Little Hong Kong

It has been a while since we last visited Little Hong Kong and the reason being, we weren't fans of their roast meats as they were too salty. We see a revival in their menu, introducing even more options of rice and stir-fried noodle dishes and we quickly settled for our orders of a Stewed ginger Duck with E-fu noodles and a Preserved vege & Fish fillet vermicelli soup, except that the vermicelli was swopped for thin egg noodles.

Stir-fried duck noodle is not something we normally like to order because you can lose the flavour of the duck when you stir fry with all the addtional sauces. Thankfully this man size portion manages to keep the sweetness and fragrance of the duck.  The E-fu noodles were quite thick and soft, perfect for the sauce to cling onto as you lift them to your mouth.  We would think a couple more vegetables would help balance the flavours of an otherwise perfect dish.

The preserved mustard vegetables were aplenty in the fish noodle soup which supplied a good pickled flavour in the milky broth. In Singapore, a milky like fish broth is achieved by boiling fish bones for long hours, similar to that of the creamy pork bone soup of a tonkotsu ramen, but short-cuts like using evaporated milk are also used and this is likely the case here. There were numerous chunks of fish fillets, a couple of them were suspiciously fishy in taste though. The egg noodle which is also an important component in Hong Kong BBQ houses, had good elasticity and bite. Overall, it satisfied but won't be returning anytime soon for it.

Little Hong Kong

Shop 23a Market Square Corner

Mains road and McCullough street

Sunnybank

Opens daily till late

www.littlesingapore.com.au

Simpatico Bar Bistro

This was our second visit to Simpatico (pre-flood) but this time it was for a mid-week lunch instead of a friday night dinner. It seems that reservations are essential particularly, for dinner hours as this little Paddo eatery was filling up fast even on a wednesday afternoon!

Simpatico just like Crosstown Eating House and Sardine Tin, embraces a share food concept. There is a concise selection of wines offered by the glass which is updated regularly i.e. good. We enjoyed all the dishes previously and were gearing up for that same tastebud excitement with a different seasonal menu.

We had some italian pane as sides, which was decent in serving and "chewy" the way we like it. Shortly after, the seared scallops arrived. They were 4 plump, juicy, caramelized scallops sitting atop a bed of micro greens and corn. They were cooked beautifully and the only minor gripe we had was the heavy hand of hazelnut dressing. Perhaps, less of the oil dressing or more greens and crab meat??

The duck breast was cooked equally well, moist with a tinge of tender pinkness! It was served with a salad of baby leaves, mango chunks and bean sprouts, drizzled with an asian sweet sauce.

Service was friendly, attentive and efficient...we know this when our water is topped without having to ask. Overall, consistent food standards, an inspiring menu, good wine all in a relaxed atmosphere. And hey, having dinner served at the bar on our previous visit was not BAD either!

Simpatico Bar Bistro Espresso
Cnr Given & Latrobe Terraces
Paddington
Opens lunch & dinner Tues to Sat
Breakfast Sat & Sun

Forages Cafe Deli

After a mornings flood clean up at the grounds of The University of Queensland yesterday we decided to head for late lunch nearby but with our soiled clothes and sweaty bodies it seemed then that we had to settle for one of the drive thrus. As we were heading towards Indooroopilly, Miss food hunter decided to drive through Taringa where she once used to stay and were lucky to see that most of the shops at 144 Indooroopilly road were open for service. Great! We headed straight in for Forages Cafe Deli. We could see that a number of patrons had also worked the morning, evident from their soiled clothes, and were taking a well deserved break!

We have visited Forages a number of times before and this time the deli cabinets were brimming a little less with their daily offerings. Nonetheless, there was still a reasonable selection of baked sweet and savoury goods like beef lasagna, quiche lorraine, pizzas, apple & berry pie, mediterranean rice & pasta salads etc. Orders of sandwiches or burgers from the menu are also available. The coffee here is good-mild.

The serving of the beef lasagna was good for one hungry man! As depicted in the picture, the generous layers of mince, cheese and bechemal were scrummy and the pasta sheets were well cooked.

Miss food hunter decided on a simple turkey cranberry wholemeal sandwich due to a declining appetite from the "work site". This was a special request from the usual order of turkey on ciabatta sandwiched with rocket leaves, brie and cranberry jam which is served absolutely Great here! The cranberry jam is indeed different, the spread is packed with plump cranberries and has a distinct orange peel taste.

It was good to be back again!

Forages Cafe Deli
144 Indooroopilly road
Taringa
Open daily breakfast & lunch

Sweeties Paradise

We have visited Sweeties Paradise more than a dozen times now and we just can't get enough of their soy custards and other HongKong inspired dessert concoctions. We do visit this small cafe up to twice a week! There is also a new summer menu on top of their already expansive dessert menu.

Our default orders here are the soy custards topped with fruit and for durian lovers out there, the Black glutinous rice & Durian in Vanilla sauce is a must try!

Soy custard with Watermelon

We have tried soy custards from many places around the sunnybank area and the version here tends to be lighter in soybean flavour and texture. We do like the silky smoothness of the soy custard here but some may prefer a stronger soybean taste and a firmer more gel like texture of soy custard like that from Just Soy Cafe (sunnybank hills). Sweet Dessert Shop (sunnybank hills market square) has also a good soybean taste but the silky texture can be rather inconsistent.

Black glutinous rice & Durian in Vanilla sauce

The black glutinous rice had bits of corn in them for extra bite and the durian was 100% fresh pulp. Two scoops sitting atop a frappe like vanilla sauce makes for one great dessert that is neither too sweet nor creamy.

Crushed ice with Special sweet soup with Mango, Pumpkin balls & Grass jelly

On another occasion, we shared a crushed ice dessert with their special sweet soup from the summer menu. Unlike, the taiwanese or south-east asian shaved ice dessert where plain ice is sweetened with added syrup and condensed milk, the ice here is blended with mango or coconut at times and a Frappe forms the base. The pumpkin balls were soft and chewy and lightly pumpkin flavoured. We have also tried one with taro balls, black beans and grass jelly. The taro balls had good taro flavour!

We are and will always be back for more!

Sweeties Paradise
Shop 117 Sunnybank Plaza Food Court
Sunnybank Plaza Shopping Centre
358 Mains road
Opens daily 1030am to 10pm

Archive Beer Boutique

We visited Archive Beer bistro sometime end of last november for an early weekday lunch and as it was sometime ago this shall be a short post. We opted to sit alfresco as it was beautiful weather. After placing our orders at the front counter we headed to the bar for a glass of beer on tap and a sparkling.

Shortly, our orders of a Rib fillet burger and a Grilled Prawn and avocado salad arrived. The Rib fillet was tender and the chips were golden and crunchy. With the salad, the mixed greens were fresh and abundant in a citrusy dressing. The prawns were plump and were grilled to the extent that we could munch the juicy sweet heads and ingest the legs! Yum!

Overall, Archive serves quality pub food and next time we shall return night to check out the atmosphere and sample their "Bistro styled" dishes. According to the Archive website, there may be a new head chef at the helm now.

Archive Beer Boutique & Bistro
100 Boundary St
West End