Geláre, Little Stanley St, Southbank, Brisbane

The word Gelare is an Italian word which means to freeze or congeal (the final step in the ice cream making process). What makes Gelare's ice cream different is that it contains no air as other ice creams would contain as much as 50% air. The interesting thing is that even if it contains no air, its ice cream is creamier and thicker than normal Italian ice cream.

'Super Treat Waffles' (Small: $12.3) which includes 2 scoops of Ice cream of your choice with fresh cream and syrup. We chose the Cookie Dough and another Ice cream flavour which I am having a mind blank of what it is. The waffles were cooked to perfection, hot and steamy even when we got it but cooled down easily from the ice cream scoops. Although it did melt it quite easily which was no good but other than that, these waffles are just great!

If you haven't given Gelare a try, do come in and maybe you might find yourself one of the best waffles in town. Also, with a wide variety of Ice Cream/Gelato flavours, you may take your time in choosing which flavour you should order. Their pancakes and waffles has different kinds of combo from their plain to their Banana Split Waffles or Maxi Treat and so on. Another tip is to come on a Tuesday guys, why? Because they are 50% off !! Yep, you heard me.. Half price! So score yourself a good dessert for half the price, why not right?

Cruisers Cafe Bar and Grill, Portside Wharf, Hamilton, Brisbane

Cruisers Cafe, Bar and Grill is a family owned and run business committed to deliver great food with excellent value. Located in Portside Wharf, it surrounds itself with the bubbly environment as well as free parking is also available which is great. Though it does not have the waterfront view but this should not direct you away from the restaurant as it is a place where you can have a family dinner, dates or even catch ups at. I have been to Portside Wharf many times before but have not dined at Cruisers before hence when given the opportunity to try their food and dine there, I thought why not?

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Chester Street Bakery & Bar, Newstead, Brisbane

When you feel like a sweet treat, when you need to buy a cake that will definitely brighten up someone's day or someone's special day, when you need to catch up with friends and looking for a place where you can have not only coffee or mikshakes but also some beer or mixes as well as having a nibble of this and that, then you've ought to come here. No need to ask why here? But if you haven't, then you're missing out on quite alot.. Where the cakes reminds you of the cakes on instagrams, where the atmosphere isn't too classy nor too casual, where you can feel like you're back in chocolate land and there's no problem in being a kid again or just simply eating your favourite rainbow cake or extra super duper chocolate cake.. *Please note that this is a delayed post so menu or the cakes may have changed. Apologies for any inconveniences.. I hope you will still be able to enjoy this review.

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Oliver Brown, Westfield Garden City, Upper Mount Gravatt, Brisbane

Oliver Brown, reminds me of Oliver from Snoopy although they don't have any relation whatsoever, but somehow it always reminds me of Snoopy. Hailing from Belgium in 2009 when two friends discovered the taste of authentic Belgian chocolate and was obsessed with it. This is a great substitute for you if you can't be bothered going to Max B or San Churros as it is conveniently located in Westfield Garden City which is great allowing you to have a coffee break or even just a nibble when you're tired or meeting up with friends or just had enough of shopping.

'Cappucino' ($3.8)

'Flat White' ($3.8)

'Grilled Banana Walnut Waffles for one' ($13.5) consists of a single waffle, grilled bananas, walnuts, vanilla ice cream drizzled with premium milk belgium chocolate. A portion for one was enough for us as we didn't want to eat too much since we just had lunch. So a coffee break was ideal for the both of us, not wanting to go shopping as much and plus, we were quite lazy I guess. Ordering the grill banana walnut waffles was just perfect and compared to the other desserts on the menu, this just seemed to be the one that caught our eyes together. One downside was that the whole dish just went cold quite quickly so do try and eat it quickly.

It is nice to see the grilled marks giving the smoky residue as well as smoky flavour.

Max Brenner, Southbank, Brisbane

Max Brenner, one of those chocolate places where you wish they would extend their opening hours. Sometimes when you feel like getting your sweet fix after dinner, it is sometimes rather hard finding a place to go to and now, the only dessert places that is open at night would either be at south side or west end and maybe the city but then, having an only dessert restaurant itself then omits many options. Always a great place to meet up with friends or during a date night or even with a family however do know that there are usually long queues during peak hours especially weekends and friday nights.

