There’s a new kid on the block for Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoon drinks in the Cairns CBD. Click HERE to check out the exclusive post I wrote for The Balcony and SKRILLED Magazine!
Category Archives: Cairns
Bagus Cafe, Cairns Esplanade
Only yesterday I was told about this hidden gem so I went down to grab a bit of lunch for my family who are doing some reno’s just up the road. The Bagus Café has been open since December last year so I don’t know how I hadn’t bloody heard of it. Living just up the road I have driven past this place many times however I had no idea they sold Indonesian food (even though Bagus means good in Indonesian). The lovely owner Sri moved up from Melbourne with her family in 2013 to open the Bagus Café.
I ordered takeaway this time however there is a handful of tables of chairs out the front should you choose to ‘dine in’. All the food is made fresh on-site which meant about a 15 minute wait for the three dishes that I ordered. Knowing the food is cooked to order I didn’t mind the wait at all. With traditional dishes like Nasi Goreng, Satay and Rendang it’s one of only two places I know in Cairns that sells Indonesian food (the other being the Bayleaf of course). For the non traditional eaters there is also a selection of Western breakfast and lunch fare including a Smoked Beef Breakfast Burrito with Jalapeno’s that sounds right up my alley.
Takeaway Nasi Goreng with Chicken (AU$13)
Takeaway Indonesian Satay (AU$13)
Occupying a small space out the front of the backpackers across the road from Muddies the Bagus Café is quaint, unassuming and kind of like the real roadside experience in Indo. Located at 149 The Esplanade Bagus is open daily for breakfast and lunch from 6.45am – 3pm and for dinner on Tuesday, Thursday – Sunday from 5.30pm – 8.30pm with nothing on the menu over AU$16. Don’t forget to ask for some of their spicy Anchovy Sambal!
Rusty’s Markets, Cairns
I have been meaning to put up this post for quite some time now. As sappy as it may sound it holds a special place in my heart because it is such a big part of my childhood memories. The place I am referring to is the iconic Rusty’s Markets of course. With over 180 stalls featuring a delightful array of fresh fruit and vegetables, locally baked bread, flowers, art, crafts, seafood and so much more.
Up and running since 1975 Rusty’s Markets is quintessentially Cairns – kind of like what Qantas is to Australia.
I remember going there way back when I was a little ‘un. Every single Saturday morning my mum would drag my younger sister and I around the markets with her little black trolley filling it high with the fruits, veggies and other treats on offer at Rusty’s Markets.
My sister and I thought it was the most boring thing ever back then but mum bribed us with Cheese Twists from the Swiss Bakery and fresh pinepple juice from the Pineapple Man to keep us quiet. My mum and dad also owned a fresh seafood stall there for nearly 10 years in the 1980’s.
I remember Rusty with his bright red shirt walking around and greeting the stall owners and market goers. I remember Kaotica on the corner – the vintage/second hand type clothing store than has now moved to Oceana Walk. Mum used to marvel at all the clothes in there while my sister and I complained how hungry we were. I remember the bustling juice bar way back before the staff at Boost Juice were calling out peoples names. I remember hippies. Lots of hippies. I remember the humble beginnings Hashams Dips way back when there was only about 5 or 6 dips and pestos to choose from and way before you could buy them at IGA. Possibly even before IGA was around.
I remember the Unisex Hairdressing place that resembled a cave inside. I used to think how rude it was because there was ‘sex’ in the name. Little did I know that unisex actually meant men’s and women’s. I remember a nice old Italian lady making fresh pasta sauce for $15 a pop – a little overpriced if you asked me. It’s no yolk (haha) that Yamagishi Eggs, or ‘Happy Eggs’ as they are more fondly referred, are the still the best damn eggs you can buy… not to mention another icon of the Far North.
And last but not least I remember the man that used to sell all the phone cards. He’s still there to this day although he mostly sticks to selling fruit and veg.
Nowadays, Rusty’s Markets has changed quite a bit but it’s still the bustling marketplace that I remember it to be except now there is a nightclub in the midst of it all. Rusty himself is no longer there having passed away over 15 years ago according to my mum and dad. Sadly the tree that my sister and I used to climb, along with all the other kids whose parents were dragging them around the markets, is now part of the Gilligan’s beer garden. Somehow I don’t think the Gilligan’s security would appreciate me reliving my tree climbing days.
Let’s not forget the multiplying number of food trucks up the northern end on Sheridan Street. Off the top of my head theres Japanese, Vietnamese, Tongan, Thai, Burgers, pastries and plenty more.
Many Cairns locals also swear by Billy’s Coffee located inside the markets (on the Gilligan’s side). It’s the best coffee in Cairns some would say.
Truth be told, these days I don’t get to Rusty’s Markets quite as often as I should. For me it’s one of those places that I think about going to a day too late and end up at Coles or Woolies spending 4x the amount I would have at Rusty’s.
A couple of weeks ago whilst taking photos at the market I overheard a backpacker with a bag full of fruit and veggies exclaiming to his friends that what he paid $20 for at Rusty’s would have cost him nearly $100 at Woolworth’s. Maybe a bit of an exaggeration but who hasn’t had similar thoughts?
