RJIE 20: Brekkie at Bitter Suite

Yeah, I am never going to go back here ever again. The menu just doesn't interest me and its too far away. This has been sitting unpublished with one dish for almost four months. Time to let go.

Bitter Suite is a lovely little cafe/bar which is open for all three meals and has a very extensive menu.I feel like its a bit out of the way, considering its not on New Farm's main street, Brunswick.

I got a seat by myself far, far away from everyone else. I liked that all the tables had a fresh arrangement of flowers on them, I actually picked mine because of the bright orange marigold on it.

Look how pretty it is!

I ordered a piccolo which was absolutely perfect, smooth, dark and just a tinge bitter, I drank it without sugar and would've had another one if I wasn't so buzzy from the first. They stock Fonzie Abbot expresso here which is a Brisbane based roaster, Hamilton to be precise. They stock really good hand roasted, single origin beans as well as wonderful blends, they do a lot of markets too, so watch out for them!

I'm a sucker for big breakfasts, this one consisted of a choice of eggs, a massive smoked pork cutlet, garlic mushrooms, spinach, tomato salsa, potato hash cake, roasted tomato, black pudding and a chunk of sourdough with butter. I really regret not taking a second photo of what the actual smoked pork cutlet looked like under the mushrooms and the black pudding, the meat section was the same size as the bread! It came with a little frenched bone handle which I thought was a nice touch, absolutely delicious and I didn't finish it. 

The scrambled eggs are the creamiest I've ever tasted, hands down, just a sunshine yellow, creamy blob of egg, that held its shape lovingly and didn't weep on my plate. The garlic mushrooms were nice and salty, using an assortment of button mushrooms and slightly larger field mushrooms. The roasted tomato was okay. The black pudding is not the best I've ever had, I really like black pudding but this one was quite plain, with just the nubbly texture of blood and creamy chunks of fat mixed in. The potato cake is okay, nothing special. I liked the chewiness of the bread and the little disc of butter was a perfect size for my slice of bread.

Bitter Suite
Atmosphere: 8, super cute, well lit little restaurant. I really enjoyed going here and I loved the fresh flower arrangements.
Service: 8, super cheerful, friendly waitresses who all greeted me whenever they walked past. It reminded me of going through my private high school as an alumni and being called ma'am all the time. They were very quick to clear away dishes and ask if I needed anything.
Food: 6, solid food, not particularly innovative or anything but still well cooked and very well presented. 

Verve Restaurant, Bar and Cider House

My posting has really slowed down recently because I've been so busy/drained at work. It's been a while since I've had a holiday and I'm pretty tired. The real reason though, is the damn heat.

Pretty much

The heat, considering I've lived in Queensland for 18 out of 23 years I've been alive, I am ridiculously heat sensitive. I sneeze every time I enter an area with a drastically different temperature. At work, I will always sneeze at 4am and 4pm, cause the air conditioning changes temperature to accommodate the different day/night requirements. I sweat like a sinner in a church with the non permeable gowns we need to wear for isolation too.

My catchphrase

My Boyfriend knows how much of a whiny, annoying bitch I can be when I'm hot and sweaty, since I always visit him before work. I normally end up stripping off to cool down, I hit/bite him when he gets too close and I moan and complain if the fan isn't on me. He knows now, to stay out of my way and bring me a cool drink when I come through the door. God, that boy is so tolerant of my bullshit.

Anyway, we went here for JGirl's 21st birthday! Shishi, Dr H., Mandy and I went. VGirl was still in Japan at this time otherwise she'd have been there for sure. When JGirl was commuting into the city, she got busted by ticket inspectors on her bus for not renewing her GoCard and go fined $220. She was so full of rage, I've never seen her so angry. We offered to pay it off as a birthday present but she refused, so we just threw money at her for a joint present, we made it rain the dollars.

So much blur

Here is their menu.

The specials of the day

Its a very dark, poorly lit sort of underground bar. There is a steep staircase leading downstairs and lots of little tables everywhere. The roof is very low and solid, so every sound is magnified in the small space. The majority of the pictures were taken with a smartphone as a back light which made for some interesting photos. Then we got lazy and hungry so the rest were taken in the dark. I am a very motivated food blogger.

Average level of light in this place

They have a very extensive cider menu but we just went with Elk pear cider and Rekorderlig wild berry. JGirl ordered the Elk pear cider and had a second one later that night, she says she likes it due to its low alcohol content. The Rekoderlig was my choice and I didn't quite finish it.  Here is the rest of their menu.

We got some calamari as one of our shared entrees, which came on a bed of rocket drizzled with balsamic glaze, two lemon wedges and some house aioli. The calamari was very tender with a slightly crunchy exterior with not quite a light dusting of salt as the menu said. Everyone found the calamari to be well cooked but very intensely salty, which spoiled it

Well cooked

We also got the trio of dips with bread, the dips change day by day but we guessed from left to right, roasted capsicum and feta, a white bean dip and then a beetroot and walnut dip. The roasted capsicum dip was by far the tastiest, smokey, sweet and a little bit spicy, it had a nice saltiness from the feta and we ate that one the quickest. No one really touched the beetroot, it had a nice flavour but it wasn't as sweet as the beetroot we're used to eating. The white bean dip wasn't as smooth as we'd like and quite bland too.

