Category Archives: Cairns
Ribs and Rumps, Townsville
Recently I was down in Townsville and with the trusty Entertainment Book in my clutches I was looking for somewhere for a good feed – and a big feed. Consulting my brother and his GF, who attends uni down in Townsville I was directed to Ribs and Rumps on Palmer Street. It just so happened that I was craving big piles of meat on the bone and… my sister and I were staying right on Palmer St. It seemed like it was meant to be. I called up Ribs and Rumps and made a booking for 10+ on a Sunday night. When I called up I asked if we could split the bill and the lady on the phone told me that splitting the bill was not an option as it was too time consuming so we would have to bring cash and pool it towards the total bill at the end or someone could always put it on their credit card. Yeah no. I asked her if she would reconsider and I was again told no. In the end I just hoped for the best and if all else failed I would just play dumb… “I’m so sorry but no one told me that we couldn’t split the bill. What ever will we do Mr Waiter?”
Anyway, on the drive down to Townsville the day before I received a call confirming my booking for the following night and was asked if we wanted to sit inside or outside. I consulted the other two people that were with me that were also attending the dinner and confirmed that we would like to sit inside. Sunday arrived and after a long day of various activities that included stuffing my face with lollies and Subway cookies after a long period of strict dieting I was hanging for Ribs and Rumps. We arrived at the restaurant only to find our table set up outside on the footpath right next to a young female busker, who may or may not have been affiliated with the restaurant itself. I’m not quite sure what happened to the INSIDE table that I booked but taking one look inside it looked like there was certainly no room inside as the restaurant was packed full of diners. And let me just add that the booking I made was over two weeks before. Enough about the booking let’s move on.
Although I had never heard of it prior to my brother and his GF mentioning it, Ribs and Rumps appears to be a chain restaurant with locations all over Australia as well as in Dubai – a steakhouse famous for it’s legendary ribs, aged-to-perfection steaks and mammoth sized portions. Legendary ribs? Yeah we shall see about that. Being the avid googler that I am I had already stalked the Ribs and Rumps menu online and to save time and to give me something to look forward to in my lengthy time of strict dieting I knew exactly what I was getting. The menu is pretty much as you would expect it… Burgers, the token Caesar Salad, Ribs, Steaks and combos of Ribs and Steaks. For an entree I chose the Cheesy Garlic Baguette for AU$6.95 because I hadn’t had cheese or bread for quite some time and the two combined, well, I needed them in my life. Next up was the main and after weighing up if the excessive price was really worth it knowing full well that I wouldn’t be able to eat much of it I ordered the Ribs, Ribs and Ribs – a mouth-watering combo of tender pork, meaty beef and juicy lamb ribs for AU$49.95. In the end I couldn’t choose between which type of ribs I wanted so if I had to pay the exorbitant amount of nearly 50 bucks for all three then I figured I might as well.
While we waited for our dishes to arrive I stopped the waitress and ordered a glass of Sauvignon Blanc to wash it all down. My glass of wine never turned up so I just stuck to jugs of water. Meanwhile, our entire table, and probably every single diner seated outside, cringed as the young busker nearby broke into the chorus of Nicki Minaj’s song Superbass. A song that was never ever, ever meant to be sung along to with nothing but an acoustic guitar and a microphone on a sidewalk in Townsville. I even considering paying the girl $5 to shut the hell up so we could eat our dinner in peace. I’m sorry, I know that sounds terrible but so did this busker.
Soon up out came my Cheesy Garlic Baguette. This Cheesy Garlic Baguette could have very well been the best thing I have ever eaten, or again it could have been the fact that I hadn’t had cheese or bread for quite some time. But seriously, it was pretty good. There was lashings of garlic butter and the cheese was stringy and melted and wow. Just wow. In hindsight I would have been content with eating about three cheesy garlic breads for the night and then called it quits but not long after that my Ribs, Ribs and Ribs main meal came out. It was placed down in front of me and I have to admit that I was disappointed with the size. After paying AU$50 for this meal I was expecting something significantly bigger. It just looked to me like a big ass white plate with a handful of chips on it and a couple of racks of ribs. I mean at Waterbar the ribs are expensive but there is at least twice as much on the plate. I figured that if the ribs were good then I would let the price and the portion size slide so I dug in.
Cheesy Garlic Baguette – AU$6.95
As some of my readers may remember I judge all ribs by the most amazing ribs that I have ever eaten – in a small bar in Nashville, Tennessee called Rippy’s. These ribs were the ribs of all ribs and I bought the t-shirt to always remember the place. Sadly, no ribs that I have eaten since then have ever come close to the ribs that I had on that fateful day and the ribs at Ribs and Rumps were no different. After so much hype and build up from people telling me how good the ribs at Ribs and Rumps were I was severely disappointed. Someone said they were fall off the bone tender and the sauce that they are basted with was the best part. What sauce? All I could taste was the grill. I’m no stranger to BBQ’d grilled meats but the sauce is where it’s at and I couldn’t taste any. You want that sh*t running down your face, onto your fingers and onto your awaiting bib. Not at Ribs and Rumps. The ribs certainly didn’t fall off the bone especially the beef ribs which were tough as an old boot. As stated in the menu the lamb ribs were really fatty but again weren’t very tasty. I ended up filling up on the handful of chips on my plate and gave the majority of the ribs away to the hungry men at my table.
Ribs, Ribs and Ribs – A mouth-watering combo of tender pork, meaty beef and juicy lamb ribs for AU$49.95
Myself, my sister and the majority of the others at the table found the meal disappointing. I thought the food was ordinary but I was disappointed mostly because I had let myself get caught up in the hype of what other people had said and let’s face it who isn’t going to think that a restaurant called ‘Ribs and Rumps’ isn’t going to be anything short of amazing? I really do think that the rib part of the menu was overpriced. The majority of people that dine at Ribs and Rumps are going there to order the ribs. You don’t go somewhere with that kind of name and order a Garden Salad which for arguments sake is a lot more reasonably priced. At Ribs and Rumps they are definitely capitalising on the ribs and by the look of it it’s working because as I said before the restaurant was absolutely packed out with well over 150 diners on a Sunday night. The owner must be making a killing! However, Cairns-ites rest assured, you’re not missing out on anything. Waterbar is waaaaaay better than Ribs and Rumps and they never forget your glass of wine or stuff up your booking. Sorry Townsville you haven’t won me over with your promise of delicious meaty ribs, instead all your rocks and dryness just make me feel miserable. I still think the only thing that you have going for you is the drive out of your town and yeah ok, you have Betty Blue and the Lemon Tart. I’ll give you that.
