Nestled comfortably in the well respected ‘antique quarter’ of Woolloongabba lays Birdcage, a new pan Asian restaurant recently reincarnated from the former Bistro Bistro. Sitting in an 1890 heritage building brings high expectations; happily BirdCage delivers on all levels.

On entry, unique touches include two big Buddha’s gazing over the front door, sky blue feature lamps, ornate candles trapped in white birdcages and a soft tinge of red resonating throughout the long dining room.

With the deft hand on the floor from owner Darryl Marsden, who has spent his time managing hotels in Bali, Japan and Fiji, service runs reasonably smooth.

Sharing was recommended so we opted for three entrees as many took our interest.

The first entree of oxtail braised in star anise and lemongrass, with Chinese green onion pancakes and chili jam ($16) was fragrant and moreish. The ‘melt in your mouth’ meat sat in a rich, thick sauce. The roti-style pancakes, creating the much needed crisp and flaky texture. However, the jam, which was more like a sambal, was not as tasty and spicy as my Malaysian Nan’s.

Salmon tartare with green onion, young ginger, soy, sesame oil and chili ($17) was cleanly presented showcasing the perfect cubes of fresh raw fish. Simple flavours, good combinations and a decent amount of technique highlighted this dish.

The last entrée of Eggnets filled with oyster mushrooms, bean sprouts, snow peas and daikon ($14) were satisfying, both for my arteries and taste buds. The different vegetables perfectly complemented each other showing the chefs knowledge of flavours. The accompanying ginger dipping sauce wasn’t bad, though lacked any punch.

Main was the duck breast on red Thai curry with caramelised pineapple, apple eggplant and roasted shallots ($32). The perfect pink breast sat atop the comforting thick sauce with the large pieces of vegetable and fruits scattered throughout adding some crunch. The shape of the dish was not in my favour, presenting a challenge when trying to divide the bigger than bite size duck slices as they sat in the depths of the bowl.

For dessert, I opted for the banana fritters with salted coconut caramel and vanilla ice-cream ($15). It was a generous serving, maybe because they knew we were sharing? The melted ladyfinger bananas were covered in a beautiful crisp batter alternating with the luscious ice cream. The rich caramel sauce, a welcome addition and perfect match.

BirdCage displays a good selection from the enormous range of Asian cuisines. The options present nicely and with the ambience create an enjoyable experience.

I’m glad this new bird has not flown the coop and encourage a visit to the latest addition of the ‘antique quarter.’

The Scores…

Ambiance 8/10

Food 7.5/10

Service 8/10

On the rainy drive to the very hilly Miskin Street in suburban Toowong, I asked my parents; “What is the difference between a restaurant and a dining experience?”

We came to the conclusion that Brents is taking a different approach and had chosen a unique name to set it apart from other restaurants. That is why I like Brents… it’s different… and in a good way!

Mum spoke of earlier days in Toowong and prior to Brents, the famous international chef Bruno Loubert had a restaurant in the same place called Bruno’s Tables. Regrettably, Mum said although it was her plan, she did not make it to Bruno’s Tables.

We entered the left side of the charming Queensland cottage style house which is home to Brents. We passed the owner and head chef Brent Farrell’s cabin of trophies with awards such as Apprentice of the Year (QLD) and later in his career Chef/Owner of the Year (QLD).

Once at the table we were given a choice of sparkling or still water and presented with the menus. Mum and Dad decided on the Romantic Package consisting of an Appetizer, sorbet and dessert with their choice of entrée and main. I chose from the  a la carte menu.

A white-gloved waitress returned to our table and set out a many rows of cutlery.

The Amuse Bouche of Persian feta with tomatoes and a crisp wafer was served. I thought it reminiscent of bruschetta although served in a mini shot glass and so cold it made the glass frost. Unfortunately this was not conducive to a good photograph. I found it a fresh and vibrant start.

