German Dog House Sausages, Boundary Street Markets, West End

Last Sunday I was in the mood for a bacon and egg roll.  Unfortunately, these are not as prevalent as they used to be.  I went to a place in West End that I thought I could get one from, but they were closed.  So I went to the Boundary Street Markets in the hopes that I could get something there.  One place was selling bacon and egg wraps, which I am skeptical about.  Another place was selling bacon and egg crepes, which I'm even more skeptical about.  Eventually, I came across a German Dog House Sausages stall that was serving bacon and egg rolls.  The sausages looked quite good, but they were foot longs and I was not craving that much food.  I ordered my bacon and egg roll and the guy cooked it up on the spot.  There is really not that much that can be said for this bacon and egg roll.  It was completely standard:  fried bacon and eggs on a bread roll.  The only thing that is really worth commenting on was the sauce.  I like barbecue sauce on my bacon and egg rolls, which they provided.  The only problem was that instead of a standard sauce bottle, or even individual sachets, the sauce came in one of those massive bulk buy sauce bottles you sometimes encounter.  These types of bottles are so large that you have to use a hand pump to get the sauce out.  These pumps are problematic because it is more difficult to control the amount of sauce that comes out in a single pump, compared to other sauce bottles.  This meant that my roll was unevenly and sparsely seasoned, but this was preferable to having the roll completely lathered in sauce.  However, this was not a major issue as bacon and eggs are tasty enough to stand on there own and sauce is not always necessarily required.  So, was this the best lunch ever?  No.  Was it even the best bacon and egg roll ever?  The answer is still no.  However, I got almost exactly what I wanted.  Anyone who has ever seen Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle should appreciate that feeling.

Huong's BYO Restaurant, West End

The Friday before last I went to Huong's Restaurant for dinner.  Huong's is a Vietnamese/Chinese, and more recently, Thai Restaurant that has been in West End for as long as I can remember.  I have been going there with some degree of regularity since I moved back to West End at the age of approximately 12.  Lately, whenever I go there, I get a sense of nostalgia, and I always feel welcome there.  While Huong's may not be the absolute best Asian restaurant around, it was for those reasons I returned there.  On this occasion, I ordered prawn toast (as I often do) and something that the menu called "Chicken Curry Noodle Soup".  I'll start with the prawn toast.  Huong's prawn toast is more expensive than most places, but this is due to the fact that the servings are larger.  This might seem like a positive, and I guess in a sense it is.  But the purpose of an entree is to whet one's appetite, not spoil it.  Sometimes Huong's prawn toast can do just that.  On this occasion, the toast was cooked perhaps a little longer than usual as it was darker and crunchier, but it wasn't burnt.  Overall, it was comparable to just about any other prawn toasts out there, which was fine by me.  On to the noodle soup.  I can't recall ever having noodle soup at Huong's before, but based on probability, it is possible that I have.  I was expecting a more or less standard Chinese chicken noodle soup that was just a little spicier than usual.  What I got surprised me, but not in an entirely unwelcome way.  It was a chicken laksa.  I don't know why the menu didn't state this, but I'll move along to describing it.  The broth was fine.  I've certainly had more flavoursome and spicy laksas in the past, but it was reasonable overall.  The chicken itself came in large chunks; larger than I've ever seen in a noodle soup, and more akin to the pieces of chicken one would find in an Indian curry.  This had me concerned at first, but once I took my first bite, my fears subsided.  It was cooked very well and even managed to absorb a decent amount of the flavour found in the soup itself.  A couple of bites contained a little gristle, but nothing to spoil the dish.  The choice of vegetables was more or less standard.  The only problem being that the onions were sliced so thinly that it was almost impossible to leave them out from the mouthfuls of noodles I took.  This might not be an issue for some, but I am of the minority opinion that onions do the opposite of enhancing a dish's flavour.  Having said that I can (and am often forced to) stomach them.  So while my meal was not without its flaws, it was a warming experience for a Winter's evening.

Physiol Eatery and Cafe, University of Queensland, St Lucia

I have previously stated in this blog that its purpose is to review food that is actually prepared by the eatery.  A 7-11 meat pie does not count.  So two Thursdays ago, I had, among other things a crumbed sausage at Physiol.  I am skeptical that Physiol actually made this crumbed sausage, suspecting that they just buy these things in bulk and heat them up as needed.  However, on the off chance that Physiol do make their own crumbed sausages, I will review my experience.  It was a crumbed sausage.  That's it.  In all my years of eating crumbed sausages I have never encountered any variation on the dish other than price.  Every single crumbed sausage I have ever had has been exactly the same.  So in reviewing this crumbed sausage, I am in effect reviewing every crumbed sausage i have ever had.  I think crumbed sausages is a good variation on the simple sausage.  I find with regular sausages that some sort of seasoning is required, usually gravy or tomato sauce.  Gourmet sausages are a different matter.  Anyway, something must be going on in the crumbing of a sausage that enhances the flavour of a plain sausage.  I have never felt the need to add anything to a crumbed sausage:  they stand on their own.  Also, the crumbing and frying of a plain sausage adds a welcome crunch to the dish.  So Physiol's (and indeed every place that serves crumbed sausages) crumbed sausages are a satisfying, crunchy, stand-alone snack.

