This one is dedicated to crap but enthusiastic places.

To the cafe’s and restaurants I go to regularly, I don’t mean you guys.

I also don’t mean ones where people look like they have clearly given up, and can’t understand why you don’t want the half cooked ball of battered grease they have when it’s just the same as the other places. It isn’t by the way. It’s half cooked, and where there is still batter, it’s still uncooked. These places will disappear, and then the people that failed to run them properly will blame everyone else, and go on to screw up the next thing. Maybe. I’ve only ever been to two places like this that I recall, and both were fish and chip shops run by someone who thought that fish and chips would be an easy job. Shop is being generous really, a hot box filled with half fried crap, that could probably sell to drunks or naive tourists… or people who were genuinely curious why you would sell two chicken schnitzels for four dollars. Some regrets.

Instead this is dedicated to the people who really do want to run a cafe or restaurant. Throw their all in. Suck terribly.

Please, for the love of me if no one else, keep trying.

I love these places. These are the sort of places you need to support, more than the good ones.

Support the good ones too, with money, and these guys with cheering and some money.

I love the crap food, but made with enthusiasm. I love the burnt coffee, or the flavourless soft drink. Most of all, I love the genuine enthusiasm the people working there have. The absolute genuine desire to be there, making you coffee or food, and having no proper grasp on the how to.

On the weekend I went to a place in stones corner that felt a bit like this. The guy behind the counter was great. He was enthusiastic, polite and seemed genuinely friendly. I got smashed avo and chilli flakes and a short black. I was with a friend who got eggs benedict and a flat white.

The hollandaise sauce apparently tasted like mayonaisse. The whole thing looked..erm..nice. It didn’t look bad, it did look a bit like..um…home made? That was the problem with this place, and I think it will change over time, the smashed avo and the eggs benedict, were good but both felt like a home job. Even with the garnish and the presentation the whole thing felt a bit back of the house kitchenish.

Ok I feel weird writing that, I think I need to clarify. I raved about a place a few weeks ago that made meat loaf that reminded me of my mum’s cooking (home cooking), and I have said in the past that some of my favourite restaurants looked more like a home dining room than a restaurant. There was, however, something about all of these places where you did not feel like you could have done better at home.

The more I think about it, the more I realise there are quite a number of places I have been to in Brisbane, that also are like they are straight out of your own kitchen, but for some reason (I am guessing the chef), the food is incredible. Mal made the best sandwiches I have aver had, and the whole vibe of all the places of have been to, that he has worked at were home kitchen. There used to be a chinese take away in Stones Corner, that looked like it was my Aunty’s dining room, and made some of the tastiest (not fanciest) food I have ever eaten. There are are a handful of food vans/trucks, that produce some fantastic combinations of flavours and textures (Little Havana I am looking at you, in which case awesome music too).

The only thing I can think of that would seperate the wizards of the kitchen, from the uber enthusiastic hams (not a call for these people to shape up by the way), is that…is that…Oh I know what it is. Overcompensating.

There was a ton of avocado on the toast, which is fine, but it drowned out the taste of the chilli (there is bugger all more you can say about smashed over, they didn’t fuck the bread up I guess that was nice). Maybe they have never made hollandaise sauce before, and because they’re very polite, people have just been polite back and not mentioned it tasted like mayonaisse. For all I know, they are still learning all of the tricks of making coffee, and have done a your machine and you style course, rather than a barrista course.

This is all fine though. These are the things I love about it. All of this, to me, points to them trying to figure out what to do, and not quite failing. Someone, maybe me but probably not, will offer them advice one day. Until then, I shall go and see all of their other dishes. Not at once, unless a big enough group of us can go.

There aren’t many places like this, mainly because people will go there once, then next time go for the good stuff.

Take the risk.

Keep places like this alive.

Eat the enthusiastic food, put up with the crap coffee. For in these places, there is gold. The sort of gold you won’t find anywhere else. Sometimes it is in a dish, that isn’t the one it described on the menu, but somehow it works, and it works well. Sometimes it is amazing people, who fill you with confidence and make you feel like you can do anything. Sometimes, and this is my favourite even though it is cruel, it is the joy of watching someone trying not to say how horrible the food or coffee was to the person who is very eagerly asking you how it was. Occasionally you get people who are rude about it, and I genuinely feel sorry for the person running the place in this case.

Ok, I am going now. Keep the enthusiastic crap alive people.

Subtitle “I’ll even eat things I think are terrible”

Not having a goal, for the purpose of blogging, makes it hard to blog. I had already discovered this, the first time I finished the A to Z restaurant journey. The next few weeks I felt aimless, not with eating but with writing. I lost the urge to write, I have only ever lost the urge to eat briefly and that was due to a medical condition. So as I prepare for my next food adventure, and there is one coming, I wonder what to fill this fortnight with.

I didn’t have to wonder for long by the way.

