Kevin Good Food Guide 2012

Photo : Kevin with Gary and George from Master Chef Australia.

This is my new blog started in February 2012 to provide a guide to good food in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and beyond. Will also include Melbourne and beyond..

Looking for Good Food in Brisbane, Gold Coast and Surroundings (Sunshine Coast ) Australia?
Look no more! Here are the best and yummy-iest tried and tastiest great food places in the Brisbane area.
These places have consistently served great food and great place to take friends and family.


BREAKFAST/ BRUNCH

1. Benneton Bakery ( my favourite french bakery in town )
" Love all the food, excellent coffee and great selection of cakes and pastries. Always have more and more selection. The owner is from France and sometimes serve you too, that is a great personal touch of great service ! " -Kevin C

( Woolloonggabba 7am to around 2pm Daily ), Ashgrove (7am to around 2pm ) ,Kelvin Grove Market (Sat 7am to 1pm ), Boggo Road Market (Sun 7am to 1pm )
Click here Details Store Location and Hours




Photo : Kevin Chin

2. Pandemonium is Brisbane's best-loved 70's style café.
( Paddington ) (Open Wednesday to Friday 7am to 4pm, Saturday and Sunday 7.30am to 3pm. Closed - Monday, Tuesday and PH )
215 Given Terrace, Paddington

" Great relaxing, very arty feel with posters of concerts and plays all over the place, Orange, Blue colour walls with excellent atmosphere, food and service, two thumbs up, we go here regularly for Sunday Brunch " -KC

Gallery of food and the atmosphere



3. The Gunshop Cafe ( best brunch place weekends )
( West End )
53 mollison street west end

" Recommended by a friend. Been here once and fell in love. I don't mind coming back here every weekend for my brunch. The French Toast Brioche with Strawberry super yum, also love the sausages with hash super yum, so many selections and all taste so good. One of the place can keep coming back just to try all the food in the menus. Very good atmosphere try to get a table at the back garden so relaxing to spend weekend brunch"







5. MANO's Italian Restaurant - Award Winning, best service and food every time.
(Paradise Point, Gold Coast )
40 The Esplanade
PARADISE POINT, QLD, 4216
Opposite the Park on the Broadwater. Next to Fish In the Park.
" This is Tony and my favourite breakfast place , best banana smoothies and all meals are just great" KC
" Great atmosphere over looking the park and the broad water , great for any breakfast any day of the week " KC


Tony enjoying the banana smoothie and breakfast. After a big feast , relaxing overlooking the broad water across the road.


Photo : Kevin Chin

BEST PIZZA
1. Zacharys " If I can just have one Pizza, this will be the place " " Great Gourmet Pizza Place "
Upper Level 30 Hasting Street ( Sunshine Coast )
" Love the Moroccan Lamb Pizza and so many variety all yum"
take away menu click here


2. Pizza Capers ( gourmet it anyday , The RAJA is yum, so is New Orlean )
" Great range of Pizza loving the New Orleans, and RAJA "
" Tried the ice cream which is pretty average for the price "
click here for menu



BEST BURGERS
1. URBAN BURGER " Best burgers ,better than Grilled yep.. great chips too "
(Browns Plain )
Shop B12 Village Square 18 Commerce Dr Browns Plains more stores click her
" Been going to this place as often as possible. Umm Burgers "
" Always order The King ( beef, brie,cheese,rocket, tomato, tangy relish ..) and also Aloha ( Chicken ), New Yorker (Chicken,swiss cheese) or Brie Twist (Chicken, brie, basil pesto,tomato relish) "
CLICK here for MENU



BEST PIE in Brisbane - Gold Coast area.
1. YATALA PIES " Best Pies I have ever eaten " " over 130 years of experience and Famous for it "
Driver Thru available bring Cash ( there is an ATM machine inside shop )
YATALA North Exit on M1 , Exit 38
48 Old Pacific Hwy, Yatala QLD 4207, Australia‎ – (07) 3287 2468‎
Open 7 days, 7.30am-8.30pm
click here for menu
" Love the Chicken Mushroom Mornay Pie and the Apple Turnover " KC



BEST FISH AND CHIPS? ( let me know if you find a better place )
1. Charis Seafoods on the Broad Water " Great fresh Seafood, great lagoon broad water location and Pelican feeding 1pm "
371 Marine Parade (Opposite the Grand Hotel )
Harley Park, Labrador ( Gold Coast )
07 5527 1100
" Great fresh seafood and also great fish and chips with over 30 years of experience "
" Great place to buy fresh seafood and BBQ at the park " click here for list of seafood.
" This place is great for kids swimming out in the lagoon, go for a walk, run, kids friendly as there
are kids playground and enclosed lagoon for great swimming . Also bring snorkels to see fishes in the lagoon. "

