Starbucks and the Attack of the Bogan Australian Accent...

I will admit – despite their Apple’esque attempts to take over the world – I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for Starbucks…

One of the biggest adjustments for me moving to Canada, has been my caffeine addiction. Coffee is different here. Canadians love their filtered coffee and creamers… I just can’t get the taste for it. But even Canadian cappuccinos taste different… I’m not sure if it is the beans, the milk or just the baristas… but it’s different.

Starbucks makes the closest thing to Australian Coffee that I’ve found so far.

So my love affair with them has grown exponentially. And since putting down roots in Airdrie – just north of Calgary where we have had major snowfalls and several -15C days… the fact that they also do drive through… uh huh, you heard me right – DRIVE THROUGH coffee…  I’m just about ready to name my second born child after them.

There have been so many things I’ve been looking forward to eating since we arrived. One of them was a bearclaw… and they sell them at Starbucks!

Salt Food Wine Rosalie - Breakfast Extraordinaire

I have well and truly missed the memo.


Today, I took hubby out for breakfast – and everything was going swimmingly well, until I heard him snickering at me.

“What?” I asked him suspiciously.

“Everytime you take a sip of coffee your whole head disappears. And you don’t have a small head either”.

Since when did Brisbane start serving coffee in bowls? And in Noodle bowls no less. While I am not complaining. I’m not. I love a big coffee with the rest of them – but surrounded by all the “Ladies who Lunch” at Salt Rosalie – I felt like a moron. The bowl was literally so big that I needed 2 hands to hold it. And apparently my face disappeared with every sip. Crazy!

But the coffee was good, it was hot and it was strong. So asides from feeling a bit silly – I enjoyed every drop.

I’d heard both good and bad things about Salt. That the food was good but the service was hit and miss. That the food was average but the service was fantastic. And seeing as it is straight across the road from my Chiro – I have walked past it almost twice a week without being brave enough to venture in.

Why “brave” you ask? Because it looks swanky. It is always filled with Businessman doing deals, Ladies who Lunch dripping in pearls, Yummy Mummy’s keeping an eye on their X5’s and very few people queuing for takeaway coffee – which is what I always want. Because, being honest, coffee is how I judge a place if I want to go back and spend money on breakfast.

So finally, with recommendations from Twitter friends and with hubby for emotional support – we venture in for breakfast.

The restaurant itself is gorgeous, lovely big lounge chairs, banquettes and outdoor dining. I wanted a table outside but they were full, so had to make do with an inside table and trying to take photos discreetly.

My coffee was great – asides from the noodle bowl issue – but hubby was not impressed with his ice chocolate. Presented in a smaller than usual cocktail glass, it had ice cream, ice cubes and about 2 inches of chocolate syrup in the bottom. And there was no whipped cream. Surely this is crime against Iced Chocolate???

Our breakfasts – served quickly and piping hot – were HUGE.
H.U.G.E.

The older couple at the table next to us – who only ordered coffee – gasped when they were put down in front of us. And I swear that the gentlemen’s eyes nearly boggled out of his head. If there is one thing that you cannot accuse Salt of – that would be stinginess. They would easily win the “Most Generous Breakfast” award if ever there was one.

Hubby ordered scrambled eggs with bacon and a side of Italian sausages. His meal on it’s own was massive, large chunks of buttered sourdough with at least 6 rashers of bacon, 2 grilled tomato halves and a large ramekin housing the uber rich scrambled eggs.

The 4 Italian sausages came on their own plate, with their own garnish – and I was impressed that they did this. It’s never happened at breakfast before – when you order a side – it usually comes out on your plate. This way makes it much easier for me to pinch things AKA: Sharing.

My breakfast was fantastic – poached eggs with bacon, avocado and hollandaise sauce. Also with the massive chunks of sourdough and a huge homemade potato hash cake dripping with a deliciously sweet tomato relish.

I didn’t manage to eat even half of this breakfast – and didn’t even attempt to eat the eggs. The avocado was a sensation – seasoned perfectly and wonderfully lemon-y, it cut through the richness of the whole dish.

All in all, it was brilliant and I’m embarrassed that I was put off for so long. Hubby, despite being disappointed in his Iced Chocolate conceded that if we lived closer to Salt, it would be our regular weekend haunt. That’s high praise indeed coming from him.

