La Famiglia - Woolloongabba

Friday night after work. Nothing better than to catch up with the girlfriends for a therapeutic dinner after work. Having heard some wonderful things about La Famiglia at the gabba, it made for a great riverside walk after work to get to the restaurant. Am also grateful for my friend the Rice Queen who made a reservation beforehand, allowing us to secure a table, as the restaurant was fully booked out that night.

Checking out the menu, it contained all you would have expected from an Italian restaurant with entrees and mains with a strong focus on pasta. The manager was very friendly and inviting throughout our dining experience.

We commenced our meal with three drinks.

  

My first companion had the house white wine, she enjoyed this thoroughly. Another had the immensely fruity Bellini with its strong peachy tones throughout the Prosecco. Being as irresponsible as I always am, I had my dessert first and got the Tiramisu Martini (having been very close to ordering the Nutella Martini). It was quite sweet with a strong dash of espresso and heavy vanilla tones, just what I needed that evening.

Starting off our meal, we had a shared entree of Eggplant Parmigiana, it was topped with fior di latte and kale. The dish was an intensely tangy entree with the tomato cutting through the mild eggplant which really whet our appetite.

My first companion ordered the La Porchetta, an oven roasted pork belly that was served with spinach and carrots on a bed of polenta. Trying some for myself, the crackling was delicious and crispy. Polenta was rich and creamy, almost like mashed potatoes and the carrots were very tender.

Another companion ordered the Lasagna Della Mama. It was served with perfectly melted cheese. The pasta was wonderfully tender and the meaty sauce was a delight. I wish I had ordered one myself.

My dish for the evening was probably one of the less ideal choices of the night. Wanting to have ordered the critically acclaimed ravioli, I was saddened to see it not on the menu, so I ordered the Strozzapreti ai Funghi Porcini instead. Being served with Porcini Mushrooms, Chilli and Truffle Peccorino, I was definitely expecting a flavour hit, but my dish was in fact quite bland and the pasta a tad harder than I would have liked it. The truffle taste was quite light, and the black specs on the photo were actually from the ground pepper on top rather than truffle as indicated on the menu. I definitely should have ordered the lasagna instead.

After our mains, we ordered a dessert board to share. This was definitely a highlight for us, comprising of super fresh super hot doughnut balls, nutella canelloni, cheesecake and a puff, we loved the dessert board and wished we could have had more of those doughnuts.

Price Range: $20 - $40pp

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

Three Blue Ducks - Brisbane CBD

For those who keep up with social media, especially the foodie side of things, there is little doubt that you would have heard of the newest Three Blue Ducks, which recently opened its doors in the beautiful W Brisbane. Having a girls night out, we decided to finally go and check it out.

Far away from their other store at The Farm on Byron, this restaurant exuded elegance, but still with a homey rustic charm.

If you're lucky enough to book a window seat (which we didn't), the view is quite spectacular too.

Menus were provide upon seating. Comprising of one page only, it encapsulates the concept of having a small menu, filled with things that you can do to a very high standard. We almost ordered one of everything.

  

Starting off with drinks that evening, one companion had a white wine, one had the wonderfully fragrant "The Humble Fig" cocktail, all of which were well enjoyed. I especially found the three ducks on the wine glass to be super cute.

Our meal arrived before long, and the spread was as impressive as you would expect.

The main event for us was the Lamb Shoulder. It was a group sized portion to be shared amongst 2-3 people. Breaking up the shoulder, the meat literally just fell off the bone. It was amazingly tender, apparently cooked in a two stage process with the first stage taking 8 hours. The flavour of the herbs were absorbed deep into the meat, making for a very tasty meal. 

As a side to the lamb, this was the  pea, zucchini, squash, red onion, mint with lemon dressing. This was both refreshing and sharp in taste to balance out the heavy lamb. The lemon and mint really cut through and the spice of spanish onion really made it stand out.

My favourite of the night was the humble roasted garlic and rosemary potatoes. With their crispy exterior, they were almost giant oversized wedges. I love the strong garlic taste and wonderfully fragrant rosemary.

We also had two other small dishes, first of which was the raw fish, paw paw, red onion, chilli & ginger. That evening, fish of the day was kingfish. I found the dish a little sweet for my palate, with an abundance of pawpaw. I found the generous toppings of onion, chilli and ginger did detract from my appreciation of the freshness of the fish, which was undoubtedly completely overpowered.

Our second side was the Duck's cauliflower cheese. It was a grilled cauliflower dish with considerable melted cheese and breadcrumbs for texture. I found the dish warm and comforting, but could have had a bit more by way of depth of flavour.

For some reason, our starting bread came after all the other dishes. This was the organic sourdough bread with cultured butter. Whilst late, the bread was also untoasted, which was disappointing, as it meant the delicious cultured butter was unable to melt upon my bread. Had it been toasted, I would have had no doubt it would have been very enjoyable.

Our desserts came not long after we finished our mains. They were like works of art.

This was the Ducks cheese board, lavosh, figs & honey. The three cheeses on offer that day comprised of Blue Cheese, Camembert and Espresso Cheddar. The cheeses were tasty and generous in portion, the espresso cheddar was a particularly fascinating in its contrasting flavours. I liked the sweet fig jelly, and the crumbly honeycomb that it was served with too.

