Pizza Capers, Camp Hill

Two Fridays ago, I was hanging out with some friends when dinner time rolled around, and did what one normally does in such as situation:  order pizza.  We ordered a number of pizzas from Pizza Capers, but I had what is known as a BBQ Bonanza.  This is basically a "meatlovers" style pizza with pepperoni, beef, ham, bacon, and cheese with barbecue sauce.  However, I ordered tomato sauce, as is my preference.  All of the ingredients are quality.  The pepperoni could be a little spicier and the bacon and ham could be a little better, but they're all still really good.  The beef on the other hand, is probably the best I've ever had on a pizza, that I can recall at least.  So I would say that overall, this is the best "meatlovers" style pizza that I know of.  But what really makes this dish is that one has the option of added hollandaise sauce; an option that I took.  The hollandaise sauce is creamy, tangy, and works very well with all of the other ingredients.  Pizza Capers is the only pizza place I know of that uses hollandaise sauce as an ingredient, so it is sad that it is not more commonplace.  This has been a relatively short review, but there is very little else to be said:  a high quality meat pizza, with an excellent hollandaise sauce that keeps me coming back for more.

Main Course Food Precinct, University of Queensland, St Lucia

Two Fridays ago I once again for the sake of this blog decided to try something I have not reviewed before on my break at work.  On this occasion UQ's Main Course Food Precinct was the most convenient location.  Even though I had reservations, I decided to order potato wedges.  It turns out my reservations were well founded.  Just about anything that can go wrong with wedges applied to my snack.  The coating was not crunchy enough.  The potato was underdone, floury, and dry, and had little flavour.  There is very little else I can say on the matter, other than that the wedges were not completely inedible.  In fact, if you really like wedges, you'd probably consider these wedges to be at least decent.  But I suppose the fact of the matter is when it comes to wedges I'm a lot more fussy than I am with chips.  This is probably because I know of many other locations that offer really good wedges, and these wedges have ruined my tolerance of simple, refectory potato wedges (which is really what these wedges were).  One day I am likely to review these better wedges, so watch this space.

Physiol Eatery & Cafe, University of Queensland, St Lucia

Two Thursdays ago, I continued my recent trend of sampling dishes I had not yet reviewed in this blog.  On my break from work I went to Physiol to see if they had anything that looked appealing, and one thing caught my eye:  roast pork.  At this point I will divert slightly and mention a few words about Physiol (the same is also true of UQ's other refectory:  Main Course Food Precinct).  Physiol has set dishes, such as chips, pies, sandwhiches, and so forth.  They also offer other dishes that are more like meals instead of snacks, but these dishes vary from day to day, so you never know quite what you're going to get.  So roast pork was one might refer to as a daily special.  I didn't feel like a roast pork meal, but I did decide to get a roast pork roll.  This was something of a gamble.  I have had some revolting roast sandwhiches from carveries, and I wouldn't say Physiol have a good reputation as a carvery.  Nevertheless, the pork looked decent and as the lady carved it, it looked like I was in for some decent roast pork.  To accompany the pork, I had some gravy, crackling, salt, and pepper.  The first bite I took was rather fatty, but to my delight the rest of the roll was filled with some good quality roast pork.  I was very happy with the crackling, although it got a little soggy for my tastes, but I'd like to see the crackling that doesn't get soggy when smothered in gravy.  I have noted in this blog in the past that Physiol's gravy is less than excellent, and while that may be true, when combined with good pork, crackling, salt, and pepper, it is quite satisfying.  The roll did suffer from some of the inevitabilities associated with roast rolls.  Namely, the distribution of meat, gravy, crackling, salt, and pepper was a little inconsistent, but there's not much you can do about that.  However, when I took a bite that had the right mixture of all of those flavours, I was very happy.  So while this roll may not have been perfect, it was a good example of what a rather standard roast pork roll can be.  So positive was this experience, that I would be interested in trying what Physiol's attempt at other roast rolls are like.  Even if it turns out that they can't roast, say beef, to save their lives, I'll know what I'll be ordering if I am ever lucky enough to show up on a day that they are serving roast pork.

