Sono Queen Street Mall - tranquility in the heart of the city

http://www.sonorestaurant.com.au/

I've lost count of how many times over the years I have walked up and down the Queen Street Mall, it literally would be in the tens of thousands.  This may seem like a lot of times, but when you live in the CBD and in Queen Street in particular, the visits to the mall easily add up.  There are not a large number of restaurants in the Mall and the restaurants that are there, generally cater to tourists and are a little over priced. When walking through the mall, it's hard not to notice the stairs that lead up to Sono Japanese restaurant and for many years I resisted the temptation to walk up those stairs and try it out.

It's not as if I don't love Japanese cuisine, I really do.  I've even been out to Portside to visit the Sono sister restaurant, Sono Portside, which is a very lavish affair (see post here).  It's more to do with the fact I visited Sono in the mall a long time ago and didn't think it was very good.

Fast forward a decade and the lure of those steps became stronger and stronger until I decided that I needed to check out Sono in the CBD again.  As I mentioned, it's actually pretty hard to miss Sono in the CBD, the entrance is so brightly lit, it's like a beacon on the mall at night.  The restaurant is in the same historic building as the exclusive mens club Tattersalls, only the restaurant is a little easier to get into, a quick call and a reservation is all it takes.

Cheap Eats - Steamed (Dumplings in the CBD)

http://www.steamedcatering.com/

Dumplings, dumplings, dumplings.  I just can't seem to get enough dumplings of late.  It was not that long ago that I only thought of dumplings as an entree, to be eaten only at the beginning of a meal.  Last year I completed a gyoza shootout (see post here) and really started to get a taste for the delectable little bites.  Ever since then I have sought out every opportunity to chase down dumplings and gyoza in the CBD.


Then, a couple of weeks ago I discovered that there were now a couple of options for gyoza and dumplings in the city.  I was pretty excited, but also a bit dismayed to learn that they had been around for ages and I had been missing out!  How could this be?  I normally have my ear to the ground for such things......

Cheap Eats - Wagaya

http://www.wagaya.com.au/

There are a stack of Asian restaurants in the Valley, with many traditional and some not so.  I have to say I have never had to book a restaurant through a Contact Centre in the same way that I did when booking at Wagaya.  It was a pretty slick experience to be honest and I received a follow up text straight away, with a booking number and advice that if I was 10 minutes late they would give my table away!

For SC and I this was our first visit to Wagaya and didn't really know what to expect, but for our regular Sunday night dinner buddies, this was old hat, they had been heaps of times.  I was particularly interested in the assertion that all the food can only be ordered via a touch screen at the booths and that the food would be delivered thick and fast.  Being a Gen Y at heart and loving any new and innovative way to do things, the idea of ordering from a screen and the food being brought to the table excited me.

Sono Portside - stunning Japanese cuisine

http://www.sonorestaurant.com.au/

For many years one of my best friends has continually raved about how good Sono Portside is.  The Big Boy has been there many times and each time he has told me about the amazing food and experience to be had.  My experience with the Sono brand had been with the Sono in Queen Street, and I failed to connect the food and experience I had in that restaurant with the tales of wonder I was hearing.  It was time for me to put the Big Boy's ravings to the test!

Sono Portside was launched in 2007 with a view to providing a more modern and contemporary offering than its sister restaurant Sono Queen Street Mall.  The kitchen at Sono has a self professed guideline to produce consistency and creativity to ensure each meal combines authentic and traditional Japanese elements mixed with modern tastes.  Sono has earned a reputation as one of the finest Japanese restaurants in Brisbane and has some Australian Good Food Gude Chefs Hats to go along with the reputation.

Gourmet Shootout - Gyoza (Dumplings)

http://www.gyozabarann.com.au/ versus http://harajukugyoza.com/

Godzilla versus Megalon

I must admit I am a bit late to the Gyoza phenomenon.  Don't get me wrong, like most people I love a good dumpling, but for me they have always been the starter for the 'main show' in some of my favourite asian restaurants.  It is with interest that I have watched the birth of the Gyoza movement in Brisbane and most notably in the Valley with the opening of specialist dumpling houses.  Even more amazing to me is the queues I have seen forming out the front of some of these restaurants.  With the recent opening of the newest Gyoza restaurant down in Emporium in the Valley, I though it timely to test out the Ann Gyoza, new comer and (slightly) more established Harajuku Gyoza.

The new kid on the block

Irasshaimase!

After a long hot walk from the CBD to Emporium in the valley it was great to be welcomed into Ann Gyoza the the traditional Japanese welcome.  I had heard a lot of really positive things about Ann Gyoza lately and decided there was no better way to confirm than coming in to check it out.  Located in the Emporium complex, Ann Gyoza is tucked away around the back and certainly looks the part of a Japanese Gyoza restaurant with the area transformed by lots of clean lines, hanging tapestry with fittings and fixtures made almost exclusively with wood.