Funny Funny Res Pub

Funny Funny Res Pub

85 George St Brisbane City

2/5

I know I’ve been hitting up a lot of Korean places recently, but bear with me because there can’t be that many more left and my desire for chilli is surely on the wane.

 Funny Funny occupies the same place as the Lands Office Hotel used to be, on the corner of Mary and George streets, and as the name of the place suggests is a hybrid of pub and restaurant.

The place has, for a restaurant, a great funky setup; the gloss black walls are adorned with stylised white graffiti, contrasted by the pale wooden decor. Feeling almost like an edgier more hip-hop Madtongsan II which is probably its opposite more k-poppy outlet, which could perhaps be attributed to the pub aspect they’re going for. 

Like almost all of the Korean restaurants kicking around now, they have call buttons on the tables. However, an issue with the call buttons at Funny Funny is how loud they are; they make you feel like apologising every time you press one, compounding this is that even with the call buttons the service is slower than at other comparable establishments.

Food wise Funny Funny is alright, but it lacks anything that defines it especially from its competitors except for perhaps a general quality of tasting ever so slightly worse than its rivals. It’s not particularly cheaper than other Korean in Brisbane either and drinks are the same price as anywhere else at $6 each (for Cass or Hite) making it not a particularly appealing place to drink, although it does look like there are domestic Australian beers for cheaper than that. This obviously dampens my disposition in treating it like a pub and while there were a significant number of people there on the day in question, I feel that generally the bar/pub functions of the place are played down in favour of a more restaurant style menu, while unfortunately lacking a particularly strong restaurant aesthetic.

What is notable about the food is the serving size, with our order of Kimchi pancake being the size of a large serving plate, meaning we ended up ordering way too much food for the two of us, we also got “Nakgi Somyun” which was spicy octopus with noodles without realizing that it was also large enough to comfortably feed two people as well as a noodle soup that was a large single serving. In the face of this Everest-sized challenge, we proceeded to call in reinforcements to help finish off the mass of chilli and seafood that was present.

Overall, I think Funny Funny is alright and if you are up that end of town it’s an option, however, the other Korean options in this city are better, are comparatively priced and are probably worth the short walk to get to them.

Funny Funny is open lunch and dinner every day.

Our meals cost around ~$10-~$25 and the beers cost $6 each which at a place like this adds up quickly.

Thanks again to Theo for doing the editing of this review

Shabuhouse

Shabuhouse

Level 1 70 Mary St Brisbane

2.5/5

Shabuhouse has caught my eye for a while now, but with university obligations and a challenging living situation for the last few months I haven’t had the chance to try it out. I finally got a Friday free and after scrounging up a dining partner, it was the first place on my mind. Its promising premise was something I couldn’t ignore, being the voracious fan of hotpot that I am; always on the lookout for a new hotpot I haven’t eaten a dozen times before.

Shabuhouse has a great design; the heavy use of pine combined with fake potted plants gives it a fresh, clean appearance. The service, like many of the new Asian restaurants in this city, is great. Call bells on the table alert waiters and a particularity was their accommodation in serving outside their published hours (we ordered at around quarter past 3pm and their kitchen closes at 3pm).

As with all reviews, we must move onto the specifics, the Shabu Shabu (Wikipedia has more on Shabu-shabu), which is both disappointing and satisfying at the same time. The hotpots are served individually and surprisingly take very little of the excitement and energy out of the very social activity that hotpot is.

However, the shape of the pots used at Shabuhouse make the activity feel slightly cramped, there’s very little space to reach into the deep pots while trying to avoid being burnt.

Also disappointing was the use of frozen meat. In the scheme of things, being frozen or not makes very little difference, but the presentation of frozen meat makes you question its quality.

Other than those few complaints I could find little to whine about and thought the food was good, with the broth having the expected strong fishy flavour.

I will return to Shabuhouse very soon, partially because the love with illusion of place the decor creates for me, but also because it’s a cheap hotpot without having to go to Spring Hill (Bishamon in spring hill).

Shabuhouse is open Monday to Saturday for Lunch and Dinner.

Our meals cost $12.80 each for shabu shabu with beef. However, this is the lunch price and it is more expensive for dinner

Shabuhouse is BYO with a $2 per person corkage charge

Shabuhouse’s website is at http://www.shabuhouse.com.au

 

Thank-you to Theo for doing the editing. I'm pretty dreadful at editing my own work.

Ajisen Ramen

Ajisen Ramen

2/414 George St Brisbane

2/5

I was going to a friend’s gig down at tribal theatre on a Friday night and needed to eat something, I have been past this place several times before and thought that I would test it out sometime soon and this particular Friday night happened to be the night I had time and money. This was the second ramen place I had been in recent weeks with my first visit to taros only being a few weeks earlier so the memory of taros brilliant ramen hovered fresh in my memory.

