Himawari Restaurant – Sunnybank, Brisbane

Who’s the newest kid on the block?  Or Plaza?  Sunnybank Plaza that is.  Why it’s Himawari!

The original Himawari Restaurant in Brisbane has been open in Elizabeth Arcade for aaaaages, and is a popular spot for both office workers and students.  Mr Ana and I have been there a number of times to sample their food.  Their curry is very nice

So when I noticed they were fitting out a new restaurant front in Sunnybank Plaza, I thought I had to try it out.  You know, so I can tell you guys how good it really is…  I’ve walked past a few times since it opened and there is always a line.  Good sign (well that, and people around Sunnybank sure do like to eat out!).

So I popped around today with mum to sample some of their dishes…  Their menu has variety of rice and noodle dishes, from rice bowls to simple bento boxes, and yakisoba to curry rice.  All dishes are around $10-$12, so fairly reasonable in price.  Himawari also have a ‘set menu’ option, where you can order a little side dish for around $2.  The side dishes include a little bowl of agidashi tofu, some karaage chicken, or some udon noodles.  Pretty good for an extra $2 or so!

Mum decided to order a pork katsudon ($11) – a fried pork fillet topped with runny eggs and onion. She also ordered a little side of karaage chicken ($2.50).  I ordered an omelet yakisoba with chicken ($11), and a little side of agidashi tofu ($2).

Our orders came out quickly and we eagerly tried the food in front of us.

I started with the little bowl of agidashi tofu.  I was pleased that it was lightly coated and fried the way I would do it at home, but I noticed it didn’t have any ginger or daikon radish to compliment the soup base.  Oh well.  I broke up the tofu and had a sip of the soup.  eek!!  So salty and well, boring. Whoever made it doesn’t know how to make stock or poured the base straight out from a bottle.  It was quite harsh and just tasted like soy sauce with a bit of sugar and hondashi thrown in with no thought to balance the flavours.  The tofu was quite nice though, so I finished that and left the soup stock behind.

Mum let me sample her karaage chicken.  Golden brown with a pleasant crunchy texture, this was a more enjoyable side dish.  The chicken was lightly marinated prior to coating and cooking too.  I think this was much better value then the agidashi tofu.

My omelet yakisoba looked very snug in its omelet blanket and I ripped it open with glee to see all its yakisoba guts spill out.  The dish itself is very simple – stir fried soba noodles with chicken mince (boo!) a few shallots and cabbage pieces, then wrapped in a thin omelet and topped with some tonkatsu sauce and mayonnaise.

The dish was ok only and I probably wouldn’t order it again.

Mum’s katsudon, however, was quite enjoyable.  Crisp pork fillet that wasn’t too oily, covered with moist and well seasoned wet omelet and onions that seeped onto fluffy rice.  While the katsudon wasn’t of the standard of say, a premium pork fillet from Hokkaido, every mouth full was enjoyable.  Mum had to remind me to give back her bowl   Clearly she chose the winning dishes of the day!

Overall Himawari is a reasonable little restaurant to go and order cheap and reasonable food.  The service is quick, however the food is quite simplistic.  Mind you the prices reflect that.  It’s not a restaurant that would make me drive all the way to Sunnybank just to eat their dishes, but if I were in the area and felt like eating a katsudon, I might pop by.  I’m sure it will be popular with the locals, as Japanese food is…  I think I’ll stick to making agidashi tofu at home for now, which is what I’m making for our entree tonight!

 

Hakataya Ramen – Brisbane

Ramen, ramen, ramen…  My obsession with ramen continues…

Hakataya Ramen recently opened a new branch in Sunnybank Square, demonstrating its demand in Brisbane.  I tried Hakataya Ramen in the Gold Coast many years ago, and confess I didn’t enjoy it very much – the tonkatsu soup base was very fatty and not that flavoursome.  However, we were recently in the Sunnybank area and Mr Ana had a hankering for ramen – so we decided to check out the new restaurant.

We got to the restaurant at around 6ish and waited in line for 5 minutes or so.  Hakataya has a fairly limited menu, which basically focuses on 4 main ramen options – Nagahama ramen ($10) – which is the basic tonkatsu ramen base with char siu pork slices; char siu ramen ($13) – the same ramen with extra pork slices; karaka men ($11.50) – a tonkatsu base ramen with chilli; and finally the miso chilli men ($12) – a miso base ramen with chilli.  Hakataya also has fried dumplings and tonmeshi, which is rice flavoured with pork soup and topped with pork slices.

