Korean Charcoal BBQ Restaurant, Mermaid Beach

I've always loved Korean food.  Mr Epi and I used to go for regular dinner dates to a little place in Surfers that did great bulgogi and spicy pork.  We'd often look over at the other tables BBQing up a storm on their hotplates and agree that we had to try the BBQ one day. 
Well we tried BBQ about a year ago and it is now one of our favourite meals to have out.
A Korean work friend of mine recently organised a lunch at Korean Charcoal BBQ Restaurant in Mermaid Beach.  It was good to go with someone who knew what they were doing! Mr Epi and I have received a few laughs in our cooking attempts with hotpot and BBQ. The best was when we were having hotpot.  The hotpot comes with two whole raw eggs that are intended to dip the hotpot meat in before eating. We were oblivious to the intended purpose for the eggs and got a little creative. We decided to crack the eggs into the hotpot and have hotpot poached eggs.  The waitresses were in stitches.
I liked Korean Charcoal BBQ Restaurant so much that I decided to take Mr Epi and Mama Epi. It is located next to Lone Star at Pacific Square along the highway and is easy to find. It doesn't look much from the outside but the interior is warm and very comfortable.  The smell of the place is fantastic and despite not feeling too hungry on arrival, it didn't take long for the aroma to get my appetite going.


We started with a serve of the mandu ($10). 

These delicious pork and vegetable dumplings were lightly panfried and served with a chilli, garlic, vinegar and soy dipping sauce.   

Starter salad and dipping sauces. Left to right: spicy fermented soy bean paste, sesame oil with pepper and a light vinegar.

For our main we chose the Armso-set of BBQ meats.  It was $62 and worth every cent. It is intended to share between three people but could easily cater to four.  It comes with three dipping sauces, starter salad, lettuce leaves to wrap some of the meat in and a small plate of fruit at the end of the meal.  We ordered two rice to share between the three of us.

Starting from the giant pile of cabbage - clockwise: marinated beef, short beef ribs, scotch fillet, ox tongue and brisket in the centre.

I love the side dishes (think they are called banchu) that come with the BBQ.  We had traditional kimchi, white kimchi (both pictured), light pasta salad and a seaweed and white onion salad.  All four were delicious but my pick is always the traditional and white kimchi.  I love that spicy kick!

The ox tongue sizzling away 

The tongue was sliced in thin bite-size pieces that were delicious with the soy bean paste.  I remember being repulsed by tongue as a little girl.  Dad would buy a tongue and my sister and I would poke at the taste buds and declare that we wouldn't eat it if he tried to serve it to us.  I have a feeling he disguised it and served it up to his unsuspecting daughters despite the protests. I've now relaxed a little bit about offal and will eat tongue if I can't see the taste buds!

The service here is very good and there is always someone waiting at the periphery of the restaurant, ready to swoop in if they see you looking a bit perplexed about how to tackle the BBQ.  

T) 5572 5733

Shop 4/2532 Gold Coast Highway
Mermaid Beach, QLD

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Kibi, Shibuya - Tokyo

I could honestly eat Japanese food day in, day out, no complaints.  The general simplicity of ingredients and clean flavours make it one of my favourite cuisines .  I was in foodie heaven on my trip to Tokyo.  Between the cheap ramen stalls, department store foodcourts, top quality convenience store snacks and ma'n'pa eateries, I was never lost for somewhere to eat.
The one meal which will forever remain etched in my memory as a top dining experience was at Kibi, in Shibuya.  This little eatery was tucked down an alleyway opposite Hachiko exit of Shibuya station.  If it hadn't been for our friend who lives locally we would never have found this haven of eating treasures.  The tiny little cobbled  alleyway spans about fifty metres and is home to several Japanese bar/casual restaurants. When I had previously thought of traditional Japanese dining, this setting was very close to what I had imagined. 

The cook at Kibi is a young Japanese woman who I've been told has spent much of her youth traveling around Japan, perfecting her cooking and collecting recipes and techniques on the way.  Our friend described her style of cooking as 'homestyle' Japanese.  The intimacy of this little restaurant meant that we were able to sit right up close to the action, and watch her wield her magic. Kibi is about 2m x 1.5m in space and you sit along a bar which runs along the length of the cooking space.  It seats four people comfortably and a further two to three people can be squeezed in if they stand.  There is further dining space upstairs which I have been told seats about five.

