[Brisbane] Decadent high tea at Club Sofitel

Sofitel
249 Turbot Street
Brisbane QLD 4000

High tea available daily from 2pm to 4pm. AUD38 per person.

Host at Club Sofitel located on level 30.

Gastronomic delights presented in an artistic purple tower.

We were served 3 person's share of food. Princess is 4 (and under) and got complimentary food.

City skyline view from level 30.


Bubbly is included with refills, not sure how many times though.

Princess get a glass of juice.


High tea is not completed with a pot of tea.

We were served Ronnefeldt English Breakfast tea. Tasted funny. Macam air longkang, eeyer.

Top left to right: chocolate cup filled with custard and strawberries, cream swan puff and Opera gateau.

Bottom left to right: pistachio macaron, cupcake topped with pashmark (persian fairy floss) and lemon meringue tart.

Savoury, we have sandwiches (egg salad and ham & fig jam) and also scones (plain and raisin) with cream and strawberry jam.

All pastry items were delectable except the puff which is a bit dry and the scones were stone cold.

Especially good was the Opera gateau. Big King ate 2 pieces despite bursting from all the other food. Princess ate most of her share @_@.

I look forward to trying out other high tea offerings in Brisbane.

[Brisbane] Freestyle Tout

Freestlye Tout
Emporium
50/1000 Ann Street
Fortitude Valley, 4006


White Chocolate Raspberry Brioche Dumplings with liqueur raspberries, vanilla bean ice cream & your choice of white/dark chocolate dipping sauce

Brioche dumplings were a tad oily and a bit of sugar overkill. Just look at that thick sugar coating. I managed to pry some away and got my fingers oily in the process. An appetite turn-off moments with messy, sticky and oily fingers.

However, the filling was hot and tasty and oozed out when you bite into the dumplings. Princess loved them but left me even messier (possible??) and this time the fillings and sauce got onto my palms and then trickle down the arm. Worse when she requested MORE MORE MORE chocolate sauce! Walao!! Smoke coming out of me ears by now.

Orzzzzz, loys of bad words buzzing in the head. Calm, calm, amitaba. Gosh, while eating also need to chant %$@#. Si beh kanasiao.

Baked Cheesecake with white chocolate sauce & honeycomb semifreddo (gluten free option available)

Cheesecake has a good creamy texture but tasteless?!? Forgot to put sugar?

Not a big problem as the chocolate sauce is sticky and sweet and for you to dunk your cheesecake in. The pairing is good. I don't wanna say awesome. Later people suan me again, lu ho chia, wa bo ho chia.

Semifreddo was creamy and er ......... creamy =]. I don't wanna say again, later people say lu bo ho chia, wa ho chia, lu beh hiau chia.

All in all, a nice dessert cafe (not many of these around) to while away a free arvo.

After eaten these lovely desserts (哈,才怪), the tummy was full till the next day. 其實都不消化這次肯定撐死又肥死. 賠死($$$)氣死(wasted calories).

Both desserts are AUD14.90.

這可是間西人人氣店. Wa beh hiau chia lor.

[Brisbane] Sunnybank Oriental Restaurant

Sunnybank Oriental
Sunnybank Shopping Centre
68 Mains Rd
Sunnybank 4109 QLD


Claypot herbal and rice wine chicken


Sweet and sour fish

Plus soup of the day, plate of vegetables (garlic/oyster sauce) and plain rice made up the set menu for two for AUD38.90.

The place was a bit quiet for a Sunday night, only 4 or 6 tables were occupied.

Princess was happy with her white rice alone. Go figure.

[Brisbane] Nudo's on Mary

Nudo's on Mary
62 Mary St
City, 4000


Only al-fresco seatings available.

The place was deserted when we arrived, around 13 15 for lunch.

What, no crowd? The food must be so so, I thought to myself. The 'good food is where the crowd is' sensor is ON.

But I was super hungry and parking was tricky.

OK, let's give it a chance before my legs bring me over to Jackpot/the Korean place nearby.

The menu was short and looked very similar to your neighbourhood takeaway.

Disappointed, I couldn't make up my mind as to what to order.

Now the chefs has won a gold medal in some cookery contests and lauded with their innovative and tasty dish. Maybe there were only 3 contestants (hehe), no no, my bad, just joking.

