Public Restaurant Brisbane

Pork belly accompanied by apple.

The first time I noticed the term "KFD", I was so slow witted that I did not even think of Kentucky Fried.   That was because this is on the menu of the Public, a rather ambient dining and watering hole at the quiet end of George Street , as far away from the Treasury Casino as you can get.   Located up an escalator, the Public is on the first floor, exudes suggestions of a private club with just the right level of subdued lighting.  I can see groups at tables perhaps seeking refuge from the world after a long day  - business colleagues, middle aged mates, huddles of women, couples and families.

Oh yes, back to KFD and this Public version of deep fried and spicy battered duck.   Duck dishes are my weakness I admit, but I was distracted then by other interesting offerings in the menu that evening.  Spatchcock - yes.    Belly pork - a definite YES!    Cocktails - oh ya. The drinks list is generous  - a potential and actual place for business gatherings.

Scallops with bacon.

We started with relaxing drinks, I chose the low glass Malabar Crush, with hints of spices and getting into a comfy zone. The best refresher is perhaps the Cucumber Collins.    The strongest offering is possibly the Charred Monk, with a foundation of Dom Benedictine,  La Goya sherry and Bowmore's, then tempered with a twist of Jerry Thomas bitters.   The Public Nuisance may appear light in spirit, with Elderflower, strawberry, cucumber and sparkling wine, but do not forget there is gin.   On an interesting note, there is egg white in A Parting Gift, which is also graced by Amaro Nonino, Bourbon and peached tea.

And you can have your Pina Colada too.....

For food starters,  I recommend the south east Asian spinach (Kangkong) served with worms, if it is still available;  the Emu Tartare with mustard and the duck egg, runny served on toast and enhanced with truffle.

The Treasury Building, walkable from the Brisbane River but on the other side from the South Bank. (photo below)
Entree salads (Photo above)

The cuisine style here can be baffling to pin down.   It suggests inspirations from various cooking traditions, some fusion and definitely making use of the best Aussie ingredients.
In conversation with staff, one of them perhaps summed it up best - "a bit of everything, the best of each".     Therein to me lies the attractiveness of its menu - it can surprise, it can be relied upon and it can be different.


Five of us at the table were provided generous serves of dishes requested, with even the sides in large portions!  I did find the pork crackling rather light coloured but not oily at all.The Cous Cous Chickpea, drizzled with lime, was an appetiser all right.   Scallops are best prepared in my view in French, Cantonese and Tasmanian styles  - that evening we had scallops served with bacon, which combines the contrasts of delicate seafood tastes with the traditional breakfast crispy crunch.


Staff service is attentive and we soon mellowed into the night.   A rather late evening as well.  This is a place with no rush though for dinner time  - and the set pace by Public makes your evening.  The best of sea and turf is exemplified by just one offering from Public - that of Chorizo served with octopus and potato.  Isn't it remarkable, I initially thought, of such a combination?   The strong bite of a preserved sausage is taken with the rather different texture of the seafood.   The potatoes are though, like those served with fish in the European style.


Oh yes, the spatchcock met beyond my expectation..  It came out well cut, with a juicy bite and wholesome outcome on my palate.   Apple slices tempered a meaty sensation but then it was garnished with sesame as well.   The pork belly appeared with traditional garnishing  of cherry and apple, making me feel it was already Christmas night.    Both meat dishes struck me as having the right level of succulence, presentation and uplifting enhancing sides.

Making use of seasonal and sustainable sourced ingredients and supplies does show out in the food, apart from the craft and culinary styles practised in the kitchen.   Framed coloured drawings of creatures that are on the menu grace the walls like in traditional hunting lodges, but the hipster element still comes through with bare concrete floors, Scandinavian themed timber chairs and tiled walls.








Public Restaurant  visited is located at 400 George Street, Brisbane, Queensland, near the corner with Turbot Street.
It was awarded One Chef's Hat in 2016.

