Little Greek Taverna

Little Greek Taverna
Address: 5/1 Browning St, West End QLD 4101
http://www.littlegreektaverna.com.au/

The Little Greek Taverna is one of my staples in West End. Most of my experiences at Little Greek Taverna has been positive - food has fantastic flavours, the prices being very reasonable and the staff generally quite friendly.

The only drawback at Little Greek Taverna is that because the restaurant is quite small and popular, getting a seat without booking on some nights are quite impossible. However, the restaurant do offer deliveries and my friends and I often just get the food delivered to The Cobblers next door on Browning Street whilst we enjoy with a couple of drinks.

This visit however, I went with a couple colleagues and given we had quite a few people; we went ahead and booked for the lunch.

For this visit, I went ahead with spanakopita for entree and a chicken souvlaki wrap for main.

The spanakopita arrived quite quickly and although it did not look like the traditional spanakopita I've had before in other Greek restaurants, the main flavours and key ingredients were all present and it tasted terrific. I found that the addition of the chilli powder on the side really set off the flavour and lifted the presentation of the dish.

The wrap was also delicious; however I would recommend the ones with haloumi. The addition of the haloumi lifts the flavour of the dish and provides an addition texture to the wrap that I find very pleasing.

Other dishes that really do deserve honorary mentions at the Little Greek Taverna include the lamb shank, where the meat really just fall off the bones and the stuffed capsicum which is another delight of its own.

And to top it all off, the price is also very decent. To be able to have have a great meal (entree and main) and cap it at under $25pp, there's not that many places in Brisbane that can do it with such such flavours and flair.

Recommended: The wrap with haloumi, the spanakopita, the lamb shank and many more...

Gunshop Cafe

Gunshop Cafe
Address: 53 Mollison St, West End QLD 4101
http://thegunshopcafe.com/

I hit the Gunshop Cafe with a few friends over the weekend after many months of procrastination. I have always been interested to try the place as I see lines on the weekend for brunch every time I go past. However, given that the Gunshop Cafe does not take order before midday on weekends meats that you'd either have to go early or line up (and I am not a fan of lining up for food, especially when I am hungry).

Anyway, a couple of friends decided that to overcome the problem of lining up, we were going to have a really late brunch (mostly lunch) and made a booking for just past midday. 

The Gunshop Cafe is located close to the Coles intersection in West End, of close proximity to The Burrow and across the road from Coles shopping center and Mu'ooz. Getting there by public transport is quite easy with 199, 196 and the Glider bus stops close by.

The restaurant itself has three sections, the outdoor, the inside and the back yard. Whilst the outdoor section is great for people watching, you also have to deal with the passing pedestrians and people lining up. The indoor hosts an array of really cool decorations, ranging from interesting head busts to nest-like hanging lights. However, on a busy day, the indoor section tends to retain all the noise and can get pretty loud. The backyard is somewhat better in terms of noise but the decoration pales in comparison.

On our visit, whilst we heard many good things about its toulous sausages, unfortunately, it was sold out by the time we ordered. Hence, we decided to go for smoke bacon, poached eggs, tomatoes, hollandaise and sourdough, prawn omelette with wakame seaweed salad and avocado on toast with quark.

The smoked bacon with poached egg was probably the table's favourite. 

The bacon was crispy and the eggs are done to perfection with runny yolks and all. Most impressively, the bread - as my friends described - was as crispy as the bacon!

The avocado toast with quark was pretty nice too, however the portion do tend to be on the small side.

I had the omelette and I had to say that whilst it didn't quite live up to my expectation, it had some redeeming factors.

Whilst the egg was soft and fluffy and the flavor well balanced with the mayo and the wakame seaweed salad, the prawns were difficult to find in the omelette. There were also suppose to be toasted panko (which is like breadcrumbs). However, there wasn't very much panko on my plate and I was hoping that the panko would provide a different texture than the fluffy eggs.

