Archive for April 2012

Home Archive for April 2012

Little Larder, 76 Moray Street, NEW FARM QLD 4005

First, a confession: by the end of our holiday in Thailand, the other travel bunny and I were both craving for a good cup of coffee made with freshly grounded coffee beans and creamy milk sourced from a local farm. It wasn’t the fact that Thailand had nothing good to eat, trust me some of the food I ate in Thailand really excited my tastebuds, but the inability of us finding a good café on an island named Phuket made me miss the regular Saturday mornings of brekkie with latte.

Inevitably, the first Saturday after we got back from overseas, we immediately went back to our routine.

Breakfast was had at Little Larder, a rather popular spot located in New Farm. So popular, it is recommended that a reservation is made for a table on the weekends. We were lucky enough to share a long table with another couple. **Beginning of a bunnie’s gibberish ranting: I have always been envious of women gifted with long legs, they look good in heels, in skirts, in jeans, in sexy Agent Provocateur’s, in anything and they can walk around town with swagger. Perhaps I didn’t drink enough milk or stretch enough when I was little, I am what one might call “petite”. The wooden bench was so high that the other travel bunnie had to lift me up onto it, which was rather embarrassing in front of so many people. End of a bunnie’s gibberish ranting**.

Food and coffee arrived promptly and the portions were generous given the price. The Fry-Up ($12.50) was served with sautéed bacon, sausages, mushroom, onion, tomato and spinach on Turkish toast, it tasted delicious. We found a small cooked spider in my food but hey, that’s just adding protein with no extra cost (and no, I didn’t eat it). French toast w’ grilled banana & real maple syrup ($12.00) wasn’t the greatest I’ve had but the other travel bunny seemed happy with the fact that you get a whole bottle of maple syrup to yourself…

We enjoyed our time at Little Larder, the décor is nothing over the top but the painted walls certainly add character. The staff provided friendly and upbeat service. What more could you ask for?

Total Bunnie Dollars Spent: $32.00

Char Char Yiros, Cnr Russell & Boundary Streets, WEST END QLD 4101

Char Char Yiros (CCY) is not about glamour or being a restaurant with a million-dollar view. This Greek barbecue establishment located at the corner of Russell & Boundary Streets in the hip West End provides quality food with very reasonable price tags.

I developed my passion for Greek food after meeting my gorgeous boyfriend (a.k.a "the other travel bunny") and now I regularly demand authentic Greek food to munch on.

We arrived at CCY on a Friday night and the queue was already out the door, but I didn't mind waiting as it provided me with more time to decide on which meal to choose from their mouthwatering menu while enjoying the tantalising smell of charcoal cooked meat. We ended having saganaki w' salad, open lamb yiros and lamb chops w' haloumi & salad all for under $50!

We thoroughly enjoyed our meal sitting outside watching people and cars go by. The saganaki was soooo awesome, it was served with salad with balsamic vinegar and tomato relish. You've gotta try it!

If you are going there with your friends, I would recommend that at least one of you stay outside to secure a table as the this place can get extremely busy and seats can be scarce. Alternatively, you can enjoy your food next door at the Rumpus Room next door with a drink purchase.

Bon appétit, boys and girls.

Espresso Garage, 176 Grey Street, SOUTH BANK QLD 4101

We found Espresso Garage last Saturday while enjoying our first Saturday back home together. This hole-in-the-wall café offers limited menu items so I was glad that we had breakfast at Little Larder earlier on in the morning.

I had their avocado toast ($7.00) which in my opinion wasn’t worth the value, despite the chilli jam being somewhat different.

The iced coffee with ice cream ($5.00) however, was yummy! It wasn’t too sweet and the taste of coffee was strong enough to give you a good hit of caffeine.

This place is popular amongst Lycra wearing cyclists in the morning and I can see why it’s a good pit stop.

Total Bunnie Dollars Spent: $15.50

Kofoo Korean Food, 6/243 Edward Street, BRISBANE QLD 4000

I hate to sound a little harsh in writing this post, but Kofoo is by far the worst Korean food I've had in Brisbane. I love discovering new and cheap lunch options and thought I might give Kofoo a go as its meals are very affordable. The concept is very much so like Hanaichi, but Korean style.

$6.99 for a sweet chilli chicken sounds like a great deal but you only get four or five pieces of chicken that are heavily coated in batter and loads of rice that's drenched in sweet chilli sauce.

I think I'll stick to my Vietnamese rolls for now.

Il Centro, 6 Eagle Street, Eagle St. Pier, BRISBANE QLD 4000

Before I start writing about our adventures in Thailand, I thought that I might update a few posts on the restaurants that we’ve been to since we got back.

Last Tuesday night the other travel bunny took me to Il Centro on the riverside, a restaurant which has been on our “never-ending-list” of places to go for a while, to celebrate a little professional achievement of mine.

The restaurant was busy for a Tuesday night in comparison to other restaurants in the city. Although the restaurant’s décor was not over the top, the combination of its cream walls and wooden floor was inviting and comfortable. The view could’ve been nicer without the currently under construction – Mr & Mrs G Bar, but you can still see the Story Bridge from most tables and the restaurant's friendly service definitely makes up for it.

Specials of the night were presented to us on a blackboard which reminded me the time when we had lunch at Atelier Maitre Albert in Paris.

Entrées were Twice cooked pork belly w’ celeriac and bay hear salad, caramelised apples and sage jus ($22.50) and Fresh crab and avocado salad with tomato gaspacho ($27.50). For main, I had the Grilled king prawn cutlets with preserved lemon and mascarpone, carnaroli risotto and fresh peas ($42.00) and the other travel bunny had one of their specials of the night, meatballs linguine ($41). All the dishes were cooked to perfection. The crab and avocado salad tasted so refreshing and the crab meat was soft and sweet. My main was our favourite that night. Prawn cutlets were of a decent size and the risotto was cooked al dente.

Those of you who know me well should know that I have a separate stomach for desserts. So their Vanilla crème brûlée w’ raspberry sorbet ($17.00) was chosen to sweeten my mouth. I’m not a big fan of sour tastes and the sorbet was slightly too strong for my liking but O.M.G. the crème brûlée was eye-rolling-ly good.

I absolutely loved my dining experience at Il Centro. My only recommendation would be… if you are having a three-course meal, perhaps have an entrée sized main. These guys are pretty generous on their portions and no body wants a close-to-explosion stomach before bed.

Total Bunny Dollars Spent: $160

Bon appétit!

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