Ribs and Rumps
2 Dibbs St (entrance to Palmer St), Townsville QLD 4810
Ph: (07) 4721 6088
Opening Hours: Mon – Fri 12pm – 3pm, 5pm – 10pm, Sat & Sun 12pm – 10pm
Website: www.ribsandrumps,com
Sorry :/
Sorry guys, again I have been a bit slack with my posts lately but I have good reasoning. I am pretty busy with a few other things at the moment and haven’t been dining out at all so I literally have nothing to post about. Having said that I do have a post in the works I just have to pull my finger out of my a** and finish it. I am planning a big comeback very soon so bear with me and stay tuned! Follow my blog on the right hand side of this page so you are the first to know when I put my next post up.
foodvixen x
La Fettucina, Cairns
It’s taken me quite a few years but I finally got to one of Cairns’ longest serving restaurants… La Fettuccina. About six months ago I got an email from a man in Sydney (DB) asking for Cairns restaurant recommendations for a tour group of about 20 or so retirees including himself. After months of correspondence via email DB and I came up with three entirely different restaurants for him and his tour group to dine at showcasing some of the best produce that Cairns has to offer. So what are the three restaurants you ask? Mwahahaha wouldn’t you like to know? Anyway so the tour group arrived here on Tuesday and I am hoping to hear back from DB soon in regards to just how the three restaurants stacked up (maybe I’ll tell you when I hear back). But, as a way of saying thank you to me for helping with the recommendations DB took MS and myself out for dinner last Monday night. I don’t often receive many ‘kickbacks’ (okay I never do) for doing this – I do it for the love of food and boy do I live and breath it – but I was actually pretty stoked at the opportunity to help out and it was really nice to for DB to show his gratitude by shouting my partner and I out to dinner. DB asked me if I wanted to choose the restaurant for the evening. He thought maybe we could dine somewhere that I hadn’t been and wanted to write about so the pressure was on for me to choose somewhere that I deemed to be up to scratch, somewhere that I hadn’t been before and also somewhere that was reasonably priced (since DB was paying and I wasn’t about to choose something too expensive because that’s just not the right thing to do when someone offers to take you to dinner).
After much deliberation I chose La Fettuccina on Shields Street. Although I hadn’t been there before I had heard recommendations from friends, studied online reviews and found that they were open on a Monday night. Plus they have been open for over 25 years so they had to be doing something right at La Fettuccina. I made a booking for three people for 7.15pm and after picking up DB from his hotel on the Esplanade we managed to grab a park right out the front of the pub next door. I joked to DB that I was taking him into the back area of the pub for a Crumbed Sausage and Veggies for AU$6.50 but I am not sure he appreciated my sense of humour unfortunately. When we arrived at La Fettuccina at 7.10pm the place was absolutely packed and considering I’d thought twice about making a booking on a Monday night (it’s a Monday night in Cairns – there will be plenty of tables, yeah right!) I thanked my lucky stars that I had actually picked up the phone and called La Fettuccina.
Diners appeared to be a mix of locals and tourists but mostly tourists and both DB and I were extremely surprised at just how many people were there on a Monday particularly somewhere that is a few blocks back from the main restaurant drag along the Esplanade. Anyway so like I said we arrived about 5 minutes early and waited at the door behind a small group of people. The waitress asked if we had a booking to which I replied that we did and told her the details. She said that they were just getting the table organised and we could either wait at the door or take a seat at the bar and have a drink. We figured we would just wait at the door as the bar appeared to be a little cramped and not exactly conducive to having a three way conversation. It took a good 20 minutes from that point till we were seated at our table inside and although the waitress kept us in the loop it was a little annoying that I had booked for 7.15pm and we weren’t seated till after 7.30pm.
When we finally took our seats just one table in from the front door the waitress handed us a menu each and took our drink orders. Much to DB’s dismay neither MS or I wanted to drink – we really don’t drink much. I ordered a soda water and then DB asked MS ‘Surely you will drink with me’? Ha! Fat chance of that happening – MS is even more of a p*ssy than I am when it comes to alcohol – but after wording him up on things a little earlier in the evening (we couldn’t both have soda water but my hands are tied at the moment) he chose a bottle of Monteith’s Apple Cider while DB chose a glass of Sauvignon Blanc from the Wine Menu. We discussed various things from wine lists, to menu items that were selected for the tour group, to previous tours that he has done, to mine and MS’ professional background’s to DB’s three sons, to the absurdity of an ice cream shop topping the list of ‘best restaurants in Cairns’ in between having a look over the menu.
MS had selected the Spaghetti Alla Puttanesca with Capers, Anchovies and Tomatoes for AU$22 but of course had to put his own spin on it taking out the anchovies and asking to add chicken. Sigh. Although he had originally chosen the Puttanesca also DB decided that he would choose something different so I would be able to review a couple of dishes rather than the same one. In the end after being distracted by another pasta and seafood dish on the specials board DB chose a small serve of Spaghetti Alla Pescatora – “Fisherman Style” with Prawns, Fish, Garlic and Chilli lightly panfried in Olive Oil for AU$19.50. Considering pasta isn’t exactly on the menu for me at the moment (something that makes me sad particularly when dining at an Italian Restaurant) I had to be a little more selective with my choice and chose something off the specials board – the Grilled Chicken Breast filled with Seafood and served with a Creamy White Wine Sauce and Salad for AU$29.50. The two men also chose a plate of Bruschetta Bread for AU$12 to share amongst themselves for an entree.
The Bruschetta Bread arrived about 10 minutes after we ordered with four reasonably sized pieces of toasted Italian Bread topped with fresh tomato, red onion, garlic and olive oil. I do believe that some of the best bruschetta bread that I have eaten anywhere is at Ciao Italia (it will always be Donnini’s to me) at the Pier but after having a small taste I decided this one was pretty good too. Getting the right mix of garlic and basil can be a tricky task for some restaurants but La Fettuccina have definitely got the ratio down pat. MS gobbled down his two pieces of bruschetta while DB took a little longer, savouring his pieces while we continued to chat.
