Bread and Meat Co! Plus my coverage of their food launch!

The other night when we were searching for ice cream after our second trip to Nonbei, we noticed this closed restaurant on our way to Venice Cafe. The menu looked amazing and we were all very excited to go.

W., and I both agreed that the Canadian poutine was a must and so planned a day to go out with our work colleagues, menus were printed, dates were made. Then W., and I discovered that we had a day off together and so we went together without all of the other people we were supposed to go with. Like H., who went to Singapore, Ms M for Megababe who was furious at me for not inviting her since she's a fiercely proud Canadian lass, T., who complained it as a Viet only affair and M., who loves pulled pork in all its forms. We're a bit in the dog house as a result, but no regrets! We'd both go here again!

Look out for the ram's head!

They have a specials board, coffee happy hour and a regular menu all displayed at the front of their restaurant. However, here is an online menu for your ease of perusal! With that being said, the text is a little jarring on the background, it's a shame they don't have black outlines on the white letters, which would make it stand out regardless of the background. According to their website, they also do delivery to local Fortitude Valley and Brisbane CBD locations, with free deliveries over $18 which is pretty nifty. Oh oh, they also bake all their breads in store.

Oooh

Sounds amazing!

The interior is very clean looking with interesting features, there's a little wooden barrel with cups, help yourself cutlery and some hot sauces on it. I can't remember what the two in the center where, but they have tabasco and Frank's red hot sauces as well.

Trying to figure it out from the label failed

You can watch the chefs in the open kitchen making your sandwich,.

So much wood

There's this one big wooden table in the store and there the rest of the tables are outside. The overhead lamps are all covered with barbed wire, which came close to poking W.'s eye out on a few occasions.

Where we lurked

There's this ornate ram's skull in the centre of the store. I thought it looked interesting.

Centre stage

Anyway, the guy who served us quickly explained what was available, the porchetta wasn't and all the chicken options weren't ready yet, so we made our choices and sat down. W.,'s meal came out first, he ordered the special of the day, 36 hour slow cooked beef brisket on a toasted baguette, swiss cheese, horseradish aioli and a missing meat jus. We didn't remark on it to the end, when we overhead the manager/?owner asking if the meat jus was ready yet. We were both pretty happy with how the meal turned out anyway. He also ordered the sweet potato fries with dry spinach and Parmesan.

Pretty as a picture

The sweet potato fries were good, soft and sweet. I have no idea what the parmesan and spinach did for the dish, but it was pretty and sweet potato fries are pretty darn good running solo as it is. I liked the rustic appearance. W., and I were struggling with this serve, but ultimately W., managed to polish it all off while I went to the nearby bathroom to wash my hands. I'm still highly suspicious that he managed to throw away his food instead of consuming it to psych me out.

Sweet potato!

The brisket was amazingly good, better than my mum's pho brisket cause hers dries out a lot. This was so goddamn tender, it fell apart at the drop of a hat, so deliciously moist and juicy, it came out stacked super high on the slightly toasted baguette. The bread was so fragrant and chewy too, my god it was a a match made in heaven. It was slightly distressing sitting beside W., as he kept making soft noises of approval and kept saying to the guys behind the counter, "oh my god, this is so good." Then he would look at his sandwich and whisper softly, "soooo good." W., had a much, much bigger appetite than I do, he's like 190cm tall, slender and hollow legged and yet he still struggled to eat this much food. I've never seen him struggle so much to finish anything ever. I wish this had been my order, I wish it had the unctuous fatty bits of brisket too.

I wish I had ordered that brisket

I ordered Canadian poutine, with oven baked chips, thin brown gravy and fresh cheese curds and the pulled pork sandwich, drenched in hickory BBQ sauce, homemade coleslaw on a fresh brioche bun. Just give it a minute for that glorious sight to soak in.

Dayummmmmm

The Canadian poutine came with slightly crispy oven baked chips, very tasty thin brown gravy and clouds and clouds of fluffy, chewy cheese curds. I wrote a while back that I've never had any and was hypothesising what it could possibly taste like and now I know. 

Cheese curds have a texture that reminds me of the super stretchy mozzarella threads you get from fresh out of the oven pizza. The ones that stretttttch out when you take a bite or a slice. Imagine that, squished into a little ball with that milky, mildly cheese flavour that you get with soft cheese like mozzarella or boccachini. There were another two layers of gravy and cheese curds underneath this top layer, there was always a chunk of cheese to eat with your fries.

