The Crafty Cow - do I use the term hipsters too much?

http://www.craftycow.hk/

There's a little pocket of shops around Sheung Wan (a.k.a PoHo) that could quite comfortably be called hipster central in Hong Kong.  Cute little shops with arcane and weird offerings, more than one spot selling micro brewery ales and more beards per capita than I've seen anywhere else.  Who could forget the #HKWalls exhibition where you could walk down the many laneways and alleys and watch hip young things strut their stuff on the many brick walls canvases.

That little strip around Upper Station Street even held a little food festival last year, where masses of dressed-just-so-right locals and expats congregated to enjoy the many food options available.  I'm not gonna lie, I love that little strip and am guilty of tripping out to many of the aforementioned activities.....  I may even have a beard.

We'd been eying off the Crafty Cow ever since we first spotted it, the tiny little space looking like an awesome spot to enjoy a Sunday afternoon sippin' on a beer (if that's your thing) or enjoying a good little feed (which is my thing).  I'd had plenty of opportunities to get along before we did, we'd even grabbed a Lemmy from the Craft Cow one sunny and super crowded afternoon.  A Lemmy for those of you that have never heard of such a thing is a Kiwi lemonade, and they're pretty awesome.  It was a Lemmy that also won me a free feed at the Craft Cow based on an #Instagram competition - sadly, a feed I never collected.

So, it was finally time to check out the Cow, one Sunday evening for a quick bite of dinner. Making our way down the hill from our Mid Levels apartment, we reflected that we'd miss wandering around Sheung Wan once our move to Wan Chai finally eventuated.  We'd made a booking, which probably wasn't necessary as we were guided to one of the many available seats in the tiny corner restaurant slash bar (or bar slash restaurant, you choose).

Zurriola - a game menu that fell short

http://www.zurriola.hk/en/#/home

You know those times when you have no idea what you want to eat?  If you're like me, you can spend hours and hours just looking over restaurant menus to see if anything 'grabs' your attention and gets you out of your lethargy to make a booking.  There's no rhyme nor reason for me selecting a dining spot sometimes, it could be a particularly appetising photo on a web site, or an interesting and different menu, or even just a cool name.  Our visit to Zurriola was based simply on the fact they had a winter 'game' menu with venison on offer.

Winter in Hong Kong brings a couple of very appealing options, it's obviously truffle season, and I don't really need to explain what's so great about that!  But it's also 'game' season, which means pheasant, wild boar and most importantly venison.  If you've not had venison before, it's a very strong flavoured red meat that is quite simply delicious.  Venison is usually deer, but throughout history, it's been a general term used for game and at one time or another has referred to hares, wild pigs and goats.  It also happens to be one of SC's favourite things to eat (after bacon, truffle and duck fat).

Zurriola is a Modern European style restaurant, which means that it takes a bit of a contemporary view of traditional dishes.  I'd been quite excited about visiting, after reading some local HK blogs about how amazing the place was and in particular, one blogger thought the tasting menu was amongst the best in Kong Kong.  Located at TST, we were again struck speechless by the skyline that was recently rated as the best in the world.  We were seated at a table that afforded us the most incredible views of the island and our only regret was that it was raining outside, otherwise the balcony windows would have been open.

Fish & Meat Co - farm to table dining

http://www.fishandmeat.hk/

I don't like to think of myself as your typical Expat living in a foreign city, hitting the Expat spots, drinking away in large groups and generally trying to carve out a little slice of 'home'.  Not that there's anything inherently wrong with that, it's just not my scene.  It's why I try not to spend much time in the typical Aussie and British watering holes and restaurants near Wyndham Street and parts of SoHo.

Drinking aside, I am drawn into all parts of Hong Kong to check out dining spots and I was recently lured back in to what you'd normally think of Expat territory to visit a restaurant that seemed to tick all of my 'must try' boxes.  We'd arranged to meet some fellow Aussie Expats for dinner and after comparing our list of 'not tried' dining spots, found ourselves at Fish and Meat by the Maximal Concept Group.  