Decided to stick to our all time favourite.

Char kway teow (stir fried broad rice noodles)

One taste and I was smiling. Decidedly a better version of all the Malaysian/Chinese restaurants (here in BrisVegas) I have been to, this one is full of wok hei (breathe of wok) and chock full of ingredients including seafood, chicken and lup cheong (chinese sausage). Seasoning was also to my palate, not too salty nor bland.

I rate it very high though I cook a mean fried kway teow too.

With high anticipation, my order came.

@_@, very big portion, as you can see from the photo, the salad covered the noodles!

Noodles with shredded chicken and jellyfish

This is perhaps the most interesting item on the menu. It is normally two separate dishes, tossed noodles and chicken & jellyfish & cucumber salad. It's a novelty to marry the two.

The noodles was done to my taste too, springy and just the right seasoning. The shredded chicken tender and moist (though it is chicken breast), I believe, the chicken rice will not be too bad too.

Only gripes, the jellyfish smell a bit and not too crunchy.

All in all, still a value for money dish.

I can recommend this too if you can stomach jellyfish.

While we were eating, the chef was cooking curry paste in the kitchen. The smell wafted to our noses and kind of whet the appetite. The paste smell delicious and I made a mental note to try the curry next time.

[Redcliffe] Morgans Seafood

Morgans Seafood
Bird Of Passage Parade
Scarborough boat Harbour, Redcliffe QLD 4020
(07)3203 4592
Website: http://www.morganseafood.com.au/


Morgans seafood market and takeaway


Seafood counters


Takeaway counter with selection of seafood


Sydney's Coffin Bay Oysters from Oysters Bar


Fisherman's basket/variety pack

Selection include pineapple fritters, calamari, surimi stick, vegetable springroll, fish bites and chips.

Hake, bug tails and scallops (underneath the fish fillet)

The place was super busy on sunday and our order took around 45 minutes! The drive from Brisbane to Redcliffe, though not really far, took a little over an hour.

Outdoor seating was plentiful but a clean freak will probably, well, freak out. I scrubbed the tables and chairs with tissues doused with hand sanitizer. I almost fainted when the tissues turned BLACK instantly upon contact.

Not a pleasant experience for me, especially when the fish smell a bit and Princess refused to eat after one bite.

If you are hankering after some decent seafood alfresco style, I highly recommend you head to Mooloolaba. Though the chairs and tables (either at the deck above Mooloolaba fish market or those outside Fisheries on the Spit) looked tatty and old and scruffy but they are surprisingly clean. You might have guessed I did try wiping/scrubbing the tables and chairs before sitting down.

There are better ways to spend a lazy Sunday.

[Brisbane] Neway Karaoke Restaurant

Newway Karaoke Restaurant
Shop 30/358 Main Road
Sunnybank, 4109
(next to KFC)

This is where we ended up after being turned away at Sunny Court (on a saturday night).

Sunny Court (which specialises in Sichuan cuisine and steamboat) was so busy, hardly fit in with current economic situation. Other restaurants were not doing so great. One day we went into Oriental (sunday night, should have been extremely busy), there were only 4 or 5 tables occupied.

Anyway, the restaurant was quite small with no more than 15 tables. But the menu is extensive with specials scribbled on paper plastered all over the wall and a 'Today Specials' board. Headache for first time patrons. So many choices, what to order??

Sweet and sour pork rib rice set (from today special board and comes with a drink and soup of the day)


Hokkien fried rice

We also ordered herbal chicken hotpot which is difficult to photograph as its just a pot of boiling stock spiked with wine and a plate of raw chicken pieces. Mmm, not very nice-looking.

I actually enjoyed the food but Big King commented the place has this musty smell which is really off-putting so we haven't been back since.

There's still too many other new places to try nearby anyway.

Air ticket booking woes

An expensive birthday present I gave myself this year.

Departure of AUD200 booking fees with Flight Centre.

Having been disconnected with the 'real' world for what feel like an eternity (after Princess was born and I stopped working), it has made me totally naive and gullible like a 15 year-old (I mean the brain function not my looks obviously).

I let my guard down when people are friendly and helpful. I used to be suspicious about people's intentions as soon as they act nice. What to do? I was in this 'people eat people, dog eat dog, people not people, people are ghost' (direct translate in Chinese) world. The protective sensors/radar were very strong in the blood-y (not trying to swear here, direct traslate from Chinese 血淋淋) world.

