What I ate today - the food thread

[TheRealTMA]

Excellent lunch and I had the scenic tour of Brisbane on the drive back to the hotel.

It was a full service lunch.

 

[VPS]

Very nice with @TheRealTMA and @VPS . I'm off to sell a kidney

And someone tell that guy with the snail to get an iron!!!

It didn’t look that bad in real life. Great to catch up with you both

 

[TheRealTMA]

It didn’t look that bad in real life. Great to catch up with you both

YMSTBICNPC!

 

[RooFlyer]

Two nights ago, I went to the Henschke "60 years of single vineyard wines and Hill of Grace" - ie the 2018 releases. Was held at Agnes restaurant in Fortitude Valley. They have also done the same in Sydney and Melbourne and I guess, Adelaide.

It was very nice, but to be honest, I've been to better.

Agnes was a funny choice - they said themselves that they are more usually a 'share a plate' type, with food cooked over open flame. This dinner was individually plated - very nice, and no food complaints, but just seemed an odd pairing. Also, we were really packed in - about 40 at the dinner (I was expecting 10 - the usual Henschke size do) and we were very much rubbing elbows to eat.

Entering the venue. Lots of glasses



Bound, good quality tasting note booklet and other nice stuff at each setting.



Menu and pairings



Betel leaf with (essentially) prawn mince 7/10. Presentation lacking.



Cobita crudo etc - excellent textures and flavours, 9/10. I haven't featured the wine in these pics as, well, its either white or red, isn't it? But the Hill of Peace semillon was outstanding. They rarely make it (low acreage) - the vineyard is adjacent to the HoG one and the church. Decent 2018 Julius too.



Duck, served with Wheelwright and Mt Edelstone 8/10. This is where another negative became apparent. Small-ish pours and few top-ups. My conclusion is that they expanded the guest list, hence the crowding , and 'shortage' of plonk. Yes, its expensive plonk, but we did pay $$$$ for the evening and they are getting it wholesale!! Rockford lunches have larger pours.



I was lucky enough to have the evening's hosts Andreus Henschke (one of S&P's sons) and Marketing chief Tim Davidson opposite and next to me, so got some excellent chat in during the evening. Tim is contemplating bringing a Henschke do down to Hobart!! (Confirmed by Andreus)

Of course we had to listen to the Henschke story etc etc - Andreus with the mike and Tim to his right.



Lamb saddle, with the big 3 - 2018 Hill of Roses, 2018 Hill of Grace and 2010 Hill of Grace from (they said) the family's private cellar. Everything succulent; 10/10.



Lots of black labels!



No dessert, but cheese on potato pancake waffle. Bay of Fires cheddar rosette on top. I was surprised - I though BoF was more aged and crumbly. But then my go-to is King Island Surprise Bay cheddar; 7/10. 2018 Cyril to go with it - I lurrrve Cyril and really could have done with more, as a 'cleanser'.



Next, Annual Henschke lunch at the winery with @Buzzard and +1 in a month. These are excellent - 8 or 10 max and usually hosted by Stephen & Pru, with vineyard tours and separate pre lunch premium tastings.

 

[kermatu]

Back to home dining for me.



Lamb curry, fried brinjal, chilies, yoghurt (with chili, onion, coriander, tomato and cucumber) and rice. Accompanied by a 2013 Clonakilla shiraz which was meant to be kept for a special occasion. But with all thanks to the chef, any meal like this is special!

 

[drron]

So sandwiched between the Henschke dinner and an upmarket French restaurant lunch @RooFlyer managed to have a fish and chips lunch with the Drrons. Well at the Lighthouse restaurant at Cleveland Point.
Both RooFlyer and Mrsdrron weren’t hungry so had the garlic and chilli prawns. Hold the chilli for Mrsdrron.


I had crumbed flathead and chips.


Mrsdrron had the coconut pannacotta for dessert.


I had the lemoncello curd. No limoncello was present.


A nice spot for lunch and my fish was very nice.

 

[Rugby]

Restaurant Hubert, Sydney. Whole roasted snapper, frites and buttered greens. The fish and sides were excellent. We started with the Escargo’s in XO butter - again top notch. The live jazz was great. The only let down was the quality of the wine by the glass.

 

[RooFlyer]

So sandwiched between the Henschke dinner and an upmarket French restaurant lunch @RooFlyer managed to have a fish and chips lunch with the Drrons. Well at the Lighthouse restaurant at Cleveland Point.
Both RooFlyer and Mrsdrron weren’t hungry so had the garlic and chilli prawns. Hold the chilli for Mrsdrron.
View attachment 334593

I had crumbed flathead and chips.
View attachment 334594

Mrsdrron had the coconut pannacotta for dessert.
View attachment 334596

I had the lemoncello curd. No limoncello was present.
View attachment 334595

A nice spot for lunch and my fish was very nice.

Always nice to lunch with the drrons and especially this time, when I scored a prezzie from @mrs.dr.ron for my Antarctic cruise in December. Thanks! It shall feature in the Trip Report.

Afterwards I had an explore of Wellington Point, great views over Morton Bay and a sunset



To complete the Brisbane dining extravaganza, I then had dinner with my sister at Good Grace in Kenmore. Sort of cafe/bistro, not quite as nice as I was expecting, but OK and priced accordingly. My sister likes French food, so I'm afraid another visit to La Belle Vie may be on the cards!!

We both had barramundi and I had apple crumble for dessert.





Extremely pleasant host and easy parking.

