Indimex Cafe Bar Restaurant

I'll tell you two secrets. The first is that the email I created for people to contact me on thatseriousgirl@gmail.com is not actually the one that I use for my mobile phone/ gmail account or the one I use for my blogger account. As a result, I had to set up a forwarding protocol with gmail that never seems to forward on important stuff to my more commonly used hotmail account.

The second is that my two least favourite cuisines are Mexican and Indian food. I've had bad experiences on multiple occasions with upset stomachs or food poisoning not soon after eating them so I tend to avoid it. It doesn't make any sense because I eat a lot of spicy food from other cuisines like Thai or Korean without any problem. Not to mention the fact that I love every other countries version of curry beside the original Indian one.

I received the email inviting me here in early January but didn't see it until almost the end of January when I was manually checking my gmail account. I accepted the offer and dragged along Mr W., as my plus one, since he enjoyed both cuisines and it had been a while since we had had a date.

I was absolutely livid when I realised my camera wasn't in my bag for the third time eating out that month. I ran back to the car and couldn't find it anywhere. I was desperately hoping I had lost it as I had remembered to bring my Kindle along and it had been sitting on that when I left. Lo and behold, it was on my kitchen bench when I arrived home. The following pictures are taken on my mobile phone as a result.

Watch out for this bright red place!

I loved the decorations here. From the loads of mustachioed man cushions.

So manly

To the kooky Indian/Mexican artwork!

OLE SUP

To this gigantic spice? wall. I missed a few photos though. They had a really interesting mural of people who changed the world such as John Lennon, Martin Luther King, Ghandi, the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Che Guevera and then oddly, what looked like James Brown? I coudn't get the entire mural in one shot, so I let it be.

What does it even say?

Here is a link to their extensive menu, it completely changes from meal to meal. I got the gorgeous Brisbane Sunset as my drink, orange, pineapple and cranberry juice with grenadine syrup! I had a huge mouthful of grenadine syrup to start with so make sure to give your drink a good stir. I loved the balance between the sweet, sour and refreshing flavours of the juices used. Good mocktails are hard to find!

Delicious

I picked their holy guacamole as my starter! Pulverised yet still textured avocado, onion, tomato, jalapeno pieces and a fair whack of garlic. Mr W., and I both felt like there could have been a bit more lemon or lime added to give it a bit more zestiness but we both still enjoyed it. I particularly like that the guacamole didn't have a smooth paste texture and still had noticeable piece of avocado to break up the texture. The fried tortilla chips were great, can't go wrong with freshly fried tortilla chips, crunchy, salty tastiness!

Mmm guacamole

Mr W., and I had a long discussion about what we would order on the menu. He pointed out that as a food blogger and someone who goes out a lot, I would order the weirdest thing on the menu or a chef specialty to show off the place. He was right though, because I had been eyeing off the Bombay Pizza a la Naan or getting one of the fusion dishes. 

Mr W., tended to go with safe options or the most popular option, he's traveled a lot overseas and wisely pointed out that you can't go wrong with chicken, seafood is the thing most likely to give you food poisoning. I think this was the second or third time we had gone out for a meal together, so I reminded him that he couldn't order the same meal as me!

Anyway, after much deliberation, we reversed our opinions! I decided to try one of their curries for a classic option. I initially wanted goat but they told me that wasn't available for lunch, so I picked a lamb madras with a heat rating of super hot. Their menu actually carries a warning that they use Trinidadian Scorpion Butch T Chillis, widely regarded as one of the spiciest chilis in the world. I think they only use that for the vindaloo haha,

Oh god, the curry was so good. I love that strong coconut fragrance as it hit the table and the huge chunks of lamb. The lamb was delectable, huge chunks of lamb that were so tender I was able to cut through it with a spoon. My spoon just hit the plate and the lamb fell apart with a sigh, they used a wonderful cut with ribbons of fat throughout the meat. 

The curry was so spicy, I nearly cried. It wasn't a bad heat, it was instantly noticeable but it didn't linger for too long and you could continue eating. I'm not sure if I got used to it later on or it was because when the physical heat abated, I felt like the curry spice was more bearable.