On the other hand, the use of wakame seaweed salad, eggs and wasabi was pure genius. The combined flavor left quite an impression on me and gave me some new ideas for my simple home meals.

All in all, whilst it was a pleasant visit and that the Gunshop Cafe definitely has some delicious food, it is somewhat on the expensive side. I would go back for its bacon, eggs and toasted and I remain curious of its toulouse sausages, the omelette was rather disappointing for the price paid.

Recommended: The toulouse sausages

Viet Hoa

Viet Hoa
Address: 220 Melbourne St, West End QLD 4101

Located on the Melbourne St running down between South Brisbane and West End, Viet Hoa has to be one of the places that I frequent for lunch.

Although the little restaurant sports a simple exterior (and interior for that matter), the restaurant is neat little spot for a quick, relatively cheap Asian meal. And Sam, the restaurant owner always has a friendly smile every time I visit.

The restaurant offers a range of Vietnamese and Chinese cuisines - namely the vermicelli noodles, pho and stir fried noodles and rice.

I have tried a few items on the menu, but my preferred meal choice would have to be the vermicelli noodles. The pho, whist isn't too bad, generally is not as flavourful as what you'd get at the other Vietnamese restaurants down on Hargraves Rd. The chicken stir fried noodles was pretty tasty, with lots of chicken and vegetables. However, quite vigorous stir fry do mean that the noodles are somewhat broken and lacks somewhat in presentation.

The beef vermicelli noodles would have to be one of the better dishes they offer. The vermicelli is done perfectly -not clumped together or starchy, there's a nice balance of different type of vegetables and the grilled beef, that's the best part.

Whilst the beef can be a little bit dry (due to the cooking method), it has a fantastic flavour that really lifts the meal to next level.

The only drawback however, would be the amount of peanuts they sprinkle on the vermicelli noodle. As Viet Hoa do generally sprinkle quite a lot, the taste of peanuts can overpower the other flavours.

All in all, Viet Hoa is a nice little place to visit for a quick meal or lunch. Although probably not somewhere I'd suggest for a foodie's night out.

Recommended: vermicelli noodle with grilled beef

Mu'ooz Eritrean Restaurant

Mu'ooz Eritrean Restaurant

Address: 54 Mollison St, West End QLD 4101

http://www.muooz.com.au/

I have always been curious by cuisines around the world, especially places that I've never been to. It's my belief that a country/region's cuisine tells a lot about the culture and the history of the place.

The fact that the restaurant is a non-profit organization that tries to integrate Eritrea migrants into the Australian society and provide the Australian an opportunity to understand Eritrean culture also seemed like a worthy initiative and further fuelled by curiosity.

When Mu'ooz Eritrean Restaurant opened up in West End and became much more accessible for me, I was dying to try to it out. Hence, on a lovely Thursday evening, a group of friends (around 15 people) decided to go and give the place a try. Mu'ooz is located between the Coles shopping complex and Cafe Meze. It is easily accessible through via the Glider and is only a short walk via the 199 or the 196.

The exterior of the restaurant is open and gives the sense of spaciousness and the simple wooden decor really pushes through the idea of a rural village. It also has a sizeable backyard behind, good for hosting for a large number of people.

On my visit, given that we had a large number of people, we were seated in the backyard, under the stars. Which is quite lovely given the breezy winds at night, however, it also meant that given our close proximity to the restaurant's freezer, every time someone opened the freezer to fetch food, we'd get a gust of cold air.

In terms of drinks, I'd probably also advice to steer away from ordering wine or simply, just BYO. Whilst the restaurant offers wines, it comes as either red or white (do not throw fancy names like Pinot Gris and Riesling around as the same white will be served). The flavour of the wine is poor and the red taste worse than some casket wines you'd get from the bottle shop.

Entrees were generally pleasant and especially since they can do them gluten free and still make them taste good, it was especially impressive.

