ED Cafe - Brisbane CBD

A few of my readers and followers may have noticed recently that when I can, I've decided to make a point to get a late brunch on Fridays to get myself in the mood for a relaxing weekend, rather than carrying the stress and anxiety of work with me on my days off. To this point, I have tried several brunch spots in the main CBD area recently and nothing has really blown me away until I venture out to either the Gabba, Fortitude Valley or West End. So my quest continued, and I was lucky enough last Friday to receive an invitation from Troy and Arron, the owners of the Smug Fig, to try out their 7 month new cafe, ED cafe, hidden away in the foyer of IBM Building, up on Edward Street. Grabbing Spiderman with me, we made a trek up the hill past our usual temptations of Charboys and Taros.

Getting there at 11.30am, it we successfully beat the lunchtime rush. I loved the plants, vines and mural on the wall, almost as if to take us away from the cement jungle that we find ourselves in.

I quite liked the menu, which was short, but provided breakfast and lunch options, healthy and hearty options to satisfy both carnivores like myself as well as vegetarians.

The drinks menu was fairly standard and had the usual suspects of coffees, smoothies and iced drinks.

A display cabinet contained an assortment of goodies, I had my eye on the Oreo Cheesecake, but will have to come back at a later date to try it out.

After making our orders at the counter, we got a front row view to watching our drinks get made, as always, increasing my appreciation of our beverages.

Within 5 minutes of our order, our drinks came.

This was the Mango Smoothie, which contained its namesake mango in addition to banana, vanilla bean yogurt, goji berries, honey and milk. He really enjoyed it, especially given the fact that there was a good balance in flavour, all elements being easily discernible and not overcome by any one ingredient.

Wanting to be adventurous that morning, I had the Acai smoothie, comprising of acai, strawberries, banana and coconut water. I too found a good balance in my smoothie, which was undoubtedly smooth but also refreshing. I especially enjoyed the strawberry and banana combination being botoh sharp and sweet at the same time.

After two sips of our drinks, and around 15 minutes after ordering, our food arrived. As most corporate workers in the city are, being restricted by our lunch hour is a major consideration for us in eating out. I was definitely impressed by the timeliness and quality of the execution.

Spiderman ordered the Big Ed, ED Cafe's version of a big breakfast. Comprising of two poached eggs, spanish chorizo, smoked cherry tomatoes, shortcut bacon, mushroom and tomato relish on sourdough. He also added a side of wilted spinach. It made for the most festive and colourful spread. He particularly enjoyed the smoked tomato, which we were later informed was made with liquid smoke to create such a unique and intense flavour. The highlight for me was without a doubt his perfectly poached egg. Cutting it open revealed an immaculately cooked white that left no transparent portions but a wonderfully liquid yolk that bursts open with joy. Seeing eggs like this left me smiling all day, to the point where I went back to work and was greeted by Iron Fist saying "you've had a good meal I see."

Readers will know by now how predictable I am, almost always ordering the same meal from different restaurants. So as my usual brunch selection goes, I opted for the most customiseable option, Eggs your way, that came with tomatoes, sourdough and bacon, along with extras of salmon and chorizo. At the point of ordering I noted the lack of avocado as an extra, which would almost have made this an ideal brunch. Like Spiderman's, my eggs were poached to perfection. I really enjoyed the bacon, which was just the right thickness and had a good crispiness without being oily. Salmon was also fresh and the sourdough light but also filling. 

Being closer to lunch than it actually was breakfast, we got a side of fries (hey, any excuse to have fries, alright?). These were shoestring, my favourite variety, seasoned lightly with salt and pepper, served with a side of aioli. Lightly fried and crispy, this was the cherry on top of the cake that was our wonderful meal at ED Cafe. I can't wait to go back.

Espresso and Matcha were invited guests of ED Cafe, but as always, our opinion is solely our own.

Price Range: $15 - $25pp

Taste: 9/10
Value: 7/10
Service: 8/10
Environment: 8/10

Yang Guo Fu Malatang - Upper Mt Gravatt

Had intended to go check out the newly opened Sushi Edo at Garden City last week, but found it to be surprisingly crowded and with a considerable wait for food, we opted to try our luck at 8 Street instead.  With our love of malatang, we thought that the popular Yang Guo Fu MaLaTang, which appears to have successful restaurants across Sydney would be a safe bet. 

Being situated in 8 Street, space was always going to be a bit lacking, however the setup was largely the same, with plastic bowls and tongs for the DIY acquisition of ingredients for our lunch.

