Gotcha - Sunnybank Hills

Belated post, but for the last couple of months, I've been a regular at Gotcha fresh tea, which had recently opened in Pinelands Centro, next to Ho Lin Wah, making direct competition with the nearby Excellent Cup (which I also really enjoy). 

Although the menu wasn't particularly long, it contained an extensive variety of drinks spanning dirty bobba, to fruit teas to cheese foams. 

 

Between my companion and I, she had the OG Pearl Milk Tea, whereas I had the Strawberry Macchiato. 

She mentioned that the pearl milk tea was very fragrant and refreshing, but not as creamy as other places. The pearls leaned towards the firmer side of the spectrum and had a strong flavour of brown surgar to it, which was very enjoyable.

I had the strawberry macchiato. This was insanely delicious. With fresh strawberries and strawberry puree blended into ice and topped with cheese foam, it stuck a perfect balance between being refreshing and decadent. The only improvement on this would be an ability to moderate sugar levels, which was apparently unavailable, nevertheless, it was an enjoyable drink.

Price Range: $5 - $8pp

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

The Euro - Brisbane CBD

Have long had The Euro on my list of places to try, especially after eating at Urbane earlier in the year. Thinking that as such an established institution it would be around for years still, I kept it on the list for a later date, but only until I realised it would be permanently closing after Christmas this year. At which point I made immediate plans to go. My first reservation with Iron Fist was thwarted due to a storm the night before which meant they couldn't hold the next day's lunch service, luckily another companion of mine, ,the Enigmatic L, decided that it was time for us to go there for a cozy Saturday night dinner.

Arriving later in the evening, and there were several tables already enjoying their dinner. Water was provided as were menus. Having done a bit of reading beforehand, it wasn't hard to make our minds up as to what to get.

Starting off with some baked sourdough and smoked butter, The bread was wholesome and hearty, which I really enjoyed, but would have liked it better if it was served warm. The butter was fragrant and easy to spread.

Our starters came fairly quickly.

 

Between the two of us, we shared the Huon Salmon Gravlax with Citrus Emulsion and Compressed Apple as well as the Quail Special. The salmon  was light and refreshing, I loved the creamy sauce which contrasted the crisp sour apple. The quail was smokey and tender but a little on the salty side. 

Mains were served almost right after entrees were whisked away.

This was the ‘Cotoletta’, Crumbed Pork Fillet, Slaw Salad, Ponzu Sauce. The serve came with two very large pork fillets, one was enough to fill each of us up. We enjoyed the pork, it was crisp and hearty, but could have had a bit more seasoning. The slaw was crisp and balanced out the heavy pork really well.

Our second main was just as hearty, being the House Made Lasagne Served With Seasonal Green Salad. This was very decadent, rich and cheesy. The beef ragu was meaty and well textured throughout. Despite the portion not appearing to be all that big, it was extremely filling and the salad really helped cut through the heaviness of the lasagne.

Always tempted by fries, we couldnt resist ordering a bowl for our side. Shoestring cut is always my favourite, and this was lightly fried, crisp and served hot. Definitely a wonderful way to complement the meal, making for a memorable experience to round off an eventful year for us both.

Price Range: $70 - $100pp

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

Black Hide - Brisbane CBD

End of the week and my friend lost a bet to me earlier, as a result, he had to take me out to dinner at the infamous Black Hide by Gambaro at the Treasury. Making a reservation earlier in the week, we made sure to book the Casino branch rather than Caxton Street (which he promised to take me for my birthday). 

Being seated at the window meant we had a fairly good view of the Brisbane River and Southbank.

The menu comprised of a few entrees, mains and sides, but of course our focus was on the steaks.

Starting off with complimentary bread, it was served hot and toasted with an option of both butter and balsamic with olive oil. I liked how dense and wholesome it was. Coupled with my choice of balsamic and olive oil, it made for a tasty appetizer.

Our shared entree was the Cured Ocean Trout with papaya. Thinly sliced and marinated to a point of ripe sweetness, this was definitely unusual to me but not an unwelcome change from our norm. The trout was thinly sliced and generous in portion. We really enjoyed it. 

It's hardly a proper steak dinner without a glass of red wine to go with the main course, and the two glasses of shiraz that we had complimented our steak wonderfully.

We had an assortment of sauces to go with the steak, it included red wine jus, peppercorn, bearnaise and mushroom sauce. He liked the creamy bearnaise sauce, whilst I preferred the zing of the spicy peppercorn sauce. 

 

So of course we ordered the Tomhawk to share. At 1.2kg, it was HUGE. So obviously I asked for it cooked rare. It was served with a small pile of wagyu fat roasted potatoes. The steak itself was wonderfully tender and juicy, it was cooked perfectly rare with a great meat texture. It was thick cut and moist with the juices soaking delightfully with the potatoes. Definitely the best steak I've had in 2019.

To balance out the meat, we obviously shared a Mixed Leaf Salad. Crunchy and lightly doused in vinaigrette, it made for a good companion for our meal and was a good portion for a side.

Price Range: $120 - $150 pp

Taste: 9.5/10
Value: 8/10
Service: 9.5/10
Environment: 9.5/10

TokTok - Sunnybank Hills

Other than Thai Food, I'd have to say that Korean Food is definitely something that really picked up this year. With a considerable amount of new eateries around, it was fairly difficult to keep up with all the openings, but I was really glad that I made the effort to grab a dinner at TokTok the other night. Situated along Gowan Road, it makes for direct competition against another Korean BBQ joint, Tobaki.

 

 

Arriving at 6.30pm, the place was packed. The wait for a table took over half an hour, which only fueled my curiosity more. At least we were able to peruse the menu thoroughly before being seated, which meant we were able to order right away after.

 

First up to arrive was the Deep Fried Boneless Korean Chicken. The portion was fairly generous for the price point and came with a good amount of freshly fried sweet potato chips and some sauces and cabbage salad on the side. The chicken was well marinated and crispy throughout, but I wish the cuts were a bit juicier. 

This was the Kimchi Pancake. It was crisp and spicy with a good amount of kimchi to flour. I would have liked a bit more flakiness to the pancake texture, but at least it was crunchy.

Sides of pickled cucumber, tofu and kimchi came late and only when requested. I suppose this was because the staff were fairly busy tending to a full house. Dishes were fairly standard, my favourite was without a doubt the well textured tofu dish which was drenched in sesame oil for fragrance.

On the topic of texture, this was the Korean Steamed Egg. Different from Japanese or Chinese versions, this was whipped to a fairly airy consistency before being steamed, resulting in a very porous texture. Homey and wholesome, we enjoyed this dish.

 

Rice dish for the night was the Raw Beef Bibimbap. Toppings were plentiful and generous given the amount of rice. I liked how well seasoned the ingredients were however the bowl itself wasn't exactly hot enough to cook the raw beef or carrot, which was a slight letdown.

Finishing off on the Spicy Seafood Soup, this struck a good balance of spicy without overpowering the other ingredients. Under the red soup, there was a good amount of clams, prawns and fish to accompany the rice. It was warming and satisfying.

Price Range: $15 - $25pp

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