Rhubarb Rhubarb - A French Bistro worth travelling for

http://www.rhubarbrhubarb.com.au/

It's interesting how a simple statement can cause heaps of discussion.  I mentioned to a few people at work that I'd been to Rhubarb Rhubarb and was amazed with the number of people who have this superb little French bistro as their local fine diner.  The fact that I'd been to their local restaurant seemed to spark more conversation than normal and everyone was really keen to find out what I though about my first visit to the Wooloowin institution.

With a new year comes a new approach to things and we'd decided that Wednesday nights will be our new mid-week 'eating out' night, as opposed to Tuesdays.  I know, you're probably thinking "whaaaat, don't you eat out every night?"  The answer to that is definitely not, although it seems like it some weeks.  We've also been trying to check out spots outside of our usual 'hunting grounds', which worked out well as I've had my eye on Rhubarb Rhubarb for ages.

I'll be honest, as a central CBD dweller, I don't really get out to the suburbs that much but as we drove out to Wooloowin, it actually struck me that we'd spent quite a bit of time in the area when we were younger.  I had a mate that I'd worked with that lived just down the street from Rhubarb Rhubarb and while everything looked a little familiar, I wouldn't have wanted to rely on my memory to get around the suburb.  As we pulled up to the restaurant, it looked as if it was in a little strip of shops right in the middle of a suburban street and parking was no issue at all, in fact, we had a park right out front.

Breakfast Series - The Corner Store Cafe

http://www.cornerstorecafe.com/

A couple of months ago on one of our infrequent forays into the suburbs, we stumbled across a little cafe as we made our way home.  We didn't have time to stop in and check it out but made a mental note to check it out sometime.  As often happens with a 'mental note', it was soon forgotten and the Corner Store Cafe faded quickly from memory.

Fast forward a few months and we had to again go on a field trip to the suburbs, this time to hit our preferred medical centre at Taringa.  I was there to get a blood tests done and had been fasting from the day before, so we thought that grabbing a breakfast out in the 'burbs would be a good idea (I know, its not really that far away from the CBD).  With not much of an idea of where to eat in the western suburbs, I checked out urbanspoon and quickly spotted a name that was familiar, you guessed it the Corner Store Cafe.  

We thought it might be touch and go to get a table, mainly because our trip to the doctor wouldn't finish until about 9:15am, which would have put us right in the peak hour for breakfast.  Our real hope was that we would have been finished with the early risers crowd and not quite yet hit the brunch crew.  As we wound through the back streets of Toowong from our medical centre, I started to have doubts that SC's usual back street approach to driving through the suburbs would actually get us to out destination.   I needn't have worried as SC's internal GPS had us pulling up out the front of the Corner Cafe with nary a wrong turn.  And when I say pulling up out front, I mean right out front, SC managed to score a street park right in front of the cafe!

Azafran - a suburban bistro thats worth raving about

http://www.azafran.com.au/

One of the things I love about having a food blog is how often I bump into other food bloggers around town at restaurants and events.  There is a shared love of eating and an understanding of what it takes to keep a blog interesting and enjoyable for others to read.  It's amazing how often I will read someones else's food blog to inspire myself to continue writing, even when its quite draining sometimes.  Over the last six months or so a couple of us that regularly bump into each other have been meeting up to have our own little blogger events with no pressure and just to enjoy each other's company.

For our most recent catch up, we had arranged to hit a little Bistro over at New Farm and we were all excited about catching up with some new members to our little group.  A few days before the big get together we were hit with the sad news that our chosen destination was booked out and would not be able to accommodate our visit.  As luck would have it, we were able to get into our back up destination and as it turned out, it was a stroke of genius.

Our gatherings had been gaining steam since our first outing where just the three of us hit Carolina Kitchen (see post here).  Our aim for our get togethers is to try to find a restaurant around Brisbane that none of us had been to before and our first choice definitely fit the bill.  It's actually quite difficult to find a spot where a group of food bloggers have never been before but our eventual destination pretty much fit the bill, I was the only one who had been there before but I had not been back since moving away from the area almost a decade ago.

Breakfast Series - Ponycat Cafe

https://www.facebook.com/theponycatnewfarm

We didn't really plan on going out for breakfast this morning, the plan was to lounge around in bed and sleep in after having friends around for the fireworks of Riverfire.  In the back of my mind I thought we might go for breakfast but we didn't want to go somewhere and wait in queue to start off the day.  As it turns out, I woke at around 7am and held off on having my normal bowl of cornflakes until I confirmed if SC would sleep in past 8am, my cut off for heading for breakfast.  While I watched the clock, secretly hoping SC would get out of bed, I looked over urbanspoon to decide on where to go.

