Nagomi Bento - Eagle Street Pier

Well I didn’t think this place would be that much of a winner on a Friday night, I just thought it would be quick, fresh food. Little did I know!

Ruhee, Harry & I headed there after a few at Friday’s for a quick bite. We ordered a whole heap of different tapas, only $6 a plate. Okonomiyaki, fresh assorted sushi, spring rolls, edamame, dim sims, teriyaki chicken and of course, Gyoza!

But the real winner on the night were the ‘mini’ cocktails. I presume the only thing mini about them was the cup size and the price as it definitely wasn’t mini on alcohol. Try a watermelon one – AMAZE!!!!

Sushi Tram Station

Thought I would check out the $3 sushi train night at Sushi Tram Station in Stones Corner.

Not all that impressed. Had to wait a while to be seated, then our table was quite far from the train and closer to the other tables.

Sushi was average, gyoza was below average, edamame was cold and the service wasn’t attentive.

Verdict: Won’t be back.

Ginga - average at best

We visited Ginga on my Birthday, after roaming aimlessly around South Bank and deciding on Japanese.

Really disappointed.

Edamame was over cooked. The shell was falling apart.

When I enquired as to whether someone had an iPhone charger that I could place my phone on the staff looked at me like I was crazy.

Staff weren't attentive, I had to keep asking them to come over, very stand offish.

We ordered bento boxes and with the amount of cheap, fresh and delicious Japanese places around Brisbane you would assume you woulf get something decent for $30.
The teriyaki chicken was very dry and mine was partially cold. The tempura tasted oily and the dipping sauce has little flavor. Miso however was nice and so was the scallop.

I wouldn't eat here again, especially with so many other nicer places around South Bank.

 

Kokoro Bento, South Brisbane deliciousness

I discovered this new little Japanese place while hunting down the IGA in South Brisbane.

Now, by now, if you read my blog, you will know that I LOVE gyoza. So maaannn was I happy when I stumbled across this place and they do 4 delicious steamed gyoza for $3.50! They are already cooked too so you don't even have to wait for them. Convenient and delicious AND cheap!

They have a wide variation of fresh sushi rolls,  priced at $2.50 or $3.00 depending on the fill. The soft shell crab, and tempura prawn are my faves however their salmon avo, teriyaki chicken and surimi rolls are all just as good.

The tempura prawn udon noodle soup is also one of my faves and they do it very well. They have your usual selection of Japanese meals - noodles, soups,  curries and rice meals. All really reasonably priced - under $10.

The staff are lovely and efficient, you grab your own condiments, (yes the soy and wasabi is free) along with your choice of eating utensils and off you go. I haven't actually sat down to enjoy a meal here, I always get takeaway, however it looks nice and if I had time I would sit and stay but the burdens of work are forever dragging me away.

It has quickly become busy but with fresh food like this at great prices, I shouldn't really be surprised at all! My new local lunch spot :)

You can find it down an alley, 32 Cordelia Street, South Brisbane QLD 4101. Behind the convention centre. Hopefully they will get an online presence soon as they will continue to grow!

Ann Gyoza Bar

Gyoza is yummy! Nice and soft and fresh but pan fried and crispy too! You’d hope so though, considering it is a gyoza joint.  It comes out on a sizzling plate, with onion and capsicum garnishes. The waitress then pours the sauce over the top, a delicious citrus, soy.  We went for the chicken and vegetable

You do have to wait a while for the dumplings to cool, which if you’re like me and impatient to eat your food, it’s hard work.

Only note would be that I thought there would be more varieties. There was no beef or duck which I would consider to be staples.

We tried the crab claw balls – they were good and then the chicken teriyaki karage. Teriyaki sauce was delicious and if my Mum was there, she would have told me off for classily dipping my finger in the bowl to get extra sauce!

We also had the edamame, which unusually, was served cold.

Staff were attentive and the décor is very Japanese, that dark wood feel their restaurants often have.

Cheap meal though, worked out to $17 each for three of us, and we were all full to pop by the time we were leaving!

Sushi Kotobuki - LOVE this place!