Opening hours are from 1130am to 11pm every week day and from 5pm to 11pm on Saturdays.  Closed on Sundays.
Contact +617  3210  2288


My impressions of Public in Brisbane are:

Ambiance:  4 out of 5
Culinary: 4 out of 5
Staff Engagement: 4 out of 5
X Factor: 4 out of 5
Overall:  4 out of 5






 

Sushi Hotaru Galleries Victoria Sydney NSW

At the same time, there are lunchtime crowds both inside and waiting outside the restaurant Hotaru.  The staff are in traditional garb, the walls are made up to reflect an ambiance of being in an authentic sushi bar back in the old country.   The sushi train goes a long way and you can see the preparation of raw fish, seaweed rolls and more.  

Do they still maintain the quality of the ingredients?  Has a high level demand, especially at meal times, led to the abandonment of previous practices?  Do you feel okay seemingly squashed seated beside a stranger on one side?  More importantly, what does it still taste like when picked up by chopsticks into our mouths?   The buzz about the place does raise expectations.

There are small tables for two persons apart from being seated along the sushi train counter.   The price of each plate taken has gone up a nudge to $3.30 from the previous $3.  Again, are sushi train bars the approximate equivalent to Japanese fast food?   Or should they be recognised in their own right as another genre of Japanese cuisine?

My soft shell crab rolls that day were not totally fresh on the palate. Salmon was lovely but I dared not touch the Karaage chicken after advice from mates.  I cannot resist avocado rolls but could not find my other favourite, California rolls, on the same day.   There is  a buzz in this place and it is not just noise and chatter.   The bright orangey coloured roe are still delicately poised on sushi items.

Service to me was all right, especially in their efforts to find seats for us, but one must initiate contact when a meal is finished for the plate count.   Food and drinks ordered on the IPad in front of each diner seems to arrive on a timely basis for most.   The train does not go too fast, allowing for remaking decisions on missed plates.  

The Sushi Hotaru visited is located on level 2 of the Galleries Victoria, 500 George Street in Sydney CBD and can be accessed from Town Hall Station.
Sushi Hotaru is operated by the YES Food Group, which has businesses in Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur, Queensland and Sydney.  Their related operations include Poporo, Takumi, Ramen Kan, Izakaya Wagaya and Yakiniku Gyuzo.

Opening hours are from 1130am to 9pm every day.
Contact +612  9264 9917

My impressions of the Sushi Hotaru are that its advantageous location helps to attract custom.  I did find the preparations have some inconsistency in quality, depending on what you order.    It can be fun to go in groups but one must be realistic about catering for large groups all sitting down at any one time. 




 

Encouraging Your Child - the Signposts

It is helpful during childhood, when parents do send consistent and backed up signals, measures and actions to their children that there are penalties for breaking rules which have been already and clearly articulated upfront.   It allows the child to demarcate parameters within which are acceptable and encouraged behaviours - and beyond which are no-nos with reasons and consequences.

Concurrent with rules, allowing your child to grow meaningfully is also to give them choices - and for them to realise that there is personal responsibility behind such freedoms.   Freedom when put into a context becomes more valued.

The world out there can be changed for the better - and parents demonstrate this to their children, not just talk about it.   Just the act of visualising various future scenarios can plant the seed in a child's imagination, passion and motivation.

Nurture your children to have a strong sense, reason and capability to not disappoint their parents.   There can be a healthy pressure that optimises a balanced level of effort and ingenuity initiated by a child.

Parents, who do not depend wholly on teachers and outsiders to help their children grow - in all aspects, in the heart, in supporting ethics, in embracing diversity, in shaping attitudes and in intellect - take effort to spend time and activity with their children.

Parents cannot set a child's personal aims, but can provide an enabling home culture of encouraging a mindset that things can be achieved.   Parents, who are seen working out issues, who overcome the consequences of mistakes made, who persist despite every day odds and who place priority on what is long lasting, can make many positive impacts on children, who will remember such behaviour and instinctively add these features to their own lives.