We ended up begging the waitress for some of their raita which I forgot to take a photo of. It's a very strong minty raita that was quite sweet, but it did the trick to cool off my poor mouth.

Delicious lamb

I tossed up between naan and rice for a while too. I love naan but I love how rice soaks up all the sauce. I was wearing a white dress as well so I couldn't risk the sauce dripping onto my clothes! I always think long grain rice looks odd. I'm very used to short or medium grain rice and so the length of long grain rice, which loops in on itself is just odd to me.

Odd rice

I got a few pappadums as well! They were super crunchy and little cumin seeds as well.

I had fun eating these

Mr W., got the very interesting bacon, cheese, garlic, oregano and chili naan which was nearly a meal in itself! I really enjoyed this naan and I'm pretty sure I ate at least 3/4 of this by myself. It had a huge amount of garlic on the surface, lots of little bacon pieces, the oregano scent wasn't too discernible and I found the chili flakes weren't too spicy either. I loved the flakiness of the naan and the cheesiness too, I'd gladly go back here again for the naan bread.

Mmmm naan <3

Mr W., got the sizzling chicken fajitas, there was a lot of onion and sweet capsicum pieces mixed in as well. There was also a pile of salsa on top as well as a wedge of lime. The smell when it hit the table was amazing! I love the theatre of having sizzling food bought around to your table, the sound, the smell, the spitting sight of the stuff and the steam rising off the food! I love how the sauce becomes a thick caramel, coats the meat and gives it a great charred flavour. We were both very surprised when we tasted the chicken as we were both unsure what the spices used were, I had a second and a third piece before I realised what it was. Tandoori chicken! After that, it all made sense and we were able to finish the meal in peace haha.

See the steam!

We also received a basket of sour cream, guacamole, black lentil dal makhani and a pile of tortilla shells on the side.

Mmm lentils

Mr W., got the iced coffee and he remarked that he didn't like it since there was no ice, it had no ice cream and was still quite warm. The coffee flavour itself was quite good.

Indimex Cafe Bar Restaurant

Atmosphere: 7, super cute restaurant with interesting artwork, great decorations and lots of different seating arrangements. 
Service: 7, pretty good service! The two waitresses seemed busy but were always easy to find. We had a slight hiccup where fajitas were placed on the wrong docket, and we had to wait a bit longer for the food to arrive. It was very quick service all in all and they came up to us multiple times to ask if we needed anything else. That being said, we were invited there as guests so there's that too.
Food: 8, really excellent food! Huge portions, well cooked food, a great explanation of what everything is on the menu and reasonable prices for a main. I would happily go here again for lunch with friends especially as everything on the menu is easily shared between a group of people.

 

RJIE: Street Falafel

I've always wondered about Street Falafel because it's in my adopted 'hood of West End. It claims to have the best falafel in Australia which is pretty much what I go to King Ahiram religiously for. The menu, available here, seems decent enough but I've always shyed away from them. I never ever seemed to see anyone there that's why!

So one day I bit the bullet and decided to try some bits and pieces from there. I got a mini chicken sharwarma plate, sharwarma marinated chicken breast, taratoor sauce, beirut fries and toum sauce with a side of fattoush salad, mixed pickles and bread. I also opted to try two falafels just to see what they were like. I didn't receive any bread which was probably good because everything else was startlingly mediocre. 

The chips were quite soggy and I couldn't detect any particular seasoning on them to differentiate them for regular fries. The chicken sharwarma was particularly dry to the point of being stringy, the falafel was dry and cold and the fattoush salad was quite soggy. The garlic toum was the tastiest part of the whole dish due to its super punchy garlic oomph. 

I regretted my choice of lunch and wish I had gotten something else. 

What is going on in this box?

RJIE: Seoul Bistro again!

I really love Seoul Bistro, its so cheap, easy to get to, has huge portions, it has fried chicken and is generally pretty delicious. So once again, I've found myself here! For a food blogger, its a big call! This trip I went with JGirl and VGirl, I think a little after Boxing Day because we had a big day shopping at DFO. 