See in the last two weeks I went to two places that had food that wasn’t amazing, but was still pretty good. It made me realise that there are a lot of things I have eaten that are good, but not fantastic, that I would happily eat again. For most of us, these become our comfort food. Before anyoen says anything, you can have some pretty amazing comfort food, but most of the time when you need comfort food great is not what you are looking for. Good can be, well, good. This entry was going to be about the Rustic Olive and the German Club, but instead it will be about the comfort food I like. I don’t expect any of the following to surprise anyone.

My comfort food, is probably not that much different than a lot of peoples, though I have noticed the variety seems to be broader than some. The act of eating itself has always been a comfort to me. I eat when I am stressed. I eat when I am tired. I eat when I am happy. I eat when I am sad. The most important of all though, I eat when I am hungry. I am hungry a lot.

I also really enjoy the all of the acts of eating. The act of sitting by yourself eating your favourite ice cream from the tub. The act of sharing the food off each others plates when you are with good friends. Especially the act of eating your left overs, because there was too much (that is my favourite).

That also brings me to my first comfort food, and don’t worry I am not going to list all of them.

Left overs

This is mostly me being lazy. May as well get this one out of the way first. There are times when all I want to do is grab a plate of already prepared food, heat it, cover it in sriracha and sit in front of QI or something similar. This particular ritual makes me feel like time is on pause for a bit. Everything that is bugging me, or that I need to do, is put on hold while I sit and eat. Unfortunately, the speed I eat at means time is only paused for a minute or two, but sometimes that is enough.

Chips

I can’t go very far into a list of comfort food before chips become involved. Not hot chips, while I love them they are not as much of a comfort food to me. There is nothing as relaxing as sitting down with a large Bag of chips and sprawling out on a couch to watch a movie, or chat to friends. My ultimate comfort night in would be four or five large bags of chips and some sort of slow paced movie. The more I think about this, the more I think this is a younger me ultimate comfort night. I still love chips. They are still my go to snack food, mainly for ease, but as I have gotten older I think I’d prefer a cheese platter or fruit platter…but I can’t be arsed making that.

Grapes

There are times I prefer a bag of grapes to a block of chocolate, not many though. With grapes it is more about the feeling of eating them. I love the pop as you break the skin and the rush of sweet juice. If I am hungry, but feeling indecisive, or lazier than normal, a couple of grapes works well to keep me going until I have found something else to eat or given up on that and gone out. I have also used grapes as a palette cleanser, in cheese platters, so I wonder if having a couple of grapes kills the craving for a bit.

Chocolate Coated Nuts

Regardless of how you get them, I really like chocolate coated nuts. These are my favourite thing to snack on if I need to graze throughout the day. The common sense adult part of me, while usually gagged, does mean I don’t eat these as often as I would like to. Usually I eat them in the form of m&m’s, but I really prefer the plain chocolate coated nuts. That’s about all I have to say on them.

Restaurant food.

Ok, this is mainly an older me thing. If I really need comfort food, I go out. Depending on the reson why is depending on where I go. Usually I want comfort food as a mental get away type thing, too much to think about so I need to go and clear my head. I will grab my coat and head off into the wild. Ok the city. Like most of the things here, my preferance is for things I can eat with my hands, or things I can eat in one bite. Dumplings, Korean fried chicken or cheese platters are my foods of choice in these cases. Things I can graze on, rather than eat all at once. When I am in need of this, I will also usually pick somewhere quiet, with a few people in it, and tuck myself into a corner.

This is also what I do if I want to work on a drawing.

Enough of the list.

It occured to me as I wrote this, almost all of my comfort food is stuff I can eat with my hands. When I was younger I used to eat as an escape, amongst other things, so I would eat whatever I could, whenever I could. Now, I eat because I love to eat. I love blending flavours, I love eating with friends and most of all I love trying new food.

Eat well, I will explain my new food adventure when I embark upon it (In a few weeks).

I was debating about doing this all day.

Here we go.

On Saturday, before rehearsal, I went to Tramstop cafe in Coorproo.

Don’t worry, this isn’t an ad for them, though they aren’t bad.

I ordered the meatloaf. Unlike some people I know, and know of, I have no issues with meatloaf. I especially have no issue with one that reminded me of my mum’s rissoles and inspired this entry.

Just a heads up, it may be short due to personal reasons, I am not sure yet… If this warning is not here, then the length was fine.

I love my mum’s cooking.

Firstly, my mum does not cook a large variety of dishes. Nor is she a world class cook. The few dishes she does cook though, I love. I am also only going to mention a few of those here, as this is one of those times where the more I think about it, the more I think of stuff she cooked.

Let’s start with the Rissoles.

My Mum’s Rissoles.

I am not going to say the recipe here. It was probably different every time anyway, and I am pretty sure she got the recipe from a magazine somewhere.

That is irrelevant though.

