Jimmy's on the Mall--Is it a tourist trap?

Every Brisbane local and possibly tourist is familiar with or at least 'sight familiar'--Jimmy's On the Mall. You can't miss it-- it's smack bang in the middle of Queen St Mall and since it's renovations (rumoured $5mil plus) it's turned from few outdoor chairs and tables to this behemoth of vertical gardens, marble benches, modern copper lighting and waiters in stripes.

Classy upgrade--but how's the food? Don't know about other locals but I always thought it would be a) expensive, b) poor quality and c) marketed at tourists. After wondering past daily though-- at least the tourist part seems to be false as I do see a lot of what appears to be locals having food/drinks there--ALOT--good luck getting a table on Friday night when it coincides with CBD late night shopping.

Anyhooo hubby's always wanted to go--sucker for presentation this guy and I wanted a cold beer so somewhere around the frantic hot 2 days before Christmas when we were doing some shopping we had dinner there.

Promptly seated-downstairs-quite busy and noisy-- live music upstairs but seems to be more of a drinking rather than eating scene so downstairs suited us fine. Menu is typical 'Australian'  or in otherwords--disjointed mulit-cultural mix of everything--burgers, chips, Fish and Chips, pasta and a few Asian influenced or Asian dishes--FYI the owner is Asian so that's no surprise. Waitress pushed the specials (Moreton bay bugs with noodles, rice, sweet chilli sauce) but no thanks-- screams tourist.


Settled on the Salt and Pepper calamari for entree, with chips before I ordered the spaghetti with mussels and hubby had some mexican steak dish.
When the food came out we knew for sure it definitely fulfilled criteria a) above--For what it is, it is expensive. Scanty salt and pepper on limpid , semi cold (possibly microwaved) salt and pepper calamari. Chips were ok--but it's chips you can't mess that up even with something more mayonnaise rather than 'aioli'.

Chips, salt and pepper calamari 

Seafood Angelhair pasta 

Some mussels on my angel hair spaghetti wasn't opened --feeling a bit ripped off especially since wasn't much on there in the first place. Flavour of pasta was ok, spaghetti slightly over cooked but still acceptable.

Don't bother with the steak dish--- tough as nails beef and funny sauce reminiscent of tinned mexican chilli soup and possibly frozen veg. So there we go--criteria B--poor quality food ticked.

Steak forgot what it's called don't bother 

While the food may be sub par-- there's definitely a plus to the atmosphere eating semi al fresco in the middle of the mall. Tourist trap? Maybe, for those willing to pay the price. So definitely not a place for regular eating, but if you want to sample the ambience then consider ordering maybe some of the Asian menu items (minus the salt and pepper calamari) and stick to more typical, takeaway fare e.g. fish and chips, burgers--those looked half decent as they sailed by to other tables.

Jamie's Italian Brisbane

The celebrity chef thing really works--if a celebrity chef opens a restaurant in your city--trust me you will go, no matter how much you say you won't.

Jamie's Italian has been open in the Brisbane CBD for over 1 year now, maybe it's me walking past it everyday to get Starbucks or all the initial buzz that was around it--I finally went with hubby after stubbornly saying 'NO' (due to a poor experience in Sydney)

Since it's opening theres been a lot of mixed opinions--from bland food, to cold food to long waits to bad service and again long waits to OMG awesome food. We chose a Sunday afternoon (4:30pm ish) to have an early dinner or late lunch--whatever you call it. You'd think this time would warrant expedient services but nope Jamie's Italian Brisbane's reputation for long waits is definitely well deserved.

We waited so long for our appetiser (crispy porcini arancini) that we had time to look at the decor and come up with reasons as to why the wait was so long? Could it be those ridiculous stairs the staff have to climb to get access to the kitchen? Or the floor manager who likes to be texting rather than working?

Soon we were wondering if the meats  and vegetables hanging above the bar counter were real and if we could just eat that--don't bother slicing.

For the record food above the counter is not for eating

I'll say our arachini was delicious -- anything is when you've been waiting 45minutes.

We've tried the polenta chips, squid ink pasta all at the Sydney place and was not impressed by how oily, bland and skimpy the servings were. This time we decided on some meaty goodness with bolognese pasta, prime strip loin steak bundled with chips and a salad. 

Thankfully everything was meaty enough, as you'd expect from a meat sauce and steak. Still, for a guy that says 'punches and loads of flavour' alot-- don't expect the food at this place to deliver these sort of punches--it's better than what we had in Sydney but still on the blander side. 

Portions appear decent and everything was well cooked and hot despite the long wait. So obviously food's not sitting around waiting to be served--maybe it really does take a long time to cook things properly--like 60minutes? Maybe they were making the pasta from scratch and butchering the cow from scratch. Last time I checked, pasta especially fresh, takes less than 5minutes to boil.  

