Friday, April 15, 2011

[Brisbane] Guzman Y Gomez

Guzman Y Gomez
Emporium
1000 Ann Street
Fortitude Valley QLD 4006
P: (07) 3188 1701

Website:
Guzman Y Gomez


Guzman Y Gomez
Takeaway joint with al-fresco seating.

Trio of tacos
Soft tacos, 3 for $10.50

Filling of your choice, black beans and salsa in soft tortilla. My favourite is the spicy chicken guerrero.

Burritos
Burrito $10.50

Spiced and herbed rice, cheddar cheese, black bean, filling of your choice and salsa rolled in soft tortilla.

Black beans slightly hard, They could do with longer cooking times.

Frozen margarita
Frozen margarita $8.50

I love the frozen margarita! It doesn't matter if it came from a pre-mixed cocktail, its strong enough for me and crazily sweet which I like.

I still miss El Polo Loco in the US :-(. I just wish at least Taco Bell would come. There is Mochachos which originates from South Africa in Westfield Garden City which I haven't try. I just couldn't go past Hanaichi. Think I'll make an effort next time.

[Brisbane] Soman, not for the faint-hearted

Soman
18 Sunny Ct Shop 22
Sunnybank, 4109

Spicy duck
Duck pieces (head to tail -_- ") in spicy sauce

Steamed spareribs in glutinous rice
Steamed spare-ribs in gluinous rice

The only three or four items on the menu not spicy. You can probably tell from the picture the glutinous rice was not even cooked.

Pumpkin in egg yolk sauce
Pumpkin in salted duck egg yolk sauce

Steam&fried mantou
Steamed and deep-fried mantou

The dishes were all pretty average. Spicy was VERY spicy and the dishes were swimming in oil (except the mantou and the steamed spare-ribs of course). I was gagging after 4 bites. Tons of food left and had no intention of doggy-bagging the leftovers.

Having said that, the flavours were not bad, it will be agreeable to those who like spicy and can stomach super oily food.

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

[Brisbane] Kim Thanh on Hardgrave Rd, Westend

Kim Thanh
Address: 93 Hardgrave Road West End Q 4101
Phone: 07 3844 4954

Opening Days: Monday to Sunday Public Holidays (Fr. R:5:30pm)

Web: http://www.kimthanhrestaurant.com.au/kimthanh/default.htm

I can't believe its taken me this long to write about Kim Thanh.

They have been operating for 20 years, obviously got a winning recipe in hand.

Kim Thanh Westend
Located at the far end of the complex, it's hard for me to go past Trang's aromatic herbal duck noodle soup.

Been to Quan Thanh probably twice, not really impressed.

We walked up to Kim Thanh eons ago saw the huge dark dining room with little patrons. That really put us off considering we went past very busy Trang and Quan Thanh. We had no clue of Brisbane dining scene then.

Its not until I saw Gastronomy Gal's post on Kim Thanh that made me decided to give it a go.

GG did a fantastic write-up detailing the restaurant's history, personnel and their approach to food. It certainly sparked my interest.

On the day we went, for lunch, there was only one server (probably the owner himself) manning the entire huge dining room. Fortunately, there were only four tables of us. Still, he was running around the place like a headless chicken ALL the time.

Grilled pork vermicelli@Kim Thanh
Above is grilled pork vermicelli salad. The grilled pork is delicious and nicely marinated but a tad less than lukewarm. I understand restaurant wanting to part cook some food ahead but they just need to make sure they reheat thoroughly. I would have sent this back if the pork was tough.

Beef vermicelli salad@Kim Thanh
We ordered grilled pork vermicelli but came grilled beef version. It was sent back and promptly replaced by the pork version. I must say the beef version looked and smell incredible! You can see from the picture the beef was still pink, I bet it was perfectly cooked. But alas, we don't eat beef. Pass.

Duck nodle soup@Kim Thanh
Duck noodle soup

I half expected the duck noodle soup to look similar to Trang's but instead came a bowl of clear soup with some roast duck pieces drowned in a sea of chives and green onions. I was disappointed, who wants to eat roast duck simmered to death in soup :-(.

I needn't have to worry about putting bland muscle pieces into my mouth. One sip of the soup and I am in duck heaven! The soup was clearly made from lots of duck bones, probably from unsold duck from previous day but boy did it pack a punch. The duck pieces was moist and still flavourful but I hated the chives though. It would have been just fine with some green onion toppings and lettuce leaves.

SaltnPeppa calamari@KimThanh
Salt and pepper calamari

The serving was huge, calamari was tender but batter was a let down, its was soft and soggy.

Springrolls@Kim Thanh
Springroll was tasty, again not heated through. But its ok as there is no taste of it being previously frozen stuff. If they heat them further, they would have been burnt.

Hardgrave Rd
Ecclectic cafe on the Hardgrave stretch.

It would be a toss between Trang and Kim Thanh if we go to Hardgrave Rd from now on, no longer being a no-brainer on Trang.

Monday, April 04, 2011

[Brisbane] Mos Burger arrives in Brisbane!

Mos Burger has finally arrived!

Its found its first Aussie home in Sunnybank Plaza. Next to HSBC by the roundabout.

Oh, it's a Japanese burger chain if you don't know it already.

Opened on 1 April and now having a trial sale, so only six items were on the menu. Of these five were beef burgers done in different ways like, vegetables with thousand island dressing, cheese burger, the classic Mos with meat ragu sauce, I can't remember the other two. And then there is the ever popular chicken teriyaki. My favourite rice burger with seafood patty is on the menu but unavailable at the moment.

Since readers are irritated with pixelated face, I will leave the photos untouched from now on.

So if your face is shown in my photo and you want me to take it down, please drop me a line.

Mos burger@Sunnybank

Saturday morning at 1100ish, second day of trial sale, there was a line but its moving fast. Just that there is a wait for the food. We ordered chicken teriyaki set with chips and iced lemon tea and a beef burger with salad. Chips was hopelessly soggy and drink was bland but the burgers were very good. The food came after about 20 minutes wait. Bearable.

The burgers are smaller than Macca's so it might not be enough for the average Aussie. You might need to order two. But with burgers this good (if they keep up the standard), I don't think there will be any complaints.

Mos Burger Sunnybank
There is also an outside seating area. I can't wait for the rice burgers to come on! Though I am somewhat disappointed with the very limited menu compared to Mos Burger in other countries.