Croque Monsieur at Belle Epoque

I've already done a post about Belle Epoque at Emporium.

Recently we were looking for a spot of dessert in the Valley, and ended up at Belle Epoque after deciding that the queue at Freestyle Tout was way too long. My crême brulée ($13) on this visit was a bit disappointing. Although it tasted great, it was missing the crunchy top. Like Amelie, one of my favourite food experiences is cracking through the top of a crême brulée and this one let me down.

Anyway, the whole reason for this post is their croque monsieur, a classic French dish. One of my friends ordered it, and when it came out it looked amazing. To call this a baked ham and cheese sandwich with fries just doesn't do it justice. Although it's definitely not gluten free (so I couldn't even have a nibble) it looked like the most perfect late night snack you could ever imagine. It was served on a long plate with a good serve of fries and even a bit of salad. Pretty good value at only $14.

If you find yourself wandering around the Valley, hungry, but not sure exactly what you need, wander into Belle Epoque and order yourself a croque monsieur. Your stomach will be eternally thankful.

Belle Epoque
Emporium
1000 Ann Street
Fortitude Valley 4006
P - 07 3852 1500
E - info@labelleepoque.com.au
W - http://labelleepoque.com.au/index.html

Red Hot Thai

Red Hot Thai at Kingscliff is one of those restaurants that always seems to be busy. Usually that's a good indication of the food quality, and its certainly the case here.

Although Red Hot Thai covers the usual Thai suspects, there are also a few dishes that you don't always come across on your standard Thai menu. Their starters include crab and chicken steamed dumplings ($8.50), deep fried spicy fish cakes served with sweet chilli or plum sauce ($8.50) and spring rolls ($8.50).

I ordered the satay gai to get the evening going - chicken marinated in Thai herbs, served with peanut sauce ($8.50). I really am a sucker for Thai chicken satays and these ones were great. Over the years I've come across a lot of chicken satays where the chicken was so overcooked that the resulting satays were chewy and tasteless. These, on the other hand, were tender, covered in herbs and had a lovely delicate flavour. They were delicious, served with both a mild peanut sauce and a tangy, clear Thai sauce. They were quickly demolished.

We also ordered a serve of the pak tod for entree - fresh vegetables in tempura batter, served with sweet tamarind and ginger sauce ($8.50). Again these were great - fresh cauliflower, broccoli, beans, mushrooms, capsicum, zucchini and shallots fried in a light, crunchy tempura batter. The tangy sauce was also a winner. Admittedly these were more Japanese than Thai, but they were fresh and tasty.

When it comes to mains, the menu covers curries, soup, salads, seafood, stir fries and noodles. Some of the salads sounded particularly tempting - like the yum nua (char grilled beef with fresh lemongrass, lime juice, coriander and chilli) and the larb gai (spicy minced chicken, Thai herbs, lime juice and ground roasted rice).

We were at the beach, so I went for the gang penang prawn curry ($22) as a main course. This was a creamy red coconut milk curry, which was served with broccoli, carrot, fresh kaffir lime leaves and roasted peanuts. It was a beautiful dish, in the fragrant, lighter style of Thai curries. There was a generous amount of prawns in the dish and the sauce was so good I ended up dunking loads of rice into the bowl to soak up all the delicious flavours.

We also had the vegetarian Red Hot Thai noodles as a main - wok fried egg noodles with tofu, chilli, shallot and basil ($15.50). Although there were plenty of fresh, crunchy vegetables in this dish, it was a bit bland, and could have done with a bit more of a flavour kick. There were a few red chilli bits through the noodles, but not enough to really give them a distinctive taste.

Red Hot Thai is both licenced and BYO. Corkage is $2.50 per person if you do take your own wine. Although we had to ask about 3 separate waiters for a wine cooler and some glasses at the start of the night, after that small hiccup the service was good. Red Hot Thai does get very busy during school holidays and on weekends, so it's always a good idea to book ahead.

What does all this mean? Well priced, tasty Thai food in a relaxed, friendly setting.

food bling ratings
Food - Great
Service - Good
Ambience - Relaxed indoor & outdoor seating
Value for Money - Good
Wine - Licenced & BYO
Vegetarian - Great

Red Hot Thai
80 Marine Parade
Kingscliff NSW 2487
P - 02 6674 5299

Gourmet Traveller

I've been subscribing to Gourmet Traveller for the last 5 years or so, and I think its a great food magazine. I'm not so keen on the travel side of the magazine, as it usually concentrates on luxury or exclusive accommodation, which isn't my idea of travel. But this isn't a travel blog, so I won't bore you with my views on that.

