Morning After, West End, Brisbane

Many of you may have heard Morning After from their rendition of Carbonara for breakfast. Located at Vulture St in West End under an apartment building, you may miss it if you're not careful and keeping your eyes open trying to find it. It is great to see restaurants and/or cafes supporting its community and Morning After does just that, using Tassel Salmon from Tasmania, Granola from The Unrefined, Brisbane and baked fresh bread by French Twist.

'Hand Crafted Elixirs (Peanut Butter)' ($8) - peanut butter, maple syrup, banana, ice cream and milk

'Eggs Benedict' ($16) has an option of smoked salmon, smoked bacon or cotechino where he chose smoked salmon. Served on a bed of wilted spinach and topped with micro herbs and hollandaise sauce. A simple dish though Eggs Benny has to be one of our favourite brekky dishes to order and have. Although one downside when the dish did arrive on our table was that it had only one slice of toast. 

With Eggs Benny, sometimes you would get one slice of toast while at some places, you would get two. But having 2 poached eggs and a big bed of wilted spinach sometimes makes you wonder what if I finish the first toast? What would I eat the other egg and the leftover spinach with? Well, I guess by having only one toast, you really need to divide the smoked salmon, the two poached eggs and the spinach between it. The poached eggs and smoked salmon along with the wilted spinach was delicious, the poached eggs were done well though abit more extra hollandaise sauce would have been great. The hollandaise sauce was not too acidic nor was it too strong but did have a very strong lemon flavour.

'Carbonara' ($19) is an interesting dish to have for breakfast but since Morning After opened, the one dish that made me want to dine here was to try their Carbonara breakfast dish. Don't imagine your creamy egg and bacon carbonara you usually have, imagine this as your leaner and healthier version of it. Plus, the downside for some would be that there is no sauce in this dish.. Yes, no creamy sauce at all.

Consisting of Pappardelle pasta, 63 degrees hens eggs, field mushrooms, smoked pancetta and pecorino romano. What made the dish great was that the field mushrooms, smoked pancetta and pecorino cheese worked well with each other of course. It would have been great if the serving of the pappardelle pasta was more than what it was although it was quite thick in width, it seemed that it only needed a few fork twirls to finish it all. The 63 degree hens egg was quite interesting but for those who don't know, hens eggs are usually quite smaller than the usual.

Everyone has their own way of eating this dish, but for me, I first tried all of it by itself before breaking into the egg and mixing it with the pecorino romano to make the dish have some sort of a sauce.

Overall a pleasant experience at Morning After. If you are curious, then definitely do come and have a try and yes, the Carbonara is a must try although it may not be everyone's favourite.

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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Nana & Da's, Kedron, Brisbane

An old fashioned cottage with a homely setting lies on Homebush Road with its own long history going back to the 1930s. When it opened, it sure did bring many smiles on the Northside locals as there seem to be a lack of breakfast places and even brunch that was located at the Northside as most of it were around the CBD precinct or around West End, Kangaroo Point and many more. Maybe, you could even count by your fingers with how many brekky/brunch places there are in Northside. Having an all day breakfast and lunch dishes prepared on premises allows the locals to enjoy classic and modern breakfast as well as indulging on sweet treats.

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Scuzi Caffe, Westfield Chermside, Brisbane

Having brunch or breakfast in Scuzi may be a good place to go to if you are up for cafe food and somewhere easy and nearby. There are a wide range of options to choose from but then, some may be a better choice and worth than others. We weren't too hungry hence why we ended up just buying a light meal while we chatted away.

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The Deck, The Glen Hotel, Eight Mile Plains, Brisbane

The Glen Hotel is only 15minutes drive from the Brisbane CBD and also having free parking on site is always handy. What you may not know is that this is kind of your typical tavern but then, there's a hotel which is surprisingly 4.5 star accommodation in which I am unsure why there is such a high rated star hotel over in the Southside.. The Glen Hotel has two main dining areas which is one, The Garden Grille Restaurant and Bar which features their newest signature steak and seafood restaurant with an Executive Chef of Cha Cha Char fame and then there is The Deck which features more of your bar, bistro and pub food, basically more of a casual dining and gaming lounge feel. Oh, and if you're only looking to have a drink? Then there is even a bottleshop drive through available on site. You can always see it being crowded every peak hours especially after work, friday nights and on weekends. So don't be surprised if it takes awhile to get a seat or even eat with loud noises around you.

Silly me... I forgot to take a picture of the Specials of the day which I did end up choosing after browsing through their wide variety of food on their menu. This was the 'Double Kangaroo Burger' served with beer battered fries. I, at first did not realise it would be this big as I wasn't sure of what to get at the start. There were just so many delicious options to choose from.