If you’re like me you have a particular place for different food items. I go to one stall for my avocados, another for my bush ripened Mareeba tomatoes, this one for my mangoes, that one for herbs and everything else is usually wherever takes my fancy. I almost always end up leaving with double the amount of food I planned to buy.
It’s an absolute must see for anyone that is visiting Cairns. Whether you’re going to buy some of the fresh, local produce on offer or just stroll through and take in the sights and sounds there really is something for everyone at Rusty’s Markets.
Rusty’s Market is open every week from Friday through to Sunday.
Friday – 5am to 6pm
Saturday – 5am to 6pm
Sunday – 5am – 3pm
Website: rustysmarkets.com.au
Fremantle Markets, WA
Today I got the opportunity to visit and wander around the Fremantle Markets. The last time that I was in Fremantle was for the America’s Cup way back in 1987 when I was about 3 years old – hmmm so how old am I? All I can remember from that time is fireworks, which frankly I’m surprised I’m able to remember that much. This time around I am surely old enough to remember a little more – unfortunately there was no fireworks to speak of. As I am over here for work I haven’t really had a chance to get out and do much but today I got the opportunity to go somewhere other than the gym.
One of my workmates and I headed down to check out the markets on what has been a ridiculously cold, wet and windy day – the wind is still howling outside. Sadly hoping for warming weather I left my trusty ugg’s in Cairns and despite being confined to the space of the little apartment I’m staying in my toes are like ice. Yes I’m bred in the tropics that’s for sure.
Anyway so as usual I read a few reviews on Trip Advisor about the markets – some good, some bad – and I decided I wouldn’t listen to the haters and I would have to check it out for myself and after running in soaked from the car park because it was literally bucketing down I was greeted with the smell of sizzling bratwurst. Wouldn’t every day be a good day if you were greeted with the smell of sizzling bratwurst?
My workmate and I parted ways, agreeing on a time to meet back at the bratwurst stand and off we went…
There’s quite an array of food to choose from at the Fremantle Markets. One of the reviews on Trip Advisor said that the Fremantle Markets was disappointing and no where near as good as Adelaide Central Markets. Well, as someone that has never been to the Adelaide Markets I cannot confirm or deny but seriously why can’t people just enjoy the markets for what they are rather than comparing them to one over 2700km away? If I compared the toned figure that I had this time last year to the one I have right now well I’d be pretty damn disappointed now wouldn’t but it’s kind of like comparing apples to oranges, or lemons to oranges (whatever the hell that saying is). You just don’t do it.
The Fremantle Markets, according to the Fremantle Markets website, is situated in a heritage listed grand old Victorian building that was first opened in 1897. With a mix of fresh produce, food stalls, arts, crafts, jewellery stalls, home wares and even buskers it’s home to more than 150 stalls and is a bit of a must-see for locals and tourists alike.
When I arrived at the markets I actually had every intention of observing but not eating anything, despite the aroma of bratwurst and the homemade blackberry jam donuts a couple of stalls down. That was until I came along a little stall that sold Indian and Sri Lankan food. Given my Sri Lankan heritage I know all too well the delectable savoury treats that my nana used to make when I was a little girl. Sadly though my nana passed away over 20 years ago now and pan rolls and fish roti are pretty much non-existent in Cairns. My mum was just 8 years old when she immigrated to Australia with the rest of her family and although she makes a mean curry, deep fried Sri Lankan pastries take a little more time and care. To get my fix I have to rely on either travelling to Melbourne or begging my aunties to bring some with them when they come to Cairns for a visit. Given this rarity when I saw a stall selling pan rolls at the Fremantle Markets all my observation bets were off. I bought a Beef and Potato Pancake Roll and a Seeni Sambol Paan roll. They were both delicious, albeit a little doughy, and devoured in less than 5 minutes.
I continued on passing a few other food stalls… Crepes, Japanese Noodles, a Burger Bar, raw food, a bakery, cookies, cupcakes, a deli, Hot Dog stand, Argentinian food, paella, gozlemes, fudge, sushi, jerky, honey and plenty more! It all looked delicious and there were plenty of tourists and locals enjoying the fare these stalls had to offer.
Paella
Sweet or savoury crepes anyone?
I’ll take the lot
Homemade chocolate (front) and blackberry jam donuts (back)
Giant cookies. Oh god.
Just give me the bowl…
At the other end of the market is a large selection of fresh produce – a bit like Rusty’s Market’s in Cairns but smaller. Both my workmate and I were a little upset that we hadn’t come to the markets sooner as we only have a few more days in Fremantle left. We would have saved a lot more money if we had spent last Saturday buying fresh fruit and vegetables from the Fremantle Markets rather having daily visits to Coles down the road *sigh*.
Anyway so after a pancake roll, a paan roll, a bag of jerky and a taste of my workmates Beef, Spinach and Fetta Gozleme I was as my father would say “up to pussy’s bow”. So much for my self control *sigh*.
The Fremantle Markets are well worth a look for anyone that is visiting Fremantle but do yourself a favour and unless you’re going specifically to eat, don’t go when you are hungry because if you can resist the pan rolls, the fresh made jam filled donuts, the paella, the bratwurst hotdogs or the giant cookies I guarantee you won’t be able to resist the copious amounts of locally grown juicy strawberries or the freshly baked sourdough bread. Mmmm sourdough….