The only problem I have with Gourmet Traveller's food coverage is that, historically, it has had such a Sydney and Melbourne focus that it's hard to find much written about Queensland (or the other states). According to their 2008 restaurant guide, Queensland only has 4 restaurants in the top 50 Australian restaurants (with Absynthe picking up the highest spot at 28).

However, Queensland has been creeping a bit more into its consciousness over the last 2 years or so, which is good to see. I think the increased profile of Queensland food in Gourmet Traveller is associated with the rise of some great restaurants in North Queensland (like Nu Nu at Palm Cove).

Gourmet Traveller's April 2008 magazine was its "Best of the Best" edition. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Queensland is starting to pick up some well-deserved kudos on the national food front. Here are the Queensland dishes, restaurants, shops and hotels which got a mention as "best of the best":

• Ecco's tonka bean panna cotta, apple consomme and green apple sorbet;


• Anise's "The Smokehouse" amuse bouche;


• Montrachet's steak frites;


• Bar Alto's pappardelle with goat ragu;


• Fish & Wine at Coolangatta;


• Piaf at Southbank;


• Rosalie Gourmet Market;


• Chouquette boulangerie at New Farm;


• Freestyle Tout at Emporium


• Maleny Cheese;


• Rusty's Market in Cairns;


• The Junction Cafe in Mossman;


• Cafe China in Cairns;


• Emporium Hotel in the Valley (which is listed as one of the 30 best new hotels in the world); and


• Qualia at Hamilton Island (also one of the 30 best new hotels in the world)

Let's hope that the great restaurants we have here in Queensland continue to receive the national coverage that they deserve.

tlicious

Until I went to Africa a few years ago, I really wasn't a big fan of tea. The only time I ever drank a cup of tea was when I was really cold and there was no other hot drink on offer except tea. But after travelling around Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia I got hooked on their black tea, especially the ones served with loads of sugar, or sometimes a bit of spice. Tea like that was surprisingly thirst quenching on hot days. And in Morocco, we'd drink between 5 and 10 cups of refreshing mint tea every day. I still make mint tea at home on hot days to bring back fantastic memories of Morocco.

Now I only drink black tea, with a couple of sugars. I'm not a big fan of milky tea. One of my favourite spots to pick up tea in Brisbane is from tlicious at Southbank. tlicious has over 150 different teas to pick from, so there is no excuse if you can't find one you like. Their teas are categorised as black tea, green tea, white tea, rooibos, chai, herbal infusions and fruit blends. Some of the more eye catching teas are Oz bushfire caravan, genmaicha (Japanese tea with roasted rice), Casablanca (North African blend of gunpowder and spearmint) and Turkish apple. Prices for 100g of tea range from $8 for orange pekoe Ceylon to $32 for the vanilla pearls white tea blend.

It's a great shop, because there are little jars of tea on the shelves, which you can open up to smell the aromas of all the weird and wonderful teas. There is also usually one tea made up for you to try as you wander around the shop.

If you just want to buy a few teas to try at home, you can get three 20g packs for $10. The tea is so good that you need surprisingly little to make a cup, so 20g goes much further than you would expect.



tlicious also sells teapots and tea accessories. You can also buy a cup of tea if you aren't in a hurry to head off. If you're looking for something a bit different to your next cup of Lipton's, give tlicious a try.

tlicious
Shop 9, 176-178 Grey Street
South Bank 4101
P - 07 3844 3305
E - info@tlicious.com.au
W - http://www.tlicious.com.au/

Henschke Tasting

I've been a bit slack with wine posts recently, so its time to fix that. And what better way to do it than with a Henschke Tasting, put on by Vintage Cellars. According to the Vintage Cellars blurb I got in the mail the other day, the tasting will include Hill of Grace, Cyril Henschke Cabernet and the Mount Edelstone Shiraz. Its not every night of the week you get to try those 3 wines in one go, so if you've got $75 spare, head along to Era on Thursday 8 May 2008. You'll need to book by calling Vintage Cellars at Paddington on 07 3367 1772.

Henschke Masterclass
6.30 - 8.30pm
Thursday 8 May 2008
Era Bistro
102 Melbourne Street
South Brisbane

No No's

No No's at Red Hill is one of those places that every suburb needs. It serves excellent, no-fuss Lebanese food at great prices.