If you've been living in Hong Kong for any period of time, it's likely that you've been to at least one of the Maximal Concept Group restaurants.  Running a diverse portfolio of restaurants, including the amazing Mott32 (see post here) and the down and dirty Double D Burgers (see post here), food director Malcolm Wood has a knack of putting together a winning restaurant experience.  Malcolm has teamed up with Head Chef Russell Doctrove, formerly of 3 Michelin Starred restaurants 'The Waterside Inn' and 'Restaurant Gordon Ramsay'.  

We'd arranged to meet at Fish & Meet for a Friday night dinner and as is often the case in Hong Kong, it had been a ridiculously hot and sticky day, so by the time we walked up the hill from Central, we were bathed in sweat.  Thankfully, the air conditioning was blasting inside Fish and Meat, so we made our way to our table and ordered a bottle of cool water while we waited for our dining companions.

Cheap Eats Lunch - Meat and Eat in Brisbane Square

http://meatandeatbrisbane.com/

The construction around Brisbane town continues with a brand new food development at Brisbane Square replacing the tired old food court.  If you've not been up to Brisbane Square in a while, you will surely be surprised, with a handful of new eateries opening up spiffy looking new venues.  It's been a slow transformation, with most of the old fast food joints closing down and the area looking like a bit of a construction zone for what seemed like an age.

Of course, once I knew that the space had opened up and the new restaurants were trading, I headed down for a sticky beak, which lead to a quick bite to eat at Meat and Eat, a sister venue of the Cutting Board (see post here) in George Street and Hive Coffee and Eat House over at Eagle Street (see post here).  General Manager of the group, Anthony Attard, has been a busy lad, not only opening Meat and Eat recently, but a number of other venues at Brisbane Square.  Anthony (great name by the way) is clearly a man who loves his meat, as each of his venues focus on different parts of my favourite animals (to eat, that is).

Meat and Eat is pretty much a carbon copy of the Eagle Street eatery Hive Coffee and Eat House, its nice and casual and it targets the lunch time eating crowd.  With a menu that focuses on meat based sandwiches and cuts of meat that come with salads, it's not a place that will be mistaken as a vegetarian hang out.  I guess the title of the cafe says it all....  Those of you that love your Reuben sandwiches will love this place, the Reuben takes pride of place as the first item on the menu.  Other sandwiches include the Watson (rare beef), the Spaniard (chorizo) and the Corporate (ham), each catering to a different animal.

Cheap Eats Lunch - The Bread & Meat Co. CBD

www.breadandmeatco.com

One of the more interesting casual meals I've had in some time was over at the Bread & Meat Co in Fortitude Valley.  I remember it being quite a chore to get to at the time, but it was definitely worth the wait when I finally did get there (see post here).   I recently learned that the team had opened up a CBD outlet of their popular meat based restaurant and of course I had to get in and check it out.

I have to warn you though, if you’re a vegetarian, then the Bread & Meat Co is probably a place best avoided, but if you’re a diehard carnivore like me, then you might just have found your mecca.  The Bread and Meat Co started its life as a Food Truck in Canada before making its way into the Valley. Owner Royce Crown has taken his experiences in Toronto as well as some other tricks picked up during his time at NYC’s most famous sandwich shop, Katz Deli (see post here), to create our very own Bread & Meat Co, which pretty much became an instant hit.

Being a sandwich restaurant that specialises in meat, the menu at the Bread & Meat Co is very focussed, that is, they do a couple of things, but do them well.  The menu covers most of the best bits of pigs and cows, including BBQ pulled pork, pork loin and belly, as well as corned beef.  I probably exaggerated when I said that vegetarians should avoid the place, there are some salads available, but mainly to offset the massive hit of meat that comprises each meaty sandwich!

I was dining solo for my lunch at the CBD version of the Bread & Meat Co, so I had to judiciously choose my lunch, sure, I could have easily went crazy and ordered one of everything, but then someone else would have been writing my obituary ‘he died with a smile on his face and a meat sandwich in his hand’…..  I was greeted at the front door by a waitress who asked if I’d eaten there before and once I told her I was an old pro, she quickly recommended the Porchetta, pork loin and belly with herb stuffing, crispy crackling and salsa verde on a ciabatta.

