my name is Food.: July 2016

The Vietnamese Hut, Eight Mile Plains, Brisbane

Asian July 24, 2016

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Geláre, Little Stanley St, Southbank, Brisbane

Brisbane July 18, 2016

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Verve Restaurant Bar Cider House, Edward St, Brisbane CBD

Alcohol July 16, 2016

Verve has always been there, tucked away behind that bright red rustic door. So you might miss it if you don't look carefully for it but when you do open the door, you are taken into an underground restaurant with dim lights so when you do try and take pictures, you might just need extra help with your phone's flashlight. Dishing up different types and interesting combinations of pastas and pizzas, everyone's tastebuds will be fixed upon their menu. If you would just like a drink or two and nibble on some snacks or even just have a dessert, then do come down and try it here.. You might just be surprised.

'Chicken Pizza' ($18.9) came first on our table and was served on a round white plate. Portion wise was sufficient meaning that you are able to either eat this as a whole yourself or have it to share. I would usually prefer to share pizzas rather than eating one whole pizza for myself. The Chicken pizza consisted of chicken, marinated fetta, caramelised onion, roasted capsicum, thyme and parmesan as well as a drizzle of Balsamic Vinegar on top to create an illuminating look to the pizza.

Just by gazing at the pizza, you can see how packed and full of toppings it had on top which is always great when you order a pizza to see that the whole pizza has been covered. What annoys me is that when you order a pizza and you see bits of salami slices here and there but nowhere to be found in the middle or even having chicken cuts on one side of the pizza and not much on the other. The toppings has been spread out well and equally. As for the pizza base, I do not think it is the greatest but it is chewy and has that simple crisp on the outside. As for the toppings, it all balanced out well with the parmesan glueing everything together.

'Scallop Linguini' ($22.9) is a simple pasta compared to the other pasta options they offer on their menu. The linguini is served with scallops, bacon, mint, green peas and olive oil. At first, I wasn't too sure how green peas would mix in well with the other element as I do know scallops do work with bacon as well as mint and olive oil. A wedge of lemon is also given on the side of the plate which is nice when you do give it a squeeze or two and give it a good mix throughout.

The scallops were cut in half and not full size which made sense if you were dishing up a Scallop pasta dish, giving a whole lot of scallops would cost more than it usually would. However, I did feel as if the scallops seemed to have been those frozen types which was kind of a let down, but overall, the amount of mint and olive oil to give the linguini flavour was there and was just right. It wasn't too much until the taste was too overpowering but I did feel it was rather an oily dish overall. The green peas added a slight pop of colour but it was just okay if I had to say how it complimented the dish. The bacon brought the saltyness within the dish which balanced out the fishyness from the scallops as well as the plain linguini.

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Siam Samrarn, West End, Brisbane

Asian July 13, 2016

Known for its authentic Thai cuisine with hand carved teak furniture, stylish interior and their loyal customers who just keeps coming back over the years. Being located at The Markets in West End, diners are able to have easy access to parking as well as dessert restaurants and bars in the neighbourhood after finishing their meals. The menu consists of more of the traditional as well as combining a variety of unique dishes that represents the past and future of Thai gastronomic culture.

'Deep Fried Crispy Pork with Garlic' ($17.9) is simply as what the dish is called, deep fried crispy pork topped with fried crispy garlic. We had quite a high expectation for this dish but sadly it wasn't as delicious as we thought it would be. The fried crispy garlic was well done allowing all of the deep fried crispy pork be able to infuse the garlic flavour. However, the deep fried crispy pork was sliced very small and the batter was just not bland but not flavoursome either. Some of the deep fried crispy pork also didn't taste like it had any pork in it and just seemed to be the deep fried crispy batter by itself so that was a let down. Once or twice is fine, but not when many were like that and only some had pork inside it whilst alot more of it were just deep fried batter.

It would have been better if the pork was sliced in a chunkier piece or just slightly bigger than how it was, allowing diners to actually see that there is meat inside as well as being able to chew it instead of just eating simply crispy and crunchy batter. Do be careful when you bite some because some may hurt your teeth as it was just simply too crunchy and hard. Although there were a side salad placed on the side, it didn't help at all with the dish but maybe asian greens may have been a more suitable choice. Overall, although we both love our garlic, the dish was sadly a let down for us as it had many hard and tough pieces, lack of actual pork meat, too thinly sliced pork in the batter as well as having only deep fried batter and no pork.

'Gang Keaw Wham aka Green Curry' (Chicken: $17.9) is a Thai green curry with coconut milk, green beans and bamboo shoot as well as a choice of your own meat, may it be beef or chicken, tofu or vegetables. I do have to say that although the green curry may seem abit small but it actually is an efficient amount where you can share it with another. The amount of green beans, bamboo shoot and chicken breast pieces has never let us down as the whole green curry is always filled with it. The spices and herbs is just right, not too mild and not too spicy either which was good for me although bear in mind when you do get to the bottom of the bowl, that's where it tends to get spicier.