Memories Treasure Chest

Ben's Vietnamese, Woolloongabba Ben’s Vietnamese has been in Princess Plaza for years and it has not changed at all since my last visit (when I had my farewell lunch with colleagues prior to my maternity leave for Grace). This time together with Mr, we visited Ben’s for lunch. Quite a bit has changed in this complex and I have noted some new restaurants and bakery, which I am sure will attract the staffs from Mater Hospital. I was craving for pho so we ordered their combination beef pho, and it did not disappoint. The broth was hearty and it was generous in terms of the beef and noodles.  Our next dish was the grilled pork vermicelli salad and yum, it definitely hit the spot for me. The sliced vegetables were fresh, and I was not worried at all consuming them while pregnant. The grilled pork was so flavourful and tasty and could have eaten more on its own. Yum! We used the Entertainment Voucher in this visit, making this lunch an even better dea...

Than Nuong Charcoal Vietnamese Restaurant, Woolloongabba There was a deal from TheFork app just before Mother's Day and I grabbed this deal of 50% discount for Banquet menus at Than Nuong. Together with the in-law, we celebrated Mother's Day on that Saturday night. As the discount was only applicable to the banquet, I enquired upon arrival whether we could have 2 of Banquet 1 ($40pp) and 2 of Banquet 2 ($60pp) so that we could have a variety and thankfully, they did. Entree of Banquet 1 : spring rolls, deluxe chicken wings and prawn rice paper rolls Entree of Banquet 2 : soft shell crab, chargrilled quail and grilled local scallops with fresh lime Soft shell crab Chargrilled quail Grilled scallops The entrees of both banquet were simple and satisfying with the exception of the chargrilled quail. As you can see from the picture, it was really charred. The quail was overcooked and relatively dry. Otherwise, every thing else was just moreish! ...

MD's Italian Kitchen and Bar, Fortitude Valley Has anyone heard of the EatClub app? If not, I recommend downloading this app in your phone ASAP as this is where you can get some last minute discounts/deals from various restaurants! As I was lazy to prepare dinner one night, I stumbled upon a 40% discount for MD's Italian Kitchen and Bar. Together with Mr, we made our way to the Valley/New Farm trying to locate this restaurant. As always parking in New Farm can be challenging and after a few rounds, we managed to find one. As we walked into the restaurant, it felt rather empty for such a big restaurant. There were about 4-5 other patrons that night. Service was prompt and attentive that night. As we were pretty hungry, I was keen to eat. To start with, we had the garlic ciabatta ($12) with balsamic. They were toasted nicely but I thought the garlic flavour could be stronger. Our next entree was the arancini balls ($18). The crumbed surface was crispy and the flavou...

Roti Place, Brisbane CBD Roti Place in the city has recently relocated to Charlotte St, replacing the old Little Singapore that was previously there. I have been to the old Roti Place years ago and it did not leave much impression on me then. However, I have heard good things about it recently and Mr and myself visited it after my doctor's appointment. Being Malaysian myself, I do have some high expectations of Malaysian food in Brisbane. Roti Place boast in specialising in making roti in their open roti kitchen and I had to try their basic roti - roti canai ($5.50). It comes with one piece of roti with a side of curry gravy. As I was sitting opposite the open kitchen, I managed to see the skilful girl making the roti from scratch. The roti was not too bad, my serve was not particularly crispy or flakey unfortunately. I think the one at Pappa Rich was much more flakey and crispy. The curry gravy was quite nice and spicy. As I have been craving for Prawn Noodle So...

Koto Sanpo, Brisbane CBD The second restaurant that we recently tried in FudoDori was Koto Sanpo. I am a big fan of anything match a and was excite d to be checking out this place. We arrived early around their opening hour of 11.30 am and the y were already quite busy. We were seated and after brow sing their extensive menu, Mr went to the counter for our order. As we were there for lunch, we ordered savoury meals rather than their sweets or desserts. But first up, a drink of match a is a must and for a basic mat cha latte, there are options of white chocolate, yuzu honey, rocky road or even c aramel matcha latte . I think it is best to try their basic matcha latte and it came in a rather huge ceramic bowl. I could not fault their mat cha latte at all. The latte was creamy and most importantly, not overly sweet and there ' s still hint of bitterness of matcha which is how I like mine.  Now for our main meals, Mr tried their chicken karaage curry ($15.80) and surpri...

LuCha Kit chen + Bar, Brisbane CBD The old Elizabeth Arcade has been trans formed to a 'FudoDori' meaning food street and Lu Cha is one of the first few to set foot in this lane. I have got no idea re this place until I suggested to Mr let walk past this area and see what is new. Lu Cha has an opening offer that time which include 'Buy 1 drink and get the se cond one free'. Intrigued, we both went inside for lunch that day. While it may be busy that day, I thought the service was still prompt and friendly. Looking through the menu, the re are definitely a variety on the list ranging from different kind of rice or noodle dishes. I was definitely tempted to order their Si gnature Lu Cha Roast Chicken dish but worried that the servings size may be too big for the two of us.  In the end, we opted for their ' Seafood Laksa ' which came with a variety of seafood in cl uding prawns, mussels , fish cakes and fish balls. The serving size was decent but ...

Jacaranda Coffee Lane, West End Last term, we enrolled Grace at Queensland Ballet and enrolled her in the Early Years Dance class, which she seems to enjoy. As we will be quite busy these coming months with a new addition, we decided to stop and hopefully restart again next term. As part of a celebration that she completed a term, we decided to have breakfast at Jacaranda Coffee Lane, after a visit at the West End Library! (Yes, trying to find excuse to eat out... ) We were thankful to have seats readily available that morning, and the service was prompt and friendly. I noted that there are some colouring pens/crayons available and Grace was happy to do some colouring (well, attempted to). The menu here is so interesting with some Asian influence and I could not wait to dig in! They also have kids meal available and ordered the ' Scrambled Eggs on cheesy toast ' ($6.50) for Grace. Among other cafes, I think Jacaranda has the best value for kids meal.  Her scrambl...