Bruschetta – Toasted Italian bread topped with fresh tomato, basil, red onion, garlic and olive oil (AU$12)
Next up our mains arrived all at once with quite a large plate of pasta set down in front of MS and a slightly smaller one in front of DB. The small serve of Spaghetti Alla Pescatora that DB had ordered was actually much larger than I was expecting and I believe that it may have even been enough for little old 5ft nothing me whom has been know to devour larger bowls of pasta than my over 6ft tall partner. What good is a pasta dish if you are not rolling around on the ground in pain from eating too much afterwards huh? No but on a more serious note it was quite a decent serve. I am forever the skeptic with small sized pasta dishes after dining at Lygon Street with my family a few years ago. My poor dad ordered the special which was ‘Handmade Eggplant Gnocchi’ or something like that and when it arrived at the table it was literally about 3 mouthfuls while the rest of us had rather large dishes ordered from the normal dinner menu. In the end it turns out that they had run out of the Eggplant Gnocchi, with only a few spoons left when dad placed his ordered but they figured they would serve it anyway. WTF? When it was time to pay the bill I was about to complain when I noticed someone had forgotten to put a $45 bottle of wine onto the bill so in the end I said nothing. Pretty poor way to run a restaurant if you ask me but I can’t for the life of me remember the name of that damn restaurant to name and shame. Anyway so that is the story as to why I am a pasta skeptic which has absolutely nothing to do with La Fettuccina or this post for that matter. Moving on…
DB’s Spaghetti Alla Pescatora was filled pieces of prawn and fish cooked ever so lightly in garlic and olive oil. It looked delicious but DB did have one small hangup about the dish. He found the strands of fresh-made pasta to be a little bit too long and he would have preferred to have them cut up a little so he wasn’t constantly twirls ridiculously long strands around his fork and trying to suck them up and out of his bowl. I get what he was trying to say but maybe this is how fresh-made pasta is supposed to be? I have no idea since I really know nothing about pasta, having never made it before. All I know is that it tastes good and I like to eat it. So other than that he said it was an absolutely superb dish.
Spaghetti Alla Pescatora – “Fisherman Style” with Prawns, Fish, Garlic and Chilli lightly panfried in Olive Oil for AU$19.50
MS declared that his pasta was undercooked and after knowing exactly how he cooks his pasta at home (he cooks the sh*t out of it) I had a taste and realised it was actually ‘al dente’ the way pasta should be. The sauce was packed full of capers, tomato and extra chicken (of course). MS was grateful that he had listened to me when wondering what shirt to wear because rich sauce would have been a b*tch to get out in the wash (what does he care, we all know that he wouldn’t be the one doing the washing anyway). It was a large serving that MS managed to polish off quite nicely, more than content with his choice of Puttanesca by the end of it. I managed to steal a little forkful of spaghetti action from MS’ plate and by all accounts the Puttanesca was a winner.
Spaghetti Alla Puttanesca with Capers, Anchovies and Tomatoes for AU$22
My Grilled Chicken Breast filled with Seafood and served with a Creamy White Wine Sauce and Salad was also a lovely dish but really, lets be honest, no one goes to an Italian restaurant and gets a chicken breast except for me of course. For the time being anyway, but again we won’t go into that. The Creamy White Wine Sauce which I ordered to have on the side was delicious but more buttery than creamy and really just tasted like a jug of butter more than anything else but it may have separated in the jug while waiting to make it my table. The side salad was your basic side salad with a couple of olives, some tomato and cucumber. Just decoration really. The seafood filling inside the chicken was chock a block with garlic and seafood. It kept me burping up garlic long after our dinner was over much to MS’ displeasure later on (especially in the car on the way home after dropping DB back at his hotel). Don’t get me wrong the chicken was yummy but it wasn’t a big bowl of saucy pasta, nor was it delicious, crunchy, bruschetta bread *sigh*.
Grilled Chicken Breast filled with Seafood and served with a Creamy White Wine Sauce and Salad for AU$29.50
Well this post seems to be going on for ever and ever… Maybe because I have sat down to try and finish it no less than 4 times. So without further adieu here is the spill. The service didn’t miss a beat except for our 20 minute wait for our already booked table at the beginning. That did sour things slightly for me but it was soon a distant memory considering how lovely our dinner was – until I sat down to write this post anyway. The restaurant is small enough that pretty much all of the wait staff ‘help out’ a bit at each of the tables regularly walking back and fourth towards the kitchen eying our glasses of water/cider/wine for top ups or to fetch another one from the bar. The way I have explained it sounds totally overbearing but it’s not at all. Empty plates were clearly quickly and without fuss and at no time was anything too much trouble, even when MS asked to have the anchovies taken out of his Puttanesca and instead put into DB’s Pescatora. DB, MS and myself all enjoyed our meal at La Fettuccina but I also felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders when everything including the food, the drinks, the service and the conversation well… it just worked.
