Miel Container

I saw this place after I went to Spring with C., H., and L., I was intrigued by it's bright red metallic coating and wandered across the road to investigate to the alarm of my friends. H., said it was a burger place and that it was owned by some Korean people although she had never been there. I vowed to go there again when I was feeling less full.

Of course, with my sense of direction I had no idea where the restaurant was and wasn't able to find it again for another few weeks. All I remembered was that it was on the corner of two streets, it was bright red and I had encountered it walking back to Queens Street Mall from Spring near Eagle Street Pier. I had to backtrack to find it which was fun, its right beside Peony Fusion!

Yeah, its not too hard to find hahaha

I saw this little old fashioned rotary dial telephone that they had set up to be their tipping booth. I thought it was really cute.

Red to match everything else

It's a very small eatery since its operating out of a shipping container after all! There's is not much room for tables, which themselves are quite large. There's space on the side of the shipping container to sit as well. Most of the people who were buying things here were getting them as takeaways, it was still moderately busy at 1-2pm when I went. Here is their menu.

Small!

Just like Ribs and Burgers in the Valley, they have a little metal watering can to stash all the cutlery inside!

I didn't realise this was a thing

I got the Korean BBQ bulgogi burger, a brioche bun, soft, tender, super thin and intensely caramelised bulgogi beef, mesculin lettuce, tomato, tasty cheese, spanish onion and a soy sauce and bean paste mayonnaise. It also came with a small serve of beer battered chips and a saucer of aioli that was thick, creamy and garlicky.

Oooh baby~

This has to be the among the best burger I've ever had in Brisbane. I'll take back the crown from Jude whose cheeseburger has been my favourite for the last four years, with Pawpaw's buttermilk fried chicken burger a close second. This bulgogi beef burger wins hands down one the best burger I've ever had, the beef was so amazingly soft, so intensely flavour with a charry and intensely caramelised edge. The salad was crisp, well arranged and portioned well so that I had a mouthful with each bite. The spanish onion was used sparingly so that it wasn't overwhelming and gave you onion breath. I really adore this burger, and I could marry it. Until I found a better burger that is. My only gripe is that since the bun is so soft, and its bulgogi, bits are falling absolutely everywhere.

So beautiful

Then I found it at Ben's Burgers. I rushed back to Miel Container to try their signature cheeseburger, Aussie grass fed beef pattie, bacon, lettuce, tomato, onion jam, bush tomato chutney, dill mayo and tasty cheese. Its sloppy, just like the last burger and the pattie is quite dry which is disappointing to say the least. Its a very thin pattie which is probably what makes it so dry and not juicy like Ben's Burgers. Its a decent enough combination but I wouldn't go here for a simple cheeseburger.

):

Miel Container
Atmosphere: 6, its a cute shipping container. Super tiny but well decorated interior.
Service: 8, super attentive and friendly service. They were lovely and quickly cleared my table when I finished.
Food: 9, the second best burger in Brisbane. Only because their standard cheeseburger isn't great.

RJIE: Hooha Bar revisited!

I went back here for a first date with a guy I met on Tinder, we had just come out of a movie and we needed somewhere quick before work. I picked Hoo Ha Bar as I remembered that I didn't mind it.

I got these chorizo and paprika popcorn and I was expecting like fried chicken popcorn, little bites of super crunchy, breaded chorizo mince or something. Imagine my surprise when I got a bowl of popcorn! There were lots of heavily salted dried chorizo pieces and lots of fluffy popcorn pieces. It was a shame that the popcorn was so under seasoned and that the chorizo was basically rolled in salt, it made it extremely hard to stomach due to how much salt there was.

So, so salty!

My date got the pulled pork roll, he said it was tasty and I tried a small piece and agreed that the pork was tender and succulent although it was very simply cooked with no other additional flavours.

It looks so pretty though

I also got these crispy wings soaked in honey on a bed of julienned radish and granny smith apple. I thought it was an overly sweet dish and I had why I ordered it except that I love chicken wings.

So, so sweet ):

Sambal Oelek

So my updates haven't been as frequent as I liked, it's seriously straying into the 5-7 day mark rather than the 4-5 that I like. Lots of things have been happening in my life. As you probably guessed, I broke up with my Boyfriend, I also started going to the gym pretty intensely and dating guys again on Tinder recently. I've been going out lots, as seem on my Instagram account @ThatSeriousGirl, and not doing much writing. Or bothering to post many pictures on my Instagram either come to think of it.

Anyway, I'm trying to do half as much writing as I do gym work, considering I've been going 1-2 hours a day, I better get cracking! I just wish I was able to write my blog and do stuff at the gym at the same time. I suppose I could type and cycle at the same time but there's not good enough internet at my gym!

So here I was at Sambal Oelek, the new Indonesian restaurant in Brisbane, handily located in Underwood right off the highway besides my favourite butchers Big Gun!

The menu!

Another menu!

The interior is all bright red plastic furniture, nothing too fancy!

Noice

That being said, they did have these lovely lanterns. I like the interlaced pattern.