I reckon that you do not have to be a recent immigrant, a super intelligent person or have a burden of having experienced something severe, to motivate your child.    They look upon you, directly or indirectly, instinctively or guided, to help themselves form their own personality, strength of character and unique tools to successfully determine their world. 

Allow your children to best shape their own destiny.   In doing so, surround them with tools, not just mechanical and financial ones, but those that are also emotive, soul building and more reliable.

Madang Korean BBQ Restaurant Sydney NSW

I have had potato noodles, pancakes, marinated meats grilling in front of me and delightful dessert concoctions in the various Korean restaurants and cafes across greater Sydney.   Oh yes, I have blocked out the karaoke sessions, bar drinks and yet others more from years gone by.

And yet I have not been to the Madang along Sydney's Pitt Street.....what some others refer to as Koreatown!   Madang here has nothing to do with Papua New Guinea, as diggers from the Korea front know, but is a Korean term for an inner courtyard in a traditional Korean house set up, and which welcomes gatherings and meet-ups.

By hook or crook, no matter how quick a drop by, my mind was set to at least to grab a dish for a quick lunch on a working day.  Alas, the lunch menu was more limited when placed against my expectations, but never mind, let's go for it, all of us!   What would be a dish to test the place, what would be subtle yet providing taste - yet I went against all my initial principles when I saw the spicy seafood soup listed.

I was clear in my mind that it would not be a south-east Asian laksa, nor a French Bouillabaisse, and definitely not a clam chowder.   What was it?  The photo on the menu showed a rather empty bowl of orange looking soup - where were the sea creatures? 

There they were, mostly submerged behind a rather spicy hot dish, mainly several mussels on their shells, with some squid swimming nearby.  The noodles look hand made, but there was just too much water hanging around.

The saving grace was my face entree samplings of pickles, small eats and testers meant to warm up the palate. 

Madang has a reputation for late night availability, so that is my next strategy.  Yet others warn me about the queues that occur, a small price to pay for a city centre that gets more lively in the wee hours and which to has to still catch up with other world cities as to the vibrancy of night life.

Madang visited is located at 371A Pitt Street, Sydney NSW.
No reservations accepted.
Opening hours are from 1130am to 2am every day.
Contact +612 9264 7010





 

Black Star Pastry Kinokinuya Bookshop Galleries Victoria Sydney NSW

The new kid on the block has arrived, oh well, for a few weeks by now.

Apparently thousands of slices of the iconic watermelon and strawberry cake slices are shelled out every day across Sydney.   Now comes the new baby, with luscious and plump lychee yum yums resting on top of a multi-layered concoction, accompanied by the stronger flavours of raspberries.    Both fruits, one tropical and the other temperate, seem to symbolise Australia, where Asian meets up with Caucasian, all in a sea of ethnic diversity. 

Lychee has  a more subtle juiciness, but has its unique taste, by which the risks of it being over come by stronger and more acidic bites can occur.   This does not happen here, although raspberries are sweeter, but they do have more character.  So the choice of both toppings ends in a win win situation.   They look pretty as well, the neutral look of lychee being set off by the flamboyant raspberries.

I do find the layers of this creation interesting, with different sensations from the soft and hard options built for you.   Biting into the choc zone, I did think of dryness and had a flashing thought of the rather flexible bite from the watermelon-strawberry slice.   When I composed myself, I concluded that it is good to have a different make up, to provide contrast in texture.

The new kid costs more per slice and it will be interesting to watch the unavoidable comparison between the two royal siblings.






The Black Star Pastry visited is located at the Kinokinuya Book Store, George Street, Sydney NSW.   This is at level 3 of Galleries Victoria, accessible from Town Hall Station.

Opening hours are from  10am to 630pm every day, except for Thursdays and Sundays.  On Thursdays the opening hours are from 10am to 9pm.  On Sundays the cafe is open from 11am to 6pm.
Contact +61 2 9557 8656