Donini's Pizza, West End

I believed I have expressed my desire in this blog of sampling Donini's Pizza's bacon and egg pizza.  Last Saturday I seized this opportunity.  Let me start by saying that putting bacon and egg on a pizza is a genius idea, and it is an inherently good meal.  More pizza places should do it.  The only time I have ever been unsatisfied with such a dish is when onions were present.  Thankfully, this is not the case at Donini's.  So what can be said about Donini's interpretation of the dish?  On the plus side, there were generous portions of both bacon and egg.  Also, in addition to mozzarella, there was Parmesan cheese, which gave the pizza a little extra bite (I would have liked more Parmesan though, but its presence was certainly appreciated).  On one of the slices the egg was under-cooked.  This might sound like a bad thing, but in my opinion, pizza is the only context where under-cooked egg can be seen as a positive.  Runny yolk and white mixes with the tomato sauce and almost forms a sauce of its own that compliments the bacon nicely.  However, I think the fact that only one slice arrived this way indicates that this was an accident and not the design of the pizza chef.  The only thing that might be described as a negative was related to the tomato sauce.  The sauce could have been stronger or employed at a greater quantity to really add some flavour to the pizza.  This is not to say that the pizza was bland, merely that it could have been tastier.  Anyway, I was satisfied with Donini's take on bacon and egg pizza, and the fact that there is once again a pizza place in my neighbourhood that offers the dish can only work in Donini's favour.

The Newsroom Cafe, Toowong

Tuesday of last week I found myself hungry and in Toowong.  I decided to get some eggs Benedict from the Newsroom Cafe.  I had only had eggs Benedict once before and it was from the Newsroom Cafe, which I enjoyed very much.  As a result of this I held high hopes.  I ordered my eggs Benedict, and, as previously stated was quite hungry so I wanted something else:  something sweet.  Unfortunately, the Newsroom Cafe did not have any cakes, which is something I would have wanted.  I don't know if they never offer cakes or if they just did not happen to have any at the time I was there.  However, I settled for a melting moment (more on that later).  My only concern about the eggs Benedict was that the menu said they were served with spinach.  I don't recall spinach being present the first time I sampled eggs Benedict and I was conjouring up images of soggy spinach souring my meal.  However, my fears came to nothing when the meal arrived as the spinach took the form of some fresh baby spinach leaves.  They were used sparingly and were really little more than a garnish.  As for the crux of the dish, it was all great.  Poached eggs on toast with bacon would be a satisfying meal on its own.  However, the presence of Hollandaise sauce truly made the meal.  There's really not much I can say other than there was great synergy in the dish.  All the elements complimented each other really well and it was a delight to eat.  The only thing I noticed that could be considered a deficiency is that it is my understanding that one of the key ingredients in Hollandaise sauce.  This Hollandaise sauce almost certainly did contain lemon juice, but for some reason I have the notion that Hollandaise sauce should be tangier, but this wasn't really relevant to my enjoyment of the meal  So while this was a very pleasant experience, I am somewhat curious.  Are the cooks at the Newsroom Cafe masters of eggs Benedict?  Or is eggs Benedict an inherently good meal, that any half-decent cafe can whip up?  I guess I'm going to have to sample eggs Benedict from at least a couple more cafes to find out.  Onto the melting moment.  The positives:  It was free from lemon juice, or worse yet, passion fruit, both of which can detract from the joy that should be a melting moment.  The negatives:  Although it contained the proper ingredients, it was merely an adequate melting moment.  I've certainly had better at various cafes around Brisbane.  However, even an adequate melting moment is a fine way to finish off a gratifying meal.