Anyway, enough about the nitty-gritty of the place. Let's get onto the fun stuff: the FOOD!
Several small courses were served.  They increased in size and heft as the meal progressed.

Japanese pepper with sesame.

Preparing Japanese style potato salad.

The finished product.  The salad on the right is the traditional style of Japanese potato salad.  Its flavour is much creamier and less acidic than its European counterpart.  The salad on the left was made with par-boiled potato and pepper, if my memory serves me right.  Both were delicious.

Next up was a marinated Japanese eggplant.  I'm going to hazard a guess and say that the marinade was a mixture of mirin, sesame and miso.  The flavours and textures in this were so delicate and moreish.  I would have loved to learn how to replicate this dish.

Sadly I didn't get a good picture of this dish. It was the winner of the night. 'Scuse the Marlboro's in the background.  The one annoying thing about eating in Japan was the smoking in restaurants! Anywho, this dish was seared bonito on a bed of myoga sprinkled with sesame, mirin (I think?!) and flash fried garlic chips.  Bonito is a Pacific fish that belongs to the mackerel family.  The flesh is dark, tender and deliciously fatty.  It smelt quite pungent when it was being cooked, but it's flavour was much more delicate than it's smell let on.  Myoga is a type of Japanese ginger.  The clean, crisp tang of the myoga was beautiful with the fatty fish.

 The next dish up was the karaage, a Japanese classic that was keenly anticipated by all of us.  The chicken was served on a bed of a crisp and peppery lettuce, which was a nice fresh addition the fried chicken.  Mr Epi was on a karaage comparative tour for our trip, and this one was the winner!

The final treat was a bowl of cold soba.  The soba was in a very bland sauce which had the consistency of egg white.  For all I know, it could have been egg white.  The blandness of this sauce was livened by the addition of spring onion, cherry tomatoes and black sesame seeds.  This dish was quite a challenge to eat.  The slippery coating of the sauce on the already slippery soba meant that you had  to slurp the noodles straight from the bowls.  The chopsticks didn't prove to helpful with this dish!  Mr Epi really struggled with the texture of this dish, but I loved it. 

We dined at Kibi twice during our stay in Tokyo, and would have happily eaten there every other night if it's occupancy had allowed.  Our meal generally cost around 9,000 yen, including a couple of beers each.  It is hard for me to give a street address as the card I got for Kibi didn't feature one, just a little ambiguous map on the back of the card. 

Ichiban Boshi, Southport

The countdown is on.  Ten days until BF and I depart for Japan.  I don't think I have ever been as excited about a holiday as I am about this one.  I have been wanting to travel to Japan since I discovered Hello Kitty at the age of fifteen.  Anyone who knows me knows that my obsession with Hello Kitty was a long and intense one.  There wasn't a Hello Kitty product that I didn't own.  I nearly went as far as getting Kitty's cute little face inked onto my body... I'd like to thank my best-friend for talking me out of that. Thanks Ashlea.

Japanese cuisine has surged in popularity in the last decade. The generally health-conscious society that we now live in seems to have embraced the healthy foods that Japanese cuisine has to offer.  I remember being introduced to sushi as a teen, when it wasn't widely available and I wondered if it was going to be a fad food. It's now so common that it's available at the hospital canteen where I work.
The huge number of Japanese tourists visiting the Gold Coast over the years has meant that we have ended up with some great quality Japanese food outlets. One of those is Ichiban Boshi, a Southport  Japanese cafe specialising in ramen.
I dined there with a couple of girlfriends last week, and was very happy with my meal.
Having dined there before, I wanted to challenge myself by ordering something different. As I've mentioned previously, once I am onto a good dish, I find it very hard to deviate from it.

To start with I insisted that we get a bowl of Edamame ($3.80).

