Fish Cafe - New Farm

Some people are unmotivated to go out when it's rainy outside but for me, I tend to stick to my plans despite what the weather throws at me, which is why we found ourselves at Fish Cafe last week for a catch up with some friends over Taiwanese Food. You may wonder why there would be Taiwanese food at a fish and chips shop, but every weekend Joe's Taiwanese Cuisine runs a pop up to serve some wholesome Taiwanese food to the locals (apparently Brisbane has one of the highest number of Taiwanese outside of Taiwan).

The menu was short but it comprised mostly of extremely nostalgic street food that I missed dearly since my last trip in addition to some noodle and rice dishes. We ordered at the counter. 

Normally I don't get Milk Tea to go with our meals but when eating Taiwanese food it's hard to create a whole experience without it. Hence we had two packets of milk tea, they were quite sweet but also very fragrant.

 

We had a pork mince rice as well as a pork intestine vermicelli. The rice was short grain and smooth to the palate. The mince was moist but not greasy with deep umami flavours of dark soy. The mince to rice ratio was good. My favourite of the meal was definitely the pork intestine vermicelli though. Thick and viscous, individual strands of tender vermicelli was suspended in the soup which had chunks of chewy pork intestines scattered throughout. It was wholesome and delicious, especially on a rainy day.

I don't usually go for the oyster omelette, but it is a signature dish so we ordered it. Most of you would be familiar with dry crispy omelettes but this was extremely wet with a stickly gelatinous texture from the added tapioca flour and topped with a slightly vinegar-ed ketchup sauce. It was basically a slimy hot mess of egg, oyster and veggies. Definitely an acquired taste but I did really enjoy this dish.

Our last dish was the deep fried chicken fillet. One serve comprised of two huge fillets and I found this to be amazing value. Coated in crunchy potato starch, it was like eating chicken with fries outside. The only thing that could really have made this any better would have been the addition of powdered flavours. Other than that it was executed wonderfully, crispy and fresh without being greasy and definitely made me super nostalgic for my trips to Taipei. Would definitely come back here again.

Price Range: $15 - $20pp

Taste: 8.5/10

Value: 9/10 

Service: 7/10

Environment: 6/10
 

Rothwells - Brisbane CBD

February is always a busy time of the year, with CNY, Valentines and Dr L's birthday often occurring in quick succession, it's no wonder that I find myself over indulging this month. This year for his birthday we decided to dine out at Rothwells, which had taken up the lodgings of Jamie's Italian. A collaboration between the owner of 1889 Enoteca and the ex-chef of Aria, it definitely set a high bar for expectations that evening.

Given how difficult it was to make reservations these days, I am glad that we booked two months ahead. Arriving at 6pm, we were quickly ushered into the dimly lit, ambient dining area. It was nice and moody but not ideal for the photos. Service was a bit of a hit and miss with our waitress either being overly enthusiastic during the start of the meal to mostly unavailable when the place filled up.

 

The food and drinks menu came bound in leather. The drinks menu was far more substantial than the food. Food wise was a mix of French and English cuisine with a modern twist. Always one to peruse beforehand, I had come prepared before hand and knew well ahead of time what we wanted to order. It was lucky that I did too, because the signature beef wellington takes 40 minutes to cook.

 

Drinks wise, he had a pinot noir to complement our mains whilst I had a Gin Martini. The wine had a classic berry taste that wasn't too sweet and was very easy to drink. I enjoyed my gin martini which was served dry. It was very smooth and strong. I particularly liked how half of the portion remained on ice to top up as I finished the first half.

Not wanting to over order, we shared one starter. This was the scallop with lemon, capers and bottarga. The scallops were very fresh and tender. I particularly liked the lemon tang and with the sharp flavour from the capers. Adding on the bottarga completed the package with a slight umami taste. Definitely a starter to come back for.