The Indian Kitchen, West End

The entire week leading up to the Friday before last I was craving a chicken vindaloo.  I located a menu from the Indian Kitchen and was surprised to discover that it indicated that they offered chicken vindaloo (they never have in the past, in my experience).  First, a couple of words on the Indian Kitchen before I describe my dining experience.  The Indian Kitchen is the oldest extant casual dining Indian restaurant in West End and is one of the cheapest places you can get a meal in the suburb.  I remember when it first opened I was very impressed with the place and ate there often.  However, over time things changed and I started to find their food bland, at least by Indian standards, and in recent times I have only gone there if I want something quick and easy.  The food is by no means bad, but you can get better Indian food elsewhere.  Anyway, the allure of a chicken vindaloo found me there two Fridays ago.  When I got there however, there was no such chicken vindaloo on offer.  This angered me a little.  If you go to the effort of printing a menu for your restaurant, said menu should accurately reflect the meals you provide.  Disheartened as I was, I decided to order something else.  I was tossing up between the lamb vindaloo (a hot curry) and the lamb madras (a medium curry).  In the end the vindaloo won out, but in retrospect I should have gone with the madras.  To accompany my curry I ordered a chicken tikka naan.  Chicken tikka naan as the name suggests is a naan bread with pieces of chicken throughout.  It's a great take on naan and it's a shame that you can't get it at more Indian restaurants.  When I got home, I started on my meal as I usually do with Indian food, by dipping the bread in the sauce.  The bread was great as I expected.  The sauce actually exceeded my expectations, but then again I didn't have particularly high hopes as the last time I tried the Indian Kitchen's lamb vindaloo, I found it watery and with little flavour other than extreme spiciness.  On this occasion, the sauce was less than excellent:  you can certainly get better vindaloo sauce elsewhere, but at least it was decent.  The main problem lied in the fact that it was really spicy.  Traditionally, I can handle spiciness.  I often ordered hot curries all the time.  However, in recent years, I guess my palate and physiology have changed, and I usually stick to relatively milder curries.  So, while it was spicier than I would I have liked, it was nothing my palate couldn't handle.  My stomach on the other hand was a different matter.  I finished off the bread, which was on the large side, but I couldn't eat any more because my stomach would not allow it.  The spice was really wreaking havoc.  It didn't make my physically sick or anything, but my stomach was sending signals to the rest of my body that I shouldn't have eaten something so spicy.  So I spent a couple of hours doing something else until my stomach felt better.  When it did, I decided to tackle the curry once more.  By this stage I was just down to the meat and rice.  The lamb was not cooked to perfection, but it was reasonable, and on the plus side, not stringy like lamb can sometimes be.  I was happy to discover that the level of spice had seemed to dissipate somewhat, and was a little more palatable.  Once again, though my stomach revolted and I just could not finish the meal and it sat in the fridge until it was thrown out days later.  So while this was an adequate vindaloo, it was not worth the strain it put on my stomach.  Lesson learned:  avoid hot curries from now on.

German Sausage Hut, Brisbane City

On Thursday, I found myself in the city and hungry.  I have been meaning to try the German Sausage Hut for some time so I seized the opportunity.  I must point out that when it comes to sausages, I'm not fussy.  I'll happily eat a Coles sausage on plain white bread or even a Night Owl hot dog.  However, I cannot recall ever sampling an authentic German sausage, which I believe have a good reputation.  Anyway, I ordered a frankfurter on a roll with bacon and cheese.  I hesitate to use the term "hot dog" which conjures up images of a sausage-like product, the meat of which being of dubious origin.  What I got was far from this.  The sausage was of very good quality.  It wasn't the best sausage I've ever had, but it probably was the best frankfurter.  The bacon was also good quality:  two nice, thick slices.  The cheese on the other hand was more or less standard, but I wasn't expecting anything more.  I was expecting slightly more flavour from the frankfurter, but I'm not complaining because I knew at the time that frankfurters are one of the milder German sausages.  In terms of taste, there was nothing wrong with this dish.  The only problem lied in the fact that this was physically speaking, a difficult meal to eat.  There was simply more food than the bun could accommodate.  The guy who prepared my sausage did his best by putting the bacon and cheese on the roll before the sausage.  I really appreciated this because in my experience, putting the bacon on cheese on top of the sausage is likely to result in the bacon and cheese sliding off during the eating process.  The frankfurter was so long that I constantly had to adjust its position in the bun and this caused sauce to drip everywhere.  It was also difficult to bite into the roll due to the amount of food. At any one time I could either bite the frankfurter or the roll with bacon and cheese, but not both because it simply would not fit into my mouth.  At one point I bit into the frankfurter and it expelled grease out the other end.  I'm not really concerned about the grease content because it tasted great, but I didn't like it getting my fingers all sticky.  Suffice it to say that this was a very messy dish, and I had to use a significant number of serviettes.  The quality of this dish was such that I found myself craving it again the next day.  In fact I feel like another one right now.  In conclusion my first experience with authentic German sausage was a positive, albeit messy one.

On a Roll Bakery, University of Queensland, St Lucia

Today I went to On a Roll Bakery for my usual bacon and cheese sausage roll.  Unfortunately they were fresh out of them, so I went to my new fall back option, U-Sushi.  More unfortunately, they were closed.  I was starting to despair about what I was going to have on my break at work, so I went back to On a Roll.  The chocolate croissants looked appetising because I thought that they might not be too sweet like other patisseries, cakes, etc. Anyway, I ordered a chocolate croissant.  At this point, I'd like to indicate that I believe chocolate croissants (or any croissant for that matter) should be served warm.  On a Roll are capable of such service, but I wasn't even asked if I wanted it heated up.  This was really a non-issue however, as I wasn't going to eat it straight away, and I have access to a microwave at work.  But it was just something I noticed.  So when my break came I was looking forward to it.  As I placed it in the microwave I observed that it was on the small side.  When I finally got round to eating it, I was impressed.  I was expecting it to be at least decent, but it was really above average, especially for a croissant from a typically Australian bakery.  There's really not much I can say about it other than the fact that they pastry was very good in terms of both taste and texture and the chocolate filling was smooth and tasty.  However, if it were a little larger, I would have been all that more impressed.