Q1

Location: Q1 Resort & Spa, 9 Hamilton Street, Surfers Paradise QLD 4213
Link: http://www.bestrestaurants.com.au/restaurants/updateStats.aspx?restaurantId=3464&websiteUrl=http://www.Q1.com.au
Cuisine: Modern Australian

Smoked breast of chicken garnished with witlof salad and tossed with julienne of apple, snow peas and aged balsamic


This was quite average. Really just tasted somewhat like a grocery store bought caesar salad. The dressing was extremely thick and creamy. Which was nice, but had too much salt, in my opinion. The saltiness was unnecessary, given it was tossed with smoked chicken breast, that would have added ample saltiness to the mixture. I found the dressing very overpowering and could taste not much else. If this wasn't the case, the aged balsamic would have otherwise provided a good balance that would have cut through the creamyness of the dish.

Thinly sliced beef tenderloin served on a bed of rocket leaves tossed with extra virgin olive oil, shaved parmesan and cracked pepper

Grilled Atlantic Salmon marinated with tarragon served with braised fennel on crushed new and sweet potatoes complimented by an orange sauce

Roasted lamb loin marinated with rosemary and chilli pesto complimented by Roma tomatoes salsa and basil jus and roasted pototoes

This was beautiful. Cooked to perfection. Ample seasoning, flavours sealed. Pink in the middle. Very hearty with beautiful flavours.

Orange and Grand Marnier marshmallows and fresh strawberries served with hazelnut and white chocolate mousse in mini chocolate cups

Japonaise- layers of crisp hazelnut meringue flakes with chocolate ganache, hazelnut sauce and a dollop of whipped cream sprinkled with roasted almond flakes

What an amazing dessert. Perfectly balanced on the palate. The meringue layers just melted in my mouth. A great finish to a good meal.

Overall Impression: 6/10

Very nice ambience, good food.

North East China Family

Location: 302 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Cuisine: Chinese

I've had dumplings here before and thought they were quite good. So, when Charlotte found time out of her busy corporate lawyer schedule, we decided to have lunch here.
The place was in a bit of a mess, to be perfectly honest. The wait staff appeared absolutely clueless. We had to ask for our tables to be cleaned and for a new set of cutlery.

We ordered Wonton dumplings and noodles. While they tasted alright, it had taken them quite a while to serve us.

We also ordered pancakes. These were suppose to be for entree. Unfortunately, they came after the noodles... which we found quite strange.

The pancakes were good though. Beautifully crisp on the outside. Incredibly moist, perfectly seasoned pork on the inside.

Overall Impression: 5/10

Service was dissapointing. Time was the main factor. As it was a week/working day, both of us only had an hour to spare and dining there took up almost all of that time. Food was not bad.

Be-Hive Cafe bar

Location: 459 Collins St, Melbourne
Cuisine: Cafe style food
This picture really doesn't do the place justice but they serve a really good selection of salads. From Curry Ravioli to Thai Beef Salads.

Overall Impression: 7/10
Nice, casual eatery, friendly staff and prompt service. Great for a quick bite!

Asian Noodle House

Location: 34 Northbourne Avenue, Canberra City [in the Sydney Building]

Link: www.noodlehouse.net.au

Cuisine: Chinese, Thai, Malaysian, Vietnamese

Another one of those highly acclaimed by locals and online as a place for a (relatively) cheap feed in Canberra is the Asian Noodle House.

There's a blackboard A-frame outside boasting that they have the "#1" laksa. So we just had to give it a shot.

Combination laksa

Undoubtedly one of the best laksas I have before, which is saying a lot since I have yet to truly experience really good food in Canberra. The soup was flavoursome but not too strong or too salty. There was a perfect hint of spiciness (and I'm sure you can ask them to up the spiciness for you if you wanted) and plenty of meat and vegies. The fried bean curd was soft and pretty much my favourite part of the dish because it had soaked up so much of the soup.

Pho tai

A nice attempt at making pho, but alas nothing like true authentic traditional pho from suburbs such as Springvale or Footscray. The flavours were almost right in the soup, and the rice noodles were pretty well cooked too. If they hadn't tried to pass it off as pho, it probably would have rated higher in my opinion.

Overall Impression: 7.5/10

Northbar

Location: 46 Northbourne Avenue, Canberra City

Link: www.northbar.com.au

Because Canberra seems to have more cheap alcohol than food, I'm going to start integrating more bars into Gluttony Gluttony.