Mum’s rissoles didn’t always stay together when you bit into them. Sometimes they were pretty big. Sometimes the outside of them was a touch burnt. Once you covered them in the sauce of your choosing, it didn’t matter. She once made a plate of smallish ones for a party, I am pretty certain there should have been more made as they disappeared really quick. This was normally the case, not just because I eat a lot, I swear.

I used to help make them, and mum would make sure there was enough mince so that I can pinch some of the raw mix before they were cooked and we’d still have enough left.

I have eaten many different rissoles and meatballs in my life, and these are still some of my favourites, after the ikea ones of course. The best way to eat them, mum’s not ikea’s, was smothered in bbq sauce. I would have happily eaten a whole plate on my own, if you hadn’t already had that impression, but usually they were accompanied by potato, pumpkins, carrots and peas. I want to say chips sometimes, but I don’t think they were. Maybe they were once or twice and I had just forgotten.

Quick Chick

I have a vague recollection of my mum saying she got this out of a Woman’s Day microwave cook book, or a magazine somewhere. I am not sure if she did or didn’t, that is not the important part. This is one of the simplest casserole/stews to make I can think of. Some of you may shudder at the thought of frozen veges but fu…but it worked ok.

This one I will give you the recipe for.

Take some chicken, I never said an accurate recipe, take some water, some french onion soup (I think), some cream of chicken soup (you know I am not sure I really remember this properly) and some frozen veges. Cut the chicken up into pieces. Put everything in a microwave proof casserole dish. Microwave for, for, for what seemed a really long time to a kid…12 minutes? 20? I guess it depends on the wattage of your microwave. oh…add salt.

I loved this one the best, out of all the savoury dishes. If anyone ever makes me a chicken soup or stew, this is the flavour that my mind automatically compares it to. Sorry, but it does unless it is Japanese curry. This was the one I remember having most of the time, and that is fine. It was great. It was simple, savoury and, to my mind, superb. This is one of the things my mum makes that I will never tire of, even though it has been a really, really, really long time since I had it (not a hint mum).

I have eaten, as many of you know, a very broad variety of things. My favourites include chocolate silkworms, roast duck, emu tartare, pork belly, deep fried pork intestine and nestled amongst all of these will always be Quick Chick.

Chocolate Chip Bickies

This was also done from a recipe mum got somewhere. Don’t care where at this point. I have made it, my daughter has made it, my mum still makes the best ones though.

This is one of those recioes that has never failed to have people asking for more. It is pretty simple, and I don’t think we use measurements for it any more. I didn’t last time I made it (ages and ages ago), and I don’t think my daughter did either. She may have, doesn’t matter.

The best bit about this is not the finished product though (as addictive as it is), but the raw dough. This is the shit dreams are made of. The right amount of sweet, with a beautiful, soft texture. You can do what you want to yours (you can’t as I didn’t give you the recipe HA), but I just want mine with chocolate chips. That is it.

Though there is not an oven I know of big enough to make as many as I want at the moment.

Love you mum.

Aka What I like about having a Coffee

I like to go out for coffee, a lot.

Scratch that, I love going out for Coffee. I love going somewhere on my own, armed with my phone or a sketchpad, and sitting down with a coffee for a while and thinking. I love going out with friends to coffee shops and just chatting. I love old coffee shops, with interesting decor and masters of the art working behind the counter. I love new coffee shops with unique art pieces on the wall, and friendly people behind the counter.

Are you getting the hint yet?

I love Coffee. I am pretty sure I have said this before too.

I went to do a comparison on the weekend, I had coffee at a coffee shop and then I had coffee at a pub two doors down from the coffee shop. The pub won, for me hands down. The food was better, and the coffee was definitely better.

But why?

Aside from the person making it made it better.

What is it about this simple act that I enjoy so much.

It may surprise you, but it isn’t the quality of the coffee. It plays a smaller part than you’d think.

Venue

The experience starts with the venue. Regardless of where it is, and I doubt I am alone in this, I want to go into a coffee shop and feel like I could sit in there for a while if a chose to. I don’t want to feel like I am there to get in have my coffee and leave again as soon as I was done. There are coffee vans and stalls for that. I want to go in and sit at a table in a corner, where I can watch people go about their lives, draw or write until I am done, and potentially leave because I have to do something else, rather than feel like I am going to be forced out when I am done. Fortunately, most coffee shops I go to feel like this to me.

I am pretty sure I judge the decor too. I look at statuettes and paintings and wonder if they are going for a theme. My all time favourite theme is “We have no idea either but it looked good to us”. I love stuffed birds perched on old fans, paintings by local people (nothing funny about it, I genuinely love any art done by people local to the area), little bizarre statues that people found in a creepy antique centre and old posters made in an era where, as long as you didn’t swear, you could write what you liked.