Fremantle Markets
Corner of South Terrace and Henderson St, Fremantle WA 6959
Opening hours : Fri 8am – 8pm, Sat and Sun 8am – 6pm
Website: http://www.fremantlemarkets.com.au
100,000 views!
Today I hit 100,000 views since I first started! That’s a total of 149 posts! I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone that has ever logged onto foodvixen! My passion for eating out and just food in general prompted me to set up this blog back in April 2011. Since then my website has grown from the few readers that I had back then to the loyal little following of lovers (and haters) that I have today. There’s a few hits and certainly a few misses but I still love it just as much now as I did then. I may not get as many posts up as we both would like but I can only hope that you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy eating the food! Thanks again everyone! Have a great weekend 🙂
Ten One Twenty, Edge Hill
I’d say out of all the restaurants and cafe’s that I dine at I only actually end up blogging about a quarter of them. I always have the best of intentions to do all these posts and then time gets the better of me. One thing I do find that in order to write these posts I need to be in the ‘zone’ so to speak. There must be no noise (especially not wind chimes) or other distractions in the nearby vicinity when I decide to get my laptop out and do something other than stalk people on Facebook or make a vain attempt to log into my work email.
I’m not one of those people that could ever study with headphones on or the TV in the background. When I was studying at uni the only time I was actually able to get any study done at all was when I took my pen, paper and bag of textbooks to the Cairns City Library and basked in the silence of like-minded people. Even then I found myself staring out the window all too often.
When I was in Grade 6 I played soccer in an all girls team. We were terrible and only got one goal all year – unfortunately against another team from the same school. We screamed like a bunch of girls none the less. My dad would claim that our pathetic goal scoring abilities were not aided by the fact that during our games I was more concerned with who was playing on the field next to us than my own game. So the point of my story is that my attention span is about that of a gold fish. It’s not my fault that I need to hear the deafening sound of tinnitus in my ears before I can actually concentrate on writing a post and unfortunately for me lately that’s been few and far between. Lucky for me I’m currently on the other side of Australia with nothing but time on my hands (in the evening anyway) and having run out of episodes of Ray Donovan I guess I have no other choice but to concentrate on writing a post about what has recently become one of my favourite cafes to visit in Cairns…
After a late Sunday coffee and homemade lemonade at one of Edge Hill’s newest (ok newish) cafe’s, Ten One Twenty, I vowed to return the next day for lunch since the menu sounded ridiculously enticing. Sadly for me though the next day was Monday and Ten One Twenty isn’t open on Monday’s. Tuesday it was! Named after it’s address on Collins Avenue Ten One Twenty is the newest brainchild of the good folks at Caffiend. On Ten One Twenty’s Facebook page it’s touted as a gelati and espresso bar but after visiting for lunch last week I found the food was also worth a mention.
MS had promised to take his elderly father out for lunch before he left for work later that afternoon. It’s something we both like to do about once a month since his dad isn’t very mobile and doesn’t get the chance to get out much so he gets a bit lonely. A little after midday the three of us shuffled into Ten One Twenty and took a seat at one of the tables near the window. We had a look over the menu whilst not so secretly trying to figure out what meals the two ladies next to us were eating – in the end they overheard us talking about their food and kindly divulged what they had ordered, followed by how delicious it was. Finally we all made a decision and I moseyed on up to the counter, next to the large cabinet of baked sweets, to order lunch and coffee for the three of us.
Like clockwork the coffees came out first of all and with a smile from the guy that took my order. A friendly guy with good calves to boot. Another 10 or so minutes later our meals arrived. MS had ordered the Poached Free Range Chicken, Chilli Mayo, Tarragon and Rocket Gourmet Toastie for AU$11.90. $11.90 is a little on the steep side for a toastie in my humble opinion but I guess you are also paying for their prime location in Edge Hill. I’ll admit I did have a taste of MS’ toastie and it was jam packed with flavour – plenty of sweetness from the Chilli Mayo to go with the bitterness of the rocket. MS gobbled his toastie up that fast that I’m not sure if it even touched the sides going down. It was probably only a light meal for a man his size but more than enough for the average eater.
Poached Free Range Chicken, Chilli Mayo, Tarragon and Rocket Gourmet Toastie for AU$11.90
Over on my side of the table I had ordered the dish that I spied on the menu two days prior that prompted my stealthy return – the Healthy Green Salad with Raw Kale, Broccoli, Corn, Herbs, Preserved Lemon (AU$14.50), plus I added some Poached Chicken for an extra $4.50. When it arrived I did think it was a little bit smaller than what I had pictured in my head. This salad was the best salad I have had in a long time. The flavours were subtle but it was lovely and fresh with a beautiful mix of crunchy veggies, cherry tomatoes and herbs with small pieces of poached chicken flaked amongst it. I have to admit that this is only the second time I have ever eaten kale. The first was a shitty attempt at making kale chips in my oven at home. They ended up tasting like a big bowl of salty ash. This time my kale experience was much more enjoyable and I am keen to get back and try Ten One Twenty’s breakfast version with a poached egg on top in place of the chicken.