La Fettuccina Restaurant and Bar
41 Shields St, Cairns QLD 4870
Ph: (07) 4031 5959
Opening Hours: 7 days 5pm – 10pm
Website: http://www.lafettuccina.com
Sushi Train @ Cairns Central
Has anyone else noticed that the plates at Sushi Train are getting smaller and smaller as the prices are getting bigger and bigger? I mean this isn’t really something new but come on it’s getting beyond a joke now. It hardly seems worth going there anymore… Except for the fact that their sushi is so damn delicious (Salmon Ikura Ship come at me!). No, but seriously Sushi Train, could you please go back to making sushi that’s actually more than half a mouthful? Yours Sincerely, foodvixen x
Salmon Ikura Ship
Paleo Cafe, Cairns
The Paleo Cafe opened on Grafton Street in October last year after much anticipation from many Cairns locals and crossfit enthusiasts. Since it opened I have dined there a few times for both breakfast and lunch. I also regularly drop in for a Cocoa, Honey, Banana, Almond Milk and Coconut Milk smoothie for AU$7 because I think it’s bloody delicious (on the other hand MS thinks it’s revolting). Most recently myself, MS and a couple of my girlfriends went to the Paleo Cafe for a catch up and a healthy breakfast after I had a look over the weekly menu that arrived in my inbox and spotted something that I simply had to try. I’m not an avid follower of the Paleo Diet, nor do I particularly care if what I am eating contains gluten, dairy or all of the above but regardless of what your intentions are there is something on the menu at the Paleo Cafe for everyone. Although it’s technically a cafe half of the shop is made up of a retail section where you can purchase a variety of paleo style goodies including pre-made meals, coconut ice cream, sauces, supplements, cookbooks and even skin care products. If you haven’t heard about the Paleo Diet yet then you must be living under a rock (or in a cave). I’m not going to go into a spiel about what the Paleo Diet is because those that care already know and those that don’t care, well they just don’t care. I’m just here to talk about the food…
Cocoa, Banana, Honey, Almond Milk and Coconut Milk Smoothie (AU$7)
MS and I arrived first and proceeded to umm and ahh over whether or not it was best to sit inside or outside. In the end inside won because it was a little cold and windy outside (for Cairns anyway). We moved a couple of tables together to accommodate our group of five (it ended up being four), collected a couple more menus from the counter and took a seat. Soon our breakfast buddies arrived and after a bit of a catch up and an explanation why the fifth person didn’t come (apparently ST’s boyfriend is a little shy and chose to stay at home) we each had a look over the menu.
Since it was MS’ turn to shout breakfast he headed up to the counter to order breakfast and coffee’s for the two of us closely followed by ST and MD. After some confusion at our table as to who was collecting the cutlery we all sat back down and waited for our coffee’s and meals to arrive. Call me a nit picker but if there are items on the breakfast menu upwards of AU$20 (that’s an expensive breakfast) then I don’t think it’s too much to expect cutlery and napkins to be brought to the table by the waitstaff rather than patrons having to collect it from the counter. A good 15 minutes later, mine and MS’ coffees arrived and then another 5 minutes later MD’s arrived and another 5 minutes after that ST’s arrived. The coffee procession was a little disjointed and certainly could have happened sooner but the coffees were good none the less.
My Long Black
About five minutes later three of our four breakfasts arrived at the table. A good five minutes after that ST’s breakfast arrived. She had ordered at pretty much the same time as the rest of us so I saw no reason why hers took that little bit longer, plus she had ordered the exact same thing as MD. Both MD and ST chose the Paleo Free Range Eggs Benedict served on Savoury Bread and Spinach with Smoked Salmon for AU$18. I ordered the Breakfast Special of Pulled Pork with Wilted Spinach, Poached Eggs and Paleo Bread for AU$16 while MS whom I had pinned for the Caveman’s Big Breakfast from the moment we walked in ordered the Bacon and Free Range Eggs served with Spinach and a Sweet Potato Rosti with two extra eggs and avocado for AU$16 + $4 for the extra eggs + $3 for the avocado. It seems there was a little bit of confusion with the extra eggs and they were included with my Pulled Pork breakfast instead of MS’ which we pointed out to the waitress when she placed our plates down in front of us. She said that she could take them back to the kitchen and switch them but we declined and just transferred them ourselves – easy done but a mix up none the less.
ST and MD both enjoyed their Eggs Benedict with the sauce zesty and creamy but not overpowering and sickly like some Hollandaise Sauces tend to be. ST said she wasn’t too sure about the paleo bread (aka she didn’t like it) but MD said that she really liked it although she tried not to think of it as bread. Baker’s Delight sourdough it certainly is not but I tended to agree with MD and really like the taste and crumbly consistency of it. You still can’t beat a couple of freshly toasted slices of ciabatta bread though that’s for sure!
Paleo Free Range Eggs Benedict served on Savoury Bread and Spinach with Smoked Salmon (AU$18)
The half an avocado that MS ordered as extra was a lovely and fresh, as you would expect since the Paleo Cafe is situated right across the road from Rusty’s Market. The sweet potato rosti was a little bit dry and undercooked while the four poached eggs were well overcooked. The wilted spinach however, was a nice addition. He was pretty happy with it, eating the lot and then eying my breakfast.
Bacon and Free Range Eggs served with Spinach and a Sweet Potato Rosti with two extra eggs and avocado (AU$16 + $4 for the extra eggs + $3 for the avocado)
The serving sizes were decent – the smoked salmon with the Eggs Benedict was generous and my plate had a huge pile of pulled pork which was delicious and tender with just the right amount of sweetness to it. Unfortunately the eggs were closer to hard-boiled than poached – no runny eggs makes me a sad panda.
Poached? More like hard boiled.
In the end I couldn’t quite finish the pulled pork so much to MS’ delight he finished it off for me. It was delicious, just too much for little old me. It’s actually a shame that this dish isn’t included on the regular menu because I think it’s a winner.
Breakfast Special of Pulled Pork with Wilted Spinach, Poached Eggs and Paleo Bread (AU$16)
We all had a very enjoyable breakfast with the food being both fresh and tasty. The service and the food was however quite disjointed we were always served with a smile. There are a couple of lunch items that definitely caught my eye like the Thai Green Papaya and Cashew Salad and the Slow Cooked Pork Belly but for the most part the lunch menu doesn’t really appeal to me – it’s just all a little too plain. I caught a glimpse of the Spinach, Pumpkin and Pine Nut Salad for AU$15 and there didn’t appear to be a whole lot to it other than spinach (barely any pumpkin or pine nuts). When I went there for lunch a few months ago I had the Curry of the Day which was a Thai Green Curry Served with Cauliflower Rice and Flat Bread for AU$16 and it was pretty ordinary, particularly the Cauliflower Rice. I’m not usually one to pay upwards of AU$15 for something that not is boring but tastes boring. Why someone would want to eat Cauliflower ‘Rice’ or Zucchini ‘Pasta’ by choice is beyond me but I guess it’s each to their own. But… then again that is what the whole concept of eating paleo is – getting back to healthy basics.
