Archive for 14/01/2009

nick | 14/01/2009
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Satay Hut Review

South Bank is over-crowded with places to eat and drink. You can’t walk 20 metres without going past a fast food place, café or restaurant. It’s a great location to eat out as it’s central without being in the CBD, and depending on your choice of eatery you can get a good view of the city and river. But it frustrates me than that with so many places to choose from I always seem to leave disappointed and underwhelmed by whatever I’ve been served for the evening. It’s as if restaurants on South Bank and in particular Little Stanley Street feel as though they can depend on walk-ins and tourists to keep the cash coming in. I’m sorry to say that my list of places to avoid is much longer than my list of places worth returning too.

But there is hope.

The Satay Hut on Little Stanley Street is a beacon that bucks the trend of mediocrity. It’s a get-out-of-jail-free card for avoiding the over-priced crap that seems to come at you from every angle and an excellent venue for a casual and relaxed evening with some excellent South-East Asian cuisine.
Satay Hut
The menu is extensive. Nigh on 100 dishes, with lots of pictures to boot. The food is predominantly Malay and Thai but there are also a couple of dishes with Chinese influence. Soups, noodles, stir fries and curries all make an appearance, and there is plenty of variety across the styles.

We kicked off the evening with a round of beers ($6, cascade premium), satay beef sticks with rice cakes ($9.90), Thai fish cakes ($6.90) and a somtom green papaya salad ($12.90). I’ve had the satay sticks before and was expecting good things but unfortunately I found the beef to be particularly chewy on this occasion. The Thai fish cakes were quite spicy and smelt great but again didn’t excite as they seemed a bit soft and spongy in texture. However, the somtom green papaya salad was excellent, and the combination of spice and crunchy texture just made you want to eat more. It’s a perfect appetizer and we probably should have ordered another. We also selected fried tofu (Malaysian style, $7.90) which when served looks similar to four slices of golden toast and was very enjoyable – soft and almost creamy in the middle, with a fried crispy exterior.
fried tofu
As the menu is so extensive I’d highly recommend sharing dishes as it allows you to get a bit adventurous with a couple of choices as well as order some favourites. I think it tends to keep everyone happy and make the evening more interesting. We settled on duck salad ($20.90), green chicken curry with steamed rice ($18.90), Malaysian hokkien mee ($16.90) and mee goreng ($16.90).

The problem with the Satay Hut is that there are so many things that sound good that I could have ordered two or three meals worth of food. Next time I’ll be sure to try the satay steamed noodles with tofu and cashews ($16.90), the jungle curry ($18.90), or the coconut seafood bake ($29.90), all of which looked particularly good.

The mee goreng was excellent and perhaps the stand out of what we ordered. The hokkien noodles were soft and delicious and the dish was packed with different meats including chicken, beef, eggs, prawns and squid. It was full of flavour and I think we would have still been happy if we’d ordered four of this dish on its own.

The duck salad was interesting and also very good. Normally I’m reluctant to order duck at an Asian restaurant as it’s frequently served quite oily and fatty, but this was neither. The lime and chilli in the dish gave it a little kick and the whole dish tasted very fresh.

The only disappointment for the night was the Malaysian hokkien mee which had too much sauce and the noodles didn’t seem to be cooked correctly – they were quite firm and very unlike the texture of those in the mee goreng. We couldn’t work out if it was one of those instances of “that’s how it’s supposed to be” or if it was just cooked incorrectly. The menu didn’t indicate that there was any difference in noodles between the two dishes.

Dining at the Satay Hut is predominantly alfresco, but there are a couple of tables indoors if the wilderness of the South Bank sidewalk is too much for you. Most of the alfresco area is protected by glass screens to guard against the elements and dining would be quite comfortable even in winter. The tables and chairs are simple and have obviously been chosen with ‘ease of cleaning’ in mind. It’s casual, informal and ideal for relaxed evening when you’re not out to impress.
Green curry
Our service for the evening was good but not great – there was a mix up with a type of beer and the waitress couldn’t help with making a selection from the wine list, but our meals arrived promptly and the staff seemed friendly without being intrusive. We were happy with our own company and not being disturbed every five minutes with “would you like another beer” was a good thing.