The mains are generally a meat or vegetable curry served on a sourdough pancake with a side serving of fresh salad. However, if you are especially unadventurous, they do also offer beef lasagne with chips and steak and chips.

For my main, I went for the chicken zighni, most of my group went either for the lamb, the goat or the soso chicken (Soso is the name of the dish by the way).

The wait for our food was not particularly long, however, when we did receive our food, the results varied greatly. The goat received great reviews, being quite tasty and the meat soft and falling of the bones. The lamb on the other hand was less appreciated as it was quite chewy.

The chicken zighni was quite hot (as described on the menu), however, given that the whole curry had three pieces of chicken and rest being made up of runny curry, the pancake on the bottom was soggy by the end and became difficult to eat.

The soso chicken fared somewhat better, however it has the same problem of the soggy pancake by the end.

 

In terms of the service, what we experienced on the night had its highs and lows.

Whilst the waitress was very attentive throughout the meal and the lady who ran the restaurant came around in the end and asked if everyone enjoyed the meal and was happy to serve us a small taste of different food if we didn't like our particular dish, the happy experienced was marred when it came to the bills.

The restaurant managed to double charge us with entrees and we were silly to have paid for the bill before realising something was incorrect. After a good 15 minutes of sorting through our order, we went back to the waitress, asking for a refund of the additional $50 that we have been wrongly charged.

That is when they accused us of not having the paid the $50 at all!

Another 5 minutes of fuming, arguing and searching, we realised that the $50 note was on the counter, on top of the menus!

In summary, whilst Mu'ooz is worth a visit once and try out new food, patience and understanding is a must.

Recommended: The goat

The Burrow

The Burrow
Address: 37 Mollison Street, West End QLD 4101
http://theburrowwestend.com.au/

The Burrow has always had a special place in my heart. It was one of the first restaurants my friend Tim took me to when I first came to Brisbane and it is also where Z took me for our first date. And both times, I thoroughly enjoyed the food and the experience The Burrow offered.

Hence, when a group of colleagues decided to go to The Burrow for lunch, I was excited to join.

The Burrow is located across the road from the West End Village (Coles) and of close proximity to the Glider bus stops.

The Burrow offers lunch specials with pizzas starting from $10 and at night, the dining menu use to have a more extensive list of dishes, taking casual dining to something a little bit more fancy (however, the last time I flipped through the dinner menu, many of the fancier dishes seems to have been taken out).

The rumour is, the Burrow initially made its name because of its super tasty rabbit meat pizza, which unfortunately has been rotated out of its menu along with some of its other terrific pizzas such as The Funguy (pizza with mushroom, rocket and cheese).

Nowadays, whilst the pizzas are still awesome, The Burrow is making a name for itself through the wide range of beers and ciders it offers.

Anyway, back to my little lunchtime adventure with my colleagues. We were fortunate enough to have made a booking on that particular Friday lunch time, as The Burrow had a full house and people were being turned away if there was no booking. As it is, the wait for pizzas was at least 30 minutes as the restaurant operated under full capacity. Even the fries, we waited for a good 20 minutes.

When it did arrive, the Gnarly Fries (curly fries) was tasty, as just enough of the chilli seasoning was balanced with the aioli and the perfectly fried potatoes.

However, I am sorry to say that when the main arrived, some of the dishes were disappointing.

One of my colleague ordered Steak Your Claim (steak burger), which the steak turned out more raw than what most people would have liked.

I ordered the Bad Motherfunghi (mushrooms, gorgonzola, mozzarella, pancetta, finished with rocket & parmesan), which turned out to be extremely cheesy and basically almost washed away the flavour of mushrooms and the pancetta.

However, some of others turned out alright, my other colleagues' X-rated Prawns was flavourful and The Big Voodoo Daddy (lots of different kind of meats there) was filled up with delicious toppings.

