REVIEW:Southside Tea Room



REPRESENT, SOUTHSIDERS! Southside born and bred, yo.

You'll have to forgive my somewhat lax blog post frequency. Our laptop has finally packed it in so I have to use our home theatre computer to do all my blogging. In theory, you'd think it would be awesome. Blogging on the big screen. But it's not as good as it seems. When you get home of a night, you feel like watching a bit of Bob's Burgers or True Detective while you do your blog. But with the television tied up with quality shows, there's no where to blog. I'm sure you're all hanging out for my every post (hi mum!) but please bear with me during my technical difficulties.


There are some seriously good-sounding brownies in this case.

So a few Fridays ago, I had the day off and so did Mr Cakes. He had been fasting for a blood test and after, we planned to get something to eat. Turns out, he had fasted for too long which we both didn't know was possible and was told that it had to be 12 hours precisely. What's a person to do but to break the fast...with breakfast!


That dolphin gives me the creeps. He looks like a sex offender.

Southside Tea Room is so close to us, it's embarrassing that we hadn't been before. I feel like I say that about a lot of places. I'm the worst foodie. Anyway, we walked down to the café, which sits on the very busy Wynnum Road. Southside Tea Room isn't in the prettiest of places but it does a roaring trade. I'm sure this is in no small part to it's cool factor. Owned by Patience and John of Brisbane band The Grates gives this café a serious dose street cred. Side note: I attended a house warming thrown by Patience and her housemates in Norman Park a long time ago. Am I cool yet? Totes.

Also creepy.

When we visited, not many other cafes on the strip had patronage. But the Tea Room only had a table or two spare. I thought this meant the cool factor was working, and hopefully, the food here is good. The décor at the Tea Room is something that has to be remarked upon. To say that the walls are adorned with eclectic items might be a bit of a stretch. It's more like the walls have shit that you would find on the street during a kerbside collection hung on them. And there was a large table of impressively cool young teens who looked they just stepped by on their way to a Woodstock re-enactment. But...it all works. It's a hip hole in the wall, a neighbourhood secret.

Why would anyone drink coffee when milkshakes exist I'll never know.

We sat down and after a quick perusal, made our choices. Mr Cakes has gone all coffee crazy lately so he ordered a long black ($3.70). I noticed that the coffee is from Dramanti (the 19-20-20 blend to be precise) whose café is near my work and all the coffee drinkers at my work are very positive in their appraisal of Dramanti blends. Mr Cakes was equally impressed and said it was  good, strong flavour. Southside Tea Room milkshakes often appear in discussions of the best milkshakes in Brisbane and y'all know me, I just can't pass up a milkshake. There are some very exciting sounding milkshakes on the menu, including Oreo, Strawberries & Cream and Nutella, but I like to stick to the classic Salted Carmel ($7.50).

Will you look at this thing?! Isn't it awesome?!

The waitress did make the wrong one and bought over an Oreo milkshake and oh my days, I had order regret. It looked amazing with mini Oreos on top. But she soon bought the salted caramel one over and it looked pretty exciting too. I'm not one for whipped cream but this whipped cream had 100's & 1000's sprinkles on top which made it a delight to scoop up with the long spoon. Plus there was a marshmallow on top! Presentation was really A+. The caramel flavour of the milkshake was good too with a good thickness. And I definitely tasted flakes of salt, which I love. But where does it rank on the Milk Bar? Check it out.


He can eat like a lumberjack but if I find an extra large pair of high heels, suspenders and a bra in his work bag, we might have an issue.

For mains, Mr Cakes ordered the Lumberjack ($22), which fitting as his face is hairy like a flannel wearing mountain man. The Lumberjack is two fried eggs, bacon, smokey BBQ beans, hot sausage, avocado and fried tomato on toast. He also got an extra side of haloumi ($4) which was a generous 3 bits, cooked really well. The meal was a big portion. Indeed fit for a axe wielding woodsmen. And I don't know where they get their sausage from but it was delicious, spiced and moreish. I got told off for stealing more than a taste.

Yum.

\I ordered to Huevos Rancheros ($16), which is corn tortillas, fried eggs, house black beans, salsa, avocado and queso fresco. Everything on the plate was just so good. And as a chilli addict, I appreciated the good quality hot sauce on the table and used lashings of it. The corn tortillas have to be homemade, they were rustic, soft and amazing. I broke up the eggs and avocado, roughly folded it all together on the plate then invited it all to the party in my mouth. Also, on both dishes, the eggs were cooked just how I like them with none of the whites undercooked and translucent but with the yolks still wonderfully runny. Well done.


