Kim Thanh - West End

Since work decided to make us go back to the office two days a week, I have made a point to try to get lunch out at least once a week to support local business. This week I wanted something a bit healthier than fast food so I decided to try out the Banh Mi at Kim Thanh, a Vietnamese institution at West End. Service is always fast and the delivery always gets here before the estimated time, today was no different.

Given the meal was fairly cheap, I treated myself to an extra iced coffee. This was still chilled when I got it and kept separate from the warm bread rolls. It was strong and bitter without being overly sweet. I really enjoyed it. 

I didn't have much of an indication for what size the banh mi would be, and the ones in the city are rather small, so I got two to be sure. Turns out they're huge, at around 9 inches each, it proved to be a huge struggle for me to finish both.

First one I had was the meatball. It was completely loaded with mashed meatball with a light lemongrass flavour. It also came with carrot and cucumber which was at the bottom of the roll. The bread was served warm and the outside was crisp whilst the inside was very fluffy. The filling to bread ratio was very generous. 

The other one I chose was the signature crispy pork belly with pate. Again the bread was wonderful. The amount of pork they gave was also very generous and despite the trip, it was still very crisp and flavoursome. Salad was ample and given my experience, I have no hesitation in recommending Kimn Thanh. Would definitely go again.

 

Price Range: $10 - $20pp

Taste: 8/10

Value: 8/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: N/A

Cheeky Poke - Greenslopes

First week back in the office after yet another lockdown scare and I decided it would be nice to try out something new whilst supporting local businesses. Ended up getting Cheeky Poke delivered from Greenslopes, something I had been meaning to try for a very long time. Service was always fast, especially given the difficulties of finding parking near my office building.

One of the reasons why it had taken me so long to order at a Poke Bar was because I was always afraid that the quantity wouldn't be too much and it would hardly suffice for a meal. This was definitely disproven. My salmon bowl was huge and heavy with ingredients.

So I had a salmon bowl with glass noodles, lettuce and a bunch of extras. For toppings, I chose everything except for chilli and unfortunately my bowl did come with chilli, which I had to pick out. The quantity of ingredients was generous, my bowl alone was very filling. The toppings were also fresh and crunchy without having much water at the bottom of the bowl. Will definitely be something that I come back to fairly soon.

Price Range: $15 - $25pp

Taste: 8/10

Value: 7/10

Service: 9/10

Environment: N/A 

Just Bun - Sunnybank

Caught up with some friends over lunch last weekend and we decided to try out the new dumpling store in the open air food court of Market Square. Even though it is called Just Bun, it basically specialises in all variations of dumplings as well. Had seen a few photos of it in social media and they looked amazing, so we were keen to get some.

As mentioned, it is located in the open air food court. This means of course, no air conditioning. Thankfully it wasn't too hot, but I would definitely have enjoyed it better if it were cooler. Seating was a bit like hawker style food courts in Asia but the price wasn't too cheap to match the environment. 

We had quite a large assortment of food and ordered bubble tea from a nearby store. Prices were more expensive than you would expect from other dumpling stores in the area.

First and foremost, I was mainly here because of their giant soup dumpling. Being a single dumpling that is larger than a softball and filled with meat and broth, it is very difficult to come by in Brisbane. Served on paper plates it also was difficult to consume outside of a bowl without making a mess. The skin wasn't too thin but it was quite elastic, the meat was very mincey and well seasoned and it definitely did have an ample amount of soup inside. I really liked it. Only as I write this I realise that I forgot to take an individual photos of the Xiao Long Bao. These were far more underwhelming with a moderately thin skin but the soup had all leaked out of it. Will not be coming back for that dish.

This was the pan fried dumplings. The bread like skin wasn't too thick but there wasn't too much soup inside either. However it was perfectly pan fried with a delicious crisp bottom that made it a crowd favourite. 

Soup wonton was delicious with a silky smooth skin and a light broth. The fillings were largely just meat and we didn't get too much vegetables. 

Steamed dumplings had a rather thick skin. Each one was hand made, tasting a lot better than Impressive Dumplings, but in terms of texture and flavour, I think that Golden Dumpling across the road is better.

Surprisingly the pan fried dumplings had a bit more soup inside them and were served with quite a crispy bottom with a tasty pork and chive filling. Having said that it was expensive for the portion size.

 

Last of all we tried the pork and vege bun, being their namesake dish. The bun was really fluffy and lightly sweet without being soggy. The meat and veggies in the middle were well seasoned and didn't have any juices leak into the bun. I really enjoyed it.

Price Range: $20 - $30pp

Taste: 8/10

Value: 6/10

Service: 7/10

Environment: 5/10 

Machi Machi - Brisbane CBD

What could cause hundreds of people to line up on a hot summer's day in the middle of a lock down? The answer is of course the opening of a new bubble tea store. Hailing from Taiwan, it is endorsed by mega star Jay Chou as his all time favourite. This is also why I joined the crowd and lined up on the first day of opening.

 

The line took a while and there was only one cashier to add to the bottleneck. Adding to the confusion was the fact that their eftpos machine broke down on the day and we didn't see the notice until we were almost at the top of the line. My sympathies to those who came alone and were unable to run to the ATM to cash out. Luckily Dr L volunteered to do it and took one for the team. The menu was fairly standard with very familiar options. The only unique drink was the bottled panna cotta variants, which is what we got.

After ordering, it took another half an hour for our drinks to be made. Luckily there was a good deal of seating upstairs and I was able to at least sit whilst waiting.

