Oktoberfest

Came to the festival for the first time. Yes I admit, the catch copy of “you had me at pork nuckle” was the persuading point.

Tried all three biers. Lager, wheat and dark. All very good. A festival with German tap beer as the main spot light. It’s good stuff.

Sausages supplied by Goitzinger. Purchased the Frankfurter and Bratwurst. Brat looks appealing with pepper and herbs and frank looks relatively bland but the frank is about the smoking. The meat and skin are crispy having had enough moisture taken out through the process. Both very good though. The knuckle was perhaps more a novelty. I am sure I can do much better considering the potential of the meat. It’s got all those good inter connecting cartilage tissue that would turn into great gelatinous moist chunks of meat as long as its been cooked properly. The meat was roasted too long and skin was dehydrated and even the insides became a bit dry. And the seasoning ha not seeped in enough. Still an exciting dish to have in front of you with cold beer!

ekka

Ekka, the once a year event where you pay heaps to enter a park to spend heaps for rides, games, overpriced food and grog. And pay again and again, and again… Have to admit the once a year novelty and the kid’s sheer expectations to the extent that they will actually behave if they want to be taken to ekka does loosen the wallet.

Since last year, starting off the festivities with fresh SA coffin bay oysters and some bubbles has become a routine. Actually not a bit of respect paid to the agricultural highlights of QLD but what the heck. The Ocean Kings were a bit of a let down this year. The oysters superb, and the Seppelt sparkling, fleur de lys? was really good. The can bottles of crown lager were cute too. Mini hot dogs from goitzinger not bad at all.

Obviously we can’t go home without the strawberry sundaes.

We passed the dagwood and went for meat on the bone. A roasted turkey leg and pork ribs with chips. Both a feast for the eye but unfortunately not equally great in the mouth. Both meats a bit gamey and lacking flavoring. Perhaps too spoilt as I always get to eat Bangalow Sweet Pork. Tons of BBQ sauce to save the lack of flavoring!

Not pictured, also let our appetites roam free on coffee, frozen coke, honey doughnut puffs, strawberry gelato from the Greek Youghurt Company. beautiful and the kids only day in the year when they can have two ice cream in the space of 30minutes!

My show bag! Beautiful proper smoked small goods from goitzinger!

The kids got their rides and daddy tried to impress them with the hammer scale game which ended up a pretty average 118 out of 150, with a pretty average prize being a smallish stuffed snake.

All in all, had a great time!

Best Sushi in Brisbane? easy answer…

“Sushi” well-recognized by Brissies thanks to outlets like LR and Top Sushi, frankly, is not authentic sushi.  The term sushi means vinegared rice so technically, the “sushi” these outlets sell are sushi but they are more accurately “sushi rolls” and nothing more.  We also sell sushi rolls, however I would never say that I am a sushi chef.  I simply do it to offer healthy safe eating options to complement my cafe menu.  My sushi rolls use gluten-free ingredients, premium short grain rice and organic seaweed.  Anyway these sushi rolls are not “The Sushi” Japanese people refer to when they speak about the delicacy they love and sometimes do not hesitate forking out fortunes for. 

There is probably only one outlet in Brisbane that I can highly recommend in this regard.  This is ”Fresh Sushi Co.”  Being jointly run by the fish market, you are guaranteed freshness.  And the skills of co-owner Narita san, the executive sushi chef, is magnificent.  So accurate and the presentation is simply pure finesse.   

<a href=”http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/337/1434707/restaurant/Queensland/Fresh-Sushi-Co-Fortitude-Valley”><img alt=”Fresh Sushi Co on Urbanspoon” src=”http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1434707/biglink.gif” style=”border:none;width:200px;height:146px” /></a>

Look at these beautiful plates. 

Chirashi

Moriawase

I can also recommend Hatsuhana in the Gold Coast Sea World Resort and the Tsuruya restaurant in Yeppoon Ridges Capricorn Resort.  These resorts are both run by Japanese companies that have extensive knowledge and high standard of service in Japanese hospitality industry.  Yuga in Surfers used to be really good but I have heard their chef changed and since have not been back to check myself.

Menu

Drink Menu

Someone asked me why the drinks menu is so cheap in comparison with my food.   This is a rather inaccurate statement.  I firmly believe both the liquor and food are reasonably priced.  Again, I only use the best ingredients for my ramen.  When I say the best, I mean unthinkably good from the ramen norm, such as using hormone free fresh good eating chicken wings for my golden triple soup, using bangalow sweet pork for soup and charsiu.  And with everything homemade it means my food is a labor intensive slow food, I am pretty sure that the preparation time that goes in to prepare my bowl of ramen is comparable or longer than any dish in haute cuisine.  I also don’t rip my staff off.  I hate being talked about on the same level with other outlets that don’t even abide by the law and only able to thrive by taking advantage of their staff. 

