my name is Food.: March 2016

Fasta Pasta, Aspley, Brisbane

Aspley March 31, 2016

Having new owners means either the restaurant will get better in terms of service and/or food or it will just be the same. Fasta Pasta located in the Harvey Norman precinct in Aspley is a friendly, homey and casual dining where you can experience various Italian dishes with a wide variety range to choose from. If you don't feel like eating pasta or pizza then have a try at their mains or salads. What should I say about this new owner other than that the place has gotten better with a much better customer service and also a friendly owner I might say.. and oh, did I say that the pizzas and pasta dishes also has improved tremendously? I cannot say that previously the food was bad, as it wasn't that bad but it wouldn't be a place I'd recommend if you want an easy but casual Italian fix or an Italian night out.. But now? I would have to say that since the transformation, it is recommended if you want to have a family dinner night or even just to satisfy your Italian tummy..

When you're seated, you are given the menu and be asked what drink you would like as well as being given complimentary slices of bread with butter and parmesan cheese. Soon after, the waitress would come by the table to take the orders.

'Pizza Bianca' (8inch: $5.9 or 10inch: $7.9) is your Fasta Pasta version of garlic bread. A thin pizza base topped with olive oil, garlic, parsley, mozarella and parmesan. The pizza base was fluffy and though it was thin, it was not too thin until it was all crisps. The previous pizza base here was very thin and you would not be able to enjoy the fluffiness and also the delicious dough while eating the pizza.

'Meditteranean Salad' ($12.9) was surprisingly big in portion wise. Mixed lettuce leaves, baby roma tomatoes, cucumber, roasted capsicum, Kalamata olives and bocconcini with balsamic dressing. Having a bright outlook just brightens up the whole dish. The balsamic dressing was just enough to cover everything in the salad which allowed us to not have to try and dip or find extra sauce for those dry bits and pieces. The bocconcini was chewy and had a great texture but what highlighted the dish was the combination of the bocconcini, kalamata olives and the roasted capsicum. It added a whole different dimension as well as having the slight balsamic dressing around it made it brilliant.

'Tortellini Zucca' (E:$15.9, M:$17.9) consists of Chicken filled tortellini tossed with pine nuts, spinach, braised chicken, onion, pumpkin, chilli and cream. There are a wide range of tomato based sauce in the pasta dishes but not so much cream base. Having chosen this dish, we knew right away that it wasn't going to be dissapointing as the Entree portion seemed like a usual Main in Italian restaurants and the fact that the amount of pine nuts, baby spinach and pumpkin pieces were cut quite big made the dish seems really full and filling even before picking up your fork.

The braised chicken was braised well having its own distinct flavour and taste, also, having combined in with the cream and other elements in the dish allowed not only the tortellini to shine out but also its other accompanying elements. The cream however was quite in the heavier side but after you have mixed everything together, it allows you to taste the chicken filled tortellini as well as the subtle cream and pine nuts as well. Overall, a pleasant dish but unfortunately we couldn't finish as it was quite a portion I may say..

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Little Loco Cafe, New Farm, Brisbane

breakfast March 26, 2016

Little Loco, the place where the milkshake topped donut was invading instagram or it may have been anyway.. We decided to give it a try after finishing mass on a Sunday and was hoping it would be not too full so that we could easily get a chair. The first thing I saw on the menu that I really wanted to try and definitely have to, were their Loco Shakes...Little Loco is one of the few on board with the milkshake trend having a sweet milkshake and topping it off with a doughnut and sauce. Although I like my milkshake simple and not overly sweet with my doughnut on the side, I guess we'll give it a try.. Note that this is another delayed post (I know..again? apologies as some of the items on the menu has changed..)

By the time we arrived, it was packed. There wasn't much seats to be honest but there was a spot for two though with a low table out the front but we wanted to wait for the wooden bench tables on the side of the restaurant. It wasn't long until the people currently sitting finished up and so, we got our comfortable seats..

While we were browsing through the menu for our meals, we decided to order drinks first. 'Loco Shakes' ($10) has 2 different choices Nutella or Salted Caramel. The one below was the Salted Caramel topped with a gluten free donut, salted caramel and caramel popcorn. We did not try this so we didn't know how it would taste like but it seemed quite sweet overall as you can imagine with anything salted caramelish.

Nutella topped with a gluten free donut, nutella and nut crumb was the one we tried and it seemed that it wasn't as delicious as what it was hyped up to be. The gluten free donut, agreed also by the others seemed to just be a normal cinammon donut. Although it wasn't soft nor was it hard, it was just okay.. As for the nutella glaze and the nut crumb, the nut crumb gave it a crunchy texture and a pleasant topping to have to overcome the double sweetness from the whole drink.