The beer battered fries were fried to perfection, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

The Kangaroo Burger itself was quite big in a way that it was stacked nicely and presented well on a chopping board. It had double kangaroo patty, double cheese, onion rings, rocket and tomato and also a mayo dressing. The cheese just seemed like your typical cheddar cheese slices you get from your local supermarket. Having the onion rings there gave the burger a crunch as well as having the simple salad. However, the double kangaroo patty was great but they were both just quite thick in size so it can be a bit troublesome when you do want to grab it with two hands and take a big whole bite.

Nicely cut in half showing each of the elements in the Kangaroo burger.

'Chicken Cheese Schnitzel' ($13) was a golden crumbed chicken breast schnitzel topped with melted mozarella cheese served with beer battered fries and salad. If you would like to add a topper then you can do so too. The portion is quite big and the chicken schnitzel was golden crumbed and I have to say that for the price, it was definitely worth it.

The side salad was fresh with a mixture of mixed leaves, red onion, tomato and cucumber with a light salad dressing. The beer battered fries was fried well and fried food is always great with fries/chips. The golden crumb was crumbed well thinly with the right amount of salt as well as the melted mozarella cheese gave the schnitzel the extra punch. It is nice to see that a full chicken breast meat has been used instead of sometimes being more of a thick crumb than the meat itself.

Buzz Bistro, Gasworks, Newstead, Brisbane

Buzz Bistro at Gasworks is known for their wood fired pizzas as well as their breakfast variety. Though I've been here for both lunch and dinner, I am yet to try their breakfast next time. Creating artisan Neopolitan style pizzas allows you to enjoy good ol' Italian pizzas hand made as well as being able to smell it while it's being cooked in the wood fire. Don't forget to order a glass of wine or maybe a nice cold beer to accompany it. Having a view of the Gasometer, allow yourself to indulge in good food while relaxing and watching the different lights shining upon the thick steel lining.

'Buzz's Famous Jerk Chicken with Chorizo Skewers' ($14) with cucumber and mint yoghurt is a great starter to have and to share amongst your friend or your loved ones. A simple but yet delicious dish to have. The jerk chicken was seasoned and marinated well, mixed along with the chorizo created a nice balance and giving it hints of saltiness through the chorizo.

Having the rocket underneath allows the dish to have some greens and make it look not as lonely just by having the skewers by itself. The cucumber and mint yogurt was a refreshing yet smooth dip to have and blended well with the skewers. A nice sub for your typical ketchup or mayo.

'The Rage'N Sage'N' ($19) which is one of their pizza options which consists of sauteed mushrooms, garlic, crisp sage, Fior di latte and pancetta. Mushrooms and pancetta always works well on pizzas, especially when together. It would have been great however if the mushrooms were scattered more reasonably rather than only being closer to the center mostly. There were still a sufficient amount of pancetta pieces as well as mushrooms but again, the mushrooms could have been more around the pizza slices.

Fior di latte is a type of cheese, a semi-soft, fresh cheese made in the style of an Italian mozarella. The Fior di latte has a smooth and a little tangy in flavour also, having an elastic feeling. The thin dough was chewy and crispy but not too thin until it gets soggy easily. Having the burnt bits from the wood fire oven makes the pizza more authentic and have the smoky flavour as well as smell. One of the nicest pizzas offered here so do have a try.

'The Blue Cheese Burger' ($19.5) is one of the seven different burger options on the menu. With all the burger and pizza options, you would have trouble trying to decide which to choose. All burgers are served with 220g wagyu beef served medium rare with a choice of salad or beer battered chips.

By using Gorgonzola piccante, it allows the burger to have a soft and buttery but also quite salty in terms of taste. The mayo allowed a creamier texture as well as having the house made red onion marmalade gave it a nice balance. I really enjoyed the red onion marmalade as I thought it was unique and had an interesting picklish taste. A Gorgonzola Piccante is a veined blue cheese made from unskimmed cow's milk and has a strong and an intense taste when eaten alone but with it being mixed into a burger, created a different yet interesting way to try the cheese as it blends in well with the red onion marmalade and wagyu meat.

Little Loco Cafe, New Farm, Brisbane

Little Loco, the place where the milkshake topped donut was invading instagram or it may have been anyway.. We decided to give it a try after finishing mass on a Sunday and was hoping it would be not too full so that we could easily get a chair. The first thing I saw on the menu that I really wanted to try and definitely have to, were their Loco Shakes...Little Loco is one of the few on board with the milkshake trend having a sweet milkshake and topping it off with a doughnut and sauce. Although I like my milkshake simple and not overly sweet with my doughnut on the side, I guess we'll give it a try.. Note that this is another delayed post (I know..again? apologies as some of the items on the menu has changed..)

By the time we arrived, it was packed. There wasn't much seats to be honest but there was a spot for two though with a low table out the front but we wanted to wait for the wooden bench tables on the side of the restaurant. It wasn't long until the people currently sitting finished up and so, we got our comfortable seats.. 

While we were browsing through the menu for our meals, we decided to order drinks first. 'Loco Shakes' ($10) has 2 different choices Nutella or Salted Caramel. The one below was the Salted Caramel topped with a gluten free donut, salted caramel and caramel popcorn. We did not try this so we didn't know how it would taste like but it seemed quite sweet overall as you can imagine with anything salted caramelish.