The narrow restaurant

Mr Ana and I both chose to try nagahama ramen and also the dumplings.  As it was fairly busy, we had the chance to watch the chef at work.  There was just one chef doing everything, and I was really impressed at how quickly he got the orders together.  We also saw the huge stock pots simmering away, with loads of pork bones floating around…  Yummy…

Stock pots with simmering stock

Our ramen arrived and I was ready to tuck in!  A few blows on my hot soup and off I went – the tonkatsu soup base was quite simple and not as heavy as I remember.  It was actually quite pleasant.  The pork slices were quite generous I thought, and I had enough to last me through the entire bowl – the meat was lightly seasoned, but went well with the soup base.

Nagahama Ramen

The noodles were a little disappointing as they were very thin and not that chewy.  However that didn’t stop me from getting into the extra serve of noodles that the chef popped onto our counter (kaedama – it’s free too!).  I have to be honest – for $10, this was a decent bowl of noodles.

Ramen noodles

It took quite a while for our dumplings to arrive (normally they should come before or at least at the same time that our mains come out – but anyway).  When they arrived I eagerly took a bite – the dumplings were will cooked, slightly crispy on the bottom and tender skin on top.  The filling was quite a simple pork filling, but enjoyable all the same.  I do wish they had proper dumpling sauce rather than what looked like white vinegar and regular soy sauce.

Fried dumplings

Overall we enjoyed our meals and considered it good value (especially with the free noodle top up!).  The restaurant is quite squishy and it is not a place to sit and take your time to eat and lounge.  However it is very popular and we could see why.

If I had to choose, Taro Ramen produces a much better bowl of tonkatsu ramen – the soup is much deeper in flavour and the noodles are fabulously chewy.  However you are paying a fair bit more for Taro’s ramen (which I’m happy to pay mind you).  I’d happily return to Hakataya for a quick bowl of ramen – while it is not that complex in flavour, it is a quick meal and much better value then say, MOS burger

Hakataya Ramen
Shop 13 Market Square
Cnr. Mains Rd. & McCullough St., Sunnybank

Meet Fresh – Brisbane

Mr Ana and I were wandering around Sunnybank trying to find something to eat.  We don’t frequent the Sunnybank area, as my blood pressure tends to rise at the thought of trying to park our car in the madness that is Sunnybank.  Sunnybank frequenters – you know exactly what I’m talking about.  Madness.  Freaking madness.

Anyhoo, we strolled past a new shop that was on the verge of opening – Meet Fresh.  Meet Fresh is a dessert shop that originated in Taiwan, and has a branch in Sydney.  Now, Taiwan is known for their desserts – the myrid of bubble tea flavours, ice creams, tofu desserts, peanut mochi, and all sorts of yummy goodness that you can find.  Well, I can find   mmmm, milk sticks come to mind…

The shop wasn’t quite open, so I decided to return with my mum, who adores tofu desserts.  So we came back shortly after to check out what Meet Fresh has to offer.

We were lucky when we arrived, it was just before the lunch rush – shortly after we sat down a line was making its way to the door – good advertising if  you ask me!

Now, Taiwanese people are known for convenience.  Want a drink?  Here, have it in a special little bag to hang off your scooter handle.  Some street snacks for later?  I’ll chuck in a couple of bamboo skewers so you don’t get your fingers dirty – in a little plastic bag so you can hang on to it conveniently of course   It’s no different with desserts – many are assembled fresh and popped into specially made containers and bags to enjoy later.

Meet Fresh is set up similarly to dessert places in Taiwan – the desserts are made in front of you behind a glass counter, with all the ingredients set up neatly in their own little homes.  Special little take away containers are ready if you wanted the dessert to go.  We sat in front of the counter so we could watch the desserts being prepared and noted that the dessert assemblers were careful with their creations, right down to counting the number of taro balls that went into each dessert.

Mum ordered a lotus seed tofu dessert (around $5) and giddly awaited while it was made in front of her.  I couldn’t make a decision so I ended up ordering an oolong milk tea ($3.80).  When you order you get a little buzzer which buzzes when your dessert is ready to pick up. The buzzer went off and mum bounced up to collect our treats.