2. Jimbo Seafood in Tweed ( same guys that open Charis )
118 Wharf Street, Tweed Heads, Gold Coast
" Great fish and chips , great selection of seafood "
" haven't been for a while hope still good "





SNACK ,CHILL AND RELAX
1. The Three Monkeys Coffee and Teahouse ( West End)
58 Mollison St ,West End, QLD 4101
" Great place to just chill out and have a soup size mug of Chai Tea, great atmosphere at the back garden, feel very relax and another world. " KC
" Love the Nachos snack plates and the mix dips plates and may be share a cake after lunch, dinner or just anytime to catch up with friends. " KC

" Cool, funky, atmosphere,tea house, study, hangout , relax "
Trip advisor reviews










With Liz, at the back garden at 3 monkeys, great selection of cakes, and more cakes , and the massive BOWL MUG Chai TEA( recommend to share )


Photo : Kevin Chin

2. The SURF CLUB Burleigh Heads (Upstairs outside Balcony )
1 Goodwin Terrace Burleigh Heads QLD 4220
(07) 5535 2419

Click here for menu,pdf download






YUM CHA
( note : best time is around 11.30am if you wait until 12.30pm in the weekend prepare to wait )
1. BIG GUN Chinese Restaurant near underwood ( Real Yum )
(Springwood/ Underwood )
Shop 7/2922 Logan Rd, Underwood
07 3219 8868 ( Best to ring to make table booking if more than 4 people )
( 80% recommendation by urbanspoon reviewers )

" Love the Mango pudding and Egg Tart, all the steam dim sim are yummy, quick service and lots of parking upstairs.
For me, this this one of the better Yum Cha place in Brisbane , a little gem that is hidden away, worth going back for more. " - Kevin C

" the best so far... easy parking, good service, good food.. and all.. and also not as expensive as the other yum cha places. "
He also mention " best value for money and haven't been to other Yum Cha place since gone to this one "
Recommended a friend that loves his food. - Cyril C

Click here for the Menu


2. Sangri La Chinese Restaurant
( Sunnybank )
Shop 1, 309 Mains road, Sunnybank Hills
70% from Urban Spoon
" My favourite are the Shanghai Dumplings , just so juicy and yummy. Also have vast variety of fresh steam dumplings and deep fried "
" After Landmark have gone down the hill with their food, I find this a better Yum Cha place in Sunnybank. "


3. Addiction Cafe & Asian Restaurant ( Great for a quick fix )
( Westfield Garden City )
Daily 11am to 3pm
Town Square (next to cinemas) Cnr Kessels & Logan Road ,Upper Mt Gravatt.

*Lunch time special $3.95 all dishes and great for a quick fix* This lunch time special been going on for a long time.
" This place is great when you just want to have list and photos of your food presented to you and tick the boxes and get them delivered to you ,
The clear steam dumplings (white rice flour ) can be a mixed bag, sometimes overly cooked. Most other dishes are great , great to get a quick fix
before shopping or just want a few BBQ pork bun/ Char Siu Pao )

Click here for Menu




Photo : Kevin Chin



ASIAN
Vietnamese
1. Tan Thanh Vietnamese ( great meal under $15 cash only )
(Inala, Vietnamese Area )
95% from Urbanspoon review
Shop 16 Inala Civic Centre Corsair Ave
( Close to the Library )

" My friend Sylvester suggested this place to grab lunch after a haircut. OMG the food is so good and this place is now our regular lunch catch up place. " Kevin C.

click here for menu

Indian
1. Bombay Bliss Excellent Indian food.
(Milton)

14 Park Rd , Milton Tel 07 3369 4474
" saw this place from recommendation from a deal, tried it and love the food. Great atmosphere, great service and great food
been back a few times already and still loving the food. Only been to the Milton Branch , great food. " Kevin Chin


Thai
1. Yoki Thai ( Great food at a great price, coconut rice please )
(Runaway Bay )
" This is my favourite Thai restaurant in the Gold Coast and always grab a bite here for dinner. Always order the COCONUT rice which is cooked to perfection every time " KC
" I love Thai cooking by mixing so many flavours with so many types of vegetables and sauces into all the meat dishes,
favourites are the sizzling beef, Ginger fish and Cashew Chicken " - KC
( Runaway Bay, Gold Coast ) close to Harbour Town.
Unit 10, 455 Oxley Dr , Runaway Bay
They also have take away menu (07) 5529 2888





Cashew Chicken, Ginger Fish and Sizzling Beef yum Mouth watering.
Photo : Kevin Chin




JAPANESE
SAKE ( Brisbane, Eagle Street) love the Home made Green Tea Ice Cream .
Kabuki, Tepanyaki super yum ( Brisbane )
Sushi Train ( Harbour Town )