The Verdict: Very generous sized breakfasts, imaginative offerings and really good coffee.

Recommendations: If you don’t fancy drinking your coffee out of a bowl, maybe start with ordering a regular sized coffee. And then another one if you feel the need. It was my “large” coffee that was deemed bowl-worthy.

Contact:
Salt Food Wine
5 Nash Street
Rosalie
(07) 3367 0775

The Pepper Lounge Jindalee - Potentially Great...

My husband's logic defies even me sometimes.


“It would be better without the egg”, he says – eyeballing his breakfast pizza, and poking at said egg with his knife.

“True” I admit, “but then it probably wouldn’t qualify as a breakfast pizza?"

Shrugging his shoulders as he scrapes the egg off – “It would still be better without the egg” he states. And that is that.

And so began our breakfast at Pepper Lounge in Jindalee – despite driving past it almost every weekend – we had yet to venture in for breakfast despite a phenomenal amount of whinging about how bad the local offerings were.

So after deciding to branch out and try somewhere other than K and K – we grabbed a stool and prepared ourselves for yet another Western Suburbs Culinary Disaster.

Comfort at my Table - Happy in my Heart.

I knew something was wrong the moment I walked in the door. There were people smiling.

On a Monday morning.

On a Monday morning, the first Monday back at work after Christmas holidays.

Part of me wanted to hiss and back out the door away from all the crazy people – but then I saw what they were smiling about. It was good coffe, and right here in the heart of Milton.

After my car park chat with Peter and Janie from Bunnyconnellen  – they told me about their friend that had just opened a new café in Milton. I was excited – if these people knew half as much about good coffee as they did about good olives – I was there.

Watt Modern Dining - Watt The???

I've been out of the game for a little while now. It's been about 4 years since I pulled my last beer, cleared my last table and yelled at my last Chef. But I'm fairly sure there's a few things that haven't changed:

1. You should welcome guests into the Restaurant, not look at them and wonder if they are lost. Then look at them again like they are something you found on the bottom of your shoe. (Something brown...)

2. If said guests order a bottle of champagne at 10:05am, and your liquor licence doesn't start until 10:30. The answer is not "No" with a head toss. Can I suggest instead "Our licence doesn't start until 10:30 but I'll order it now for you and bring it over when I can". Just a suggestion...

3. When the menu says I should get pinenuts with my Mushrooms and Polenta, then I think I should get them...

4. When FIL asks for poached eggs, I think it is reasonable that he actually gets poached eggs - not the scrambled eggs you somehow thought he would enjoy more.

Christopher's Fine Food - Very Fine Indeed

While I don't like to brag (too much) - I have acquired a very well trained husband. (This is not to be confused with the rare breed of Perfect Husband - see: Onion Jam Post for details on where his shortcomings lay...)

I'm yet to have an opinion on whether my Mother-in-Law trained her husband, or whether he is naturally a bit of a Romantic - but I love that between the two of them they have raised a boy who randomly buys his wife flowers because "he loves her", cooks dinner "because it's his turn" and takes me out for dinner because he's decided that "It's Date Night".

I was reminded of this recently when we spontaneously decided to take MIL out for breakfast (She's a hairdresser and my hair was looking particularly "Side Show Bob"...) and found out that it was also her and FIL's 37th Wedding Anniversary. Too cute for words was the massive bunch of flowers he had run home during his coffee break and left in the kitchen with a note that said "Came home for a quick kiss".

So feeling celebratory - we decided to forgo the pedestrian Coffee Club and Toscani's in lieu of Christopher's Fine Foods. 37 years deserve something a little bit special, and for the South Side - Christopher's is the definition of special.

The Chelsea Cafe - A Comedy of Neglect

“Is that sausage cooked?” I asked hubby tentatively, “Probably not” he grumbled. A pink middled sausage was really just the final straw for him, after a comedy of errors – he was all out of patience and was beyond caring if his snags were cooked or not.

As a Diner – I think one of the most frustrating things is to be waiting for a table and watching other people get seated before you… especially when they arrive after you.