You can't make friends (or customers) with salad. Especially when it arrives 3/4 into the meal and has no flavour

It's a lot harder to take a pretty photo of bolognese especially when you want to inhale it from hunger

Well cooked steak..not worth the wait 

It's easy to see why Jamie Oliver's food is popular ---but I think he should  change the menu at this establishment to one that showcases the 15minute meals. That way, you may get a chance to eat the food within 1 hour of arriving at the restaurant.  They offer free parking now when you eat there on Saturday nights--so I guess you can prepare to spend the night there.

Sin Vida

I truly thought M&A was dying with the closure of Flaming Olive and the disappearing crowds from Papa Jacks, Mighty Mighty and the almost always empty Nikuya--apparently not as this new place was game enough to open on the back of the closed down Italian restaurant.

We were on our way there to try Gorditas when the skeleton (very unanatomically correct) and gaudily dressed caught our eye, oh hard to miss the mass of graffiti-- they really are playing on the sugar skulls theme.

Don't set your hopes too high-- this place isn't Mamasita's in Melbourne nor do I think it's trying to be. This isn't fine dining by any standards--think westernised mexican food with menus full of tacos, nachos etc all the typical stuff.

We thought we'd be adventurous and go outside the usual tacos and nacho cliches. Maybe we should have stuck with those as seafood marina cooked in tomato sauce (yes thats all that Zarzuela de Mariscos is was not impressive with the tinned tomato taste and half the mussels scrawny or unopened.

Zazuela de Marscos--seafood marinara with tinned tomato

 So you can't go wrong with steak right? Only if its the chewy and full of sinew--you got no hope, even if you add a fried egg on top. What's with the halved roma tomatoes in this place? It really was just half a tomato...

Sin Vida Steao--Steak and Eggs --with Mexican mystery sauce

 To be fair the corn (even with its very messy tail) was tasty and chicken wings had enough spice. And yes definitely order the sangria to wash things down. Don't rely on the Calavera (beef bone soup) for that--- it's just concentrated beef stock.

Elote--Char grilled corn 

Chicken Wings

White Sangria

So what's the verdict for Sin Vida? I wish it well, but the food itself isn't going to help it survive. 

 

Restaurant II

So we finally made it here. Over the past 10 years Brisbane's dining scene has come a long way with increased interest and competition. Business is not as easy as it used to be with many supposed 'fine dining' institutions from years past succumbing to increased competition, a more discerning market, economic pressure and bowing eventually out of the dining scene altogether. Some, suffer a lot worse being relegated to the ranks of 'it used to be good'.

Yet--for those who've stayed, it may well just prove that they deserve to be there--Darwinian evolution of the restaurant scene I suppose. So where does Restaurant II fit?

Menu changing seasonally is a good start. Contemporary, elegant decoration --tick. Service? Well I guess the waitstaff do have lives outside of the restaurant --they're not all sommeliers and don't rely on the wine advice--or lack there of.

Between us hubby and I could sample most of the dishes so we decided to give the degustation a miss. The combination of the dishes on the degustation menu were not dishes that we would order off the a-la carte. And personal peeve of hubby's is when the degustation menu is just all the a-lacarte combined--what's the point? the man asks.

Presentation is tight with all the dishes from the complementary canape (forgot what it was) down to the dessert. Timeliness was not a strong point with many tables (especially those eating degust) waiting well past 30minutes between some courses.

My entree of the Mooloolaba tuna showcased the beauty of all the ingredients in harmony but unfortunately the sinew in the tuna was just difficult to saw through.

Mooloolaba tuna with watermelon

Hubby's pork belly with the layers visible looked enticing and lived up to the presentation in taste--exactly what you'd expect--porky poorness.

Pork Belly entree 

The mains showed generous portions and a 'it is what it is' approach. When my lobster arrived there was a collective 'wow' and delight that yes it is genuinely, no messing about, undisguised lobster. Texture of the flesh was not what I expected-- seemed to be a lot more 'frayed? with a processed food texture' rather than firm and sweet meat expected. In a nutshell--croquets are croquets -- not a fan and should be reserved for a food court. Hubby's duck was cooked wonderfully but in the end he commented 'this is just duck with orange'--yes dear it is, but the meat was cooked nicely.

Duck 

Lobster with Jamon croquettes 

Dessert menu had a few proven crowd pleasers-- fondant, creme brûlée..Meal ended on a high with familiar desserts executed perfectly. Oozy chocolate fondant anyone? Banana had a rich dark caramelised top. Bacon ice cream with creme brûlée?sure , especially when accompanied with a piece of salty crispy bacon. 

Proof in the pudding--oozing chocolate fondant

Free standing creme brulee with bacon ice cream

It's not surprising Restaurant II has managed to stay in the business through the years. Ingredients, reputation, past achievement all helps but the key ingredient to success remains to continuously improve and refine--I for one, hope Restaurant II continues to do that (especially more of the refine).

Pablo

It's hard to be a cafe in New Farm. You have to be:  hip enough to attract the weekend brunch crowd , fit in with the latest food trends (clean eating, paleo, sugar free, dairy free, gluten free), innovative enough to keep the short attention span of a discerning crowd yet offer something traditional and familiar enough for the hip but not so adventurous (in other words traditional food but with trendy ingredients). 

