Goc Viet - Sunnybank

Slowly trying out all the new restaurants in the extension of Market Square, last week we checked out the Goc Viet, to which I had read a couple of fairly positive reviews of online. Situated on level one of the complex, it wasn't hard to find. With limited seating inside, they had a few tables outside the restaurant.

As you would expect, all the usual suspects were present on the menu including rice, noodles and salads. Prices were more expensive than you would expect at other local Vietnamese restaurants and the ones at Inala. We ordered at the counter.

Starting with street eats, these were the signature spring rolls. A serve of three rolls came to $8 and they were served in halves and were smaller than the average. The skin was fried but it was very chewy and a bit over burnt. The fillings were also a bit limited and not overly fresh. At least the accompanying salad was fresh though.

There was no rare beef pho on the menu, in lieu of this there was a dish called stir fried rare beef pho, which I tried. I ordered it with additional noodles and it also came with the standard complimentary sprouts and herbs. It was lucky that I ordered extra noodles because the quantity in the bowl was really insufficient, especially given the higher price point. The noodles were at least soft and silky but that was really the only positive of this bowl. The beef was indeed stir fried and only a few parts were rare, the others were quite well done, extremely oily and chewy. I definitely would have preferred a thinner cut that was cooked more rare. Perhaps it was a result of the fatty beef, but the soup was exceptionally oily and very light on taste, every sip left my lips coated in oil and there was not much depth of flavour profile in the bowl.

The soup was so oily that I decided not to pour my extra noodles into the bowl but rather to have them separate in their clear broth. Again the noodles were done well, but for $3, this quantity was extremely underwhelming. Again the soup was probably one of the lightest tasting that I have had for pho for a long time. Will not be back unless drastic improvements are made.

Price Range: $15 - $25pp

Taste: 4/10

Value: 4/10

Service: 7/10

Environment: 7/10 

Broken Hearts Burger Club - Morningside

Without a doubt, burgers are the ultimate comfort food. As simple as a meat patty sandwiched between two halves of a bun can bring so much joy but executing one to perfection is extremely difficult. This is where Broken Hearts Burger Club comes in. I had long eyed them off when they ran their start up food venture, Peer Reviewed Burgers, but never had the time to chase food trucks around Brisbane (especially when they don't come to the south side). Was extremely thrilled to hear that they decided to open up a bricks and mortar store at Morningside. Despite the distance, we went with a couple of friends to try it out last weekend.

Showing up before 6pm, we were super lucky to be able to score a table and order without there being a line. The lineup really started right after we sat down and meandered down the street. Menu wise there were only really three variations of burger, classic, fancy and Oklahoma with options for number of patty. I am told that chicken burgers will be forthcoming.  

Service was fast and friendly throughout our attendance.

With so many staff working on our burgers, our food came out very quickly after ordering.

Our friends had the classic single and the fancy single. Both of which they found very enjoyable.

Dr L had the Oklahoma single and I had the fancy double. He said that his burger was the best of all the smash patties he's ever had, which is fairly high praise from someone whose diet consists of 50% burgers.  

As mentioned, mine was the fancy double. In short, I would have to say that I thoroughly concur with Dr L. The bun was soft and fluffy without being sweet. The meat patty was smashed to perfection with a crunchy outer layer and was well seasoned. I absolutely adored the thick melty cheese. Balanced with fresh salad and mayonnaise, it was the best smash patty in Brisbane.

Between us we also shared two serves of fries, one was classic the other was cheesy. Freshly fried to a crisp, it was wonderful. The cheesy ones also had an extremely generous amount of cheese on them without sacrificing any of their crunch. I would only have enjoyed it better if they had a more unique seasoning on them rather than plain salt. Will definitely be back soon for another round.

Price Range: $10 - $20pp

Taste: 9/10

Value: 9/10

Service: 9/10

Environment: 8/10 

Mr Su Kitchen - Brisbane CBD

Weekday work lunch and I was keen for asian food so I checked out the newer options in the Queens Plaza food court for inspiration. One of the earliest to open was Mr Su Kitchen. Although it was the middle of summer, I can hardly resist a malatang, especially when I can take it back to the comfort of my air conditioned seat to enjoy. 

There was a moderate amount of ingredients to choose from, the meats were a bit fatty for my taste, but the veggies were fresh and it also had a small amount of offal to choose from. The price was $3.20 per 100g which was roughly market value. Sauces were served to you when your order was ready and there really wasn't too much to choose from which was somewhat disappointing. 

Making my selection and paying, I was told that my order was over 700g, which was surprising as I usually get around 500g of ingredients. Nevertheless I paid selected my original soup. Once complete, I asked for two spoons of garlic and one spoon of scallions before taking it back to my desk. It was still very hot despite the transport. In terms of quantity, there really wasn't all that much food, which made me doubt whether or not my bowl was included in the weight of my order on top of my ingredients. The meats that I did get were not overdone and the veggies were also quite tender as were the rice noodles. The soup though was quite a letdown. Although I had asked for original rather than spicy, this was really extremely bland and tasted more or less like salt water. Probably one of the weakest soups I've had in Brisbane, would not recommend.

