Oishii Sushi Express - Coorparoo

Friday night we went to visit our friends and their new baby. With everyone being too exhausted to go out or to cook, we offered to pick up some take away. I was actually very excited to do some exploring in the local area of Coorparoo, having grown up nearby and it has since developed quite well with a number of food options which I was keen on trying so of course we started with the Japanese option at the long established Oishii Sushi Express.

The store was fairly homely and staff were friendly and efficient. There was a fairly basic menu comprising a few rice and noodle dishes as well as sushi. Our friend who had very recently given birth said that one of the things she missed most during pregnancy was sushi, so we mainly ordered sushi.

Food took a fairly long time to get ready and there was also a constant stream of customers and take away orders come in as we waited. It took at least half an hour before our order was ready.

This was the Alaska roll, comprising of crab meat, cucumber and avocado topped with salmon sashimi. I found the sushi to be surprisingly disappointing given how many people had frequented the store. The sashimi was very thinly sliced and doused in overpowering sweet soy sauce. The fillings were moderately generous however it was also apparent that the rice was not seasoned with vinegar. 

Our next roll was the Caterpillar roll with cooked tuna, cucumber topped with avocado and tobiko. As expected the rice was also unseasoned. Comparatively the avocado was also very thinly sliced but the tobiko was generous and the filling also so. I quite enjoyed this roll and it met the expectations I had for it.

We had an assortment of nigiri including salmon and unagi. These were also not very generous when it came to topping to rice ratio as they were fairly thinly sliced. The rice was not seasoned again and I consider it substantially inferior to the baseline Sushi Edo.

Another friend ordered a dish of Teriyaki Chicken Rice. This was far more generous, represented good value for money and as well received. Overall though, this was not a place that impressed and next time I'll be trying out other Japanese restaurants nearby.

Price: $15 - $25pp

Taste: 4/10

Value: 5/10

Service: 7/10

Environment: 7/10

The Maillard Project - Brisbane CBD

Hadn't been back to work in the city for quite a long time, but when I did, I made sure to go and check out The Maillard Project, sister store to the local favourite, Coffee Anthology. Opened several weeks ago, reviews have been quite stellar and it was an understatement to say that I was very excited to finally go try it out.

Arriving at midday on a Friday, it was definitely packed, especially given social distancing limitations. We had to wait a little while before we could get a table. Thankfully it didn't take too long.

I couldn't find much on the menu online, so wasn't able to do much by way of deciding beforehand. Content wise, it had a few standard cafe options like eggs benedict, however it also had a nice range of modern Asian dishes such as congee and hor fun wrap. We stuck with more conservative choices, but am definitely keen to them next time.

 

Iron Fist had a cold drip and I a batch brew. His came well before the meal whereas mine came long after the food had arrived. We found these to be really delicious with the highlighted tones definitely present. Strong and bold without being too bitter, I really enjoyed it.

My companion had the Eggs Benedict with Ham and Haloumi. With a perfectly cooked egg and generous toppings she really enjoyed it.

I almost ordered the congee but settled for the wagyu burger as it was lunch time. It was executed wonderfully with a thick beef patty and a very thick cut and fatty bacon steak which was caramelised to perfection. The roasted tomato sauce was delicious albeit a bit runny and there was a small pool of juices on our plate, maybe a thicker sauce would have been better. The chips were crisp and fresh, I would have liked some sauce or seasoning to go with it, but it was undeniably tasty.

Price Range: $20 - $30pp

Taste: 8.5/10

Value: 8/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: 8/10 

Bistro Korea - Coorparoo

Not usually much of a food delivery fan due to the relatively small portions and higher than usual prices, I rarely ever get it unless friends decide to. Such a situation arose lat week when we visited some friends who just had a baby and weren't able to cook or eat out. Resorting to UberEats, we decided on Bistro Korea which was not too far from us at Coorparoo Square. 

This was the medium boneless fried chicken with chips. We ordered original crispy to get an appreciation of the flavours (and I can't really tolerate much by way of spice). The portion was surprisingly generous and the chicken was fairly hot and crisp when we got it. The batter was a lot more like a Japanese karaage than Korean fried chicken, it was quite well flavoured and juicy on the inside. The chips were a slight letdown with them being very similar to the storebought variety and were a bit soggy by the time we had it.

We also had a serve of Kimchi Pancake. This also exceeded my expectations. Other than the few slices at the bottom which were lightly steamed and a bit soggy every other piece was wonderfully crisp. It was comparatively a lot thinner than other pancakes I've had and a little oily but the kimchi to batter ratio was wonderful, it was light, crisp and crunchy. Would definitely recommend going to the restaurant again at a later point.

Price Range: $15 - $25pp

Taste: 8/10

Value: 8/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: N/A

Red Lotus - Annerley

Busy day at work and I was keen to get out of cooking duty. We decided to walk out and explore Annerley a bit more. This time we stopped at Red Lotus, a well established Vietnamese restaurant for a casual dinner.

The menu contained everything you would want from a Vietnamese restaurant, with Pho, Salad and some mains. Next time, I will definitely have to check out their charcoal grill options. Service was fast and friendly.