Physiol Eatery and Cafe, University of Queensland, St Lucia

Last Wednesday I decided to continue my recent trend of having something that I have not yet reviewed in this blog for my work break.  I don't know if Physiol have only started serving potato gems recently or if I've only just noticed this recently, but I figured potato gems would be worth reviewing.  I have reviewed a number of fried potato dishes in this blog:  chips, hash browns, and scallops, but never potato gems.  In fact I haven't even had potato gems since I was a kid, and a small one at that.  So, how do potato gems stack up against other fried potato preparations?  I would say, at least in the case of Physiol's offering, that they are quite similar to hash browns, only smaller and with proportionately more potato.  As I like hash browns, this is a good thing.  They were worth sampling for nostalgic reasons and for the sake of this blog, but little else.  They were adequately satisfying, but I was happy with my decision to only order a small serve.  There is very little else that can be said other than potato gems are a very simple snack.  However, it is a snack that I doubt that I am going to make a habit of indulging in.  As a side note, I also ordered a dagwood dog, and I noticed that the stick said "Keith's" or "Roger's" or something, thus confirming my suspicion that Physiol are not making their own dagwood dogs.  I suppose this renders my previous review of "Physiol's" dagwood dogs moot.

Hungry Jack's, Queen Street Mall, Brisbane City

The Sunday before last, I found myself in the city with a modest appetite.  Relatively recently, Hungry Jack's have introduced an "X-tra long range" of what could be best described as rolls.  I took this opportunity to sample one of these rolls.  The one I chose to order was called "classic chicken".  I wasn't expecting it to be significantly different from their chicken royale, but was mildly surprised that it was almost identical.  The only appreciable difference was shape and mass.  However, I like the chicken royale, so my mild disappointment was somewhat mitigated.  I did notice a little extra mayonnaise and the chicken fillet was a little more overdone than usual, but these are the sort of minor variations one expects from fast food destinations.  To accompany my roll, I ordered some chicken nuggets.  Chemically speaking, there is almost no difference between Hungry Jack's chicken nuggets and those of McDonald's (or indeed any type of battered chicken nuggets).  Subjectively however, there was considerable difference.  First of all, Hungry Jack's chicken nuggets are crispier, whereas McDonald's are chewier.  I prefer crispy.  Most importantly though, Hungry Jack's nuggets are tastier, and this is not due to any type of condiment or seasoning.  I don't know if this has something to do with the oil used, or perhaps some ingredient in the batter but Hungry Jack's nuggets are better.  They're far from perfect, but if you like chicken nuggets, you will most likely be satisfied with those served at Hungry Jack's, which are also cheaper than McDonald's.  In conclusion this was another run-of-the-mill, yet pleasant fast food experience.

Huong's BYO Restaurant, West End

The Friday before last, I decided to go to a favourite destination of mine:  Huong's.  On this occasion I ordered one of my usual dishes at this restaurant:  spicy chicken.  Spicy chicken could refer to any number of chicken dishes so I'll explain what Huong's consider to be "spicy chicken".  At Huong's spicy chicken consists of deep fried, battered pieces of chicken with a thin, spicy sauce.  What I particularly like about this dish is its lack of vegetables.  There is a smattering of fried onion and capsicum, and a little grated carrot, but these are more garnishes than anything else.  This means you get a lot of chicken pieces.  This makes the meal quite filling.  The only drawback to this is that I often like to order entrees at Huong's.  However, an entree plus a main as filling as spicy chicken can be a little heavy on the stomach.  I could not fault the chicken itself.  It was tender and the batter crisp and not at all rendered soggy by the sauce.  As I said before the sauce is thin, but carries great flavours, the likes of which are unmistakably Chinese.  I would have prefered it to be spicier, but there was a good enough level of spice.  There have been occasions in the past that I have been served this dish with an inadequate amount of sauce, but this was not the case this time.  Despite this been a filling meal, I still had an appetite afterwards, so I ordered another favourite of mine:  deep fried ice cream.  Huong's take on deep fried ice cream has a coconut based coating, whipped cream, and your choice of topping (I chose chocolate).  While this was a very enjoyable dessert, the outer layer of ice cream was a lot softer than the middle.  This meant that after I had eaten the coating, topping, and whipped cream, I was left with a chunk of hard vanilla ice cream.  However, I think this is probably something that cannot be avoided, owing to the nature of deep fried ice cream.  So, certainly not for the first time, and probably not for the last, I was not let down by this restaurant.

