Brisbane's blessed with brownies

I've already blogged about my adoration of the Jan Powers markets. Taking a break from the Uni computer labs to wander the markets stalls and peruse all the yummy goods has become one of my favourite mid-week activities!

I now feel I need to devote a post to my favourite stallholder - Dello Mano!
On my first visit I was amazed at how generous their staff are with samples and are so friendly and chatty! I ended up buying a classic brownie and I swear to blog I almost melted with happiness! THE.MOST.AMAZING.BROWNIE.EVER.
They have gorgeous flavours, including classic belgian chocolate, espresso walnut, honey caramelised macadamia, coconut & lime, ginger & orange and gluten free classic.
I favour the classic brownie and especially love the large chunks of chocolate in the base. These go beautifully with a cappucino or chai latte, and I have been known to crumble them into my Quickoats... but I think that's just me.

The owners of Dello Mano are always a pleasure to speak with and it's delightful to see two people who are passionate about what they do, and they do it so well!
Visit their website, visit the markets, visit them in Newstead - but you MUST try these brownies, they are pure chocolate love... in my opinion :)

Buffalo wings won't you come out tonight..

I blame my husband. Three months travelling around the USA lead to many many meals of Buffalo wings, blue cheese dressing and celery sticks. As a result, I have regular cravings for them and am always looking for that authentic spicy buffalo sauce and thick, creamy blue cheese dressing. I've made my own many many times, with great success, but sometimes you just want to eat out!
Blue Smoke BBQ at New Farm was the most exciting restaurant find for my husband and I since he moved over here! They smoke their own ribs, and make delicious wings with varying degrees of spiciness. Apparently they have just finished a refurb, and we are both dying for another visit!

On our way home last week we both had a craving for wings, but knew Blue Smoke was still closed. We decided to try The Fox at South Brisbane, as I heard they changed their menu to a more American BBQ / Smokehouse style. MLH ordered 10 wings, Nuclear style and I ordered 10 in Traditional. Apparently their "mild" sauce is not actually buffalo sauce, but it's a smoky BBQ flavour. I looked longingly at the homemade Pumpkin Pie, but as I wasn't actually all that hungry I decided it could wait until next visit!
I have to say, Blue Smoke need not worry about any fierce competition in the wings department. The Traditional sauce was a lot spicier than I was expecting, and the wing portions were small. I also found the blue cheese dressing to be a little watered down.

I enjoyed the wings, but couldn't help comparing them to Blue Smoke! I hear they are open for business again this week - Hooray!

King of Kings

My dear friend from Perth is visiting this week, and I spent a glorious Wednesday afternoon with her in the Valley. We lunched at King of Kings, and then wandered and gossipped and shopped. I am in conflict over where to get the best Yum Cha in Brisbane.

This was my first visit to King of Kings. I had heard both rave and mediocre reviews, and so was curious to see how it would measure up.
We chose prawn dumplings, chive pork and prawn dumplings (above), BBQ pork buns, steamed crap dumplings (below) and sesame balls with red bean paste.

My favourite dish was the BBQ pork buns, although I can never say no to these! The ones at King of Kings were smaller than I'm used to, but they serve you 3 instead of 2. The filling was lovely, and not too sweet and the buns were gorgeously soft. We also chose the mango pancakes for dessert, however I took one bite and couldn't finish it! They were much larger than I have seen elsewhere, and as a result they were filled with far too much cream and not enough of the mango.
I think my favourite Yum Cha is still Landmark at Sunnybank, but I also really enjoy China City Seafood and also Beijing House, both on the Queen St Mall. Beijing House is great on weekends, all plates are $3.80!
I meant to take photos of all the dishes, but by the time I realised, we had eaten most of them. I am still new to this food blogging world!