Ultimately the Satay Hut is a restaurant that must be judged as a whole rather than on the sum of its parts. You can get better Malay / Thai food elsewhere and you can find more attentive and informed service. You can also get better décor elsewhere and your meal won’t be the cheapest you’ve ever had. But when taken as a whole and in the context of the South Bank food precinct, the Satay Hut is a great place to have a night out, and is a card worth keeping up your sleeve.

Satay Hut
Bar and restaurant

Shop 3, Little Stanley Street
South Bank map
07 3846 6600

http://www.satayhut.com.au/

Fully licensed

Visited on Sunday, 11 January 2009

Satay Hut Bar and Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Category: INNER CITY, RESTAURANT |
nick | 10/01/2009
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The Regatta Street Café Review

The Regatta hotel is one of my most disliked places in Brisbane. At night it’s full of CUBs and uni students all trying to be too cool for school. The DJs play rubbish and the women dress like Paris Hilton. The Regatta also has the Boatshed Restaurant, a place I’ve eaten at several times and I don’t have many kind words for the food it churns out either.
The BLATImagine my surprise then, when I found myself truly enjoying breakfast at The Regatta’s Street Café this week. This meal alone has removed The Regatta from my “avoid at all costs” list and has secured it as a great place to go for breakfast if you’re in West Brisbane, and you can’t be arsed dragging yourself to Paddington / New Farm / West End.

Breakfast is served from 7am and the menu is compact but covers the essentials. There’s a few light options based around fresh fruit or muesli and yoghurt (under $9) and a good selection of egg focused dishes including omelettes, Eggs Benedict and the standard eggs and bacon ($10 – $15). They also do pancakes with bacon and maple syrup ($11), which is a personal favourite and hard to find on a menu in its own right.

We settled on The Regatta ($15, aka big breakfast) and a BLAT – Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado and Tomato on Turkish bread ($10) as well as an orange juice and cappuccino (both $3.50).

Service was excellent and hassle-free. Our drinks and meals appeared promptly and when we ordered sauce on the side it actually appeared in its own small vessel on the side of the plate, as opposed to a puddle on the plate which has the potential to launch me into a murderous rage and otherwise cock up my morning.

The Regatta was a good-sized plate of two eggs served anyway-you-want, bacon, blanched tomato, sausages, toast, mushrooms, a hash brown and a pile of rocket. In this instance there were only two smallish rashers of bacon, but after you’ve eaten everything else on the plate I doubt you’ll be complaining. Of particular note were the mushrooms, which were large and cooked just right; another way to put me in a good mood.
The Regatta
The BLAT on Turkish was also great and had a decent pile of bacon. The bread was fresh and crisp and the only way I could fault it was the inclusion of both mayonnaise and BBQ sauce, which made the avocado difficult to distinguish. Next time I’d request the BBQ sauce be omitted. If you’re feeling especially hungry you can also add extra bacon / sausages / toast / mushrooms / whatever to your meal and the prices are disclosed on the menu.

The Street Café is an accurate name as the venue is alfresco only, and sits on the Sylvan Road side of the Regatta. There was no music playing while we were there, and you could comfortably sit back with a paper and watch the morning’s happenings on Coro drive. The Street Café also does lunch and dinner, but I doubt I’d be able to write a favourable review after 7pm regardless of what was served up.

Breakfast at the Street Café is, in my opinion, the best thing the Regatta has going for it. I’ll definitely be going back.

The Regatta Hotel’s Street Cafe

543 Coronation Drive
Toowong map
07 3871 9595

http://www.regattahotel.com.au/eat_st_arnou_street_cafe.html

Fully licensed

Visited on Friday, 9 January 2009

Category: CAFE, WESTERN SUBURBS |
nick | 06/01/2009
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Belvedere On Main Review

French scroll breadMt Tamborine, 90 mins south of Brisbane, is one of those fail-safe places you can take an overseas guest to experience a slice of Australia. The views are fantastic; there are heaps of places to try local wines, cheese and other produce; and there’s enough art and curiosity dealers to find a souvenir for even the most discerning tourist.

When you get tired of the scenery and are done looking for keepsakes there’s also quite a range of restaurants within the greater Mt Tamborine region, and I recently called into Belvedere on Main in North Tamborine.

