Vintaged Bar + Grill, Hilton Hotel, Brisbane CBD

Within the walls of the Brisbane Hilton Hotel lies Vintaged Bar and Grill, with its wooden features, high ceilings and see through glass wall wine cellar. From an event to a family gathering to your date night, here is just a perfect place to show your sophisticated side. With every season allowing for special menu that welcomes you nicely to the season you're in allows you to be able to dine here without having to order or look at the same menu again and again.

Note that this is a delayed post from the start of this year so some menu items may have changed and the special menu definitely would have changed since the time of this dining.

As soon as we were seated, we were warmly greeted with water and were brought out some complimentary char-grilled sourdough with a capsicum and anchovy spread. The bread was nicely char-grilled and was crispy however I did find it that they sliced it a bit too thin as some of us had big holes in our slices. The capsicum and anchovy spread had a unique taste and it is quite nice being served something else rather than just plain butter. It had a salty taste from the anchovy but did not overpower the spread.

Served with lemon, baby herbs and a choice of one condiment. The steak was not cooked as what we wanted, it was abit overcooked than asked. A bit dissapointed in the fact that a good piece of meat sometimes is better eaten in a certain way and to have the chef overcook it, just isn't a good thought.

'Moreton Bay Bugs' (AUD$32) served with lemon, baby herbs and a choice of condiment (in this case, Creamed Horseradish was chosen). Moreton Bay Bugs always interest me in a way that the meat of these bugs are usually only found in their tails. It definitely looks much prettier than other seafood when plated or in cold seafood platters.

The bugs were grilled well not too much nor too little until you would not be able to see the char-grilled marks. Presented on a rectangle chopping board also served with baby herbs, a lemon wedge and cherry tomatoes. It has a medium flavour in terms of its meat and by dipping it into the sauce gives it a more in depth flavour however sometimes, some seafood is just great and best eaten on its own with a squeeze of lemon, cracked pepper, and that's it. 

The flesh itself was quite filling though you do have to take your time in trying to get the flesh out of the bug itself, just like trying to get crab meat out or lobster though crab is usually the hardest I do find out of the three. There is little moisture in the flesh and had a firm texture. Another wonderful thing I did find was that it seemed to have very little oiliness.

'Beef Tenderloin' (AUD$45) was a special they had that month with the main theme of Mushroom. Served with a chive puree, grilled exotic mushrooms, crispy enoki and jus, it was a perfect combination to appreciate the different aspects and variety of mushrooms. A beautifully presented dish and I was quite excited to dig in as soon as it arrived on the table. Remember to always give it a bit of cracked pepper and you're ready to go!

The beef tenderloin was cooked well and as asked, it was juicy and had a depth of flavour especially when combined with the jus and the chive puree. The baby herbs allowed the dish to have a sense of colour which managed to blend in with the chive puree well. As you can see from the photo above, the grilled marks on some of the mushrooms is great to see as you would never want a menu that actually states it has been grilled and you find it wasn't. It sucks when that happen, really. The beef tenderloin itself was quite generous in size as I had trouble finishing it myself in which I ended up having to offer the others some in which they were too happy to try as well.

The chive puree was very subtle in terms of the chive taste but I appreciated it more than your usual mash potato or mash sweet potato. I quite enjoyed it with the mushrooms as it combined well together with both elements complementing each other.

The various exotic mushrooms created a sense of elegance within the dish, also the fact where you are able to have different textures and flavours in various mushrooms. Each has been grilled aftertaste as well as a buttery feeling. The crispy enoki was a delight, very nicely done, thin but some seemed to just have been or tasted like batter. Overall, having a combination of various exotic mushrooms is something that you don't get often and may bring a smile on your face especially if you're a mushroom person.

'Shoestring fries' (AUD$10) topped with Parmiggiano Reggiano and truffle salt. The Parmiggiano Reggiano was slightly shredded but did not cover all of the fries which was shameful and as for the truffle salt, I was not able to find a distinct taste or even a slight hint of truffle. I just felt as if it was just salt. Of course with truffle salt, sometimes it can be abit hard but I have had truffle fries before where you are able to sense, smell and taste the hint of truffle.

'Coconut Rice Pudding' (AUD$17) served with mango coulis, mango and minted tapioca salsa, toasted coconut snow and salted caramel pearls. Presented on a round wooden board, it was placed beautifully but I did find the Coconut rice pudding and the mango coulis was quite small in terms of size. The fact that it was placed in a small jar made it quite hard to get it out, of course in terms of look, it is delightful to see but once you try to get the small spoon into it and trying to scoop the coconut rice as well as the mango coulis out, it does get abit hard sometimes.

