Zhangliang Malatang - Sunnybank

Had a mid week catch up with a friend for some serious talks and was keen on a quick and easy dinner to round off the night. We stumbled on ZhangLiang Malatang which had been open for a while in Sunnybank plaza. 

One of my favourite elements of malatang is the ability to choose your own ingredients. Unfortunately because of the recent covid scare, they've stopped you from being able to do this. Instead you can as their staff to pick ingredients that you chose. This obviously leads to confusion over the quantities of ingredients when asked.

As usual, I took my haul over to the counter and had it weighed up before paying and getting a number for our order.

As I had mentioned, not being able to grab ingredients yourself leads to quantity issues. This is how Queen V ended up with a 1kg bowl which she struggled to finish. The ingredients were adequate and the tomato soup was fine but portions were definitely in need of improvement.

I was more careful when ordering and requested a set number of pieces of ingredients. I also had their signature bone soup with no spice. The meat was cooked through and quite chewy, I had made a point to avoid their rolled meat that evening because it was exceptionally fatty. Other ingredients were fairly standard compared to regular Malatang places. The soup was strong tasting but quite artificial. There was notably an extremely small sauce station which didn't really meet my needs. Given the choices in the area, I probably won't be back.

Price Range: $18 - $36pp

Taste: 6/10

Value: 6/10

Service: 6/10

Environment: 8/10
 

Mica Express - Brisbane CBD

With the office crowds starting to come back to the City, it's hardly a surprise that cafes have started to open again. Very recently, Mica (sister store to King Street Bakery) opened an express pop up in MacArthur Central, a stone's throw away from my workplace. Keen on supporting local ventures, I popped down for some lunch.

Arriving early, there was quite an assortment of sandwiches, pastries and hot food, given the amount of people lining up, I suspect that this would have sold out later in the afternoon. Prices were moderately high, but in line with what you would expect in the city.

The line didn't take long and before I knew it I was back at the office with my bag of goodies.

This was their Chicken Baguette. Appearance wise it reminded me quite a bit of my favourite one from Le Bon Choix. Sadly it fell short on a few elements. The Baguette was very hard and chewy, cutting into my mouth as I bit into it. I wish they had an option of toasting it too, rather than just having it cold. The chicken was ample but the sauce was a little bland and lacked the tang that I get from LBC. 
 

For my dessert, picked up a Pain Au Chocolat. This was very delicious with a light and flakey texture that wasn't overly dry but also wasn't too moist. There was a good amount of chocolate in it and the croissant itself was large enough to satisfy my cravings. Would be back for the pastries again.

Price Range: $15 - $25pp

Taste: 7/10

Value:  6/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: 8/10  

Sharetea - Inala

After our dinner at Sunshine Bar and Grill, we decided to grab a bubble tea nearby before our trek home. Taking a look around the area, it has had significant turnover in stores from when I last went and there appears to be considerable overlap with stores from Sunnybank. With this in mind, we opted for beverages from ShareTea.

From what I could see, their menu was exactly the same as Sunnybank. Given bubble tea pricing these days, it wasn't unfairly priced in the current market. I liked how they had crushes and other smoothie type beverages which sets them apart from the usual cheese foam and fruit tea places. Service was fast and friendly.

 

He had the Tiger Tea with Pearls and I had the Strawberry Slushee (yes, I am aware that his hand modelling leaves much to be desired). Both were delicious, I liked the generous amount of pearls in his drink and I also liked that the sugar level could be adjusted without detracting from the flavour. It doesn't stand out as a front runner for my favourite tea, but it definitely is one I would readily come back to.

Price Range: $5 - $10pp

Taste: 8/10

Value: 8/10

Service: 8/10
Environment: 8/10

Sunshine Bar and Grill - Inala

Went out to pick up Dr L after work one Friday since he's been posted out to Inala this term. Took the opportunity to take a look around and grab an early dinner there too. Had heard some amazing reviews about the grilled meats at Sunshine Bar and Grill, so we headed there for some food.

 

The menu was quite extensive with a large assortment of rice and noodle options. I was expecting more grilled meat options but there weren't that many.

Food didn't take too long to come out. It was quite an amazing spread and we were quite impressed.

Starting with our grilled meatballs this was wonderfully caramelised with toasty bits on the outside. It wasn't cheap for an entree (given standard Inala prices), but the portion size was definitely generous. We really enjoyed the smokey fragrance of grilled meat and Dr L especially enjoyed the side pickles.