Nutella topped with a gluten free donut, nutella and nut crumb was the one we tried and it seemed that it wasn't as delicious as what it was hyped up to be. The gluten free donut, agreed also by the others seemed to just be a normal cinammon donut. Although it wasn't soft nor was it hard, it was just okay.. As for the nutella glaze and the nut crumb, the nut crumb gave it a crunchy texture and a pleasant topping to have to overcome the double sweetness from the whole drink.

The nutella shake had the distinctness of nutella however, it could have been stronger but then, it would mean it would be sweeter. The milkshake was sweet and the way you had to eat it was really taking the donut off the drink and taking a bite of it while you drink the milkshake. Overall, it was pleasant however a bit too sweet for me and didn't get me as hyped up as maybe I should be.

Sandwich was not on menu as they also had various slices and sandwiches on offer in the glass display

While browsing through the menu, one dish stood out for me. Not sure if it was just because the elements within it did or it was just I'm a sucker for mushrooms.. Yep, you got it right.. Mushrooms! Although there has been numerous places offering mushroom based dishes, I never really ordered it in the end due to the fact that there might have been Eggs Benny on the menu or maybe something else caught my eye. Though I wasn't that hungry this time, it just seemed like the perfect dish to try especially that it would've been one of the lighter dishes compared to the rest.

'Mushrooms' ($17.5) is a vegetarian dish in where it consists of a mixture of different mushrooms such as wild mushroom ragu with mushroom foam, rye, pecorino, truffle honey with 2 free range poached eggs. Oh, and another thing that caught my eye was definitely mushroom foam? I wonder what that would taste like.. and also, anything truffle gets me though a truffle honey seemed really sweet and I wasn't sure how it would work altogether.

The various mushrooms were delicious and cooked well. It added that lightness and healthy feeling as well whilst you are eating it. The combination of the mushroom ragu with the pecorino cheese as well as the poached eggs was such a delight to eat together. Especially with the mushroom foam and truffle honey which added a bit more sweetness to the dish.

A downside would be the rye and since it was toasted, maybe it was not served right away after toasting it or maybe it has been previously toasted and left out in the air for a while since it was quite hard.. Not something you could easily knife through unfortunately. It's not a dish where you grab the toast and just bite it off along with the condiments on top like Avo on toast. That was why I had hoped that the toast would be lightly toasted allowing it to still be soft in the middle. Most importantly, I would be able to slice the toast and pick up a few of the mushrooms, dip it in the oozing egg as well as getting a bit of the pecorino cheese and the mushroom foam. Sadly, that wasn't possible. It was just easier in the end having a fork on one hand to pick up the mushrooms and so on whilst having one hand holding the toast and just biting it off as you go..

The mushroom foam along with the truffle honey was definitely the most anticipating element out of the whole dish. The mushroom foam was light, had subtle hints of mushrooms however it was creamy but not as creamy as mayo. More like a whipped egg white but not overwhipped into a meringue. Not sure how I can describe it, but it wasn't sweet nor was it salty.. It was just kind of subtle.. if you get what I mean..

As for the truffle honey, I found that it was abit too sweet and that the honey overpowered the truffle. Of course, it is great to see the truffle pieces in the honey but I think without the truffle honey, the dish would still be good. Although if you like your dish sweeter, then the truffle honey is perfect. Try to get some of the mushrooms and slide it across the mushroom foam and dab abit of the truffle honey and oh, don't forget to crack the egg and see it oozing out although one was perfectly cooked, the other was abit overcooked. That didn't matter though, they were still nice poached eggs.

'Breakfast Burger' ($15) is the safest I guess other than Avo on toast to order. If you'd rather have a lighter but still yummy burger, there is also a mushroom haloumi version. The breakfast burger consisted of your basic but essential protein and veges to build up your energy in the morning. Streaky bacon, fried egg, smoked tomato relish, mature cheddar and avocado on a toasted polenta brioche bun..

Layering a burger can be hard especially if you try and add too much in it however, since this was quite simple, it was presented yet beautifully as well. Showing the fried egg on top of the bacon whilst the toasted bun on the side as it sits at the edge. I guess this also allows you to see the burger inside and out whilst also trying to fill up the chopping board. It is quite awkward sometimes to see a closed up burger placed in the middle of a big round plate leaving you feeling that the whole dish seems abit empty. That's how I feel anyway.. Though this was presented on a chopping board, it didn't feel that way at all.

Sadly I didn't really like the toasted bun as when I read brioche bun, I tend to like it slightly toasted on the outside but soft on the inside. This instead was quite hard on the outside and the inside was not as soft.. Another thing, it was nice to see that the avocado wasn't in slices placed within the midst of the other elements in the burger but instead it was smashed avocado spread on the top bun which makes it easier to eat as a whole.