Mum’s tofu dessert came overloaded with sugar syrup and ice…  but not overloaded with tofu (check out the picture on their website – it looked totally different in real life).  Tofu desserts are primarily layers upon layers of silken tofu, drizzled with sugar syrup and whatever topping you choose.  This dessert was the other way around – a few slivers of tofu drowning in sugar syrup.  While the tofu was soft and light, it was quite disappointing how stingy the dessert was.  There were a few lotus seeds floating about, but nothing to get excited over.

My oolong milk tea came out in a cute jar mug which frankly, I wanted to take home.  The tea was light in flavour and well mixed and cold.  Very enjoyable.  I thought it would come out in a slightly larger vessel, however the size was reasonable considering the price.  I did enjoy it – freshingly cold, frothy and with a true oolong taste.

Meet Fresh is a bit of a novelty to try, however it’s probably more suited to young people who want to hang out over a dessert and have a gossip.  I can think of two places in Brisbane that serve better tofu desserts for around the same price, and well, milk tea is widely available.

I probably would return to try some of their other desserts, such as their herbal jelly (which I’m assuming is grass jelly), and also to try their limited edition ayu jelly.  They also have taro ball desserts, shaved ice, winter melon tea.  But overall, a slightly limited topping menu considering the shop specialises in desserts.

Meet Fresh
Sunnybank Plaza
123/358 Mains Road
Sunnybank

Taste Gallery – Brisbane

I’ve wandered past the Taste Gallery a few times, and Mr Ana and I have pondered over the xiao long bau (little soup dumplings).  I am a BIG fan of xiao long bau (thanks to the million trips to Asia over the years) and admit I am quite fussy about them.

So what did I do?  I dragged my mum there!  I had a day off and my mum loves making the trip to Sunnybank to try different restaurants.  I was surprised to hear that mum hadn’t been to the Taste Gallery, so I decided to take mum there when we both had time.

The restaurant is set up with the kitchen in the front with a huge glass window so people can have a peek and see the dumplings being made – I do like having a look, but wonder if the chefs feel self-conscious.  I think I would, but I’d also be tempted to put on a bit of a show.  Can’t help myself

Mum and I ordered a small selection of dumplings – we decided to focus on dumplings as this was what the restaurant markets itself for…  Well that, and we wanted to have some space left over for dessert!  There was a huge selection to choose from, but I stuck to my favourites.

We started with pan fried pancakes stuffed with chives and egg ($4.50).  The little stuffed pancakes were lovely and crispy, and I really enjoyed the chives.  I also found some wood ear fungus in there, which was a tasty addition.  The pancake was well seasoned and did not need any soy sauce.

And here are the pancakes in the inside:

Next came our xiao long bao ($4.50).  If you haven’t tried these before, they are little handmade dumplings filled with a mixture of pork filling, wrapped in a delicate skin.  What makes them special is that there is a little bit of soup in the dumpling that bursts in your mouth when you bite into the dumpling (so stuff the entire thing in, otherwise you’ll have soup everywhere!).  I eat these all the time when I travel, it is one of my favourites.

These xiao long bao weren’t too bad, however I have to say that I have tasted better in Brisbane.  I won’t compare them to Taiwan, because if I am honest, nothing beats xiao long bao in Taiwan (and I am NOT referring to Din Tai Fung either!!!).  The pork was nice enough, as was the soup, however it was too salty.  I prefer a more delicate flavour.

Our next dish was fried pork dumplings ($7.50).  As you may know, Mr Ana and I make our own dumplings at home.  I. Love. Dumplings.  Particularly fried dumplings.  I stuck to the pork and cabbage dumplings as these are typical in asian cuisine.  The dumplings were super crispy on the bottom which was a bit of a surprise, but I do love a crispy bum, so I enjoyed it.  Again, the dumplings were quite salty, a bit too seasoned, which took away from the pork filling.  The filling itself was very simple, and I couldn’t taste various flavours that are usually added to this type of dumpling.  If I am honest, I prefer our home cooked ones.

And finally our shallot pancakes arrived ($5.50).  They were smaller than I expected but enjoyable all the same.  The pancake was very flakey which indicated that the chef spent time rolling and folding the dough over and over again.  Respect.  This was one of my favourite dishes of the day.

For a bit of fun, mum ordered three little mice ($7.50).  It was a little dish of mice made out of glutinous rice flour, filled with black sesame.  The mice came complete with teeny eyes made out of sesame seeds and ears fashioned from peanuts.  Almost too cute to eat!  That didn’t stop mum though, she ripped into them like a champ.  Poor things never had a chance.  The glutinous rice flour was coated with teeny tapioca balls which made the dessert dumplings moist, and the black sesame filling was sweet.  Mum enjoyed them.  I watched with fascination…

Overall, the Taste Gallery is a decent place to try a variety of dumplings in one convenient spot.  However, I think you can find better versions of each individual dish elsewhere – if you could be bothered.  And I suppose I can be bothered!