Breakfast Series - The Cutting Board Brisbane

https://www.facebook.com/CuttingBoardBris

I'm a big fan of any cafe or restaurant that specialises in meat, even more so when chorizo is prominently displayed on the menu.  This is quite well known, so when I was asked to get in and check out The Cutting Board, it was a no brainer, the lure of a chorizo breakfast was way to much for me.  Ironically, I'd arranged to catch up with my regular mid week breakfast buddy, DruBoy, who happened to be a pescatarian.  After being taken to an almost completely vegetarian breakfast spot a few months ago (see post here), I thought of it as a bit of sweet revenge! 

Unfortunately, my plans of revenge were usurped by family emergencies, not once, but twice, with DruBoy needing to pull out at the last minute each time.  We'd postponed after the first one, but I thought fate was having a laugh at me for my dumb revenge plans, so I spoke to my beloved, who was only too happy to step in and have a hearty breakfast to kick off the last working day of the week.

The Cutting Board is a week day only cafe located at the top end of George Street, underneath the Telstra building.  I'd walked past a number of times when visiting friends and colleagues in the Telstra building, but was not aware that it was open for breakfast until invited down.  Wanting to get an early start on the day, we got out of bed just a little bit earlier and made our way down for a 7:30am weekday date for breakfast.  After arriving and meeting proud manager Brett (owner Anthony was busy at another venture), we got a little bit of a lowdown on what the Cutting Board was all about.  Firstly, it was a loud and proud meat venue, which was ironic as Brett's partner was a vegetarian.  The most popular part of the menu are the 'cut sandwiches', which are chocked full of meaty goodness! But it wasn't only about meat, with some pretty spiffy muffin options available on a daily basis.  

Casual Dining - The Bread and Meat Co

http://www.breadandmeatco.com/

If you're like me and keep your ear to the ground about cool new places to eat, then you will have no doubt heard about the Bread and Meat Co in the Valley.  When looking for dinner last weekend we'd had a bit of a mental block and really didn't know what we wanted for dinner (see post here).  We ended up meandering through the valley looking for interesting dining options and one of those spots was the Bread and Meat Co.  Our only problem was that it wasn't open for dinner, despite Urbanspoon clearly stating they were open Sunday until late.  That was a bit frustrating for us but we just shrugged our shoulders and continued on.

This weekend we were better prepared and with opening times in hand we walked into the Valley for Saturday lunch.  The Bread and Meat Co is located in the TCB building, just off the Brunswick Street Mall, which has seen its fair share of shops rotating through.  The mall itself is also going through a bit of a transformation and if you haven't seen it for a while, it's just a torn up mess.  Knowing this, we actually entered from the Chinatown Mall side, which was just as easy.

It was still pretty early in the day when we arrived and the Bread and Meat Co was pretty quiet, which gave us a bit of an opportunity to acquaint ourselves with the menu.  Short and sharp, the menu pretty much reflects the name of the joint: simply put there's a few choice cuts of meat, stuffed into fresh bread and then served up on a breadboard.  There are three real options on the menu and then a trio board, which is a sample of all three sandwiches, especially designed for those who can't make up their mind!  Feeling quite decisive, we opted for two sandwiches and a side, which would leave us with something to check out the next time we came.

Something a little different - Meatcart factory tour

http://www.meatcart.com.au/

I'm a big fan of meat, in fact, apart from a few exceptions, I eat meat with just about every meal.  One of the problems with eating out at restaurants all the time and buying my meat products from James Street, is that I don't really see where it all comes from.  It's just the final product that I end up seeing, which is usually a lovely piece of wagyu placed in the centre of a plate.

When the opportunity to get along and do a tour of one of Brisbane's biggest meat production facilities, I jumped.  I didn't hurt that there was going to be a massive BBQ at the end of the tour with a heap of different meats and sausages cooked up for everyone to sample, along with some matching beers for those so inclined.

I really wasn't sure what to expect when I arrived, but the Meatcart production facility looked just like any other semi industrial building over at Eagle Farm.  In fact, the only way I could tell it apart from the other buildings in the street was a huge portable meat van and an equally large BBQ.  Knowing I was in the right place I wandered past the entry gate to check it all out.  As usual, I was pretty early and was one of the first of the guests to arrive.  Undeterred, this gave me an opportunity to have a bit of a sticky beak around the facility and get an early start on some of drinks on offer (for me it was a glass of sparkling water)