Nikuya - the Japanese Meat Shop

http://www.nikuya.com.au/

I have to tell you, blink around this town and you're gonna miss a lot. Just when I thought I'd finally checked out all of the restaurants at the Valley hotspot of M&A Lane, a new one opens up to taunt me! We were walking to the Valley last weekend to do some furniture shopping (yep, I bought some cool stuff - see here) and we came across Brisbane's latest Japanese restaurant - Nikuya.  We made a mental note to check it out sometime, but curiosity got the better of us and we made a reservation for later that night.

Now that we're into the warmer months, we're finding ourselves walking around a lot more and even though we'd walked about in the hot sun for most of the day, we took advantage of the lovely evening and wandered into the Valley for dinner.  As we arrived to Nikuya, we got a sense of how big the restaurant was.  Like it's neighbour The Flaming Olive (see post here), Nikuya is a massive space, but unlike it's neighbour, dining is split out over two levels - a more traditional restaurant downstairs and a Japanese BBQ up.

The direct Japanese to English translation for Nikuya is 'butcher' but Owner Patrick Ip uses the more literal translation of 'meat house'.  Some of you might know Patrick Ip's other restaurants Ginga and Bamboo Basket, which are popular dining spots in Brisbane (Ginga seems to be everywhere).  With a name like Meat House, you're going to expect to get some amazing meat and it's something that Nikuya seems pretty proud of.

After arriving, we followed our waitress to the back of the restaurant to a booth that was quite spacious for the two of us.  It seemed like quite a long walk and I was able to check out the interior and decor of the restaurant, which was very modern in appearance.  The dark wood of the tables and chairs were interspersed with circular beach coloured circles that had a bit of a retro feel about them. I also noticed the huge kitchen and bar area - I guess with a space that holds over 200 customers, you're going to need a huge kitchen....

Casual Dining - Papa Jack's

http://www.papajacks.com.au/

Southern style Americana is definitely the cuisine of the day at the moment and with a huge number of US of A restaurants opening, I thought I'd check out a place that's been kicking around for just over twelve months.  Papa Jack's didn't start the Southern American revolution but it certainly kicked off a second wave.

We'd been attempting to get to Papa Jack's ever since it first opened in the newish M&A Lane that houses a heap of other restaurants, including fellow Southern Belle the Mighty Mighty (see post here). Several false starts and and attempts to get along on really busy nights meant that we checked out every other M&A Lane restaurant before we finally got it together and paid Papa Jack's a visit.  In hindsight, that could have been a huge error!

We had a bit of a choice, go and see new Affleck flick, Gone Girl, or walk over to McLachlan Street in the Valley for a bit of Louisiana comfort food.  It was a tough choice, but we really felt like it was time, so made the twenty minute walk from the CBD and found ourselves on the front doorstep of Papa Jack's.  It's a spot that we've walked by many times on our travels and from the outside, Papa Jack's looks pretty neat and new, but it's a different matter once you step over the threshold.  It was like stepping into a vortex and finding ourselves in swampy old Louisiana.

If you're like us, then one of the must watch shows of 2014 was True Detective with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, a show set in the Louisiana bayou.  It's a brilliant show and some of it's set in seedy bars and while Papa Jack's didn't have that same seedy feel to it, it was un-mistakingly Southern American.  Adding to the feeling was the costumes that the wait staff were wearing and the French American accent of our waiter as he welcomed us and showed us to our seat. Owners Marco and Emily Nunes (who created Woolloongabba bar, Canvas), have faithfully recreated a Louisiana watering hole right in the middle of the Valley.

The Flaming Olive - another gem at the M&A precinct

TheFlamingOlive

It's interesting where you can get inspiration to visit a new restaurant.  I'd been keeping an eye on the new developments in the McLachlan and Ann (M&A) laneway precinct and had seen that the newest addition had opened.  It wasn't until I was sitting, strangely, in a McDonalds grabbing a quick burger between meetings that it hit me that I needed to get in and check out The Flaming Olive.  You might ask what on earth inspired me inside a McDonalds and that would be a good question!  I was actually flicking through Tuesdays edition of the Courier Mail and stumbled across "Kitchen Confidential' by Fiona Donnelly, who'd written a couple of articles - one about the Flaming Olive (the other was for the Foraging Quail).

Needless to say that I didn't enjoy my first McDonalds burger in a few years but I'd jumped on the phone and made a reservation for the Flaming Olive for later on that night.  Then all I had to do was convince SC that we'd be dining out that night, a task which was pretty easy!