No No's has a range of fresh kebabs, sandwiches, salads, dips, Lebanese snacks and delicious pastries and sweets. You can either eat-in at one of the tables inside, or take-away if you're in a hurry.

I hadn't been there for years and popped in yesterday to pick up some lunch on the way home. I ended up with a serve of two fresh, tasty salads - chickpea & garlic and green bean. There are about 6 or so pre-made salads to choose from, and they'll set you back $4.90, $6.90 or $8.90 for a small, medium or large take away serve.


I also picked up some of their vine leaves (60c each), which are one of my favourite snacks at any time of the day.


If you're ever in the Red Hill area and feeling peckish, drop in to No No's. Even if its for a few of their tempting Lebanese sweets, you won't be disappointed.

No No's
158 Musgrave Rd
Red Hill 4059
P - 07 3369 5691

Fix Restaurant

Fix Restaurant is one of the eating options at the Port Office Hotel.

I've eaten there a few times over the last few years, and each time the place has been busy, especially at lunch. Fix does a good job of getting the meals out pretty quickly, which is what lots of us are looking for during our precious 1 hour mid-week lunch breaks. Fix serves up modern Australian food, coupled with a range of steaks.

We weren't able to stick around all afternoon, so decided to give entrees a skip. But if you've got more time than we did, you could try the grilled Moreton Bay bugs with garlic butter & cress salad ($17), salt and pepper calamari with preserved lemon & cress mix ($12) or the goats cheese and sweet onion tart with baby spinach salad ($12).

Service was a bit over-attentive at the start of the meal. We had about 3 separate waiters ask to take our drink orders (even after we had ordered them). But the service did settle down a bit as the meal progressed. I suppose its better to be over-attentive than the other way round.

Main courses cover a pretty big range of options - chilli prawn pizza with tiger prawns, garlic, chilli, tomato and mozzarella ($22), chicken breast with olives, potato & spinach gnocchi and lemon herb gremolata ($21) and Atlantic salmon fillet with crushed potatoes, olive tapenade & peppercorn vinaigrette ($26). There are also a few grills, if you're really in need of some red meat - grain fed MSA rump ($27), rib on the bone ($30), rib fillet ($32), MSA Angus eye fillet ($28), roasted Junee gold lamb rump ($29) and OP Barkers Creek pork rib ($29).

I ordered the 300 gram 90 day grain fed rib fillet, which was served with roasted sweet potato & truss cherry tomatoes. The steak was cooked fine, I just found the steak I'd been served a bit too fatty (not in a marbled way). Unfortunately there wasn't a particularly large amount of actual beef in the steak. I know it can always be pot luck as to the piece of steak you can be served, but I was disappointed with this one.

My work lunch colleague had the roasted Junee gold lamb rump on a parmesan porcini mushroom risotto. I didn't try any of it, but he found it ok, without being great.

We had a couple of glasses of the Jimbour Station reserve merlot ($7), which went well with the main courses. It's great to see more and more restaurants supporting Queensland wine, which will only push our local wines on to better things. There is a good selection of well-priced wines by the glass, or if you have more time, you can explore the cellar selection of bottles (up to $1600 for a magnum of 1992 Grange).

For dessert I had the strawberry semifreddo martini with burnt honey & vanilla cream ($9.90), which was served (not surprisingly) in a martini glass. Sure it was sweet, but it was also a delicious way to round off the meal.

It can be a bit noisy at Fix, particularly when the place is full. However I suspect that most diners are there for a business lunch, rather than a romantic occasion, so it probably won't be an issue.

The food we had at Fix was ok overall, without setting our tastebuds on fire. Fix's strength is serving a range of fairly "safe", popular meals, backed up with good, quick service. If that's what you're looking for at lunch in the City, then give Fix a try.

What does all this mean? A good selection of upmarket pub food and steaks, with quick service and a reasonable wine selection.

food bling ratings
Food - Ok
Service - Good
Ambience - Modern setting with plenty of wood (which can get a bit noisy)
Value for Money - Ok
Wine - Good selection
Vegetarian - Ok

Fix Restaurant
Port Office Hotel
Corner Edward & Margaret Streets
Brisbane 4000
P - 07 3210 6016
W - http://www.portofficehotel.com.au

Paniyiri

There seem to be so many food-related events happening over the next few months that it's hard to keep up with them all.

The next one to plonk into your diary is Paniyiri. Paniyiri is one of my favourite Brisbane festivals, and I always try to get along every year. Its a great way to spend a lunch or afternoon - munching on some great Greek food, with some kind of music or dancing going on in the background. I think the other reason I love going along is because it reminds me of the fantastic time we had in Greece, especially the amazing food and friendly, welcoming people.