One of the guys we were chatting to, who I guessed was Royce the owner, as I stalked him when writing this blog post up, was adamantly saying that he made sure that he got the details correct. He sounded like a very a proud Canadian as he emphasised that the cheese curds were made fresh in store! He was very firmly stating that anything else besides cheese curds is just cheese fries.

Also did you know that if you Google poutine in Australian Google, my blog post is the first option that appears? Try it out.

Oh poutine.

I didn't finish my poutine, I did eat all the cheese though which was an achievement in itself. I was so damn close too.

Revoke my big eater card ):

I can't even begin to describe how much pulled pork was contained in this sandwich, I suspect that I received more pork than coleslaw and burger bun put together. The pork was so good, soft, tender, so flavoursome by itself even thought it was soaked in huge amounts of smokey and sweet barbeque sauce. I really enjoyed that sauce, it had lots of chunky bits of tomato and I would've bought a bottle of the stuff. The crunchiness of the coleslaw was a good clean contrast. I actually had to pull out some of the pork and eat it later because there was so much of the stuff. 

The only complaint I had was that it was all a bit too saucy and the bun fell apart in my hands as I was eating it. It was very messy and I had to keep wiping my face because of how much sauce there was. There isn't a sink nearby or wet wipes available so I made a dash to the public toilet nearby to wash my hands afterwards.

Drool worthy

Bread & Meat Co
Atmosphere: 6, bright and well lit space where you could watch the cooks at work behind the glass counter. We were drooling even after our meal when we saw them start shredding the beef brisket for the lunch rush.
Service: 10, really, really nice guys, they kept chatting to us during our meal and asking how things were. The owner, Royce sat at the other end of the table from us and personally served us.
Food: 10, I wanna eat so much and my belly can't handle it. I really want to go back here again soon!


I went back here for their food launch! I had emailed Royce about some changes to his website, how much I had enjoyed my visit there as well as how I had made their Urbanspoon page and he invited me to the launch! We had a few emails back and forth, I ended up giving him some more suggestions and so a few more food bloggers that I creepily stalked, ending up coming to the event to. I got to bring along a +1 and so I put it out on Facebook that I needed a +1. Ness., responded and off we went! I was super tired post night shifts so she drove us.

Anyway, here are the photos from the event! When we rocked up, people had just started arriving. We got in and Royce's wife informed us that we could eat and drink anything we wanted, help ourselves to the alcohol, order any burger or side on the menu and if we needed anything, snare any of the staff mingling for assistance! I stalked out a space beside the wooden barrel and sat there like a troll with a food camera, to leer at the chefs behind the counter and drool at the food.

The head chef is the girl on the left!

Here's the alcohol we had! There was also Moet champagne and some Monteith crushed cider. Bread and Meat Co is apparently getting a liquor license and will eventually open their hours to 3am on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Too bad I was driving!

This is their 1m long delivery box for Brisbane CBD deliveries! I was very impressed with it, it must be specially made for this place as it has a ruler built in. Inside is a massive 1m long board, with all the sandwiches if required.

So cool

This is Sunny! He's the Jamaican chef, he's super cheerful and chatty. He moves like a speed machine! Some of the other bloggers/journalists took photos of him posing with chopping boards and knives. This is a food blog! We're focusing on food here people! He was very happy to pose for us and shook all our hands on the way out, at the end of the night.

Super nice guy

This is the mysterious Canadian Bacon, is how Royce introduced him to us. He was more camera shy and avoided the picture taking so I left him out except this side on profile pic. He was so methodical and precise with his movements, I watched him like a hawk. It must be very creepy to have someone staring at you so intently from behind a glass counter. Every time he looked up while making that sandwich, I was standing there watching him or finishing taking a photo.

You think Sunny is fast? Watch this guy move!

This is the 1m long serving board in all its glory! Including all the current sandwiches!

Oooh~

Pulled pork!

Beef brisket!

Corned beef!

Sloppy Joes! A little teeny tiny Sloppy Joe on a weeny brioche bun. It was the special of the week and Ms. M for Megababe demanded I try it when I went to the food launch. She had gone the previous day with a few Canadian friends and she said that she really wanted them. They were really good, a flavoursome and super saucy mince mixture on a super soft, slightly sweet and buttery brioche bun! I can imagine them being a perfect thing for winter. It took me four bites to eat the whole thing and the mince plopped everywhere all over my nice wooden board.