What I don’t like in a venue are deliberately uncomfortable seats, art that looks like it was placed by someone who said “2 paintings there, 2 there and 1 over there doesn’t matter what just paintings”, tables that you can’t merge together if needed and plants that look like they want to leave, even the plastic ones, because they are bored (to be honest I only have one memory of plants like this and they were plastic and all pointing to the door like they were warning us to leave).

Staff

Staff greet you as you come in, this is good, they make you feel welcome, or attempt to ( I love the ones who suck at this), and they know what they have in the store. The really good ones can sometimes pick the sort of coffee you want, to a degree, before you get there.

I love any place where the staff make you feel like an old friend, even on your first visit. Where they aren’t happy to see so much as welcoming.

Staff don’t have to be happy, they just have to make sure you don’t feel like you are the problem, even if you are. I don’t mean if you have done something disruptive, then you are a problem and should bugger off, but more that by being a customer you are a problem. I have seen a few people who have been in a very stressful situation at their place of work, who have still successfully made customers feel welcome regardless. They also shouldn’t be made to feel like they need to accomodate your every whim.

I say this as someone who often likes to alter things on the menu.

There are many people who work in coffee shops who are amazing to me, because they have let me put chili in weird things…actually that is predominantly it. When they do this I am happy to be a repeat customer.

Customers

I thought about this for a few seconds before I started writing, but I realised it makes up part of the experience. I don’t necessarily mean that the place is packed. I mean that the place looks like it has a few people who are regulars. People the staff no by name and have a friendly chat to when they’re not busy. I am this person at a few places.

I don’t want to go somewhere where all of the customers are just racing in, getting coffee and not even thinking about it. Most is fine, as long as there are a few sitting down. There are some people who sit down in coffee shops because they could sit there for ages and work, these people are a good sign too. A sign the coffee at least is bearable (I’ll get to that later).

In some places the customers make you feel welcome too, and these places are extra special and should be treasured.

Food

This is simple. If I can buy it at a convenience store, for less, than I am probably not going to eat it there (unless I am really hungry). The food doesn’t need to be great. You don’t have to have been the ones to make it. I am fully aware there are places that have to make the food off premises, and I am also a big fan of local bakeries and kitchens making things for coffee shops. They too have sausage rolls, pies and brownies. But they don’t make me think I am eating the same thing I bought when I bought my two dollar slurpee and my pre coffee shop snack.

I think I feel a little ripped off by places that do this.

Weird is always good for me, experimental cakes, fusions of food, etc are always going to attract my attention, but most of you already know/thought that.

Coffee

As I said before, coffee is not the most important part. It does play a big part though. I don’t know that I can explain what makes a great coffee to me. I don’t think about it when I am having it, and if I retreat to that place in my mind all I do is make myself want more coffee.

Coffee needs to be good though. It needs to not taste so bitter you can’t taste anything in it. It doesn’t have to have a hint of anything, though this is sometimes nice, just smooth. I need to be able to sip it. If it is too bitter, I will sip it once and then ignore it until it is cold enough to skull.

This section was short due to me not having the inclination to write what I like about coffee, it would take me too long.

In short.

In short I like unique places, that have friendly staff, regular customers and good coffee and food. There are quite a few out there.

Ok, now I need a coffee. Night.

This probably won’t surprise anyone but this is a hard thing to choose.

I am pretty sure I have had duck at well over 30 places in Brisbane alone, and this entire entry is about those places. Well…some of them.

Before I embark upon this entry though, I would like to mention to my vegan friends, that at some point in the very near future I will be going to some vegan restaurants and reveiwing the food from those.

Mostly because, I like eating vegan dishes too.

On with the Duck.

I am starting with my favourite and counting up from there. I’m stopping at five though, mainly because I can’t remember everywhere I have had duck.

Unless I am walking past the place, then I can go “I’ve had duck there, it was (insert description here)”

So…

NUMBER 1 – DETOUR

Ok, yes, this is my favourite restaurant in Brisbane. I have only ever gotten one meal I wasn’t thrilled with from here and it wasn’t duck, so it is not being mentioned here.

While I was here on Saturday I pondered what I look for in good duck. What makes every duck dish different. It took me a while but I figure it out.

Duck needs to be moist, not greasy. It needs to be firm, but not tough. The gamey flavour needs to be slightly subdued, just a little, I don’t think duck is good if there is no duck flavour to it. I am not a fan of places that hide the flavour of it either, as opposed to compliment it.

Detour’s dish, KFD, is my favourite. My absolute favourite. The duck is moist, not greasy. It is firm, not tough. It is done maryland style, the thigh and the drumstick crumbed and fried. The jalepeno corn bread and sour cream compliment it well and give the whole dish a kind of… you know I was going to say a southern USA feel, but having never been to the USA and only ever eating chicken maryland from a take away store, I am going to go with ummm…ahhh… a comfort food feel. This is not acomfort food restaurant, well not everyones comfort food anyway.

Every bite into the duck from here made me wish there was more. I’m glad there wasn’t, as I would be eating there a lot more if there was. Fried chicken is great, but to me fried duck is incredible. Especially theirs.

