Kitchen at Treasury Casino

Wanting a simple but nice lunch in the city, somewhere indoors to escape the mixture of humidity and summer showers we've been experiencing lately and the casino came to mind. Downstairs is the aptly named Kitchen, simple and easy meals, a good variety of burgers, steak, ribs and salads. It was well after midday but I hadn't had breakfast so my lunch choice was theVegetarian Big Breakfast, the exact same thing as their regular Big Breakfast, just without the bacon. Yes, shock horror I didn't feel like bacon. But I definitely felt like coffee and their Brazilian Blend of coffee was delicious. I almost drank it in one big sip. The poach eggs were just perfect with the sourdough bread and a bit of butter. Lovely mushroom, but I found the spinach to be a little bitter on this occasion. And there was a mini stack of hash browns made from shredded potatoes and seasoned with herbs. These were so cute and tasty.

Sometimes there's nothing better than a fantastic burger and fries. Their special was the Tempura Barramundi Burger with a side of fries (presented in a steel basket, so quirky) and salad. I snuck a bite and it was interesting and delicious, definitely not a plain old fish burger. Fresh fish which you could definitely taste, not bland at all with lettuce and a kick of lemon slaw. Of course fish & coleslaw go perfectly together.

 There's a display of beautifully delicious desserts when you walk in, spoiled for choice from fruity tarts, pavlova, chocolate mousse to flourless white chocolate. But the pistachio hazelnut definitely caught my eye. Creamy pistachio on top, a layer of hazelnut cake and coconut sprinkled on the bottom, best eaten with a mouthful of all flavours. It's such a beautifully decorated restaurant with a cosy feel.

Harvey's Bar and Bistro, James Street

James St, Fortitude Valley was my destination in mind for a Sunday Lunch with mum. I was curious to try the Haloumi-crumbed chicken schnitzel but felt more like fish since it's lighter. Mum chose the beer-battered fish and chips with tartare and I picked the Salmon, corn salsa, salad and herb-yoghurt dressing. From the description it sounded great but I was pleasantly surprised to find pan-fried Polenta under my salmon. The salmon was cooked medium-rare with a crispy skin, which is just perfect as it's not too dry, the salad was fresh and a nice side compliment. The polenta was a good match for salmon  it tasted amazing and was the perfect consistency. Drizzled a bit of lime on top and it melted in my mouth with a zesty flavour. On the other hand Mum found the beer-battered fish and chips fairly average, the fish was a bit oily and the chips and salad accompanying the dish were very standard. For the price of $25 we expected something a little more exciting. Service was friendly and the atmosphere was relaxed perfect for a lunch date.

Harvey's James St, Fortitude Valley

La Linea Caffe

La Linea is the ideal lazy sunday lunch style cafe. Located on Old Cleveland Road in Coorparoo, it's definitely one of the suburbs highlights. Best of all they do an all-day breakfast. Spoilt for choice I ended up ordering the Avocado and Haloumi stack, with 2 poached eggs on top of a slice of turkish bread, with rocket and pine nuts scattered around. This was surrounded with a circle of balsamic vinegar which I took so much pleasure in dipping each bite into.

I've been to La Linea a few times and have always found it to be wonderful, such friendly and polite staff, relaxing atmosphere and the food is exceptional with delicious coffee.

Sake Restaurant

As a Birthday Celebration dinner we ventured into Sake Restaurant, somewhere that I've wanted to try for awhile. Walking in on wooden floor boards, the soft lighting and intriguing smells, I knew this was exactly what I wanted for a low-key evening. The menu sparked my curiousity of how these different flavours would mix and mesh together. Deciding the only option was to order multiple starters and dishes instead of the traditional entree, main and dessert sequence. 

First up Sashimi Tacos one tuna, one salmon sashimi filled mini taco with salsa and 2 Sake shots for a kick. Aesthetically cute and not a bad bite but essentially we chose this for the novelty. 

I have an addiction to Sashimi, so a combo of 18 pieces of fresh delicious salmon, kingfish, barramundi, cuttlefish, octopus etc etc was a must have. Amazing! 























Next up I had alternating bites of the Wagyu beef thinly sliced and Popcorn Shrimp. I didn't mind the Wagyu beef but it's not a clear favourite, just nice along the side. The popcorn shrimp was cute and delightful with a creamy sauce to compliment. Still feeling a little space leftover in our tummy's we opted for another menu browse.




Wakame Kingfish was my choice and my friend went for the Tiger Prawn Sashimi (sorry no photo). I believe it was the wakame sushi that finally filled me up. I had mixed feelings upon seeing the tiger prawn sashimi, literally raw. Complete with their severed heads as um.. decoration? garnish? it was weirdly compelling. I convinced myself to try just one, I won't lie I felt so squirmish. 










The waiter came by with the dessert menu, I was keen for anything to replace the strange feeling of raw prawn. Tonight's special was Watermelon made 5 ways, I'm certain she had a better name and description but it's floated away from my mind, from the photo and my vague memory I think it was a watermelon sorbet, watermelon-something inside the peel, marshmallow and watermelon souffle/mousse. My apologies that was terrible, but it was all delicious, delightful and so creative. Refreshing flavour to linger on our taste buds as we called it a night.

Sake Restaurant Website 

Guzman Y Gomez Carindale

After some Boxing Day Sales Shopping we started to feel peckish, looking for a light meal to tide us over and re-energise for more shopping. We decided on Guzman Y Gomez in the newer food court at Westfield Carindale. I ordered a variety of hard shell, soft shell tacos and quesadillas with chicken or beef, nothing spicy and a Corona with lime on the side. Because I believe that mexican tastes that much better with a Corona. We've both had the burritos before and although they a delicious blend of rice, meat, beans, salad and sauce and full of flavour, they would of been way too heavy. I've eaten at a few of there restaurants around Brisbane and they are consistent at every venue, friendly staff, quick service. Perfect for a relaxing meal.

Guzman Y Gomez is virtually everywhere, locations are listed on their website.

High Tea at Sofitel

Invited my Mum to join me for High Tea at the Sofitel this was my first High Tea tasting so I was excited to get dressed up and munch on tiny cute food.

I do love the decor of the Sofitel open, simple with sunlight streaming through the windows as you view the city below. Served with a glass of Champagne we waited for the 3 tiered selection of treats. I began with the scones which were average but the accompanying Cream and Honey were sweet. I skipped the jam and marmalade as I'm not really a fan. We moved onto the Ribbon Sandwiches which were a bit dry, I suppose they prepare these earlier so they are ready when guests arrive, but it stales the bread. The Moroccan Chicken and Mayonnaise was my pick of the Sandwiches. Although very cute to look at the desserts were all over the place, some were delicious and some weren't. As one of my favourite desserts I was really disappointed by the Creme Brûlée I think the cup was much too shallow to get a nice balance of the creaminess underneath and the sugary/toffee topping and all I could taste was sugar grains. The small cupcake with pink icing had some fancy extra ingredient which just made it taste odd. The layered coffee slice was quite nice, also the raspberry macaron was adorable and it tasted the way it looked, sweet. The staff were all lovely and we did have a good time, but the food quality was not quite up to the standard of the Sofitel as what we expected. It's $50 per person during the week and $60 on weekends which I felt was overpriced and unsatisfying. Especially when there were no standout items.


Sofitel Dining Website