my name is Food.: November 2018

Kooroomba Vineyards and Lavender Farm - Mount Alford, Queensland, Australia

Australia November 27, 2018

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Parisi Cafe - QVB, Sydney CBD

Australia November 24, 2018

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Hatch & Co. - Gasworks, Newstead, Brisbane

Australia November 22, 2018

Still a good area to go to either dine or just the supermarket, specially when the Standard Market Company is there, gosh. But anyway, coming here sometimes can be a hit and miss, so far that we've been here anyway..

To start off, we decided on a small plate of Seared lamb loin, tahini, pickled eggplant served with warm pita. The portion was decent especially to share but having it for oneself as an entree may just make you not be able to finish your whole main dish. The warm pita bread had the slight charring which was nice to see, a whole pita sliced into four.

The seared meat was nicely seared but was a tad cold. Making it into some sort of a wrap with the pita bread seemed liked an easy option and a quick way to eat it, so we went with that. It was definitely good. There was enough sauce to go on to every single slice of meat and enough greens to go with it too.

Deciding on a pizza is quite hard, especially when there is more than one that you want but then, you know you can only just fit one in your tummy.. So we opted for the Marinated mushrooms, roast garlic, chilli and smoked mozarella, for something that will not be too heavy nor too light.

The mushrooms was placed pleasantly in each slice with hints of thinly sliced chilli topping it all off. The smoked mozarella wasn't very apparent but it was cheesy, yes. The roast garlic was also quite subtle in which we were expecting a stronger sense of garlic.

The dough had the crispy edges but soft when you get to the centre, however, we did think it was a bit too thin that you weren't able to pick up a slice and simply bite it.

A pasta dish to just ease our wants, the only pasta dish I thought we ordered doesn't seem quite match with the one on the menu, so the unknown pasta had herbs, shredded parmesan, sausage and cherry tomatoes. I remember it having a hint of chilli, but not too strong.

*Please note this is a delayed post and as such, the menu may have changed since my visit to the establishment.

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Hello Harry - Portside Wharf, Hamilton, Brisbane

American November 18, 2018

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Shiki Oriental - Westfield Chermside, Chermside, Brisbane

Asian November 17, 2018

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Madame Wu - Eagle Street, Brisbane CBD

Asian November 15, 2018

Trying to find a modern Asian dining restaurant is not that easy here, so when searching for places to hold our engagement, there was limited places to choose from. Not wanting a typical Chinese restaurant with chandeliers and the interior, but wanting something modern, classy providing good quality food was what I wanted. Then I found Madame Wu, located on the top of Riparian Plaza in Eagle Street Pier, it boasts the views of the Brisbane river as well as a glimpse of the Story Bridge. That could work, I thought to myself, and so I decided to enquire and book it.

Due to the size of our group, we were advised that we were only allowed to choose to banquet menu of which I wasn't very keen on at first as I knew that we all would eat quite a lot and the usual way of dining in such a big group would be ordering many main dishes and sharing it with everyone on the table. However, since I asked whether there was a way for an exception of this to happen due to the event that was being held, they rejected and declined and said that only banquet menus were allowed to be ordered, nothing else. Although I did advise them that I would be spending much more doing that rather than paying for the banquet menu.

But they still rejected the offer.

So be it then.. I guess they'd rather lose money and not let us order more.. which would've been a benefit for them. They said that 'it puts a large strain on the kitchen' and 'it is very hard to get these meals up together' even if we did pre-order for the whole table for a la carte.

Also, the private dining room.. I don't even remember anymore why we weren't able to use it. Despite the fact that I did tell them we have older adults that would not appreciate having to be sat down on high tables and high chairs due to inconvenience. They were not able to cater a big group like ours anywhere else, it seems. As they did not have a normal table for our group size. Mind you, we were only a group of 10.

Not a very good experience from the start. Also, we tried to book in a time to come in and dine to try the food and see the interior first but they weren't able to accomodate even if we tried to book a table of 3 or 2 in advance.

The food came quite a while after we sat down, they were served in plates and bowls placed in the middle of the table. They did not however advise us that it was for everyone and each person was having 1 item each out of every dish placed down. So for example, a bamboo steamer had 2 or 4 steamed duck buns, that was for one per person. So basically, you don't get much despite the price you pay. A long plate of Tang Sui chicken ribs, was also for one each. They were sweet but juicy and had a slight crunch as the rest of them was soggy.

Crispy pork hock, stir fried kimchi and apple was an interesting dish however, it was another sweet dish but had that tang from the kimchi and apple but it was quite dry.

Stir fried wok green topped with house made oyster sauce and shallots.

We were wanting to also order a noodle dish as the banquet did not come with it at all, a tradition of chinese heritage, a noodle dish means a lot and prosperity as well for such an occassion. However, they were not able to cater this as well even if the restaurant was not full at all. They said that because of the time of the year, they were not able to do an additional noodle dish. Even if I requested nothing complex, even just with simple vegetables or some sort would suffice.

Would I come here again? Not when it is a big group but it's a maybe if it's a date. It's not convenient overall and ruins the whole experience and quality of the whole restaurant when they are not able to cater to your needs nor make an exception nor try and sit you elsewhere or let you order more? Which seems a bit dumb, when you are willing to pay for more, but somehow, not allowed to? This could be further improved to allow a smoother experience into line with the food and dining especially with the high end pricing for both food and wine.

*Please note that this is a delayed post, hence the menu may have changed since this visit. As we felt that the images should not go to waste, a written review has been made despite the delay.