NUMBER 2 – ANGELA’S KITCHEN

Angela’s kitchen in Enoggera is my second favourite place for duck. This is mostly a quality thing, but quantity is there too. You can get a whole duck for a fairly decent price. Just roasted, nothing fancy, but roasted well. I have eaten a whole duck from here, with a side of chicken wings. Like Detour, it’s not greasy and it’s firm. It’s cut up when you get it. The only thing that may deter people is that the duck is not cut up they way some places joint chicken, but rather just hacked neatly and professionally into pieces.

The best thing about this is the flavour. Whatever these guys put on their roast duck when they cook it works really well. It’s also a little addictive, once I started I found it hard not to keep eating. I may not have actually tried though.

NUMBER 3 – VIETNAM HOUSE

Vietnam house is number three because it made me realise why duck a l’orange was such a big deal. This was just called duck in orange sauce, and it was pretty good. I think i had had it before, but it wasn’t this good. I had to wait a little while for the food to turn up, even though I was the only customer, but it was worth it. It tasted like, and looked like, that it was made with a lot of care. Whether you are one person or a party of people, they certainly put the effort in.

Now to the duck in orange sauce. This duck, unlike the first two, was a little greasy. This was overridden by the orange sauce. It was a beautiful combination. The orange sauce didn’t overide the duck flavour, it complimented it really well. Something about citrus and canard is amazing, to me anyway. Especially if the citrus sauce is just sharp enough to take the edge of the grease. I imagine this place could have any duck and made it good. Their sauce was excellent.

NUMBER 4 – THE TASTE GALLERY MYER CENTRE.

I got a peking duck crepe from here. I have yet to go back for a second one, but this was pretty good. There is a beautiful richness about these. I loved every bite. The thing was a huge crepe filled with peking style duck and various vegetables. I normally prefer plain roast duck to peking duck, but this was really good. The duck part was strong enough that it took all of the other flavours along for the ride. If you get a chance, try one of these.

NUMBER 5 – OBSESSION

This is here, instead of number one, because the particular dish I loved from this place does not exist anymore. It will forever be in my tastebuds though. A long time ago, this place did triple cooked duck. I think it went steam, roast and steam. It was incredible. Every mouthful felt like it melted in my mouth. It was so moist, and so succulent, that I think that I was drooling while I was eating it. It was the most amazing thing I had even eaten at that point in time. I can’t tell you if it came with anything, I just remember the duck. While they had it, this was one of my favourite places. Then the chef changed, and they had double cooked duck instead of triple cooked. The meal went down a notch. It tasted good, but not as good. It didn’t leave me wanting to eat a second, maybe third duck. Triple cooked duck made me want more, no matter how ill or full I felt. It took me a couple of days to get over it.
I have yet to find another dish like it.
When I do you will here about it.

THE OTHERS

There are many other good places that do duck, and in many different styles. As you may have guessed, roasted is my favourite. There is a place in the valley that has duck, that I haven’t tried yet. Maybe one day soon I will.

Eat well everyone.

This is also a fortnight late, due to a lack of interesting eating.

This weekend is a little better, but I am not tlaking about what I ate this week.

What I want to talk about is fusion. That wonderful, to me at least, moment when ingredients from two cultures merge together.

As a lot of you are aware, I love mixing flavours together, especially chili and something else. I also love eating any food that was inspired by a flavour or dish from a culture different to the one the chef was from. Sometimes we don’t know even know this has happened. There have been a few things I have eaten thinking they were Korean, only to find out they were Korean/Chinese fusions, or a western inspired korean dish.

Recently I went to Madtongsan for lunch, and was informed by one of the people I work with that while it is mainly Korean, it is Korean fused with Chinese and Western food.

Come to think of it, unless someone points it out to me, a lot of the time I wouldn’t know what food was fusion and what wasn’t.

I should take the time to point out to things, also known as stalling. Firstly, there is nothing wrong with fusion, professional or otherwise. A lot of great flavour combinations have not been around as long as some people may believe. Secondly, fusion has been happening for a very long time, but this is not a history lesson and you have access to a search engine.

Ok, now that that’s out of the way. My favourite version of fusion is also possibly called home experimentation.

HOME EXPERIMENTATION YAY

This is the point at which you look at the hot cross bun, the ham, the cheese and the mustard, and think “YES!! this will taste awesome”.

It occurs to me that there may be a definition of fusion in regards to food.

There is, it’s kind of vague, so on with the experimental food waflling.

Maybe throw in sriracha or wasabi though with the ham and cheese hot cross bun.

Back on track. Honest.