Another thing I’m not a fan of with the Paleo Cafe is the atmosphere, or lack thereof. The retail section over to one side of the shop as well as the stark polished concrete and the white plastic tables make the whole place seem a little sterile. It just doesn’t have the nice, cozy cafe feel to it that most people seek when dining out. Still, if the amount of people who were dining in there today when I walked past is anything to go by then maybe it’s just me that feels this way. There is also a number of franchises in the works around Australia and even inquiries for places as far-reaching as Canada. As I said at the beginning of this post, I’m not going to go into the details of exactly what the paleo diet entails and although it may not appeal to everyone many people consider it to be more of ‘lifestyle’ than a diet. If the current trend towards the paleo diet continues as does the global obesity epidemic then maybe a rise in restaurants that serve basic, healthy food such as the Paleo Cafe isn’t such a bad thing after all?
Paleo Cafe
Shop 15, 62 Grafton St, Cairns QLD 4870
Ph: (07) 4041 3885
Opening Hours: Mon – Sat 7am – 3pm
Website: http://www.paleo-cafe.com.au
Lunch Deal @ Sushi Express
Found a ripper lunch deal at Sushi Express on my travels today! Sure beats spending an arm and a leg on 5 plates at Sushi Train!
Sushi Express
Upstairs @ Orchid Plaza 28/79 Abbott St, Cairns QLD 4870
Ph: (07) 4041 4388
Harrison’s, Port Douglas
After a bit of gentle nudging from a couple of my readers to branch out from my usual stomping ground of the Cairns CBD (it’s just far too convenient for MS and I) I thought I would make more of an effort to go north. Anything past Edge Hill is a little foreign to me since I grew up on the south side of town. Anyway so another reader of mine recommended Harrison’s in Port Douglas. Seeing as I had a an Entertainment Book voucher for just the place I figured that MS and I would make the drive up to Port and try the four course menu. Unfortunately getting a booking there seemed to be a little harder than expected. I placed a booking through their website three days out from a Saturday night (yeah ok I probably could have planned that a bit better) and when Saturday arrived I had still not received any notification, confirmation or declination. After numerous phone calls we were just about to wing it and make the drive up there anyway when I got finally got through and it turns out the place was booked out for a wedding (that’s an expensive wedding right there). A reply email telling me that wouldn’t have gone astray. So we went to The Rising Sun in Palm Cove instead.
A few weeks later again I figured it was time to go to Harrison’s. I made another booking online requesting a table for two at 7pm on a Friday night. Two days later I received a sort of confirmation saying that the restaurant was all booked out for 7pm but would 6.45pm suit us? Silly me but I cannot see how 15 minutes could make a difference to whether a restaurant is booked out or not. Someone in the hospitality industry please explain? I replied that ‘yes 6.45pm would be fine’ and waited for a corresponding email to confirm our final booking. On Friday afternoon when I still hadn’t received any confirmation I was getting pretty annoyed after having the phone ring out a number of times. Around 4pm someone answered the phone at Harrison’s and confirmed our booking. It was a bit of pain in the ass have to chase someone down in order to get a dinner date locked in and frankly I did expect more from Harrison’s. Having an online booking service is great as long as it works not just for the restaurant but more importantly the diner. To be honest I just prefer the old-fashioned way of calling up to make a booking.
So MS and I made the drive from Cairns to Port on the Friday evening with me playing DJ from the passenger seat on my iPhone. Sadly we haven’t been seeing each other very much lately since we are both working away and with me leaving for another three-week stint the following evening it was a special night for us. We arrived at 6.45pm on the dot after having a bit of trouble finding a park in the bustling downtown part of Port Douglas. A waiter seated us up on the veranda of the restaurant overlooking the courtyard type area and the entrance. Harrison’s is an absolutely beautiful restaurant – an old low set Queenslander with a large veranda, cathedral ceilings, positioned right in the heart of Port and a lovely big mango tree right in the middle decorated with fairy lights. The place was pretty much full when we arrived apart from a large table behind us that turned up not long after we did. Our waitress for the evening introduced herself and I’ll be stuffed if I can remember her name but was lovely. She asked us if we would like to order drinks and we had a look over the drinks menu. I chose the only glass of Sauvignon Blanc on the menu (I certainly can’t drink a bottle to myself – not these days anyway), a glass of Ara for AU$12 while MS chose the Rekorderlig Strawberry and Lime Cider for AU$16. We had a look over the a la carte menu and the set menus but I had already chosen weeks before exactly what we were having. Yeah I do tend to ruin dining experiences a little because I have a tendency to trawl the internet for menu’s and restaurant reviews. Maybe we can just call it research?
Ava Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, NZ AU$12 a glass
Before ordering the waitress gave us a rundown of specials for the evening including oysters and scallops and where they were from. Lets just say her accent confused me because again I can’t remember where they were from but most importantly Harrison’s served Australian seafood. We (I) decided on the Menu Gormand 2 – a four course menu for AU$75 a head without wines or AU$125 with matched wines. Like I said we had already ordered drinks so we chose the menu without the wine. The Menu Gourmand 2 was as follows: Amuse Bouche, Malt Roasted Scallops with Veal Sweetbreads, Gingerbread, Pickled Raisins and Warmed Radishes; Tongue and Cheek – Braised and Pressed Pork, Black Pudding, Crispy Ears and Apple; Daube da Boeuf – 9hr Red Wine Braised Ox Cheek, Caramelised Onions, Smoked Bacon, Paris Mash and Bordelaise Sauce; and for dessert Daintree Estate Chocolate Fondant with Creme Fraiche Ice Cream and Hazlenut Praline. Sounds pretty good huh? MS and I lay in wait for the meal that was to come with me revelling in my new-found love that was Strawberry and Lime Rekorderlig Cider, even if MS had ordered it and not me. How the hell have I not tried that stuff before?! It’s frigin amazing!!!