Compared to other places we had been to, the ingredients here were somewhat lacking. Options were few, and meats looked extremely fatty and not too fresh. Veggies were adequate, noodles were notably pre soaked in water.

The two of us got our food and weighed up. The staff at the counter was chatting loudly on the phone the whole time on a personal call and barely acknowledged our presence. When I asked her about the spice level of our soup, this was waived aside and dismissed. I probably haven't had such bad service for quite a few years now.

We got our number from our receipt and sat down nearby waiting for our number to be called. I was surprised at how expensive the meal was, given that my companion and I often go out to eat at other MaLaTang places and we are often very full on a shared bill of $25. Two things struck me at that point. The first is that we were charged for our containers. I fail to see how you could go to a food court environment and order food without it being served to you in a container. We were not given reusable bowl options, so I consider this to be an excessive and unfair charge. Secondly, it was also apparent to me that the soaking of the noodles in water pre weighing really added to the bill. My companion was really unimpressed.

Sauces were not DIY given the 8 Street setting. We had to ask the staff who wasn't on the phone for sauces. There were no extra containers for sauce to be kept separate. It was just poured on top.

Our food was prepared soon enough. The white paste on top is apparently garlic sauce. Taste wise, she found the noodles to be overcooked and very soft. She also said that the soup was salty and one dimensional.

This is my bowl, although not much larger than my companions, I was charged for the larger container. It was very visually unappealing, and frankly even my (very bad) cooking at home looks better. Like my companion, the noodles were extremely soggy and disintegrated in my mouth, the meat was stringy, fatty and unfresh, whilst the tofu and seafood sticks soaked up considerable amounts of the bland salty soup. I also noted an absence of the enoki mushrooms that I had picked up earlier. This has been the worst meal I've had since April 2016.

Price Range: $15 - $25pp

Taste: 1/10
Value: 2/10
Service: 1/10
Environment: 5/10

Zutto Bento - Rosalie

Had a completely packed day on Saturday last week. First thing in the morning I had the privilege to shadow the super talented FoodieAdam in a photoshoot, I definitely learned a lot there. After our hard work, we headed over for a lazy lunch at Zutto Bento after receiving a very gracious invite from Chefs John and Ryan. It has only been open roughly six months and has taken up the lodgings of Casamia, along Nash Street in Rosalie. Having read wonderful feedback from a few of my favourite reviewers, and my absolute devotion to Japanese food I was super excited and knew we would have an amazing time.

 

The waitress was super attentive and menus were provided and we were seated most promptly. As the name of the restaurant suggests, their main attraction was their bento boxes, which come in a large assortment of toppings. They also had main size dishes, salads and an interesting selection of sushi dishes. There is very little doubt as to what I chose to have. 

Tasty hot green tea and sharing plates were provided almost instantly. I for one, absolutely love quick service.

First up we shared a plate of Large Mixed Sashimi. It contains nine pieces of salmon, six pieces of tuna, two prawns, three pieces of scallop as well as two oysters. At $36 for 22 pieces, this is fairly good value for the very fresh fish that we got. The salmon was wonderfully smooth and had a good texture when we bit into it. The scallops were particularly fresh and had an almost sweetness to them. Although I'm not usually a big fan of oysters, I really liked that they were served with a topping of tobiko and green onions. Needless to say we loved this dish, which made for a perfect starter.

While we were enjoying our sashimi platter, our sushi feast came out in quick succession. It was a sight to behold and brought me so much joy simply by looking at it alone.

The main attraction for us was the highly popular and very instagramable sushi donut. Of the five options on the menu, I chose the three that contained fish of course. They were so beautiful and I almost couldn't stand to dig into them, but of course, I did.

First donut was the Crunch Sushi Donut. Topped with salmon, tuna, prawn, avocado, tempura crisps and fried onion, it was an amazing flavour hit that was as tasty as it was pretty. Although I am a self proclaimed sushi purist, I couldn't deny that the addition of onions and tempura crisps really added an amazing flavour to the dish that you don't usually find in traditional sushi.

Next was the Aburi Salmon Donut, the simpler donut with seared salmon, aburi sauce and tobiko. The salmon was seared perfectly with a nice red uncooked interior but a delicious chargrilled almost crispy exterior. It was warm and comforting to bite into, but the added tobiko gave it lots of much needed crunch while the slice of lemon added depth to the flavour and cut through the strong smokey vibes. 

Our last donut was the Rainbow Sushi Donut. It was almost the same as the crunchy doughnut but instead of onion and tempura, it was topped with tobiko and daikon. I loved the fresh slices of fish which were super fresh, the rice was well seasoned, the avocado ripe. I found the daikon to also add a freshness of colour and taste palate to the sushi roll. 

