Memories Treasure Chest

Dapur Dahlia, Woolloongabba Yup, another post about Malaysian restaurant as I was not thoroughly satisfied after my visit to Sri Mahkota! This time, Mr had a meeting nearby and we decided to have dinner somewhere closeby so I chose Dapur Dahlia. I have not been to their original location at Mount Gravatt, and they have since relocated to Gabba. It looks fairly new and definitely very clean here.  Malaysian food is known for its diversity as we are a multicultural country and Dapur Dahlia specialises more in Malay style Malaysian food rather than the chinese version. I was excited because I get to try some chicken satay; I usually avoid ordering satay because they could not beat those from home. But I gave Dapur Dahlia a chance and they certainly did not disappoint. The satay sticks were grilled rather than just coated with peanut sauce. It was fairly close to the ones from back home. Their peanut sauce was rather authentic and well-balanced. On that night, they gave u...

Sri Mahkota Malaysian Cuisine Once in a while, the cravings for Malaysian food kicks in and I had to visit a Malaysian restaurant for my char koay teow (CKT) cravings. This time we went to Sunnybank Hills and visited Sri Mahkota. I have been here previously - to try their fish noodle soup (it was definitely a good one and I had it then because fish soup was supposedly good to boost your breast milk supply!). As I really wanted a CKT, I obviously ordered their version. It came in a rather huge plate with couple of pieces of prawns, squid and fish cakes. Hmm... I do not think that their CKT is the best in Brisbane. The 'wok hei' was missing and the flavour was just not strong enough. Silly me, I ordered another rice noodle dish that night and it was the wet hor fun version - beef hor fun. The beef was sliced, and tender, and not overcooked. The letdown again was the sauce of the hor fun - I thought it could be stronger. Nevertheless, Sri Mahkota was still busy that ...

Deedot Coffee House, Holland Park This is probably one of the cafes that I wish that it is close to my house! Unfortunately not, unless we move to the south side... I have been to Deedot few years ago and during this visit, I was meeting up with an old friend who has just got a new baby girl and we met up for a cuppa of drink which turns out to be taro latte for me! Since Deedot, I have been checking other cafes whether they serve taro latte but so far seem to be no luck. Unlike coffee or matcha or turmeric latte, taro is definitely for those with the sweeter tooth and it was delicious!  Debbo had scrambled eggs on toast while I ordered their mushroom dish. I seriously could not fault this dish at all. It is a 10/10 for me! Love the creaminess of the mushroomy puree, together with the perfectly poached egg on a toast... I could seriously lick that plate. Ahahah! I think I need to organise another catch up with Debbo so I could visit Deedot again. :) ...

Siam Sensations, Nundah Thai food is my next cravings following Vietnamese food. While Viet food is more simple and clean, Thai is usually filled with punchier flavour and more on the spicy side, which is what I crave for at times. Following our visit to Nundah Corner, we realised that this restaurant is fully pack with patrons sitting outside the restaurant! I told Mr that we had to give it a go next visit and we did. It was just too tempting not to try the 'Mix Entree' - spring roll, curry puff, satay chicken, steamed dim sim and keaw tod (which I assumed is the fried wanton). For $8.90, I think this is rather quite a bargain. The good thing about eating with your husband is that he does not mind sharing after me biting into each item. Among those, I think my favourite would be the curry puff, followed by the satay.  I never stray from not ordering a pad thai from a Thai restaurant, and we did. I really love their pad thai - the sauce was well balanced,...

Maru, Brisbane CBD A stop in the city for dinner means Korean food for us (well, most of the time). Korean food is fast, convenient and tasty, don't you agree? If you are looking for places that are quiet, then don't bother walking into a Korean restaurant. It is usually lively, and their food will fill you up. The chives pancake in Maru is a must if you are tossing between the chives or the seafood pancake (I have tried both). It comes out crispy with loads of chives, and you have to eat it with their dipping sauce.   On that particular night, I wanted something hot/warm so I ordered their pork bibimbap in stone bowl. Their chilli sauce came separately and you can squeeze as much out if you want to. Bibimbap never fails and it was one of favourite meals to have! I have never tried an Omu rice before and rather than the plain version, their Omu rice is served with either the curry or cream version. So what is an Omu rice? I always thought Omu rice...