If you haven't been before, make sure you get along this year. Buy yourself some Greek wine or beer, and then graze on dolmades, grilled octopus, calamari, haloumi, souvlaki and loukoumades. Last year there were even a few sideshow alley type rides, for those with iron stomachs.

The Greek Club's website hasn't been updated yet with the information for this year's Paniyiri, but hopefully that will happen soon. In the meantime, there's a few details here, on ourbrisbane.com.

Paniyiri
17 & 18 May 2008
Musgrave Park & The Greek Club
Edmondstone Street
South Brisbane 4101

Olive Oil Spectacular!

Rosalie Gourmet Market is holding an Olive Oil Spectacular this Saturday, 19 April 2008, starting at 11am. There will be olive oil aficionados in attendance and blind tastings of oils for the public. Its not every day when you get to try a whole lot of olive oils next to each other, so it could be an interesting (or even spectacular) morning.

If you do go along, make sure you pop over the road to Gelateria Cremona to grab a gelato. By the time you've tasted 10 or so olive oils, you'll definitely need a fix of their delicious icy treats.

Rosalie Gourmet Market
Corner of Nash Street and Baroona Road
Rosalie Village 4064
P - 07 3876 6222
E - admin@rosaliegourmet.com.au
W - http://www.rosaliegourmet.com.au

Tukka

Over the last few years, in almost every trip I've made to West End I've walked past Tukka and thought I really should go there for dinner some time. I've also heard Stéphane Brémont, the chef, on ABC radio, with his unmistakable French accent.

Last night, instead of walking past Tukka on the way to Huongs or El Torito, we finally ate there.

We sat at a table for two in the covered verandah part of the restaurant. It was a bit noisy to start with, but we got used to the noise as the night went on. There were also a few ants on our table, which we weren't expecting, but once we'd brushed them off, they seemed to get the message and didn't come back. I suppose it adds to the native experience. Before I move on to the food, I thought the tables were a bit close together - the table to the right of us was so close that the waiters had trouble getting past without brushing into me pretty regularly. I know restaurants try to get as many tables into their space as they can, but the table plan shouldn't inconvenience the diners.

Anyway, Tukka is one of the very few restaurants that I've ever been to that specialises in Australian native ingredients. You'll find native berries, nuts, desert limes and lemon myrtle popping up all through the menu. On the carnivorous side, you'll also see crocodile, possum, emu and kangaroo.

The menu is fairly compact and offered 5 entrees on the night. These covered a native platter (game meats, native berries, nuts, fruits and spices, home-made damper and native dips - $21.70 per person), tonka bean cured Cairns crocodile tenderloin, grape salad, kiwi and strawberry eucalypt dressing ($18.70), gourmet tomato and desert lime consommé, pickled cucumber and apple sorbet ($16.90), Queensland prawns with avocado and carrot salad and karasumi smoked mullet roe emulsion ($19.80) and Tasmanian possum baked in filo pastry with rosella braised pear and citrus salad ($19.60).

Before our entrees came out, a complementary appetiser was served. It was a couple of slices of a beautiful green tomato, with bocconcini and lemon myrtle dressing. This was delicious, and a great way to get our tastebuds ready for the food to come.

I ordered the prawns for entree. I was a bit surprised to find only two prawns on the plate, considering this was a $20 entree. In the prawns' defence, they were both pretty big ones, but I just can't see how this dish justifies this price. I would have also enjoyed the prawns slightly less cooked than they were served, but that's just my personal preference. The avocado and carrot salad was good, and the karasumi smoked mullet roe emulsion an excellent partner to the prawns. There was nothing bad at all about this dish, I just found it a little underwhelming.

My vegetarian dinner guest wasn't a big fan of tomato soup (even if it was a delicious sounding consommé) so we also ordered a lilly pilly salad with macadamias, mixed leaves and lemon myrtle dressing ($7.50) as an entree. This salad got the thumbs up from both of us. I'd never eaten the berries off a lilly pilly, but they had a real tanginess, and their chewy texture was a good contrast to the other ingredients. It was an excellent, innovative salad, which is actually on the menu as a side dish for main course.

