Mistaboo - Bowen Hills

 

I've noticed a rise in buffet restaurants since the economic downturn, likely driven by the psychological appeal of knowing the cost upfront before a meal. More eateries are introducing buffet options, and new buffet spots are popping up. One chain that caught my eye is Mistaboo. I’d been curious to try it for a while and finally got the chance when I scored an invite to the grand opening of their Bowen Hills store.

We arrived at 6pm for the social media launch and the place was packed full of influencers, most of which were already enjoying the food. Staff were very friendly and helpful throughout the evening.

  

Ordering was done via QR code. There was a huge variety of food including various types of sushi rolls, nigiri, miniature main dishes, fried foods and other sides. Their liquor license wasn't yet ready, so BYO is free until March and lemonade is also on discount.

I had a strawberry lemonade and Dr L had a lychee lemonade. Both were generously sized with not too much ice and subtle flavours that didn't taste too artificial.

Although it was a soft launch, the staff and chefs ran the restaurant like a well oiled machine, no doubt from their previous experience at other branches. Our food arrived extremely quickly after ordering, which is always a good sign when you're on a time limited buffet. Given how many dishes we tried, I will just give a brief commentary of each.

Starting off with the tempura prawn udon, this was the perfect size with only one generous mouthful of udon with a freshly fried tempura prawn, allowing a sample of the flavour without filling you up too much.

Going onto the sushi rolls this was the cheese lion king roll and the yellow tiger roll. Compared to the prawn udon, they were surprisingly large in portion. I would have been content to sample a half roll if this was an option. The rice to topping ratio could be a bit better and I was quite overwhelmed with the sauces on top. The fillings were fresh though.

We had two more sushi rolls the cheese dragon roll and the red dragon roll. I would repeat my comments from above about these.

A definite highlight for our meal was the sushi and sashimi combo, offering the only nigiri on the menu. These were served with two slices of salmon and tuna respectively. Overall this was a solid effort and the rice to topping ratio wasn't too bad. I could probably have eaten five of these dishes alone.

Deep fried haloumi was great, crispy without being oily with a nice dipping sauce to cut through the richness.

Deep fried shiitake was also lightly battered and juicy on the inside.

Likewise, the takoyaki came straight out of the fryer and was crisp. Sauce was again very generous.

Wanting an encore of the udon, we ordered the kaarage udon. It came with three pieces of chicken in the clean broth along with just the right amount of udon. Very wholesome and I could also want more.

Our second round of food came just as quickly as the first one. Of note was the chicken skewer which was probably the let-down of the night. Everything else was doused with sauce but this came out dry and was in much need of moisture.

Not strictly Japanese, but we really enjoyed the deep fried mozzarella sticks with their stretchy centre.

Balancing out all the fried items, we had a salad. Again the portions were on point. The salad was fresh, crispy and had just the right amount of sauce. I particularly liked how it also had fried shallots on top for extra flavour.

Having had chip cravings for some time now, I ordered it when spying it on the menu. This also came out fresh and crisp. I particularly like the novelty of adding furikake.

Rounding off our meal with the ice cream mochi, they were chewy and creamy, making for a sweet ending to our meal. 

Even though our meal was complimentary from Mistaboo, I can wholeheartedly say that in today's current climate, it would be hard to find a better deal for $39.90pp than what Mistaboo offers. I am particularly impressed by the speed and quality of their food and will definitely be back to try some more.

Espresso and Matcha dined as invited guests of Mistaboo, however as always, our opinions are solely our own.

Price Range: $39.90pp

Taste: 7.5/10

Value: 8.5/10

Service: 9/10

Environment: 8/10 

Sulzip - Brisbane CBD

Sulzip has been open in the city for a little while now. For a time, I didn't really make too much of an effort to go because there have been a plethora of other options in the area when it comes to Korean food. This changed earlier on when we had a gracious invite to try it out. 

Arriving at 6pm on a Sunday night, it was fairly empty. However given it opens fairly late at night, I think we were definitely early. It gradually filled up during our meal however. 

Each table was provided a tablet from which to order. There were quite a few options, mostly to share including large hot pots and grilled meats. There were also side snacks and individual meals as well as drinks. We chose a variety of dishes.

For drinks, we had the strawberry-ade and peach-ade. These were cool and refreshing, they were also fairly large for what they were however the flavours were definitely quite artificial.

Despite the limited amount of customers, our food did take a little while to show up, but it gave us time to slowly cook our sizzling beef. 