How hard is it to go into travel agents or use the internet nowadays to book a ticket? You would say, aiyoo peanuts lah.

My case of looking for flights back to Brunei:-

Case 1: Internet booking

Search for fare with Royal Brunei Airlines online. The result is 'No fares found'. Eh? WTH??

Search with travel agent and travel site like Expedia online. The results came back AUD4xxx and above but when tried to reserve, no seats available on my chosen dates. Oh well, tough luck.

Case 2: Travel agents

So I thought I would try my luck with going in person into travel agents. Jetset and Harvey gave me some numbers AUD$1,2XX. But when I ask them to do me a quote, the reply being, 'oh I can't seem to be able to quote, the system wouldn't allow me to and the flights looked pretty full.' Huh, like that also can?? WTH?? Don't want any business issit?

So enter Flight Centre (another branch from previously, obviously), wow, extremely nice and friendly staff, able to quote me AUD$1,5XX but heck, system say tickets had been sold out at that price. The next available price is AUD2,225 per ONE ADULT. I pondered for a while and thinking someone else is picking up the tab and the staff seemed nice and sincere, I made a booking.

And was told after confirmation of booking that I need to pay a booking fee. WTH?? By now, my energy has been drained and the brain fuzzy with all those episodes. Without thinking, I paid the fee.

Received feedback today that those tickets I booked were too expensive. Need to find alternative. What? Singapore Airlines all booked out the week and after??? WTH?? Then Big King tried calling directly to RBA today, we were told we've been taken for a ride! WTH?? The quote from RBA is only AUD2,8XX for THREE persons (2 adults and a child).

Now the reason I didn't call RBA in the first place is because the lines are FOREVER engaged. You can't even get through. When the call is finally connected, you were forever being put on hold. It's a miracle Big King got through to an agent this morning.

Obviously I cancelled Flight Centre booking straightaway and lost my booking fee which is non-refundable but transferable. I don't think I'll be doing anymore business with them even if I have money to burn, hah.

A very expensive lesson learned.

Sigh..the world is still ugly.......

Looks like a case for Office of Fair Trading.

[Brisbane] Roast duck noodle soup, Vietnam Corner

I have probably blogged Vietnam Corner to death by now, much like my favourite bakery, Chouquette. It's no secret that it's our favourite restaurant in Brissie and our fall back default when we couldn't decide where to eat.

This pic I took looked too good, I couldn't resist to show it.

Roast duck noodle soup

Princess can eat half the portion (noodle only) by herself! It's a big bowl!

I crave for certain food every now and then, most recently it was egg tart.

Good thing there's ready-rolled frozen puff pastry. Just half an hour, you can sink your teeth into piping hot egg tart.

Recipes have been written before. I must say, my version is not a remarkably fantastic one but it's enough to satiate my cravings.

[Brisbane] EKKA 2009

This would be the last year Princess get to go to EKKA for free (4 yr and under), bo pian, I have to drag my reluctant fat ass there this year.

Anything involving masses of crazy crowds and hot hot sun is not my thing.

As soon as we pass the entrance, there were a number of rides. Of course Princess wanted to have a go.



Went in search of food after a round of rides.

The famous Ekka dog (frankfurt) on a stick, battered and dipped in ketchup. AUD4.50 or was it 6? a pop, rip-off! But it's an EKKA tradition. I gave up after 2 teeny bites >_<, bleh, eeyer, the taste 'kiasilang'.

We then wandered to International Food Village and found ourselves eating paella, choc brownie and curry puff. Again, they tasted 'kiasilang' :$.

After an unremarkable lunch, we proceeded to see displays of fruits and veg (yawn), some business and Queensland Government display pavilion (double yawn) but as soon as I stepped inside Woolworths Fresh Food Pavilion, I got excited and wandering eagerly from stall to stall, sampling along the way.

There were all sorts of cooked food (gourmet, yay!) on offer like, braised lamb shanks, woodfired oven pizza, gelato, Greek yogurt, Queensland deli and lots of wine booths.