Sensing my mental vibes to get out of bed, SC stumbled out of bed at 7:30 and the game was on, we were off to get some breakfast.  The plan was to head over to Ponycat at Cafe in New Farm, but there were a couple of back up places on standby in case there was a queue at the popular New Farm cafe. As we drove down Brunswick Street and parked the car, we noticed that we had beaten the rush and, apart from a few diners outside with their dogs, the place was practically empty.

I'd never been to Ponycat before, despite trying to get there a number of times over the years, but I had heard great things about it.  Ponycat is well known for being a really relaxed spot where it's cool to bring your pooches down to share a breakfast with you.  This was abundantly clear with about four dogs at the feet of their owners while they enjoyed their breakfast.  As we walked into space, I was struck by the amazing street art that is proudly displayed down one wall of the cafe.

Peel Street Kitchen - an instant favourite

http://www.peelstkitchen.com.au/

It's not too often that I go to a new restaurant and walk away gobsmacked and with a new top five favourite restaurant, not to mention a top two new favourite dish (Beccofino's duck ragout is still number one, only just).  But that's exactly what happened this weekend when I visited the Peel Street Kitchen.  If the name is unfamiliar to you, its because the Peel Street Kitchen is very new and has only been open for about two weeks (at the time of writing).

The Peel Street Kitchen is just a little bit 'off the beaten track' but in a rapidly developing part of the extended CBD over at South Brisbane.  As the name suggests, its located on Peel Street, just around the corner from Merivale Street and in underneath one of the new apartment blocks that seem to spring up like mushrooms after a good downpour.  SC and I had driven past Peel Street Kitchen a few times and almost went there for breakfast on a previous weekend only to detour to Lock n Load at the last moment.

We were heading out with our regular dining buddies for a Saturday night of eating and drinking and wanted to go somewhere new.  Between the four of us, we have hit almost every restaurant in town and finding a new place to eat is getting harder and harder, but TB reminded us all of the Peel Street Kitchen and it was a 'lock'.  I was initially out and about when we decided to hit Peel Street and I tried to find the number to make dinner reservations and struggled to find a contact number, even Google let me down.  After some dogged digging around I found a functions number on the website and finally was able to make the reservation.  This is something for Peel Street to definitely look into and get the phone number up on Urbanspoon and Google, it's bound to make getting a seat easier.

Esq - a new menu thats out of this world

http://esquire.net.au/

I have found myself falling to Esq as my default 'go to' restaurant when I don't feel like cooking at home, which admittedly is a fair bit.  This might seem strange, a Three Hatted restaurant as the 'local' but I live really close and the food is simply amazing.  I have written about Esq and Esquire a few times over the last twelve months.  So it's no surprise to my regular readers that I love the food that owner and head Chef Ryan Squires and his amazing team put together.

While I really love the food, I have been telling my best friend (the Big Boy) about Esq and Esquire for a long time and he had continually refused to come along and check it out with us.  It's not a complete surprise that the Big Boy didn't want to check out my recommendation.  There is a history between us, whenever I have recommend a restaurant and we go to check it out together, the night we go the food ends up being sub par (just for his visit.....  he is cursed!).  The Big Boy now lives overseas and happened to be back in Brisbane for a quick visit, so I decided to take the risk and get him over to Esq to check it out.

There was a dual purpose for wanting to write about this particular visit, Esq has a new menu and it's definitely worth writing about.  

E'cco - 18th Birthday Celebrations

http://www.eccobistro.com/

Philip Johnson's E'cco is one of Brisbane's most enduring and iconic restaurants.  A special occasion restaurant that made you want to make any occasion special, just so you'd have an excuse to go for your next visit.  More than a special occasion restaurant for the many regulars that love E'cco's approach to dining, relaxed and with amazing combinations of flavours.

I was excited and honoured to be invited along as a guest of Lucid Media and Philip Johnson to be part of the E'cco 18th Birthday celebrations.  I was joined by ABC news lead Karina Carvalho and her plus 1 and Jessalyn from Lucid Media to share in the celebration and work through some of the classic E'cco dishes of the last 18 years.