In conclusion, I've definitely enjoyed The Burrow much more in the past than my recent visits. Whilst I'd go back to The Burrow, I do wish they would rotate back some of their old menus (like the rabbit meat pizza) as it was certainly more enjoyable.

Recommended: The Gnarly Fries

PJ's Steaks

PJ's Steaks
Address: 2/173 Boundary St, West End QLD 4101
https://www.facebook.com/PJsSteaks

Working with a few Americans in the company,PJ's came onto my radar as I noticed my colleagues disappear on long lunches, especially when it's game season. Later on, I found out that it is because PJ's shows the NBA and the baseballs during lunch time and offers decent philly cheese steaks.

So based on their warm reviews of the place, I've decided to join them for lunch one day and find out for myself what the philly cheese steaks are all about.

PJ's is located on Boundary St in West End, next to Atomica Eats and across the road from Spaghetti House.

The exterior of the restaurant has a glass window that they inherited from the previous eatery, however it allows curious passerbys to look into the kitchen and see what's cooking.

PJ's normally do a special during lunch, where you'd get a sub of the day, fries and a can of drink for around $10-$12. If you do work near th earea, it is a pretty sweet deal. Otherwise, to be honest, buying them separately are not that expensive anyway.

Despite being to US several times, I have never actually made my way to Philadelphia or have tried philly cheese steak for that matter.

But from my understanding, typically philly cheese steak is basically thinly sliced steak with heaps of cheese on a bun (this is probably over simplified, but you get the gest).

And PJ's, although I can't vouch for its authenticity, I have to say, it is pretty tasty, full of flavours and cheesy goodness (although probably not the healthiest thing on the planet).

I also had some their fries with rosemary salt and it is very delish! It is fried to perfection - crispy exterior and potato soft interior.

I am definitely looking forward to going back for more!

Recommended: Philly cheese stake with fries

The Indian Kitchen

The Indian Kitchen
Address: 91 Vulture St, West End QLD 4101
There's no better words to describe Indian Kitchen as cheap and cheerful. Whilst they serve decent food, this is definitely not the place you'd go for a first date (even if you are in uni).

Indian Kitchen is located close to the corner of Boundary st and Vulture St, and with its flaming red exterior, you cannot miss it.

The atomsphere in the restaurant is quintessentially Indian. Full of pictures of Indian tradtions, golden elephant deity and of course, continuous bollywood music and dancing on tv.

I've always found the waiters to be quite friendly and cheerful. Always asking you if you'd like naan bread with that just like the Maccas' "would you like fries with that"...

Foodwise, I do prefer their vegetable dishes over their meats.

Whist the eggplant and the daahl are full of flavour, the meats tend to be on the sweet side - especially the butter chicken.

They also serve you flavoured (yellow) basmati rice with your curries, which I do like better than the normal white basmati that you would get at some Indian takeaways.

The highlight at the Indian Kitchen however would have to be the naan bread.

Yes, you do have to wait for it for a couple minutes, but the chefs make them fresh. And piping hot naan with the just right amount of crunch and softness is to me, heavenly.

In terms of price, the Indian Kitchen is also quite decent. You can get 2 veges and a meat for takeaway for $8. There are many variations you could choose, ranging from $6.90 to about $12. And to me, a filling decent meal for around $8 is just a great bargain.

Recommended: The naan bread

Kim Thanh Hot Bread

Kim Thanh Hot Bread
Address: 81 Vulture St, West End QLD 4101

There are four bakeries in West End - Kim Thanh, Rodney's Bakery, Baker's Delight and West End Bakery.

Kim Thanh has to be the one that I visit most frequently. Although it is mostly because it is the only bakery that serves banh mi...

The bakery is situated just off the busy Boundary St, so it is a slight walk from the main area in West End.

The banh mi comes in two varieties - with chilli and without chilli. And it is always made fresh with every order.