The Appetizer I really had set my mind on was the wild mushroom cappuccino, truffle oil & Iberico (dried ham) crumb, but Mum and Dad were given it as a part of their set menu. This meant I could share it and instead ordered the Pasta Dura Bread (which my Mum had been keen on trying) with a selection of butters, which on this day consisted of an earthy truffle butter and zesty chive butter. This, dear readers… is quite possibly the best bread I have eaten even better – it is made in house! I had quite a bit of Mum and Dad’s cappuccino and it was a rich dark brown/black mushroom soup with nice airy foam and a hint of truffle and touch of prosciutto-like crumb.

Next, the entrees, mine was a venison Carpaccio with anchovy mayonnaise, red grape sorbet, Parmesan and rocket. I loved the cold component to the dish because it provided a nice sweetness and created a refreshing sauce at the end of the meal. The Carpaccio was sliced so finely that it was easy to cut and wasn’t chewy. The edible flowers beautifully decorating the plate were most likely grown in the garden at the back of the restaurant. Every component on the dish complemented each other to perfection.

Dad’s entrée was a prawn and cerviche of scallop with herb crème, melon & radish salad and lemon oil.

Mum’s entrée was one of the dishes of the night! It was Toolango delight gnocchi with mushroom, blue cheese, compressed pear and burnt butter.

On Brent’s website they said that they have an edible flower garden out the back which could be viewed by asking a waiter. Of course we wanted to see where some of the food we just ate came from, so we walked up a flight of stairs to another dining room reminiscent of the design of Two Small Rooms (also in Toowong).

We were given a heads up by a waiter that we would be walking through a loud hen’s party as we set out on a walkway leading to the garden. We were surprised at how elevated Brents is because we felt like we had walked quite a steep incline. Outside the greenhouse were a couple of gardens, containing some edible flowers like borage, garlic flowers, nasturtium and marigolds to name a few. There were also rhubarb and tomatoes. Inside the greenhouse were rocket, chervil, snow pea tendril and others.

We returned to the table to find the palate cleansers had arrived. I had a strawberry and black pepper sorbet and Mum and Dad had the mandarin and poppy seed sorbet. I absolutely loved mine, as there were nice strawberry slices at the bottom of the glass that added to intensify the strawberry theme. I didn’t really taste the black pepper on top. I loved the idea of a palate cleanser on the menu and wish many more restaurants should do the same.

Mum and Dad’s sorbet had the problem of getting poppy seeds stuck in your teeth but nevertheless it did its purpose of cleansing.

Mains arrived and I had opted for the crispy confit duck with butternut pumpkin, eureka lemon and licorice. The meal was neatly plated on a slab of slate with a splash of colour from the bright yellow lemon curd and the orange pumpkin puree. You would expect to see a plump leg of a duck or two sitting on the plate, but no, they do things differently here. Instead there were two rectangular prisms that when broken, separated into strips of meat. I think Brents may have confited the duck pieces then separated the meat, packing it in a terrine dish and then slicing it. What a great technique of serving confit duck as it looked great and a different version to the rustic ones we see elsewhere. Anyway, on to the taste! The curd was an interesting option and tasted great with the sweetness it added to the dish. The duck was dry as suspected, as it is hard to retain the juiciness when it has been cooking for a long time. It did have a nice meaty taste though. The puree had a strong pumpkin flavour that took the dish to a new level. I am not a fan of licorice but I gave it a try by itself and it still didn’t float my boat so I gave a piece to Mum and Dad. Dad tried it with the rest of the meal and said that he didn’t like it by itself but with the rest of the dish it was great. There was one last piece and it went fantastically with all the other components. I wished I hadn’t given the other pieces away!

Mum’s main was the market fish of the day which was barramundi with a saffron and vanilla bouillabaisse, beetroot and broad beans.

Dad had the crispy skinned pork belly with sautéed scallops, cauliflower, chorizo tapioca and oxtail jus.

A waiter came into the dining room carrying a balloon glass with an intriguing looking dessert and placed it on a neighboring table. It looked amazing so I had to order it for dessert.

