Cup Coffee

Cup Coffee
Address:85 Russell Street, West End, QLD 4101
http://www.cupcoffee.com.au/

Z and I have been on the hunt for a 'good' coffee place in West End. I use the term 'good' in a very different sense here as I am soy drinker and my definitions of a 'good' will be very different to most coffee drinkers. For starters, the burnt/over roasted coffee flavour is just offensive to my palate and I get extremely particular about the brand of soymilk used.

Yes, I apologies that I am a bit of a coffee snob and that so far, most places in West End has not risen to my expectations.

Cup honestly wasn't even on my raider in the beginning. I was only drawn to the place one day when I walked past its warehouse-esque front and saw the massive robot mural.

Even if you are just slightly fanatical about robots, how can you NOT walk in?

Anyway, Z and I popped in one fine Sunday morning for brunch. I ordered my classc soy latte and Z asked for the hot chocolate and both of us went for the Shakshuka (a dish of eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, chili peppers, onions, often spiced with cumin).

The coffee, I have to say is probably the best I have tried in West End so far (saying that, there are lots of cafes in West End and I have yet to try them all). But I will begin with saying that it nicely roasted coffee - not burnt, and I could be wrong here, but I am pretty sure that they used Bonsoy (the one that gives the nutty flavours not the ones with chemical taste)...

As for the hot chocolate, Z and I couldn't come to an agreement. I thought it was pretty fantastic, whilst he thought it was a bit too sweet. Then again, I am the one with the sweet-tooth.

As for the food, we both thought the shakshuka was pretty good. I had do a lil Googling after I got home as I have never tried a shakshuka before and honestly I had nothing to compare that to. So other than offering the word 'delicious', I guess I'd have to leave it there until I have tried more shakshukas to compare against.

Overall, both Z and I would happily return to Cup Coffee for both coffee and food and say hello to the giant robot!

Recommended:The Coffees are all good!

Curious to Try:The french toast

Stamford Plaza High Tea

Stamford Plaza High Tea
Address:Cnr Margaret & Edward St, Brisbane, QLD 4000
http://www.stamford.com.au/

I realise this is going to be back-to-back high tea posts! This gives me enough confidence that maybe oneday, I will even create a Brisbane High Tea guide.

Anyhow, the high tea I went to at Stamford Plaza happens to be very different to all other high teas. This one manage to incorporate the concept of buffet with sugar.

Seriously, for someone with a massive sweet tooth, to be told that you can have as whichever and as much cake as you want is like telling a starved man that he can eat whatever he wants. There's only one way this could go and the outlook for my teeth, heart and thighs just does not look good.

But let's ignore the obvious health effects of unlimited sugar consumption, as this is not the purpose of this post and return to the high tea.

The Stamford Plaza high tea is hosted in the restaurant at its ground floor lobby, overlooking the Brisbane River. Seating area is split between inside and outside. On a warm sunny day, the outside seatings gives you a fantastic view (and an excuse to walk around as you travel back and forth between the buffet tables and the verandah). On the inside, although your view to the river is obstructed by other patrons, you do have a much better view of the buffet table.

And boy, the buffet tables are presented like works of art (that is, before sugartooth eagle swooshes in and ruins it all).

As you can see by the pictures here, the decor at the Stamford Plaza is pretty amazing. There's a lot of colors and interesting nick-nacks placed over the buffet tables - I think the idea that they were trying to present here is that of a visual feast (along with a sugar rush).

Sweets wise, there is truely something for everyone. Even the scones comes in three different flavours - plain, pumpkin and aonther one that I cannot remember.

There was gluten free chocolate cake. A huge varieties of petite fours. Jellies and Jams. Chocolate fountain...

In the end, I was happy to drop my spoon and declare that I do not want to touch chocolates and sweets for the entire week to follow!

All I've gotta say is that, if you have not been, you really need to go and try it!

Recommended: It was buffet, so I'd say try everything once?!