JGirl ordered the barbeque pork, it tasted a lot like charsiu but had a much more natural and darker texture. It had a sweet caramelised glaze and was a succulent and fatty cut of meat, topped with a fried egg on top of soy sauce doused rice. She knew before she even got there what she wanted to order.

Mmmm pork

I got the tteokbokki, spicy ricecakes! Its a very popular traditional/street food kinda dish made out of chewy logs of rice cake, a sweet and spicy sauce made of sugar, gochujang paste, onions, green onions, fishcakes and a few other bits and bobs depending on your taste. Whatever is in it, its usually super delicious! I got this version with grated cheese on top which melts into a super rich sauce. God I love rice cakes! The sauce on this was a touch sweet but I still heartily enjoyed it.

Mmm fishcakes

Once again, I ordered the yang nyum wings, they are amazing! Still hands down the best Korean fried chicken I've ever, I just wish they were so sweet. Otherwise their crunch, juiciness, sheer size and value are incomparable!

I love you wings!

Irudori Yakitori Japanese Restaurant

I don't remember how I found out that this place had opened, I just did. It was of those times where my blogger sense just kicked in.

Anyway, W., H., and I were super keen to go to this place because it served one of our favourite snacks, WASABI OCTOPUS. We tried several times to go here and failed miserably. The first time, W., and I attempted to go and it was closed between their lunch and dinner hours. The second time, we went the entire restaurant had been booked out and they turned us away. The third time, I just went by myself after my fortnightly massage at Skeletal Harmonics. This time I succeeded!

I had always planned to just get the gyoza stuffed wings as well as the wasabi octopus but I figured I should get something more substantial to eat for lunch. I ended up picking the yakitori donburi which is one of their cheap $10 lunch specials, it consists of grilled chicken pieces brushed with tare and some stirfried capsicum, onion and green onion on top of sushi rice.

Hmm~

I got this side of gyoza stuffed chicken wings, which I thought sounded so amazing and I was a bit disappointed when I recieved this dish. The gyoza filling had a faint ginger flavour and wasn't anything special, I did admire the carefully prepared wings though, there wasn't a single piece of meat through the skin at all and it hadn't burst while it cooked.

It sounded like it was better than it was

I also got my beloved wasani octopus, the one I remembered so fondly from Nonbei. Unfortunately this one wasn't as good, it had a much stronger alcoholic flavour and didn't have the same crisp texture as the other one. I had one or two pieces and then ended up throwing it away.

Irodori Yakitori Japanese Restaurant:
Atmosphere: 5, quite bare with none of the cute little touches I normally associate with Japanese restaurants.
Service: 8, polite and efficient like every Japanese restaurant I've ever been to.
Food: 5, I was disappointed with my food expecting a lot more in terms of flavour, but it was all edible and the price wasn't too bad. That being said, Sushi Kotobuki is much better and within walking distance as well.

RJIE: Boundary Street Markets

I got invited to try wings from the Wing Stand a long time ago hahaha! I had been aware of them for quite a while but never got to go because they are only open at the Boundary Street Friday night markets and I always seem to work that shift. So as a result I was pretty excited when they contacted me because I do love chicken wings. It took a few weeks to organise it but I eventually was able to see them before my night shifts and try a few places.

 

So basically you choose how many wings you want, six or ten in a pack, choose your sauce and then choose your dressing! They have a buffalo, BBQ, lemon pepper and a rotating special flavour, the day I went it was peach bourbon! I picked the six wing pack and got to try a few different flavours, I got to try almost all the flavours that day despite only getting a six pack of wings!

Nice!

I can't remember which is which but I got the buffalo, BBQ and peach bourbon which was the special when I went. My favourite was the BBQ which had a not overly sweet and smoky flavour, I didn't mind the buffalo wings even though I normally find them annoying sour and mildly spicy, these had a good heat to them. The peach bourbon was quite sweet but it worked well with the spiciness of the sauce. I found the wings to be quite crispy from the frying which I liked and coated in a generous amount of sauce. The blue cheese sauce was strong and creamy.