We had glasses of Petaluma viognier and Coriole semillon sauvignon blanc with our entrees. Neither wine was actually available by the glass on this list. I'd ordered the Tahbilk viognier, but the waiter had just opened a bottle of the Petaluma viognier for another table, and happily volunteered a glass to me at the same price as the Tahbilk. As much as I enjoy the Tahbilk viognier, the Petaluma is a beautiful food wine, and there was no way I was going to knock it back. Again, the Coriole was offered to us in place of the Abbey Rock, and we had no complaints there either. By this stage of the evening, we were really enjoying things, with the service going seamlessly.

After a good pause, our mains were served. I won't go through all the mains in detail, but the menu includes seared rare emu fillet ($30.60), Queensland scallops ($29.90), pumpkin and bush tomato flan ($25.60), braised beef cheeks ($27.80), slow roasted grain fed 'Aurora' lamb shanks ($29.40) and the fish of the day, which was barramundi.

I had the ginger and rosella braised beef cheeks with fondant potato and creamed leeks. The beef cheeks were excellent, and an exercise in simplicity. The plate had a generous serve of the beef cheeks, which were meltingly tender, simply matched with the big chunk of fondant potato. The leeks were sprinkled over the potato, and still had a bit of crunch to them. I had a glass of the Logan "Weemala" shiraz viognier with my main, and it was an excellent match. This dish would make the perfect autumn or winter dinner. The rich beef cheeks just fell apart on the plate, and the combination of flavours bounced around in my mouth well after the dish was cleaned away.

Our other main course was the pumpkin and bush tomato flan, capsicum and anisata coulis, grape and green bean salad. My dinner guest was a bit miffed that there was no pastry in sight in the "flan". It was rather a smallish mound of very tasty mashed pumpkin, served with the side salad. The flavours of this dish were innovative, but it could have been a bigger portion for the price. A glass of the D'Arenberg D'Arry's original grenache shiraz was a good match with this main course.

We still had room for the desserts, which sounded tempting. We both wanted to have the apple trilogy of anisata roasted gala, pink lady parfait and granny smith sorbet ($16.20), but our dinner pact meant we each had to order something different. In the end I ordered the native spiced red wine poached pear with Daintree vanilla bean ice cream ($15.20). The poached pear was divine, particularly with the rich vanilla bean ice cream. I grabbed a glass of the Romavilla muscat, which was a good partner for the deep, spiced flavours of the pear.

The apple trilogy was yet another example of keeping things simple. Three different types of apple, served three different ways. Unfortunately this was so good, I didn't get to taste much of it, but I was told that the granny smith sorbet was just like eating a frozen apple. Both our desserts were excellent, and really ended off the night on a high note.

Throughout our meal the service was very good. Our waiters were friendly, knowledgeable and always popped up at the right time. Service was also very attentive, and our water glasses were topped up regularly, without us even noticing most of the time.

The diners at the three tables behind us all had American accents, so Tukka is obviously popular with overseas tourists. I'd certainly have no hesitation in taking any overseas friends here, to try some of the native Australian flavours that you just don't find on many menus anywhere.

The wine list has been put together with a lot of thought. It features plenty of Australian wines, including those from regions which aren't classed by many punters as fashionable at the moment. There's also a smattering of Queensland wines, which I'm always pleased to see. The best thing about the wine list is that the mark ups are very reasonable, and you should have no trouble finding a good bottle or two that won't bust your budget.

Tukka also gets a tick on the gluten-free food front. Their gluten free dishes are clearly marked on the menu, and they aren't limited to a token dish or two.

If you're looking for more information about native food, have a look at Tukka's website. There is plenty of information, including recipes and a glossary of native food.

I really didn't know what to expect from Tukka, but it's safe to say that the food we had was, in general, very impressive. Although my entree wasn't fantastic, and some of the portions could be a bit more generous, the general standard of the food was very good. The simplicity of the food and clean flavours really shone throughout the night. It's reassuring to see a chef committed to building meals around a few high quality ingredients. Also, don't think the food here is gimmicky "Aussie" food, aimed at tourists, because it isn't. Tukka stands alone with this kind of real modern Australian food in Brisbane. On this showing, I'll definitely be going back.

What does all this mean? Excellent, modern Australian food built around native ingredients, with a well-priced wine list and professional service.

food bling ratings
Food - Great
Service - Great
Ambience - Fairly formal, but a bit noisy
Wine - Good selection at very reasonable prices
Value for Money - OK
Vegetarian - Limited selection
Gluten Free - Great

Tukka
145 Boundary Street
West End 4101
P - 07 3846 6333
E - mailto:tukka@mail.com
W - http://www.tukkarestaurant.com.au/