Every time the TRIBE goes to Sunnybank for our usual Asian food fix lately, I often notice this newly opened Japanese Eatery, with it’s TV monitors featured wall on the side. So intrigue that I dragged the TRIBE one weekday night, to check it out instead of going straight to Little Hongkong. The food that they served were displayed in front of the shop, mind you it was not those plastic models…they were plated real food with name tags and prices. You have to select your dishes and drinks, right there and then..and pay for it before you can get to sit on your assigned table. Cusinera felt a bit pressured and just pointed out left and right on the menu displayed on the counter without thinking. Before I know it, the bill came to around AUD$80+, a bit pricey on a small eatery. I was so rushed and disoriented that I even forgot to ask for my receipt, they didn’t offer to give me one anyway. It was not a busy night, I felt that they were just eager for us to pay and sit down for the meals.
I ordered the Eel Bento, the fish was well flavoured and the Miso Soup was excellent with its usual bits of floating soft tofu, seaweed sheets strips and shallots. The salad mix was weird with pieces of kiwi fruit?, the wok tossed greens taste like it was oily blanched, potato salad was a bit dry from exposure? and finally the sweetly~ watery preserved pears (maybe pears?) doesn’t work with me.
Mr. H ordered the Pork Katsu Bento, what he ate was the crumbed pork and rice. He tasted the curry sauce that went with it and told me that it was not bad at all, but in my opinion that was the lumpiest Japanese curry sauce I have ever seen. He didn’t attempt to touch the other side dishes.
With Ms. Picky Eater, I was surprised that she chose the Crumbed Fish Bento as she tends to favour pork or chicken. Like her father, she only ate the main meal part and not the side dishes.
Mr. Adventurous ate some of my eel and rice. But before we can finish our mains, one of the attendants gave us our desserts. The table was not big enough for the extra plates plus the bento trays… It was off putting, I mean there wasn’t a long line of people waiting for a table. I have worked in the hospitality industry both kitchen and front of house, and as a attendant or a cook or a chef you suppose to time the meals delivery! The TRIBE don’t eat snail pace, we don’t linger when we dine out, we order, eat, pay and off we go. I can see Mr. H getting hot under the collar just a tad bit, and me the guilty person who drag them to this place… whispered to him, “Maybe because it is a newly opened shop, maybe this is one of their teething problems.”
It looks good doesn’t it? But the quality of the presentation failed with that chip on the left top corner of the plate. I don’t know it they missed the chip when they arranged out the dessert, But to me, if you care enough for the artsy fartsy presentation, you should have unblemished plates to serve it on. The banana cake was like a mousse with a hint of banana. What we liked was the green tea ice cream with the red bean topping, it was good. I think if they serve the green tea ice cream with the red bean topping alone, I would be happy with that as a dessert. Ms. Picky Eater munched on the Almond curled creation, I ate a piece of it and it was like a normal almond wafer biscuit, a bit chewy I must add.
With the Tiramisu, it was another mousse kind of dessert with a crumbed compacted based. Ms. Picky Eater ate all of the Tiramisu and I only had about 2 small spoonfuls, the flavour was weak and not the normal Tiramisu I know. Mr. Adventurous point blankly refuse to eat the mousse like desserts and only allowed me to fed him the ice cream and the curled chocolate strips.
Now let’s get to the macarons, the main reason why I’ve insisted the TRIBE to eat here was for me to taste the macarons that was included in the desserts. I was so excited, but my excitement collapsed when I took a bite out of the pink macaron. The filling was just some sticky chocolate paste and the macaron itself was like a dry out old baked meringue. The rest of the TRIBE didn’t even try to eat the rest of the macarons, that’s how undesirable they were, I was so disappointed!
RED BEAN MOCHA GREEN TEA DRINK
This tea drink was flavourless, it was so diluted with water that we can hardly taste the flavour.