Price Range: $15 - $25pp

Taste: 5/10

Value: 5/10

Service: 6/10

Environment: N/A 

Bar Pacino - Brisbane CBD

This year's work christmas lunch was a moderately subdued event with our individual team lunch being held at Bar Pacino. With it's river views and relaxed vibe, it was quite a nice place to hold our end of year meal. Like most covid safe venues, the menu was available online and we also placed our order online too which meant we didn't need to go to troubles of splitting the bill at the end of the meal.

 

Drinks wise, I started with an espresso martini and iron fist had a margarita. Although mine was quite strong it was definitely one of the sweeter ones that I've had. I would have liked it a bit more if the coffee hit was a bit more intense too. 

My coworkers enjoyed the arancini, beef burger and chicken parmigiana. Between all the meals they all felt the food was quite well done with very generous portions that they each struggled to finish. Special mention must be given to the chicken parmigiana which had not one but two types of cheese on the chicken fillet. 

Wanting to be good for the holiday season, I stuck to having a caesar salad. This was also a surprisingly large portion. It had a good balance of lettuce, bacon and croutons with a hard boiled egg. The lettuce was fresh and crisp, doused with a generous amount of salad sauce. For the price, it definitely represents good value for money.

Price Range: $20 - $30pp

Taste: 8/10

Value: 8/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: 8/10   

Comuna Cantina - Brisbane CBD

With the completion of the Annex on 12 Creek came the opening of Comuna Cantina. Ironfist, being a huge fan of margaritas made a point to check it out with me after work last Friday. By the time we finished work, the place was nearly full and we got one of the last tables.

We ended up getting a seat in the alleyway next to Corbett and Claude. I quite liked how it was outdoors but still quite secluded without the prying eyes of passers by. The menu was also only available online rather than in paper.

Always keen to start with drinks, he had the classic margarita while I had the tim tam espresso. Both were freshly made and less sweet than we had expected, which was surprising for my drink especially. Iron fist really liked the tartness of his margarita whereas I liked how mine was quite strong. The additional timtam is also always welcome in any time of the day.

Not wanting to drink on an empty stomach we also had a dish of guacamole to share. The corn chips were fresh and crisp whilst the guacamole was tangy. I only wish that there was more guacamole to go with the corn chips. 

For our second round, Iron fist liked his drink so much that he went and ordered another of the same whilst I got the strawberry margarita. It was also quite tart and refreshing although being surprisingly strong. I especially enjoyed the strawberry which had been carved into a rose. Definitely one to come back for.

Price Range: $40 - $50pp

Taste: 8/10

Value: 6/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: 8/10  

Milani -8 Degrees - Sunnybank

After dinner on a weeknight and with the hot weather setting in, we decided it would be nice to get some ice cream after our meal so it was a good opportunity to grab some at the recently opened Milani -8 Degrees at the ground floor of Market Square. Having previously been to their main store at Ascot, I found their gelato to be definitely far sweeter than I would have liked. We enjoyed it so much that we ended up going back again in a week, so this review will cover both times.

It was definitely a treat for us that the award winning gelato maker Mr Lin was there both times and we were able to watch him creating his artwork.

 

On our first visit, Dr L had a scoop of dark chocolate and hazelnut whilst I had black sesame and tiramisu. These were incomparably smoother than any other gelato that I had ever had before. The dark chocolate was definitely worthy of the awards it has achieved with its rich deep dark chocolate flavours without being overly bitter and without being too sweet. The hazelnut was also silky smooth but flavours were a bit light, the same can be said for my black sesame. I was surprised that the tiramisu was heavy on mascarpone flavours but light on coffee. Regardless the texture was still a huge winner for me.

 

Second time around, he had the award winning pistachio and macadamia whilst I had the coffee and matcha. Again the texture was on point. Compared to chocolate, pistachio was far more subtle in flavour and it didn't overpower the macadamia much. Both were not overly sweet. The matcha flavour was stronger than coffee by far and not overly bitter. I would have preferred the coffee flavour if it were a bit stronger.

Price Range: $5  - $10pp

Taste: 8.5/10

Value: 8/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: 6/10

Sizzling Braised Pot - Brisbane CBD

Hadn't really gone around Fudo Dori all that much since the lockdown. Last time we were looking around for dinner and noted that yet another place had opened, this time Sizzling Braised Pot, making this the third branch. The other two are located in Runcorn and Sunnybank Hills, but despite being close to home, I never managed to try it due to the abundance of other options available in the area, so it was a chance to finally go.

The seating area was quite small, fitting only half a dozen tables. Menus were provided and we ordered at the counter. Service was fast for two of our three meals but they had forgotten to put the last one in and our companion had not received his food until we were almost finished. 

This was the braised chicken fillet. We had it with rice and added some intestines to the pot. I really liked the mellow flavours of dark soy with it's deep rich undertones. The chicken was tender and complimented well with the chewy intestines. The sauce went well with the rice.

Our other dish was the Braised Beef and Tomato Noodle Soup. It came with some egg and tofu. Compared to the chicken dish, the portions were a lot smaller, largely because it didn't come with rice and the noodles were immersed in a vast bowl of soup. The noodles were very soft and didnt have much bite to it. I did enjoy the fresh tomato flavours of the soup though and there was a good amount of beef.

Our companion's meal came out last but it was a fairly large and wholesome dish of braised lamb and bean curd served with soft noodles again. It was really hearty and he enjoyed it significantly.

Price Range: $10 - $20pp

Taste: 7/10

Value: 8/10

Service: 7/10

Environment: 7/10