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Brunetti, Lygon St, Carlton, Melbourne

Brunetti was on one of the places to go to for desserts or sweets on my list when we went to Melbourne. Since we were having dinner at Lygon St, we decided to go and find Brunetti. What we did not realise was that the queue and how packed it was. I had to wait for a while until the crowd had died down to even take a photo. Since Brunetti has relocated from its previous venue, it is now at least about three times the size they were before. Having a huge bar to serve customers coffee, tea and other sorts of beverages, it is a order-at-counter but then you do have to take it yourself when it's ready. Serving a wide range of cakes, pastries, savouries and more, it is sure to fit with any tastebuds.

Plenty of seating available however it can get over crowded sometimes and you may get a seat at the corner without any view.

We both were quite full after having dinner at Lygon St, but we just had to make some tummy space for dessert. We ordered a 'Flat White' and a 'Cappuccino' and waited as our cakes arrived. 

'Sfogliatella' is a baked flakey pastry with sweet ricotta cheese and citrus.

Simply look at its many layers, the Sfogliatella is a unique, petite pastry dish you should not miss out on.

'Hazelnut and Coffee Torte' ($7.6) is an elegant yet unique cake consisting of a flourless hazelnut sponge layered with a mocha mousse dusted with icing sugar.

Although it did say it had a Hazelnut sponge in between the mocha mousse, it had also some sort of flaky pastry amongst it as you are able to hear the crack and also trying to slice or fork a bit was quite hard and not as easy as you would on a normal sponge cake. The mocha mousse was the highlight of the dish, it was not too sweet but it was rather just right. The Hazelnut sponge allowed the whole cake to have the balance between sweetness, density and also fluffiness. It was a great combination in having a Hazelnut sponge and mocha mousse, of course if you wanted it more simple, you could've opter for a vanilla custard or just simply cream in between but by having that mocha mousse allowed the dish to be taken to the next level.

This reminded me of Mille Feuille but not having a vanilla base or a simple thin puff pastry in between and to hold it altogether. Having the hazelnut sponge cake and the mocha mousse created an elegant dish as well as giving you a different taste rather than the traditional Vanilla Slice.

If you aren't up for either cakes or any sweet nibbles, there is a Gelati section at the end of the strip as well as some savoury items on the menu.

Le Bon Choix, Westfield Garden City, Brisbane

It's nice to have Le Bon Choix in Westfield as it saves time for you to go down to the CBD or my usual spot at the Ascot branch. But when you're just in the mall walking and would like to have coffee and cake somewhere, sometimes you just don't feel like the usual cafes available. What I love about Le Bon Choix would definitely be their cakes as well as their breads, as for their coffee, they are okay but it just depends on who is behind the machine making it for you as sometimes it can be good and not so-good. However, this time, wanting to try their Ice Chocolate and it turned out to be the worst decision...

Flat White

Ice Chocolate - definitely won't be ordering again

Having always ordered coffees, I decided to order an Ice Chocolate this time. Unfortunately, it was a bad idea and I should've probably stayed with my usual coffee. Imagining a dollop of ice cream floating on top of a creamy, milky chocolatey drink did not happen. Instead, what came out was a very watery, filled with ice and what seemed to be cocoa powder/chocolate syrup at the bottom of the tumbler and not so milky. It basically looks like someone has just (in order) poured chocolate syrup, abit of milk, lots of water and then top it all off with a big spoonful of ice. To be harshly honest, it was quite gross. It's not like drinking milo with water or milo with milk as they are quite good either way and even if it was better with milk, this was just way off. The taste of the chocolate was just ruined by the amount of water and ice cubes. The amount of milk was just not there.. you couldn't even taste the milk. Imagine drinking milk and water.. and hints of chocolate here and there. An ice chocolate is a real drink, although it's not supposed to be like a milkshake or it may not always have your whipped cream on top or yes, it may have a few ice cubes. But, this was just out of the picture. Although you try and mix the chocolate syrup inside, the ratio of the water and ice cubes basically overpowered the whole drink which makes the drink not creamy or even milky at all. Just ruined it. It was just super duper liquidy and on top of that, it's already full of water, they decided to top it up more with ice cubes. So, what I received was definitely not an Ice Chocolate.

And no, I did not finish the drink.

Apologies for the rant.. It just made me so annoyed as I have always loved eating and having their coffees even if in some of the branches, some people serving you may not always be the friendliest, but this just ruined my experience for me.

Seriously, for Le Bon Choix? I did not expect that at all for quality and presentation. Even the waiter that brought us our drinks spilled some of the flat white onto the saucer and on the table in which we had to be the ones wiping the mess as she just walked off.

'Almond Croissant' ($3.9) has always been one of the best Almond croissants whether it is toasted or not. The almond meal is perfect and having the icing sugar giving it that pretty touch as well as the almond pieces on top. Do grab one or a few when you're here, will not disappoint at all.