Healthy Green Salad with Raw Kale, Broccoli, Corn, Herbs, Preserved Lemon (AU$14.50) and added Poached Chicken (AU$4.50)
MS’ dad, who shall go by the alias of Papa S, had chosen the Japanese Style Smashed Chilli Egg on Sourdough with Ponzu Cucumber and Zucchini Salad (AU$15.90). I’m not quite sure why he chose a dish with chilli in it because he can’t really handle chilli that well. He then proceeded to add extra chilli from the small bottle of chilli sauce that was placed on our table – before tasting his lunch mind you. He’s a little forgetful in his old age bless him but he did get a nice little surprise with his first mouthful, and second, and third. etc, etc. Not quite sure why this dish was called Japanese Style Smashed Chilli Eggs because I thought they somewhat resembled what I would call ‘Scrambled Eggs’ but hey they still looked great. His dish was also lightly scattered with Goji Berries – at least that’s what MS and I thought they were. Funnily enough Papa S swore they were kidney beans. I can assure you they definitely weren’t but MS and I weren’t about to correct with him and were just happy to leave him enjoy his lunch – kidney beans and all. After we had all finished our lunch Papa S raved about this Chilli Eggs. You know the ones sprinkled with ‘Kidney Beans’? It’s easy to tell when he likes something because he raves about how ‘lovely’ it was time and time again.
Japanese Style Smashed Chilli Egg on Sourdough with Ponzu Cucumber and Zucchini Salad (AU$15.90)
It doesn’t take a foodie like me to know there is more than a handful of places of go in Edge Hill for breakfast, lunch and a caffeine fix but Ten One Twenty is my pick of places to go. Best part is it’s not overwhelmingly busy unlike a couple of other popular places in Edge Hill – they shall remain nameless. Although this was only the first time I had been to Ten One Twenty for food I have been there multiple times for coffee and always found the service friendly and efficient. The atmosphere is relaxed with a rustic but eclectic vibe and an interesting mix of people coming and going including plenty of families stopping by for a scoop or two of gelato. The food at Ten One Twenty is simple, fresh, innovative and a little bit fancy all at the same time. Another thing to look forward to other than gelati sandwiches and ‘sketti jaffles’ (with two different types of cheese) is their gelati parties including live DJ’s on Saturday afternoons. Get amongst it!
Ten One Twenty Café
10/120 Collins Ave, Edge Hill QLD 4870
Ph: (07) 4032 1010
Opening Hours: Tues – Sat 7am – 4.30pm, Sun 8am – 4.30pm
Ba Mien Vietnamese Cafe, Cairns
I finally managed to pull my finger out and get my ass down to the Vietnamese café on Aplin Street, Ba Mien a couple of weeks ago for lunch with one of my most favourite people to have lunch with, fellow blogger, Baking Myself Happy. (Sorry Sandy I still haven’t made it to Terrazza. I swear I will get there eventually haha). BMH and I have a shared love of food, talking about food and our general intolerance for stupid people. Given the opportunity to choose where we had lunch I chose Ba Mien, knowing that it was somewhere that was close to where BMH worked and also somewhere that I had wanted to blog about for quite some time. BMH had actually been there quite a few times given the close proximity to her work but was happy to go again with me.
We met there just before the lunch rush which was perfect for BMH because she was a little restricted for time due to it being her lunch break also. Myself, well when I’m not at sea I’m a lady of leisure. That’s not true at all, it seems like the more time off I have from work the more I have to do but on this particular day I had no trips to Master’s, Bunning’s, Solomon’s Carpets or all of the above planned.
After our hello’s and a bit of general chit chat out the front of the shop we headed in and placed our orders at the counter. BMH already knew what she wanted so she ordered first leaving me to have a bit of a longer look over the menu. For someone who spends a lot of their spare time perusing menu’s online (hey it’s a vice of mine) for once I wasn’t at all prepared and this was in fact the first time I’d had a chance to view the menu. Shock! Horror! It didn’t take me long before I settled on the Lemongrass and Beef Chilli Noodle Soup ‘HUE’ Style for AU$10.90. The lady at the counter did mention to me that it was hot but I brushed her off. Please… I’m too hot to handle baby! I know I have tendency to go for mainly noodle dishes but in my defence I did seriously consider the Green Crispy Papaya Salad with Coriander Dressing for AU$9.90 (another regular dish of mine). It was the Coriander Dressing that turned me off. I don’t like coriander, it’s just too overpowering for me.
Formerly the grease trap ‘Galloping Gourmet’, Ba Mien is cute, colourful and adorned with vibrant (but a little tacky) lime green walls and bottles of Sriacha chilli sauce. I must admit it’s really great to finally see some Asian cuisines other than Chinese, Japanese and Thai setting up shop in Cairns. I know for a very long time we didn’t even have one single Vietnamese restaurant in Cairns and now we have at least four that I can think of off the top of my head.
Anyway so while we waited for our food to arrive BMH and I discussed the in’s an out’s of the universe, buying houses – something the two of us are both considering with our respective partners, why Isagenix is such a farce (how the hell people are falling for the food replacement shake gimmick again especially when it’s clearly a pyramid scheme!) and BMH’s absolute horror at discovering that she may not be fitting into her dresses quite so well because she had started to develop lat’s (the muscle kind). This part I found overly amusing especially considering how devastated she was about it all. Being a girl with quite large ‘lats’ I couldn’t quite understand it.