Sloppy Joes!

I spent so long chatting with the head chef, I missed out the entire first board. So when the second board came out, BOOM! I went in like a striking snake and returned victorious with one of each slider.

Oh yessss

This is the corned beef! Soft, well seasoned corned beef, sour and crunchy boiled cabbage, I know what you are sauerkraut, dijon mustard and a tangy gherkin aioli. I wasn't interested in this initially but it was really good. I honestly haven't had a corned beef this good since the very first time I had a Reuben sandwich, there was just so much flavour in this, it was amazing. I wish they sold corned beef by weight! This was Ness.,'s favourite slider of the night and she said she would go back based on this alone.

Probbbbably should've moved that fringe of cabbage

Pulled pork! Just like earlier, this was my absolute pick. The sauce wasn't as super clothes endangering saucy, it was just right this time. I actually had like two or three of these. I can't remember.

Oh pulled pork <3~

I saw this order of chilli cheese fries heading out and I basically dived in front of Royce to get a photo. Can you see why? It looks like a stoner's wet dream. It had layers and layers of thick chilli and alternating with the chips. I didn't have a huge amount but man it was beautiful. I didn't get a picture of the poutine or sweet potato tonight, but the poutine was much better than the last time. The cheese curds had melted a lot more and the gravy was much thick, so there was this gorgeous molten ooze. I'm sorry I couldn't show you that bit of food porn.

You're so beautiful chilli cheese fries

I had a really good time chatting to everyone, despite my initial anxiety about showing up. Everyone was lovely and I think I spoke to all the staff members at least once or twice there.

Unlike the other journalists and food bloggers, I didn't take my photos on the paper plates everyone else got around us. The head chef had been talking to me from when I first got in and she handed me a board for photo taking! Also because I didn't know any of the other food bloggers very well, Ness., and I stayed lurking beside our beloved wooden barrel inside the store. Everyone else, the guy from the magazine, a journalist from the BBC, some other journalists, Kelly from kellyke and some other people, were all seated outside and chatting with Royce. IN THE DARK. Mwhahahaha my photos will be prettier.

As you can guess, I was invited as a guest of Bread and Meat Co., for my second visit but I tried to still remain as impartial as possible. On the other hand, Royce offered me a job to help with their marketing/ social media accounts so there's that. 

Que Huong Restaurant

My aunt was home and so Mama Pham, my aunt and I decided to go for a quick dinner before my night shifts. We were all passive aggressively trying to get the other person to decide, I backed out stating that Mama Pham was super picky and that my aunt would be secretly disappointed at whatever I chose. Mama Pham said she didn't care where we went and my aunt said I could choose because I was taking pictures for that thing on the internet I do. In the end, my aunt said she wanted to eat crab at Que Huong so off we went!

This place

Its located near the Darra Train Station, in the block of shops directly opposite. The restaurant is pretty stock standard Asian restaurant with lots of tables, live seafood in glass tanks and lots of families with young kids everywhere.

Specials +_+

Usual Asian set up

They have an absolutely MASSIVE menu. Brace yourself, menus are coming.

Yay free prawn crackers! The meal is already off to a good start.

Aw yiss freebies

Since I was heading to night shifts straight after dinner, I opted for a glass of Vietnamese iced coffee to perk me up. I really, really wish there was more of it, I guzzled it down in one go and was really sad afterwards. It was a very dark French roast with a strong body and perfectly slightly over sweet flavour.

Too much ice

Did I ever mention I dislike shellfish? I dislike most seafood that has a shell because it always seems to be more trouble than its worth, especially when you're super hungry and want to eat quickly. Ain't nobody got time for that. The second reason is because we normally go and get ours super, super fresh from the ocean, like pipis dug out of the sand from Strandbroke Island fresh. We're not super fussy about cleaning them out or making sure the sand is gone, so I was always used to getting a sandy mouthful of pipi flesh when I ate them. I've always had a bit of an aversion to them but these steamed ginger and shallot pipis were absolutely delicious.

They were very simply cooked, steamed with a giant blob of crushed ginger and shallot strands, served on the half shell. Not a single grain of sand to be found and with lots of liquid to sip up. We did ask for a dish of salt, pepper and lemon to liven up the flavour though.