Taste Gallery
Market Square Shopping Centre
20B/341 McCullough Street
Sunnybank

Piefection – Brisbane

I am still in the process of culinary discovery on my side of town – there is a LOT to try around here!

For something a little different, I recently tried some food from a small little pie shop set amongst a bunch of local shops – Piefection.  Now, I don’t eat many pies, but do enjoy a good one – there is a local place near my parents that I’ve enjoyed for many years, as well as a good ‘ol pie from Rock n Roll in Greenslopes.  I did wonder how Piefection would measure up…

On my way back from visiting a friend, I was starving for a bit to eat, so took the opportunity to pick up a pie.

When I entered the little shop, I made a beeline straight to the pie cabinet.  I had to jostle a few people out of the way to have a peek – clearly this was a favourite lunch spot for local workers.

The standard pies available all sounded delicious – Guinness beef and mushroom pie, Jack Daniels BBQ pork rib pie, lamb shank and rosemary pie…  The list goes on!  And for around $5, it’s a pretty decent priced lunch!  The day that I visited Piefection had a few interesting additions – the Mexican pulled beef, chorizo and chilli con carne pie, and the Char Sui pork rib pie.  What to do???

I ended up chosing the Mexican pulled beef pie – I love a good chilli con carne on anything   I also took the plunge and ordered a floater combo ($10.95), which consisted of the pie top being opened and loaded with mashed peas, and then topped with mashed potato and gravy.  The combo also came with a serve of chips and a drink.

I was surprised how much mashed potato was loaded on top of the pie and had to take off half of it.  The mash was creamy and cheesy, but too heavy for my liking.  The mash peas were pleasant enough, but distracted me from the flavour of the pie.  I don’t think i’d order a floater next time, as I love a crispy pastry and the floater took away from that.  However the pie was tasty – the beef was flakey and generous, and the hint of chilli con carne gave it a familiar taste that I enjoyed.  I’ll be honest and say that I didn’t taste any chorizo.

I had to wait a while for the chips to be cooked but BOY was it worth it!  The chips were super fresh and crisp on the outside, and chewy on the inside.  The chips were seasoned with some spice prior to cooking which gave it a delicious morish taste.  Yummo.

Piefection have sausage rolls as well – including a wagyu beef sausage roll that I’m itching to try.  Next time.

Mr Ana asked whether it was worth returning to Piefection.  I thought about it.  Yes, I do think it’s worth returning to if you get a craving for a pie.  Even just for the chips – because they are worth returning to all on their own

Edit – Mr Ana and I have since returned and tried the Guiness Beef and mushroom pie, and the triple prime beef pie.  Both were very delicious and rice in flavour – no need for additional sauces for these two babies!  We will return!

Piefection
1373 Logan Road
Mount Gravatt

French Twist – Paddington, Brisbane

As I have a bit of time on my hands at the moment, I met a friend for coffee.  I hadn’t seen Ms M for some time, so she suggested a pretty cafe in The Barracks in Paddington.  I confess that I haven’t been there as it’s a tad trendy for me, however having coffee at a pretty cafe appealed to me.

The French Twist.  Hmmm.  Well, I’ve seen them in quite a few shopping centres and confess it is not where I would go to get a croissant.  But I do trust Ms M’s judgement on prettiness, so was happy to check it out (besides, I was there to catch up with Ms M, not eat an overpriced croissant).

The entrance of the cafe is indeed very pretty and I snuck in a photo:

Upon entering I saw little groupings of big armchairs and coffee tables piled with newspapers and magazines.  Further inside the cafe was a long table and several small tables for diners.  I sat quietly to check it all out.  While there is a ‘no photo’ policy, I took a few discreet photos anyway   I figured that if I had to go to the counter to order my coffee and food, well it couldn’t be that pretentious not to let me take a few pics!  I didn’t take photos of the delicious cakes and pastries though…

I wasn’t sure what to order, so I stuck to simple things – a croissant ($3.50), orange and almond cake ($4.90), and a latte ($3.60).  The croissant came out warm and crisp which was nice.  It was quite flakey and buttery as you would expect from a decent croissant.  Overall I quite enjoyed it, but not as much as the 90 cent croissant I ate every morning in Paris.  Why are croissants so expensive in Australia?  I still don’t get it.