Rekorderlig Strawberry and Lime Cider YUM!!! $AU16
Back to the food – we literally only waited about 5 minutes before our Amuse Bouche arrived. An amuse bouche (something I had no idea about until I saw it on MKR – Jake and Elle totally should have won that by the way) according to Wikipedia is “a single bite-sized hor’s d’oeuvre… served both to prepare the guest for the meal and to offer a glimpse into the chef’s approach into the art of cuisine”. Ours was a Cauliflower and Blue Cheese something or rather with Rye. Again forgive me but I am so shit house at understanding people’s accents. This makes dinner at Harrison’s difficult for me because the entire wait staff seemed to be European. For what it’s worth I can’t even understand my own aunties a lot of the time with their thick Sri Lankan accents not to mention the many foreigners I deal with in my profession. Okay so lets just say it was a fancy word for Cauliflower Soup. It arrived in a small shot glass and was delicious and creamy although I did find the temperature of it to be a little bit off-putting. It was slightly colder than room temperature and I thought it would have been much nicer had it been slightly warmer. The blue cheese however was a winner for me. “You can keep the Cauliflower and just give me a shot glass of blue cheese next time thank you waiter”. A nice dish but nothing spectacular like I was expecting for a Chef’s Hat Winning restaurant’s Amuse Bouche. It didn’t exactly give me a glimpse into anything really.
Amuse Bouche – Cauliflower and Blue Cheese with Rye
Next up was the Malt Roasted Scallops with Veal Sweetbreads, Gingerbread, Pickled Raisins and Warmed Radishes. The presentation of the dish was clean and eye-popping. The veal absolutely melted in your mouth (it kind of reminded me of a pork riblet – nothing wrong with that because pork riblets rock! At least they did when I was in grade 6.) The pickled raisins were to die for. Those things on a cheese platter would be sh*t hot. Not sure about the warmed radishes. They weren’t particularly warm and I just pushed them to the side since I don’t really like radishes anyway. I think they were really just there to look pretty? Like chokoes people don’t really eat radishes do they? My cousin PD is an exception but he also drinks Lime Milkshakes (who does that?!). Anyway cutting to the chase and without saving it for later on in this post, this dish was the standout one for both MS and I.
Malt Roasted Scallops with Veal Sweetbreads, Gingerbread, Pickled Raisins and Warmed Radishes
The third course was the Tongue and Cheek – Braised and Pressed Pork, Black Pudding, Crispy Ears and Apple. Before this dish even came out MS was full of questions for the waitress. After seeing a mention of Black Pudding on the menu he was a little concerned and wanted to know if it was separate on the plate so if he didn’t want to eat it then he wouldn’t have to – he had already made up his mind long before that he didn’t want to eat it. I on the other hand had never tried black pudding nor did I have any idea what it was going to look like so I just figured I would give it a go and see what I thought. Our Tongue and Cheek dishes arrived and the Black Pudding was two large ‘globs’ of black stuff on the edge of the food. MS pushed his food away from it but I incorporated it in with mouthfuls of my food. It was… okay. I guess it wasn’t really the taste I didn’t like but more the texture. It was just a bit runnier than I expected, sort of like a really thin pate. Not something that I would order by choice. The Braised and Pressed Pork reminded MS and myself of the brawn that you see in the deli section at Coles but then again maybe that’s what it’s supposed to be like? MS didn’t like it while again I thought it was ok. The best part of the dish was the pigs ears which were all crispy and cut thin just like crackling. YUM! Those decorative radishes made another appearance on this dish and again I pushed them to the side.
Tongue and Cheek – Braised and Pressed Pork, Black Pudding, Crispy Ears and Apple
About 10 – 12 minutes was all that stood between our Braised Pork and our Daube de Boeuf. The braised ox cheek was lovely and rich which was offset perfectly by the sweet caramelised onions and the creamy Paris mash. It reminded me of a similar dish that is the signature dish at Wink II on the Esplanade. I do love cheeks – they get so damn tender and just melt in your mouth. Last work rotation I made a delicious Beef Cheek Pappardelle with a recipe I found on the Gourmet Traveller website that was so damn decadent I could only eat half of what I wanted to. Sad face. But, it was amazing. Happy face. This dish was excellent but I think a little bit out-of-place in the set menu. It was very filling, extremely rich and left MS and I shifting uncomfortably in our seats and adjusting our waistlines.
Daube da Boeuf – 9hr Red Wine Braised Ox Cheek, Caramelised Onions, Smoked Bacon, Paris Mash and Bordelaise Sauce
When the waitress arrived to take our plates she asked us if we wanted dessert to be brought out. We happily accepted although I had no idea how I was going to fit it in. She informed us that it would take 20 minutes presumably because it had to cook. About 8 minutes later our desserts arrived. Either they have a stellar oven or the 20 minutes had started before we finished our mains. The dessert was Daintree Estate Chocolate Fondant with Creme Fraiche Ice Cream and Hazlenut Praline – it was warm and oozy. I placed my spoon into a corner and scooped off a piece and the rich chocolate gently oozed out from the inside. The chocolate was quite dark and bitter, probably a little too much for me but that didn’t stop me from destroying the entire plate. MS couldn’t quite finish it, the Ox Cheek had pretty much put him out for the count (light weight). I really loved the Hazlenut Praline, it gave a lovely crunch and added sweetness to the bitter chocolate.
Daintree Estate Chocolate Fondant with Creme Fraiche Ice Cream and Hazlenut Praline
That pretty much concluded our 4 course meal at Harrison’s. Although we would have politely declined tea or coffee we weren’t actually asked if we wanted any, something I thought to be a little odd. Our meals were done and dusted by about 8.30 and I have to say that it felt a little rushed for a four course menu. There was hardly any time between us ordering the Menu Gormand 2 and our Amuse Bouche’s arriving. I know that they would have been pre-prepared anyway but surely it’s nice to create the illusion that they are made to order? Following that there was no longer than 10 minutes between each of our courses and even when we were told that dessert would be a 20 minute wait it arrived well under the 10 minute mark. I’m not sure if they wanted to clear the table in hope to get another couple in before closing or that’s just how they do things at Harrison’s. The food, time taken and the overall experience fell well short of what I was expecting. My expectations were a little closer to the decadent dining date we’d had at NuNu’s late last year where we were there for over two and half hours and literally wallowed in the fantastic food and service. Now not to compare apples to oranges but they are the only two fine dining, highly regarded, award-winning restaurants that I have eaten more than the standard three courses at in the last financial year, so for me it seems ideal to compare the two. The service at Harrison’s was very good although we were served by no less than 4 different wait staff during our time there, something I thought was a little excessive and each were at varying stages of giving a sh*t, i.e. the explanation of the each dish that we were being served right down to their general friendliness and apparent care factor.