Next we had the Chocolate parfait, almond crumb, pickled blueberries sprinkled with matcha. Surprisingly, I found this dish to be a little overwhelming in its sweetness, with a very sugary and not very chocolaty. This was partially redeemed by the sour pickled blueberries, cutting sharply through the sweetness. I was initially very excited by the matcha, but this too was overpowered by the chocolate.

Last dessert of the night was the Sea salt meringue served with berries, yoghurt ice cream, lemon curd and macadamia crunch. I was initially expecting this to be the sweeter of the desserts, but it wasn't as sweet as the chocolate parfait. In fact the yoghurt was quite fairly light and creamy, the meringue was balanced by the sea salt and the berries and macadamia gave it quite a good texture.

Price Range: $60 - $80pp

Taste: 6/10 (very hit and miss with some dishes amazing, some disappointing, very inconsistent)
Value: 6/10
Service: 8/10
Environment: 8/10

Birds Nest - Fortitude Valley

One thing I do miss from my trip to Japan (amongst all the other things) was the Yakitori. Having followed my nose down a dark nondescript alleyway in Osaka to find one of the best Yakitoris of my life, I was keen to relive something similar. Having gone to Birds Nest Yakitori a few years earlier when their West End store had newly opened, I was assured of their authenticity and quality, but was taken aback slightly by their price point, so when I heard about the Monday special at their Fortitude Valley store, I knew I had to be there. Having only tried their lunch specials from this branch, I was keen to get some yakitori.

We made sure to make a reservation, and it was lucky we did, it was a full house, no doubt everyone was also drawn in by the promise of $3 skewers.

Grabbing a seat right in front of the grill, we got to admire the chef as he busied himself with his art.

A menu was quickly provided, though I did miss the welcoming chicken broth which we had back in the West End store. One look at the menu, and it took all my self control not to just say to the waitstaff "one of each please". The menu comprised of an assortment of popular skewers, with a focus on chicken with a few pork options, some more traditional skewers, some sides and a selection of desserts.

 

Having arrived at happy hour, we also got some $5 drinks. One companion got the house white wine, and my other companion and I decided for some sweet ume, which was fruity and refreshing.

Salt and chilli were provided as usual on the table, and I placed a small pile on my plate to dip throughout my meal.

Our food came out fairly quickly and soon our table was loaded up with toasty chicken-y goodness.

First skewer for me was the immensely popular Sasami - Chicken Tenderloin. My companion ordered it with with ume and shallots, and of course I had mine with garlic and mayo. The chicken was wonderfully tender and juicy without the tendency to dry out as breast pieces often do. Kewpie mayonnaise was smooth and creamy whilst the deep fried garlic pieces on top gave it both fragrance and zing.

This was the Negima - Thigh with shallot and tare. Compared to the sasami, this was even more juicy. I especially liked the char grilled parts which were delightfully smokey without being overly bitter. It was well balanced with the fragrant shallot.

Next up was also thigh, being the Torimomo - thigh topped with avocado, chilli and coriander. This was definitely a more modern and western twist on a traditional skewer, but I loved how the creamy avocado was contrasted by sharp chilli and coriander. 

We also had some Tsukune - Traditional meatballs with Tare. Each ball was delectably well seasoned with a good bounce to each bite. I loved the strong soy flavours of the tare which really set it apart from the other meatballs I've had before.

Our last of the chicken dishes was the Sori - Chicken Oyster, served with yuzu, salt and pepper. For those of you who were unaware, like me, the chicken oyster is a piece of meat at the back of the chicken, near the thigh which some consider to be the most tender and most flavoursome part of the chicken. It was indeed tender and flavoursome. Even with a minimal seasoning of salt and pepper, I could really appreciate the chicken flavours which were accentuated with the zing of yuzu.

Other than chicken, we had two pork dishes, the first was the Buta Bara - Pork belly, one was served with kimchi mayo and the other with grated daikon and ponzu. The daikon and ponzu were a little bland, but the kimchi and mayo were strong and had a good spice to it. I did like the caramelised toasty texture of the pork very much too.

Our last meat skewers were the Tomato Buta Bara. Thinly sliced pork belly wrapped around cherry tomatoes. We waited a while for them to cool as we were advised, but when we did eat them, it was like a meaty parcel of hot tomato juice exploded in my mouth. 

From the selection of vegies, we had a serve of King Oyster Mushroom. It was doused in considerable sesame oil which made it quite fragrant. The nice grilled skin was also very tasty.

To satisfy our Rice Queen, we also ordered two grilled rice balls, the Onigiri with soy and sesame as well as the Onigiri with Tare. Both were very well seasoned, the sesame one was our favourite with its strong flavours, but we especially enjoyed the toasty rice on the outside of each ball.

Testament to our success this evening, our skewer box was full to the brim.

For dessert we tried the Shiro Goma Panna Cotta and Houjicha Ice Cream. Both desserts were fairly sweet for my tastes. The Houjicha was a little weak, but the panna cotta was silky smooth and quite flavoursome with sesame infused in the dessert.

Price Range: $25 - $35pp

Taste: 8.5/10
Value: 8/10 (when Monday specials are on)
Service: 8/10
Environment: 8/10