DESSERT - SOMETHING SWEET

1. Freestyle Tout ( The Amazing desserts place, so many choices, oh the white chocolate dumpling OMG )
" if I got to choose just one place to have dessert, this would be the one (Emporium branch). Thanks Tony for bringing me to this place. The dessert seriously can be shared by 2 person or more. If you want to skip dinner and indulge, just go to this place. Just thinking about this place makes me
drool. Ok, just go already." - Kevin C.
" Great Atmosphere, Local artist Art and did I mention best dessert place? "

( Emporium at Fortitude Valley )
50/1000 Ann Street,
Fortitude Valley, 4006
Gallery of shop, food and more food


2. Max Brenner ( White chocolate Chai Oh yeah, Belgium waffle with fruits oh yum.. Choc waffle balls yum )

" I heard about this place from Tony, by him sending me photos of chocolate pizza. I was like hmm yeah really, tried it , didn't like the pizza choc.
But the rest was super yum. There are 2 branches in Melbourne, 2 in Gold Coast ( Robina and Marina Mirage ) and Southbank Brisbane ( busy )."
- Kevin Chin.

" One weekend morning, told Tony hey what should we have breakfast, thought for 2 seconds then decided waffle, and the best place? Yep Max Brenner at that time no Max in Brissy so drove all the way to Marina Mirage, and 9am shop just open and we were the first customers.. Choice! ,
so had Max Brenner Belgium Waffle with chic of course, with ice cream, and strawberries, banana... for breakfast.. got fruit.. so must be healthy balance diet right ; ) " Kevin Chin






White Chocolate Chai, red lit ( Can be shared by 2 ), Ice cream with Chocolate lick, and Three layers of chocolate... yum,
Always busy with people, might be a queue and Kevin and Tony ( I am enjoying my favourite chocolate waffle balls with milk chocolate in hug mug and Tony ordered the Belgium Waffle with chocolate all over with strawberries, bananas and ice cream, yum ; )

Photo : Kevin Chin






MELBOURNE .// best place for food . Every 10 steps!
Coming soon... Trip to Melbourne Best Places (Best from my limited experience in life.. but hey if you found better, let me know )

Best Malaysian Food - Coconut House - Like your Laksa? and some traditional fresh Soya Bean and Cendol !
Best Chinese Hong Kong Roast . BBQ City Little Bourke Street, Best Roast Pork, BBQ Pork and Roast Duck!
Best Yum Cha - Shark Fin House - Best with 4 person .. share the cost.

IPHONE APPS and websites
1. Trip advisor ( There is an iPhone app for this )
World Largest travel , restaurants reviews ...

2. Urban Spoon
Brisbane restaurants and reviews from critics, food bloggers, and friends.

3. Australian Good Food Guide ( There is an iPhone app for this )
Reviews of Food and Travel

4. Great Food Great Value Food deals around Australia

5. Daily Deals ( Set to Brisbane, you can check other Metro areas too )
find great discounts on food and other stuff )



http://www.greatfoodgreatvalue.com.au/

LINKS TO MORE GREAT FOOD , Books AND REVIEWS.
1. Brisbane Budget Bites ( Bookby foodie for foodie, great food under $20 )
Reviews of great place to eat in Brisbane and Gold Coast, available online for $19.95
2012 edition is out.

Kevin's Kitchen cookbook ( FREE for Foodie by Kevin Chin)
1. Kevin's Kitchen. ( Enjoying Yummy Food at Home )
" A compilation of some of my favourites food like Honey Lemon Chicken, Sticky Date Puddings and my favourite
Banana Milkshakes/Smoothie from Mano's Italian Restaurant in Paradise Point " - Kevin Chin





Feedback always welcome ; ) just email me : kevinchin76@gmail.com or add me to Facebook Kevin Chin (mention you know me from my site )

( Coming soon : Good Food Guide for Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Melbourne , more photos so on. Kids friendly place, creating icon? )
Best Meat ?
(coming soon.. )

PENDING review and tasting..
Thx Derek.. contributor to Budget Bites Brisbane Foodie
Burgers...ok, this one a bit trickier because people's taste in burgers are very subjective...
But I can name two reliable ones
#1: Ohio Burger in Clayfield
#2: Burger Urge, New Farm and West End
For fish and chips...two of the top of my head
Fish's Seafood Market: 110 Macquarie Street, Newstead

Fish Lovers: 165 Baroona Rd, Rosaliehttp://www.fishlovers.com.au/

And Captain Hooks in 451A Golden Four Dr, Tugun down in GC is also fantastic...cheaper then most of its competitors in GC too

Bishamon in Spring Hill is good
If only sushi roll...LR is fine, but the long queues are bothersome
Sushi A La Carte across the road from LR is just as good, if not better...and it's actually run by Japanese people
BEST ice Cream home style?


BEST places for Vegan?

Best places for Gluten Free Food?