Posts Tagged ‘Mod Oz’
July 29, 2008 | 
Author Anouk
Cuisine: Modern Australian
Mains: $14 to $26
Entrees: $7 to $14
Breakfast: From $7.50
212 Given Tce
Paddington
Tel: 07 3367 8663
They accept bookings except for weekend breakfasts.
I decided to take a fellow longtime fan of The Gun Shop Cafe to try out a new venture by the same lady of culinary delight.
My friend and I, although we aren’t regulars (mainly because we’re too sleepy to go all the way to West End for weekend breakfasts), absolutely love The Gun Shop Cafe. So we made a staggering effort to wake up one Saturday and head over to Paddington for shopping and food.
It didn’t take us long to find Anouk amongst the boutiquey stretch of road. The shop front was not unlike The Gun Shop with outdoor seating, a line out the front and big windows so that the people in line can spend their wait choosing their meal from what’s on other people’s plates. Up on the walls were enlarged photocopies of lino prints. The atmosphere was buzzing and the restaurant was packed. But service was pleasant and quite speedy which is a plus.
I don’t know what we were expecting entirely. Not quite more of the same as “the other cafe”, maybe something better, different? But the ONE thing we both wanted more than anything was there to be a repeat of the famous (to us) Gun Shop hashbrowns. A good breakfast to us, must involve some kind of potato, preferably in hashbrown form. Sadly we were let down in this respect. No potatoes to be had.
We’re quite simple in our breakfast desires. Usually eggs, bacon, mushrooms and of course a hashbrown or more is enough to satiate. In the end we managed to find a couple things on the specials board that interested us.
Poached eggs on sour dough with hollandaise sauce and asparagus wrapped in proscuitto. With a side of mushrooms.
And I had the herbed scrambled eggs on sour dough with a side of bacon.
Along with our meals we also ordered a mocha (mmm morning coffee yay) and a really surprisingly yummy and refreshing drink made up of muddled fresh lemon and lime with sparkling apple juice. This sort of became the highlight of the meal.
In the end, worth a stop over if you’re in Paddington at breakfast time. It was nice food, however, I think if I had to decide between getting up early to go to The Gun Shop or Anouk, I couldn’t go past the original, hashbrowns included.
Posted in Breakfast, Brisbane, Modern Australian | 
Tags: Breakfast, Brisbane, Mod Oz, Paddington | 
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Simpatico bar bistro espresso
Cuisine: Modern Australian – with Asian and Mediterranean influences
“Mains”: Each dish we ordered was between $12 an $16.
Sides: The side we ordered was $6
Desserts: I think they were mostly about $10
(I’ve listed a breakdown of what we paid below)
Cnr Given & Latrobe Tce (Go down the street off this corner, next two Cocoon – across the road from Harem)
Paddington Qld 4064
Ph: 07 3367 1117
sim·pa·ti·co (s?m-pä’t?-k?’, -p?t’?-)
adj.
- Of like mind or temperament; compatible.
- Having attractive qualities; pleasing.
Scallops with wakame seaweed and sesame oil: $12
Maybe next month.. 
Posted in Brisbane, Modern Australian, Sharing Plates | Tags: Brisbane, Mod Oz, Paddington, Tapas | No Comments »
Mains: $16-$27
Dessert: $7-$12
I don’t think I am too demanding with food but when I eat out I would like to think I have four reasonable criterias. 1) Food 2) Service 3) Speed 4) Cleanliness. This normally works on a sliding scale for me- cheap price= less refined food, not-to-flash service, still hope the food will come fairly quickly but definitely don’t expect startched linen napkins etc… this way I am hopefully being fair to all cafes and resturants concerned. Now Cafe Segovia, has failed on most counts under my medium price ranged criteria.
Had a linguine tossed with clams, chilli, garlic, white wine, fresh tomatos & herbs, lemon & cream $21. Asked them whether the clams were fresh, they said yes, but when it came out, most of the clams were closed. The 3 or 4 that was actually opened were OK, 1 was awful. They should probably not say that there’s chilli cos there is no kick at all, as was my Bloody Mary. The pasta sauce is watery. Overall it didn’t taste too bad, but in that price range, it could have been much better- at least they could have not lied to me so I can make a more informed choice, or better still just get fresh ingredients (or take out & replace the bad ones!) 4/10
Alan had the chicken and bacon risotto which is pretty good, standard fare that you get from any cafes. 7/10
Service, cleanliness and timing
Other than LYING to me and saying that their clams are good, they also took ages to give us water. When it did arrive, the glass has tea leaves in it and when I asked for a replacement glass, the waiter plonked down the water jug on our table & never came back with my glass. When I asked them once again for my glass, they gave me the SAME glass with the tea leaf in it. Uh huh.