It was a champagne marshmallow with roasted strawberry ice cream, strawberry granita and flowers. The champagne was subtle at first and then became more pronounced  as I ate more of the dish. The granita was so cold that it set off the nerves in my teeth, so for those with sensitive teeth I would approach with caution. The roasted strawberry ice cream was fabulous but I couldn’t discern the difference between roasted or fresh strawberry . The flowers would have been from the garden at the back and added a splash of colour to the otherwise predominantly red and white dessert.  All in all it was a fantastic cold dessert with creative presentation.

As part of Mum and Dad’s “romantic package” (which wasn’t that romantic considering they were taking their 14 year old son to dinner!), their dessert was an assiette of chocolate. On it was (from left to right) a chocolate cone filled with parfait, chocolate tart, biscotti,chocolate creme brulee, raspberry sorbet and chocolate pudding with extras.

On our way out to pay we were reminded once again of how successful Brents has been with the Diner’s Choice Award standing proudly in a cabinet awarded to them by the QLD Good Food Guide. Considering that a large number of people voted for this restaurant, it seems Brents has a large fan club that loves its creativeness, uniqueness and understanding of modern French techniques and I’m happy to be one of them!

“I have booked a table at the GoMA restaurant for 1pm tomorrow.” Take a guess at who might have emailed me this? This in fact, was from the ex-restaurant reviewer for the Courier Mail, Margie Fraser.  Even better, she invited the ex-ex-reviewer Lizzie Loel to come along as well. Not only did I enjoy a terrific meal but also learned from the best in the restaurant critiquing industry! What more could I ask for?

I had contacted Margie to tell her

1. How awesome she is; and

2. To ask if I could come and see her in action at a review.

Unfortunately the Courier Mail changed the section her review was in and axed the reviews. She very kindly let me dine with her anyway. I had already met and worked with Lizzie at the Noosa Good Food and Wine Festival but I hadn’t talked to her about my blog.

To be honest I had barely heard of the GoMA restaurant, so my expectations weren’t very high. When I read their menu online, I was pleasantly surprised. The food looked gourmet and fine dining. I read about dishes that used wood sorrel and juniper berries! Then I read that their new head chef is Josh Lopez who staged at Noma (voted best restaurant in the world) and was previously running Spring before Kym Machin took over. I was excited!

Once at GOMA I realised that it was the first time I walked through without being crowded by my schoolmates on a school excursion.

I arrived a little early, so I walked onto the deck looking over an open grass area that I remember playing on, on school excursions.

Margie arrived first (sorry any chefs or restaurant owners, but I can’t give her appearance away) and we discussed the menu and talked about reviewing restaurants. Then Lizzie turned up and recognized my face but couldn’t remember my name. I reminded her and we started ordering.

We found out that Josh was new to the GOMA restaurant, had been under the radar for a while so even Margie (who is on the board of trustees) didn’t know.

We each chose different entrees.

I had the Carpaccio of Southern Downs beef with egg yolk confit, chive cream, capers and smoked tomato.

Josh presented the dish remarking; “Great choice.”  It was beautifully plated with a stunning nasturtium leaf and bits of green rocket adding to the green and red colour theme. Texture played a critical part in this dish with the smoothness of the beef and tomato relish, soft ooziness from the egg and the crunchiness of the smoked tomato and capers.  On the downside though, I am going to use Manu Feildel’s (Chef and My Kitchen Rules Judge) famous words “Where’s the sauce?” Nevertheless it was a spectacular dish and a credit to the Chef’s creativity.

Margie had the confit of ocean trout, green peas, spring flora and fennel.

Lizzie had the beetroot and chevre salad, toasted walnuts and ruby chard.

My main was a fillet of pan seared yellowtail kingfish, celeriac, pickled vegetables and crayfish emulsion.

The kingfish was perfectly cooked with amazingly crispy skin. The chef’s knife technique was textbook with fine slicing on display. The crayfish emulsion was superb with a hint of seafood that was neither over nor underwhelming.  The whole dish was a textbook effort!

The saying “Great minds think alike” was evident with Margie ordering the same as me.

Lizzie ordered the roasted rack of lamb, celeriac, nettle puree and bordelaise.

Josh had also made us two sides that he thought that we would like.

