Sofitel Club Lounge - Brisbane

I got a good deal for a Sofitel Club room in Brisbane. Being allowed club lounge access, we had to take care of the benefits - free canapes before dinner, free brekky the next morning, along with free wifi, and entertainment facilities in the lounge.

When at the canapes, we saw a good selection of finger foods. Sure, it wasn't overlly luxurious foods, but it was tasty ish anyway. Particularly, my hubby loved the selection of dips and antipasti options. The hot food available isn't the best in quality... but it was still edible and people around us were piling it up by the plateful. I think some were even there to become full enough to not require dinner after LOL


Breakfast at the club lounge was likewise impressive. There was a decent selection of hot food, breads and pastries, fruit and yoghurt. In addition to all the yummy foods, being a weekend, there was also unlimited champagne (for anyone who could stomach it early in the morning). I loved the creamed eggs and the unlimited availability of smoked salmon... and the pastries were fresh and delicious :) Hubby seemed to appreciate yoghurt more than anything.

Overall, we appreciated the luxuries of the club lounge. Although there had been talk over the net about how the lounge had decreased in quality, I think that it was still good enough :)

Ratings:
Food - 7.5/10
Service - 7.5/10
Ambiance- 7.5/10
Value for money - 7.5/10
Overall - 30/40

Sofitel Club Lounge
249 Turbot Street
Brisbane, QLD 4000
Tel: (07) 3835 3535

Oyama - Brisbane Fortitude Valley

The best sushi in Fortitude Valley? We were there on a Sunday lunch, wandering around Fortitude Valley in Brisbane and wondering where in the world Brisbaners go on a Sunday. It was in a relatively deserted place (or so it seemed on a Sunday). Nonetheless, we decided to risk it as we entered the relatively empty Jap restaurant filled with employees and chefs who spoke Mandarin.

We decided on two simple dishes - a tempura scallop and a sushi platter. The "Isoba" ($12.50) was just some bits of scallops rolled in seaweed then deep fried with tempura batter. This was rather interesting. Squishy subtly sweet scallops in a crunchy battered outside. It was, however, really quite a small portion for its price.

Isoba - $12.50

The Sushi Platter ($39.90) was relatively simple. Yummy fresh nigiri. There was salmon, tuna, king fish, prawns, roe, scallop, egg... etc. Everything was simple yet tasty. Not bad at all :)

Sushi Platter - $39.90

Overall, the food was relatively good. Or maybe we were just surprised that such a dingy looking restaurant could turn out relatively yummy and fresh jap food? :)

Ratings:
Food - 8/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 6.5/10
Value for money - 6.5/10
Overall - 28/40

Oyama Japanese Restaurant
115 Wickham Street
Fortitude Valley
Brisbane, 4006
Tel: (07) 3257 0738

Il Centro - Brisbane CBD

I read on a blog somewhere about Sandcrab Lasagne and how it just took everyone's tastebuds to heaven with it's rich creamy crabby comforting pasta and sauce. After reading it, I couldn't help but drag my hubby to the place which serves it - Il Centro.

As an entree, my hubby and I shared some pan seared scallops ($27). Three plump perfectly cooked scallops (seared on the outside and just the right cookedness) were served with bits of artichoke, broad beans and cotechino sausage. This was all covered with a truffle vinaigrette. Quite yummy :)

Pan-seared scallops - $27

Hubby couldn't look past the confit of duck with truffle mash which was a special for the day. The duck was very tasty and the mash was super super smoothness. Unfortunately, the skin of the duck wasn't as crispy as I would have liked. But overall, it wasn't a bad dish.

Confit de canard

Now for the crazy main character of the night - Sandcrab Lasagne. Our friend waitress advised me to order an entree size as it is super rich and filling. I couldn't disregard his advice and hence, an entree-size was opted for. When this came out, the lasagne smelt AMAZING. It didn't seem like a complex dish, but it was definitely worth all the calories it brings along - two thin layers of pasta sheets which sandwiched a crazy large heap of super tender and flavoursome crab meat. A little dab of tomato sauce was placed in the middle which made it more aesthetically pleasing... but didn't really add much to the taste. The super crazy part was actually the sauce. It was super rich and creamy and crustaceany and just left me speechless. I could just lick the plate dry of this sauce!!!

Sandcrab lasagne

As a side, we shared a mushroom and artichoke dish ($11). There was a mix of portobello and swiss brown mushrooms all cooked and tossed with caramelised onions and a massive artichoke. It was deliciously tasty and flavoursome.

mushroom and artichoke side dish

By now, we were both full and satisfied but I just couldn't pass on the dessert menu which looked super tempting. My choice was for the frozen pineapple cheesecake ($17). The cheesecake was slightly frozen, which is exactly the way I like cheesecakes. It sat with a blob of salted caramel gelato which was really really yum and peanut brittle which my hubby adored. It was a really awesome dessert :)

frozen pineapple cheesecake - $17

All up, this was an amazing meal. Sure, the service wasn't awesome... but the food more than enough made up for it! And if sandcrab lasagne is not yet on your 'must eat before you die list' then it really damn well ought to be!