To console ourselves that our holiday was almost over – I took hubby out to breakfast to The Chelsea. I had heard good things about The Chelsea, and considering we have eaten at almost every other Restaurant at The Barracks  - I didn’t really think we could go wrong.

To start with – they didn’t have any tables – but for Saturday morning breakfast, I’m happy to wait for one. We sat at their bar area while we waited… and waited… and waited. And proceeded to watch 3 other couples get seated before us. We asked the waiter again if we could get a table and were told that he would seat us as soon as one became available… we watched another couple take that table – and then just resigned ourselves to staying put.

Mugshot Coffee - Awesome Coffee in Auchenflower

Monday's are my nemesis.

If ever there is a day where something, or everything, will go wrong - it is almost always a Monday. This is the day that my alarm clock doesn't go off, that all the towels are in the wash and when I forget to swap my Uggs for work shoes...

But today, everything ran smoothly and I was actually in the car and on track to get to work EARLY. Almost unheard of. So to reward myself for this little fluke of nature - I decided to finally treat myself and try the elusive coffee shop that I pass daily in peak hour traffic and wonder what it's like.

Mugshot Coffee - by the way that I travel - has to be one of the most inconveniently located coffee shops in Brisbane. On the corner of Milton Road and Ridley Streets in Auchenflower, you either have to park and walk, or attempt the trifecta of crossing 4 lanes of traffic, parking and then making it out again. But today - seeing as I was doing so well for time - I thought why not, lets mix it up a bit!

I'm happy to report that the coffee is great. It was great on every level to be honest. The coffee itself was nice and mellow, the milk not warm - but not scalding, and you could actually taste it. Always a positive!

Its always a relief to see the Barista making themselves a coffee (as I did this morning). Not all Barista's drink where they work you know... I also like the fact that they have a sense of humour. When I asked for a "large" - he asked me if I considered the biggest cup the large. which got me mildly excited that they had special, hidden, bigger cups for blatant caffeine addicts like myself. No, apparently not - he had just learnt the hard way that size is a matter of perception.

I had to choke back a laugh when I saw that their Loyalty Program was called "Ugly Mug". Now that is what I call memorable!

While I waited for my coffee he suggested that if I didn't already have all my Xmas presents - he had a cacti breeding program out on the deck - thinking that he was joking - I stuck my head out to have a look... and yes, he really did.

So although I don't feel the need to get a cactus - I will definitely be going back for more coffee. Traffic permitting of course!

Contact:

Mugshot Coffee

Cnr Milton Road and Ridley Street

Auchenflower

Poppy Cakes - Blissfully full fat

I love, love, love other people's birthdays! There is something so special about helping people you love celebrate special milestones in their lives and birthdays are one of the perfect examples.
Tomorrow is the Journo's birthday but TODAY is girlie celebration day. She is one of the hardest people to buy gifts for - but she is so easy to feed. So today we are off to Onyx for cocktails and tapas - and they have been kind enough to let me bring cupcakes. Because after all, it's not a birthday if there's no cake!

The Journo and her Mum have trialled most of the cupcake shops in Brisbane, but to be honest, I can't remember their verdict on Poppy Cakes but I have read good things about them, and (most importantly) I really wanted to try them - so I schlepped up there this morning and got a nice little selection to try.

Belle Epoque Patisserie - I expected more... Chocolate

I have been a very naughty girl today... actually, lets be honest here - I have eaten so much crap this month that I should be asking Santa for Lapband surgery and Lipo...

Do you need more detail? Last week I ate out every night. Birthday Parties, Xmas Parties, Work Dinners and impromptu guests all mean that my kitchen is currently spotless... and my thighs no doubt a little bit thicker. *sigh*

To add to the list - tomorrow is the Journo's birthday - but we are celebrating today while the menfolk are away. And by celebrate I mean Cocktails, Tapas and Cupcakes... what better way to spend the day?

So it was up early this morning to go get said cupcakes and because you can't (well, aren't meant to) have cupcakes for breakfast - I called into Belle Epoque for a Cafe au Lait and Pain au Chocolat... When the Valley used to be my stomping ground, I used to look longingly at the Patiserrie window but never actually made it in. So today, while I am playing Bachelorette - I snuck in for a calorific breakfast treat.

Elixir HQ Coffee - It's Roasting HOT!