Despite ordering the beef wellington at the earliest moment, it still took over 50 minutes to come out. It was cut in half to display a delightfully rare interior and served with red wine jus. Friends may know that recently I have been experimenting at home creating my own beef wellington and I was very interested to know how this would stack up. The pastry was far more firm and solid than the one I had made but on the flip side it was definitely not as flakey, with the base remaining slightly moist with blood. The duxelles had a very good consistency but it didn't offer as much flavour as I thought it would have, and this was able to be enhanced by the red wine jus. The meat was tender and cooked to perfection but needed the jus to add flavour to it. Overall I'd say it was good but didn't blow me away. Also for a portion that serves 2-4 people, we were definitely comfortable but not overly full. If shared between 4, a lot more sides and starters would be needed to complete the meal. 

Dr L loves potatoes. Accordingly, I was deciding between either fries or mash to go with our main and ended up going for fries. They were served in a bowl, coming out with our mains. I would have thought that ordering fries at this level of establishment would normally mean that it would be accompanied by perhaps a dipping sauce or some kind of seasoning whereas these were merely salted. Having said that, they were fresh and crisp so execution was done well.

 

We still had room after our mains so for dessert we shared a serve of fresh baked madeleines with whisky caramel dipping sauce. These were actually freshly made and deliciously warm when they arrived on our table. I was a bit hesitant with the caramel sauce as I don't like my desserts overly sweet but it went well with the madelines. We were also given two small complimentary chocolate tarts. These were delicious with a light crumbly shell and a rich chocolate filling. Given how decadent they were, the portion size was perfect. 

Overall a good experience for a special event. I'm not sure I'd come back for the wellington but I'd be open to trying out their other steaks later. 

Price Range: $100 - $120pp

Taste: 8/10

Value: 6/10

Service: 7/10

Environment: 9/10

LiLong - West End

Have seen quite a few posts on the new Shanghaiese restaurant in the renovated West End Soda Factory lately and we finally had the chance to go try it out last weekend. A reservation is definitely recommended as we saw everyone who hadn't made one was turned away when we went. 

The vast majority of seating was outside and they only had one table inside that was reserved for big groups. It was quite hot that day and I would really have appreciated an indoor setting. At least it was in the shade and they had quite a few fans.

Ordering was via a paper form, which is second best to an ipad. It's clear, unambiguous and leaves little room for error. As a Shanghaiese restaurant the focus was on dumplings, bao, noodles and some rice dishes along with mains and snacks. Our focus was of course on the dumplings. 

Although I was sad to see that all soup noodles had been sold out, at least it was clearly marked so we could see what not to order.

 

Perhaps it was the heat, but we ordered some drinks which came out only when we were almost done with our meal. My friend had a calpis whilst I had a watermelon crush. Whilst mine was basically watermelon juice, it wasn't overly sweet and it was very refreshing on a hot day. The price was also fairly reasonable for what I got.

Our food arrived not long after ordering. The Xiao Long Bao was much anticipated by me and it definitely didn't disappoint. The skin was thin and elastic, the meat was flavoursome and mincey whilst the soup was wholesome. Every single bite was like a warm hug. Suffice to say that I haven't had a good XLB for over two years and I've missed it very much. This is by far the best I've had in Brisbane for a long time.

We had one serve of Hot and Sour Soup. Portion wise it offered us three small bowls which was good enough to share. We could add additional vinegar if needed but there was no pepper. Taste wise, I found it to be sufficient without condiments, it had a generous amount of shredded meat and veggies in it in addition to a delightfully thick texture. It's one of the better hot and sour soups I've had too.

Demonstrating that they're great with dumplings all round, the pan fried pork dumplings were an absolute delight. The bun was fluffy, the base was crisp without being oily and it encased a soupy meaty core that I couldn't get enough of. I thought that one serve of eight would be too much for a group of three, turns out I could eat a whole dish on my own.