I am a fan of fusions of my own creation. By this I mean, I came up with them by myself but I am pretty sure there would be other people with similar taste buds out there. My favourite of these is Waffles,vanilla ice cream, berry jus/compote, bacon (this whole part is Lady Marmalade’s, and probably a few other places) and sriracha (this bit was my doing, encouraged by people who liked the idea but weren’t game to try it). I would like to point out I am aware that fusion doesn’t just mean adding sriracha to things. Add vegemite to your stir fry, just a little though because it makes a pretty strong stock. Try adding miso to your gravy, I have had this and like it but I am aware it is not for everyone. I don’t think a nutella and ham sandwich counts as fusion, but it certainly was experimental and tasty. The possibilities are endless.

Some of us probably do it all the time without thinking about it in more subtle ways, adding spices from one region to dishes from another or using meats or plants in a dish that normally aren’t from the region that dish is from. My all time favourite fried rice is my mum’s. She sometimes makes it with cut up frankfurters in it, there are times she has made it without but this is my favourite.

Eating Out

A lot of the time I have eaten at places I didn’t know were fusion places, some had dishes they would say were a fusion of different regional food in the menu but wouldn’t say they were a fusion restaurant. I am also not familiar enough with some places to be able to say if something is fusion or not. Take Junk for example, it says it is a mix of different types of street food. I don’t know enough about the places to know which dish is just from that region and which is a fusion of a few different regions. I also don’t really care, as I love the food in the Coorparoo store regardless.

I would love to see a German Japanese fusion place. I’ve no idea which way you would take that. Sauerkraut and miso? Japanese curry with chickenwurst instead of fried chicken? Oh, how about pork knuckle curry. I am making myself drool here. Who is willing to make this happen with me? I have no idea howm but it will taste incredible.

Ok, I am keeping this short this week, for a reason. Aside from making myself drool on the keyboard, again.

Here is the challenge. Come up with experimental or fusion ideas that you have not been brave enough to try and put them in the comments or message me. I will give them a shot, if I haven’t already. The more bizarre the better, but it has to be food, and I’d prefer it if it is something you genuinely wanted to try and were not brave enough to eat.

It’s also going to be a little shorter, I think.

Last Friday and the Friday before I ate steak for lunch.

This is not something I normally do.

As many of you know I normally am not one to go for a steak, unless it is as tartare. I had heard good things about the Morrison Hotel steaks, so I wanted to try them. The initial plan was to go there two Fridays ago, but three tour buses meant no parking. We went to the Red Brick Hotel instead.

At the Red Brick  I got a porterhouse, blue of course. It was actually a pretty good steak. I liked the flavour. I liked the accompanying salad and the chips. I liked the actual venue. I was glad we went.

Usually when I ask for a blue steak, it is closer to rare. My friend and I have had many conversations about places that offer blue steaks and give you rare instead. Yes, to those of us that eat blue there is a difference. Admittedly it is not an easily noticed difference, but there is one.

We sat and discussed games, different places we had eaten at, what the Red Brick Hotel used to look like and a few other topics before the steak came out.

It looked pretty good. I cut into it to test it. It was blue. They got it right, mostly, the edges were a little rare but it was still good. I was prepared to forgive them if they gave me a rare steak instead. The flavour of the steak on it’s own was pretty good. Mixed with the sauce I got, buggered if I can remember what, was also pretty good. My mouth is watering thinking about it now.

I would happily go there and eat it again, though next time I will be trying a different cut.

The following Friday, we went to the Morrison Hotel. Technically, we went to Fiasco’s which is part of the Morrison Hotel. This was a higher class of establishment than the red brick, and you pay a little more here for the steaks. Worth it, at least I am pretty sure it was, I will need to go back and confirm. Honest, that is why.

The first thing to catch my eye was that one of the sauce options was truffle butter. If anywhere, outside of ‘Fromage de Cow’ and possibly ‘Detour’ was going to have actual truffles in truffle butter I thought it would be here. Not disappointed.

I ordered a Wagyu Rump steak, blue of course.

We sat and discussed games, different places we had eaten at, what the Red Brick Hotel used to look like and a few other topics before the steak came out (different conversation, same friend, similar topics including the red brick hotel).

This time I got twice cooked potato with the steak and a very good salad. The salad was better here. The twice cooked potato was good. The steak, on its own, was good. The steak with truffle butter was great. I felt like every mouthful should have been a heart attack.

It was a really good combo.

Of the two places, I honestly liked them both the same. The porterhouse from The Red Brick Hotel was on special. The rump was not and was a bit over twice the price. I don’t feel like I got ripped off though. They were two different bits of meat, from two different places and equally well done. The sides were better at the Morrison Hotel, and while the staff were more polished there, both places were equally welcoming. The Red Brick Hotel feels friendly and is friendlier to your wallet.

You know what, try both. Eat at one and then if you have the room go to the other and eat there, they are both worth it. If this was a race they would have tied. They have their differences but they were both equally good.

Eat well.

It has been a fortnight since I wrote, holidays throw me a little.

This week I would like to talk to you about Gelati, I am pretty sure gelati is the plural of gelato and I want to talk about a lot of it.