The toasted coconut snow and caramel pearls was placed beside it and made the outlook of the dish more sophisticated and elegant as well as pretty I must say with the colourful baby herbs and flowers amongst them. The toasted coconut snow was quite wonderful I must say however, I did find it overall to be quite bland. It just did not hit it for me, even with the minted tapioca salsa.

The mango coulis had a very strong mango taste but was very sweet even as you try and spoon out the coconut rice underneath it, the mango coulis had overpowered the coconut rice pudding which was ashame as it could not balance both flavours.

Belvedere Bar n Grill, Portside Wharf, Hamilton, Brisbane

Wanting to dine at a Modern Australian restaurant with views of the river, head over to Portside Wharf and you could find yourself sitting here at Belvedere. An environment perfect for a date, a birthday party or just simply a gathering with a variety of dishes offered on their menu ranging from cold entrees to pasta or if you feel like mixed grill or even seafood or steak, Belvedere's menu will suit any tastebuds. What intrigued me about the restaurant would be first, the glass display in front of the restaurant showing dry aged beef. Although I have always been a regular at Portside dining here and there, I never gave myself the time to try it here and so since we wanted to try somewhere new, we figured that here would be a good choice for a date night.

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The Morrison Hotel, Woolloongabba, Brisbane

One of the best steaks has always been here at The Morrison but it seems that their pepper sauce is still unbeatable. Of course, if you prefer your green pepper sauce or non-creamy pepper sauce, then this may not be for you and if so, do go for their mushroom sauce and you will not be disappointed. If you're not feeling like steak, don't worry.. as they offer many more dishes other than steaks including Wood fired pizzas, a wide variety of salads and mains such as Chicken Parmy, Beer battered barra, how about Beef cheeks 5 ways? Do try their The Morrison Parmy as they do a mean one..

This entree took so long to come until we actually eventually told them that we would rather cancel than eating it as a dessert. Well, basically after we ordered and whilst we were chatting along.. our steaks came. Then maybe about 15mins after, our supposed to be entree did not arrive and so we told the waiter to just cancel it as we were already on our mains and we wanted to have the bread as an entree but instead, we got the steaks first. The waiter was friendly and understood our situation, apologized and told us that he will sort it out for us.

The next thing you know, he comes out bringing our entree out and said we won't be charged and it was their fault. Although it is a kind gesture but we were already quite full from our mains to be honest. So in the end, we just had a few slices and left the rest. 'Wood Fired Pizza Bread' ($9.50) with pesto, pine nuts, camembert, mozarella cheese with fresh garden basil. It was a delightful dish to have although it would have been better if we could've started with it in the first place without having to have grumbling tummies then eating our steaks then having the entree to come out last. If you do like your garlic bread or your Maragarita pizzas but sometimes you may get bored of it and want to try something different, then do try this. It is such an elegant but thin starter to have while you chat while waiting for your mains to come. The combination of pesto and pine nuts always works well and especially when you combine it with camembert and mozarella cheese. The only thing that I could not find was the fresh garden basil or maybe they just simply forgot about it.

'Graziers Eye Fillet' (200g, $32) is the one I always get as I love my Eye Fillets. A succulent, tender and of course, lean piece of meat. With every steak order, you are to choose your own sauce (Mushroom, Pepper, Chilli, Herb Butter, Texas BBQ, Blue Cheese butter etc and mustards are also available) + your choice of salad (Caesar salad or House salad or Blue cheese, walnut, apple and rocket salad w a balsamic glaze) + your choice of chips or house potato. Seriously though, for the price and for the quality as well as what you get on your plate when it arrives, you won't be disappointed.

Their mushroom sauce is delicious, I cannot deny it. Roughly though thinly cuts of mushroom pieces filling the sauce as well as you wouldn't think that your sauce is too little or due to the fact that there are mushrooms in it, you would not have enough. But really, you have more than enough and believe me since I'm a big sauce fan. The creaminess, the mushroom taste and flavour just combines well especially even if you dip it in a bit of your garlic bread in it.. Well, you're not supposed to but oh well. The caesar salad was simple but had your mozarella thin slices, cos lettuce, a light caesar dressing and also bits of bacon.

'Graziers Rump' (300g, $32) is a classic prime cut, grain finished in 100 days and is full of flavour. It has been aged to specifications allowing the full flavour and tenderness. It is great when you get a piece of steak and you could see the grill marks.. I just love seeing them.

