Jinjuu - Contemporary Korean and oh-so-tasty

http://www.jinjuu.com/hk/en/

I have to say, I was pretty dubious when the girl suggested that we visit Jinjuu for our monthly lunch date.

After all, our last couple of 'long lunches' had been at Michelin starred restaurants.

I had no real reason to be suspect about the Korean fusion joint, the girl had recently been with workmates and was really keen to get my thoughts about the food.  Now, I'm not saying that I don't trust the girl's judgement when it comes to food, it's just that I couldn't see a place called Jinjuu floating my boat.

Then there was the fact that it was in LKF.

A fact that had me completely confused when I initially tried to find Jinjuu in it's listed address of the California Tower - a spot that I know well.  Jinjuu is 'technically' in the California Tower, but in reality is on street level, just around the corner from the tower's main entrance.

As I walked into the Judy Joo owned restaurant, I was very much reminded of the fact that LKF is Hong Kong's party district.  On one side of the entrance was your typical counter gracing restaurant entrances worldwide, and on the other was a DJ booth, with electronic decks at the ready for the setting of the sun and presumably the transformation of Jinjuu from restaurant to hip bar.

Beefbar - tasty food but small portions for lunch

http://hk.beefbar.com/

Worth the wait?  

A good question!

I'd been trying to get into the Beefbar in Central for a while.  I'd ring up to try to make a booking, only to be told that they were completely booked up.  The few times I'd taken the chance of a walk in resulted in an almost comical response from the Beefier 'gate keepers'.

And that's how I'd started to think about the phone booking team, as well as the door staff; gate keepers.  Getting in became insurmountable and I eventually gave up and forgot about trying to get in.

It wasn't until my regular lunch date with a colleague and friend that the prospect of visiting the Beefbar arose again.  When JP suggested visiting, I gave a whimsical 'why not', thinking that it would still be nearly impossible to get into (even six months after opening).  You can imagine my surprise when the reservation was confirmed.

I guess a Monday at lunch might be the perfect time to hit a new(ish) restaurant in this city!

Our lunch date/meeting was at 12 and I'd arrived on time but heard from JP that she'd be a few minutes late after finishing a meeting in head office.  I was cool with that, it gave me the opportunity to 'sticky-beak' around the place once I'd arrived at the eerily familiar front desk (yeah, I'd tried to get in a few times!)

Le Pain Quotidien - finding a home in Wan Chai

http://www.lepainquotidien.com.hk

Man, I really love crunchy fresh baguettes. 

There's something special about lathering a heap of room temperature hand churned salted butter on a fresh baguette that captivates me.  

Sometimes, when I go to a restaurant and there's a fresh crunchy baguette on offer, I make the mistake of filling up on bread and ruining my appetite for the pending meal!

As much as I love bread, it's nowhere near as much as Alain Coumont, the mastermind behind global phenomenon Le Pain Quotidien; "the daily bread".  Coumont opened his first Le Pain Quotidien in his home of Brussels in 1990, with his fanatical approach to producing the absolute best 'daily bread' leading to a global empire that as of today stands at more than 200 outlets, including a flagship bakery on Madison Avenue in New York City.

Coumont had always been around food, his grandparents owning a restaurant near Liege in Belgium and his father was a trained chef, so it seemed natural to continue in the same vein. After training at the same hotel school that his father attended, he eventually deviated slightly to become a baker as opposed to a chef.

Mandarin Grill and Bar - the perfect lunch?

http://www.mandarinoriental.com/hongkong/fine-dining/mandarin-grill-and-bar/

I suspected that I might like the Mandarin Grill and Bar.  Having all of the hallmarks of a great restaurant helps: Michelin Star, world class home in the Mandarin Oriental and a head chef that trained under arguably this century's most innovate chef, Ferran Adria of El Bulli fame.  Yep, there was a fair chance that I was in for a beauty of a meal.

But I've been wrong before!

I have a love-hate relationship with Michelin Starred restaurants for lunch, love the fact that in Hong Kong you can access a Michelin restaurant for around quarter their usual price.  Hate the fact that more often than not, the star chef is not presiding over lunch time service and you're never sure if the meal will be at the same standard as a dinner.