So many spoons

The first thing to come out was the cajun spiced prawn fettucini with rocket, cream, tomato and dry white wine sauce. The pasta was tasty, as were the abundant small plump prawns however the sauce was very creamy tomato and quite plain as well. This was the only thing that wasn't heavily over salted. Dr. H ordered this and we found that this was delicious when mixed with the pasta I had ordered.

So much blandness

JGirl ordered this goats cheese, chicken and pumpkin gnocchi with a cream and rosemary sauce. This was the pick of the day, super creamy and so cheesy with that double richness from the cream and the goats cheese. The gnocchi were like soft fluffy pillows. I even ate the pumpkin which I normally abhor, the rind was left on which I was a bit confused at. We scraped that plate clean, and someone may have licked it a bit but I won't say who.

So utterly delicious

Shishi ordered the Italian pizza which had spiced salami, marinated sour mushrooms, olives and roasted capsicum on top. It was so, so salty, we all had one slice and pushed it aside afterwards. The tomato sauce was a little spicy. The base was quite tasty though, thin, crunchy and with a good flavour.

Sad pizza

After this we went to Passion Tree and had some dessert, I ordered the crying nut waffle which consisted of one jumbo waffle, vanilla ice cream, some crunchy stuff, a cashew and brazil nut praline and a tiny pitcher of maple syrup. This was an utterly delicious dessert and I highly recommend it.

So tasty

We had a shared green tea frozen yoghurt with matcha balls and blueberries.

Pretty standard

This is the cake that Dr H made for JGirl! It's the standard chocolate mud cake from Woolies, covered with smarties, the red ones spell out 21, surrounded by chocolate covered biscuits and held up by a red ribbon. We didn't actually get to eat it because we didn't have a knife and we weren't sure how to cut it. We did take lots of pictures though!

Verve Restaurant, Bar and Cider House:
Atmosphere: 5, dimly lit, super noisy underground bar. I wasn't a fan.
Service: 5, quick service. I didn't really like my waiter but I can't put down a reason why. He seemed quite arrogant is my only real thought.
Food: 5, saved from a 4 just because of that gnocchi. The food was overly salty and not just from my point of view, it really detracted from the entire meal. That being said, everything was well cooked, just incredibly salty.

Chocolate Pavillion

Chocolate Pavillion! The ugly stepchild of the Southbank precinct's dessert bars! Check out their Urbanspoon, they've been slammed by nearly every other person who went there. It really makes for very interesting reading though. I had no idea of the reputation of this place when I went, every time I've been here is at the end of a meal with friends and we've been turned off by the line at Max Brenner and wanted a coffee to chat.

The following review is based off two trips there, one with my Dad, VGirl and my French Cousin, after we went to Char Char Yiros, as well as a visit with my Boyfriend, Lu., and Gill, after we went to Bamboo Basket.

Here is a link to their menu.

My French Cousin ordered the chocolate sandwich consisting of two layers of parfait between thin discs of chocolate, topped with crushed nuts, caramel sauce and tiny, crispy balls of milk, dark and white chocolate. The tiny chocolate balls tasted like Maltesers to be honest and they were absolutely everywhere in every dessert. I managed to take this picture mid fall, but other than that it was almost identical to the picture in the menu! He said it was tasty but unexpected.

VGirl ordered a mint and lychee granita, it was a faintly green tower of unending lychee ice. There was a strong and sweet flavour of lychee with a faint minty freshness from the mint. I gave myself a massive headache when I was drinking this. The gentle curvature of the cup made for deceptive drinking, as I drank and drank and the cup's volume barely changed.

Minty~

On the second occasion I went here, I picked the raspberry cheesecake. The plate was messily drizzled with a tart raspberry coulis, a small cheesecake with baked raspberries was in the centre, topped with more raspberry coulis and a drizzle of white chocolate sauce, a blob of double cream and some randomly scattered white chocolate crispy balls. The coulis was delicious! Sweet, tart and perfectly balanced, I really enjoyed the flavour of the sauce. The cheesecake was smooth, creamy and a good contrast to the sourness of the raspberries. The double cream had real little flecks of vanilla bean! All in all, I found this to be a good dessert wit a nice contrast of flavours.

My plate looks like a kid with red paint

Oozing interior

Gill., picked the sticky date pudding with butterscotch sauce and vanilla double cream. It was a very rich, sticky and moist pudding with a great sauce. I really enjoyed the taste I had.

Lu., got the Ferraro Roche gelato which came drizzled in chocolate sauce and random chocolate crunchy balls. It was tasty, smooth, creamy with a pronounced chocolatey/hazelnutty flavour.

Chocolate Pavillion
Atmosphere: 5, its alright. It's cute. I guess. Yes, in reality, I didn't take particular notice of the place.
Service: 3, I really have to say that the service here is terrible. You're barely noticed, its hard to get someone's attention, dishes aren't cleared and you're promised water on a slow shift and nothing ever arrives. Our orders were correct though so a 3 is what they get.
Food: 5, the food looks exactly like the picture which is nice. Delicious for what you get, although a bit small and I still have no idea why those tiny crunchy balls were everywhere.

