to arrive was the Spiced Chicken, with achiote rub, roasted baby peppers, sesame pipian and warm tortillas. As a large dish, it comprised of barely a quarter of a chicken and three tortillas, which was a little disappointing given it was classed as a large. I did enjoy the chicken which was very moist and tender. It was spicy almost reminiscent of butter chicken and the Tortillas were warm and thick, but sadly there was only one piece per person.  

Our final large was the Pork Belly, this was  twice cooked and served with spiced arbol corn puree, pickled radish, apple and fennel. Again, four pieces of pork belly hardly warrant a large dish. The twice cooked pork belly did not have much by way of crispy skin at all albeit the meat was quite well seasoned. As for texture, parts were moisty and fatty whilst the meat portions were quite dry. Given how much we had spent on this dinner, it was disappointing that I had to pick up more food on the way home so as to not be hungry later that night.

Price Range: $80 - $100pp

Taste: 5/10
Value: 4/10
Service: 7/10
Environment: 7/10

Pho City - Brisbane CBD

Running some weekend errands in the city, we took some time to try out the Pho at Pho City, along Burnett Lane in the CBD for some soupy noodles. Having heard a fair bit about it from coworkers, I was keen to try it out.

 

Getting our own seats after walking in, we were greeted by the sole staff working on the day and ordered at the counter. Although there were rice and entrees, we were keen on noodles, so that is what we gravitated towards. Prices were moderate high for Vietnamese fare, I suppose it was due to higher city rents, but there was also a significant surcharge for card payments, which I found surprising given that people have gravitated towards card since the pandemic hit. All cutlery and water was self service.

We shared two bowls of noodles, the first one is the BBQ pork and Wanton Soup with extra noodles. Firstly, I was quite surprised that it didn't come with noodles by default, as such we paid an extra $2.50 for noodles. The egg noodles that we did get was quite small and also clumped together at the bottom of the bowl. I did like the elasticity of the egg noodles though. The BBQ pork was well seasoned and sliced extremely thin so there also wasn't too much. The wantons were far more abundant, having around eight in the bowl, but this was filled with chunky dense mince and not too much else.  It was also topped with a huge amount of garnish including sprouts, which are often not a part of Wanton Noodle soup, which bulked up the bowl without adding too much by way of content. The soup was also extremely sweet. 

Like the Wanton Noodle Soup, our Rare Beeef Pho also came already with sprouts and garnishes on top which bulked up the dish a fair bit and didn't allow me the option of enjoying the dish without sprouts. I would definitely have preferred it to be served on the side. I ordered extra noodles with this bowl and the amount of noodles were just the same as what you would have gotten at Sunnybank or Inala without ordering extra. At least the noodles were tender. I didn't really enjoy the soup which was served very murky and sweet without much depth of flavour. As for the beef, it there were very few slices, they were lean but it was extremely overcooked and definitely not rare. Next time, I'll definitely be sticking to AJs Noodle House instead.

Price Range: $15 - $20pp

Taste: 4.5/10
Value: 5/10
Service: 5/10
Environment: 5/10