Pablo does most of the above--I say most because I'm not familiar with what the latest food trend is--all I care is if it tastes good, not if it's in fashion. We've been to Pablo before (like most of Brisbane), dropped off our radar for awhile mainly because there were always long queues and the interior can be a bit noisy on a Sunday morning. 

Menu is clever--familiar brunch staples like salads, hotcakes, muesli etc yet a little bit different e.g. gin cured sea trout. I was a bit disappointed when the trout arrived--somehow i expected more fish and where is the avocado? As you eat through the plate, there's more trout than you think and avocado is at the bottom--crises averted. Hubby's staple of smashed avocado has a nice bit of summer feeling injected with the mango salsa and bit different with haloumi rather than feta. 

While the menu is appealing, the specials board probably did too good a job as the dishes on it sounded more hearty and appealing than the fixed menu--maybe thats why everything was sold out. Hint: get there early (ier) to try the specials. 

Hopefully Pablo can continue to come up with specials to spruce up the main menu and keep things interesting, else, as it juggles the many plates and requirements of a competitive environment it risks losing its point of difference and fading into the background of so many other New Farm cafes. 

House gin cured Sea Trout 

Crushed Avocado on Sourdough

Sushi Edo--the next Sushi Train

There can't be anyone who hasn't heard of or tried or seen Sushi Train. One could believe they're indomitable but Sushi Edo is here to take on the task and may just well succeed. 

For those who've been to Sushi Train you'd know of the abundance of mayonnaise and the never ending combination of mayonnaise with everything from fried chicken to avocado to salmon. Menu hasn't changed for a long time and why would there be a need? There was scarcely competition. 

Stumbled upon Sushi Edo in the CBD while going to a Korean place and the fitout with the $3.50 all plates sign pulled us in. We thought we would be in for crappy, chinese imitating japanese style stuff but instead we got Sushi Train style but with more menu items, easier service with the order pad at the table, better prices--and have I mentioned better variety? 

Not that I think Sushi Train is a dying or bad franchise but Sushi Edo really puts up some serious competition offering unique plates such as Uni (sea urchin) and scampi, lotus root chips, octopus salad in addition to your usual train offerings. And there is mayo but just not on everything. Did I mention the $3.50 all plates? 

One of the unique offerings--Uni(sea urchin nigiri)

Scampi Nigir

Aburi Hotate (Grilled scallops) 

Given all the above no wonder they were busy. We also tried the Nundah store the next day (they have a few stores, CBD, Nundah, Sunnybank Plaza) --pretty much the same quality. I don't want to see the demise of Sushi Train but I certainly want to see Sushi Edo stay around. 

P.S they serve alcohol too 

 

Southside Bistro

I honestly wanted to like this place, for one Sunnybank area really lacks bistro/cafe style food and the decor and whole presentation--shopfront and website- was just so like-able and different from everything else in the area. 

For once I thought there's a place that has the whole menu design, online presence and physical presentation sorted--no poorly presented menus, lack of website, bad spelling or grammar etc etc. 

I really wanted to like this place, but there's nothing to like beyond the packaging.  

We tried this on 2 occasions-- once just for dessert and drinks and the 2nd with 2 of our friends for a proper meal. That's how much I wanted to like this place--after a disappointment with the first round, I still comeback. 

The first time hubby and I just ordered the sizzling chocoate brownie for 2--- there's a reason why brownie's aren't really meant to sizzle-- you end up with gluey burnt chocolate sauce which you don't really miss or need on the plate as well as a burnt brownie. For $15--I'm not sure if this is really a dessert for 2. 

sizzling chocolate brownie 

Dinner with our friends was a huge let down--and they aren't picky people. Most delicious thing was the buns from the Mantou bao. So, here's the rest of it:  

• The meat in our friend's Bao came out cold and had to be reheated
• Kim chi  that featured in our friend's main and in my burger was ridiculously sour 
• Char grilled potato was bland and resembled more of boiled potato accidentally burnt in a few areas and I'm not sure what that black stuff is .

  

  Chargrilled (boiled) potato with mystery chutney

  
  
• Escargot dish was a minefield of chunks of raw garlic 

                                               

Escargot

• Char-grilled banana dessert was once again just split banana selectively burned, with streets/home brand ice cream                                         
• Strange batter covering sweet potato fries which as raw and not crispy and the potato inside was still crunchy and borderline raw. 

  

  Wagyu Mantou Bao with sweet potato in mystery batter
  

• French toast --not sure what happened to the nutella--was it diluted? the sauce was not nutella but resembled melted diluted chocolate ice cream  

                                    

Nutella french toast-- Extra filters to make the sauce look half like nutella

And now I'm feeling like I've killed Bambi. On the plus side, the drinks were delicious--highly recommend giving those a try. 

All the ideas are there for the food at Southside Bistro but something went wrong in the execution-- the overall feeling is like someone decided to make a particularly dish and decided to wing it relying purely on tidbits of knowledge. It all seems very amateur and could be forgiven if it was--but a bit of googling will let you know that this is not a first venture into this industry for the owners--which only adds to the disappointment.