Very exciting for me but boring for the little one and Big King. Heck, at least the place is air-conditioned with plenty of seats. I left reluctantly to go to show bag pavilions. Came out empty-handed, rubbish merchandise.

Too hot and tired to explore further, we called it a day.

Suddenly I look forward to next year's Ekka :-)

Sportsgirl Accesories

Picked up a few items on Sportsgirl accessories sale rack. They are meant for little sis except the earrrings.

I find Sportsgirl accessories better made and designed than Diva's or other chain clothing stores' accessories. They are slightly pricier too but you can always grab a bargain during sale.

Went into Flight Centre to enquire about fares flying home. Encountered two unprofessional staff there. One ignored me, the other was unfriendly (throughout the time she served me) and gave me dirty looks when I said I didn't want to book there and then and wanted to have a think first.

I even heard them exchanging scath remarks about an old lady (after she left) who came in earlier, trying to get some advice on spending in NZ, traveller's cheques or visa debit or forex.

Gosh how unprofessional they were, slagging off other customer in front of me. I gave them both beady eye when I approached because of the old lady episode (for god's sake, have some heart!), so I guess the rude treatment for me!

The other girl (only 2 girls there), jumped off her seat, threw the earphone onto the desk after finishing a call, saying in a loud exasperated voice to the girl attending to me,'can you believe it, that was my second call!!!!'

They've been open only for an hour. Already, the girls were complaining. Wow, such attitude! I pity the customers.

Irresponsible, rude and lazy people get on my nerve. It's worse because I can't conceal my feelings. My face always reflect what I feel. For that, I am a terrible liar.

Bleh, that will be the last they see of me. Good for me and better for them (less work).

[Baking] Caramel cashew nut tartlet

I have an ex-colleague, Teresa, who's an ardent cook and baker.

She used to make these little nut tartlets which I like very much.

I missed those little treats of hers so I attempted to make some.

I used store bought sweet tartlet cases (12 for about AUD6.99) and unroasted, unsalted cashew nut.

First roast the cashew nut in the oven for about 10 to 12 minutes. Then cook butterscoth sauce (sugar, butter, honey, teeny weeny salt), chuck in the roasted cashew nut, coat well.

Fill the tartlet and bake in oven for 10 minutes at 180 degree celcius.

Those ready-made tartlet cases (comes in savoury and sweet) are very handy to have in the pantry. You can whip up a chocolate tart (just melted chocolate and store bought whipped cream, voila!), lemon/passion fruit curd (just fill the tart with ready-made or homemade curd, voila!) or fill with whipped cream and fruits, all done in no time.

Buy from good delis.

Pies from Chef's Fine Food

I am still alive and kicking, in case you were wondering.

I was in a school-search frenzy since the beginning of last month.

Princess is suppose to attend prep school next year (not compulsory though). But to get into the school's year one, you have a better chance if you attended it's prep class.

I called around the private schools in vicinity (within 10 mile radius), there were some 15-20 of them (!?!!). Yeah, THAT many. I called up several and gave up, ALL of them FULL. Apparently 99.99999% of parents started to enrol their babies in private schools from BIRTH!!??!! WTH???!!?? I suppose they double, triple, quadruple, centenialruple (whatever) their child. So no chance if you act late, like me.

I mean what's with these people, pfffft. Having just arrived here 2 years ago and zilch friends here, this enrolment frenzy had done my head in. And I had absolutely no idea, no clues about it.

And there were state schools within spitting distance of each other and all of them under catchment management plan. I mean, what a waste of resources with each of them having own swimming pool, own resource centre/library, own fancy hall (some million dollar investment from government stimulus package), own huge sports ground. Waste of taxpayers money. Individual school grounds are huge and all single story building, hence cannot accommodate so many students, as a result need A LOT of these individual schools to cater to all.

OK I can hear you snigger with the thought, 'so small meh, how small wor.'

Two examples, from my extensive search on the schools' website, one had 87 students from prep to Year 7 and another had some 102 from prep to Year 7. And some schools claimed to be proud at managing some 400+ students. HAHAHA, a joke right. But of course, compared to the school with 87 students, kakaka.

The state school within our catchment was apparently a dumping ground for children with refugee parents, single parents and certain abilities challenged children (not that I have anything against these people). Apparently there was this forum which say that because these children comes from 'very special' and dysfuntional background, a lot of the child develop harsh attitude towards women/girl and there were bouts of episodes of bullying/racism/general rude attitudes in the school. Now I don't know how true, but having read all these, would you still even want to consider the school *shudder*.