Back to the Isagenix part for a tick.. I more than understand the premise behind it all – weight loss and living a healthy life but surely people would rather eat real food? I myself can contribute a 15kg weight loss to Celebrity Slim Weight Loss Shakes back in 2006. However the overall success of me not piling back on the pounds after I stopped having meal replacement shakes can also be attributed to the stress of my piece of shit, alcoholic ex-boyfriend and surviving (literally) on a diet of cigarettes and daily 5km runs on the Esplanade. For the record I don’t smoke anymore and I certainly don’t condone this form of weight loss. At the time I was a shadow of my current self both mentally and physically but we get over these things. Enough about me… Yeah Isagenix might help you lose weight and feel great about yourself but what about the afterwards? You can’t live on shakes forever and have to go back to eating real food eventually. My advice is to educate yourself. Learn to eat real food in moderation and exercise. It’s not frigin rocket science people!!! Am I right or am I right hey BMH?
Enough about that – It didn’t take long before our lunch to arrive at our table – I’m actually not sure if the service is always that prompt or it was just that we were the first one’s there for the lunch trade. My guess is that it’s always prompt or there is no way that BMH would keep going back. My noodle soup was quite large in size and stature with a bit of chilli and lime on the side. The broth was somewhat flavoursome, mostly the chilli kind, but generally didn’t have much depth to it. The thinly sliced beef was lovely and tender and this was the first to go from my bowl followed by the noodles which were still a little bit firm to bite. Exactly the way they should be IMO. I then proceeded to work down the large amount of soup in my bowl only to be faced with nearly choking on chilli. It’s not that it was particularly hot but more it just went down the wrong way, kind of like when you breath in Milo. THAT SHIT BURNS!!! Tears ran down my face, I couldn’t breath and I immediately turned around casing the nearby drinks fridge for anything that may quench the choking burn. Fortunately for me, after a sheer moment of panic, the burning subsided, I wiped away the tears and our conversation continued as per normal.
BMH’s had ordered the Lemongrass Beef Bowl which appeared a little more basic than mine. From the Happy Baker herself “It was okay – nothing to write home about. There wasn’t really a discernible lemongrass taste more just a generic Asian taste. The beef was pretty chewy but really for the AU$8 or so I paid I wasn’t expecting gourmet’. Oh, she’s gooood.
I found the food at Ba Mien to be only okay… worth the visit but nothing to write home about. This is something that was reiterated by BMH – she would know because she has dined there a lot more than I have. Also because as a fellow foodie, I more than trust her opinion. Apparently it can be a little hit and miss but usually worth taking the chance on considering it’s handy location to her work, cheap meals and cheerful service. I myself will definitely be returning for another go and to try something else on the menu other than noodle soup. Ladies, forget cleansing with Isagenix ladies and instead try the Lemongrass and Beef Chilli Noodle Soup at Ba Mien. Not only will it clean you out starting with your nasal passages, at a mere AU$9.90 a pop you might actually save yourself some serious coin and a few extra kilo’s in the long run.
Ba Mien
15a Aplin St, Cairns QLD e4870
Ph: (07) 4051 6426
Cafe China Express At The Marina, Cairns
It’s been a ridiculously long time between posts for this vixen. It turns out that life without a laptop/computer is pretty damn debilitating for me. I have had nothing but dramas with a Toshiba Ultrabook I bought less than two years ago (brand new) having the operating system ‘break down’ no less than three times and also the hard drive replaced once in that period. Many a file have I lost over this time because although I have the best of intentions to back files up, it’s just something that usually gets put on the back-burner for me. I do however usually save at least two copies of everything – one on my laptop and one on my hard drive but it really doesn’t matter because I get f**ked by technology one way or another (apparently portable hard drives don’t like to be dropped).
Finally, I’d had enough of my laptop failing me and tried for the 500th and final time to get it replaced under the extended warranty that I had purchased. The dude in JB HIFI proceeded to tell me that it was something that I was doing with it that was causing it to fail and they couldn’t replace it. With MS by my side I usually feel 10 feet tall but without him my eyes began to well up. I kept it together long enough to ask the guy to speak to the ‘big manager’ but make sure he takes my side when explaining the situation. Two minutes later he returns and tells me they are going to replace it with a product of equal or lesser value (that really could have saved 10 minutes of arguing). The two computer guys tried in vain to get me to consider an Apple – something I didn’t want to have a bar of. I DGAF how good Mac’s are nor do I want to approach them with my ‘non-PC’ brain on. I’m a PC for life kind of girl so save your breath. In the end I got some new ASUS Zenbook thingy with some Norton Antivirus to go with it. Now if I could just figure out how to use Windows 8 then life would be sweet.