Best.Place.EVERRRR

When I worked for the Lions I regularly visited this place as it is just around the corner from the Gabba in East Brisbane. Now I don’t get there so often but love it when I do!

These pics reallllly don't do the food justice, I had take-away tonight and it was incredible as always. We went for Lion King, edamame, prawn uramake and gyoza.

Sushi Kotobuki is one of those restaurants that when you look at it from the outside you don’t think much of it. Most people don’t even know that it is there. Hidden in a little block on a corner, it doesn’t have any real presence from the outside. Inside it just looks like any tiny sushi place. However, if you saw how many people go there you would be able to tell straight away you had stumbled upon something awesome.

They have just completed a renovation to accommodate more people and jazz up the interior. It looks good but they are still in need of more space for tables due to their popularity. The line is still huge and we had to order take away as there were no tables.

My regular order is edamame and a Lion King roll or James special. The James special isn’t on the actual menu, someone just created it and it caught on but if you ask for it they will know what it is. Both of them and I’m full for under $10! Did I mention how cheap this place is? Best sushi in Brisbane and they’re so cheap. Can’t beat it!

They also have your usual range of Japanese curries and soups etc that are equally delicious but with sushi so cheap and delicious I tend to stick with that.

The staff are lovely, they always recognise you and ask how you are. Japanese hospitality at its best.

Go there, you will not be disappointed.

Mitoki –Kangaroo Point

Nestled in the heart of Kangaroo Point, diagonally across from the Story Bridge Hotel, you will find Mitoki. A cute little open aired Japanese restaurant with iPads to order from. The staff are of course, all Japanese and as they all are, extremely polite and sweet.

To celebrate their first birthday Mitoki had 15 of their favourite Tapa’s for $5 a plate. High five for us! Here we were expecting to pay a fairly decent amount for a nice meal and they say $5.. we say 10 please!

We started with 3 plates of the grilled salmon sushi, our personal favourite. I love the stuff.
Of course I had to get the gyoza, which to be honest wasn’t as nice as it could have been. The edge of the pastry was a bit dry or hard and the meat wasn’t amazing.

This was followed by Octopus balls which hilariously J, who hadn’t tried Takoyaki before, decided to put all but the whole ball in her mouth… followed by her gagging and spitting it out with ‘there’s something in it!’ Of course there is something in it, it’s an octopus ball! It has octopus in it! She didn’t like the feeling of the tentacles against her tongue evidently.
We also had edamame (a staple) and beef carpaccio (which was very similar totataki) with an Asahi beer. Nom.

The cheap tapa's deal runs until the 27^th October and then the prices are back to normal.. So go there.. go there now!

Wagaya - You like eel, right?

I've wanted to go to Wagaya in Fortitude Valley for quite a while.

So after the disappointing draw of the Bledisloe Cup, we were happy to find it still open.

Wagaya has an awesome interior, sleek dark wooden booths that are private and contribute to creating a cool ambience.
It had touch screen menus, which are quite funky and savvy but some would argue take away from the excellent traditional Japanese service that we have grown used to.

The gyoza were delicious. I love dumplings a get them wherever I go and these ones were very good. Highly recommend.

The sushi however was average. You can definitely find better for cheaper in Brisbane.
We shared a The lightly grilled salmon sushi, a spider roll and a dragon roll.

In the picture on the menu the dragon roll looked like it was covered in salmon so I ordered it in a rush from the screen as the kitchen was closing at 11.15pm.
When the plate was delivered I asked the waiter what was on the sushi as it definitely wasn't salmon. Turned out it was eel.
I have tried smoked eel as a kid... But this just did not look appetizing, even covered in BBQ sauce and sesame seeds. I wasn't game to try it first so Nikita took the plunge.. The look on her face was priceless.
A look of disgust and horror followed by 'no, no, no, nope' combined with vigorous head shaking confirmed that it was a gross as it looked.
Once she told me it had the texture of fat with the smell and taste of strong fish there was no way that any was going past my lips!!

So if you just want some dumplings and a cool interior head here. If you're after more than that, there are many other Japanese restaurants in Brizzy that would satisfy your cravings.

Shabuhouse

Can't believe I haven't been to this place before!