My sombrero wearing friend.


If a café is cool but don't have the substance to back it up, people clue on and they soon close. Southside Tea Room has the hip factor, they are trendy in their undone, haphazard décor but the service is good, the food is delicious and the price is right. Maybe gravity won't get you high, but Southside Tea Room is certainly intoxicating.

Food: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Price: 4/5
Atmosphere: 3/5
 

REVIEW: The Book Kitchen

See the black dog on the left there? He's a groodle and his name is Gus and he's a good boy.

Oops! How can it be two weeks since my last post? I'll tell you how. I went to Sydney! And then I got sick. But...I went to Sydney! For my birthday! And I had one of the best birthdays of my 20 something years. That's right, 20 something. That gives you an indication of how old I might be, since I'm not willing to say outright what something in the 20's I am. But you shush your mouth! I'm 20 something, goddamn it!

The wonderful industrial yet cosy interiors.

As far as chronology goes, this is the second restaurant I have to review from my Sydney jaunt but I wanted to do this one first. The morning after the night before, we were a touch shady and boy, was I looking forward to breakfast. Hold up..."boy"? What am I, a mid-western choirgirl? Um, no. Anyway, moving on.

Book lined walls.

My lovely friend who lives in Sydney took me to one of my favourite Sydney suburbs, Surry Hills. Alliteration for the win! Surry Hills is full of so many lovely cafes with a great food scene and this little café was no exception. The Book Kitchen sits on Devonshire Street, which is pleasantly busy, making it great for people watching from the tables outside. A table inside also seemed a great place to sit, with the book lined walls and great bustling atmosphere but on this sunny Saturday, we nabbed a seat in the cool winter sun.

Action shot.

Service was prompt with water and menus delivered quickly and drink orders taken swiftly. We ordered a hot chocolate ($4) and a pot of TBK Chai Leaf Tea ($5.50). There were tragically no marshmallows for my hot chocolate and after Felix, few other hot chocolates please me without marshmallows. What's the bloody point. Still, it wasn't horrid and it did the job. The chai tea was delightful - wonderfully spiced, milky and sweet - it hit the spot.

Looks the goods...wasn't the goods.

After drinking our hot drinks, we were ready to order. The waitress was so accommodating and thoroughly knew the menu. There were many tempting choices with lots of vegetarian options, which I'm really learning to notice as I move away from such meatcentric eating. We ordered two dishes and decided to share. There was a caramel milkshake on the menu however the kitchen was heartbreakingly out of caramel, so I got a chocolate milkshake ($7). The texture was very thin and the flavour was not very strong but the canister was cold and the serving was big. Check out where it ranks on The Cassie Cakes Milk Bar.

The meals arrived quickly and together and were presented invitingly! First, the Trio Corn Fritters - Poached Edd, Avo Salsa, Rocket with Roast Tomato ($20), plus we got extra Haloumi ($6). The haloumi was good and I'm glad we ordered it, but it was nothing on the Greek Festival haloumi. But for café haloumi, very good. Maybe the haloumi tempted comparison but the fritters...stand aside! No comparison came close. These fritters were so tasty, the corn was juicy and sweet, they were friend well and along with the avocado salsa and egg poached to perfection...mouth party. Please get the fritters if you come to The Book Kitchen.

For our second meal, we ordered the Slow Cooked Greek Beans - Rich Tomato Sauce, Poached Eggs, Salsa Verde, Pancetta and Sourdough for $19. The waitress kindly got our beans sans pancetta. The beans were tasty and firm to the bite, as though al dente. The toast was delightfully buttery, scooping up the beans with a hunk of buttery sourdough was an absolute treat. The eggs were also stellar and as with the Corn Fritter, just perfect. I love a well poached egg - the whites firm and the yolk runny.

The food at The Book Kitchen was top, everything was well cooked and well seasoned, balanced and tasty. The drinks were okay, not the best milkshake or hot chocolate but the chai tea was spot on. With such great food, backed by friendly and quick service, The Book Kitchen is really a wonderful brunch spot. It was such a pleasant café. Highly recommended.

Food: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Price: 3.5/5
Atmosphere: 4/5