Well before I started blogging about food, E'cco was one of my favourite restaurants and I have had some exquisite meals over the journey.  Since blogging, I have been back often and I have written much about the restaurant (see posts here and here), so I was looking forward to sitting back and checking out the menu filled with Philip's favourite dishes.  I had only just landed from my New York visit, so I was a little jet-lagged for the visit and also had fresh memories of some amazing meals from Manhattan.

Breakfast Series - The Little Larder

http://www.thelittlelarder.com.au/

I love living in the Brisbane CBD and one of my favourite pastimes is to wander around the city and surrounds to see what's going on.  Being in such a central spot, it's easy for SC and I to pick a direction and just go, but invariably in the 'River City' we tend to stick to the suburbs along the river.  Moray Street New Farm has been a favourite of ours to walk down for as long as I can remember, it's such an awesome street with lots of lovely buildings and houses.

In all the years that we have been wandering down Moray Street, we have often marvelled and wondered about a little cafe that was always so packed out.  In a quiet part of New Farm which is almost exclusively houses and apartments is The Little Larder, which over the years has become a local favourite and Brisbane institution.  We thought we would marvel no more and finally get in and check out why it's usually so busy.

On a normal day we would have put on the walking shoes and taken the more personal approach to getting to The Little Larder, it's only a 25 minute walk.  However, with this unusually cold period that Brisbane has been forced to endure, we decided a nice quick (and heated) drive would be the prudent option.  Cruising down Moray Street, we almost overshot the cafe, which is fairly non-descript and much easier to spot when casually walking by on the other side of the street!  Because we overshot the cafe, SC let me out to secure a table while she ably scouted for a park.

Casual Dining - The Smoke BBQ

http://thesmokebbq.com.au/

Talk about hard to get into.  The Smoke just about takes the 'kewpie doll prize' for that.  I guess it was partly my fault too, I kept calling up on the day I wanted to go to try to get a booking, mmmm, good luck with that.  I had been trying to get the planets to align and visit The Smoke BBQ, and after a few false starts I managed to get a mid week booking.  CI and I were trying to head out for a boys night out eating meat. The Smoke BBQ was a place that CI had been to a few times before and quite liked, while I was going for my first time.  I was keen to find out why this place was so popular.

While I am a big lover of protein, especially pork and beef, I've only come to eating American style food recently and was still buzzing from my last experience at Carolina Kitchen (see post here).  The Smoke has perhaps the biggest reputation as an American style food joint, so I was pretty excited to get stuck in.  The only other American BBQ experience that CI and I had shared before was over at the SSS Steakhouse in the CBD, which I thought was pretty good.  With those two experiences in mind, I was raring to get stuck into some authentic American style ribs.

The Smoke BBQ has been around for quite a while and opened its doors to New Farm locals in 2006 and has steadily built a reputation as the BBQ joint in town.  Founded by American restaurateur Steve Johnson, the concept was created by Steve's desire to bring a genuine American BBQ to Brisbane.  Steve specially imported a smoker from the United States to ensure authenticity.  The place was originally called Blue Smoke BBQ but after some renovations in 2010, which included an outdoor patio area, it was renamed to The Smoke BBQ.

Breakfast Series - Cirque

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Au-Cirque/119059328152640

There are almost too many great breakfast places in Brisbane, but that is no excuse for me having never visited Cirque before.  I have known about this New Farm favourite for quite a while and had it on the list of 'perhaps one day' breakfast cafes for me to visit.  Well today was that day and I am rueing the lost time and lost breakfasts from ignoring this gem for so long.

I had heard all the tales about how hard it is to get into on the weekends and that often there is a long wait to be seated and if I am being honest, this plays a large part of why I had not been to date.  I simply hate waiting for breakfast.  SC and I had a cunning plan, we would set the alarm for an early start and get to Cirque just as it opened.  I sure am glad we did this because even though we got there a few minutes after opening time, there were already cyclists and people streaming in.  I've always had a thought that cyclists tend to flock to cafes that do great coffee and food, and they certainly were flocking in to Cirque.

We managed to score a seat right out the front of the serving area on some of the tiniest tables I have ever seen, I mean, these were small.  Not only were they small, but they were pretty close together as well.  I took this as a sign that Cirque was keen to squeeze as many customers into their cafe as possible.  We were warmly greeted and offered menus and had our drink orders taken and then set about deciding on what to have for breakfast.  It's not an expansive menu but it is a creative menu with a good mix of contemporary and traditional breakfast offerings.  This morning SC and I both felt like traditional breakfasts.