Uncle Lais - Greenslopes

One of my final meals out for the year and I managed to finally tick off Uncle Lais from my list by way of a "start to holidays" lunch with Brisvegustation and family. Having heard of the queues and wait times associated with Uncle Lais, Brisvegustation kindly booked and ordered ahead of time.

In spite of its reputation, there were only a couple of tables occupied on the Friday lunchtime when we attended. 

Even though our lunch had been pre ordered, I still perused the menu for reference. The menu was fairly concise but covered essentially all you could want in Malaysian cuisine with a heavy focus on stir fried rice and noodles. Prices leaned towards the $20 mark which is a little bit expensive for what it is. Customers ordered and paid at the counter before the food orders were put through to the kitchen. 

Food came out relatively quickly, given the place wasn't particularly full. First to show up was the salted fish and chicken fried rice. It was a very photogenic dish of fried rice with an nice contrast to the colours, however when it came to toppings such as salted fish and chicken, it was a bit lacking as we couldn't really discern pieces of chicken or fish in our meal. The taste was fine though, as the rice was well seasoned with dark soy as well as carrots and onions and the portion was adequate.

Next up, my Teh Tarik arrived roughly at the same time as the Wat Tan Hor. The Teh Tarik was a lot sweeter and creamier than the likes of Pappa Roti which is my go to these days, I probably wouldn't get this again. As I had been craving Wat Tan Hor for a while now, this really hit the spot. However objectively speaking, the egg gravy was a bit lumpy and I would have liked a bit more noodles to go with the dish, the flavours were great though.

Our final dish was the signature Char Kway Teo which is what I came for. It came out fairly charred, the portion was a bit smaller than our other two dishes but it was tasty nonetheless. It could have had a bit more wok hei, but there was a fair amount of toppings to go with each bite and the spice profile was just right (in my opinion). While I wouldn't say that this is necessarily the best one I've had in Brisbane, it was definitely a solid effort and I wouldnt' mind coming back for this.

Price Range: $15 - $25pp

Taste: 7.5/10

Value: 7.5/10

Service: 7/10

Environment: 7/10

Bing Go - Sunnybank

Hot summer nights always call for a nice cold dessert after dinner. Wanting something a little bit lighter than ice cream, we settled on bing soo at Market Square, made particularly more enticing by an eat club discount. 

There wasn't much of a queue when we showed up, we were able to order fairly promptly. There were a variety of bingsoo to choose from, with a heavy emphasis on asian flavours. Cups are generally for individual serves while bowls are to share. They also had an offering of drinks, waffles and toppoki.

It took around 10 minutes and our desserts were prepared. 

 

Dr L had the nutella bing soo and I had the matcha. The nutella was honestly more chocolate flavoured than it was nutella and he really enjoyed it. It wasn't too sweet and wasn't too decadent. I enjoyed the matcha in a cup, I liked how the shaved ice was matcha flavoured and the matcha ice cream on top. Again it wasn't too intense, but had ample flavour to it. The added red bean provided good texture and an earthy flavour to it. Overall it was a delicious dessert, offering variety from the standard ice cream runs at night at a similar price point, I wouldn't mind going back.

Price Range: $10 - $15pp

Taste: 7.5/10

Value: 8/10

Service: 7/10

Environment: 6/10

Ari Ari - Upper Mount Gravatt

Went to get some shopping done before the end of the year and we found ourselves at Garden City last weekend rounding off a few things before the Christmas season. Wanting to grab a quick and cool lunch because of the heat, we opted to try out Ari Ari, the new Korean BBQ restaurant in the complex.

 

Although their menu was largely BBQ sets, they had other cooked food like lunch sets and noodle dishes. We ordered via the QR codes on the tables. Despite the fact that our meals didn't take all that much time to cook, it took close to half an hour for our food to arrive. 

This was the Spicy Pork with Cold Nengmyun. Trying a bit of the pork, it really wasn't spicy at all. The noodles were chewy though but the soup was also a bit bland. 

I had the Cold Nengmyun with raw beef. The beef was well seasoned and delicious, but the quantity was quite lacking. Again the noodles were also quite chewy and delicious but the portions were very small. Considering the fact that these meals were high for noodle dishes as a main and the amount we got was equivalent to a large snack. At this kind of value proposition, I don't think I will be back anytime soon for their BBQ.