These salted steamed green pods of baby soy beans are so moreish.  The first time I tried them I took a bite and wondered what all the fuss was about.  At first taste they seemed quite bland and unremarkable, but after a couple of pods I found myself wanting more!  I've heard that these are quite often served along with beer in Japanese bars, and that it is thought that eating them prevents fat absorption. 
Ishiban Boshi's pictorial menu is posted on their wall alongside the register.  Having the pictures certainly helped me decide what I wanted.  I ended up ordering the Tantanmen ramen ($12.00)

Tantamen is actually a Chinese noodle dish that the Japanese have adopted.  It is a thick spicy chicken broth with ramen noodles, grilled beef or pork mince, a generous sprinkling of sesame seeds and a slice of egg. I'm a sucker for anything with sesame seeds so was drawn to this as soon as I saw it on the menu. It was so deliciously warming and really suited the winter weather well.  The bowls at Ichiban Boshi seem bottomless.  and despite the delicious flavours, I can never manage to finish my meal.  
My friends ordered the Vegetable ramen and Curry ramen (both $10.90).

Both friends were very happy with their meals and there was a lull in conversation as we happily slurped away at our noodles.  I think we had all been splattered by each other by the end of our meal.

Ichiban Boshi
Shop 1
Cecil Hotel Complex
Scarborough street
Southport
http://www.ichibanboshi.com.au

East, Broadbeach

Thursday night is Ladies night at East Restaurant & Lounge Bar. It also happens to be half-price meals and drinks at their restaurant.  Perfect excuse to rustle up a gaggle of girlfriends for cheap eats and drinks!
I hadn't ventured into East since it changed over from Quest nightclub a couple of years ago, which is probably why I mistakenly took the back alleyway entrance when arriving.  There is now a bar attached to the club with street frontage on Surf Parade, called Chairman Mao. I had arrived earlier than my group of girlfriends so was lead back downstairs, to wait at the bar.  It had a nice warm feel and had a couple of comfortable lounges and a row of bar seating.
On the arrival of my friends, we were lead back upstairs to the club/dining area. Reorienting myself to what was once Quest nightclub, I realised we were seated smack bang in the middle of the dance floor.  If you hadn't been to the venue before, it probably wouldn't be obvious that you were in the middle of a nightclub.  They do a good job of disguising what the venue transforms into later in the evening. 
My girlfriends and I loved the decor. It was a melange of  South-East Asian cultural icons.  Red was the dominant colour.  The lighting was very moody and cast red and purple hues across the restaurant.  Above the main bar was a beautifully cheeky portrait of a Geisha.  The ceiling was adorned with delicate red lanterns and ornate chandeliers. 
Being the food  cyber stalker that I am, I had already chosen what I wanted to order when we made the decision to dine here.  The menu is on the website (bonus!) and certainly does well in whetting the appetite. The menu is a fusion of typical Western fare, Mediterranean and East Asian/South-East Asian.  The menu is half-price on Thursday nights, and drinks $42 and under are also half-price. This made for a very affordable night out.
We decided on the Tomato and Olive Bruschetta ($4.45) to start with.

We were told that the serve was six pieces, but it actually came as five. No biggie.  The crunchy crostini  was covered with a salsa of  Roma tomatoes, Kalamata olives, grilled mushrooms, Spanish onion and a drizzle of an aged balsamic reduction.  It was delicious and light enough to start the meal without filling us up.


For main I decided on the Crab Lasagna ($12.45).  It was a mix of prawn and crab (some might like to call it crawn) layered between perfectly cooked pasta sheets, covered with an abalone spiked "laksa carbonara" sauce sprinkled with coriander and a florette of basil. I have a thing for crab lasagna, and ordering this was risky as I have had two of the best crab lasagnas in Queensland (Shuck and Il Centro) to compare this to.

Well let me assure you, this dish did not disappoint (despite my shoddy photography).  I was in heaven!  Every mouthful was delicious and the layers of crab and prawn were generous. The laksa spice addition to the bechamel made for the perfect combination.  The only thing that would have made this better was if I had ordered some greens to compliment the creaminess of the dish. I enjoyed this so much that I may have trouble ordering anything else if I dine here again.  I always trap myself with one favourite dish at a restaurant.


Two of my friends opted for steak dishes, one getting the Surf'n'Turf, and the other getting what I think was the Tenderloin in Red Wine Jus. Whilst I didn't sneak a taste of either, satisfied groans were coming from across the table, signalling that my friends were happy with their choice.