JAPANESE LYCHEE FLAVOURED BOTTLED WATER
It took a while for me to figure it out how to open this Japanese Lychee flavoured bottled water (cork, twist cap, bottle cap and canned version I can open with ease but a bottle with a marble on top?). I’ve even asked a couple of the attendants and most of them were clueless. For people who doesn’t know, you take off the protective plastic film, you turn the spout cap upside down and press firmly for the glass marble to drop halfway inside the neck of the bottle. The bottle concept I really like, but the taste was like you’re drinking the water that rinsed the jug where you kept your lychee juice.
TRIBE’S FOODIE VIEW: The customer service was good except the mains/dessert incident. The decor was very chic and modern. Would we go back? I would prefer to go to Hanaichi for my takeaway Japanese fix and Sumo City on the Broadway On the Mall for bentos. If they serve the Green Tea ice cream with the Red Bean Topping as a dessert, we would go just for that, as sadly that was the only highlight from our entire dinner. This was the only time were the TRIBE was hungry when we arrived home after eating out. I don’t know if I can convince Mr. H to try this shop again =(
Nothing beats a bento box! I usually get beef with tempura on side :) Love it!
ReplyDelete@Cleverpea ~ I agree with you totally, but this shop gets no stars from me in the food category=(
ReplyDeleteweh! the food looks awful. i don't like them at all. as much as i love reading your post i was actually eager to see your last sentence because it was an agony to read through it. i had a bad feeling when i saw the first picture. dodgy stuff!
ReplyDelete@ziggy ~ self inflicted agony! is what I call it. LOL! I was so blinded with those macarons, my common sense didn't kicked in and that giant inflatable cat was waving at me to come in...it was telling me "Come Cusinera, eat our tasteless food!"=P
ReplyDeleteThe only other place in Brissy that offers macarons is Choquette at New Farm...hear lots of nice things but personally haven't tasted theirs...i'm more interested in their baguettes...
ReplyDelete@D Beancounter ~ thanks for the tip, will drag Mr. H there soon=)
ReplyDeleteoh no, what a waste of hard-earned money...sorry to hear about your bad food/resto experience..at least you've warned your friends now.. :)
ReplyDeleteBummer this meal was bad all around. I can tell that curry was lumpy just from looking at it & how can you NOT miss that big chip on that dessert plate?! Unbelievable. Well, hopefully you find a good macaron to erase this one from your memory.
ReplyDeletecusinera, thank you. how nice of you to share your experiences with people who don't know where to start, or just scared to. i am putting you on my favourite list. i live at redbank plains. not far from you. thanks again my dear.
ReplyDelete@Olive~ I was a bit hesitant to post my first unlikeable eating out, but my itchy finger pushed the publish tab..hehehehe=)
ReplyDelete@Caroline~ Yes, definitely! Only a good macaron will erase this visit=)
@Anonymous~ You are so welcome, I had this debate with myself whether to publish this visit or not, I have to change the title of the post several times and decided not to include the establishment name but just include the hints in the pics. I'm so happy to get your comment, it gives me the assurance that this kind of post are useful...I got more to post on eating out here in Brisbane, if I can do it vocally it would be a breeze, but writing is my weakest link..LOL! I have to revise post 10x before posting it and still finds mistakes...
I thought that's applesauce. Wow it is lumpy! LOL
ReplyDeleteThe dessert plate look delicious!
ReplyDeleteThat drink isn't 'Lychee water' - it's 'Ramune'.
ReplyDeleteI used to have it all the time when I was young and so did my mother when she was young!
The taste is very distinct and probably very 'different' to Westerners. Personally I love it.
It has been around for a very long time in its distinct 'marble' packaging. :-)
@Kay~ I know the brand but usually I don't put the name brand if I don't 100% like the product to be fair with the company...at least if you google...R***ne, my review won't pop out on the first 10 top search. Actually to be accurate it is Lychee Flavoured Water (R***ne range are fizzy flavoured ones so I don't know if the one I've tasted suppose to be not fizzy). Will add the "Flavoured".....thanks for stopping by! Yes, I do agree people like them...actually my brother like this drinks but I have to get use to it or maybe even try other flavours and find a nicer one that I would particularly like=)
ReplyDelete