We had two bowls of noodle to share also. This was the grilled pork chop with egg noodle soup. The soup was light and infused with chicken flavour whilst the noodles were bouncy and chewy which was great. It came with three pieces of pork chop, these were thinly sliced and also grilled to have a wonderful smokey meaty flavour. 

It's hard to go to a Vietnamese Restaurant without getting a steaming bowl of pho. Interestingly they didn't have a plain rare beef pho and all options had extras on them. I opted for beef and tripe. The bowl was generous with a very large portion of noodles. The beef was rare and soft whilst there was also a very large portion of chewy tripe. I liked the deeply flavoursome soup which wasn't oily at all. Would definitely come back for another meal.

Price Range: $10 - $20pp

Taste: 8/10

Value: 9/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: 6/10

Small Cake Place - Runcorn

Last weekend we had a small birthday celebration for my good friend Jenny. After lunch we headed off to one of her favourite cafes, Small Cake Place to get some afternoon tea and Birthday Cake. It was situated a bit out of the way in Runcorn near the train station, away from the main shopping district.

Arriving at 2.30pm, it was afternoon tea time and the place was half full already with a small queue of people waiting to be served. There was a small selection of individual cakes for sale. They were quite beautiful but prices were a tad expensive but I might come back later to try some.

We ordered ahead of time and had a Matcha Chantilly cake. This was not too big and quite expensive for the size. The cake was very light and fluffy and the cream was delicate in texture but also very intense in flavour. I found it to be quite enjoyable but given the price, I could definitely get something similar for a reduced price.

 

Dr L had the iced chocolate whilst I had the iced matcha. These were refreshing but not overly strong. The milk was rich and creamy but I think it could do with more chocolate and matcha powder in it respectively. 

Price Range: $10 - $20pp

Taste: 7/10

Value: 6/10

Service: 6/10

Environment: 7/10 

Pho Queue - Annerley

After my pleasant experience at Red Lotus, I was keen to try the row of Vietnamese eateries along Cracknell Road in Annerley. Was too tired to cook the other night so we decided it would be nice to take a stroll out and grab a wholesome bowl of pho.

Phoning up ahead of time, I was informed that it was best to make a reservation in case it was busy, and the store was about half full when we arrived. 

The menu was obviously very focused on Pho and the different variations filled up a whole page. I found the different tiers of soup and toppings fascinating and was keen to try out two different types to compare.

Sprouts came and they were fresh and ample. 

This was the Pho Tai with standard soup. The noodles were fresh and generous but they weren't broken up as much as they could have been before serving which meant quite a few strands had clumped together. The beef was thinly sliced and not overly fatty. The soup was tasteful and light without any excess oil on top which was great.

I opted for the Pho Tai with Wagyu Brisket in Premium Soup. The soup was definitely more distinct in the sense that it had a lot more depth and a lot more sweetness and umami in the broth. The beef was again thinly sliced and tender. I really enjoyed the brisket too which was quite fatty and melt in your mouth soft. Would definitely come back for another chance to have the brisket and try more on their menu.

Price Range: $15 - $30pp

Taste: 8/10

Value: 8/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: 7/10 

Sushi on Q410 - Brisbane CBD

Another week in the office means another opportunity for me to try out new restaurants in the vicinity. This time, I had read an article online about a new Japanese restaurant on the Wharf street end of Queen Street that specialised in good quality food for reasonable prices, I definitely had to go check it out. It was in the old lodgings of Roll'd and apparently owned by the people who run Sushi Kim on Creek Street, a local favourite of officeworkers.

There were quite a few main options as presented on their menu as well as individual sushi rolls. On other sources, I had read about their fusion rolls but I couldn't find them that day. Prices were indeed reasonable with all mains under the $11.80 mark. Service was fast and sauces were available on a self serve basis.

The first time I went, I had their Sake Don and an extra Karaage Roll. The salmon was thick cut and the portion was generous. The avocado was ripe and it was also ample and went well with the dish. The topping to rice ratio was good and added with a bit of kewpie and soy sauce, it would definitely make on of my favourite work lunches in a while. The sushi roll also had a very generous amount of crispy chicken that was well marinated. The meal was great.

That meal as so enjoyable that the week after, I went back for a second time.

This was the Tempura Prawn Udon Soup. The prawns were plump and freshly fried, conveniently served separate from the noodles to ensure crispiness. The udon was also tender and the soup was wholesome. 

 

I had an extra salmon and avocado roll. The portion of filling was super generous. Again the salmon was fresh and delicious and the avocado was ripe. I couldn't recommend this more and will be back again in the near future for another lunch.

Price Range: $10 - $20pp

Taste: 8/10

Value: 9/10

Service: 9/10

Environment: 7/10