Yum

As usual, we ordered some steamed green vegetables with oyster sauce. Bright, crunchy and covered in some plain oyster sauce. Nothing fancy here.

The usual

We got some Singapore Chilli crab. It was honestly some of the best I've ever had with a good balance between sweet, salty and sour flavours, with no particular one being dominant over the others. Mama Pham's one tends to favour tomato over all others, and she skimps on the chilli cause she's a wuss. This one was delicious and I was spooning up the sauce to eat my rice. I highly recommended it to Z., and she promised me that the next time that her family were going out for crab, they'd head here.

For some reason, I had a hankering for peking duck. I opted out of the duck san choy bow as our second course and went with the duck noodles instead. The pancakes were delicious! A smear of hoisin sauce, a piece of carrot, cucumber, some shallots and a piece or two of crispy, fatty duck skin with a fair hunk of flesh attached.

All the ingredients for our pancakes

Mmmm so much skin

Oh peking duck, you're so delicious. I could eat you every day for a long long time.

Pretty little thing

At this stage of the meal, I had to run off to work and I only just got to have a look at the duck noodles before I left. My aunt and Mama Pham hurriedly packed me a large Chinese food container to go. The picture below was actually the second container that they bought home as part of massive doggy bag, so you have a bit of an idea of how huge the serving was. These noodles were so amazing, I can't even explain how damn good they were. Succulent duck pieces, straw mushrooms, bean sprouts and the most amazing springy, e-fu noodles. God damn I love noodles but e-fu noodles are the top of my list.

These noodles were so damn good

Que Huong Restaurant
Atmosphere: 6, typical Vietnamese restaurant, lots of large families and kids running around. Basically looks like they converted part of a massive family home into a restaurant.
Service: 7, polyglot waiters who speak at least English, Vietnamese and Mandarin. There are a lot of them roaming around the floor, and while they're all a bit absent minded, its easy enough to get their attention and request additional things.
Food: 9, I cannot be more happy with the food. As a very traditional, highly opinionated Vietnamese cuisine loving Vietnamese lover of food, I rarely go to Vietnamese restaurants because of how well both myself and my mother cook. I would gladly go here again and again if the food remains of this calibre. -1 for the average veggies.

Joe's BBQ

I was meeting up with a friend to steal her parking pass for work in Sunnybank so I decided to go out for a meal. I picked Joe because it was somewhere I hadn't been before and I couldn't get a park in Market Square.

Weakest excuse ever

Its a very simple little shop as most BBQ places seem to be for whatever reason. Black tables and chairs, pictures of the food everywhere, a hand written chalk specials board in Mandarin and a counter with a glass display case where a man quickly chops up barbequed meats.

Every BBQ shop ever

What makes this place interesting are all the random signs from someone with an Internet based sense of humour. I forgot to take a photo but there are lots of "KEEP CALM AND EAT BBQ" type meme pictures floating around as well.

Also lots of pictures of Brisbane

Here is their menu!

I ordered pan fried dumplings as my entree. They came out super sizzling hot with an impressively crunchy bottom despite their pale appearance. They were also a touch on the small size, the same size as that dish of sweet chilli sauce pictured, let's guess about 5-6cm in length. I was very surprised and scalded when I bit into one, they were actually Shanghai style soup dumplings so I had a steaming hot mouthful of soup.They had a very good porky and green onion flavour. While they were small, I'd gladly order them again.

Teeny weeny handmade dumplings

I ordered the roasted duck and dry noodle and received this thing below. I'm sure that's what we all confirmed it as. Both myself and the waiter knew I was getting this roasted duck and dry noodle dish, then this odd concoction appears. I was expected stir fried noodles with chopped up roast duck plonked on top.

It was duck, it just seemed to be twice cooked roasted then braised duck, or at least that's what the flavour of it was. The duck was meltingly tender and fatty with a thick, savoury, dark brown gravy that soaked through my noodles. It also had a side of steamed cabbage which went well with it. It was an absolutely massive serving and I struggled to finish it after my noodles. It was tasty if somewhat odd.

What

Joe's BBQ

Atmosphere: 6, slightly different than your usual Chinese BBQ restaurant

Service: 6, friendly waiters and waitresses even if their English isn't crash hot.

Food: 6.5, the food is all stuff I wasn't expecting but was still tasty. Not to mention it was all quite cheap and with large portions. I would probably go here again just out of curiosity to see what else they can serve up.