I moved onto my little orange and almond cake.  It had a lovely citrus smell and flavour to it, but I couldn’t find any rind in it (I love a smattering of rind in citrus cakes).  The cake was quite light and the cream cheese icing was a good touch.  I do wish it was a little bigger – I’m a piglet I know!

Now the latte.  It was quite hot but not burnt.  Good.  The flavour was very mild, perhaps a little too mild for my taste.  However overall it was an easy latte to sip.

I spied Ms M’s brunch that arrived -herbed halloumi tartine with grilled cherry tomatoes, avocado and basil pesto on toasted bread ($12.90).  It wasn’t a complicated dish that required cooking, and is something easy to replicate at home – but boy it looked yummy.  I sampled the tomatoes which were lovely and tart, which would have gone very well with the creamy avocado and halloumi.  I think I’ll give this one a try the next time I go there:)

Overall the French Twist is a good environment to catch up with friends and enjoy a sweet treat (or two).  While I have had better pastries and cakes elsewhere, I must admit that the environment of the cafe is well set up and reminds me a little bit of Paris…

French Twit
61 Petrie Terrace
Paddington

Tobaki Korean BBQ – Brisbane

Have a hankering for an all-you-can-eat buffet for a reasonable price? Happy for a no frills dining experience? Want to mingle with the locals? Do you like Korean BBQ food?  Do you like to eat meat???

Well do I have the place for you. We actually came across Tobaki while visiting another place in the Sunnybank Hills shopping complex, and boy, was Mr Ana intrigued. He now often comes up with places to go, and this was on ‘the’ list. When I asked him why he wanted to try Tobaki, Mr Ana replied ‘because it’s Korean BBQ. And it’s all you can eat. And it’s crowded. What more would you want?’

So off we went. When we arrived, the restaurant was buzzing with diners, all at tables with individual charcoal grills. The tables went right out to the car park edge and people kept streaming in, us included. We nabbed a table and waited for Mr S to arrive. While we waited, we were served a jug of cold water and given some cups to serve ourselves. Mr Ana went inside to check out what the buffet had to offer – cabbage and diakon kim chi, fried Korean dumplings, sweet glass noodles with vegetables and beef, fresh lettuce, corn cobs, soba noodles and potatoes. And the BBQ meat. Wow. Chicken thighs marinated in hot bean paste, chicken bulgogi, pork marinated in hot bean paste, thinly sliced pork belly, beef steaks, beef marinated galbi (short ribs), mussels, baby squid…….. the list actually goes on…

When Mr S arrived, the swift service staff came out and placed two charcoal boxes in our BBQ and a clean grill on top. So we got started. Plates of kim chi and dumplings, another of glass noodles (my favourite!), and an assorted plate of BBQ meats ready to grill. We were each given some tongs and a pair of scissors which came in handy later on.

I’ll cut the chase and focus on what I really enjoyed. The glass noodles were a typical sweet flavour, and easy to eat. I enjoyed the capsicum and onion mixed in. The dumplings were a hit also, but once they got a bit cool they weren’t as enjoyable. Didn’t really stop me from eating a dozen or so of them! The kim chi, was surprisingly mild (ish) despite the hot red colour of the pickle marinade. And I really enjoyed the kim chi daikon radish – however I confess that love picked daikon.

My all time favourite meat cut of the night was the short rib galbi. Oh. My. Gosh. We took our time to grill it so it became lovely and brown, and it was well worth the wait. The beef was tender, sweet and sticky, and I had great joy with ripping the meat off the rib like a little carnivore. The chicken bulgogi was also enjoyable and I confess I was very distracted by the beef short ribs.

Tobaki is worth visiting if you like to eat BBQed meat and are happy to cook for yourself. The service is prompt, with staff changing the grills over to ensure that your meat is cooked well (as opposed to burning it to a crisp) – staff do not speak fabulous English however, so if you have questions, ask the owner. At $25 per person, it is reasonably priced for a casual night out. As I mentioned earlier, don’t wear fancy clothes, and this really is a no frills restaurant, and be aware that you will go home smelling like BBQ meat and will need a shower!

Would I go to Tobaki again? Yes I would!

Ps – sorry that there are not so many photos in this post, I got distracted and ate too much.

Time to be rolled home…