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!

Little Hong Kong, Sunnybank

I had a lovely, quiet day today but wanted to go out to eat, so MLH and I braved the chilly, windy weather this evening to have dinner at Market Square!
We walked past all the restaurants before deciding on Little Hong Kong, in the middle of the centre.

As soon as I saw the glistening birds hanging from their hooks, I knew what I wanted - Roasted duck with greens and egg noodles!

MLH ordered the BBQ Pork with steamed vegetables, rice and plum sauce, and we also ordered some spring rolls. I didn't try his pork, or the spring rolls because I was too busy with my mountain of egg noodles. He said the pork was nice, but it didn't really taste like plum sauce. The spring rolls were very crispy and looked lovely and freshly cooked.

Our meals came out within 5 minutes, which was impressive as the restaurant was completely full! Wait staff were helpful and the prices are excellent for the size of the meals. Our bill was about $26 for 2 mains and an entree.
Ahh hooks of delicious crispy meats - this is my ultimate food porn :P

I love love love Market Square, it's always busy and fun and I never feel like I'm actually in Brisbane. Next visit I will be heading to Little Singapore. It was PACKED full of people and as we walked past, the sight and smell of everyone's meals was incredible!

Lazy Saturday

The last 2 weeks at uni have been so crazy! I had 2 assignments due yesterday and have been leaving early and coming home late to get them finished.

I cannot express how wonderful it was to wake up of my own accord this morning, rather than to the lovely latin dance number I have set as my alarm. Despite the overcast weather, I went for a mid morning walk to get some fresh air and exercise.

My local block of shops is pretty lame.. They have a foodstore, post office, chemist etc.. but the building is kind of run-down and old. Since I've lived in the area, the Fruit and Veg shop has changed owners about 3 times, and the last owner had debt collectors after them, and were only operating for about 2 weeks.

When a friendly looking family bought the shop a couple of months ago, I was so worried they would go out of business too.
On my walk today I went inside to have a browse, and I am TOTALLY in love with their store!!! I am so proud to have such a gorgeously decorated and beautifully stocked fruit shop in my suburb!

The women who run the store are so friendly and chatty, and they have outfitted the shop with trinkets, and stocked fresh yogurts, honey, sauces and cheeses. I was sorry I only took loose change with me, but bought some amazingly fragrant basil to bring home. I will definitely be making more regular visits, so impressed!
Next time, I will ask to snap some photos for my blog!



For lunch today I made my low-carb favourite, and used the gorgeous basil aswell. Deli ham and cheese rolls :) So cute with the fresh basil! Yum :)
Sitting back with my laptop, watching Food Safari on YouTube and perusing my favourite blogs.. I sooo needed this!



Heading out to dinner tonight with MLH. Still undecided as to where we will go.. I feel like sushi train, or maybe ribs, or um... something awesome?
Rest assured, there will be photos!

Cat on a cold carport roof

Today just started out strange... It's not that anything particularly odd happened, actually it was a completely uninteresting day... even so I literally felt 2 steps behind myself. What does that even mean?

I have this weirdly OCD morning routine which goes something like this -
Wake up (always too early). 15 minutes of stretches. Make breakfast and coffee (always 2 cups, as one is never enough with breakfast). Read blogs, check email, FB, twitter etc on my laptop which finishing breakfast. Shower. Stand infront of my closet from anywhere between 2 - 20 minutes while deciding what to wear. Check handbag for essentials / check weather for umbrella, scarf, etc. Leave house.

Honestly, to conclude this day with the appropriate level of weirdness - there is absolutely no point to this post WHATSOEVER.

The only thing I can attribute this to is the fact that as I was leaving the house... there was a cat on our carport roof. Staring at me.
Cat. Staring. There isn't usually a cat. But today... staring.



Yeah... definitely OCD.

Jan Powers Markets, CBD

Gorgeous Brisbane weather and delicious sweets from the CBD markets today = perfection!


I skipped lunch and had desserts instead!


First stop: Louey's. His market stall has two cabinets with mini cakes and tarts. So so so adorable. I chose the rasperry white chocolate tart and the caramel tart. LOVED the raspberry! Shortbread shell, raspberry mousse, white chocolate ganache, topped with a tangy raspberry coulis-type topping. The caramel was also lovely, topped with white chocolate.


Also sampled a vanilla and chocolate custard canolli from the awesome guys at the olive stand. One end has vanilla custard, the other chocolate, and the inside of the pastry is coated with crackly dark chocolate. So good! I asked the boys if they make the traditional ricotta canolli's, and they said they make them to order only. Picking mine up next Wednesday! Thanks guys :)

Chocolate end. Yum :) They advised me to eat the vanilla side first... because the chocolate is so much better! I loved both, but tend to agree :)


Lastly, a slice of dark chocolate and raspberry cake on a hazelnut crust. Oh my god...this was SO great. Now my only problem will be resisting the urge to visit this stall every week!
Today was so deliciously indulgent and I felt very justified venturing out into the cold tonight for my walk with MLH!!