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: 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
 

Chocolate Fudge Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream, Salted Caramel and Dark Chocolate Ganache

A chocolate cake for serious cake lovers...a dark, moist fudge cake with sweet and salty salted caramel buttercream, salted caramel sauce and oozing dark chocolate ganache...

Sweet gods of sugar!



Sometimes, it's best to go the healthy option. It's better to get the salad than the burger. It's better to get the fruit salad than the full, big brekky. Hold the butter, get the skim milk, no chips and no dessert. And then, sometimes it's best to seriously indulge. And this cake is for those times.



All this can make magic. Cake magic. The best magic. Except like, Aladdin's Genie's magic. He could make a million cakes!



This is my Chocolate Fudge Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream, Salted Caramel and Dark Chocolate Ganache. Oh my diabetes.




If I were magic, I would cast a spell that would take all the calories out of cakes. And then I would eat cake all day long. Probably not the best use of my powers but hey. This is my scenario!



I had been thinking about cake for a week. My favourite chocolate cake is one that was synonymous with birthdays in our house growing up. I love chocolate cake, which should not come as a surprise and all cake is good cake but the Chocolate Fudge Cake is my most ultimate favourite. And it's the only cake that will do when the craving for chocolate cake comes. Which is often.






The contrast between Dutch processed and natural cocoa.



I wanted this cake to be dark and moody and a little bit messy. In order for the cake to really achieve the darker colour, I used Dutch processed cocoa. Dutch processed cocoa is a lot darker, as you can see from the photo above and also tastes different. I assure you, natural cocoa works in this cake perfectly well but for a more adult cake, use Dutch processed. A good explanation of the differences can be found here. 


Caramel and chocolate, live together in perfect harmony, side by side on my kitchen bench.

To top this lusciously dark cake, what goes better with chocolate than more chocolate. A rich, dark chocolate ganache. Drizzled on top, and encouraged to spill down the sides in the most glorious of ways.



The layers of cake, ready to be dressed in buttercream!

But things can't be all chocolate all the time. Well, they can and that would be wonderful however today, caramel is getting a look in. Salted caramel. In both the buttercream and in liquid form. Salted caramel seems to be having more than it's 15 minutes of fame and for good reason. I doubt there'll be anything to come takes it's crown for quite a while.


Buttercream is the best icing. I'll be over here with copious amounts of butter and sugar.

The salted caramel butter cream is made by making the salted caramel and allowing it to cool. In the meantime, make some light and fluffy buttercream then add a generous amount of the salted caramel to the butter cream. The result is a salty sweet heaven.

And this is how the layers of Chocolate fudge cake, salted caramel buttercream and the two sauces go together.

Using a round open tip, pipe a border of fat kisses around the edge...

Then fill in the interior with a layer of butter cream and a generous amount of salted caramel sauce. Allow delicious rivulets to ooze from between the kisses.

Repeat with the buttercream and this time use the dark ganache. 

Repeat again with the caramel... 

Then top with the final layer of cake and let the ganache flow!

This cake is huge too. Don't go making it without some friends to share it with. That being said, Mr. Cakes did manage to eat two-thirds of it in 4 days. What a legend.

The view from the top.

This cake hit my sweet spot and then some. If you like chocolate and caramel and cake, then this is the cake for you. If you don't, seriously, we can't be friends. Unless you like ice-cream, and then we'll be friends. But I still will question your commitment to food.

Like my dark and moody photography? On trend.

There is nothing better than a homemade cake. And the messier and more gooey this cake looks, the better!



Ready for a cake party!



Can I just point out the sifter there? I bought it at an antique shop and it's so old and charming! I elbowed it into the photos, even though I didn't use it. It deserves a moment.

See how dark that Dutch processed cocoa makes the cake? Wonderful!

Open up for the aeroplane!

Mmmmmmmmmm cake.

Chocolate Fudge Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream, Salted Caramel and Dark Chocolate Ganache

Prep time: 30 mins
Cooking time: 55 mins

Total time:  1 hour 25 mins

Servings: 12 slices

Chocolate Fudge Cake

200g butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups caster sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 eggs

1 cup Dutch processed cocoa

1 cup hot water

1 1/2 cups milk

3 teaspoons vinegar

1 1/2 cups plain cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons bicarbonate soda

Salted Caramel

1 cup caster sugar

1 cup brown sugar

180g butter

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt flakes

Dark Chocolate Ganache

300g dark chocolate

350ml heavy cream

Salted Caramel Buttercream

375g butter, room temperature

3 cups sifted icing sugar

1 1/2 cups salted caramel

Chocolate Fudge Cake

1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Grease, flour and line, with baking paper, two 20cm/8 inch cake pans
3. In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.
4. Add eggs, beating after each addition until incorporated.
5. Add cocoa to a separate bowl and add hot water, a little at a time until it forms a thick paste.
6. Add gradually to butter mixture.
7. Add vinegar to milk to sour.
8. Sift together flour, baking powder and bicarbonate in a separate bowl.
9. Add the flour to the butter mixture in three lots, alternately with milk, starting and ending with the flour.
10. Fold the batter til fully incorporated.
11. Pour 1/4 of the batter into each of the tins and bake for 23 mins.
12. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes in the tins, then turn out to cool on a cooling rack.
13. Bake the remaining batter in the re-prepared tins.