Ratings:
Food - 9/10
Service - 6.5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7.5/10
Overall - 30/40

Il Centro
1 Eagle Street
(Eagle Street Pier)
Brisbane QLD 4000
Tel: (07) 3221 6090

MOS burger - Brisbane Sunnybank

Almost 10 years ago, a bunch of enthusiastic high school students roamed wild in Japan and discovered none other than a super awesome burger joint - MOS Burger. From that first bite, all of us fell in love with this Asian style burger so much so that we had all wanted to franchise it back to Sydney. Unfortunately back then, franchises outside of Japan was unavailable (and we had insufficient funds) and hence, our dreams were dropped.

In recent years, MOS burger had opened in HK and we had all tried it. But... it was just not the same. Then one year ago, MOS burger decided to open up in Brisbane. Brisbane? All us Sydney-siders were disappointed. Not only was it in Brisbane, it wasn't even in the city! It was opened up in a heavily Asian-populated suburb of Brisbane (in Sunnybank Plaza), making it even MORE difficult for us to reach! >.<

Nonetheless, whilst in Brisbane, we couldn't NOT hike up to find MOS burger. It may have taken a while to get there, but it was definitely worth it!

MOS burger

There's drinks and soups to choose from. I decided to get the iced matcha latte whilst hubby couldn't look past the creamy corn soup. And boy was it creaminess! And extremely full of corn flavour. My matcha latte was also deliciousness!

iced matcha latte and corn soup

The original MOS burger was what my hubby ordered 10 years ago in Japan and so it was the burger he ordered. Super tender beef patty served within two really soft and fluffy buns with a giant slab of tomato and lots of their famous MOS tomato relish, all forming a crazily tasty and yummy burger.

MOS burger

My first order at MOS was a Chicken Teriyaki burger. And I remember how amazingly delicious it was. Luckily, it still is crazily good! Tasty real chunk of chicken marinated with sweet teriyaki sauce and served with super crunchy lettuce (fresher than any lettuce I've had in other burgers) and a massive dallop of mayo. Burger heaven :)

chicken teriyaki burger

The chips here were really nicely golden and crisp on the outside, good amount of salt flavouring and each chip was almost delicately cooked to perfection. The chicken nuggets were... well, chicken nuggets.

chips and nuggets

After posting several pics of MOS burger on my FB page, I had a good number of comments about the seafood okonomi rice burger. Hence, on my return to Sunnybank Plaza, I couldn't resist but to order it. It was pretty crazy - well cooked seafood combination of scallops, calamari, prawns wrapped with lettuce, onion stuff and loads of bonito flakes in 2 heavy patty of rice. I'm undecided about the rice buns but the seafood okonomi inside was delicious!

seafood okonomi burger

I can't wait til MOS burger decides to come to Sydney!!! :)

Ratings:
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7.5/10
Overall - 30/40

MOS Burger
Shop 34, Sunnybank Plaza Shopping Centre
Cnr Mains Rd and McCullough St
Sunnybank
Tel: (07) 3345 4567

Sono - Brisbane CBD

My hubby was attending a business trip in Brisbane and so I decided to tag along for a eating and shopping trip. As we were both craving sushi and sashimi, one of our first dining destinations was Sono - a Japanese restaurant in the CBD (and at Portside). They have a variety of seating - tatami, tepanyaki and normal. As we booked last minute, we had to settle for normal seating.

Our sashimi craving meant an order of a large sashimi platter ($48). There were super deliciously fresh slices of salmon, tuna, king fish, snapper, dory (?), scallops and one more type of white fish (don't remember the name). It was all super super yum!!!

large sashimi platter - $48

Sushi-wise, we decided on a salmon and avocado small roll ($9). This was again really tasty and really yummy. The rice was perfect consistency and was a good proportion of rice and salmon and avocado :)

salmon and avocado roll - $9

A 'special' of the month caught our attention - Queensland scallop, prawn butter-yaki ($15). This comprised of tender perfectly cooked Queensland scallops and large prawns pan-fried in butter. It was served with dashi marinated mushrooms and seaweed cream sauce. Mmm... yum!

Queensland scallop, prawn butter-yaki - $15

Further, my hubby couldn't go past the wagyu beef (kobe striploin 100g) of marble score 6 which was grilled on the table with a magnolia leaf ($35). It smelt amazing!!! The kobe beef was very well marbled and soooo super tender - almost melt in your mouth!

wagyu beef - $35

Another interesting dish for the night was the kani cream korokke ($15). This was golden deep fried croquettes filled with cream and crab meat. The innards were super silky smooth and super super crabbily tasty! Zomg YUM!!!

kani cream korokke - $15

Last but not least, we ordered the potato salad ($12). This was a japanese style mashed potato with garden green salad. It was served in half a potato which made it more interesting. But other than the looks of it, it was just your normal japanese potato salad (which isn't bad really) :P

potato salad - $12

All up, this was a fabulous dinner. The service was attentive enough and we were surrounded by fantastic aromas all night :)

Ratings:
Food - 9/10
Service - 7.5/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 7.5/10
Overall - 31/40

Sono
Level 1 Tattersalls Building
cnr Queen St and Edward St
Brisbane CBD
Tel: (07) 3220 1888