Crosstown Eating House - A classic at the Gabba

http://www.thecrosstown.com.au/

That little section of Logan road over at Woolloongabba keeps going from strength to strength, with new cafes, bars and restaurants cramming into about a hundred metres of real estate.  One of the mainstay restaurants over at the Gabba is The Crosstown Eating House, which is situated in a classic 1920s art deco building.  The building that houses Crosstown is fairly nondescript from the outside and by day is fairly hard to find, unless you know exactly where you are going.  At night, it's completely different with a bright blue neon sign advertising its presence for all the world to see.

The Crosstown Eating House (CtEH) is a very popular spot for breakfast and Sunday brunch, but we decided to come along and try out the dinner menu with some good mates, with the plan of heading across the road for a few cocktails afterwards.  SC and I arranged to meet CI and TB at the venu and as usual we were early and went in first to secure the best seats.  Entering CtEH is like entering a boisterous old pub of old, with lots people enjoying a drink at the bar and a mix of tables throughout the restaurant.  Being a 1920's style building, there is no big open spaces, but lots of pokey rooms throughout, including upstairs.

Fat Noodle - another Sydney Restaurant in Brisbane

http://www.treasurybrisbane.com.au/Dining/Pages/Fat-Noodle-.aspx

Like a marauding army on the lookout for new land and territories, Brisbane has been invaded by southern restaurants and restauranteurs establishing extensions of their successful southern restaurants.  It says a lot about the maturity of the Brisbane food market but what it spells out most is 'opportunity' and these southern invaders know opportunity when they see it.  There have been many examples of our souther counterparts opening in Brisbane, almost too many to mention.  One of the most recent invaders is not only a successful restauranteur but also a celebrity chef to boot.  Luke Nguyen of Red Lantern fame and also well known for his cooking shows on SBS has opened up Fat Noodle at the Treasury Casino.

While you may think that the Treasury Casino is a strange spot for a celebrity chef to open up a restaurant, it's not the first time Luke Nguyen has taken this path.  Indeed there is a Fat Noodle in Sydney's The Star precinct which coincidentally is also a Casino, so there seems to be a little bit of a trend here.  There is no doubt that the Treasury building is a fabulous building and the restaurant that Fat Noodle replaced was looking a bit tired, so what better way to refresh the building than with a 'fresh' new restaurant.

Moda - Spanish excellence in Edward Street

http://www.modarestaurant.com.au/

Tucked away at the end of Edward Street in the 'Paris' end of Brisbane is one of Brisbane's most enigmatic restaurants, Moda.  There are so many elements of Moda that are just done differently to most other Restaurants in town.  To start off, almost the entire dining area is part of a courtyard that, while not open to the elements, gives off the feeling of being purely an outside dining experience.  When in Moda, you get the feeling that you are dining in the countryside somewhere, with a large hedgerow enclosing the restaurant.  This is perfect given Moda's proximity to the botanical gardens.

Another element that adds to Moda's mystery is how it became Moda.  Head Chef Javier Codina had one of the most successful and long standing business partnerships with Gianni Greghini in what was at the time one of Brisbane's most celebrated restaurants Gianni's.  Then at the hight of Gianni's popularity they decided to part ways and do their own thing.  In what turned out to be a blessing in disguise, this allowed the creation of Moda and unleashed the Catalonian within to unveil one of Brisbane's best Spanish restaurants, Moda.

Casual Dining - Alimentari on Adelaide

http://www.alimentarionadelaide.com.au/

I am always on the search for a great lunch spot in the CBD.  There are many food courts in the CBD, but that's not the type of lunch spot I'm talking about.  There are quite a few cafes too, if you know where to look, but they're not what I am referring to either.  What I really look out for is a good mid priced restaurant that is both casual and accessible, with good food and a good atmosphere.  These are a little harder to find in hubbub of the CBD.  I can think of only a handful or two that fit into this category.

Thankfully, there is a place just around the corner from my work that meets my criteria for a relatively inexpensive restaurant with good food and a great atmosphere.  Alimentari on Adelaide has been around since May 2011 and opened to much fanfare which included the then State Treasurer Andrew Fraser and a couple of hundred Brisbanes corporate glitterati.  Alimentari looked a little different back then with a large part of the restaurant dedicated to a bit of a CBD deli, which was quite exciting for a CBD resident like me!

Unfortunately the deli part of Alimentari didn't last too long and soon gave way to extra seats, the restaurant was just getting too popular with the breakfast and lunch time crowd in the CBD.  I must say that I walk past Alimentari every single morning on the way to work and have most of my informal work meetings there, so I am very well acquainted with the venue as a casual coffee and breakfast spot, but I was keen to try it out as a lunch spot, so I bit the bullet and arranged a lunch catch up with a work buddy MJ.