We couldn't get soup noodles, so we had stir fried noodles. This is the stir fried shanghai noodles. The taste was good with a deep and mellow soy flavour, however there wasn't much meat to go with the noodles and rather than using traditional hand pulled shanghai noodles, they were using frozen udon which is of the same variety that I have in my freezer. Improvements could be made but I still really enjoyed the dish. 

Our last dish was the Shanghai style croissants, also known as turnip pastry. I've had this in several other places but this is the only one that has been shaped like a croissant, others are usually just ovular. I liked the flaky, buttery golden pastry outside and the tender flavoursome turnip inside. It was extremely delicious and I can't wait to come back to try some more of their offerings. 

Price Range: $20 - $30pp

Taste: 9/10

Value: 7.5/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: 6/10

Popolo - Southbank

I don't usually go out on Sundays but when I do, I try to keep it as relaxed as possible to not interfere with my work the day after. When a friend wanted to hang out last Sunday for lunch at Popolo, it was most ideal. With sweeping river views, it was almost picturesque. 

 

Given how busy dining out is lately, it was very lucky she made a reservation two weeks before hand as the restaurant was completely packed. Service was friendly, albeit inflexible. We dined in a group of four, but all the entrees came in portions for three and we were unable to request an extra serve.

That is the reason why our entree was the Carpaccio Di Manzo rather than our preferred Arancini. The wagyu was topped with lemon emulsion, herb salad, toasted pine nuts, truffle pecorino and olive oil. Although not explicitly mentioned in the menu, there was a generous drizzle of truffle paste on the dish which really made it all the more delicious. The wagyu was thinly sliced, the pecorino wash sharp as was the lemon. It was a really delicious starter.

This was the Ragu D'agnello with fresh pappardelle, slow cooked lamb ragu and grana padano. We ordered it because Dr L loves his lamb. This was a very well executed dish, the portions were adequate, the pasta was made softer than al dente and there was a generous amount of very tender lamb on top. We really enjoyed this dish.

Our other pasta dish was the Ravioli All'anatra E Funghi Porcini comprising of Duck Ravioli, burnt butter and sage, garlic, white wine, porcini and porcini dust. As  huge fan of mushrooms, the porcini was delightful and meaty. Although there wasn't too many pieces of ravioli in the dish to share, we all had at least 2-3 pieces each and the delicate flavours provided a good foil to the bold ragu dish.

As usual, we had two pizzas, a red and a white. The red one was the Parma which came topped with Tomato Sugo, Mozarella, Prosciutto di Parma, Rocket and whipped ricotta. The base was quite thin but not particularly fluffy compared to other pizzerias, I liked the combination of sugo, prosciutto and ricotta, which balanced the strong flavours well. I suspect it would have been more enjoyable with bocconcini instead of ricotta though

Our white pizza was none other than the Tartufata, topped with Mozarella, truffle and thyme roasted mushrooms, asiago, porcini dust. I was expecting quite a truffle hit, but after the wagyu dish, this was quite mild. There was a generous amount of mushrooms on the pizza but without the hit of truffle, it was somewhat lacking in excitement.

Whilst we definitely had an enjoyable time at Popolo, the prices for mains were considerably high and given that Julius is not too far away, I know which one I'd choose next time.

Price Range: $30 - $50pp

Taste: 7.5/10

Value: 6/10

Service: 7/10

Environment: 8/10

Shimo - Milton

Valentines day 2022 and I thought that it would be nice to try something new rather than cooking dinner for Dr L (although now I come to think of it, I kind of did cook dinner again), so we made a reservation at the new-ish Japanese BBQ in Brisbane, Shimo. Hidden behind La Dolce Vita, they took up the space that used to be the famous Embers Steakhouse which closed down a few years back.

 Despite being so well hidden, the place was completely full very shortly. I liked the setup with stone and wood finishes. I also really appreciate being able to BBQ without the obstruction of a ventilator dropping from the ceiling. I can attest that after our meal, we did not end up smelling like BBQ for some days after. 