We strolled in unannounced at 7pm on a Saturday night, and the staff were happy to arrange a table for us. Belvedere on Main serves modern and traditional cuisine by its own account and the menu is quite a good selection of predominantly meat and seafood dishes. You’re unlikely to see anything you haven’t tried before, but in my opinion a favourite done well is still something to savour. The styling is casual with a bit of a ‘30s and ‘40s feel. Pictures depicting swing dancing adorn the walls and a faux tin roof lines the underside of the ceiling. Unfortunately the style has not been applied consistently, and there are certificates displaying the restaurant’s participation in local events spread throughout that break the appearance.

Starters are a choice of breads, a soup of the day, and oysters served three ways. We kicked off with soup ($8.95) and some French scroll bread ($5.95), both of which were very good. The soup was pumpkin and orange, served quite thinly for a pumpkin based soup, and the orange added a refreshing tang to the end of each mouthful. Our French scrolls were stuffed full of butter, cream cheese, garlic, and chives, and were very enjoyable. These did not last long.
Belvedere On Main
The wait for our mains was noticeable and it was curious that the service during our meal seemed to fluctuate between excellent and poor. For example, a table was prepared for our little party without a booking but we were not given the opportunity to order drinks when we sat down. It took quite awhile for the waitress to reappear to take our orders for drinks and meals, but when she did she was very friendly, personable and did not seem in any way hurried.

When our mains did arrive we had to send a steak back as it was clearly overcooked. This was handled without a problem by the waitress, but it was disappointing that it had to happen at all. I’ve written before about steak and I’m beginning to get the impression that too many restaurants have become blasé and think they can charge $30 for a piece of meat that isn’t up to scratch.

I ordered marinara pasta ($26.95) which was delicious and chock full of seafood. Of particular note were the scallops, which were very large and still had the roe attached. We also had rosemary lamb ($26.95), which was oven braised on a merlot jus, but again it was ultimately disappointing as the meat was quite chewy. It felt like Belvedere on Main was not only alternating between excellent and poor service, but also between excellent and poor meals. The menu also features duck ($29.90), BBQ chilli chicken ($26.95), and several other seafood options.

A further curiosity of the evening was the wine list. You would think that in a place like Mt Tamborine (which has a winery on every corner) that local wines would feature heavily on the menu, but alas they do not. The only local wine on the menu was a chilled red-the name of which I’ve forgotten. When I queried the waitress about this omission, she seemed almost embarrassed and mentioned they were ‘reviewing’ what was on offer. We ended up with a 2007 Grant Burge Hillcot merlot from the Barossa ($31.50), which was very good and a bottle that I would order again.

Belvedere On Main is one of those places that gets just enough things right that you feel bad about making criticisms. It’s as if they were trying hard but had momentary lapses, all of which brought the place down from good to very average. Some of our dishes were very good, particularly the soup and the marinara, but a lack of consistency ultimately means that I’ll be trying somewhere else next time.

Belvedere On Main
Modern and traditional cuisine

43 Main Street
North Tamborine map
07 5545 4063

http://www.belvedereonmain.com/

Fully licensed

Visited on Saturday, 3 January 2009

Category: BEYOND BRISBANE, RESTAURANT |
nick | 02/01/2009
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Kingsfood Chinese Restaurant Review

Sunnybank is without a doubt the place to go in Brisbane if you’re looking for traditional Asian food. There are more restaurants, cafes and grocers covering all the bases than anywhere else in the greater Brisbane region. I’m always happy when one of my friends suggests a meal in Sunnybank as I know it will be an opportunity to try something new and different.

Traditional Asian cooking is still something you have to go looking for in Australia and it’s quite different to what you would get at your local Chinese take-away. Gone is the Mongolian lamb and Shanghai beef, no more prawn crackers and fortune cookies. Instead you can expect to see things like chicken feet, jellyfish and pork ears on the menu which seem very odd when you’re an Aussie. Why would someone want to chomp on a chicken’s bony foot when you can eat the breast meat? Trying to explain how this can be considered a delicacy is even more of a challenge if you’ve been brought up on steak.
pork chop, gee lan and ham egg
The problem with traditional Asian cooking and the barrier that it creates for many Australians, myself included, is that it seems to be all the weird bits of an animal instead of the choicest cuts. Subsequently, most of the Asian take-away restaurants in this country are Australian adaptations of traditional dishes and use parts of the animal that we’re used to and like. It’s easier to adapt to our tastes if you’re trying to run a restaurant than it is to be a purest.