With a reputation as an innovative chef, Executive Chef Uwe Opocensky has had the opportunity learn from more than just one master, having also worked with Anton Mosimann and Alain Ducasse. That reputation was the key ingredient for the Mandarin Grill securing its Michelin star in 2009, and more importantly, keeping the menu and restaurant fresh while maintaining the gold standard of a Michelin star.  I could think of no better place to have lunch with some colleagues - secretly hoping those lunchtime blues wouldn't become a factor.

Surprisingly, my dining companions had beaten me to the restaurant and were seated by the time I arrived.  I say surprisingly because I've a reputation for being early to dine and I felt just a little weird coming to the table last!

Seasons by Oliver E - a lunch to remember

http://www.seasonsbyolivier.com

I've been really stupid.  Hong Kong is rightfully known as one of the foodie meccas globally, with more restaurants than any person could ever visit in a lifetime.  A place with many Michelin Starred establishments, Top 100 tables and Tatler Top 20 restaurants, so many in fact that you could eat yourself poor by trying to visit them all!  And I've been doing just that, trying to visit and write about as many of the best restaurants in this giant of a city as possible and grumbling about the cost.  As I said, I've been really stupid.

There's another way.  Lunches!

Hong Kong's finest restaurants have been serving set menu lunches for a long time, a fact that I've recently clued into (yeah, I know, stupid) and taken advantage of.  

We booked in to Seasons by Oliver Ezra for a Saturday lunch recently.  It felt a little strange getting dressed up to hit a fancy Michelin Starred restaurant for lunch, but as we made our way to Causeway Bay's swanky Lee Gardens 2 shopping centre, it all started to make perfect sense.  

Seasons is culinary wiz Oliver Ezra's first foray into his own restaurant.  French born Ezra is better know as the former head chef of Three Star L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon's Hong Kong restaurant.  Tutored by legends of the culinary world Joel Robuchon and Pierre Gagnaire, Chef Ezra has food in his blood.  With a grandfather who was a chef to the last Tzar of Russia, there was never any doubt that Ezra would follow in his grandfather's footsteps and was one named in the best 22 young chefs in France by Gault Millau in 2007.

Porterhouse by Laris - a brilliant lunch set menu

http://porterhousebylaris.com.hk/

In my short time in Hong Kong, I've had some of the most amazing, and most expensive meals of my life.  I mean, seriously expensive meals where I've walked out of a restaurant in shock and with 'buyers remorse'.  This is a symptom of a lot of great restaurants, but largely the fact that practically all food has to be imported to Hong Kong.

It's why I am completely amazed by the fact that you can go to some of those same amazing restaurants for lunch and get a similar feed for a fraction of the price.  I'm not really sure why, but there is a thriving lunchtime food scene in Hong Kong and it's really, really cheap.  I was again reminded of this phenomenon recently when we went out for a team lunch and hit up new spot Porterhouse by Laris.

Located in the newly renovated, and might I say now impressive looking California Tower in Lan Kwai Fong, and established by Aussie Chef David Laris, Porterhouse is a contemporary and upscale steak house more akin to the Australian version of a steak restaurant than the currently stylish 'Steak Frites' places dotted around Hong Kong.  No stranger to working overseas, Chef Laris had spent time refining his trade in London's Mezzo before moving to Shanghai and establishing his own award winning restaurants.

Sunday's Grocery - it's schnitzel time

http://sundaysgrocery.com

Yeah, there are a lot of cool dining spots to check out in Hong Kong, so many, that it's hard to keep track of them all.  So when we heard about a cool little spot out at Kennedy Town, we didn't muck about, plans were made and within days we were sitting out the front of Sunday's Grocery.

I'd never been to Kennedy Town, which is the end of the line on the MRT line that runs along the front of the island.  Our plan was to walk there from the Mid Levels, a tour that took us through the University of Hong Kong, which is just down the street (and around the corner) from where we live.  It was quite a pleasant walk, even though it was a little hot and sticky and there may have been some lost time in the Uni, trying to get our bearings.

We'd timed our walk perfectly, and by the time we were standing outside of the very hard to miss and brightly coloured Sunday's Grocery, it was very conveniently time for lunch.  Stepping inside, I was surprised by how tiny the space was, essentially just a shopfront and counter, with no room for loitering (or dining) within.  I wasn't too sure what to expect to be honest.

Created by Matt Abergele and Lindsay Jang, who've an eye for creating awesome little ventures (Yardbird and RONIN being their other hotspots), Sunday's Grocery is a liquor store, curated convenience store and a takeaway sandwich shop.  With our primary reason for visiting a bite of lunch, we ignored the wide variety of Japanese Whisky, sake, shochu beer and wine on offer and made a beeline for the short but interesting looking takeaway menu.