For a while now I have been frequenting two different Gelatarias. La Mimosa Gelati in Coorparoo and Milano Gelato in Stones Corner.

There is a third place I have eaten gelati from twice, Gelato Messina. There have been others, but not with the regularity of La Mimosa Gelato and Milano Gelato. Quench still has the best vegan chocolate gelato I have had, and all its other gelati is pretty good too, but it is not part of this story.

Gelato Messina

Let’s start with Gelato Messina. It is part of a small chain that I think started in Melbourne. The gelati is good, and from what I have heard the place can get packed some nights. When I went there was a guy sitting outside enjoying his gelati, and the two staff members who were in that bored state you get into when you’re at the finding something to do stage of work.

My only problem with this place, and it has nothing to do with the gelati, is that there was an air of superiority when I went in. Like it was supposed to be an exciting experience, which it was but that had nothing to do with the venue. That being said the staff were helpful and good, and the flavours were good.

I have had nine flavours from Gelato Messina, don’t worry I’m not going to make this a giant list of gelati flavours, and my favourite had fig jam in it. They have a lot of odd names for things but don’t let that deter you from trying them, also if they just have the name and no ingredients there is a board with what is in if you look around. I did not and had it pointed out to me when I asked about one of the flavours, the guy still told me the flavours though and the way he said it I am guessing a lot of people don’t notice the board.

One of the flavours I got, that was more tart than I was expecting, was coconut and mango salsa. It was still pretty good, but the other end of the scale. To be honest I would need to get one on it’s own to know if this was the tart one. I had three flavours and if the two with caramel in it turn out to be one of the tart ones they really messed up the caramel.

La Mimosa Gelato

Of a Tuesday night, I like to swing by here and get a gelati shake, or a three scoop tub. They have a pretty good selection of flavours to choose from and the gelati itself is pretty good.

This seems like the new kid on the block of the three places, and I think I like this place more for the service. It comes across as a family business, where everyone except the dad is still learning the ropes and the dad doesn’t seem to quite get that bit yet.

This is not why you should go there.

Go there for a chocolate, coffee and pistachio three flavour tub (they are separate flavours and I am not sure it was plain chocolate). This was a pretty good combo. The pistachio wasn’t a strong pistachio flavour but it was there, mixed with the chocolate it became a cold confectionary of middle road delightness. Not amazing but still good.

They also have a trifle gelato. It was good, it tasted like trifle. Like the flavours of trifle all rolled into one. Not the point when you are beginning the trifle, but the bit when you are halfway through and the ingredients have mixed in the bowl. Which brings me to my favourite one of the three.

Milano Gelato

My favourite trifle gelato comes from here, to me it tastes like the first few spoons into the bowl of trifle. I could taste the custard, jelly and cake all at once. This was the first gelati I had from this place. I don’t recall if I mixed it with anything or not.

Milano Gelato is a tiny shop, tucked away in Stones Corner, it’s easier to find than I made it just sound though. I have had fewer flavours from here than the other two, but there is a reason for that.

They have a few flavours I really like. Their turmeric gelato is surprisingly good, especially mixed with a cold, sweet sorbet. In my case I usually have it with pineapple if they have it. They have a really good white nectarine sorbet too.

I don’t know what they do differently to the other two places, maybe it is love, maybe the older woman who makes it all, and I think owns it, is a witch. Who cares. There is just something small about it that makes this my favourite of the three.

Regardless of who is serving you here, you get the feeling they are working here because they love gelati. When I asked about the flavours the first time I went in, I got an enthusiastic spiel about how good they all were, I went to try their chocolate but I noticed the trifle and had that instead.

If I am going to highly recommend any of these places it is this one. It’s not fancy, it’s tiny inside but there is something about the gelati here that makes it my favourite. It’s not the best I have ever had, but it is good.

Putting the spoon down

Ok, that is it for my gelati bit, for now. For the record, the best gelati I have had (to me anyway) was from Quench. The Vegan Chocolate, French Vanilla and Strawberry Sorbet mix. I am pretty sure I have waffled on about that in a previous place though.

Eat well.

Ok, it was a dawdle.

Last Saturday I managed to take sixteen minutes to do a maybe five minute walk. I left the Myer centre to head to Roti place, I just didn’t realise that was where I was going when I started walking. Normally, you get to the corner of Elizabeth and Albert St, at the crossing near the Macca’s, and head to the city botanical gardens. About halfway there on your left you’ll see Roti Place, next to Jackpot. Both places are good.

I did not walk this way, I walked down Adelaide street though. For a while. Then I turned down a little lane, crossed a street and wound up at the Eagle St end of Elizabeth St. I wasn’t in a rush so I dawdled toward Charlotte St and walked towards Albert St. Eventually I wound up in front of Roti Place.