As for the liquor, I do understand these are pretty reasonable prices.  I am hoping it will perhaps be a small attraction in making Taro’s a gathering spot for diners during dinner time. 

Current price list is as per below. 

<<Drink Menu>>

Beer

Cascade Light                                           $3.80

XXXX Gold                                                             $3.80

Victoria Bitter                                                  $4.20

Asahi                                                                $6.80

House Wine by the glass                                  $6.00 each

Wines by the bottle

Fairhall Cliffs Sauvignon Blanc 2009                                           $29.00

Bridgewater Mills Chardonnay 2008                                           $33.00

Penley Estate Hyland 2007 Coonawarra Shiraz                            $27.00

Grant Burge RSZ8 Reserve Shiraz 2008                                           $49.00

Tatachilla Limited Release Cab Sauv 2008                                          $42.00

Taro’s Private Collection

Mitake Imojochu (Japanese Distilled Liquor made from Sweet Potato) from Yakushima                                                        `                            $6.90/shot

Bamboo Basket

先日久しぶりに外食しました。South Bankに出来たBamboo Basketです。妻がネットで評判よかったと調べており、それ以上の情報なく特に期待せず行って見たところびっくり。おそらくディンタイフンをかなり意識した点心専門店ですが、なかなかどうして。台湾で食べたお店の記憶には劣るものの日本やシドニーのディンタイフンには引けをとらない美味しさでした。

羽付餃子。贅沢をいえばもう少しやき色がついているほうがBetter.でも噛むとと肉汁たっぷり。

Florentins Cookies

It’s not a spelling mistake!  Apparently, in French, Florence is spelt like that.  It is a pastry that Catherine de Médicis brought with her from the Medici family when she wed the French monarch, Henri II de France.  My mother made them beautifully and now my wife has taken the recipe on board and reproducing with quality local ingredients.  Right now at Taro’s, when you order any coffee, we are giving a free sample of this beautiful cookie so rush in before offer ends (Until end July)!  Hey, we make the best ramen in Australia but that’s not it!

焼き菓子のフロランタンをご存知ですか？昔メディチ家のお嬢様がフランス王家に嫁ぐ際にフランスに持ってきたとされているお菓子です。クッキー生地の上にローストアーモンドを敷き詰め、丁寧にトフィでコーティングしたお菓子です。うちの母が時々作っていたのを妻がほれ込みこっちで作り始めたものです。もちろん材料は地元産を使用しています。一切れより販売していますが、７月末まで期間限定でコーヒーをご注文のお客様にフロランタンの無料サンプルを試供中です。Taro’sはラーメン命ですが、ラーメンだけではありません！ぜひお試しください。

 

赤とんこつ Red Tonkotsu

近日中Taro’sのとんこつラーメンに特製ラー油醤が入った「赤とんこつ」がメニューに加わります。Taro’s顧問のKさんが持ち込んでくれた自信作の自家製ラー油醤、最初辛党でないぼくは半信半疑でしたが、なんにでも合ってしまうのでしまいにはラー油にむかって「お前ずるいわー」と独り言を言ったりしていました（実際Dinnerで冷奴に乗っけてピリカラ冷奴として提供したら好評でした）。いろいろなラーメンに入れましたが全部あってしまうんです。しかしとんこつとあわせた時の自分の感想は「うはっ！！」、言葉になりませんでした。相性はまりすぎです。あえて言葉にするとすると、辛さというよりも唐辛子とにんにくの香り・うまみがくわわり、ややマイルドすぎかもしれないとんこつスープに輪郭を与えてくれたという感じです。Kさんのレシピを元にアレンジし終わりましたらまもなくメニュに乗りますのでご期待ください。

We’ll soon be introducing Red Tonkotsu (Tonkotsu with Chilli oil dressing) to the menu.  This home made chilli dressing is so good, it matches anything (and actually I had started introducing it at dinners doing spicy cold tofu, a sold out hit) but when I tried it with our tonkotsu soup, I just gasped…  It is just too good.  Actually I am not a big fan of extreme hot & spicy foods, and this chilli dressing looks dangerously red at first but it is actually pretty mild, providing the kick and aroma of chilli rather than beating the other tastes to death.   The accent of the chilli creates a reference point to the otherwise very mild tonkotsu soup.  I thought our tonkotsu was pretty good and couldnt get much better…  I was  wrong!  It was waiting for this companion all along!

塩ラーメン Shio Ramen