But I have enrolled her in two other nearby schools, one guaranteed, one still waiting. Hopefully we will get the school we desire. Fingers crossed (very very hard).

Oh, I am supposed to be writing about pies >.<.

Assorted pies from Janpowerhouse market

Princess and I especially like the curried scallops pie and love the chicken burgundy pie. We didn't think much of the pork and prawn rolls, tasted a bit weird. Big King didn't like any of those. Tsk, the man is hard to please.

These pies were chock full of ingredients, they are very good value at $6 a pop.

The stall also do a brisk trade of its pate.

It's worth checking out if you ever pop by Janpowerhouse market in New Farm.

[Brisbane] Hello! Kyochon

KyoChon
Shp3/ 581 Beenleigh Rd
Sunnybank Hills
QLD 4109

Utterly disappointed with my lunch at Ryutaro, I drove over to Beenleigh Road to change my food luck.

KyoChon is a fried chicken chain shop from Korea.

I was so excited when I saw the teeny tiny ad in local free Chinese newspaper. Must try! Fried chicken from Korea? Hmmm, I wonder how they compare to my favourite karaage and spicy KFC fried chicken (KFC in Oz sucks).

menu


Soy marinated chicken


Spicy marinated chicken

I always get half soy marinated and half spicy ($28, happy hour 12-16.30 $20). These Korean fried chicken were indeed very good. No wonder they had a even bigger market share in Korea than KFC. These are really finger licking good.

My favourite has got to be the soy marinated. Don't be fooled by the normal looking fried chicken exterior. The meat were well marinated and reeked of garlic (I love!) with a spicy crunchy coating! Wow, the flavour packed a punch.

Your order will come with a free pickled daikon (radish). I noticed a rice cooker by the side of the fridge. I suppose they serve cooked rice for free too as there is no rice on the menu.

Ahhhhh, I heart fried chicken.

[Brisbane] Ryutaro Japanese Food

Ryutaro
Sunnybank Plaza Foodcourt




Spicy ramen with chicken teriyaki AUD7.50

An impulse order when I had no idea what to eat.

I wished I hadn't even considered it.

I waited for an eternity (40 minutes) for a bowl of mushy noodles (I wonder if I look like I needed denture?), bland soup with chilli flakes. I don't even want to start on the chicken ............

Determined to change my food luck, I then drove over to Sunnybank Hills to get my favourite fried chicken.

[Brisbane] Landmark Restaurant, Sunnybank

Landmark
Sunnybank Plaza
Shop 101
Mains Rd
Sunnybank 4109 QLD

Dinner with Big King's colleagues at Landmark Chinese Restaurant at Sunnybank Plaza Shopping Centre.

Do not be put off by Chinese joint located in a suburb's shopping centre. This place is very popular with the locals with queues forming even on a weekday.

This place serves yum cha and lunch and dinner. Though I must say it's not my favourite place for yum cha even with the novelty of trolley carts.

We had the mudcrab/lobster set menu for six persons. Lobster was chosen for ease of consumption.

Lobster in spring onion sauce


Fried chicken with crispy garlic


Greens with century egg, salted egg and the usual egg


Steamed fish topped with pickled olive leaves

I have never had pickled olive leaves before but they tasted nice with the fish.


Fish maw with assorted vegetables

The above were default dishes for the set menu for 4 persons. For 6 persons, you get to choose two more dishes from a choice of eight (bottom menu pic). If you can't read Chinese but want to order from the menu, do ask the wait staff to explain.

We chose to have clams and pork.


Steamed clams with mung bean vermicelli and garlic

I like this dish the best, the clams were sweet and plump and the vermicelli was very tasty as they had soaked up the sweet juices of the clam.


Pork in OK sauce

Now I haven't a clue what this OK sauce is, it tasted sweet and savoury. Scattered round the plate was some canned fruits. Weird.

The meal ended with a fruit plate (watermelon soaked in syrup) and a sweet soup (sweet barley soup with eggs). I find the idea of eggs in sweet soup off-putting.

