After a fairly successful run at work, my boss was good enough to shout my Hubby and I to a night away and dinner to celebrate.
He recommended the Stamford Plaza Brisbane and Siggi's and while I was happy to take him up on the offer of the Hotel, Siggi'sisn't really our style and we'd only recently been talking about how much we would like to try the Teppanyaki at Kabuki.
So we booked in for a Deluxe Room, I got there first and checked in and was surprisingly presented with 2 free drink vochers by the super-perky receptionist. "So far, so good" I thought smugly. And the smugness continued through the luxurious lobby, all the way to our room on carpet so plush I thought I might trip a couple of times and right into our elegantly furnished room on the 12th floor which had spectacular River and Story Bridge views. *wow*
The next thing I know, there's a phone call from Reception asking if I "was expecting a guest?" - uh, yes - my husband. Eventually, there's a knock at the door and hubby arrives red faced and annoyed. Apparently when he pulled into the entrance, the concierge looked him up and down (he was still in his work clothes) and curtly directed him to the Service Entrance. When hubby tried to explain that he was a Guest and I had already checked in, the Concierge again looked him up and down, grunted and pointed him towards Reception where the same act was repeated by the Receptionist. Hmmm...
We tried to put that behind us, got all glammed up and hit the bar to redeem our drinks vouchers and head out to dinner.
After dinner, we took a dip in the gorgeous pool enjoying the city lights and giggling like school kids at the old nannas sneaking a perve behind a partially closed curtain.
All in all, it was a wonderful stay. The room was spacious and elegant with its muted furnishings. The view was spectacular, and would be a room of choice for Riverfire and I loved the Aveda amenities. They were even generous enough to provide a welcome package of bottled water and Byron Bay Cookies - a nice touch.
The Verdict: A gorgeous Hotel but I thought the "turning up of the noses" was an old school British thing? Maybe we were just unlucky - but hubby learnt his lesson, he'll never again try to go somewhere nice in his work clothes!
My Recommendations: Request a high floor with River views, and definately book in for breakfast if not dinner. The Pavilion Bar downstairs is great - but very pricey, although we got our first drink for free - I'm sure we didn't get change from $20 for the next two (1 each).
Contact: Stamford Plaza Brisbane
Showing posts with label teppanyaki. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teppanyaki. Show all posts
05 November 2009
Kabuki - throw a prawn on the Barbie!
Whats not to like about Teppanyaki? It's dinner and theatre all in one go- with a side order of danger... well that might be overdoing it - unless you're wearing something expensive and don't have good hand-eye coordination...
We've eaten at Kabuki Kabuki twice now - first on the work expense card as a "Thank you" from my boss (Thanks Paulie!) and secondly as our Xmas gift to hubby's family. They're a hard lot to buy for - and all up there's 10 of us in total - so we've started giving "experiences" for Xmas. It makes it easy - we pick something, buy 10 gift vouchers and we all go out together. Surely that's the spirit of Christmas personified, no?
So anyway... after a fantastic trial run at Kabukiwe splashed out and got the family gift vouchers for dinner and booked in for a night for fun and fabulous food.
Being Christmas (well not really, it was several months later - this family has no concept of time and it took us a while to organise) we felt festive and all decided on the most expensive set menu, RAN for $98.50 per person. We happily ooh'ed and ahh'ed our way through the menu - we had one of the younger Chef's who quite happily performed like a rockstar with BBQ tongs - I think we did wonders for his ego! And everything was going swimmingly well until the part where they make the omelette and the fried rice...
My Sister-in-Law is usually quite dexterous so I was surprised when she missed the egg. But like a trooper she carried on, big smile on her face while the Chef finished the rice. Then when the rice came to be thrown, she missed that too... strange we thought... but we were pretty easily distracted by the food.
Then - when everyone had their bowls of rice and was happily snarfing away, she politely excused herself to the bathroom. Only later, when we were leaving the Restaurant did she tell us that when she missed the egg, it broke on the bowl went down her top and then down the front of her skirt. She didn't want to make a scene, but when she missed the rice - the rice was then also stuck all down the front of her top and glued there by the egg... She had no choice but the barricade the bathroom door shut, strip off and have a quick makeshift shower in the sink!
Asides from the comedic interlude to the evening, the food was fantastic - in essence, it's very simple, good quality food cooked quickly on a super-hot BBQ plate with a few select seasonings. It really does show that it is the quality of the food which is the star. I would happily go back in a heartbeat - while the food was amazing, it really is the production and star qualities of the Chefs which make it so memorable. Without all the hype - there's no way I would have tried grilled prawn heads... but I did... and I loved it!
The Verdict: Brilliant but expensive, best with a group but we had a great time when we were at a table full of strangers. You HAVE to try the prawn heads!
My recommendation: Go for the most expensive set meal you can afford - that way you get to try as much as possible. The quality of the food is amazing, and you'll be stunned by how flavoursome it is for such simple cooking. Definately give the Green Tea ice cream a go if you haven't already - it's the perfect end to the meal.
Contact: Kabuki
We've eaten at Kabuki Kabuki twice now - first on the work expense card as a "Thank you" from my boss (Thanks Paulie!) and secondly as our Xmas gift to hubby's family. They're a hard lot to buy for - and all up there's 10 of us in total - so we've started giving "experiences" for Xmas. It makes it easy - we pick something, buy 10 gift vouchers and we all go out together. Surely that's the spirit of Christmas personified, no?
So anyway... after a fantastic trial run at Kabukiwe splashed out and got the family gift vouchers for dinner and booked in for a night for fun and fabulous food.
Being Christmas (well not really, it was several months later - this family has no concept of time and it took us a while to organise) we felt festive and all decided on the most expensive set menu, RAN for $98.50 per person. We happily ooh'ed and ahh'ed our way through the menu - we had one of the younger Chef's who quite happily performed like a rockstar with BBQ tongs - I think we did wonders for his ego! And everything was going swimmingly well until the part where they make the omelette and the fried rice...
My Sister-in-Law is usually quite dexterous so I was surprised when she missed the egg. But like a trooper she carried on, big smile on her face while the Chef finished the rice. Then when the rice came to be thrown, she missed that too... strange we thought... but we were pretty easily distracted by the food.
Then - when everyone had their bowls of rice and was happily snarfing away, she politely excused herself to the bathroom. Only later, when we were leaving the Restaurant did she tell us that when she missed the egg, it broke on the bowl went down her top and then down the front of her skirt. She didn't want to make a scene, but when she missed the rice - the rice was then also stuck all down the front of her top and glued there by the egg... She had no choice but the barricade the bathroom door shut, strip off and have a quick makeshift shower in the sink!
Asides from the comedic interlude to the evening, the food was fantastic - in essence, it's very simple, good quality food cooked quickly on a super-hot BBQ plate with a few select seasonings. It really does show that it is the quality of the food which is the star. I would happily go back in a heartbeat - while the food was amazing, it really is the production and star qualities of the Chefs which make it so memorable. Without all the hype - there's no way I would have tried grilled prawn heads... but I did... and I loved it!
The Verdict: Brilliant but expensive, best with a group but we had a great time when we were at a table full of strangers. You HAVE to try the prawn heads!
My recommendation: Go for the most expensive set meal you can afford - that way you get to try as much as possible. The quality of the food is amazing, and you'll be stunned by how flavoursome it is for such simple cooking. Definately give the Green Tea ice cream a go if you haven't already - it's the perfect end to the meal.
Contact: Kabuki
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