First up was the rare beef pho. I can never really go to a Vietnamese place without trying it. We ordered our serve with extra noodles and shared it. The beef was lean, thinly sliced and perfectly rare. I really enjoyed it. The noodles were very generous and cooked a little firmer than other places. The soup was light in taste and lacked the depth I enjoy from other places.

We also had a serve of Noodle Salad with 300g of Crispy Pork Belly. There was definitely an abundance of pork. Some pieces were very crisp but others were soggy from the fish sauce. The noodles were delicious and had bite whilst the veggies were fresh.

Spring rolls were moderately expensive at $9 for three. These were freshly fried, crisp and crunchy with a meaty chicken filling. Nothing special but no faults that stood out.

Price Range: $20 - $30pp

Taste: 8/10

Value: 7/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: 8/10 

Botanical Lab - West End

Had been to Botanical Lab whilst they were still in Fortitude and since their relocation to West End, it has been on my radar, especially with the highly photogenic soft serves, drinks and cakes that I've seen online. We decided to check it out last Saturday. Arriving just before opening time, almost all but one of the tables were booked out and the shop was very small, it is definitely worth making a reservation beforehand. Seating time was limited to one hour, which was not ideal given that service was fairly slow.

There was quite a selection of cakes, including basque cheesecake and hokkaido cheesecakes. I was most interested in the Mochi Doughnuts but these weren't on sale that day.

 

There were a very large selection of drinks and desserts on the menu, all of which were extremely customisable. It took a little while for us to decide what we wanted given the abundance of choice. We ordered at the counter.

My friends and I had the Blue Mango Milk Tea, Hojicha with Pearls and a Rose and Lavender Teanade. The drinks were large in size and refreshing, but we all considered the flavours to be highly artificial and unnatural. Although quite beautiful, it was definitely not as good as my usual bubble tea.

Our food options came 45 minutes into our one hour sitting, which meant we only had 15 minutes in which to eat it all. This was the Hojichamisu. It was essentially a Hojicha Basque Burnt Cheesecake with a topping of mascarpone with chocolate. There was no biscuits or sponge elements and so the texture was a bit lacking for a tiramisu. It was however a bit rich and decadent without being too sweet.

We also had a customized sundae. With a Milk Tea and Hochicha softs serve, waffles, oreos and strawberries, it was a sight to behold. The soft serve was smooth but not creamy or milky, but rather watery instead. Flavour wise, the milk tea was very bland whilst the hojicha was a bit stronger. Strawberries were sweet and the biscuits were crunchy though, but I would definitely prefer ice cream from other places.

Price Range: $10 - $20pp

Taste: 5/10

Value: 5/10

Service: 5/10

Environment: 6/10 

Krazy Yoghurt - Sunnybank Hills

Heard about another dessert place that opened at Sunnybank Hills, ambitiously down the road from Sonder. We went there after a quick dinner nearby at Impressive Dumplings, it is located in the same complex as Midam on Farne St.

The menu comprised of quite a few yoghurt based drink options with not that many tea drinks. There was a good selection of desserts including taiyaki, egg waffles and shaved ice.

Both my companion and I weren't exceptionally keen on yoghurt so we had the tea options. She had a Thai Milk Tea and I had the Jasmine Green Tea with fruit. Neither of these had overly strong tea flavours but at least they weren't very sweet. The fruit in my fruit tea was also not very sweet or ripe at all though.

We also had a serve of Matcha Egg Waffles to share. These were fluffy but not as chewy as I would have liked. The matcha ice cream was very light on flavour but there was a very generous amount of red bean sandwiched between the waffle. For the price, it definitely wasn't worth it.

Price Range: $15 - $20pp

Taste: 5/10

Value: 5/10

Service: 7/10

Environment: 6/10
 

Ramen Danbo - Brisbane CBD

Had heard that Ramen Danbo finally opened a store in the CBD so last Friday we went on a hunt to find their new store. Was fairly saddened to see that they had taken up the shopfront that used to hold Matcha Honpo under the student one accommodation on Wharf street.

Having gone to their other two stores in Brisbane, the menu was the same with half a dozen ramen options that were highly customisable and some snacks on the side.

Ordering at the counter, sauces water and cutlery were self serve and there was a constant stream of take away orders on the part of the occupants upstairs as well as delivery drivers.

We got a number as well as some of their delicious super strong ground garlic to go with our noodles.

Despite the small kitchen, they were very well staffed and our food came out very quickly.

Dr L had the Se Abura Ramen with extra egg. He is personally a very big Taros fan who despises Hakataya with a passion. He found the soup a lot less creamy than Taros but liked the porky flavours of the broth and the firm noodles with ample bite. 

I ordered the Nitamago ramen with extra noodle (because I was extra hungry). By comparison, I did really enjoy this soup, finding it a lot closer to the flavours I had in Japan with it's depth of flavours without the overly rich creamy tones. I did order my noodles soft and they were just soft enough without being soggy. The pork was also soft without being very fatty and the eggs were cooked wonderfully. I really enjoyed this bowl.  

Of course, we wouldn't be without a serve of gyoza to go with our noodles. These were done moderately well with a consistently thin skin, ample filling but the base wasn't overly crispy nor were the dumplings overly hot. A couple more minutes on the grill would have definitely made it a lot more enjoyable.

Price Range: $15 - $25pp

Taste: 8/10

Value: 7/10

Service: 7.5/10

Environment: 7/10