 

Of course we tried the Panna Cotta drinks in a bottle. These were super cute but a bit small and very steep for the price. There was no customising any sweetness or ice but they weren't too sweet and came with no ice anyway. Quality wise it was definitely top notch, smooth and fresh and I will definitely be back occasionally so as not to blow the bank.

Price Range: $5 - $10pp

Taste: 9/10

Value: 5/10

Service: 7/10

Environment: 8/10

Naked Wings - West End

Yet another post from my weekend being stuck at home, this time we tried out Naked Wings from West End. Ordering through doordash, the app was super glitchy but delivery was fast although untrackable. It came a good 10 minutes before the scheduled delivery time. 

Having previously ordered fried chicken from a Korean place in the Gabba which resulted in a $150 bill for 6 people that still left us all very hungry, we were a little apprehensive as to how many pieces we should order. In the end, we decided on 20 boneless pieces with a side of chips. If we were still hungry after I could just whip up some 2 min noodles. Thankfully this was not required.

We had a choice of four flavours and opted for naked, wasabi mayo, soy garlic and parmesan garlic. Rather than come with the sauce coated on the wings which would have made them lose their crunch, we were given tubs of sauce for dipping. Compared to all the other stores where I've ordered chicken wings with or without bone, these were huge in size and still retained their crunch despite the moderately long ride from West End to Annerley. The meat inside was still very moist and juicy. As for the sauces these were thick and flavoursome. Definitely a favourite from me.

We also got a large chips to share. They were lightly seasoned with herbs. Like the chicken it was also served quite crispy and the portion was generous. I enjoyed it immensely and will definitely be keen to check out their Runcorn store.

Price Range: $15 - $20pp

Taste: 8.5/10

Value: 8/10

Service: 8.5/10

Environment: N/A

Fritzenburger - Southbank

Sometimes you get really good experience with a food delivery, sometimes you wonder whether or not it's worth using at all. Unfortunately my experience with Fritzenburger at Southbank last weekend was in the second category. Having spent way to much time watching Netflix, I had lost track of the time and so we ended up getting our dinner delivered instead of cooking. The delivery driver was friendly but the food did take a while to get here.

I had ordered two burgers and a side of chips for the two of us. The first point of concern was the bottom of the bag which was already slick with oil and sauce and at risk of breaking from how wet it had gotten. I didn't really even want to put the bag on our kitchen table.

Dr L had the Bacon Burger, it allegedly contains a beef patty, bacon, cheddar, lettuce, tomato and onion. The only problem was that they missed the bacon outright. I would have been more forgiving if they had missed a special request I added on the side, but to miss the main ingredient of one of their most popular burgers was disappointing to say the least. As for the burger itself, the top bun was fairly light and fluffy but the bottom bun was quite soaked with sauces. The meat patty was quite thick compared to our recent foray into smash patties and obviously very moist with juices, oils and sauces. Salads were abundant.

I ordered the Cheese X Burger, with its two beef patties, onion and pickle. I was unsure why there were fragments of lettuce in my burger, but at least it wasn't short of stipulated ingredients. the bottom bun was almost completely disintegrated from the inundation of sauces, oils and juices to the point where it had leaked all over the box, out onto the bag and I suspect into the delivery driver's car. I was unable to lift the burger without getting all the sauces over my hands and ended up having to eat it with cutlery. Had it not been for this though, the burger was fairly average. The patties were thick and juicy but not overly flavoursome, I did enjoy the cheese and as mentioned, the was way too much sauce.

The redeeming factor was definitely the large chips. Although it was expensive for what was provided, at least dry and not soggy. It was only lightly salted and not overly tasty but after that burger was a welcome change. I was fairly disappointed in the overall experience and would definitely not recommend. The bad thing about getting delivery is the inability to even speak with staff about these kind of issues and all I can do is hope they improve.

Price Range: $15 - $25pp

Taste: 3/10

Value: 3/10

Service: 7/10

Environment: N/A 

Viet Pho Ever - Woolloongabba

Having ordered quite a few food deliveries lately, from being lazy over the new year to being forced to stay indoors due to the most recent lockdown, there is little that I appreciate better than restaurants that are actually able to follow special requests. Last Monday I had just that experience with Viet Pho Ever at Woolloongabba. Working from home whilst Dr L, being the essential worker that he is, had to head out into the unknown, I was left to fend for myself without wanting to head out to get some more groceries. Luckily Doordash came to the rescue and I got to try out Viet Pho Ever.

Having to meet the $20 quota for one wasn't easy but I ended up getting a bowl of pho and a side of spring rolls. Service was friendly and I ended up getting my food a lot earlier than I had anticipated which was great.

My spring rolls came with extra sweet chilli sauce and two complimentary prawn crackers, which was a little extra and made a bit of difference. Despite the distance it was served fairly crispy and warm with fresh fillings. Although it was quite expensive for what it was, the quality was fairly good.

It really says a lot about the current state of delivery services that I am very happy when a restaurant actually reads my requests on the order. I had asked for no sprouts (to save wastage because I am not a fan) and extra noodles (because there was no extras options on doordash for Viet Pho Ever). I was given both and this is highly commendable.

Onto the meal itself, another thing I really enjoyed was the soup being kept separate from the noodles. Although it came fairly hot already, I was able to heat it up to boiling before pouring it over my noodles. The serving size was generous and I could definitely appreciate the amount of extra noodles provided. Soup was a little light in taste but still hit the spot. Noodles were silky smooth without being overly oily and beef was not too rare but still thinly sliced and tender. Will definitely have to go back to the shop when I can for another round soon.

Price Range: $15 - $25pp

Taste: 8/10

Value: 9/10

Service: 9.5/10

Environment: N/A