REVIEW: Papparich

Papparich in the Wintrergarden

Food is a massive part of culture, and one of the most enjoyable parts. It's one of the most accessible ways to learn about a country, what the people eat is influenced by trade, by the environment, by climate and so much more. Cuisine evolves, new produce effects trends, new technology's change how meals are prepared and the movement of people regenerates food. Take how the Greek immigrants brought Greek food and café culture to Australia in the 1950's and 60's, or how the classic fish and chips was introduced to England in the 16th century from Jewish refugees. Food is history, food is life and inextricably bound together with culture.

Malaysia is a melting pot and the food reflects this. With restaurants in all over Australia and overseas, Papparich comes to Brisbane, opening a brand new franchise in the Wintergarden. The restaurant has an open kitchen, giving a great view of the flaming woks. We were seated in the open-air balcony area and while it was pretty, I can't deny it was very warm. But this did steer us towards the extensive beverage menu and its enticing range of icy drinks.

Icy goodness

We ordered Mango Mania and Tropical Lime  ice blended drinks. Both were cooling and refreshing, but definitely for those with a sweet tooth. We got straight on to entrees and although I was absolutely DEVASTATED that there were no Pappa Deep Fried Chicken Skins left, we consoled ourselves with the Pappa Fried Chicken Wings. They were moist on the inside and crispy on the outside. If the chicken skins are half as good as the wings, I will be returning for them soon!

Yummy goodness!

We got two mains and shared them and we absolutely agonized over our choices. Malaysia has such a broad range of dishes, with Indian, Chinese, Malay and Indonesian influences. We settled on Vegetarian Char Koay Teow with egg and the exciting looking Roti Telur with Beef Rendang.

The Char Koay Teow took me straight back to hawker markets and hot South-East Asian nights, with delicious silky rice noodles and the charred, fiery taste of the wok. This dish is a Malaysian classic with great flavours and the contrast between the exquisitely slippery noodles and crispy vegetables. A definite winner dish.

Such an exciting dish!

The Roti Telur with Beef Rendang came out on a big silver tray with the roti in the centre and curry and condiments on the outside. The pieces of beef were tender and fell apart. The curry was fairly mild with a sweet taste that paired well with the roti. It was fun to adjust taste with the condiments on the side.

Interesting...

Finally, we decided to get a little adventurous and ordered one of the most unusual items we could find. We decided upon the Steamed Mantau with Kaya, steamed buns with a sweet green paste which was coconut jam. The buns had a generous smear of butter on them too. Now, I have to be honest, I did not like these at all. But my dining companion, while she agreed that they were unusual, ate most of her bun. And I'm glad I tried them.

Papparich offers a wide range of dishes with curries, noodles, soups and fried goodies, it's the perfect place for a weekday lunch or languorous dinner. Affordable and efficient, it's a welcome addition to the city's dining landscape.

Disclaimer: Cassie Cakes was an invited guest of Papparich Brisbane. Opinions are my own and the above review is an honest account of my experience.

 

REVIEW: Locavore Cafe

Sustainable eating at Locavore.

The term Locavore means one who is interested in eating food from a 100 mile radius, or 160 kilometres. Locavore Café focuses on this ethos, serving food within such a distance with a emphasis on ethical and sustainable eating. And I just love this idea. It's not hard to uncover lots of nasty facts about where our food comes from, if you look a little. So anything that helps our winged and four legged friends is good in my eyes. With such a wonderful manifesto, it was the perfect place to meet some fellow foodies, lovely ladies from Braking for Breakfast and Yelp Brisbane.

Some tempting baked goods at the counter.

Brand spanking new, Lovacore Café sits on Logan Road between the heart of Woolloongabba and the edge of Stones Corner. The café is new and light, with lots of sun being let in from the floor to ceiling windows. The service was attentive as well, with a waiter taking drink orders as soon as I sat.

Good froth on an okay milkshake.

I ordered the Salted Caramel milkshake for $8. If it's on the menu, I order it. It arrived quickly and was a good size. However the flavour was pretty weak, with a some caramel flavour but no discernible saltiness. The texture was also quite thin. It did have a lot froth on top which was quite tasty. For the price though, it was a bit meh. Check out the Milkshake Bar for it's ranking.

Scrambled eggs.

Along with lots of amazing sounding hot beverages - heirloom hot chocolate anyone? - the breakfast menu offers a few different and unexpected options, such as the Prawn Congee ($18.90) looked interesting as did the Gingerbread Pancake with clotted cream, fresh figs and Bee One Third honeycomb and bee pollen ($16.90) but unusually, I wasn't hungry so I ordered Eggs on Toast - Echo Valley Free Range Organic Eggs, Crust & Co. Artisan Sourdough ($10.90) which I got scrambled. It and the other meals arrived quickly. And unfortunately, it wasn't the most impressive of dishes. The eggs okay, a tad overdone and the bread tasted a bit burnt. A little disappointing.

Corned beef fritters with some well done tomatoes.

Next up was the Corned Beef Fritter - Grass Fed Beef Fritter, Wilted Greens, Poached Egg, Onion and Corn Relish for $18.90. This dish was slightly more impressive looking, but didn't fare much better, taste wise. The greens weren't wilted and the poached eggs were again a bit overdone. The fritters were deep fried, rather than pan fried, which would be matter of preference. However, the fritters had a generous amount of corned beef.