The trick to understanding ‘weird’ Asian cooking requires that you completely change the model by which you appreciate and enjoy food. Western cooking by and large uses ingredients that have a particular taste that is enhanced by the cooking process. Other ingredients are combined in the meal to give a sensation of flavour. Producing an enjoyable and memorable flavour is the end goal of the cooking process, everything else is second.

Much traditional Asian cooking is approached from an entirely different perspective where texture rather than flavour is the priority. The selection of ingredients and the cooking process is designed to give the diner a texture sensation, rather than a taste sensation. Try getting your head around that! This is the reason that chicken feet, pork ears and other weird things figure so prominently in traditional cooking. They are delicacies for their texture, not for their taste.

This brings me to Kings Food Taiwanese restaurant, situated in Sunnybank and considered by my Taiwanese friends to be one of the best places in Brisbane for traditional Taiwanese food.

Kings Food is in the Market Square complex which houses a stack of restaurants and cafes from all parts of The East. Kings Food is a casual dine-in and take-away restaurant that has both indoor and alfresco dining. The décor is simple, just chairs and tables with no ‘traditional’ artwork, wall hangings or restaurant junk. If you drop in on a Friday evening be prepared for loud, animated conversation in a variety of languages.
beef honeycomb left, pork ears top, dried tofu right
The menu is extensive and covers beef, pork, chicken and seafood cooked in a variety of Taiwanese styles and a number of noodle and noodle soup dishes as well as a couple of Aussie stand-bys like honey chicken and sweet and sour pork ribs if everything else sounds a bit scary. Everything on the menu is under $20 so you can certainly afford to try something new.

We ordered Pork Chop with Rice ($8) and Kingsfood Stir-Fried Ho-Fan ($10). My Taiwanese companion also convinced me to try several cold side dishes including Stewed Beef Honeycomb ($4), Stewed Dried To-Fu ($4) and Stewed Pork Ear ($4).

Kings Food’s drinks list is also pretty good with a wide selection of flavoured Jasmine and Milk based teas as well as frappes and several hot drinks. We settled on Passion fruit Jasmine tea ($3) and a Passion fruit frappe ($3.50), both were great. You’re also welcome to bring your own wine or beer if you want to make a night of it.

Our order arrived in lightning speed and we were both presented with a mountain of food. My Kingsfood consisted of BBQ pork, eggs, carrots, sprouts and onion stir fried with ho-fan noodles (large short-flat rice noodles) and was excellent, however considering the size of the dish it didn’t really have enough variation to hold my interest. It would have been good as something to share but I found it a bit boring on its own. My companion’s pork chop with rice was exactly the opposite and she was greeted with a crumbed crispy pork chop, ham egg, gee-lan, tofu and pork mince rice. We were not expecting such variation based on the description in the menu and I ended up sampling my way through her meal in addition to my own. The pork chop was delicious as was pork mince rice. The ham egg, which is similar to scrambled eggs with chunks of ham, was very good but somehow out of place on the dish, while the gee-lan was crunchy and something that I wish coles and woolies would stock.

Kingsfood stir-fry
Our cold side dish was the interesting part of the meal as I had not previously tried either pork ears or beef honeycomb. Both had been stewed in soy sauce and as such there was very little variation in taste but the point of the dish as I’ve previously described was to highlight the texture of the ingredients. The pork ears were thinly sliced and had a white stripe down the middle which is the cartilage surrounded by the skin. The cartilage is slightly crunchy which is highlighted by the skin which is soft and chewy. Beef honeycomb, while tasting the same has a very different texture and is almost velvety on the tongue. You could clearly see the different layers of the meat.

So where does that leave us? Kings Food Taiwanese restaurant serves authentic Taiwanese and has many things on the menu that you might not have seen before. If you’re the adventurous type I’d strongly encourage you to check it out and be sure to keep the idea of texture over taste in mind while dining. You’ll find yourself appreciating the food from a whole new perspective.

Kings Food
Taiwanese Take-away and Dine-in Restaurant

Market Square Shopping Centre
Cnr McCullough & Mains Rd
Sunnybank map
07 3344 4620

Unlicensed / BYO

Visited on Sunday, 28 December 2008

Kingsfood Chinese Restaurant

Category: RESTAURANT, SOUTH SIDE, TAKE-AWAY |