[Gold Coast] Absynthe Bakery

Absynthe Bakery
Circle On Cavill
Shop 16, 3184 Surfers Paradise Boulevarde
Surfers Paradise, 4217

After lunch at Kimchee House, we crossed the road to Circle on Cavill.

We aim to have coffee and cake at Absynthe Bakery.

Heard so much good things about this French bakey on Gold Coast.

Ordered 'today's special':-cup of coffee and strawberry mascarpone tart/vanilla cake for AUD7.95 plus a mini croissant.

Mmmm *cough* *clear throat*, those bread and hot pies looks OK, I suppose I might give them a try if I pass by next time XD.

Boarding a boat during winter on a full tummy is a BAD idea.

Sea was rough and when we go out into the sea, we were against the waves.

Oh my gosh, I got very sea-sick and everything I had since morning all went into a sick bag >_<.

The passengers on the boat were a sight, there were people who were even sicker than me and did no less than 5!!! sick bags, some even rolled around on the floor and others lie flat everywhere.

But it was a fruitful day, the very friendly whales swam all around us and did their jumping shows.

The crews were very friendly and helpful handing out sea-sick tablets and sick bags, pat people's back, threw away their sick bags.

Despite being sea-sick, it was still a worthwhile thing to do. It's once in a lifetime thing, only because I wouldn't do it next time XD.

[Gold Coast] Kimchee House

Kimchee House
Shop 11
Lido Arcade
Surfers Paradise Boulevard

Bro-in-law and wife were in Brissie at the start of whale-watching season.

Off we went to Gold Coast to look-see, let them do their tourist stuff around Surfers Paradise and catch 'Mahi Mahi' after lunch time for our whale-watching session.

Before boarding the vessel, we had a simple Korean meal at Kimchee House.

BIG MISTAKE No.1!

The undigested food later all came up in 'Mahi Mahi' *shudder*. No more boat trip for me. Not even cruise. No no.

Lunch special menu

Kimchi fried rice

Pork bibimbap

Food was quite bland and I had to add quite a lot of chilli sauce to go with my rice.

After lunch, we walked to Circle on Cavill for some coffee and cake.

BIG MISTAKE NO.2!

For it all came back up too in 'Mahi Mahi'.

Orz...

[Mooloolaba] Mooloolaba Fish Market

Mooloolaba Fish Market
Parkyn Parade
Mooloolaba

If you ever make a trip to the Sunshine Coast, do make a stop at Mooloolaba Fish Market. It's a fish retail shop cum fish and chip takeaway. Or you can opt for the Grill upstairs which serves up fancier seafood dishes.

We ordered from the takeaway counter and had our seafood upstairs in the deck overlooking the river.

Left to right: Grilled oysters in mornay sauce, reef fish and chips, scallops and calamari

Especially good were the reef fish (special on that day with chips for AUD7.95, bargain!) and calamari.

Mooloolaba's beach is worth a visit and there is a row of shops and restaurants right on beachfront on The Esplanade.

The place gets very busy during school holidays as mooloolaba is famous as a surfers' beach so book ahead.

Rot in hell

Bumped my car yesterday!

Rot in hell!

可惡該死的無良車主/driver
祝事事倒楣,不得好死

***********

BLACK SUNDAY, yesterday was.

What a letdown and utter disappointment last night's Masterchef Australia's finale was.

Next season they should just called themselves MASTERCOOK!

Does the market need another '101 ways with roasts and potatoes (with occasional 2 vegs thrown in)' cookbook?????

Or another neighbourhood 'homestyle cafe'??????

Die hard fan of winner can't wait to lay their hands on the winner's cookbook???? On roasts and potatoes ALL swimming in anything but BROWN sauce/gravy??? Then again there might not be any roasts as roasts are BROWN!!!!

Pale looking aka NOT BROWN roasts on cover hastily put together and anything but BROWN roast potatoes on the cover sounds enticing???

Come-on man, be serious!! Those fans must really be utterly desperate indeed!!!

I am sure the winner is a nice and jolly good person, I must be clear here I am not criticizing/attacking the winner's character or dignity, just letdown with the show's gimmicks and tactics. Utterly ridiculous.

I don't have a particular favourite contestant on the Masterchef show. I enjoyed watching the challenges and masterclasses but even last night's finale and the one episode with Donna Hay left me fuming!