The Boss - dim sum lunch treat

http://en.theboss1.com

There's just no getting around it, sometimes you need to 'bite the bullet' and book a restaurant.  I love taking my chances and rocking up to a restaurant and seeing if I can jag a table.  It works more often that you'd think, but I guess when you are trying to get into one of Hong Kong's hottest new Michelin Starred restaurants, making a reservation is a much smarter option.  It didn't stop me from trying to get into The Boss, located in Queens Road Central, a few times before giving up and making a booking.

To be honest, I only made a reservation this time because I was hosting a work colleague who was visiting from London, so it wouldn't do to turn up for a busy lunch service, only to be turned away.  It seems as if my reputation for choosing for amazing restaurants had spread, so I'd been given specific instructions not to book into an 'expensive' restaurant.  Knowing that The Boss had a lunchtime Dim Sum menu seemed to be the logical choice, it would showcase a great new restaurant to our London visitor, while keeping it real for our wallets...

The Boss is located in the basement of the Peter Building in QRC and once you descend the steps the the dining room, you're presented with a modern looking take on a Chinese restaurant. Modern and minimalist are the words that spring to mind when describing the fit out of the restaurant, combining blacks and greys for a sleek and contemporary feel.

The coolest restaurant name in Hong Kong - Madam Sixty Ate

http://madamsixtyate.com.hk/

With so many restaurants in Honkers, one of the fun games is trying to figure out which are the best to dine at.  Sure, there are restaurant guides, like the Michelin Guide and Open Rice, but it's often word of mouth where the absolute surprises come along.  We were heading out as a team for a farewell lunch for one member of the team who was leaving for greener pastures and wound up at one of the best surprises I've had in Hong Kong so far.

Usually when we go out for a team lunch, it's one of the many local restaurants in Central but this time we went just a little further afield to Wan Chai.  With a couple of options to get from Central to Wan Chai, which includes walking, we took the tram that runs along Des Voeux Road and moves into Johnston Road.  It was my first time on one of the skinny little trams that I've seen hundreds of times.  Yep, they get crowded and while it was marginally faster than walking or the MTR, it was a bit of an experience....  Not sure I'd do it in the middle of summer though.

Once we jumped off the tram we made our way to the restaurant, which had the funky name of Madam Sixty Ate.  Like a lot of restaurants in Hong Kong, Madam Sixty Ate is not on street level, but up on level one.  As we made our way through a little bit of an entry area, past the bar, we came to the main dining room, which was surprisingly large and very airy.  The high ceilings and open spaces provided a really pleasant vibe, which was helped by the open kitchen area with chefs busy at work.

Taking the cheaper option - Le Cafe de Joel Robuchon

http://www.robuchon.hk

This blog has taken a little longer to get to - not because the food was so bad that I didn't want to write about it but because so much has been going on since then that the time has just slipped away!  During the time that the Big Boy was in Hong Kong visiting us, I decided to take both he and FMUS across on the Star Ferry to Kowloon, for a small glimpse of some of the areas I had been exploring since arriving in Hong Kong in January.  It was a cold and windy day, so we limited ourselves to indoor activities - shopping centres!  Lunch was then of course an easy choice - Le Cafe de Joel Robuchon in the Harbour City Shopping Centre.

Regular readers of this blog will know that FMUS is a big fan of all things fine dining, and had the opportunity to attend L'Atelier de Joes Robuchon in Singapore on a work trip last year (see post here).  Not really having the time (or the inclination) to do the full Robuchon experience for lunch, Le Cafe presented a cheaper option, yet one where the food is still above average and certainly much better than your usual shopping centre fare.  The beautiful thing about Le Cafe by Joel Robuchon is that you can have a full meal, or just enjoy a cup of coffee or tea and some lovely cakes. 

Cheap Eats - Majesty Seafood Restaruant

Majesty Seafood Retaurant

It's easy to get carried away eating dumplings in Hong Kong, most Chinese restaurants seem to do dim sum during the busy lunch period.  My dumplings place of choice is Din Tai Fung (see post here), but there is not a Din Tai Fung close to work, so I've had to look for other places to dine.  You'd think that would be easy with so many restaurants, right?  Well, I'm finding it pretty difficult, mainly because most of the restaurants are not on street level, but on various floors in high rise buildings, so it's a bit hit and miss.