Physiol Eatery and Cafe, University of Queensland, St Lucia

Thursday of last week I once again decided to have something I have not reviewed before for my break at work.  I was determined to sample Physiol's fish and chips.  However, I was somewhat hesitant.  The fish looked good but I have never noticed at Physiol a suitable condiment for fish, such as vinegar, aioli, or tartare sauce.  Furthermore, I did not have fond memories of Physiol's chips.  Nevertheless, I persevered and as it turns out, it was worth it.  I ordered my fish and chips and was asked if I wanted any tartare sauce.  Naturally, I responded in the affirmative.  The fish itself turned out be barramundi, which is a good cut of fish, and I honestly would have been satisfied with cod or something similar.  For barramundi, the fish fillets were on the small side, but there were two of them, which compensated for the size.  The first thing I noticed when I sat down to eat was that there was a very generous portion of chips, and they were seasoned with chicken salt.  I give Physiol a gold star for that.  Moreover, the chips were far better than I remembered them.  They were nothing special, but I was happy with them.  The fish were battered, and I would say that the batter was of a higher standard and better consistency than one would expect from refectory fish.  The tartare sauce was tangy and very strong, but once I got over this, it complimented the fish very nicely.  I have reviewed a number of preparations of fish and chips through the course of this blog, and am constantly amazed at how many interpretations of a dish so simple exist.  Physiol's take on fish and chips is by no means the best that has been reviewed in this blog, but it was cheap and convenient and I was more than satisfied.

Physiol Eatery and Cafe, University of Queensland, St Lucia

Last Wednesday my work break was approaching.  For the sake of this blog I decided to have something I have not yet reviewed in favour of my usual work break snacks.  I decided to go with Physiol's chicken chippees.  When I was younger, I loved chicken chippees.  However, these days, I only have them on occasion.  I think the main reason for this is that in the past chicken chippees were typically battered, whereas these days the only chicken chippees I know of are crumbed.  I find batter to be a better coating than crumb for most dishes that can either be crumbed or battered (eg. fish fillets and chicken nuggets).  So I ordered my chicken chippees with a serving of gravy.  This was something of a gamble, as gravy covered chicken chippees can either be a snack that you almost immediately regret, or one that satisfies your appetite even if it is not excellent fare.  I am happy to report that this time it was the latter.  The gravy was standard refectory gravy, which I rank as one rung below carvery gravy, and one above Gravox, and I have mentioned in this blog that I like humble Gravox.  Another gamble one takes when ordering gravy covered chicken chippees is that the server gives you too much gravy which accumulates at the bottom of the box, absolutely soaking the last chicken chippees in the stuff.  I am once again happy to report that the server gave me an appropriate amount of gravy, and the last chicken chippees in the box had only slightly more gravy than their predecessors.  The chicken itself was of poor quality, but thanks to the gravy, and a little bit of salt, was adequately tasty.  So while Physiol's chicken chippees are a far cry from gourmet, or even restaurant, pub, or cafe cuisine, they can be an edible, somewhat satisfying snack; probably on par with a dagwood dog.  Having said this, I am unlikely to make a habit out of eating them.