So that concludes my foodie visit to Brisbane. Not my usual scene but happy to give it a whirl . VA BNE-HBA tomorrow morning.

 

[QF WP]

You’ve been haunting my parts of Brisbane @RooFlyer (western suburbs) - some great restaurants and company.

 

[Ade]

New arrival!

Spiced caramel apple scone at Bakers Delight CBR Civic.

Tasted really good .. not overly sweet. Will definitely have it again. However, few mins after eating this, I craved something savoury!

 

[drron]

Today it was a birthday lunch for my former practice partner and his family at The Marketplace Maroochydore. Good food, good wine and good company.
The menu.








The wines. First a Philip Shaw Pinot Noir. My godson learnt his craft working for Philip. Then a Meadowbank Pinot Noir from Tasmania. And finally an Italian Pinot Grigio for those drinking white.








The restaurant.

 

[drron]

The food. I began with the Mooloolaba tuna and Mrsdrron with the quail.




I then had the Tagliolini and Mooloolaba prawns plus a little chilli and Mrsdrron had the slow cooked lamb.




Some of the other mains. Duck and barramundi.




And divine duck fat roast potatoes.


Then desserts. Raspberry with coconut sorbet for Mrsdrron and lemon pavlova for me.




Thoroughly recommended.

 

[snabbu]

The Halal Guys. I've eaten there a couple of times pre covid and I was somewhat impressed, not completely wowed but it was good. The difference to me was the thicker puffy pita bread and the sauce, but this time I was underwhelmed. The meat and pita was dry, leaving a claggy feeling in the mouth, very dissapointing.

We have pretty amazing doner kebabs back home, I feel this place is a letdown compared to what is availablee in australia.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Would love to go to this. Have eaten at L’Enclume in uk twice and other Simon Rogan restaurants. Just fabulous.

First look at three Michelin-starred English restaurant L’Enclume’s $420 tasting menu the Bathers’ Pavilion in Sydney

The eight-course menu gives the English restaurant’s signature dishes a distinct Australian flavour during its residency at Bathers’ Pavilion.

www.smh.com.au

 

[VPS]

Would love to go to this. Have eaten at L’Enclume in uk twice and other Simon Rogan restaurants. Just fabulous.

First look at three Michelin-starred English restaurant L’Enclume’s $420 tasting menu the Bathers’ Pavilion in Sydney

The eight-course menu gives the English restaurant’s signature dishes a distinct Australian flavour during its residency at Bathers’ Pavilion.

www.smh.com.au

Looks fantastic but there's a few things on there I can't eat. I can't believe I can't eat caviar ever again

 

[TheRealTMA]

Looks fantastic but there's a few things on there I can't eat. I can't believe I can't eat caviar ever again

It’s ok! We are happy to eat them for you!

 

[Ade]

Back to my favourite Asian place in Canberra civic.

They have upgraded the ambiance - it’s candle lit now with very limited external lights … gives a nice vibe.

Curry puffs, Vegan fried rice with a healthy serving of chilli and a carafe of house red. #HappyDays

 

[Ade]

I have to say, I have been a bit slack in updating this thread. There’s a lot of stuff happening that keeps me very busy.

Anywhooooo was in Chennai a couple of weeks back and my cousin suggested we try a place called “Masaledhar - Firangi Tadka”. A very uptown, chic place - specialising in North Indian style dishes.

There are some South Indian dishes, but there are far far better places to try authentic South Indian.

They also had a Asian-Indian fusion menu, that did not entice me. If I wanted to have Nasi Goreng, I’d do it on my stopover at KUL.


We were 4 people - myself and one of my cousins started with a lemon and coriander soup that was really good.

Bit of a backstory, as it happens each time I visit India, I got sick and the soup was a godsend to my sore throat. My cousin and I were going to share the soup, but I was advised by my sibling that I have a whole serve just for myself, so that it helps my throat and that’s what I did. So a single whole serve of lemon coriander soup for me.



And we all had 3 entrees and 3 mains along with a bread basket that was shared.





Followed by Pan ice cream. Pan is similar to after dinner mints (but there are no mints in the pan). It’s betel leaf with a variety of condiments packaged in and eaten in one mouthful. Anyways, the restaurant had a pan ice cream that had all the condiments, including the betel leaf stirred through it. It was delish. I only sampled a couple of teaspoons (thanks to my soar throat) , but it was amazing!



Overall a very good dinner experience. Going out for dinner with my cousins is a tradition that I follow each time I go home. I look forward to the next dinner in August. My cousin has already made a list of places to visit when I’m off to Chennai in another couple of weeks.

 

[Ade]

Palm Strip restaurant, Colombo airport.

Transiting CMB on a seperate ticket. Arrived into CMB as part of CBR-SYD-MEL-SIN-CMB QF ticket, waiting to board CMB-MAA on AI.

It was around 0200 CMB time and they had freshly made idli, sambhar, dhal (because we are in Sri Lanka) and chutney, for US$7.5.



The idli was good, hot and warming. I’d definitely order it again. I actually wanted to try the Dosa, Pol Roti, Sodhi and Sambol but I was told they don’t start serving those items until 0400, as part of the brekkie buffet.

If anyone transiting CMB and don’t have lounge access, Palm Strip is open 24*7 and have something local to eat.

 

[Ade]

Lunch at Caribou Kingston, CBR.

Enjoyed a tofu burger and chips. The burger was very good, but bland, so needed a strong dose of chilli sauce