I'd heard about Elixir HQ Coffee at Stafford from hubby who works at Everton Park, and they have quite the little gossip station there. They know all the comings and goings about all the local businesses - and hubby, knowing what a caffeine fiend I am - was pretty excited to be the first to tell me about them opening a cafe hub.

Yes, thats right - My name is Joy and I'm a caffeine addict. Or rather, a semi-reformed one. I have made massive progress since my years in London where I was known for inhaling a good 12 cups a day - now I'm down to 2... 3 if I'm having a bad day. But still - if I haven't had my fix by 10 am I'm guaranteed a migraine... so the addicition has definately not eased its hold on me yet.

So while hubby was away throwing himself out of planes and swimming with sharks (Yes, I'm married to an extremist) I took the opportunity to go and suss out this new comer. I'm sure I've mentioned before that I have no sense of direction, so TomTom and I set off to find Elixir and sample it's wares.

Good thing I had my GPS or I would have been screwed. At the very least, I would have turned around and gone home. Surprisingly they are in a very industrial area of Stafford - so much so that I literally only found them because I wound down my window (heavy tinting on the work cars!) and followed my nose. There is no smell quite like freshly roasting coffee in the morning - thats for sure!

Chouquette - A little bit of Paris in New Farm

I remember when my first friend got married and she told me that her Mother-in-Law was a nutcase who belonged on “Everyone Loves Raymond” so I was hugely concerned about acquiring my own family of inlaws – especially when she told me “They even started out normal… but as soon as we were married, all the kookiness came out”. So it’s such a nice surprise for me to have a whole other family that I really do adore. (We’ve been married for almost a year now, and no new kookiness to report on yet!)

It was my MIL’s birthday recently and it was just too revoltingly hot to make her a cake – even though it went against everything I believe in – that birthdays should ALWAYS be celebrated with cake. So to try and make up for it and to help ease my guilt – I promised to take her out for a nice coffee (and cake of course!). She had just recently come back from Paris and was desperately missing the wonderful Boulangere’s that dot every street corner in France – so where else could I take her but Chouquette.

Skybury Coffee - Cairns Airport Saviours...

Sometimes I feel a little bit like Tom Hanks in that Airport Movie "The Terminal" - so much of my working life revolves around airports and my struggle to get in and out of them with most of my sanity in tact.

My weak point is that so much of my sanity really does hinge on coffee. And as I'm sure most of you know - Airport Coffee is usually revolting, and hideously overpriced at that.

So thats why I was so surprised (Read: Delighted, ecstatic, in awe) that one of the new tenants of Cairns Airport is Skybury Coffee.

I have just paid $12 for a Large Mocha, Ham and Cheese Croissant and a bottle of water. By Airport standards - I have just committed highway robbery. And to top it off - it is droolworthy wonderful.

While everyone whinges about coffee - I am a particular snob when it comes to pastries. I blame it on my years in London where I worked with a real French and a real Austrian baker. They made pasties so light you nearly had to tether them to the bench. So when I see that stodgy dough you usually see here called "Croissants" - the hackles on the back of my neck go up.

But their croissants (and I could see it from the display cabinet) were superlight and fluffy with millions of tiny butter infused layers. Heaven.

But on top of it all - not only did they provide me with a breakfast I would have been happy to have in any cafe in the country - they also delivered it to my table - didn't stand there and schreech out "Nuuuuumber 3... Nuuuumber 3....?". And guess what else? There was a little chocolate on the side. God I love you guys!

So I ask you Skybury Coffee, where have you been all my life and what took you so bloody long to move into the airport??? :)

My Sweetopia... My Utopia.

So a Journo, a Shrink and a Sales Rep walk out of a Sushi Bar... and straight into a Cupcake shop! Obviously I was lying about how full we were when we left Ginga... or else my Dad was on to something when he told me that we had a regular stomach and a dessert stomach...

The Journo's Mum has visited quite a lot this year - and one of their mother-daughter bonding experiences has been working their way through Brisbane's cupcake scene, so when the Journo says that "THIS is the best cupcake shop in Brisbane" - you kind of have to believe her. I mean, she has infiltrated EVERY cupcakery here... the only person more qualified than her - would have to Kerry from Eat, Drink and Be Kerry.