There was a vine of blistered Noosa red tomatoes with drizzled pear balsamic and shaved

Regianno. Once you bit into the skin the tomato burst releasing its beautiful juices.

There were also haricot verts (green beans) and butter beans with garlic emulsion. So lovely and juicy!

We ordered the dessert recommended by our waiter, to share between the three of us but happily two dishes were served. The dessert was the seven sins consisting of chocolate ice cream, chocolate cake, chocolate jelly, chocolate mousse, chocolate soil, chocolate nibs and chocolate sauce.  All components using valrhona chocolate.

This was another dish that had varied textures, again showing the chef’s ability to match flavours and textures. All components were outstanding from the light and airy mousse to the dense, rich cake and velvety jelly. I only wish there had have been a second scoop of ice cream. It was a decadent, sumptuous and indulgent dessert.

I predict GoMA becoming one of the best in Brisbane due to Josh’s creativity and his understanding of texture.

Based on our lunch, it’s well on its way to the top!

My good friend Harry (who has eaten with me before at the second chocolate appreciation night) was up for a good night of eating so I told him that we should try out the chef’s table experience at Spring Bistro. Mum and Dad decided to come too and as we walked through the door a whole roasted suckling pig lay down on the table. We knew we were in for a good night!

There was a bit of musical chairs as we were moved a couple of times around the table, but it was back on track when Ben gave us some fresh house made smoked cardamom bread with smooth butter that he made earlier that day. Delish!

Kym and the team were focusing on using pig for the two-course meal tonight. Ben V was playing host and he did a fantastic job! As you can see in this photo he is working hard, running from side to side like speedy lightning!

Soon after the entree was presented to us. It was a beautiful pappardelle pasta with pulled pork in a tomato based sauce. The pasta was cooked al dente and the tomato sauce wasn’t unbalanced as the tomato wasn’t acidic and not too sweet, providing a lovely fresh and piquant meal.

Main was perfect! Roast pork with roast potatoes, roast apple and an impeccable orange syrup jus. The crackling was one of the crispiest I’ve ever had and you should have seen the Princess’ (my Sister) reaction when I told her about it later. She was so jealous! The potatoes have now become Mum’s favourite way of cooking it as Ben told her how he did them. They are par cooked, quartered, placed in a fry pan, CAREFULLY tossed with rosemary and cooked until golden. Season and… best potatoes ever! The jus had an intense orange flavour throughout that complemented the pork amazingly. We had a sample of the syrup by itself and it tasted very rich so it would have been tricky to make sure there was enough of it in the jus but that it didn’t overpower the rest of the meal.

Then dessert of chocolate profiterole with almond ice cream was presented to us. The profiterole was everything it is meant to be; a beautiful crisp outside with a creamy centre. The ice cream had the distinctive marzipan flavour. Devine!

To finish off, a large board of cheeses and breads came out. We were given a bit of everything and had permission to come back and get as much as we want after. Cheeses included taleggio, cheddar, Portuguese cheddar, a Camembert and breads like brioche, lavosch, sourdough and a fruity bread.

This is Ben and me after the meal.

It was a stunning Friday night and the value was exceptional for $75 a person. On a Tuesday night the price is $50. I highly recommend a spot on this table so get on their website here and book yourself a seat.

e’cco was the restaurant that inspired my massive love for gourmet dining and cooking. One night Mum and Dad surprised me with my first cookbook, “Eating In”. I had recently read some cookbooks of Phillip Johnson (executive chef at e’cco bistro) that Mum and Dad owned. I was flicking through the book and one recipe caught my eye, as it would with anyone. It was the trio of chocolate – a white chocolate sorbet, milk chocolate mousse & dark chocolate delice. It looked amazing but it was far out of my reach at the time, I only wished I could try such an amazing dessert.

My parents usually reward me for achieving a good report card and the year seven one was especially good so I chose e’cco.

Mum and I walked into e’cco and took a seat positioned so I could look into the kitchen. I couldn’t believe that I was in e’cco. The bread that was served was the most top class bread I have tried. We ordered our meals and below you can see how excited I was.