The rolls are always crusty and white and it wasn't until yesterday that I realised that they try to toast the roll slightly so that when you take that first bite, it's always softer on the inside and crusty on the outside.

Now, to say that Kim Thanh's banh mi is my favourite in Brisbane because of the flavour would be a lie. There are quite a few vietnamese shops/restaurants in the city that also serves equally declicious banh mi.

However, Kim Thanh is the one that offers the most reasonable price.

At $4.50 per roll (and that is after the $0.50 rise they had in late 2013), it is how banh mi are suppose to be - cheap, delicious and cheerful.

Other than the banh mi, the bakery do also make very delicious fruit bagel. Not too sweet and just the right balance of cinnamon and sultanas. I often the fruit bagel, take it home, toast it and spread some butter... drool...

Now to eat banh mi at Kim Thanh's, I do have to warn you that it does not have tables and seats for you to sit down. So you are most likely going to have to walk and eat.

Recommended: Banh mi and the fruit bagel

Chop Chop Chang's

Chop Chop Chang's
Address: 185 Boundary Street, West End QLD 4101
http://www.chopchopchangs.com.au/

Z and I were very excited when Chop Chop Chang opened up in West End. There just seem to be a perpetual shortage of good Asian food outside of Sunnybank and the Valley. Our hopes (or at least mine) were riding high on Chop Chop Chang being a knockout restaurant that we'd visit again and again.

When it opened up, Z and I actually visited it separately and we came back with vastly different opinion of the restaurant.

Z went first with a friend of his shortly after the restauarnt opened and unfortunately they both came back with disappointing reviews. Being a Thai Fusion restaurant, they both thought that Chop Chop Chang lacked flavours you'd generally get from a typical Thai restaurant and the prices were twice the price you would have paid for Thai food.

The drinks they ordered were also expensive, however, it wasn't too bad, although it's definitely not somewhere he'd go for a big drinking night out (he'd be broke after that).

Following his 'highly positive' review, I pushed back my planned visit to Chop Chop Chang several times until one day, so homesick for Asian food, I decided to give it a try and see it for myself.

walking into Chop Chop Chang, the black and yellow decor is simple and elegant. Although I don't get the feeling of being in Thailand (other than the chopsticks on the table), it is a very nice environment to dine and drink.

Seated down, after a quick glance at the menu, I do agree that the prices are on the expensive side (sauces and dips costed extra)and its creative menu has left me a bit confused (I guess I was too used to have Asian menus set out under headings like "rice" & "noodle").

In the end, I ordered the crispy roast pork (which came with veggies and noodle).

Given it was during lunchtime on a weekday, I didn't have to wait for very long when my food arrived. And it was a large bowl of noodles and topped with ample portions of roast pork.

I was a little surprised when I didn't see the veggies. That is, until I lifted the noodle and found all of them hiding under the noodle.

This did tickle me a little bit as it reminded me of the story my grandmother use to tell me when I was a child, about poor families hiding drumsticks under rice/noodles for the kids so although on first glance it looked like everyone was getting the same thing, in reality, the kids where getting the superior cuts.

I can no longer remember what the moral of the story was, but I guess there are things are just imprinted in your memory.

Back to the dish, I have to say that the crispy pork was absolutely delicious. The skin was crispy and the meat was tender and juicy. The flavour of the soup was great (a little bit on the light side, which I really didn't mind). There was a lot of vegetables and it was a welcoming change to the usual noodle soup with had a few pieces of veggies floating around.

On the whole, I definitely had a better experience at Chop Chop Chang than Z. And although I agree that it was on the pricey side of Asian food, I'd be happy to go back and try out some of their other dishes.

Curious to Try: The jungle curry with barramundi

Cafe Wrapture

Cafe Wrapture
Address: 71 Russell St, West End QLD 4101
http://www.cafewrapture.com.au/

This place has been one of my favourite eat out places for a while now and honestly I don't know why I haven't reviewed it sooner.