Pretty!

I got this tea both times I was here, teh kotak, or a strong, sweetened jasmine tea with a mildly bitter aftertaste. I found it refreshing and super sweet, it was also super cheap for only $2 a box! I highly recommend trying this if you're used to the taste of bubble teas and the like.

50% extra? Bargain!

I got the pangsit goreng ayam the first time I went here, basically deep fried chicken mince fritters! The filling was very reminiscent of a chicken version of the filling you get in prawn wontons, that slightly gingery, moussey and green onion flavoured combination. The wrapper was deep fried perfection, it had that immensely satisfying crunch like a prawn cracker. It was so wonderfully bubbly and the crispy exterior melted on the tongue, I took great delight in eating each fritter. It came with some sweet chili sauce that was a good contrast.

Tasty!

I got the sop buntut or oxtail soup as well! All the main dishes come with a side of rice or coconut rice depending on your preference. This was listed as being the famous, hearty and comforting dish of Indonesia, tender slow cooked oxtail with potato and carrot chunks in a clear soup.

Oxtail soup!

It tasted like home, like those thick, slowly cooked bone in soups that you get when you were younger as a meal, or at least I did. I could taste the greasy film from the soup on my lips and it reminded me of a warm winter's day. It was a very basic but comforting dish that was very well made. I quite enjoyed it! It came with a little dish of sambal that was mildly spicy but nothing spectacular.

It tastes like home even if I'm not Indonesian :P

I came back about a week later to try the rendang sapi, a beef rendang done in the Indonesian style. There was a huge dish of the beef stew with a thick but very oily sauce. It had all the sauce mostly absorbed by the shredded coconut but I suspected it wasn't pan fried off because it was put it because it was quite chewy and didn't have the same aroma. As beef rendang goes, its not as good as the one I make at home, two or three pieces were horrifically chewy although most of them were quite soft and tender. As far as restaurant ones go, its probably the best one I've had. Good level of spice, well balanced spices and mostly tender meat. I got coconut rice as my pick this time as well.

Someone at work saw this and said ITS A BOOB

Yum~!

Sambal Oelek
Atmosphere: 5, basic little Asian eatery. Clean with laminated menus hurray!
Service: 8, very friendly service. The first time I was here, the owner walked me through the menu and highly recommended the oxtail soup, fried chicken and beef rendang and they were good!
Food: 7.5, tasty and cheap food! Plus close to where I love, what else is there in life hahaha

Qwerk Espresso

This was the first and last time I went to C.,'s house before she moved down to Melbourne so this breakfast will stick out in my memory for a lot of reasons. I also got to meet her lovely golden retriever puppy Lucy and she was so cute, I could've stolen her in my handbag. She was such a sweet, well behaved and bouncy little puppy.

Since I don't go too far north of the Brisbane CBD, she took me to her local cafe and we had a great time. It's easily found since it's on an intersection.

This place!

The interior is very mismatched furniture, lots of cosy nooks to sit in and band posters, upcoming festivals and events to catch your eye.

This spot

Their syrups

Another cosy nook

They have their menu chalked up on the chalkboard/desk which I thought was neat.

They also have a paper menu with that being said.

I got the Frooty Tooty juice, pineapple, watermelon, apple and orange drink. Or that's what it would be if they had any watermelon that day, that was fine with me because I don't actually like watermelon that much, It was a sweet, tart and icy cold drink, I really enjoyed it and would recommend it.

Tasty fluffy drink

I got the homemade spicy Texas beans with sausages on sourdough with cheese, tomato and jalapenos. It originally came with avocado, but I didn't want it so they knocked off a $2 off the price and they had no sour cream so I got two sauces free! My lactose intolerance flares up so badly with sour cream its a bit ridiculous. I quite liked the dish! The house made beans were kidney beans, slow cooked in a rich and slightly sweet tomato sauce, the sausage were thick cut, pork and mildly spicy. I found the cheese would've been more appealing briefly melted on top of the food, it was a bit sweaty looking when it arrived.

Free sauces, a tomato chutney and a hollandaise sauce.

Much better than sour cream anyway :D

C., got the smashed avocado and haloumi on toast with a drizzle of balsamic glaze. She said it was delicious, although you can't go wrong with a good avo smash!

Qwerk Espresso
Atmosphere: 7, lovely little local cafe! Nice sunny spots to sit and lots of different little nooks you can sit in.
Service: 8, really friendly and lovely people. Happy to oblige with any requests and sub in or out anything you want.
Food: 7, pretty good food and for a super cheap price. I'd head down for sure if it was my local :)

Saj and Grill

I really enjoy Middle Eastern food, I've had this place on my radar for ages but its opening times are really odd so I've never managed it. I decided to go here for a solo breakfast one day, just out of boredom.

Mmm this place

This place was absolutely freaking freezing, even when I sat on the inside. I can't even emphasise how cold it was that day, I couldn't feel my face.

Grahhh

Here is their menu! This is their little set up, its a very simple little place, a front counter, menus on the cupboards and the saj oven in the corner.