I still find it amazing and concerning, in equal parts, that there are so many new restaurants opening up in Brisbane.  Amazing because there food scene in our city is maturing before my very eyes and concerning because I fear that supply will outstrip demand and we will see more restaurant closures.  M&A lane is leading the charge at the moment with heaps of new dining options (see posts here) but the Valley in general is about to explode with new building developments and dining options.  The Flaming Olive is the latest in that neck of the woods and I was interested in seeing how different it would be from its neighbours.

Gordita - a different take on Spanish cuisine

http://gordita.com.au/

All the pieces of the puzzle are starting to fall into place at one of Brisbane's newest dining hotspots, the awesome M&A Lane in the Valley.  Gordita is the latest funky restaurant to open up in what is quickly becoming a killer dining destination, one of many in a rapidly expanding Brisbane dining scene.

As seems to be the case lately, we were walking to James Street to do our usual weekend shop, when we noticed that Gordita had opened its doors.  I'd known that Gordita was opening soon, in fact I'd been invited along to check out the menu at a sit down lunch, but the moment I saw that the spot had opened, there was no way I could wait a week to check it out.  In fact, we waited exactly one day before the lure of the shiny shiny had us booked in to sample some lovely Spanish nosh!

Gordita is part of an ever expanding empire of restaurants form Jamie Webb, who also runs Spanish Tapas joint Peasant at the Barracks (see post here) as well as Oyster Bar Cabiria and Lefty's old time music hall. Drawing on his experiences running restaurants in New York and Sydney, Jamie has put together a southern Spanish style restaurant that is very different from the more traditional cuisine at Peasant.  Amazingly, he's also been able to lure Alfonso Ales to consult on the menu, who brings his experiences in working in Spain's best restaurant in recent years ,(now closed) elBulli.

Locanda osteria and bar - simple Italian fare but with strong flavours

http://www.locandabrisbane.com/

A couple of weeks ago we thought we would check out one of the new restaurants over at the recently completed M&A Lane.  There were a couple of options, with three of the six or so planned planned restaurants already open, but as we walked towards the lane, an incredible smell led us towards the Mighty Mighty (see post here).  While we were sitting and mostly enjoying our southern style BBQ, we sat facing our other option and spent the night wondering if we had made the right choice.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and we had a more definitive plan to check out Locanda Osteria and Bar, which as the name suggests is an Italian joint.  It's more than a little interesting that two of the hottest styles of food right now, Italian and Southern BBQ have opened right next door to each other.  In my mind 2103 has been the year of the Italian and American restaurant, with a heap of new dining establishments opening up with a bent in either direction.

They guys that have put Locanda Osteria together certainly know a little bit about what it takes to run a successful Italian restaurant.  Restaurant heavyweights Manny Sakellarakis and Dan Clark have  created arguably Brisbane's best Italian restaurant in 1889 Enoteca at Woolloongabba and have teamed up with Cove Southbank's Adam Barton on this venture.  Combined they have a heap of experience creating successful restaurants and giving people what they really want, top quality nosh.  They've also snared head chef Daniel Jones to man the kitchen, who has worked at some of Brisbane's best Restaurants including Cha Cha Char and Baguette.

The Mighty Mighty Cue & Brew - a mix of southern style in the big smoke

http://mightymighty.net.au/

Every Saturday morning we walk off to get our weekly groceries from James Street Market.  Yeah, yeah, I know that you're thinking 'sure mate, you eat out every night', but I assure you I do eat at home sometimes and when I do I get my groceries from The Standard over at James Street.  But that's not the point of this post, it's more about the journey I take to get to James Street each Saturday morning.  As part of the walk, we wander down McLachlan Street, which has been dominated for some time by construction work.

It's a funny thing when you watch a construction site go up.  At first there is the big mess that is created, usually as a result of someone digging a dirty big hole in the ground.  Not long after the trucks have carried away all the dirt, more trucks start to turn up with building material and things start to take shape.  At first, things happen so slowly you don't notice much change, but as sure as night follows day (or is it the other way round), you start to notice a building take shape.  I couldn't tell you how many times we wandered down McLachlan Street and speculated about the building.  Sure, we could have gone to the web site, but that would have spoilt the fun of our guessing games.

Then one day, you notice it's looking a little different, maybe even a little finished.  Amazingly, this all happened over what seemed to be about eighteen months and one day, there it was, it was finished.  What started out as a hole in the ground became a fully fledged building.  What was better was what lay beneath the building, a shiny new laneway with restaurants and shops, but mostly restaurants.  M&A laneway was born and it was time to finally check it out.