Cafe 63, New Farm

The Saturday before yesterday, I was meeting some friends in New Farm for breakfast.  We wandered around New Farm and decided that Cafe 63 was as good a place as any.  I perused the breakfast menu, which had a number of appealing looking dishes, but one caught my eye:  poutine.  I have been meaning to try this dish for some time now, but it's not exactly common in Brisbane.  For those of you that don't know, poutine is a Canadian dish consisting of chips, gravy, and cheese.  Cafe 63's take on the dish also added bacon.  I immediately placed my order and waited for my breakfast to arrive.  The first thing I noticed was that the chips were of the shoe-string variety, the likes of which one finds at McDonald's and Hungry Jack's.  While these are not my favourite type of chips, they were noticeably better than the aforementioned fast food chains.  The dish did suffer from something that is common with chips and gravy dishes; namely that some chips do not have enough gravy, and others are soaked in the stuff.  The gravy itself was good, but not excellent.  However, it would have to be a particularly bad gravy for me not to like it.  The cheese was more or less what one would expect from a cafe, and was the stretchiest that I have encountered in some time.  The bacon, which was already a welcome addition to the dish was a little better than what I was expecting.  Overall, I am of the opinion that Cafe 63's interpretation of poutine could be improved upon.  However, I did enjoy it and am glad that there is at least one location where I can get the stuff.

Crust Gourmet Pizza Bar, New Farm

Friday of last week, I was going to have dinner somewhere in New Farm.  When the time came around, I was in the mood for pizza and discovered Crust Gourmet Pizza Bar which had some rather appealing looking pizzas.  I had one "Australian" and one "white prosciutto".  The "Australian" was a bacon and egg pizza, which is one of my favourite kinds of pizza.  It was really quite similar to the Donini's bacon and egg pizza, which I have already reviewed in this blog.  The main difference was a lack of parmesan cheese, which I find a nice addition to the simple bacon and egg.  This lack was compensated for by the fact that the bacon was of a higher quality.  So, it was overall an imperfect, yet completely satisfying pizza.  The "white prosciutto" was interesting.  Its toppings included, in addition to the standard cheese, prosciutto, bechemel sauce, and potatoes.  The prosciutto was very good.  Prosciutto is always good, but this prosciutto was particularly good.  I have commented on this blog in the past that potatoes are a good pizza topping, and this position was confirmed by this pizza.  The potatoes were thinly sliced and well cooked.  I had never heard of bechemel sauce (or white sauce, as I know it) as a pizza topping and was curious to try it.  It was certainly pleasant, but I felt it slightly lacking in flavour.  I know from experience that you can enhance a bechemel (white) sauce with all manner of ingredients.  Had Crust done this, it would have been a stand-out pizza in my books.  Nevertheless, I was still very satisfied.

McDonald's, Toowong Village food court, Toowong

On Tuesday of last week, I found myself, as I so often do, in Toowong feeling slightly peckish.  For reasons only understood by me at the time I decided to got to McDonald's.  I ordered chicken nuggets and chips (or fries).  These are pretty much the only things I go to McDonald's for most of the time.  I am quite a fan of chicken nuggets when in the right mood, and McDonald's chicken nuggets are.... adequate, but even an adequate chicken nugget can be a good thing, if as I said before, in the right mood.  The major plus for McDonald's chicken nuggets is that they are of the battered variety, which I prefer over the crumbed sort.  The real downside to these nuggets is that they are a little bland.  McDonald's do offer a number of condiments to accompany the nuggets, but I've never really been attracted to any of them.  However, deep fried, battered, greasy pieces of chicken are tasty enough on their own for the most part.  On this occasion, the batter was a little tougher than what I was expecting, but it wasn't overly tough, so it worked out in the end.  I have reviewed Hungry Jack's chips in this blog before, and McDonald's chips are completely indistinguishable from Hungry Jack's.  I'm sure even seasoned fast food consumers could not tell the difference in a blind taste test.  Subjectively, I felt that McDonald's chips had slightly more salt than my last encounter with Hungry Jack's chips, but I can't be certain.  Even so, I would have liked more salt.  In conclusion, I was in the mood for something not out of the ordinary, and i got something not out of the ordinary.