Finally, saving the best for last would be their pepper sauce. It has lots of kick since there are the peppercorns within the sauce and although it isn't fully creamy but it is yet quite creamy if you get me.. It is a must try especially if you love pepper. Pour that all over your steak or just slice a bit of steak and dip it in, and you will be in pepper heaven.. I still can't find a competitor for this pepper sauce. They are either not peppery at all, too thin, too liquid, no peppercorn or they are just green peppercorn sauce in which is supposedly more elegant in terms of taste and smoothness.

Kingsleys Steak & Crabhouse, Eagle St Pier, Brisbane CBD

Kingsleys Steak & Crabhouse is one of the places other than the Steak restaurants you may want to dine at but other than that, do not underestimate their seafood dishes as well which mainly revolve around Crabs. Though the entrees do have many seafood dishes such as Flash Fried Squid or Louisiana Crab Cakes, they also serve Alaskan King Crab Legs and Mud Crabs. So if you're a crab fan, do give a place a try and they might just give you a surprise in their choices.

Apologies for the bad lighting, seems that it was way too bright and no angles were great really to take a photo of the food. So bear in mind of the brightness but let's hope it doesn't ruin anything major..

As we sat down, we were offered water and also slices of bread with butter. A good start with sourdough bread slices as we browsed through our menu but of course, do browse first and decide what you would like.. If not, the bread crumbs would just fall down to the menu causing abit of a mess..

'Onion Rings' ($8.9) with parmesan salt was what seemed to be a simple but delightful side/entree to start off however, it was quite bland, lots of batter though the onion was quite thick but it just seemed to be quite boring in a way. The parmesan salt did not help much as the batter just overtook the whole taste and texture in every bite.

'Angus Rump Cap' ($29.9) is 300g, grain fed, Grainge Certified Angus with a marble score of 2+. Sauce options were either Mushroom Brandy, Green Pepper or Bearnaise sauce in which he chose the Green Pepper. After choosing Green Pepper, we realised that it would be liquid-y pepper sauce and not thick and full of flavour peppercorn sauce but we thought ah what the heck, we'll give it a go.

The green pepper sauce was smooth and did not have a very strong peppery taste afterwards that stays on your tongue. Combine it with the steak let's say, slice a bit of the Angus beef, dip it in to the green pepper sauce and find how much it compliments each other. Although, I still prefer my strong peppercorn sauce and maybe a bit thicker in liquidity wise.

'Twice Cooked Pork Belly' ($29.9) with celeriac and apple remoulade, roast pumpkin puree and radish. A pretty dish and the slice of the pork belly was sufficient. One thing that I was scared of was that the pork belly skin would not be easily sliced or chewed since sometimes, cooking pork belly may not be that simple as it takes time and when it takes too long, it might harden up, it would be harder to chew.

The celeriac and apple remoulade was a unique combination to have with the twice cooked pork. It allowed the dish to have a refreshing but also acidic yet creamy texture as you eat the meaty twice cooked pork belly. The apple perfectly complements the flavour of the celery being it mellow, but when combined with mayo, it just reminds me of a light salad or even as a side. Although some may say that remoulades may be great with cold meats, but I think it works just as well with the pork belly. Another thing is that the remoulade also has a mustard-y taste within which makes it more enjoyable and not as too creamy hence the use of mayo. Having it thinly sliced it made it more fun yet an enjoyable side for the whole dish.

The twice cooked pork belly should have a good texture, its fat cooked and of course, the most important thing of all is its crispy skin. However, if you aren't able to slice your pork belly nicely in a way that it doesn't neccessarily make you mess up the whole plate or even make you have to pick up the crispy skin and bite it using your fingers while all you can slice through is the meat, somehow, that annoys me a bit. I would like to be able to slice through my pork even if it does tend to get a bit messy, but at least it cracks. If it needs extra strength in terms of using your teeth in order to even bite it, chew it and then hurts your teeth, then that, my friend, isn't what I would like.

Although the meat was nicely cooked, the pork skin was quite hard and tough. Yes, you weren't able to slice it through having that cracking noise and yes, you would have to pick it up and try and bite it. Although the flavour and the marination of spices was done well, the pork skin, the crackling was quite troublesome to eat. As for the pumpkin puree, it had a subtle but yet distinct flavour of the pumpkin but I would have liked if there was a bit more as the apple and celeriac remoulade overpowered the puree as you eat them together.