Salted Caramel

1. Add sugars to a heavy bottomed sauce pan, stirring occasionally, until the sugars melt and becomes smooth.
2. Add the butter and whisk until the butter is melted and stirred through.
3. Remove from the heat and slowly pour in the heavy cream.
4. Return to the heat and allow the mixture to boil for 1 minute.
5. Remove from heat and stir in salt.
6. Allow to cool down before using.

Dark Chocolate Ganache

1. Melt the chocolate in a large microwave proof bowl in the microwave in 30 second intervals.
2. Once melted, add cream and stir to combine until smooth.
3. Allow to cool slightly. Ganache should be pourable but not hot

 Salted Caramel Buttercream

1. Beat the butter until light, fluffy and butter has become paler in colour.
2. Sift in the icing sugar and beat well.
3. Add in 1 and 1/2 cups of the previously made salted caramel and beat well.
4. Refrigerate for 10 to 15 minutes, until buttercream is slightly firmer and pipeable. 

 Assembly

1. Place one layer of the chocolate fudge cake onto a piece of baking paper or cake plate.
2. Fill a large piping bag fitted with a large open tip with salted buttercream and pipe a border of large 'kisses' around the outside of the cake.
3. Using an offset spatula, fill in the interior created with buttercream then spoon on a generous amount of the salted caramel sauce.
4. Repeat with all the layers of cake, alternating the salted caramel sauce and dark chocolate ganache.
5. Top with more piped kisses and pour over ganache, using a ganche to encourage it to drip over the sides.
6. Serve and enjoy!

REVIEW: Brown Dog Cafe



You go get that salted caramel milkshake, Max.

When plans to exercise fall through, it is always best to console yourself with a delicious breakfast. The mid-morning breakfast club, formally known as the early morning yoga club, met at Brown Dog Café in Woolloongabba. Brown Dog Café had been on my list for a little while as I had heard it was a dog friendly place and planned to bring Puppy Cakes, once the weather was cool. But I was happy to go their for a preview.

Nice selection of baked goods.

Brown Dog Café sits on a sun drenched corner, just outside the main café drag of the Logan Road cul-de-sac. It's popular with bicyclers, who come resplendent in their too tight lycra, sharing more about their downstairs mix-ups than I care to see. But don't let that put you off, it's easy to escape the bait shop inside.


Stay cool, indeed. I see you up there, Bud.

Inside is small and very warm, a fact which I'm sure the staff would agree with but stick with me here cos Brown Dog is about to blow my mind. The menu is small as is the kitchen but it's better to do a few things well than a lot of things sucky. Also there are a selection of sandwiches and slices in the cabinet. For drinks, we ordered a Pineapple and Mint Frappe ($7.50) and a Salted Caramel Milkshake ($7.50).

Max! Leave that dog alone!

The pineapple and mint frappe with tangy and fresh, perfect for a warm morning cool down. But here's where things get interesting. Remember 5 sentences ago when I said Brown Dog Café was about to blow my mind? Well here's what they, specifically the milkshake master named Jay, did...

He made me...


See all that ice cream, visible and delicious? Take note, milkshake makers!

...the BEST milkshake EVER. Since starting this blog, I have ordered a milkshake wherever I can and you know, they're always pretty good, cos milk and ice cream is pretty good but Brown Dog Café took it to the next level. Thick? Tick! Ice cream-y? Tick! Sweet but not cloying? Tick! Flavourful? Tick! The best milkshake this side of Pashen Street? Ti-freaking-ck! In fact, I have decided to start a ranking of the best milkshakes I've had and Brown Dog is going right on top. Check out my ranking here.

The Dogs Breakfast...lucky dog.

From there my hopes were pretty high for the meals. First up, we ordered the Dog's Breakfast ($13)which comes with haloumi, avocado, lemon, spinach, tomato and toast, but my dining companion swapped out the toast and tomato for ham instead. The modified meal looked incredibly appealing and would make any haloumi lover happy. There was a good amount of avocado. Personally, I would have wanted some toast but no carbs before marbs and all that. The diner did say it was a little salty but given the combo of both ham and haloumi, she accepted that might be expected. Am I rhyming?

Scrambled eggs. Dang that buttery toast looks good.

Next up was the Free Range Scrambled Eggs on Toast ($9) which did exactly what it said on the box. The eggs were fluffy and the toast was toast! This was a straight up, simple dish and for $9, I think it looked pretty good. When pushed, the consumer said she thought it would have been nice to have some "green stuff" on the plate but we all agreed that it didn't say that on the menu so there wasn't anything to complain about.

Yummy avo on toast!

I ordered the Avocado and Lemon on Turkish Toast for $9. Again, it was straight forward and simple. And delicious! I would like to know where they got their avocados from as the were so creamy and unblemished by any dark spots. The toast was nice, crisp and buttery. It was a nice size too and I was very satisfied.


Will you look at that sky! Gorgeous, Brisbane!

For the quality, simple fare, I'm a big fan of Brown Dog Café. The endearing Jay and his milkshake prowess are reason enough to visit. Puppy Cakes and I will have to come and visit together soon!

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