Our food also came a whole 30 mins after we’ve ordered it. When enquire about when exactly our food will be arriving, they told me that the dish that I ordered was the first clam linguine dish ordered for the day and they are “freshening up the clams”. Maybe it’s just me but that sounds a bit worrying. I would be happier if they are telling me they are out at the sea catching me fresh clams perhaps?
When it comes to paying bills, THAT took a long time too. I almost did a Vanessa and just say that’s it, I am not paying for that. Cos it took them quite some time to log onto the system, then they put the wrong orders in- they actually forgot to bill my clam linguine and I kindly informed them that (and now I am kicking myself), then they decided to charge me $26 instead of $21 for that. Grrrrr
Toilets- I’m sorry but the floors are a bit wet. That normally indicates sloppiness or someone just peed their pants.
Look. Totally understand if this is Asian cheap eats joint or HK which charge you $10 a meal, but I am paying good money here and let me tell you now, don’t waste your time & money there!
The Lab Bar + Restaurant
Cuisine: Modern Australian
Entree: $14.90-$22.90
Mains: $23.90-$29.90
Dessert: $11.60-$15.90
Conrad Treasury (Hotel side)
George St, Brisbane 4000 QLD
Ph: (07) 3306 8647
Last Friday night I made some of our friends have a late supper at The Lab (as opposed to going to whichever food court was still open at 9pm). The restaurant couldn’t fit us in until 9.30, so we went a bit early to sit at the bar.
My earlier recollections of eating at The Lab were very positive. I think it also had something to do with the fact that I was eating there with family, so we ordered a number of entrees and shared those plus everyone had a taste of each main.
I’ve discovered I really enjoy this kind of communal eating. Maybe it’s an asian thing, but it really changes a meal where you can try more than one flavour.
Apart from eating there with my family the only other time was when I went there with a fellow foodaholic friend and we ordered way too much for two people (as often happens) and share in the gluttony.
This night I opted to have two entrees. My intention was to have one entree, and then one entree as a main size. Last time I did this I ended up with a big bowl of moreton bay bugs and angel hair pasta. This time I think maybe I needed to be a bit more explicit with my instructions (or maybe the waiter thought I should eat less.. *pats belly*). I’d like to think he just didn’t get that I’m fat and I like to eat food, therefore when I say, can I have this as a main, I mean I need it as a main sized meal. Though I can’t blame him for the communication breakdown.
My choices, as per the menu were:
pan seared calamari w. avocado salsa, baby cos & tomato gazpacho
moreton bay bugs w. chilli angel hair pasta, arugula pesto & caponata vegetables
I have to be honest and say that I didn’t enjoy them as I did the first couple of times I’ve been there. I can’t explain why, maybe the new, spectacular experience has worn off, maybe I was expecting too much. So in all fairness I will explain what it was like the first time I had it. REALLY GOOD! I love avocado and I love calamari, and the combination really works the way they dish it out. I am such a lover of moreton bay bugs also and the bug meat is not cooked through the pasta and sauce, it just sits above it, so it still tastes like bugs. It’s such a lovely combination, that even though it wasn’t as good as the very first time, I’ve ordered it everytime I’ve gone there and probably will the next time.
My sister chose:
cashew crumbed queensland barramundi w. asparagus, desiree mash & noisette dressing
This was really delicious and trying it made me wish I had ordered it. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that my entire meal was only two entrees because it meant I had room to eat some of my sister’s barramundi. The fish was tender and the cashew crumb coating gave it a really nice texture. Topped off with the mash… mmm. Potatoes are so awesome. The fish was wrapped around a stick of asparagus and now that I’m writing about it again I think I’ll definately go back to have a whole one to myself.
Other choices:
white fish w. hand cut chips, niçoise salad & aioli
kimberley red angus sirloin, hand cut chips, wilted spinach & sauce choron
veal scaloppini, sand crab flesh, asparagus, desiree potatoes, egg chardonnay drizzle
grilled sea scallops, sweet onion tarte tatin w. meredith goats fetta, rocket
I didn’t get much detail on the results of other people’s meals, but I haven’t had anything bad there yet. The general consensus that the dishes were good.
The dishes are a little pricey. But the kitchen is open till I think 1 or 2am which was good for those, who like us went to see a movie that ended at 9pm. It’s good food in the city which can come with free parking. I would definately go again.
One parking card per table gets validated once you spend over $40 and gives you 4 hours of parking (so enough time for a spin around the gaming floor, a trip to the martini bar or at least a short walk to help your meal to digest.