So here I am trying to get back on the blogging bandwagon and recap all the wonderful and not so wonderful places that I have dined in the last, say 3 months. Firstly I think I will start with one of my most recent outings – Cafe China Express at the Marina. Having been there a few months now Cafe China Express has taken over from the long-standing, and probably too long, Boardwalk Cafe. A place that was once upon a time known for its huge cafe style meals and delicious Egg’s Benedict. I personally hadn’t returned since I received a particularly violent case of food poisoning there after consuming an Open Grilled Turkey Sandwich on my 23rd birthday about three years ago (haha just kidding, it was two). It turns out that the toilets at Rosse and Locke are few and far between, especially when you’re in a ‘hurry’. Big thumbs up for my birthday that year. FML.
Anyway, Cafe China Express was so carefully selected by my brothers beautiful girlfriend GH for her 20th birthday dinner last weekend, presumably because well they have pork buns and we all know that everyone loves pork buns. The fact that you pay and order at the counter is perfect for a large group because divvying up a bill can often be a painful experience, something I found recently whilst dining at an Italian restaurant in Sydney’s Pyrmont a couple of weeks ago with a couple of wines under my belt, or smoking hot pair of Wayne Cooper pants (in a size 6 might I add, awwww yeah!). Anyway so cunningly GH told my family – minus myself – that dinner was at 6.30pm when it fact it was at 7. My family is notorious for being at least 20 minutes late no matter how much warning they have and anyone who knows them knows this. Apparently leaving home with ample time to arrive at their given destination is far too difficult because my dad always finds it imperative that he walk the dog at the exact time they should be leaving home. Mum always blames dad for them being late and all you can do is shake your head and sigh. So you can imagine my delight when I arrived at Cafe China Express to find that my entire family already seated and waiting – apparently I was the late one. Whatever makes them feel better.
We all perused the menu whilst waiting for the birthday girl to arrive. Since it was a bit chilly outside I thought I would go for a noodle soup type dish to warm my insides. There was pork buns and dumplings to be shared as well. About 20 minutes later the whole party had arrived and after greetings and salutations were made and presents were opened we all went up to order. I chose the Fish Ball Soup (AU$11.90 for regular size) with an entrée of Har Gow or steamed prawn dumplings (3 for AU$7.90). Like me, my dad has a lot of trouble understanding people with certain accents. It’s nothing personal, maybe we are both hard of hearing – some would say ignorant – but even I sometimes have trouble understanding my Sri Lankan aunties when they talk too fast. After a 5 minute struggle to order dishes, my dad decided it would be better to point it all out instead. Upon returning to the table he claimed that he really had no idea what the bubbly Chinese girl behind the counter was saying and he thought she sounded like she was singing a song when she talked. Dad has such an eloquent way of describing things sometimes but he means it in the best possible way.
There was 12 or so people seated at the table and it took about 20 minutes for the meals to start arriving. My dumplings arrived somewhere in the middle, closely followed by my Fish Ball Soup. Most of the meals arrived a little scattered, and not in any kind of order.
Har Gow (3 for AU$7.90)
I tasted a selection of the dishes around me including my younger brother’s Roasted Duck Laksa, which he managed to eat the majority of in between his constant scrolling through Facebook and Instagram despite my repeated requests for him to put his phone away, was delicious, creamy and extremely decadent.
Roasted Duck Laksa (AU$15.90)
Mum and Dad’s plate of Roasted Duck – tough and chewy although a very reasonable sized quarter serving for AU$9.90.
Cantonese Roasted Duck
The majority of my family had ordered BBQ Pork Buns to share – except for me. According to my dad they were cold on the inside like they had been put in the microwave and barely heated through. That and they were more dough than anything else. How hard is it to serve a warm pork bun? My dumplings were also ridiculously doughy to the point where I was unsure if there was in fact any filling inside them. Dad and I debated whether or not they were made in-house, especially considering that Café China has about 3 other eateries in Cairns. In the end we concluded that they were pulled straight from a box in the freezer along with the pork buns.
BBQ Pork Buns (2 for AU$.60)
Inside the pork buns (wow I really need to get my nails done)
My Fish Ball Soup was as I said earlier quite flavorless. The broth had very little depth to it and although the fish balls were nice, in that artificial kind of way, I found myself wishing that I had ordered something else, like my brother’s laksa.
Fish Ball Soup (Regular for AU$11.90)
Next to me mum and dad’s plate of Stir-fry Spinach in Garlic had arrived. A staple for them whenever they go to a Chinese restaurant. I shovelled some into my mouth with my chopsticks to be met with what I can only describe as ‘liquid hot magma’ style spinach. Holy crap they must have literally pulled that stuff straight out of a volcano it was that frigin hot! With tears welling up in my eyes and my taste buds burnt clean off it still tasted pretty good but there was lots of oil on it – presumably what caused my third degree burns (who needs taste buds anyway).
Stir-fry Spinach with Garlic
My sister, across from me, had ordered the Chicken Teriyaki. This arrived at the table no less than 30 long minutes after everyone else received their meals. It took that long that we actually thought they had forgotten since all we could see in the open kitchen were people washing up and doing non Chicken Teriyaki related jobs. I tried to do the right thing and wait for her meal to arrive before I started mine but it became beyond ridiculous and in the end my near flavorless soup was getting cold. When it finally did arrive we exchanged glances across the table to say ‘is that seriously it?’ I guess Chicken Teriyaki can’t really be too elaborate a dish but it was literally a piece of whole chicken breast thrown on a plate with some rice, a bit of tomato and kewpie mayonnaise. I wondered what the hell had taken them so long? Presumably because she had ordered a Japanese dish in a Chinese restaurant – a cardinal sin in my books and a sure-fire way to screw up your meal – or get food poisoning especially in a foreign country.