Mmm wings

I love the Hierba Santa iced teas you can get here as well. They come in a 1L bucket for $7 and the flavours are gorgeous, they are quite sweet but you can always try before you buy! This was the Aztec Rose flavour, a sweet rose flavoured tea.

Chug chug chug!

I got some calamari since I was still feeling peckish from these guys!

Woo!

I got quite a large cone of freshly caught and fried calamari with a lemon slice and a handy stick for poking. They were large rings with a golden brown crunchy breadcrumb layer and super tender flesh underneath. I was very impressed! They also have a selection of different sauces to apply if wanted, I remembered there's an aioli, mayonnaise, sweet chili, tartare, herbed mayonnaise among other things.

So good +_+

I've been a regular at the markets since then, frequently dropping by whenever I'm in the area since they run Fridays, Saturday day and Sunday day. I keep having Saturday off, so I tend to go for a massage at Skeletal Harmonics before wandering down here for a feed afterwards. This is Tom and John's Wings!

New wings?

I got the hot garlic wings supposedly but I have a suspicion these are their buffalo wings instead. I didn't mind, they were super crunchy and had a thick hot sauce coating, hot enough that you were sweating bullets but not enough that you stopped eating!

Man I love wings

I also got a drink at this little place here. Its a pretty trendy/hipster organic food truck called Planted, think lots of kale, handmade nut milks, organic stuff everywhere, superfood everything, that kinda stuff!

Their menu

Very well connected~!

I got a peanut butter milkshake made with soy milk and coconut milk icecream. So rich and creamy, with a strong peanut butter flavour, I barely noticed that it had a soy flavour at all. I would highly recommend this drink and have had it several times since, but only when Hierba Santa isn't around hahaha.

Surprisingly good!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hierba-Santa-Organic/1411472389097416



https://www.facebook.com/plantedwholefoodsco

Taiwan Cafe

This was our second last meal in Melbourne from memory. It was almost six months ago at the time of writing! I had another day left of the conference and we were just doing a quick tour of the CBD during its night time shopping hours. I think I just picked this place because it was very full of people and the menu seemed decent. I would've avoided it like the plague if I had been aware of what the reviews were like on Urbanspoon! 57% youch!

This shiny place

The tables are very small and wooden. Every table has a copy of the food and drinks menu, red chopsticks, soy sauce, chilli powder and a steel pot of chilli and garlic oil.

Classic

The place is also ridiculously narrow and they pack tables on both sides of the room which make things extra cramped. So Taiwan authentic to be packed in like sardines!

Ugh

Yeah that gap just fits my legs

I got this massive drink and I can't remember what it was for the life of me. I just remember it was super fruity, super artificially sweet and full of random chunks of fruit. This is what I get for blogging six months after I've gone to a place. I have a vague recollection it was a blackberry and lemon drink but that's all I got going for me.

Mystery drink

I got this Taiwanese fried chicken bento box, it consisted of a serve of Taiwanese fried chicken, poached egg, pea and corn, some lettuce and a serve of rice topped with a black bean and mince sauce. Aki helpfully adds that the Taiwanese fried chicken tasted like fried cardboard. It was crunchy and very little seasoning.

Bento?

These were chilli oil prawn and pork wontons, they were coated in an odd sauce consisting of soy sauce, hoisin perhaps, ground sesame and a mild chilli. It was surprisingly tasty although quite different to what I was expecting. The wontons themselves were good, nice thin skin and meaty, well seasoned insides.

What is going on in this dish?

Aki ordered for herself just some plain wontons in broth since her braces were still aching. They tasted exactly the same as the wontons above except the broth tasted like hot water.

?_?

Taiwan Cafe
Atmosphere: 6, your typical super cramped, super busy Asian cafe!
Service: 5, pretty average. When we were there, a couple dressed up in the Gothic Lolita style stormed out saying they had been waiting over an hour for food.
Food: 4, yeah pretty terrible. I regret choosing this place when there were so many better options around it.