Our first sushi roll was the whole sized Spider Roll, comprising of Softshell Crab, Avo and cucumber topped with crisps. It was as crispy as it looked. The rice had a good texture to it with a smooth exterior and a nice bounce, it was well seasoned with sushi vinegar. The soft shell crab was also crispy and well seasoned, avocado was ripe, cucumber was crunchy. 

Next was the highlight for me, the Niagara, a roll which contained tempura prawn and avocado, crab meat topped with crisp and fish roe and then topped with cheese which is then seared to produce a melting Niagara effect. This was by far the best roll in my opinion. The melty cheese acted like a delectable glue that binded the ingredients together. I thoroughly enjoyed the crispy tempura prawn, which was further accentuated by the tempura bits on top, which provided a good contrast to the very tender avocado, crab meat and saucy gooey cheese topping. A definite crowd pleaser in every aspect.

We also had the Aburi Roll, crab meat, avocado, cucumber topped with grilled salmon and fish roe. Like the Aburi Donut, the salmon was seared wonderfully and complimented the avocado and prawn wonderfully, with cucumber and tobiko contrasting by way of texture.

Not wanting to have too much (not like we already didn't have too much), we had half a roll of the Dragon roll. It contained tempura prawn and cucumber topped with eel and fish roe. The highlight of the roll was undoubtedly the eel which was super tender and saucy. I loved how the sauce absorbed into the rice.

To top it all off, we had the Volcano half roll. This was made from Panko Prawn and avo, cucumber, topped with spicy fresh tuna ball and crisps. Of all the rolls, this was the only spicy one, and it definitely set itself apart from the others with the heat and crunch stealing all my attention at once. My only suggestion would be that the amount of sauce needs a slight reduction, otherwise it was entirely enjoyable.

Coming from a self proclaimed traditionalist, this was an innovative and contemporary take on Japanese food which I thoroughly enjoyed. Can't wait to go back again.

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

Price Range: $15 - $25pp

Taste: 9/10
Value: 8/10
Service: 9/10
Environment: 8/10

Mr Bap - Sunnybank Hills

Having lived around the Sunnybank area for some time now, I have gone to almost every restaurant in the shopping complex that is Pinelands Centro, that is, except Mr Bap. Back in the days before it had a change of management, the doors were often closed and without a menu outside it was quite uninviting, as a result of this, I'd never been. Since Mr Bap has taken over though, the doors are often open and a menu is readily accessible from outside, so in due course, I finally decided to check it out. 

Despite having made a booking for 7pm a table was not reserved for us. I was surprised to walk into a full house on a Wednesday night. It took until 7.20pm for us to be seated.

 

The menu was a la carte rather than buffet. It reminded me a fair bit of Mapo, with its set meal options and BBQ sets. Without wanting to think too much, we settled on a set. Service was pretty fast and accessible via a buzzer on the table.

Charcoal was soon set up for our bbq and food came quickly after.

First to arrive was the Korean pancake. Compared to other ones I've had before, it was nowhere near as layered or flaky. In fact it was a little wet and soggy despite the caramelised parts.

Sides to our BBQ then came. There was a large basket of lettuce leaves, kimchi, tofu skin salad, potato salad, pickled onions and seaweed. The kimchi and tofu skins were largely the same as the ones you could get at Midam just around the corner and were quite tasty. Lettuce was fresh and provided good accompaniment for the BBQ meats to keep the meal light and fresh. For some reason though, the potato salad was unusually sweet, which I found to be quite odd for a Korean restaurant.

Before I could dwell too much on the sides though, our main event, the meats arrived.

Despite there only being two of us, we ordered Set C, which was for 3 - 4 people, as my companion assured me he would be able to finish it. This plate comprised of pork belly, spicy chicken, marinated inside skirt, marinated pork rib, wagyu chuck rib, and assorted vegies. The portions were large considering there were only two of us, but I can't help but think that if there were four people, this wouldn't have been enough. Meat quality was fairly good though, and our favourite was without a doubt the marinated pork rib, which was quite tender and delicious. Wagyu was also sufficiently buttery for our tastes, but the pork belly was fattier than I would have liked. 

The main attraction for me, of course is the bulgogi, the marinated beef slices. Fat content was notably lower than the meats on the other dish. Soy and sesame marinades were delicious. The beef was thinly sliced and had a very good texture as well, making it by far the highlight of the meal. 

Price Range: $30 - $50pp

Taste: 7/10
Value: 6/10
Service: 7/10
Environment: 7/10