'Clio' ($7.8) a rich, smooth and punchy blackforest cheesecake. There is a unique way of layering in this slice having the cheesecake in the middle being sandwiched between two chocolate dense sponge cake. You are also able to see the chocolate thin pieces in the cheesecake as well as cherry. On top of that seems to be a layer of cherry jelly as well as square cuts of white chocolate pieces. An exquisite dish if you are a fan of cherry and chocolate as well as blackforest cakes.

Jimmy's on the Mall, Queen Street Mall, Brisbane CBD

Jimmy's has always been one of the go to places whenever you're unsure of where to go to eat or drink in the city, you just somehow end up here. Remember that the lower deck and the upper deck both have their own menus so they may differ in terms of what dishes are on offer. Some of the dishes however are offered on both decks. There are more seatings downstairs than upstairs but if you would like to have a view of the centre of Queen St Mall, then I'd suggest you sit upstairs. There are both normal and high tables available, as well as tables around the bar area. As it was late afternoon when we arrived, we just wanted somewhere to rest our feet and maybe have a drink and a nibble..

'Bowl of Wedges' (AUD$11) included a little bowl of sweet chilli and sour cream. The wedges were deep fried perfectly, crispy on the outside and moist and hot on the inside. A nice snack or nibble while having a chat. They do also have Salt and Pepper Calamari, Arancini balls and Charcuterie plate etc.

'Cappucino' was made well but when the waiter took it over to our table it seemed that s/he had tipped a bit over making the saucer abit messy and sticky.

'Lemon, Lime and Bitters' is always a nice cool drink that isn't so fizzy or feels as if it's a soft drink in my sense.

TWG Tea on the Bridge, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

TWG Tea on the Bridge is just one out the outlets located around Singapore as well as in other countries now they have expanded overseas. TWG (The Wellness Group) Tea is one of the finest luxury tea brand in the world being established in Singapore in 1837. Having tea tasters travel around the world sampling hundreds of teas, TWG Tea offers over 1000 single estate fine harvest teas as well as exclusive blends along with their variety of tea patisseries and also tea infused delicacies.

Its tea collection is considered to be one of the largest in the world committing to offering teas directly from source gardens. Whilst being in the heart of Marina Bay Sands, for those who can get bored or just want a quiet peaceful place to have a simple lunch or even just nibbles or sweets along with a nice warm cuppa, this may be the place to go. Of course, if you would like a more authentic Singaporean food, then I would definitely suggest going to its food court where you would be able to entice yourself in the world of many food stalls and many different food to order.

'Tea' (served in a Teapot with a one time off hot water filled in which refill is not available SGD$11)

'Croque Salmon' (SGD$18 - AUD is similar or as parity with a dollar to a dollar so for this post, I will leave it as is in Singapore Dollars) is a classic. Although a more classic version of this would of course be the Croque Monsieur but this was a much better option I think as I'm a huge sucker for anything salmon. I could just eat it everyday.. A warm toasted sandwich with French Comte cheese, sprinkled with 1837 Black Tea ground leaves and smoked salmon served with a delicate green salad and house vinaigrette.

As you can see that the bread has been combined and cooked along with egg, to give it that upper crust, also the mixture of the dryness of the bread and the soft fluffy egg texture as well. The smoked salmon was quite thin in slices wise so I would have liked to have a bit more, the delicate green salad was placed on top and consisted of basically a few rocket pieces and a tomato which I did not neccessarily think you would be able to call it a real garden salad but I guess everyone has their own way of serving and naming things. The tea leaves were more of a decor than something you would find inside the sandwich infused to give it a more unique taste. Overall, it was refreshing, fresh and simple sandwich to have.

'Mille Feuille' (SGD$9.5) is a classic Mille Feuille cake but with an interesting twist of having a caramelized sugar infused custard cream with vanilla bourbon tea instead of your usual full Vanilla. A light cake with quite of a densed filling though the pastries in between seemed airy and crispy, it was hard to try and slice or even try and take a fork-ful of it bit by bit as the pastry would not crack nor easily slice making it all messy in the end everytime you would try and get a bite out of it. Its topping is as usual coated with icing sugar but on the sides it seems to have had pastry flakes coated.

Raspberries were combined into the Mille Feuille giving it a fresher and fruitier feeling and taste. The caramelized sugar and vanilla infused custard cream worked well with the raspberry but I didn't find it as nice as I thought it would be. Although it was different I should say, I would prefer the normal and original Mille Feuille if I had to choose.

Do try their High Tea and try out their various teas on offer as you might be surprised at the wide choices you will have infront of you.