Although titled sizzling, the beef was more of a hot pot than a grill. The bulgogi turned out to be quite wet and it disbursed a lot more liquid into the pan as it cooked, which was perfectly fine to me, infusing a lot of the meaty flavours and juices into the cabbage, sprouts and enoki.

The set came with a kimchi soup, some wrapping lettuce and sides were complimentary.

 

The grilled beef was not like anything I had ever previously tried. The bulgogi was well seasoned and tender, although not particularly different from the boxes that I often source from Hanaromart. After cooking, it went well in a Ssam wrap. The portion was very generous for two.

We also had a half serve of garlic korean fried chicken. This was freshly fried and came with an ample amount of garlic. The chicken was fresh and juicy on the inside whilst the batter wasn't too thick. The portion could have been a bit bigger for the price though.

Lastly we had a Kimchi Pancake. This was huge and we struggled to finish it. Having said that, there was a lot more batter and not as much kimchi as I would have liked. Whilst the portion was great, I also think that it was a little undercooked and could definitely have been crisped up a bit more. Overall, I would say that our experience at Sulzip was fairly average, I didn't mind the food there but would be in no huge rush back especially given the very competitive options nearby.

Espresso and Matcha were invited guests of Sulzip, but as always, our opinions are solely our own

Price Range: $50 - $60pp

Taste: 6.5/10

Value: 7/10

Service: 7/10

Environment: 7/10  

Master Lanzhou - Sunnybank

Recently, Dr L and I had the disappointment of arriving to a restaurant that was supposed to be open but finding out only when we were there that it was closed. To say that I was hangry was definitely an understatement given I had skipped lunch to prepare for the impending buffet. Anyway, we were at Market Square so decided that it would be good to try out the newly opened Master Lanzhou, situated on the outer circle of the centre. 

Apparently there were quite a few queues at opening due to the promos but the lines have definitely died down and we were quickly ushered in. Menus were provided and the options were a bit like a mix between Lanzhou 1919 and Biang Biang noodles. What really stood out was their triangular noodles which was definitely a flex of craftsmanship on the part of the chef. 

I was a little confused as to why it is called a noodle bar, but it became apparent when I approached the counter to order. There was a little bar of side dishes, some of which weren't on the menu as well as some drinks on offer. Notably they also had a selection of bbq dishes which were unavailable that day. I am definitely curious to try that out at a later point.

Service was exceptionally fast and very friendly. Before long our table was full.

 

We had two side dishes to share, the first was a spicy beef tripe and the second was a serve of braised beef shin. The portions were generous and definitely had to be shared. They were served chilled and very appetizing. We could barely finish this and had to have some taken away for later consumption.

Dr L had a serve of the signature beef noodle soup. The portion was surprisingly huge and he could barely finish the meal, even without having had lunch that afternoon. The beef slices were tender, the additional chilli and shallots added so much flavour to the dish and the soup was clear and wholesome. For the price, it was exceptional value for money.

I had the braised beef noodle soup, this was also a delight. My beef chunks were a lot bigger, although still tender. They were imbued with an umami soy taste that made the broth even more homey. The noodles were just the right consistency of bouncy and tender, the portion was again huge and one bowl alone would have sufficed for a meal on its own. 

We also had a passionfruit and grapefruit drink. These were refreshing and not too sweet, complimenting the meals well.

We had a fantastic time at Master Lanzhou. Market Square is definitely filling up with noodle joints and I don't know when it will be fully saturated but for now we will continue to go back for more.

Price Range: $15 - $25pp

Taste: 8.5/10

Value: 9/10

Service: 9/10

Environment: 8/10 

Seoul Garden - Sunnybank

Somewhat long overdue review, Seoul Garden caught my attention the moment I read about their opening at the end of last year. Taking up the corner end of level 2 in Market Square, they allege to be the biggest KBBQ in all of Australia, offering a selection of kbbq, hot pot, hot and cold foods as well as desserts. Unfortunately, despite all their offerings and the significant efforts spent on marketing, the running of the restaurant has its hiccups. Dr L and I made a point to go the day after the opening celebration for it to be closed without any notice or warning. Anyway with that initial plan dashed, it was a short while before we made a second attempt. In the meantime there had been a stream of negative reviews for the restaurant on google, mostly citing chaotic service especially with regards to bookings, being yelled at by staff, low quality food and a tendency to overcharge whenever possible. Suffice to say we were quite apprehensive as our booking loomed.