Firstly Ajisen’s appearance is a lot better than taros cafe but then that wouldn’t be hard the only positive aesthetic about taros is the view from the deck eating area with everything else being quite practical and uninteresting. Ajisen ramen’s appearance on the other hand is quite detailed (nowhere near as well as Sono but better than most) the service was nice but because of my presence on the wall and the fact that I was eating by myself, meant that the wait for attention would usually be excessive.

The food was good; however in comparison to taros it was average but then again taros has exceptional ramen. Big differences between the two were that at taros the broth had a strong sweet flavour throughout even when only eating the noodle from chopsticks where at Ajisen the broth was barely present except when drinking it by itself. The noodles at Ajisen were soft and were more like instant noodles than ramen noodles elsewhere, which greatly disappointed me; the only recovering factor of the meal was the fact that I had an imported Kiran can next to my bowl. I wouldn’t return unless I was walking past the place and didn’t have the effort to cross town for taros.

Ajisen Ramen is open from 11:30am to 9pm most days

My meal cost $11.30 and my can of Kiran (500ml) cost $10

Their Website is http://ajisenramen.com.au/ 

Fiascos Steakhouse

 Fiascos Steakhouse

640 Stanley St Woolloongabba

2/5

I have always heard good things about the Morrison and their steaks. Pronouncements such as the best steak in Brisbane aren’t uncommon so I thought that it warranted a look. Using a couple hours I had free on a Tuesday, I went for lunch around 12 and naturally ordered the steak from the laminated one sheet menu.

The feel of the place is very similar to many pubs that had their restaurants renovated in the 2000s, making the place feel dreadfully commercial in nature instead of feeling like a pub. In fact, sitting in the dining area made me feel like I was in for another mediocre overcooked steak. The Morrison is also unfortunate in being surrounded by freeways and main roads, making a decent outdoor eating area nigh impossible. The service was alright, however, the staff felt more put out then enthusiastic and therefore as a lone diner my presence felt like a burden rather than a customer.

After what I believe was actually a relatively short wait, my steak came out (I was eating by myself and was not drinking therefore a minute felt like an eternity) a rib eye with far too many details to be a good steak (10 month aged, 30 month grain, etc.) with chips, salad and mushroom sauce. The steak was a decent piece of meat, however it was unfortunately cooked like I would end up doing it, over-cooked, especially on one side with the red centre being south of the equator. The chips copped the curse of peri-peri (why is peri-peri a big deal now? Chips with steak don’t need peri-peri seasoning.) but otherwise were fine and tasted like chips should. The salad tasted like a pub salad: 2 wedges of tomato, some purple onion, and a bag salad with vinegar drenching. Overall it was a pleasant lunch but I would not be singing its praises: it was almost exactly the same as any pub steak and therefore not worth going out of my or your way for.

Fiascos Steakhouse is open 12pm-10pm every day.

Their mains range from $20-$40 and average around $30.

Their drinks prices are about par for pubs which are on the cheaper end of the dining scale.

Their website is at http://www.morrisonhotel.com.au

El Torito

El Torito

146 Boundary St West End

3/5

El Torito has to have the honour of being the only Mexican place in town that isn’t fast food or rubbish; it does well in this regard and is all round a very good place to eat it’s also BYO including beer which is always a fantastic thing. It being the first Thursday in a while that I’ve had money to afford dinner meant that I had to go to dinner, so I called on some reliable friends for a meet at west end. It has been a few years since I last sat down at El Torito, last time I ate there the food was quite nice, but lacked a particular intangible that I can’t quite remember or determine. This time the stars lined up and the meal was fantastic.

The decor of El Torito is bright and energetic, it uses the long narrow space it has for a dining room effectively, it’s not a romantic dim private place it is an exciting, fun place with plenty of noise. The bright warm coloured walls covered in sombreros and pictures of Amerindians gives the place an electric feeling, that the food is bound to be exciting and generous. The service in El Torito is pretty regular, with the only way to be served being essentially demanding it; however they do get kudos from me for letting us stay for almost an hour after everyone else left.

Onto the most important of things, El Torito makes fantastic food; this place isn’t a suburban Tex-Mex place with 14 year olds in the kitchen, it’s a place that makes what tastes, feels and smells like genuine Mexican food (not being entirely melted cheese and oil). Our table had a few entrees and then a main each, the entrees all featured beans, which in hindsight was a genius decision considering they were all fantastic, the Beans Tostada has particularly stuck in my memory due to its great balance. Of the mains I only had the opportunity to try my own, which was a chorizo burrito and a friend’s which was the Tinga Poblana. Both of these dishes displayed an amazing level of balance and a great texture; however the lack of overwhelming defining flavours can make the meal feel boring to those uninterested in the combination of flavours.

 I would recommend El Torito to anyone especially to those who have negative views of Mexican restaurants due to the suburban monsters that ruin an entire cuisine for people.

