On Father’s Day my family and I decided to go to an All You
Can Eat Restaurant near our home. My dad is a fussy eater so we thought it best
to go to a place where he would have variety of things to eat. He’s a miser who
hates it when we spend money but he tolerates it on special occasions.
I think that song describes my dad so well. He’s a grumpy
man but we never take his grumps too seriously. In fact, we tease him about it
all the time and he can laugh at himself too. He hams up his old man act too.
We all enjoyed our time at the restaurant. Dad ate a plate
of mussels as well as some seafood. He had a big pile of food and was still
eating it when everyone else had moved onto their second or third plate. My
food strategy this time was only to take the smallest serving of everything so
I could sample everything.
At the end of the evening, I decided to fill out
one of those comments and suggestion sheets that restaurants sometimes leave
out. I gave the restaurant a 5/5 for service, cleanliness and food. My mum added a cat drawing too, no reason
really, she just likes cats. My dad filled out his own sheet but he gave the
restaurant 2/5 because he says he had better. He’s one of those people where
back in his day, everything was better
In my part of the world it's winter. One of the perks of being a teacher is the term holidays! To
be honest, I don’t want to go back to school! I’m a teacher so I have to go
back to school when the holidays are over.
I went for an hour long drive with my brother to the
Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. It is essentially a zoo to native Australian
animals such as the kangaroo, koala, various snakes, Tasmanian Devils, birds
and other animals.
There’s also a segway track, zipline and ropes obstacle
course available at the sanctuary. I went at the end of the day so everything
was winding down. I think I would have enjoyed the sanctuary during the start
of the day where there’s a crowd and all the animal shows are on. I found the
place a bit run down so I hope they refurbish one day. I didn’t think there
were many animals at the sanctuary.
While I was Currumbin, Queensland I also went to visit Super
Bee Honey World. It’s a big store that features honey from all over Australia
and they also show live bee demonstrations. My brother was a bit scared of the idea
of live honey collection so we didn’t see the show. I bought two honey sampler
packs, one for my family and one for a friend.
We also went to Surfword which is next door to Super Bee
Honey World. Surf World is a small surf museum
dedicated to preserving and celebrating surf history. I think if I knew something
about surf boards, I would have been more interested in the variety of surf
boards on display. What I was particularly interested in was a photo of DukeKahanamoku who was a surfing pioneer. It was good to be reminded that surfing
is actually an old sport from Hawaii.
My mum turned 49 on Thursday. We decided to go Feast which
is an all you can buffet. They have a good selection of food available, from
roast meats, pasta dishes, salads, Asian food, seafood and deserts. The service
was excellent; the staff was friendly and not intrusive. In some places, they
watch you like a hawk because they want to collect dishes so they don’t pile up
which can be an uncomfortable dining experience.
I don’t try to stuff myself anymore when it comes to a
buffet. I don’t like feeling too full and wasting food as there’s always a heap
of food uneaten on the plate. I just aim
for three courses. So I had pumpkin soup and cheesy bread for starters, roast
pork, gravy and potato bake for a main meal and soft serve ice cream with jelly
and mousse.
I got eight new mugs for mum’s birthday and I baked her some
cupcakes. My little brother got her a scarf and a woolen hat. My older brother
is going to take us to Dream World.
Eat Street Markets is an outdoor venue consisting of food
stalls and trucks selling hot food from around the world. Australia doesn’t
have street food except at outdoor events like festivals and markets and those
are only temporary. So Eat Street Market is the closest thing we have to a
street food venue.
The markets open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On
Fridays and Saturdays it opens from 4pm-10pm and on Sundays it opens from
10am-7pm. Admission is $2. I recommend bringing cash because all the stalls
deal in cash. There are three ATMs at the markets but they usually have long
queues. Most of the food is around 6-20 dollars depending on what you are
getting. I think it’s a little pricey but the markets are located in an up
market area and the quality of the food is high.
I first went to the market with my friend Jenny. It was a bit of an out of the way venue for us and we
discussed various ways to get there. At first we were going to take public transport
because neither of us wanted to drive to a faraway place we had never been to
but later Jenny offered to drive.