Teriyaki Chicken Rice (AU$9.90)
Our dinner at Cafe China Express at the Marina wasn’t particularly fantastic and certainly didn’t even come close to some of the fantastic Chinese dinners I have had in the last 12 months – to be fair most of those were actually in China. The service was great but I wouldn’t consider the place to be express (my sister wasn’t the only one who waited more than 20 minutes for her meal to arrive and the restaurant was barely a quarter full). It was all pretty cheap but more the cheap and nasty type of cheap not the ‘woo hoo we paid next to nothing’ exciting kind of cheap – although the birthday girls mum did score a free glass of red wine. The food itself was somewhat lacklustre and although there was a few yummy dishes amongst our table on the whole it all seemed pretty thrown together. Maybe that’s where the express part comes in…
Cafe China Express At The Marina
Pier Shopping Centre, Pier Point Rd, Cairns QLD 4870
Ph: (07) 4051 6887
Entertainment Book 2014/2015
The Entertainment Book is a great idea for anyone visiting Far North Queensland between now and June 2015 or for locals that like to dine out. The latest Entertainment Book has just been released for Cairns, Palm Cove and Port Douglas and it includes discount vouchers for restaurants, cafe’s and activities such as reef tours. I myself used to shun the Entertainment Book in favour of the Table 52 cards because previous years have been half full of vouchers for Townsville and Airlie Beach – places that I never go to. Come 2014, Entertainment Book has released a membership specifically for Far North Queensland it’s a bloody good deal for only AU$55!
A newly available option for the Entertainment Book is the digital copy that you can download onto your smartphone as an app for those of you that tend to forget things or don’t want to carry around a whole book of vouchers with you. I prefer mine in a hardcopy edition that way I can give some of the more touristy type vouchers (i.e. reef trips and cable skiing) to friends and family when they come to stay. It really is fantastic value and the book pretty much paid for itself within my first meal.
You can order your Entertainment Book online by clicking on the image above or they are available to pick up at at various locations in the Far North. I picked my copy up from Cairns PCYC on Macnamara Street but there are plenty of other locations around Cairns that they can be purchased.
Have any of my readers purchased the latest 2014/15 edition? Does anyone know any other places that sells the Entertainment Book in Cairns?
Cairns PCYC
91 Macnamara St, Manunda QLD 4870
Ph: (07) 4053 1532
Mecca Bah, Cairns
Cue Valentines Day a couple of weeks ago and seems my friends and I were desperate and dateless… Well not entirely… MS was out-of-town for work, so too was my BFF’s BF, my sister’s housemates BF, and well my sister is currently dateless (but not desperate). It seemed all too appropriate that we all (four of us) venture out for our own, all female, romantic dinner with each other for company. Due to the fact that two of my dates had certain dietary requirements I was in search for a restaurant with a good amount of protein on the menu, especially since our man meat was missing haha. Having done Waterbar and Grill to death – love the place – I thought we would try somewhere else and on the waterfront because no Valentines Day dinner is complete without a bit of a view. In the end after scouring the internet for appropriate and dietary satisfying menu’s I came up with Mecca Bah.
Down on the boardwalk right next door to Dundee’s Mecca Bah has been serving up Moroccan food to Cairns for just over three years now – I did ask the guy at the counter when we were paying and I am pretty sure that’s what he said anyway. I do remember being taken aback as to the time he gave me because I was almost positive that Mecca Bah had been open for longer than that. Meh, it doesn’t really matter anyway. Mecca Bah have a delicious sounding menu with a ‘Grills’ section that would especially suit my culinary challenges dates for the evening. I also remembered (from a few years ago when it first opened) seeing a couple of romantic looking booths to sit at with white curtains and candles adjacent to the boardwalk also at Mecca Bah. Now I did leave it a little late when booking for Valentines Day and Friday night (four days before) and I figured that the booths would surely be booked out but I called up anyway. You can imagine my surprise when we easily nabbed a booth for the evening. Surely intimate booths with white flowing curtains and candles would be a ‘mecca’ for lovebirds on this particular Friday night? Guess not.
Anyway so we turned up and because I am such an awesome date I bought my three dates a single red rose each which seemed to be pretty stoked about. Having literally flown in from sea that afternoon I was looking forward to a nice dinner with a glass of white, some catch ups and of course some gossip. Upon arrival I noticed that the restaurant was probably about 3/4 full of diners, mostly couples, then I spotted our reserved ‘intimate’ booth. It certainly wasn’t what I remembered. The flowing white curtains appeared to be missing although the curtain hangers weren’t. The booth had also been pulled back from the boardwalk and now just sat to the side of all the other tables. It wasn’t exactly what I would call intimate, in fact it was pretty disappointing.