Our entrées arrived; I ordered a prawn, saffron and vanilla bean risotto with crispy pancetta.

Mum ordered a chipotle-marinated quail, corn puree, cotechino, peas & coriander.

I was impressed with the richness of the risotto and how the pancetta complemented it.

Phillip Johnson must have noticed me and came to our table and said hi and luckily I brought my “Eating In” book for him to sign.  Phillip told me about the people who inspired him and showed me a famous bistro book- “Modern Bistrot Cookery” by Antony Worrall Thompson, who Phillip worked for in London. Phillip gave me one of his cookbooks that I was missing – “Bistro”. I told Phillip about the trio of chocolate and he said that I could come back for work experience and create the dessert with Kristie the head pastry chef. YES!

Mains arrived and Phillip left us to it and went back into the kitchen. Unfortunately Mum and I forgot about the camera and started eating the mains. It’s very rude to do this but we took photos anyway and here they are. Well somehow I lost the photo for my duck dish but here is Mum’s anyway.

Mums Dish: Blue eye cod with mash and a salsa verde (quarter eaten)

The mash was flavoursome and it supplemented the duck effectively.

I couldn’t go past the crema catalana (orange zest and cinnamon flavoured cream) and Churros (a fried Spanish doughnut).  Mum treated herself to pedro ximenez (the name of a white grape in Spain which is made also as a varietal wine, an intensely sweet, dark, dessert sherry, so I have been told.)

To top off, we finished with a good cup of tea for me and coffee for Mum, including house made biscuits.

What a lovely day, I cannot wait for work experience.

Wish me luck.

These days, expectations have risen with nursery cafés, many already know of Australian expat, Skye Gyngell who brought to Michelin star fame England’s Petersham Nurseries. In Brisbane we have our own version with well-known chef Gillian Hurst in charge of a café in East Brisbane and I hoped we would be in for a treat.

We had tried to get a spot at the café on a public holiday a couple of months earlier, but it was closed just like the other five places we tried that day. I had heard a lot about Gillian’s signature sand crab lasagna, which was the main reason we were so intrigued to try the café out.

We walked straight through the nursery to the cashier’s till where I noticed the Gram magazine which was the issue I was featured in.  The Princess (my sister), Dad and I took a right turn onto a raised wooden floorboard over-looking the pavement below which was also used for seating. It amazed me how big the café area is compared to the nursery.

The menus were presented to us. The Princess was happy to have hot chips while the big decision rested in Dad’s hands. To order two sand crab lasagnas or order one and try a different dish? As much as we wanted our own lasagnas we agreed on eating half of each other’s meals. The Princess went in search of giftware, some looking like antiques so she could try and bargain with Dad about getting something.

She came back just in time for the meals to arrive.

Our main of Sand Crab Lasagna with Abalone Cream Sauce and Salad

Even with very high expectations the lasagna didn’t disappoint. The creamy crab sauce sandwiched by delicate pasta sheets, covered in a beautiful rich sauce of abalone brought out the memory of the sea within us all. Magical stuff!!

Our main of Crab and Prawn Tortellini with Saffron Broth

The subtle flavours of the saffron balanced out nicely with the perfectly cooked pasta and chunky filling, adding texture.

The princess went back to find antiques and came back telling us about different vases and boxes she would love to have. She was unsuccessful on this occasion.

I was eyeing off the range of cakes on display and also the desserts specials on the boards. I was in two minds, ordering the Bread and Butter Pudding or the Panna Cotta. It turned out that the pudding wasn’t meant to be on the menu so I opted for the Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Summer Fruits.

Okay, so it wasn’t the best choice of dessert for an overcast cold day but it was an amazing dessert anyway. It was perfectly set (which isn’t easily come by at other restaurants) and had a creamy, milky taste and was very, very smooth. The fruits stood out magnificently as they had a dressing, which tasted like orange blossom water. I wiped the plate clean with the last apple slice.

Unlike some other Nursery Cafés (i.e Bunnings) I have tried in my lifetime none have been as great as this one. While Gillian is at its head, it’s Magical Stuff!!