The Saj!

Small!

I picked the chicken saj, it was made out of marinated garlic chicken tenderloin, olives, mushroom, cheese and onion. The saj was a flexible, lightly golden brown but slightly fluffy flat bread. I got an option of homemade hot sauce or sweet chilli sauce and I went with the hot sauce. It was so scorching hot that I couldn't really enjoy the rest of the saj, it was a sweet, fruity and yet super spicy sauce. I was panting so hard in between bites to cool my mouth down, it was tasty but I wouldn't order it again.

Drowning in sauce ):

I came back here a few weeks later for a second meal, this time just their plain herb za'atar. Za'atar is an amazing mix of salt, thyme, oregano, sesame seeds and sumac. It can be used as a topping on pizza with some olive oil to moisten it, as a dip or as a spice rub with meats. Any way you have it, it's an amazing flavour combination, salty, fragrant, lemony from the use of sumac and nutty from the roasted sesame seeds. It does get stuck everywhere in your teeth though, so there's that.

There's another foot of it

Just a peek of za'atar poking out

The za'atar herb saj is amazing, a super skinny but very long roll of freshly cooked saj, spread over with an olive oil and za'atar combination that is intensely flaky, buttery and intensely flavoured from the za'atar mixture. It's a great snack.

Those layers!

Saj and Grill
Atmosphere: 4, freezing spartan in appearance. ): not my favourite of places to sit.
Service: 8, absolutely lovely guys who recognised everyone by name/order and had a joke with them.
Food: 7, utterly redeemed by the za'atar herb saj, I'd definitely avoid the garlic chicken with hot chilli option and try the za'atar. It's one of those flavours you'll find yourself craving months down the track.

King Ahiman's Lebanese Food

I heard this place had the best falafel in town from one of my patients, although that being said, his uncle was the owner so I was a bit dubious. I regularly have a massage in West End at the wonderful Skeletal Harmonics, so I was in the area to check it out. For $4 a falafel roll, it wasn't anything that was going to break my budget if I had it.

Jesus Christ, it was one of the best falafels I've ever eaten. You get about eight densely packed, super crunchy falalel with bright green insides from the parsley, pine nut and chickpea mixture that isn't too stodgy but remains very light and moist, all in one roll. The rest of the roll isn't anything fancy with some lebanese wraps, bean sprouts, grated carrot, shredded lettuce and some hummus spread across the bread to round things out, but its a thick and generously portioned roll for the cheap price of $4.

Since that one faithful day I tried it, I have not looked back and every time I get a massage, I buy myself some of these falafels as a snack.

50 cents a pop

They sell other stuff too and just as cheap, not that I care because its all about the falafel. The chicken, lamb or beef shawamas are just as cheap for only an extra $0.50, and just as generously portioned. I didn't think the garlic chicken shawama was anything to write home about but the falafels definitely are.

Garlic chicken shawarma

King Ahiram Lebanese Food
Atmosphere: 5, its a little hole in the wall restaurant. It has a few tables you can sit and have your meal at but its nothing glamorous.
Service: 5, brisk and non too friendly, you get your food and not a single smile with it. They are super quick and efficient though so that sort of balances things out.
Food: 10, best falafel ever. Disregard everything else acquire falafels.

RJIE: Breakfast at Ponycat

Oh Ponycat, one of the most beloved of the New Farm breakfast scene. I have wanted to go here for years, but newer and shinier places have always beckoned. It's finally time!

I had a good run of no RJIE posts but its time to have them again, cause even though Ponycat does a slightly fancy normal brekkie, nothing is really pulling me back to try their menu again :/.

Eyeball the menu!

More menu options

I like the interior decorating, I don't actually know if you can sit and eat under those windows but it looks like a nice place to curl up and read a book. I think I'm a sucker for reading nooks.

The interior is lovely

I got the iced tea, I don't know why it had such a high head of foam on it. It had a lemon and green flavour but it wasn't particularly sweet and was mostly ice. I wouldn't get it again.

Beer steins

I got the mushroom stack with goats cheese, poached eggs and honey baked ham. There is one sole piece of honey baked ham, but its a very large, thick, succulent and sweet piece, which is slouched on the left hand side of that stack. The flavours and ingredients used in the stack, spinach, garlic roasted mushrooms, pesto and creamy goats cheese are hardly new combinations, but they always work so beautifully together, who can fault them?

Classic flavours

I'm not sure why the lighting changed so dramatically between these two pictures but I have to add I got suspicious of the poached eggs as they were joined together. They did have a gorgeous oozy centre, so I suppose I'll forgive them, the crazy amounts of cracked pepper was my idea not Ponycat's.

Still runny!

Ponycat:
Atmosphere: 7, bright, eclectically decorated little cafe. I love the reading nook.
Service: 6, solid. I can't remember anything particularly interesting about their service or negative.
Food: 6, well cooked, classic flavours in a good size. Nothing particularly revolutionary but great for a solid feed. I wouldn't go back there with that being said, only because I don't feel like I'd try anything else off their menu.