The nutella shake had the distinctness of nutella however, it could have been stronger but then, it would mean it would be sweeter. The milkshake was sweet and the way you had to eat it was really taking the donut off the drink and taking a bite of it while you drink the milkshake. Overall, it was pleasant however a bit too sweet for me and didn't get me as hyped up as maybe I should be.

Sandwich was not on menu as they also had various slices and sandwiches on offer in the glass display

While browsing through the menu, one dish stood out for me. Not sure if it was just because the elements within it did or it was just I'm a sucker for mushrooms.. Yep, you got it right.. Mushrooms! Although there has been numerous places offering mushroom based dishes, I never really ordered it in the end due to the fact that there might have been Eggs Benny on the menu or maybe something else caught my eye. Though I wasn't that hungry this time, it just seemed like the perfect dish to try especially that it would've been one of the lighter dishes compared to the rest.

'Mushrooms' ($17.5) is a vegetarian dish in where it consists of a mixture of different mushrooms such as wild mushroom ragu with mushroom foam, rye, pecorino, truffle honey with 2 free range poached eggs. Oh, and another thing that caught my eye was definitely mushroom foam? I wonder what that would taste like.. and also, anything truffle gets me though a truffle honey seemed really sweet and I wasn't sure how it would work altogether.

The various mushrooms were delicious and cooked well. It added that lightness and healthy feeling as well whilst you are eating it. The combination of the mushroom ragu with the pecorino cheese as well as the poached eggs was such a delight to eat together. Especially with the mushroom foam and truffle honey which added a bit more sweetness to the dish.

A downside would be the rye and since it was toasted, maybe it was not served right away after toasting it or maybe it has been previously toasted and left out in the air for a while since it was quite hard.. Not something you could easily knife through unfortunately. It's not a dish where you grab the toast and just bite it off along with the condiments on top like Avo on toast. That was why I had hoped that the toast would be lightly toasted allowing it to still be soft in the middle. Most importantly, I would be able to slice the toast and pick up a few of the mushrooms, dip it in the oozing egg as well as getting a bit of the pecorino cheese and the mushroom foam. Sadly, that wasn't possible. It was just easier in the end having a fork on one hand to pick up the mushrooms and so on whilst having one hand holding the toast and just biting it off as you go..

The mushroom foam along with the truffle honey was definitely the most anticipating element out of the whole dish. The mushroom foam was light, had subtle hints of mushrooms however it was creamy but not as creamy as mayo. More like a whipped egg white but not overwhipped into a meringue. Not sure how I can describe it, but it wasn't sweet nor was it salty.. It was just kind of subtle.. if you get what I mean..

As for the truffle honey, I found that it was abit too sweet and that the honey overpowered the truffle. Of course, it is great to see the truffle pieces in the honey but I think without the truffle honey, the dish would still be good. Although if you like your dish sweeter, then the truffle honey is perfect. Try to get some of the mushrooms and slide it across the mushroom foam and dab abit of the truffle honey and oh, don't forget to crack the egg and see it oozing out although one was perfectly cooked, the other was abit overcooked. That didn't matter though, they were still nice poached eggs.

'Breakfast Burger' ($15) is the safest I guess other than Avo on toast to order. If you'd rather have a lighter but still yummy burger, there is also a mushroom haloumi version. The breakfast burger consisted of your basic but essential protein and veges to build up your energy in the morning. Streaky bacon, fried egg, smoked tomato relish, mature cheddar and avocado on a toasted polenta brioche bun..

Layering a burger can be hard especially if you try and add too much in it however, since this was quite simple, it was presented yet beautifully as well. Showing the fried egg on top of the bacon whilst the toasted bun on the side as it sits at the edge. I guess this also allows you to see the burger inside and out whilst also trying to fill up the chopping board. It is quite awkward sometimes to see a closed up burger placed in the middle of a big round plate leaving you feeling that the whole dish seems abit empty. That's how I feel anyway.. Though this was presented on a chopping board, it didn't feel that way at all.

Sadly I didn't really like the toasted bun as when I read brioche bun, I tend to like it slightly toasted on the outside but soft on the inside. This instead was quite hard on the outside and the inside was not as soft.. Another thing, it was nice to see that the avocado wasn't in slices placed within the midst of the other elements in the burger but instead it was smashed avocado spread on the top bun which makes it easier to eat as a whole.