The markets are very hipster, with lots of trendy people
walking around in their skinny jeans and quirky outfits.
I also liked
how there was plenty of places to sit down and enjoy the food. The markets had
plenty of secondhand chairs, milk crates and wooden tables for dining outdoors
which added to the hipster feel. I hate having to eat and stand, especially if
I’m eating something messy and awkward. There was an overwhelming variety of
food available from all parts of the world. So we wandered around looking at everything.
There was Korean sliders, crispy Peking duck, wood fire pizzas, chicken satay, cheese krunsky, calamari,
calzones, macaroons, ginger beers, ribs, wings, cronuts, churros, gelati,
dumplings, octopus, lamb shanks etc. Jenny and I decided to share food so we got
the Korean slider burgers, Capricosa pizza and herbal iced tea.
The ice tea that Jenny and I had. Photo courtesy of Jenny
I recommend bringing some plastic containers so you can take
food home. There were so many things we wanted to try but we were already too
full. Usually, the food is served on plates or bowls to be eaten there so you
can’t really take it home with you. I think it’s better to go the markets if
you are in a group because you can share food and sample a bit of everything. Besides
food, there are two live bands for entertainment and a few stalls selling
handicrafts and vintage stuff. The emphasis of the markets is food though so
there’s not much to do after you have eaten.
Korean sliders that we ate.
I also went to the markets again on another day with my
brother and mum. This time we bought chicken satays, calamari, curry puffs,
coconut ice cream, Vietnamese rice paper rolls, a German food platter and ginger
beer. I really liked the curry puffs and coconut ice cream. The ice cream is
soft serve and there is a good coconut flavor.
Last Sunday, I went out for Shabu Shabu
with an old highschool buddy of mine. We’ve always made the effort to maintain
contact but we go for months at a time without interacting with each other as
we’re both busy with our own lives.
Shabu Shabu is a Japanese dining experience
where you boil thin slices of meat and vegetables in a broth. There’s a pot of
hot boiling water and you place the meat in it until it’s cooked and then take
it out and eat it. It’s called Shabu Shabu as that’s the sound of food being
swished around in the water. Other Asian cultures cook food that way as well so
there’s different names for it, like hot pot or steamboat. It’s a
nice communal dining experience.
I had never been to Shabu Shabu before so I
was curious to see if I would like it. I like communal dining experiences where
you cook the food together. If you’re stuck for conversation, you can always
talk about the food or just concentrate on the food. I guess it wouldn’t be so
fun if either of you aren’t very confident in cooking though. You’ll be always
asking, “Do you think it’s cooked?” and then you’d overcook the food and make
it tough or burn it.
I don’t remember the name of the restaurant
but it said Shabu Shabu on it as well. It was in a place in Underwood, Brisbane
where all the outlets and warehouses are located. It’s in a small but extremely
clean shopping centre, the foyer had gleaming white tiles. I think it must be
word of mouth keeping the business alive because it’s in a non-descript
building.
The restaurant can easily cater to a wedding
reception as it’s quite large. There were all these oversized marble tables and
benches everywhere with individual hotplates for diners. The place was pretty
empty but my friend said that Sunday is not a busy time for them, Friday and
Saturday nights are the times where we’d be lucky to get a table.
The waiter was pretty friendly and
attentive. I ordered seafood combination which consisted of prawns, fish
fillets, clams, scallops and squids and my friend ordered wagyu beef.We both chose miso soup to cook our food in.
Our food came out quickly as it was raw, along with complimentary plates of
vegetables and various soup meatballs.We each had our own hotplate so we boiled whatever we liked to eat. When
we finished eating, the bill came down to eighty three dollars which we split
between us. I would say Shabu Shabu is very affordable if you split it between
friends.We both liked our meals
although we both agreed that the beef tasted better than the seafood, so next
time we’ll try chicken and have more beef. We also thought about changing our
broth to curry.
Afterwards, we went to Sunnybank which is a
place known for its Asian restaurants. We decided to have a dessert that my
friend really liked which was custard in syrup, she added some kind of black
bean to hers and I chose to have seasonal fruits. I did like the dessert, especially with the
fresh cut fruit.
Do you like sharing food with others? Or do
you prefer to eat your own food?