Wholesome wholegrain porridge.

The by far and away winner was the Mixed Wholegrain Porridge - Poached Rhubarb & Pear, Vanilla Milk and Hazlenut Praline ($11.90). The porridge was sweetened by the poached fruit and vanilla. The serving was generous as well. The use of wholegrain oats gave the oats a great, firm bite to it.

A pretty flat-lay, styled by @brakingforbreakfast

Overall, I was disappointed with Lovacore. However they have only been open a week and perhaps the training wheels are still on for them. It certainly wasn't the worst food I've ever eaten, the interior is pleasant and airy and the staff were very attentive. I do wonder how they'll fair with the Woolloongabba café precinct, full of so many stellar cafes, at the end of Logan Road so close by.


The interior.

Food: 2.5/5
Service: 3.5/5
Price: 3/5
Atmosphere: 3.5/5
 

REVIEW: Dannyboys Sandwich Bar



This is the front of the shop. Can you see my reflection there?

Last weekend, I attended an event called Eat Brisbane, which is a food orientated meet-up for Instagrammers and bloggers. This was the fourth ever Eat Brisbane (Instagram profile @EatBrisbane) event held. I was really excited to be involved in this event as I felt it was a great opportunity to meet lots of the foodies I follow and it was great to put face to Instagram names.


Dannyboys is so street.

The meet was held at Dannyboys Sandwich bar at Kelvin Grove. I had seen the name of Dannyboys around but being on the other side of the city, the north side, it might has well have been in Cameroon. But then Eat Brisbane happened, so I got in my car and went to Cameroon! And by that, I mean Kelvin Grove.

The star of Dannyboys sandwiches are the bread. Baked in house, with no added preservatives, the smell of the bread was the first thing that hit me as I entered the shop. The second was the funky graffiti that adorned the walls and the upbeat atmosphere.


Check out my pamphlet styling skillz. 

I met the Eat Brisbane hosts (on Instagram under (@Ausmican_Eats  and  @Ameriaus_Food) and made my way upstairs to the seating area which filled up fast with fellow foodies and sat down to peruse the menu. Dannyboys menu reads like a sandwich lovers heaven with so many amazing sandwiches! 

This is from the episode of The Simpsons where Homer takes the sandwich home from the company picnic and he eats it for weeks after and then he's too sick to go to Duff Land. Just so you know.

The KJ Club which has turkey breast, bacon, cheddar cheese, tomato, onion, lettuce and mayonnaise almost had me but ultimately I chose the eponymous Dannyboy sandwich ($10) which has ovenbaked chicken breast, mozzarella, onion, lettuce with both ranch and buffalo sauces. My dining companion (@diddylaws )chose another one of my contenders, The Halfbrick ($10) which has ovenbaked chicken breast, bacon, avocado, tomato, lettuce and ranch dressing and her partner (@lawsy) chose the grand sounding Big Boy ($12) with leg ham, corned beef, shaved chicken loaf, salami, cheddar, tomato, onions, pickles, lettuce and mayonnaise. Phew! I'm tired just listing all those ingredients!


Look at this bread. So good.

We also got the choice of soup and I was so close not to ordering one but I am so glad I did. We got two serves of the Vegetable Corn Chowder and one serve of Broccoli Cheddar, all $4.50. The food arrived really quickly and my fears of so many sandwich orders holding up my lunch were quickly allayed. And I was so happy to be tucking in to the soup which was thick and creamy with visible bits of carrots and corn. The broccoli cheddar soup got rave reviews as well and was thick with melted cheese. he bread on the side was my first taste of Dannyboys famous bread and I devoured the lot! The bread was so good, soft on the inside, crusty on the outside. Things looked promising for the sandwich.

This soup was so good and when you dipped the bread in, you got some croutons on the bread and what goes better with bread than bread?

And that promise delivered. The sandwich was absolutely stuffed with flavour. It was messy and drippy and so good. The sandwiches knocked each table in succession into silence as the sandwiches were greedily consumed. I was more than a little dusty from a night of drinking before and this sandwich had the stuff to set me straight. The half brick and big boy were received equally high praise.


This was my sandwich, the Danny Boy.



...and this was the Big Boy!



And this was the Half Brick with the Broccoli Cheddar soup.

The sandwich was the short version but I couldn't finish it all and I did try. So when the cupcakes came round, I was devastated I couldn't fit them in as Dannyboys claim they're some of the best in Brisbane...they haven't tried mine though so I'll let that slide. But they looked amazing and the bit I did pick at was very, very good. Maybe not Cassie Cake good but don't let that deter you!  

Hmm...it does look good, maybe we should have a Dannyboy vs. Cassie Cakes cupcake off!

The Oreo cupcake! Who would win in a bake off?!

I don't often venture over to the dark side, I mean the north side but next time I'm over that way, I know where to get the best damn sandwiches in Brisbane. Highly recommended! And thanks to the organisers of Eat Brisbane 4 for a great afternoon out! Check out the hashtag #EatBrisbane4 on Instagram for more great photos of the event.

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