Lucky Inn

The first time we went here it was the night of the X Factor finals which Dami Im won. Dad wanted to go out shopping at Yuen's Market, VGirl had to drive him and then she decided to have dinner. She invited me along and I was initially reluctant as there was some big time constraints, we had to get home before 7pm for the X Factor final for Dad, I was poor at the time and had lots of food at home. VGirl agreed to pay for my dinner and so, out we went!

We were walking around trying to find somewhere to eat when I saw their special of salt and pepper mushrooms. I was intrigued and VGirl was keen, so in we went!

This place!

Its this place! Sans Asian family

It looks like your local authentic Chinese takeaway with lots of bilingual chalkboard specials, pictures of food, self serve cutlery and mildly uncomfortable furniture.

Pretty standard interior

They have the usual set up. I highly recommend their garlic and chilli oil sauce, its amazing. They sell it in jam jars at the counter.

Help yourself!

The daily special is available if you buy a full priced main! The time we went it was diced beef and salad, salt and pepper mushroom, crispy chicken or one of two desserts.

This place is a hotel?

Below is their very, very, very extensive menu.

I got a young coconut drink with strips of coconut flesh inside the drink. It was icy cold and quite sweet. It reminded me of that Thai young coconut drink that you can buy in most Asian stores.

Young coconut juice

VGirl got a matcha green tea frappe with red beans. It was a little too bitter for my tastes, but VGirl really enjoyed it.

Matcha!

I got the pork spare ribs in black bean sauce with your choice of crispy egg, ho fan or skinny rice noodles. I picked ho fan for their slippery deliciousness. I really enjoyed this dish, it was deeply savoury from the mashed black bean sauce which coated all the meat and vegetables, the cabbage, carrot, capsicum and onion were all cooked to perfection and the spare rib meat was so tender. I would suggest picking this dish if you don't mind gristle in your food as there was a far bit of it, due to the cut of meat involved, if you like gristle, order away! Towards the end, there was a small puddle of oil, so beware.

Delicious!

This is VGirl's meal of mixed vegetable fried rice. Its a very plain fried rice with egg, broccoli, peas, carrot and onion. She remarked that it was quite bland and plain even by her standards, "as a long time vegetarian." I didn't try too much of the rice, but I had it with the very flavoursome pork ribs and some of that delicious garlic and chilli oil. She managed to split it between herself and Dad.

VGirl was trying to ruin my shot

We were all very impressed when this came out because of how authentic it looked, with it's chopped up jumble of fried garlic, chopped green onion, brown onion and capsicum as well as it's super crunchy slices of king oyster mushroom. The mushrooms themselves didn't have much flavour, just very textually crunchy and slightly bland, there isn't a particularly strong mushroom flavour to these fresh mushrooms at all. The majority of the seasoning is in the topping, so make sure to scoop a little of it up with each mushroom piece.

I went back on a later occasion with my Boyfriend for lunch since he was pining for some laksa. I ordered the minced beef with raw egg and rice. It is an evil looking struggle plate of hand minced beef, peas, straw mushrooms, a thick brown gravy on top of rice with a raw egg plopped on top. Its pretty tasty with that being said, as I said the beef is hand minced so teeny tiny pieces of good quality beef are used and not a beef mince as the name would suggest. The peas were plump and juicy. The egg, once stirred into the hot rice and gravy, thickened up the dish and made it quite rice and shiny. Not for the faint of heart haha, textually it was a touch bland and sloppy due to the ingredients used. I was very full by the time I was halfway finished with this meal.

Order if you dare!

The combination seafood laksa had a mix of flat egg noodles and thin rice noodles, a creamy coconutty soup with a mild building spice, slices of fish tofu, prawns, squid pieces and a few bean sprouts in the mix. The soup was lovely with a rich aroma and creamy mouth feel. I really enjoyed the soup and I liked that it wasn't obviously coconut laced when I looked at it, you could tell when you drank it though. The prawns were sweet and bursty and my Boyfriend really enjoyed his meal.

Combination seafood laksa!

Lucky Inn
Atmosphere: 5, your local authentic Chinese takeway store! Busy with laminated signs, chalkboard specials and flatscreen plasma TVs showing daytime Aussie TV and Chinese cable/dramas.
Service: 10, absolutely wonderful. As I mentioned we were there the night of the X Factor final, we asked if they could swap the TV channel over to the show which they did after some puzzling with the remote. My dad requested tea, and despite it being only a few meters away, the waitress both fetched him some and showed him where to get more if he wanted a refill. We asked for takeaway containers and received them with no charge. The service was extremely prompt with both ordering, placing food and removing plates. I gave them a really large tip for their service which made them quite surprised haha. On the second occasion, they were just as pleasant and quick to help as the first.
Food: 8, tasty, large portions, cheap price and good cooking. I would very gladly go here again for another meal.