Our Entertainment Voucher got us AU$50 off our total bill but when the standout part of the meal was MS’s Strawberry and Lime Rekorderleig Cider then it makes me wonder what I had been looking forward to for so many weeks and why we had made the long drive up there (should have gone to Salsa Bar next door). Again I don’t dine at places like Harrison’s often but when I do, I expect nothing but the best from the service, to the food, to the overall experience and the booking system. The food was good not amazing, the service was great but not personable and the whole thing just wasn’t quite up to that imaginary bar that Harrison’s had set so high. It takes a lot to get me away from dining at mid range restaurants and step up to the fine dining restaurants, not because I have no class, but because lets face it – there are so many fantastic mid range restaurants out there these days sometimes going fine dining begs the question ‘is it really worth the extra money?’
Harrison’s
22 Wharf St, Port Douglas QLD 4877
Ph: (07) 4099 4011
Website: http://www.harrisonsrestaurant.com.au
Opening Hours: Tues – Sat 6pm – 10pm
$3 plates at Sushi Train, Cairns Central today
If there was ever a time to go to Sushi Train at Cairns Central and eat to your hearts content, today is the day. Salmon Ikura ship eat your heart out!
The Rising Sun, Palm Cove
First cab off the rank with my new Tropical Far North Queensland Entertainment Book was The Rising Sun Bar and Bistro at Palm Cove a couple of weeks ago. A few months ago MS and I attended a friend’s engagement party on the rooftop terrace at the hotel Sarayi where the two of us were smacking our lips at the delicious canapes that were being brought around by the waitstaff from the restaurant below. That restaurant below was The Rising Sun, somewhere I had never heard of before and after a little research I found out that it is also co-owned by co-owner and head chef at NuNu, Nick Holloway. After our fantastic five course degustation menu at Palm Cove in August last year I was keen to come back and try just what The Rising Sun had on the menu and see if it was anywhere near as good as I had cracked it up to be.
Initially, after hearing some great reviews I tried in vain to get a table for two at Harrison’s in Port Douglas for the night but alas it was booked out for a wedding so I made a last minute booking for my second choice, The Rising Sun, and we headed out to Palm Cove. It was a drizzly night out in Palm Cove and it was difficult to find a park out there because the place was chockers with diners. We managed to find ourselves a park a little out off the beaten path and made our way to the restaurant. The staff had reserved us a nice little table right at the front of the restaurant overlooking the outside tables (unoccupied due to rain) and the footpath beyond. The Rising Sun Bar and Bistro was probably about 3/4 full when we sat down at our table but quickly filled up to close to capacity in the hour or two we were there. A friendly waitress came to take our drink orders – I ordered a glass of Sauvignon Blanc while MS ordered some sort of Cider (whoops I took no notice of either). Due to the drizzle outside all the windows had been closed up to keep any water out but in order to counteract the lack of breeze the staff had turned the ceiling fans up ‘full bull’ making it a little chilly for us especially considering our table was right in the middle of two large fans. We asked the waitress if she would mind turning them down which she happily obliged, never mind what the other diners wanted this was about us (that’s a joke).
We both decided well before we arrived that we were going to go the whole hog and get an entree, main and dessert each but when we had a look over the menu we were a little disappointed. The entrees looked fantastic! In fact I would have been happy to build my entire meal just out of the entree part of the menu since MS and I quite a difficult time choosing only two, and which two to be more precise. After considering the Roast Duck Rolls with Cucumber and Plum Sauce as well as the BBQ Sugar Cane Pork with Chilli Vinegar we settled on the Crispy Fried Squid with Hot and Sour Dressing and Peanuts for AU$16 and the Coconut Roasted Pork Ribs with Ginger Caramel and Thai Basil for AU$18. After assessing the mains over and over again… To be honest there was just nothing in the main menu that grabbed me. I mean there was only 6 items on the main menu to choose from aside from the Fresh Reef Fish or Steak which was another section of the menu and the 2 or 3 specials on the board which didn’t excite me. It was a choice between the 6 main dishes – Chicken Parmigiana (it IS a bistro after all), Crispy Duck Leg, Roast Chicken Masala, BBQ Lamb Cutlets, Grilled Pork Chop and Paella. Ultimately the Crispy Duck Leg with Jasmine Rice, Papaya and Young Coconut Salad for AU$34 was the pick of the litter, or so I thought. MS however ended up choosing the ‘Pasta of the Day’ from the specials board which was Fusilli with Feta, Olives, Sausagei (or was it Chorizo?) and Croutons. That isn’t actually how it was described on the board but I cannot for the life of me find where I wrote it down (my description was still pretty damn close). The price wasn’t written up on the board so we never actually found out how much it was but I am assuming around the usual AU$25 mark.
So we ordered and sat and drank our wine and cider while we waited. By this time the drizzle had stopped and the waitress opened up a couple of the windows at the front of the restaurant to let some breeze through. The atmosphere at The Rising Sun was second to none and everyone seemed to be having a great time whether it be enjoying a cocktail at the bar or a glass of wine with friends over dinner. The lighting however, was just dim enough to make it difficult for me to take photos of the food that was to come (I hate it when that happens). We waited about 15 minutes before our entrees arrived and as the waitress carefully laid them down in front of us she said that she would go and fetch a share plate for us since that is what we had planned on doing. We waited about 17 seconds until we decided that we couldn’t wait any longer for the share plate and dug in (luckily because she only returned with it about 10 minutes too late).
The Crispy Fried Squid was absolutely scrumptious (the below photo just doesn’t do it justice). I mean this squid was so good that it was on par with probably the best squid I have ever had. For all my regular readers you know I compare all squid to my mum and dad’s salt and pepper squid. It was cooked to perfection with just a slight dusting of flour and spices on the outside to give it just a little bit of crunch but still delicious and tender on the inside. It was, in essence, the sauce that made the dish so damn good. It was just the right mix of hot and sour sauce drizzled over the squid and mixed in with the cucumber and peanuts with a generous ‘sprinkling’ of Thai Basil leaves. We ate every last piece of squid, peanut and cucumber in that dish and if I was at home I would have licked the dressing clean off the plate but I figured it probably wasn’t appropriate while out at a restaurant.