Our booth for the evening
We were shown to our table and then proceeded to wait more than 15 minutes for the waitress to come over and take our drinks order. The waiters and waitress’ walked past our table multiple times until someone finally seemed to notice that we were sans menu’s, wine or anything else for that matter. I ordered a glass of Sauvignon Blanc while the others girls stuck to water and/or Coke Zero. F that. I had just been drinking desalinated water out at sea for the last three weeks. I was having wine goddamnit! After our drinks arrived the waitress who was apologetic – I’m pretty she noticed my unimpressed ice queen gaze. We ordered a couple of entrees – Labna (AU$4) and Sumac dusted hand cut sweet potato chips with Harissa Mayonnaise (AU$5) to share. Three of us ordered the 300g Sirloin Steak Dry rubbed with House Spices served with Slow Roasted Baby Beetroot, Persian Fetta and Local Rocket for AU$28. My sister chose the Chargrilled Chicken Shish with Vegetable Cous Cous and tabouleh for AU$26.
We caught up on stories passed since I had been out at sea and I retold grand stories of how my crew and I overcome squall like seas and mystical Kraken’s in our quest to *cough* ok I’m kidding. Being girls we had a nice little bitch about a few things and had a good laugh at a couple of, oh maybe 16 year olds – guy and a girl – obviously on a first date that had absolutely nothing to say to one another. It was so damn awkward that I felt awkward for them. The awkward silence was only broken by the guy excusing himself to go to the toilet at which point the girl broke out her phone to check what was going on in the world of Facebook. Nothing of course.
Our entrees arrived about 10 minutes later and we tucked into our Sweet Potato Chips and Labna. The Sweet Potato Chips were crunchy and well, sweet of course. It’s a bit of a mean feat to get Sweet Potato Chips just right but the chef was pretty spot on with these ones. Not too oily and I really enjoyed them as did the other girls. I thought that it was really good value for AU$5. The labna (yogurt cheese) was slightly salty, slightly creamy and very delicious. For those of you who have no idea what it is or have never tasted it – you’re missing out!
Sumac Dusted Handcut Sweet Potato Chips with Harissa Mayonnaise (AU$5)
Within five minutes our mains had arrived. To my left my BFF and I looked at each other and then down at the ‘300g’ steak and then back at each other again. Having gone through a significant period of serious dieting together last year (she’s going through it again at present) we are pretty much human digital scales. The look we gave each other said it all… That steak was NOT 300g. In fact I would say after all the fat we cut off the damn thing – and that is all three steak eaters at the table – it was lucky to be just over 200g. The Slow Roasted Baby Beetroot was somewhat lacklustre and I had a slight suspicion that the beetroot was actually canned beetroot. The 150 or so grams of meat that we did eat was juicy, tender and sweet. It was made all that bit better by the delicious rub that the steak had been cooked in. This steak was however, a particularly fatty cut of sirloin, to the point where it really retracted from the meal. There was a lot of fat and I’m talking big fat chunks of oozy gristle. As for the Persian Feta? Well there was none.
Silkwood Hand Reared Cattle – Sirloin Steak (300g) Dry Rubbed with House Spices Served with Slow Roasted Baby Beetroot, Persian Feta and Local Rocket for AU$28
Fat from my sirloin
Across the table from me my sister was complaining that her cous cous was flavourless and that her chicken was cold. I thought she was slightly over-exagerating until I actually tasted her chicken. It wasn’t ‘left on the counter for 10 minutes kind of cold’, oh no, it was almost fridge cold, that’s how cold it was! I questioned whether it was even cooked through but it was hard to tell with the dim lighting at our ‘intimate’ booth. The cous cous itself was in fact flavourless and unseasoned. When the waitress came over to clear our plates she asked us how the food was to which I told her about the cold chicken and she could clearly see the amount of fat that we had trimmed from our supposed 300 gram steaks. She apologised and offered to replace the Chargrilled Chicken Shish with a freshly cooked one however my sister politely declined because she couldn’t eat a whole new meal. We finished up our meals and went to the counter to pay, each separately, something the owner (I think that’s who it was) seemed to be fairly accommodating of. The four of us did find him a little rude and not exactly friendly.
Chargrilled Chicken Shish with Vegetable Cous Cous and Tabouleh for AU$26
I will give Mecca Bah a thumbs up for the presence of local seafood, some local veg and Silkwood cattle on their menu whilst the dim lighting and candles does attempt to create a certain ambience for the place but this doesn’t make up for the ill prepared, cold chicken, fatty steak and lack of service we received during our meal. The restaurants decor is tired and the atmosphere, in my opinion, is somewhat uninviting. The dim lighting only aids in hiding that the restaurant’s décor is looking pretty tired. If it wasn’t for the awesome three friends I had for company along with the glass of white wine that went straight to my head I would have had a pretty ordinary dinner. Mecca Bar might be a ‘mecca’ for unsuspecting tourists that get drawn in by the ambient lighting, electric candles and prime position on the waterfront, but our romantic all female, Valentine’s Day dinner was mediocre at best.
Mecca Bah
1 Marlin Pde, Cairns QLD 4870
Ph: (07) 4051 3737
Opening Hours: Mon – Fri 11am – 11.30pm, Sat & Sun 7am – 11.30pm
Website: http://www.meccabah.net
foodvixen 