 

The booking system was also something to contend with. Currently they only accept bookings for groups of 4-6, because that essentially maximises capacity in one booth. Groups with 1-3 or 7 and up would have to queue up at the door by way of QR code and apparently it sometimes takes hours before being seated. That evening, we dined in a group of eight and had to break into two tables of four. Despite requesting both our tables to be put together they somehow lost this note and we were separated by a very busy aisle.

Anyway, as expected, the restaurant was completely packed when we arrived and there was considerable chaos outside. Although our reservation was for 6.45, they started calling tables on a mic at about 6.30, at which point two of our party had not arrived. We lined up to get our table and were seated without too much confusion. When the rest of our companions showed up though, they were both barred at the door despite being told they had a seat inside and I had to walk out to get them.

Anyway, onto the food. I had previously read that there was a 30 minute queue in the restaurant to get to the food. This was not my experience and I was able to get to everything without too much hassle. There were 20 cuts of meat on offer for bbq. Most of the cuts were very mainstream such as tri top, oyster blade, pork jowl, pork belly, however there were more obscure cuts such as lamb shoulder on offer. 

There was also a large selection of banchan to go with the bbq on offer, such as kimchi, radish, fish cake and salads. Notably there were also fresh prawns and sand crabs. I didn't try the sand crab but the prawns were really fresh.

With the penalty of taking too much food hanging over our heads, we were very conservative in what we picked. Nevertheless we had two pieces of each item that caught our eye. What was interesting was the fact that some of the larger pieces of meat fell apart when it was heated at the grill. In terms of the meat quality, I would have to agree with the online reviews though that even though it looked good, it wasn't particularly good quality. It didn't have too much meat flavour and cuts like ox tongue or pork jowl which ought to have a more chewy texture definitely lacked the texture. 

On flavour, there was a wide variety of bbq and hot pot sauces to allow you to mix your own. 

 

Each booth also came with its own hot pot. We could pick one soup for the table which can be ordered on the QR code. We picked mushroom soup and this came fairly quickly.

There were four varieties of meat available for hot pot, two beef, one pork and one lamb. These were deep frozen and quite brittle, making it difficult to pick up.

There were also a fairly large assortment of food to go with the hot pot. Notably there were veggies, fish balls and noodles but for some reason there were no tofu items.

Compared to the BBQ, the hot pot was more of an afterthought for us. The quality is definitely not comparable to Haidilao upstairs but more similar to what you would get at shabu house. It was not bad and definitely a welcome variant from just having bbq. The mushroom soup was strongly flavoured but quite artificial.

There was also a selection of hot food on offer, mostly deep fried items, pizza, rice and noodles. I didn't have too much room to try many but the japchae was done well. I would have really liked to try some chicken wing also but that would have to be a matter for next time.

They also had a selection of nigiri and gimbap. The nigiri was surprisingly well done, I enjoyed the unagi a lot whilst the squid and prawn were also quite enjoyable. The gimbap didn't appear to have too much protein in them so I didn't bother with them.

I was most impressed by the variety of desserts on offer. Including soft serve, ice cream, cake, mousse, mochi, fruit pastries and even churros, there was quite a lot that I wanted to sample. In keeping up with the rest of the food, the quality really wasn't that high but the matcha and thai milk tea soft serve did have a strong enough taste although it wasn't particularly smooth. Ice cream was supermarket quality, as were the pastries. I found the churros most disappointing as they would have been a lot more enjoyable if served hot than cold. The mochi was quite nice as were the little mousse cups. 

Finally as we were leaving, we noted the opportunity for a free keychain in exchange for a google review, notably not specifically a 5 star review. Ultimately providing the solution to my question of why their google reviews had gone up so quickly in such a short period of time.

Overall we had a decent time at Seoul Garden. I would not recommend this as a spot to catch up with friends due to how rushed it was, however if you're going with family, especially if you have hungry teenagers, this would undoubtedly be able to give you good value for money. As Dr L put it, it didn't feel like a restaurant insofar as it felt like a factory with the customer as the product. From my perspective, it was a lot of hassle finding friends to go with to make up a booking of four and having the additional threats of overcharging and timing hanging over our heads really impacted our ability to enjoy the experience. The only real selling point is the variety on offer, but if you were aiming for better quality specialised meals, I would definitely prefer Yido or Midam instead. 

Price Range: $54.90pp

Taste: 6/10

Value: 8/10

Service: 7/10

Environment: 8/10