I've managed to find one restaurant nearby that is clearly marked from street level and is relatively easy to access...  I mean, you just have to go up a couple of floors in a rickety old elevator and guess at the right level because I can't quite read Chinese yet!

The Majesty Seafood Restaurant takes up the whole of level two (or three) and has pretty awesome views of Queens Road Central for a brief respite during lunch from the crazy crowds that make up Central HK.  On my first visit, I was placed right by the window and had a great view of the crush of crowds below.

Cheap Eats - Wilburs HK

https://www.facebook.com/WilbursHK

There was a time where the only burger I would eat in Hong Kong was from the Butchers Club, they're pretty awesome.  But as a food blogger, my blog gets pretty boring if I just eat in the same spot every day, so it was time to spread my burger wings.

Continuing the daily lunch exploration around my workplace in Central, I came across another spot in Wyndham Street called Wilbur's burgers-burritos-lobster and thought it was worth giving it a try.  It was easy to get a table right on 12pm on a weekday and was quickly surrounded by wait staff giving out the menu and a tall glass of cold water (a rarity in HK where the water is normally served hot).

As advertised from the street, the menu consisted of a number of burgers, burritos and lobster rolls.  I was sorely tempted to pick up a lobster roll, with memories still fresh from my 2013 trip to New York where lobster rolls were plentiful and superb...  But, I stuck to my guns and ordered the wagyu beef burger, which based on the photos around the joint would be pretty awesome.

Casual Dining - Communal Bar and Eat House at Brisbane Square

communalbrisbane.com 

Change, change, change!  The amount of change that's happening in Brisbane seems unprecedented, right?  I was completely blown away by the big hole in the ground that used to be the Law Courts up on George Street and pretty excited for the high rise apartments and hotel that are slated to be built in their place. George Street has seen a transformation over the last few years and it seems as if the 'top-end-of-town' will continue a resurgence.

One of our funkiest buildings is the Brisbane City Council building in George Street, which houses the Brisbane library and from a distance, looks like a colourful kaleidoscope of falling books.  The BCC building has recently undergone a new transformation, with most of the older style eateries being transformed into a 'diner's delight' that includes a pretty wide range of modern looking cafes and restaurants.  I'd already checked out Meat and Eat (see post here) but was pretty excited to get along and check out the showpiece of the Square - the gastro pub style Communal Bar and Eat House.

As part of the ever growing stable of cafes and restaurants run by General Manager Anthony Attard, The Communal Bar and Eat House is the biggest and boldest of the group's ventures, which includes The Cutting Board (see post here), Hive (see post here) and Meat and Eat (see post here).  Communal Bar and Eat House is inspired by the gastro pub culture and combines this with the communal theme by featuring many share tables among the two hundred available seats (yeah, it's big).

What turns Communal into a gastro pub is the huge mix of food and booze options, with both a huge food menu and an even bigger range of beers on tap, as well as a huge range of cocktails. In fact there are twenty four beers on tap as well as twenty different cocktails and eight cocktail jug specialties!  While a gastro pub should have plenty of alcohol options, for me it's always going to be about the food and I was keen to see what head chef Ben Limpus had done with the menu, which included a wood fired pizza oven, plenty of burgers and dishes from a flare grill.

Coppa Spuntino - the Italian snack shop

https://www.facebook.com/CoppaSpuntino/timeline

The ever changing Brisbane CBD restaurant scene has been active again, with a brand new Italian spot opening in the heart of the city. No, I'm not talking about Jamie's Italian, which opened up a few weeks ago. I'm talking about a funky little spot in Creek Street called Coppa Spuntino, which as luck would have it, can be seen from my office window!

There is a little spot in Creek Street that has had a little bit of misfortune over the last few years. Originally part of the new development at the back of the National Australia Bank building on the corner of Queen and Creek Street, the little spot at 88 Creek Street was once slated for bigger fish.  It was rumored that Melbourne institution Taxi was to take over the lease, but a little thing called the GFC kicked in and killed that plan.  Adelaide coffee institution CIBO espresso got a little bit further, establishing yet another attempt at the Brisbane market before fading away (pretty quickly too).