 

I managed to steal a taste of one of my friends' main. She had the Chicken Surf'N'Turf ($13.95), which was a honey-soy marinated chicken breast served with garlic prawns with  mash and grilled vegies.  I always steer clear of chicken breast when I dine out.  I usually find it is overcooked and too dry.  This however, was cooked perfectly and I had a little bit of food envy.

We all decided to indulge in the desserts. The dessert list wasn't huge, but had a couple of interesting dishes. We were all intrigued by the Dessert Sushi on offer. None of us tried it, but it sounds as though it might be worth trying on our next visit.   I had the Coconut Creme Brulee ($5.45), and it was delicious.  The toffee on the top passed the Amelie test, and cracked beautifully when I tapped it with with my spoon.  The coconut creme was subtly flavoured and very moreish.  The creme hadn't set as well as a typical brulee, but it didn't make it any less enjoyable.  'Scuse the bad photo. 

At about 10pm we were advised that the dining tables were set to be packed up and that Ladies Night was due to start. We were ushered over to a very comfy booth, positioned next to the tropical fish tank. We settled down with some drinks and the DJ started with the lady pleasing tunes (RiRi!).  The obligatory ladies night topless waiters started their shift, and were great for comedic value, if nothing else. We ended up staying until about 2am, spurred on by the generous complimentary champagne.  A bottle turned up on our table in a Veuve Clicquot cooler, and we all looked accusingly at each other wondering who had had been a naughty yet generous woman.  Turns out it was complimentary and not a bottle of Veuve . Wishful thinking! It was still champagne AND it was free.  Happy!

I envisage more Thursday nights with my girlfriends at East.  The food was so well priced for the quality we were served. I'll definitely be heading back to East again.  

East Restaurant & Lounge Bar - Broadbeach 
Level 1 / 88 Surf Parade
Broadbeach
QLD 4218
Australia
P)07 5538 8868

GoMA and Paniyiri!

Yesterday was a beautiful day in sunny South-East Queensland.  We set out early in the morning from the Gold Coast to trek up the M1 to do brekkie with my family.  We were celebrating my grandfather's 85th birthday.  We dined at Watt at New Farm Park.  The coffee was fantastic.

My little sister bought these beautiful birthday treats for Pop, from the Powerhouse Farmer's Markets.

 

I'm yet to hear how they were, but they looked delicious.  I'll have to call the G-pares for an update.

We wandered through the markets after breakfast.  My sister  purchased  a punnet of fresh raspberries and six fresh figs. I could live on these two fruits.  I love the colour of fig flesh, and the burst of the seeds as you bite into them.  The raspberries were so plump and juicy. Walking through the market, and being close to the Brisbane River made me miss living in Brisbane!

After breakfast we headed over to GoMA to see the Ron Mueck hyperrealism sculpture exhibition.  I highly recommend it.  BF and I will return to see it again.  We both felt as though we wanted to reach out and touch the sculptures.  The detail in Mueck's work is so precise.  From the little creases in the crook of a knee, to the shimmer of sunscreen on the skin of  man reclining on a lilo.  It is hard to say which of the sculptures I liked the most, but the one that creeped me out the most (due to it's freakish realism) was Wild Man.  I loved the detail in this. The perfect distribution of fine good bumps on his flank gave me goosebumps . You could see the whites in his metatarsals from pressing his feet to the ground.  Everything about this was so perfectly imperfect and so human.  Mueck is an artistic genius.

I could have spent the rest of the day at GoMA, if it hadn't been for the scent of halloumi and souvlaki wafting over from Paniyiri at Musgrave Park.  Paniyri is one of my favourite food festivals.  It always has a fantastic vibe, and the food is great.  Luckily we were in a big group, so getting to taste as much as possible wasn't a problem.  To start with we bought a serve of moussaka, a lamb souvlaki in pita, a cabbage roll and a serve of halloumi.  The cabbage roll was tasty.  I grew up in Darwin (multicultural melting pot = foodie heaven) and remember one of the Greek girls bringing these in on "round the World" day.  The rice was a little dry but the flavour was still good.  I'm going to try making these at home. The moussaka was delicious but I find it hard to rate any moussaka over my own recipe.  The layer of white sauce over the top of this dish was lovely and thick.  I liked the inclusion of zucchini and potato.  I've only ever used eggplant to layer.