 

Price Range: $20 - $30pp

Taste: 7.5/10

Value: 5/10

Service: 6/10

Environment: 7/10 

Sinjeon - Brisbane CBD

Bit of an overdue post, but a Brisvegustation and I went to check out Sinjeon not long after it had opened on Adelaide Street. I was thrilled to have this in such close proximity after going to their Sunnybank Hills store.

Again, they had a lot of very cute displays out front to whet our appetites. The shop itself was quite small but most of the customers who came that day opted for take away so it wasn't too hard for us to get a seat.

  

 

Wanting a variety of options to try, we decided to order a set meal, comprising Original Topokki, Kimbab, Fried Fish Cakes, Crispy Dumplings, Fried Seaweed Rolls, Eggs and Drinks. We had two cans of Korean drink and these were quite unique. The grape drink had literal pieces of grape in the can but was quite sweet.

Our food came before long and it was definitely more than enough for two to share. The table was almost entirely filled.

The beef gimbap was delicious as always. The ratio of rice to toppings wasn't as good as queen's gimbap however it is better than a lot of other places. The beef was quite flavoursome and the other accompanying veggies were fresh and crunchy.

All the fried things came together also. I didn't really enjoy the dumplings as they didn't have too much meat in the filling. The seaweed roll was a highlight for me though, with a light umami flavour to the seaweed, otherwise the fried foods didn't stand out for me.

We also had a serve of cheese toppoki. This turned out to be quite spicy and the hard boiled egg. It was as saucy as it looked and was filled with little other than rice cake and cheese. I would have enjoyed it more if it had a bit more by way of meat or veggies, but for the price and convenient location, I couldn't complain too much. Overall we had a pretty good time at Sinjeon and wouldn't hesitate to go back for more later.

Price Range: $20 - $30pp

Taste: 7/10

Value: 7/10

Service: 7/10

Environment: 7/10

Tasty Rice Noodle - Sunnybank Hills

I've noticed lately that there has been an abundance of rice noodle restaurants opening around the Sunnybank area and wanted to try for some time now. Having read quite a few good reviews on Tasty Rice Noodle at Sunnybank Plaza, I was definitely quite interested. It was however whenever I went after work and on weekends, there had always been a queue outside. Luckily, I had a day off mid week last week, so I went with mum for lunch.

The place was about half full which was quite popular for a midweek lunch. Service was very friendly.

The menu comprised almost exclusively of rice noodle dishes along with a few sides. I placed our order at the counter and received a buzzer.

As with most casual Chinese eateries, cutlery, water and sauce was available on a DIY basis.

It didn't take too long for our food to arrive. Mum had the Tender Pork Fillet and Tomato Rice Noodle Soup. She was not too impressed that the pork fillet was exceptionally fatty with a lot more fat than meat. It was also not presented as nicely as the photos, but it was still fairly tasty with its abundance of toppings. There was an option of free refill for noodles, but we didn't take that up.

Not wanting to miss out, I tried the signature wagyu beef slices with thick stock soup. The soup wasn't particularly thick and the beef tasted very similar to the sliced beef I usually have in hot pot. It was very much bulked up with veggies such as sprouts and cucumber and there was also a chicken foot in it as well. All round I would say it was a decent meal but I don't consider it all that special and would be in no huge rush to go back anytime soon. I guess it's back to the drawing board to try out the other rice noodle places instead.

Price Range: $15 - $25pp

Taste: 6.5/10

Value: 6/10

Service: 7/10
Environment: 8/10

Kusuka Corner - Sunnybank

So, I've been interested in trying out Kusuka since it's been open, but it's been closed every time we tried to go. It took a long time but we went for a girls night a week ago to finally try it out. We made a reservation on the anticipation it would be busy, but these fears turned out to be fairly unfounded and we were easily seated. Service was fantastic and very cheerful. We ordered and paid for our food via the menus found on the QR code.

Mains wise, Queen V had the Nasi Goreng with Schnitzel whilst I had the Comfortabowl. Despite the reviews I had previously read about their portion sizes, these were both very adequate in quantity and executed well. I tried some of the nasi goreng and found it to be well seasoned and the schnitzel was crisp. The comfortabowl was also delicious with a perfectly scrambled egg and tender beef slices. I'm not sure if it was really Indonesian cuisine, but it was delicious nonetheless.