Cursed site?  Maybe, but well respected Brisbane duo Bonnie Shearston and Tom Sanceau, of Public and Red Hook, saw an opportunity to expand their culinary empire and had Italian cuisine firmly in their sights.  The site is quite compact, so instead of going with a full blown Italian joint, the pair have come up with an interesting concept.  Spuntino means 'snack' in Italian, and that's pretty much the concept for their restaurant Coppa Spuntino.

I'm a huge fan of Public, which in its first year of operation won a Brisbane Times Good Food Guide chefs hat, as well as taking out that year's 'Best New Restaurant' (see post here).  I'm less enamored with their US of A style offering, Red Hook, which is OK, but inconsistent (see post here), but given I love Italian cuisine, I couldn't wait to get in and check out Coppa.  As it turned out, I loved the place so much, I've practically lived there since!

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.

Casual Dining - TooBirds

http://toobirds.wordpress.com/

Living in the CBD has it's ups and downs, mostly ups I have to say, but one of the only real problems is the constant noise.  It's noisy in the city - All.The.Time.  It means that since moving into the CBD, I've taken to wearing ear plugs, just to be able to sleep at night.  It's seems to have become more of a problem over the last few years with city streets seemingly requiring being repetitively dug up!  It's sometimes so bad, that I look forward to coming into work and being far removed from the noise. 

That was until my CBD building underwent severe renovations this year.  Look, I'm not averse to old things getting a make over and looking all shiny-shiny, but I'm not a fan when I'm in the middle of a construction zone.  This is what happened; excavation machines arrive; jack-hammering starts; jack-hammering ceases four months later (it might have seemed longer than it was, OK). The facade of my building got the make over to end all make overs and while there was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth during the renovations (yeah, my office was right over the jack-hammering), I have to say the end result has been spectacular.

The team behind well known CBD cafe Sparrow and Finch (see post here) have evolved from their light CBD lunch-spot and created a full blown CBD bistro and bar.  Interestingly named TooBirds, which seems to be a play on words from the aforementioned Sparrow and Finch, TooBirds caused a stir in my workplace....  Some people just couldn't get their heads around the spelling of too - why not TwoBirds they would say!

Owner Paul Limberios likes to do things a little differently, which no doubt accounts for the unique spelling of his new Bistro.  Looking to do something a little different from the usual lunch spot in the CBD, Paul engaged the services of top chef Jamie Pearce, who has worked at some of Australia's most recognised restaurants, including a few years at Peter Gilmore's three hatted Quay.  Jamie also spent time at one of my all time favourite restaurants Brents (now 85 Miskin Street) under Brent Farrell before becoming head chef over at Cross Town Eating House - some seriously good restaurants.

Casual Dining - Dumpling Republic

http://dumplingrepublic.com.au/brisbane

I've always been a fan of Japanese dumplings, often called gyoza, with one Harajuku Gyoza being one of my favourite dumpling restaurants in Brisbane (see post here).  It was only recently that I started to see the benefit of other dumpling styles, most notably visiting Din Tai Fung in Singapore earlier this year. For those of you who don't know, Din Tai Fung originated out of Taiwan and specialises in xiaolongbao or soup dumplings....  Oh, Din Tai Fung also has a couple of outlets in Hong Kong that have been awarded Michelin Stars, so they're good!

While I was in Singapore, I developed a bit of a fixation on the xiaolongbao and found myself regularly dining at the Sentosa Island outlet of Din Tai Fung - I just couldn't get enough of those delicious soup dumplings.  They were exquisite, beautifully made and filled with the most amazing soup and highest quality pork.  Most amazing with the dumpling pastry, so thin yet so intricately put together, each one was perfection personified!

I was wandering around the re-developed Wintergarden recently and spied that a new dumpling restaurant had opened up right next to the now closed Wagamama.  Making a mental note to check it out, I decided that a lunchtime excursion would be required and it ended up being the week before Brisbane (essentially) shut down for the G20.  Making my way up the escalators that lead to Grill'd, I made a sharp right and found myself at the entrance to Dumpling Republic.  It was only 11:30am and the restaurant was pretty quiet, so quiet that there was no one at the front desk, so I had to stand around for a bit to try and catch someone's attention.

It didn't take too long before I was spotted and lead to the surprisingly large dining room, which was fitted out in very modern style with hints of Asian influences.  You'd never know how big the restaurant was from the entrance, I initially thought it would be quite small, but walking past the dumpling preparation room and kitchen area was eye opening.  I felt quite lonely at my table in the back of the restaurant with no one else around!