Maybe I’ll try the little place next door, Miel Container. It had burgers, I did not feel like burgers. I didn’t know what I felt like, and I hadn’t been to Roti Place for a while, so I went in. One of my friends went there recently and had a thing called the Roti Mountain. It sounded intriguing, it looked sort of pointy and I hadn’t had it yet. So I ordered one.

I also ordered a drink called a pineapple paradise, and one of the most unusual things, not bad just odd, things I have eaten.

The Roti Mountain

The Roti Mountain came out first, even though it was the dessert (no complaints from me about that though). It was about a foot tall, and a cone of fried roti drizzled in sweetened condensed milk. When it came out it was all I had so after a few seconds I began the awkward task of eating said mountain. The best way to approach this I found is find the highest layer, and I literally mean the highest not the outermost though in my case thay were the same, and begin to peel off bits and eat. Eventually you get to a point where the structural integrity of the dessert is gone. I watched as the bottom slowly crumbled under its own weight. I continued to peel little bits of causing further degradation until I could pop (HA those who know me know it was far less elegant than that) the rest into my mouth.

For future reference, a chin and t shirt stained with condensed milk is not the greatest look for anyone. Unless the look you are going for is I had fun who cares what you think, then it is fine.

Pineapple Paradise

This is a pineapple and lime drink, that tasted mostly of neither in hindsight. It is not a bad drink, but the two flavours, maybe the fruit they used, tasted like they battled and both lost to a third mystery flavour that tastes like their petulant teen offspring. I wound up running out of it before the main dish, and highlight of my time there on Saturday.

The Unusual Dish

Ok, this is the most unusual thing I have ever eaten. As in the most unusual texture and combination of flavours to me.

It is probably not the oddest thing I have eaten in other ways, considering I have eaten chocolate scorpions and salt and pepper pork intestines, but the texture and flavour of these were kind of what I expected. Also the last lot of salt and pepper pork intestines were also the best I have ever eaten.  I also understand this may not be odd to the people who cook there, or who live in malaysia.

It was to me though. This is not a complaint. I loved this and am definitely getting it again.

I should probably now tell you what it was.

Now would be nice? Yeah?

Ok, Roti Place has three signature dishes on it’s menu, called Signature Oatmeal. This is meat battered in butter, oats, garlic, chili and curry leaves. The three choices are chicken, squid and prawn.

I chose squid.

I had never had squid coated in oats before. It had a vaguely sweet taste to it, not in a bad way. The squid was impeccable. The mixture of squid and oats were what struck me as odd. Like eating squid on an anzac biscuit, but good. Every now and then you would get a mouthful with a piece of chili in it and pow. Oh, my mouth was in heaven. The only other place that does this to my mouth is detour and I offered to hug the chef there twice.  Even though the texture and the flavours were strange I enjoyed every mouthful, and ate until my mouth was dry from the leftover oats.

It was awesome.

I left for paddington from Roti Place with a happy mouth and a mind full of happy befuddlement over the sensation of eating oatmeal squid.

And a drink to top it off

I went to Paddington to watch Get It In Ya, a sketch comedy show produced by Big Fork. As I got to Paddington early I went to Sassafras to dray and have a coffee while I waited. After a little while I wanted an Ice Coffee.

Could I have an Ice Coffee please?

Sure, do you want it with Ice Cream and Cream (Pretty sure I am paraphrasing)

Ice Cream please.

Anything else?

Do you have hot chili sauce?

We have green tabasco sauce will that do?

Yeah.

Do you want a little or a lot?

A lot, please.

The girl making it didn’t even bat an eyelid. She made it exactly the way I asked and it was perfect, for me. I mentioned that she was the first person who didn’t even question what I ordered and she said she’d have to try it.

Kudos to her.

Okay, I have waffled on enough. I am off for now. Have fun and eat new things.

So I spent an hour writing about Ze Pickle only to have wordpress decide that what i wanted to do was write over an entry from a few weeks ago.

So due to tiredness and frustration I present you the short version.

2 weeks ago I went to Ze Pickle as my Z, the final stop in the A to Z of the valley.

I ordered Pastrami Fries, Reubano and a bubblegum lemonade.

The pastrami fries were a biggish plate of fries covered in cherry wood smoked pastrami. They were pretty good, a lot more than I was expecting but good nonetheless. The plate was big enough that when the burger arrived it took me a little while to finish the rest of the fries.

The Reubano burger is one I would recommend to anyone who likes sauerkraut. I love sauerkraut, and to me there was no effort in deciding which burger to try once I had seen it as an ingredient in this one. All the ingredients blended themselves into a beautiful, bitey burger that left me eager to try the rest of their burgers.

The burger was big enough that eating the rest of the fries took me a bit longer than normal, but I persevered and ate the lot.

Yes, I won, 52 damn restaurants, over a year in the making.

I will no doubt attempt this again in the future but until then there will be more food adventures to random places.

Enjoy, I’ll be back to normal writing in a week.