Ben's Burgers

I'm going to start my review by saying these are my favourite classic style burgers in Brisbane at the moment. Classic style being your standard cheeseburger with a beef patty, good cheese, pickles, onion, tomato sauce, mustard and a good bun. There are better and fancier burgers but if you're craving some classic flavours, this is the place for it. They're cheap, open late, large portioned and taste bloody amazing. I've been back here three or four times since I first went here and attempted to go here after work only to find it closed just as many times.

They are located in Winn Lane, a one way street off Anne/Brunswick Street with quite limited parking on the laneway itself. I suggest park on Brunswick or of the little side streets off Anne street and leg it the rest of the way. It's pretty easy to locate other than that.

The menu is quite limited, they only do three burgers, the BB classic, special and vegetarian option. Ben's Burgers is also super hipster in that they allow you to add things to the burger but won't allow you to remove anything at all. Also they won't allow you to get combos of a burger, fries and a soft drink. However you can get a deal of burger, fries and a schooner of their house cider/beer.

Probably not my best picture, my bad

This is their policy and I don't think a lot of people notice this until they are told that they don't do alterations. it makes me wonder if they do allow exceptions for people who are allergic to the ingredients? Like if I was allergic to tomatoes, would I still have to have tomato sauce or sliced tomato on my burger? Or would they refuse to serve me? Maybe that's just me being sneaky, but I feel like its a legitimate request. A lot of my friends expressed heavy dislike of this policy and complained about it quite a bit,

So hipster

At all of the tables, there is a little wire basket filled with napkins, a Tabasco bottle, French's mustard and Heinz 57 tomato sauce.

Nice

Manda ordered an English breakfast tea at about 10.30pm at night. She defended her choice by saying that she didn't want to stay up all night with a coffee, and she didn't like their beer choices. She said it was a good English Breakfast. It came with a little metal jug of milk.

Manda might be a hipster too

I got the BB classic, beef patty served medium rare, melted cheese, tomato, onion, pickle, lettuce, tomato sauce and mustard with a soft white bun. I also ordered a second patty for an extra $4 because I felt like that was a good idea. It was an excellent idea until I had to take a bite out of burger and smashed it into my nose and chin because of the bloody size of it. Each patty is about a good two inches thick, I somehow thought that by squishing the burger enough and biting it, I could just get a bite in and start working away at it. I ended up having to take the second patty out completely because I couldn't get a bite in otherwise. I somehow ended up with mustard on my cheekbone from how big the burger was.

The burger was excellent by the way, soft, squishy white bun that held despite all the juices, good quality ingredients, perfectly tart and crunchy pickles, perfectly melted cheese, and the burger patty was amazing. Well seasoned with salt and pepper, super juicy and a perfect medium rare to boot. I think about this burger late at night sometimes.

I also ordered a side of chilli cheese fries. The fries themselves were very good, super crunchy with fluffy insides but the chilli wasn't anything special with one layer of mildly seasoned beef mince with melted cheese on top. T., Ms D., and Manda were all entranced by the chilli cheese fries but Mr A., and myself weren't.

Ooooh so good

Mr A., grabbed the special burger, beef patty, onion, cheese, pickle, jalapeno and special sauce. He described it as being incredible but also said it would be even better if he could have had pickles removed off the burger.

Special

This is the regular classic burger, Ms D., was so happy when she was eating this, she just started smiling and had mustard smeared everywhere on her face. She also praised the fries for being incredibly crunchy as well. She did go into massive meat sweats after finished the burger though.

Regular classic burger

Manda didn't feel like a burger so she went with pecan pie a la mode! She said the pecan pie wasn't particularly good, the base was very crunchy though which she enjoyed. She said that the ice cream was the highlight with the vanilla ice cream being super creamy and very dense.

Ben's Burgers
Atmosphere: 6, I'm pretty sure there was a drunk guy passed out in the corner booth when we were there the first time.
Service: 5, hipster garbage with their no alterations policy ):
Food: 9, honestly my favourite classic burger. There are other burger places with more interesting flavours, better service and atmosphere, but they do a bloody good basic burger and for not too bad a price either.