Seriously, with my love of Japanese food and endless searches for good restaurants you'd think I would have stumbled across it by now.

It has an Japanese feel to it, except had it been in Japan it wouldn't be so spacey. Love the atmosphere and surroundings. You need to be okay with loud noise though, its definitely not a quiet dining experience.
It even has a VIP room... Not quite sure how you would become VIP there or what it would entitle you considering meals are $30...

So anyway for $30 you can have all you can eat sushi & hot pot.
You are seated at your table and your waiter explains how the system works.

The sushi is a buffet, simply choose What you like with what condiments and ta daaa you're off! It's fresh and there's a good variety.

The hot pot you cook yourself at your table. There's a hole in front of you to put the pot in once it's full of your choice of ingredients.
Choosing from vegetable, miso or Tom yum soup to begin you then add your veggies and choice (or choices) of meat.

I went for a miso soup with fresh blue crab, bok choy, mushrooms, bean sprouts and red onion to keep it simple. Was delish.

If you leave any food on your table you are charged $20. A good initiative to ensure that food isn't wasted.

LaLa Land

We arrived in LA after 7hours of flights and thankfully our bags were there to meet us this time, after they were lost there when we originally arrived we were a little worried they may not turn up!

You could say that our flight there wasn't the best one I have been on. You could probably accurately say that it was one of the worst flights I have had.
The poor child in the seat in front of me vomited the entire flight. He was maybe five years old and sick before he even hoped on the plane. I have a weak stomach when it comes to things like this and I was very close to a sympathy spew. The smell. The noise. Yuck I feel sick just writing this.
I was torn between sympathy for the poor thing and resentment. Resentment was coming in first place.
Between the turbulence, vomiting kid, lack of food, crying child and repetitive Mother ('relax, just relax your ears will pop. Relax your ears will pop. Are you listening to me? Relax, are you listening to me?' you get the point.) I was rather pleased when it was all over!

Our hotel was in Little Tokyo, super cute and very Japanese. I really wish we had more time in LA. The food in Little Tokyo - yum. Arigato!

When we arrived at the hotel late at night there was a crowd outside the restaurant across the road. A dowdy, run down, typically Japanese themed noodle bar, I presumed they were smokers. Fast forward check in etc and we were in search of something to fill our stomachs. Did I mention that there was no food served on our flight due to turbulence? We wandered across the road only to find that the crowd was actually a line waiting to get in!
Starving, we just went to the place next door. The tiny, ancient Japanese lady was hilarious and the food delicious.

We jumped on a hop on hop off bus.. Which I have bad memories of from the UK when I fell down the stairs in a retarded moment and bruised the crap out of my shins.. But it was awesome.

We checked out all the famous sights, the Hollywood sign, walk of fame, Viper Room, Santa Monica Pier etc etc. Everywhere has such a good vibe, really wish we had more time to explore the areas more and get to Venice Beach but there's always next time. And I intend on that being quite soon!

We spent ages in the Napoleon Perdis flagship Hollywood store, I wanted to just check the prices of everything, see if it was cheaper than Australia but we ended up with makeovers and mini makeup lessons and a crapload of makeup!
Desmina, the assistant was fantastic. Her sales must be through the roof she is so good at her job and her passion and enthusiasm for the products and brand is obvious. With Napoleon himself popping in and out of the store constantly I suppose it would be easy to be inspired. Anyway I ended up walking out of there with heaps of products and even Gemma's Christmas gift!

We found tickets to Cirque Du Soleil Iris online for cheap and it was sensational. Being the fifth show I have seen I always wonder if I won't be as amazed and awed. They did not disappoint.
Especially the twin boys from the UK doing the aerobatics.. Hello!!
Iris is a journey of film through time, following an actress around who is picked to become the new best thing.
At one stage one of the little Asian contortionist girls was doing the splits and literally just popped upright using just her thigh muscles.. I can't describe it but the entire crowd dropped their jaws.

Unfortunately, as I mentioned, we were time poor and headed home after Cirque Du Soleil as Contiki started at 7am the next morning and we thought it would be appropriate to rest up before the tour started. Thank goodness we did....