We also had a serve of Kusuka fries with tuscan sea salt. These were crispy outside and fluffy inside. The price wasn't too cheap but the portion was quite generous and definitely enough for sharing among all of us and complimented our meal well. 

Not wanting to miss the opportunity to try new things, we also had a dish of Hometown, Indo Meatball Soup. It originally comes with rice but we paid extra for a swap to noodles. The noodles weren't particularly worth it because it was essentially just a blanched two minute noodle. The meatballs were quite wholesome and chewy though, in a light chicken broth. It tasted good but I don't see why this dish couldn't be achieved at home with some simple store bought materials. 

We had an all round good time at Kusuka Corner. The food was solid and reasonably good value. I wouldn't hesitate to go back soon. 

Price Range: $25 - $35pp

Taste: 8/10

Value: 7/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: 7/10

Gala barbecue - Sunnybank

By now, my readers will have realised that I'm definitely a barbeque addict. I can hardly walk past the wafting cumin and grilled meat scents of a chinese BBQ without getting lured inside. Which is probably a good description of how we ended up at Gala Barbecue for our mid week date night 

Taking up the space that used to be High Fresh, it is a fairly large restaurant that was moderately empty when we showed up but gradually filled up as we enjoyed our meal. The menu was quite substantial, comprising of pre cooked bbq skewers (which we were there for) as well as table top BBQ, some cooked mains and drinks. Ordering and paying is done at the counter.

First to arrive was the chilled noodle. Although this was a Chinese Restaurant, the noodles were decidedly Korean. With a generous serve of kimchi and chewy arrowroot noodles, these were fantastic to have on a hot evening. I also liked the additional beef and tomato that came with the serve.

 

The skewers came soon after. They arrived in two batches, firstly the lamb and chicken, then the beef, pork intestines and garlic. These were absolutely fantastic and bursting with flavour. These were served hot and my favourites for the night would definitely have been the lamb which was both tender and flavoursome as well as the pork intestines which were chewy and crispy as well.

We also had a serve of wantons to share. Compared with other places we had been to, these were far bigger and there was also a greater number of them. They were warm and homely, we enjoyed them thoroughly.

Overall, I'd say that these were one of the better Chinese BBQs I have been to this is one of the better ones when it comes to quality and quantity. I wouldn't hesitate to come back.

Price Range: $40 - $60pp

Taste: 8/10

Value: 7.5/10

Service: 7/10

Environment: 7/10

 

Banh Mi Factory - Zillmere

While I don't eat Banh Mis all that often, I do take great enjoyment in finding and savouring a good one. That is why I was quite keen to join Brisvegustation on a quick foodie trip up north to sample some of the banh mi from banh mi factory up north whilst Dr L was away on holidays.

As you would expect by it's name, Banh Mi Factory was indeed run like a well oiled machine and despite the considerable line up, the queue moved quickly and we were served promptly. 

We had some drinks to share, I tried the Vietnamese iced coffee. Although this was fairly darker in colour it still contained considerable amounts of condensed milk which meant it was fairly sweet. It was however also very strong and I enjoyed the caffeine hit.

We ordered two lunch sets to share. This was a fantastic deal for $15, comprising of one banh mi, one skewer and one spring roll. The reason why we were given an extra skewer and spring roll was because there was a mix up in skewers we were given (we ordered one chicken and one pork, but were given two pork).

The banh mis were definitely some of the best that I've had in Brisbane to date. With a crispy toasted bun that was still fluffy on the inside, the fillings were extremely generous in terms of both meat and salad. I found the chicken to be very flavoursome, particularly infused with lemongrass flavours whilst the pork was crisp. Between the two, I liked the pork more.

The sides were also fantastic. Between the chicken and pork skewer, the pork was definitely the more flavoursome one. The spring rolls were also freshly fried and very crisp which was very much to our liking. 

Overall, I'd have to say that Banh Mi Factory has been one of my best experiences with Banh Mi in Brisbane and I'd be very keen to go try out their Newstead one in the near future.

Price: $10 - $20pp

Taste: 9/10

Value: 8/10

Service: 7/10

Environment: 7/10