Nundah Corner, Nundah The Mr was working at Nundah and he came across this place and took me out for dinner one night (many months ago now!). It is usually a day cafe but on Friday and Saturday nights, they are opened for dinner. Street parking is available but can be quite difficult during the peak hours.  We were one of the first diners to arrive, and service was friendly and prompt. After checking out their menu, we sort of know what we want and had mutual decision to order their '3 for $20' of sides.  ~ Fries with aioli ~ Fried cauliflower florets with burnt butter and pomegranate ~ Beans, feta and almond The fries were cooked to perfection and they sure know how long to cook them for! Not soggy and still very crispy. I was a little surprised by the cauliflower dish. It was actually quite good and probably th e winner amon g the three . I love the addition of the p omegranate lifting it up a bit further. Beans was good as well. Now to our mains, ...

Pho Queue, Annerley Are you ever tired of Vietnamese food?? While writing up this post, I just realised that we seemed to be eating out in Vietnamese restaurant. I have been to Pho Queue twice and the first visit was to catch up with Simco! He had recently relocated back to Brisbane from Tasmania and it was so nice to meet up with this old friend of mine. One thing for sure that has not changed - he still likes his favourite vermicelli noodle salad! I am lucky that I get to choose what to have for entree and we had the crispy spring rolls. For $8 for 3 pieces, the price is certainly above the average and they are just quite normal.  The other starter that interest me was the 'Banh Khot' - savoury mini pancakes made with 333 beer. I have not tried these before and would not have a clue as to what it should taste like. Quite an interesting texture... the 'pancake' is rather soft and not dense, but still able to hold it shape. Taste wise quite light ...

Lily's Chinese Kitchen, Cooper ' s Plain My in-laws one day told me that they have found a place that served fresh eels, and it is an awesome one! I have definitely tried the Japanese unagi but not the kinds they were referring to and I was interested. So, for Mr's birthday this year, we went to Lily's Kitchen for a birthday lunch for a banquet for 4 +1. Ya, just because Grace's bedtime is about 7-8pm. It is quite a small restaurant, with only one waitress on site that time. As my MIL had pre-ordered, once we were seated, the hot plate of food started arriving one by one. The first dish that arrived was this 'claypot chicken'. This is not the gravy version but dry version, and possibly known as 'pok pok kai' aka 'jumping chicken'. Please pardon my translation! They are not boneless, making them quite tender and not overly dry. Love the flavour of those little chicken drummets. So good! Next up is the duck! We love any kind of duck ...

Bam Bam Bakehouse, Gold Coast I am probably one of the last foodie to have tried Bam Bam Bakehouse! It has been on my wish list for a very long time, and one day Mr suggested we go to the coast since we are both not working over the weekend. It is a rare opportunity and I told him we must visit Bam Bam. Hehe!  We used GPS to navigate ourselves there and the bakehouse is situated in a fairly interesting location, next to a children's park and playground (bonus!). Parking can be quite tricky until we realised we could have parked next to the playground from the back. It was already quite packed when we got there in the morning, but thankfully still have seats available. Their menu does seem to have some Asian influenced such as the 'Egg nasi, karaage chicken burger or even the pork belly banh mi' which in hindsight, I probably should have ordered one of them.  Are you a Barbie or a Mermaid fan? I ended up ordering the Barbie hot chocolate which consisted of ros...

Vietnam House, Fortitude Valley Vietnamese cuisine is one of my go-to food if we have the options of eating out. I could not remember why we chose Vietnam House that night but why not? We drove past this restaurant frequently and had never visited it. We did make a booking knowing that it is quite a busy place especially on a weekend. Parking as always can be a challenge in the Valley but we were lucky to find street parking if you are patient enough. It was still winter then (yup, trying to finish my backlogs!) and I wanted pho. I remember myself of being of a vermicelli salad person but once in a while I crave for pho. But first up, we tried their Vietnamese spring rolls. They were crispy and delicious! It was so moreish! Their pho comes in three different sizes - small, medium and large. I was not sure how big their 'large' size was until it came to our table. Holy moly it was big! It can certainly feed two people! Their pho was quite good, with thinly sli...