The credit of "finding" Wrapture really goes to Z. It was one of the places on his 'urbanspoon wishlist' and one fine Saturday morning, we ventured out a lil further than our normal brunch areas and since then, I have never looked back. It has became one of my favourites in West End for brunch and lunch.

Now the outside of Wrapture looks a little hippie(especially since it is open next to one a tarot, crystal & etc shop and the decor took on a lot of that influence with crystals hanging down next to the doors and those gypsy-esque cushions for the outside lounge).

The inside of the store is a little narrow, especially on a busy day where there seems to a perpetual line of people getting food and coffee.

My recommendation is that if you can, just get a seat on the outside. You can better enjoy and the sun and people-watch anyway.

Drinks wise, I have always been tickled by Wrapture's creative coffees, the Ali Baba, Sofia Loren and Ghengis Khan... It is recommended that you give it a try yourself. I will just say that I have always enjoyed the coffee Wrapture. If they weren't always so busy and the queue for coffee is always quite long, it'd definitely be one of my favorites.

For the food, other than the wraps, Wrapture also do plates and rice bowls.

I for one have never been curious enough to find out what they are like (I really really like the wraps). So if anyone has ever tried them, I'd very much welcome comments and reviews.

Now getting back to the wraps.

They are hands down, the best wraps in Brisbane!

I am not sure where they source their wraps, but it is chewy and soft and I could just really eat the wraps all day with some hommus!

However, Wrapture really do take it a level further. I mean, why stop when the wrap is amazing? They fill it with the most awesome flavours inside and just the right amount of dressing to keep everything the right balance in terms of taste and moisture.

On a little side note, I will add here that my two favourite wraps are Apollo and Tandango. Apollo comes with halloumi and it just really adds to the texture and the flavour of the wraps.

Now whilst you are there, I will also point out that there's a little fridge next to the counter where they keep their cake slices - it's generally chocolate brownie, white chocolate & pistachio and toffee & pecan.

They are simply delightful (AND gluten free)!

If you still have any room after the filling wrap and coffee, do yourself a favour and get a slice of their cake.

However, nothing in this world is without its vice.

Wrapture is so popular that the wait for coffee and wraps on the weekend can be anywhere between 30-60 minutes.

My recommendation, go early or go there during lunch during weekdays and avoid the crowds.

Recommended:The coffees and any of the wraps really...

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

Lychee Lounge

Lychee Lounge
Address:92 Boundary St, West End, QLD 4101
http://lycheelounge.com.au/

West End has bee none of those areas that I go often but has always been a bit too shy to whip out my camera to take photos - for fear of being completely uncool (Funnily, I don't seem to have that problem at any other fancy restaurants... possibly that there's someone there that I am trying to impress?).

Either way, a lil while ago, a girlfriend and I ventured into Lychee Lounge after walking past it many times and being intrigued by its Asian inspired decor that also gives the air of warmth and cosiness in the winter.

We were purely there for drinks but after seeing its menu, we are quickly decided that yes, we also want dessert (massive sweet tooth we have and we completely had our priorities straight there).

I had the watermelon martini and the dark chocolate and hazelnut tart, red wine poached Morella cherries, lavender crème fraiche gelato.

I will not comment much on the drink as Lychee Lounge has a very comprehensive list of cocktails (31 pages that it)to ensure that something there will tickle your fancy.

But boy, the dessert was simply delightful! It was decadent, rich and presented with an artistic flair - everything you shouldn't go for if you are on a diet really.

The only downside to the place is that it is rather expensive and the servings are not big enough that you could share (not that I am ever likely to want to share dessert). You are looking at around $30 per person for the main, $20 for dessert and $16 per drink and the cost can very quickly add up.

And given how Asian I am and where value-for-money is rated as closely as flavour and ambience, I reckon as much as I have enjoyed Lychee Lounge, this one is going to have to be kept under the 'indulgence' tab and only visited on a special night out.