Casual Dining Lunch - Marchetti Cafe in Tattersall's Arcade

http://www.marchetticafe.com/

I've talked a lot about my love of wandering around Brisbane and noticing the changes, both big and small.  There have been many, many changes to our fair city in the last twelve months, many of which involve the completion big new buildings, many with food offerings. It's not just the big changes that get me excited, but the small changes, the little additions, the tweaks that, if you weren't paying attention to, you would miss.

One of Brisbane's older arcades is the Tattersall's Arcade, which houses a number of specialty shops that cater to the well heeled of Brisbane, including Longchamp.  I often use the arcade as a short cut from Edward Street to the Queen Street Mall and noticed one of Brisbane's little tweaks a few months ago.  In one of the few vacant spaces in the arcade, a cute little cafe had sprouted, which was very reminiscent of European and Melbourne style cafes.   Owner Michael Makras, owner of nearby Optiko, had spotted an opportunity and teamed up with architect Stephen Cameron to develop a perfect little space for relaxing in one of Brisbane's most elegant arcades.

Tucking away this fact for a future visit, I'd wandered past the little shop numerous times, and each time I'd made the mental note to get along to see what was on the menu.  It wasn't until I found myself with a spare hour for lunch that I'd resolved to get in and check out the Italian diner and bar.  I'll let you in on a dirty little secret though, I'd actually initially been looking to buy some KFC in MacArthur Central before being confronted by a queue that was way too long.  Now, don't ask me why I'd been going to KFC to begin with, I couldn't rightly say, but I did have a hankering for some chicken nuggets.

Cheap Eats Lunch - The Charles Bean Bar

The Charles Bean Bar - Facebook

Sometimes I wonder if you can look too deeply into things.  

I've recently been going on solo travels around the Brisbane CBD, looking for great little lunch spots where I can fuel my inner introvert and enjoy quiet lunches on my own.  In most cases, there are heaps of cafes around that you walk by every day and just never step into, it's these types of little eating oases that I'm looking for.

The Charles Bean Bar is just such a place, squeezed into the foyer of one of the CBD's many commercial towers and next door to one of the many popular Sumo Salads around town.  It would be pretty easy to walk by and never notice, and if fact I did walk past countless times without observing.  It was only because I've been recently keeping an eye out for such gems that I even spotted the little cafe on Adelaide Street.

Which brings me back to my opening statement, have I made the right connections?  Charles Bean was quite a famous Australian that not too many people remember.  A schoolmaster, judge's associate, barrister, journalist, war correspondent and historian, Bean was instrumental in the establishment of the Australian War Memorial and of the creation and popularisation of the ANZAC legend.  The Charles Bean Bar is located just across the street from ANZAC square, so in all likelihood refers back to this legendary historical figure......

Cheap Eats Lunch - Hive Coffee and Eat House

http://www.hiveeathouse.com.au/

I was inspired by my trip to the new Bread and Meat Co CBD location (see post here) and wondered what other gems were around the CBD for lunch.  I’m pretty sure there are 100’s of great little spots around our river city that need to be explored and I’m just the guy to do it.  I’ll have my ear to the ground as well as my eyes on the lookout for those great little lunch spots, but I’m keen to hear if you’ve got that special little spot that you want me to visit.

Last week I went and checked out a breakfast spot that specialised in meat and I‘d really enjoyed my visit to The Cutting Board (see post here).  It was at this breakfast that I got a bit of an idea on where to visit next, with the boys from The Cutting Board having recently set up a new venture down my end of the city.  Hive Coffee and Eat House is the sister restaurant and has been up and running for about five weeks in the newly redeveloped food court in the Riverside Centre. 

Hive Coffee and Eat House has The Cutting Board owner Anthony Attard involved in the set up and his influence is clear and, boy, he sure does love his meat!  Both of the ventures he is involved in feature meat quite heavily and for a carnivore like me, that is quite gratifying to see, especially with his liberal use of chorizo.

It had been literally years since I had stepped into the Riverside Centre, which is surprising since I live just up the street and walk by and around the space so often.  The last time I was actually inside the Riverside Centre, it was much more of a traditional food court with a heap of little eating spots that were mainly forgettable.  I was pretty surprised to walk into the space and see that it had been redeveloped to feature fewer dining options, but those that were there were at the upper end of ‘carvery’ and starting to approach restaurant style food.