A taste of two cities.....yet again

 

I had the good fortune to make a quick trip to Brisbane, and caight up with friends at one unknown and two  known eateries.  The  first was Sunrise Vietnam Restaurant in Upper Mount Gravatt.  What a great find!  The loveliest, most patient, waiter and food that took me back to Vietnam.  We had traditional iced coffee and three colour drink.

 

Beef noodle salad

Prawn rice paper rolls

and a delicious egg "pancake".

Guess where I am heading on my next trip to Brissie!

I also had a quick lunch at Espresso Boutique at a neighbourhood favourite.  My calimari and chorizo was tasty and very filling.  Bob's quiche was okay .

 

I loved my fruit juice medley which was lovely and fresh, but what is it with this new trend of using jars as glasses? 

At another old favourite, at the other end of the market, Bar Alto in New Farm, they were celebrating Sardinia.  We enjoyed sharing the sardines, roasted in the oven with nduja, pecorino and lemon aioli  (which were sublime):

 

and the fried zucchini fritters ( must do this at home!  It is wonderful)

 

 

We all enjoyed our main dishes too.  The quail saltimocca was served with radicchio, pear mostardo and vino cotto:

the duck and mascarpone ravioli with wlid muchroom ragout :

 

 and the octopus salad, with new potatoes, tomato, celery and basil citronette.

We forced ourselves to have the equally wonderful desserts:  coppa di gelato con fragole

 

 

almond milk pannacotta and poached rhubarb

and the gelati and sorbet.

 

 

another truly memorable meal.  I couldn't eat supper after that wonderful lunch.

 

 

My much more humble attenpts at home were this  Japanese style meal of sushi rice, mackerel, ginger pickle, fish roe and soy

 

marinated silken tofu ( recipe below)

and miso soup.

 

Another day we had flake "fishfingers" with stir fry.

 

  

and, yet another day, we had pomegranate marinated pork, with sweet potato covered in a pomegranate glaze, potatoes and a salad.

 

Marinated Silken Tofu:

Ingredients:
1 packet of silken tofu
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon minced ginger with its juice
2 spring onions, sliced
small handful coriander leaves, torn.

Method:
Drain any liquid from tofu.  Cut tofu into cubes and place on a plate with edges ( so that the tofu can marinate in the liquid).
Mix wine vinegar, soy sauce and ginger and pour over tofu, making sure it is well coated.  Sprinkle spring onions and coriander over.