 

For us dining as a couple, there were really only two options, either order a set for two or go a la carte. Ordinarily I would have opted for a la carte because sometimes set menus dont encompass everything that I would like to eat and often it is more economical to build your own menu with all the things I wanted instead. In this instance however, it took a lot more thought on my part. When clarifying with the waitress how much meat came with one serve, she said it was 80g which is really about half the size of what other places have as their single serves. With the waitress recommending at least 3 single serves of meat per person, it became apparent to me that it was inevitable we would have to get some rice and salad dishes to go with the meat unless we really wanted to break bank for the meal. So after considerable deliberation which even caused Dr L concern for my being so out of character and taking so long, we ordered the set and added a dish of pork jowl.

I also ordered a yuzu cocktail. This was quite sweet and not very strong or fruity for that matter. The portion was a bit small and half of that was comprised of ice, making it also not very good value.

Despite some reviews that I had read online, and how packed the restaurant was, the food came out extremely quickly. In fact our table was full within 10 minutes of our ordering, which was really great.

The set came with some kimchi and cabbage salad. The Kimchi and pickles were some of the lightest tasting Kimchi I have ever had before, it tasted like it really hadn't been fermented for much time at all and could have been a lot stronger in flavour. As for the cabbage salad, it came salted and doused with fragrant sesame oil in lieu of dressing. I enjoy sesame oil a lot but only sesame oil on top of cabbage was a bit odd, but it accompanied the meat well. 

Normally we wouldn't have rice with our BBQ, usually just sticking with the option of lettuce wrap. However the set meal came with rice and given the amount of meat we had in the meal, we actually filled up on rice quite a bit. The onsen egg that it came with though was one of the best eggs I've had in some time. The white was not entirely cooked through but the yolk was deliciously gelatinous. It went well as a dipping sauce with the meat as well as an accompaniment with the rice. That egg alone would have made for a fantastic, albeit basic meal.

Our extra order of meat was the pork jowl. It came beautifully shaped as a flower with a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Although aesthetic, the portion was a little small. It was however very fresh and was cooked to result in a delicious crunchy texture.

This was the ox tongue, it came with a side of green onions as a condiment. These were chewy and thick cut but I don't consider them to be superior to ones I've had in other BBQ places in town. I did however like the green onion topping which added another dimension of flavour to the dish.

The wagyu platter comprised of Ribeye cap, Inside Skirt, Rib Finger and Karubi Steak. My favourite for the night would definitely be the rib eye cap. It was reasonably marbled throughout and quite tender. I would have enjoyed the rib finger, but although it was fatty, it wasn't really marbled throughout and was just quite greasy overall. The inside skirt was actually quite lean and tender but it came out in one piece with considerable scoring, but I had serious doubts as to whether this was actually an MB9+ cut.

This was the miso pork belly. It was quite thick cut but soft and tender. I liked the strong miso glaze on it to contrast the other unmarinated meats. Again I wish that the portions were a bit bigger though.

Finishing off our meal, this was the Ox Tail Soup. It was light with deep umami flavours that complemented our meaty dinner well. Although our salad was doused in sesame oil, I was surprised that we didn't get a small dash in this soup which would have elevated the experience a lot.

Our meal finished with a matcha ice cream each. It came out artfully displayed like the meat was in a small bowl with an inverted cone, a wedge of strawberry, some mochi and some red bean. The matcha flavour was adequate, it wasn't overly strong and the soft serve wasn't too icy. 

Overall I had a pleasant experience at Shimo, although I would say that it doesn't represent good value for money, it was a nice place to dine out for a fancy Valentines day dinner and some work could be done to elevate some dishes. For now, I think I'll stick with my usual BBQ places and work on building up my own BBQ at home.

Price Range: $80 - $100pp

Taste: 6.5/10

Value: 4/10

Service: 7/10

Environment: 8/10