El Torito is open for dinner most nights

Our entree’s cost $5-$10 and our mains cost ~$20 each.

El Torito is fully BYO with Corkage costing $2 per head

El Torito is Vegetarian Friendly.

Sono

Sono

Level 1 Tattersall’s building Cnr Queen & Edward

4/5

Tuna Sashimi

Sono is one of the best Japanese restaurants in Brisbane, which is also why it is one of the most expensive. With the triple threat of great food, exceptional service and amazing atmosphere, this restaurant almost gets the penultimate rating, and pretty much the only thing preventing that is personal preference. Much of my praise for Sakura on the south side of Brisbane has been equalled or bettered by Sono, which should be expected considering the price. Irrespective of the price Sono is one of the better places in town to have Japanese food with many benefits over the other restaurants Brisbane has to offer.

Two things Sono has in spades, Atmosphere and service. The atmosphere of the place is incredible, with a dining setup similar to many a place in Japan. Low set tables, cushions and the obligatory removal of shoes, grant the place an incredibly Japanese feel, if it weren’t for the loud words of English speakers you wouldn't think you were in Brisbane. The pine presence and predominance of square shapes gives the place a serene tranquil feeling. The perfection of presentation just adds miles to this pleasant dining experience. This is followed with the exceptional service with girls in kimonos hovering around at a sufficient distance for it not to be awkward and at the table at every moment you needed or wanted something; a dirty plate had never seen such an enemy.

Wagyu Tataki

The most important of all things is food though, and Sono excelled at it too, with all the dishes I consumed being of a very high quality. Beginning with the Wagyu Tataki that already had the exceptional qualities of Tataki. Even without the red bean sauce that added much to the flavour and created a truly fantastic experience. The Wagyu had a crisp outside with the soft and meaty inside with the mix of ever so slightly citrus giving life to the palate that recently had been continuously bored with basic food. Following this and a flask of fantastic sake was the tuna sashimi, which while fantastic was equal to the sashimi I had consumed at Sakura all that time ago, the only difference being the cuts of sashimi at Sono were thicker creating a different feeling. Lastly the main of the evening, being the Shabu-Shabu a dish I have eaten at several restaurants now and fantastic at all the restaurants I have eaten it the only disappointment being the lack of flavour held by the broth, however the quality and pleasantness of the dish continued to make my dining experience by far a very enjoyable one.

Shabu Shabu Ingredients

I would return to Sono if only for the atmosphere, let alone the fantastic food and drink, the only real complaint I could have is the price makes things add up quickly with a dinner for three with drinks costing 250 dollars on this night. However regardless of the expense I would recommend Sono in Brisbane city to anyone with deep pockets and a desire to feel like they are in Japan.

The price of our Shabu-shabu was $43 pp with the tuna sashimi costing $20 and the Wagyu Tataki being $18

Many drinks are available with draft Sapporo being $9.5 a mug, Shochu being $8 and upwards and sake being approx $20 and up for a 180 ml half flask

There are vegetarian options at Sono

Sono has a Website at http://www.sonorestaurant.com.au

06/06/2011 Update

Hey sorry guys I haven’t been posting much for a few months my international trip took it out of me (“It” being money). So I haven’t been to dinner much and not to new places. But I have been eating fast food and stuff so I’ll take a moment to fill in some of the places I’ve been eating lately.

MOS Burger

Sunnybank Plaza

This new store in a new country for the Japanese burger chain, is actually quite good, I ate MOS burger while in Japan and thought it was disgusting. However the two MOS burgers I have eaten over at Sunnybank have been great messy pleasure, the glassware for dine-ins is a great touch and the whole thing feels bright and enjoyable, just a warning though do not take the burger out of the wrapper or you will need a new shirt. I’ve made the pilgrimage to Sunnybank twice; it’s actually not that far.

AJ’s Noodle House

Charlotte St Cbd

I’ve known about this one for a while but haven’t been there before recently due to the fact that both Kadoya and Madtongsan are about 5 metres away. The main problem this place has is that everyone else has caught on and knows they make a cheap Pho meaning if you want to eat there you have to be first or at an unusual time of day, the food is good for about $8, but you’ll probably still see me round the corner at Kadoya or Madtongsan.

Flying Fish

Indooroopilly

My local fish and chip shop of recently, this place became a favourite when I decided I was sick of tipplers and the rush to get there before it closed. While I haven’t eaten any fish in the dozen or so times I’ve been there I have eaten a lot of hamburgers which for a fish and chip shop have been good, the prices are really quite good too with a hamburger meal (a serve of chips and a can of coke) being $8.50. The fact that they are open till 8-9 each night is great as is the obvious family run vibe of the place. Feels like a classic Australian fish and chip shop.

I’ll be going to dinner either later this week or at some point next week, if you would like to come email me at coolbrisbannia@gmail.com or rsvp to the facebook event