ChowHouse

As stated on their menu, Chow House is an "informal share food style restaurant". So really, it's tapas. It is located right in the heart of James St, New Farm and is sure to be busy any time of the day. Most of the seating is outdoors and overlooks the bustling shops surrounding it. It's the perfect casual spot for a weekend catch up.

I went here hoping to have their breakfast menu which looked amazing but was too late for the service and settled for lunch instead. Chow House's lunch menu has strong Asian influences with dishes like rice paper rolls, peking duck, sichuan quail and nasi goreng. Think Asian street food, cooked fancy and served in a casual dining scene.

Mango and Passionfruit Frappe, Pineapple Lime and Coconut Frappe

These were very nice frappes, adequately sweet and very creamy. They reminded me of the smoothies you can get from Boost. Kristine had the lime, coconut and pineapple frappe. She loved it. I'm not a fan of pina colada but this was pretty much a smoothie version of one.

Hanoi pork belly and prawn rice paper roll

Kapsali Taverna

Kapsali Taverna is located in a prime location behind South Bank's iconic pool and beach and also has promises of Brisbane's river views. It's a nice lunch spot for diners not looking for anything too fancy but a nice place to stop and relax in South Bank.

Seared scallop, prawn and mussel salad with garlic and chilli infused vinaigrette 

Shucked

Shucked was highly recommended to me for it's corn fritters. I was forewarned that there wasn't much to Shucked, very small, terrible service but great food. Sounded typical of any popular brunch spot in Brisbane these days. 

Shucked is located behind Austral Honda on a commercial street in Newstead. There were cars parked all along the side streets and seeing as it was outside business hours and the only cafe in sight, everyone must've been there for a Shucked breakfast.

The main seating area inside the cafe was completely full so I ended up in the outdoor seating which looked like it once used to be an alley way. The brick walls were now covered in quirky contemporary artwork. Some of the tables and chairs were a tad too small for the average bloke and some were just crates with cardboard on top. This all fitted in nicely with their trendy laid back fit out but wasn't very comfortable to eat at.

 Stone the Crows - Corn and feta fritters w. hollandaise, tomato relish and avocado

Ga Roti Recipe - Vietnamese Rotisserie Chicken

This is a typical midweek dish in my family's household. It's so easy to make, full of flavour and is a great leftover dish.

Milano

Milano has always been a restuarant that I've walked right by when shopping along Queen St Mall. To be honest, I used it as a quick short cut from store to store. But then I heard they had a new pizza chef - born, bred and trained in Italy. I immediately accepted an invitation to dine here since I'm forever searching for decent Italian food in Brisbane.

Situated in the middle of Queen St Mall, Milano is an outdoor restaurant with the bar and high table seating at the front. Towards the back end are lower tables suitable for more intimate dining. Brisbane is blessed with great weather and this style dining is perfect for the bustling atmosphere of Queen St Mall.

View from the bar end of Milano 

Upon arriving at Milano, I got to speak to a few of the staff and found out some things about their new chef. Chef Pierluigi has been living in Australia for 4 and half years now and has been making pizza since his days in Italy. I've been told he has won the best Marguarita pizza in Australia. This I believe is quite an achievement as you cannot hide behind a margarita and is a true hallmark of a good pizza. All the pizza doughs are hand spun and thrown above the head to get an even consistency throughout the dough, something a rolling pin can't do. 

San Danielle – san danielle prosciutto, Buffalo mozzarella, torn basil, black pepper and freshly made tomato base.