Crispy Fried Squid with Hot and Sour Dressing and Peanuts for AU$16
The Coconut Roasted Pork Ribs with Ginger Caramel and Thai Basil were up next and like the Crispy Fried Squid they didn’t disappoint. The fall off the bone pork with the ginger caramel sauce was a match made in heaven. Again I wanted to lick the plate clean (like Manu Fieldel I’m a sauce girl). The dish was generously decorated with Thai Basil and also finely chopped birdseye chillies which were eye-wateringly spicy. The birdseye chillies weren’t mentioned on the menu description so MS (the big pussy) got quite the shock when one accidentally made it’s way into his unsuspecting mouth. He then dared me to eat one which being the tough ‘I can do anything’ kind of girl that I am happily accepted the challenge only to declare/pretend that they ‘weren’t very hot at all’. THEY WERE HOT!
Coconut Roasted Pork Ribs with Ginger Caramel and Thai Basil for AU$18
When we were finished the waitress cleared our plates and our mains arrived about 15 minutes later. MS looked down at his dish and wondered where the sauce was for it. I poked around a bit and noticed some resemblance of a sauce in the bottom of the bowl. MS was disappointed even though he hadn’t tasted it yet. I thought it looked quite nice. He dug into his big bowl of fusilli and his opinion didn’t change to much. The croutons were just a very random edition and apart from that it didn’t have much else going on. MS said that without the feta the dish wouldn’t have had any flavour at all. The sauce at the bottom was a bit like a very mild vinaigrette I guess but nothing like what he was hoping for. In the end he ate about two thirds of it and left it. I actually liked his dish with it’s slight vinegary taste but that doesn’t say too much. Here’s a hideous confession: I used to be about 15 kg’s overweight (a mean feat for someone who’s 5ft nothing) and used to binge on pasta with vinegar and feta cheese. Wait… maybe I should divulge that kind of embarrassing stuff on here. Too late. Anyway my point is that my opinion is a little skewed when it comes to pasta and vinegar because it’s always going to get the thumbs up when realistically it’s not actually very good at all.
Fusilli with Feta, Olives, Salami and Croutons
Now my dish – well I wasn’t sure if there even was a Crispy Duck Leg under the mountains of bean sprouts and Thai basil (again). I dug underneath and sure enough it was there but how was I supposed to get to it? Now I’m all for the use of fresh ingredients and what not but the using Thai basil in 3 out of the 4 dishes that we ordered is a little too much don’t you think? And the fact that neither the bean sprouts or the Thai basil were actually mentioned in the menu description just pissed me off since I frigin hate bean sprouts. If I had of known they were going to be so liberally included in my dish I would have opted to not have them. Even more annoying was the fact that due to the dim lighting they blended into the young coconut salad so I couldn’t tell if I was eating nasty bean sprouts of delicious young coconut until I bit into whatever it was. In the end I gave up and just went for the duck which disappointingly was dry and overcooked. The creamy curry-like sauce that it was encased it was delicious but that didn’t make up for all the other areas in which this dish failed for me. I think I ate about half of it and then left it. It’s a bad night when I only eat half of my dish and then eye off my partners meal. Okay, okay, I normally eye off my partners meal but I still only ate half my dish.
Crispy Duck Leg with Jasmine Rice, Papaya and Young Coconut Salad for AU$34
So after our lacklustre main meals following our standout entrees we didn’t really know what to think but we did know one thing for sure – we wanted dessert. The waitress brought us out a menu each to peruse the dessert menu. MS ordered the Roast Pineapple, Bread and Butter Pudding with White Chocolate and Macadamia Brittle Ice Cream for AU$16. I didn’t think that sounded very nice to be honest although I was definitely going to taste it when it came out. I was pretty keen on the Crispy Fried Banana Fritters but Chocolate Brownie is always going to come up trumps against any competitor so I chose the Hot Chocolate and Turkish Delight Brownie with Chocolate Sauce and House made Vanilla Ice Cream for AU$15.
Another 10 minutes later and out came our desserts, placed in the middle of the table. Disappointingly though they both looked exactly the same, except one was a light caramel colour and one was a dark chocolate colour. We had a taste of each of our own desserts and then the others, both decided with 100% conviction that we had each made the right choice in respect to our desserts and then positions our prospective plates firmly back to each side of the table. The hot pineapple in MS pudding just didn’t do it for me. I thought it was weird and nothing like a bread and butter pudding but MS liked it.
Roast Pineapple, Bread and Butter Pudding with White Chocolate and Macadamia Brittle Ice Cream for AU$16
My brownie on the other hand was warm and soft with oozy chocolate sauce but a severe lack of Turkish Delight. I think I only found one piece. The brownie was just okay and nothing like the ‘Best Brownie in the World’ from the Pedlar’s Inn Cafe in Galle, Sri Lanka that I had while on a tour last year. TO. DIE. FOR.
Hot Chocolate and Turkish Delight Brownie with Chocolate Sauce and House made Vanilla Ice Cream for AU$15
So what can I say… The atmosphere at The Rising Sun was nice and relaxed but still classy as was the service but the mains definitely let the whole experience down. By the time it came to pay for the bill we got 25% off the total up to a maximum of AU$35 which resulted in it all costing us just over AU$100. I thought that was a pretty good deal for a wine, a cider, two entrees, two mains and two desserts although for a restaurant that advertises itself as a bistro I think that some of the menu items are a tad overpriced. I wouldn’t say that our meal at The Rising Sun was particularly bad but it failed mostly because I’d had such high expectations about the place. After the gorgeous canapes we had at the engagement party a few weeks prior and reading about their affiliations with NuNu it was a little hard not to get a little excited. Our meals certainly peaked too soon with excellent entrees, ordinary mains and then ‘just ok’ desserts. The over use of Thai basil was a little bit too much in the end. I get what they were trying to do with all the fresh ingredients but hey, ease up a little on the Thai basil there tiger this is Palm Cove not Patong.
The Rising Sun
95 Williams Esplanade, Palm Cove QLD 4879
Ph: (07) 4059 0889
Opening Hours: 7 days 11am – 12pm
foodvixen 