Northbar is one of the classier bars in Canberra. Another being Knightsbridge, which I have yet to suss out.

They specialise in vodka infusions, which come in a variety of flavours...

...and they're $3 each.

Hotel Realm

Location: 18 National Circuit, Barton, ACT
Link: www.hotelrealm.com.au

This cost $4. And for house champagne, it was pretty good too - very much like moscato =D

Bluestone Restaurant and Bar

Location: 349 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Link: www.bluestonerestaurantbar.com.au
Cuisine: Modern Australian/Pub

Was fortunate enough to dine at the Bluestone Lounge Bar.

Stylish but kept simple, New York-style basement fit:

We had lovely wood-fired pizzas...

My favourite was this smoked salmon, tiny capers, goats cheese and fresh dill pizza!

Overall Impression: 5.5/10

Casual and lovely ambience. The wood-fired pizzas were great. Beautiful thin crusts... Mmmm =)

Mountain Goat Brewery

Location: Corner North St & Clarke St Richmond
Link: www.goatbeer.com.au
Cuisine: Beer, pizzas, beer and more beer

Ever wondered how beer is made? On top of serving great beer and delicious pizzas, Mountain Goat Brewery runs free tours!

The bar:

The pizzas were delectable! Thin and crispy crusted and simply delicious! Overall Impression: 7/10

Delicious beer, great pizzas! The tour of the factory was really cool too. =) Great atmosphere.

Teppansan

Location: 179 Russell St, Melbourne
Cuisine: Japanese

Entree: Miso Soup

Main: Zaru Soba

A cold noodle dish served with sauce and thinly sliced cooked beef

This dish was served with soba tsuyu, which is a dipping sauce. The tsuyu had very strong kaeshi flavours (a sweeter version of the chinese soy sauce) and a hint of mirin. The way to eat this dish is to take some of the soba using chopsticks and dip it in tsuyu before eating it. It is also a good idea to mix wasabi into the sauce for added spice! I love cold soba on a hot day. Its incredibly refreshing and you can really taste the texture of the soba when it is chilled (the texture is quite different when you cook soba in soup because the noodle absorbs the soup). Teppansan does this dish quite well.

Main: Beef in Wafu sauce served with rice and vegetables

Overall Impression: 5.5/10
Casual dining. Friendly and quick service, very good value. Oh, and they make a delicious Okonomiyaki!

"The prices here make you think the restaurant has made a bill error in your favour."- Matt Preston, 5 February 2007

Yarra Valley Country Club

Location: 9-15 Templestowe Road, Bulleen
Link: http://www.yarravalley.net.au/dining.html
Cuisine: Australian pub

From the 'Specials' board: Grilled fish fillet served with crispy golden chips and salad

Simple dish.

From the main menu: Char-grilled Porterhouse with Mushroom Sauce served with crispy golden chips and salad

Cooked to our liking.

Overall Impression: 4/10
The staff were extremely friendly and the service was prompt. The food was not bad.

European Bier Cafe

Location: 120 Exhibition St, Melbourne
Link: http://www.europeanbiercafe.com.au/
Cuisine: Australian pub fare [traditional favourites] and many dishes with a strong European twist.


Char-grilled Kangaroo Loin Fillet cooked medium rare with honey roasted sweet potato, Spanish onion and capsicum coulis
The kangaroo was cooked to perfection. Beautifully tender. I was afraid there may be too much of a strong gamey taste but it didn't. I'm assuming the meat must have been extremely fresh to have avoided the haut goût taste. I personally, really liked the way it had been cooked. Unfortunately, the kangaroo lacked in flavour. They were too easy on the seasoning. Overall, still a pleasant dish that I would not mind ordering again.

Spanish Pub Paella, saffron and paprika infused rice with chorizo roast chicken, capsicums and prawns baked then served

Great flavours but I was disappointed. I had expected the dish to be served in a paellera (paella pan). And as it was served on a plate, it didn't have the beautifully crusty/slightly burnt bottom and it didn't have the infused aromas of being cooked over an open fire. It tasted like a nice risotto. Pleasant but still disappointing. In hindside, I should have read the descriptions on the menu properly because the chef really did deliver what he/she had promised =)

Overall Impression: 5.5/10

Nice, relaxed ambience, good food.