The halloumi was as expected, AMAZING!  I don't think I have ever had bad halloumi. We don't usually have lemon with it at home, and it was a good accompaniment. I was very selfless and let BF have the third and last piece of halloumi.  I think we got three pieces of halloumi for $3.  I won't include a photo of the cheese, because it was massacred before I managed to get a decent shot.  The snap I got of the cheese has imprint of BFs chompers on it. 

We next ventured over to the Southern end of the stalls, and got some baby octopus and quail.  Octopus is a Greek favourite for me.  This octopus was tasty, but not the best that I have had.  I think I got a small plastic tub for about $8. It can't have been too bad, because it didn't last long enough between the group for a photo to be taken.  The tub was filled to the brim with octopus and sprinkled with chopped parsley and  served with a wedge of lemon.    The seasoning was delicious, but the octopus didn't seem to have been BBQ'd. 

The quail was the winner of the day.  I've never really liked quail, but I'm a convert.  The quail was perfectly BBQ'd.  The skin was very crispy whilst the meat was very tender and moist.  The seasoning was perfect -   a very good mix of salt and pepper.  It is amazing what two simple ingredients and cooking method can mean for flavour. BF made two trips back to his chosen quail store and we all spent a good deal of time nibbling away on the little morsels. 

BF with two of his favourite things - beer and quail.

Next was dessert.  I had been hankering for galaktoboureko since we'd decided to go to Panyiri a month earlier.  This delicious honey drenched custard filo slice is another favourite from my childhood. Dad used to treat Mum to much deserved sleep-ins of a Saturday morning when my sister and I were little.  He'd take us to Casuarina Shopping Square and treat us to galaktoboureko or a doughnut man whilst he read the paper and drank a cappuccino (which we'd always scrape the chocoloate off!).  I've grown out of doughnut men as I've grown up, but galaktaboureko has always remained a favourite.  I bough a slice of galaktoboureko and baklava from the only dessert designated sweets cafe in the food area.  The slices on offer at this stall were some of the smaller servings I'd seen whilst wandering around, but let's be honest - after the  indulgences of the day, small was a good thing.   The galaktoboureko looks a little insipid in the photo below. Don't be fooled! It was amazing!

 

A trip to Paniyiri wouldn't be complete without a generous plate of honey puffs.  We all got sucked in by a banner promising, "Best Honey Puffs in Brisbane".  We shouldn't have been such gullible and easy targets for blatant advertising.  The puffs were quite soggy and didn't have much of the usual icing sugar dusted over the top. Amongst the soggies, there was the occasional crunchy puff but overall, the weren't very good. 

It was a fantastic day, and we will definitely be heading to Paniyiri again next year.  I haven't seen any advertising for the Gold Coast Greek Festival yet and have heard a whisper that it is only to be held second yearly from now on.  I hope this isn't true! I need more than one fix of galaktoboureko a year.

In an attempt to ease the strain on my boyfriend, I have started this blog. Poor BF is the victim of my food obsession.  He often sits at the table befuddled, as I discuss what to have for breakfast just after finishing a hearty dinner.   A bite cannot pass his lips without a post-prandial deconstruction - was it too salty?  Flavourless? Should I have used cherry over grape tomatoes? Too little foies gras?  Does homebrand spam taste any different to the original?

Another motivation for starting this blog was the lack of Gold Coast dining reviews.  Whenever I plan on dining at a new venue I will cyber stalk it.  I go in search of reviews to confirm if my choice of restaurant is a good one.  Most of the reviews available on GC restaurants tend to be on forum-like sites.  Whilst I have often dined out on the suggestion of such sites, some of the reviews reek of bias.  I love the inclusion of photos in reviews, so armed with my BlackBerry, I will endeavour to add as many poorly pixelated photos as possible. 

I've visited a couple of restaurants since the inception of this blog, and unfortunately they weren't fantastic.  I'd rather not start this off with gripes, so I'm saving my first food related post for an enjoyable one.

I'm off for brekfast at Watt in New Farm tomorrow, followed by lunch at Panyiri.  I'm sure both of these will  be inspiring.  I heard a whisper that 300kg of halloumi (squeek!) has been stockpiled for the Greek festival... perfect! I can't wait to indulge in some grilled baby octopus, souvlaki, taramasalata with pita finished off with a generous serve of galaktoboureko.

Yassou!