So I took up the challenge - and I say that like I needed convincing - I didn't. I practically ran across 2 lanes of traffic and a roundabout to get there - I mean, what if they closed EARLY???

But they didn't - although it was early afternoon and the selection was severely dimished, and I settled happily on a White Chocolate Cupcake with White Chocolate Frosting, torn between it and the same Cupcake but with Passionfruit Frosting.



My Sweetopia

K&K Austrian Bakery

It constantly amazes me just how hard it can be to find a decent breakfast... even more so now that we have moved out to the 'burbs.

So when I saw a glowing review for the K and K Austrian Bakery at Sinnamon Park, I just had to give it a try.

So this morning, with hubby sporting a mammoth hangover, we ventured out to try and find our new "local". It's tucked away fairly discreetly in a small strip mall but definately worth the trip. We had a quick look at the baked delights while we sussed out whether it was an "order at the counter" or table service - not finding any special treasures on display, we took a seat and flicked through the all day breakfast menu.

While there's nothing out of the ordinary on the menu - all the usual offenders are there - croissants, bacon and eggs, French toast, Omelettes etc. Hubby is usually a big breakfast man and despite his assurances that "my omelettes are always the best" - he decided to give K&K's a go. I tossed up between the French Toast and Eggs Benedict - but the pull of Hollandaise was just too strong.

We also ordered a coffee and iced chocolate - the latter getting high praise from hubby as one of the best he's had. My coffee was good... extra hot, the way I like it, but the coffee (once it had cooled past scalding) tasted smoky - not in a bad way, and I actually quite enjoyed it - but a little bit odd.

Our brekkies arrived and mine was not quite what I expected. A large, thick piece of toast with fresh ham, 2 poached eggs and frissee lettuce was quite literally swimming in the palest, and runniest Hollandaise I have ever seen. I will be 100% honest here and admit that asides from Oktoberfest and one dinner at the Blackforest Cafe in Wooloongabba - I don't know that much about Austrian or German food. So maybe this is how they do Hollandaise? I don't know - but it was weird. It tasted okay, but it certainly wasn't the rich, creamy and slightly zingy sauce that I have grown to love over the years - but it was okay.

Hubby on the other hand did something that he rarely manages to do... he out-ordered me. His Iced Chocolate was great, and they had used real ice cream AND real cream. It wasn't ridiculously chocolate-y, just a perfectly blended chocolate milk. Simple but wonderful. He also ordered the omelette and declared it the best one he ever had outside of my Jamie Oliver pan. I snavelled a taste - and he was right - it was beautifully light and fluffy while having LOADS of red onion, shaved ham and tasty cheese. Garnished with fresh chives and cracked pepper - I had food envy.

We will definatey go back, next time I will have the French Toast and we might even grab a couple of pastries to take home...

The Verdict: It wasn't Hollandaise sauce - but it definately wasn't a failure - we'll be back!

My recommendations: The omelette, the ice chocolate and something noice to take home...

Contact: K and K Austrian Bakery

Luv a coffee - but beware the Pensioners

This little coffee shop is tucked away in the same complex that Hubby works at – and to see it, it doesn’t look like anything special but the coffee is amazing. As a treat – I love a Skinny Mocha with Marshmallows and you’d be surprised how many places can’t make it… it’s either too milky, too chocolatey, the marshmallows don’t melt or you can’t taste the coffee at all. Imagine my shock when I find this out of the way little place that makes it perfectly. I haven’t eaten here yet – but if the coffee is anything to go on, I’m sure its fantastic.


On a side note, this area and this complex in particular seem to be a favourite with the oldies - and there seems to be some kind of unwritten rule that "Age has right of way". I have lost count of the number of times that hubby and I have lined up to order coffee here only to have some sweet old lady push in front and smile innocently at us... Weird, but funny and obviously - some of them are running out of time - who cares if they get their coffee first? :)


Verdict: Awesome coffee and worth the detour if you’re in the area.


My Recommendations: Skinny Mocha with Marshmallows. Thick, rich and creamy while still getting the necessary caffeine hit.


Contact:
Luv a Coffee
Coles Complex
767 Stafford Road
Everton Park