Jellyish, Brisbane

123 Eagle Street
Brisbane
QLD 4000

Jellyfish has a great location on the river in Brisbane and the covered outdoor set up makes the most of the location.

From inside you still get good views even on a showery overcast evening.

I visited with a couple of work colleagues and once we sat down the menu was explained to us, with the fresh fish and the style of cooking changing daily. There are also some 'regular' dishes.

We were offered an amuse-bouche triple cooked chips with a chilli mayo, which were crunchy outside and soft inside, nicely setting the tone for the meal.

The tempura soft shell crab with wasabi mayonnaise and spring onion had plenty of the visual wow factor, and seemed to be a winner.

I had the chilled local tiger prawns & avocado tian, crab and celery remoulade which didn't look bad either and was full of smooth textures. The combination of flavours was somehow reminiscent of '80s prawn cocktails in a very good way!

I requested my grilled yellow fin tuna with Japanese soy and wasabi rare, but it seemed more medium rare to me, but that wasn't a huge problem. The fish was fresh and nicely complimented by the dressing.

The sesame crumb coral bream was super fresh and moist and complimented nicely with the saffron mayo.

The citrus and dill looked good on the barramundi.

We shared a few sides including some fries, asian greens (not snapped) and a great roast pepper, corn and tomato salad.

The service was great throughout, friendly and efficient. The bill was around the $65 a head mark, which seemed like fair value given the quality of food on offer and the location.

View Foodscrazy restaurant map in a larger map

Pane e Vino, Brisbane

124 Albert Street
Brisbane
QLD 4000

I arrived in Brisbane in the early evening on a work trip, and chose Pane e Vino based on it's convenient location and good feedback on urbanspoon. The restaurant is on the corner of Charlotte and Albert streets in the same building as Gilhooleys.

Inside the decor was fairly basic with a cafe kind of feel. I scanned the menu, which had a range of salads, pasta dishes and mains, specials were up on the board.

I just had some 'Pane' to start, Italian Bread with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Unfortunately the bread plate was a little dirty the crust on the ciabatta had gone soft, the oil and balsamic serve was pretty small too.

The spaghetti 'alla Marinara' was a lot better, good prawns, calamari, mussels and octopus with a solid napoli sauce all working well together.

The service was quick and friendly, the bill was $31. If I find myself back in Brisbane, I wouldn't object to returning, but I won't be ordering the bread again.




View Foodscrazy restaurant map in a larger map

Marinades Indian Restaurant, Cairns

43 Spence Street,
Cairns,
Queensland 4870

We got to Cairns and used Urbanspoon to narrow down our hunt for where to eat. Marinades was in the top ten and we were in the mood for curries, so we headed towards Spence Street. We arrived to find a small grouping of 3 smart Indian eateries and headed in to our chosen venue.

Inside the smart wooden floor board and tables were complimented by Indian artifacts and pictures on the wall.

We were a little greedy and went for three main dishes. The Bagarela Baigan, an eggplant based dish from Hyderabad was a new one for us and we enjoyed the flavours. The chicken saag and Bengali fish curry were both also good.

Our naan also impressed.

Other than not getting any sauces or salads with our poppadoms the service and meal went really well. The bill came to just over $80, and Marinades is worth giving a try if you are in Cairns and after Indian food.

View Foodscrazy restaurant map in a larger map

Whet Restaurant, Cape Tribulation

1 Cape Tribulation Road
Cape Tribulation
Queensland 4873


Approaching on foot on the winding path from the road at night, Whet certainly feels like it is in the rain forest. The cafe, bar and Restaurant opened in 2007, set amongst beautiful and untouched tropical Daintree was busy on the Friday we visited.

Our table on the deck was almost within touching distance of the trees. Although we soon had some water it took us a while to order and then receive our drinks, probably due to a combination of the number of diners, some inexperienced staff, and at one stage a shortage of clean wine glasses!

We shared the Turkish pide with house made apple balsamic in olive oil with dukkah as an entree and it lived up to expectations.

The usual barramundi wasn't on the menu at Whet, as recent weather conditions resulted in the local fish not being of sufficient size or quality. In its absence I had the tempura battered wild local reef fish, chips, house-made tartare sauce and a topping of mini fries. The batter was crisp and the fish fresh.

The crispy skinned salmon was cooked to a perfect medium rare and served with asparagus, wilted spinach, a potato galette and a seeded mustard beurre blanc. The potato was the only disappointing component, being just a little too super thin.

The atmosphere and setting certainly sets Whet up well and the service was friendly if not particularly quick, but it is a great spot to  linger a little over a meal. The bill came to around $80 with a few drinks and we'd certainly head back for dinner if we were in the area again.

View Foodscrazy restaurant map in a larger map

Cape Tribulation Beach House Bitro

Cape Tribulation Road
Cape Tribulation
Queensland 4873

The bistro at the Cape Tribulation Beach House resort was another recommendation from the people running our accommodation. We probably wouldn't have it up the unmetalled road and then after parking, down the long track past the accommodation blocks in the dark rainforest to the bistro.

We found a table in the busy area, most of the space was on decking under a large awning with an open counter.

I had the snapper on a nicoise style salad. The skin was crispy and it was far better than the blurred photo...

We ordered a side of chips, which were almost too big!

The generous fillet of salmon came with a great herb crust.

Some of the staff were obviously new, which slowed things down a little, but it was still a nice spot to have a meal.

View Foodscrazy restaurant map in a larger map

Cafe on Sea, Thornton Beach

Cape Tribulation Road,
Thornton Beach,
Queensland 4873

Perched between the road from the Daintree River up to Cape Tribulation and Thornton Beach, Cafe on Sea lives up to its name in a very enviable location...

After a walk on to the beach we grabbed an outdoor table with an ocean view, and tried to keep away from the many deep fried options on the menu.

We ordered the Mezze plate to share for lunch, and it was a little smaller than we expected, and the quality of the fayre varied.

You wont find many locations to match this spot, its a beautiful, remote place place to stop. The food perhaps isn't as special, but its still worth a visit when passing.

View Foodscrazy restaurant map in a larger map

The Sand Bar

LOT 11 Cape Tribulation Road
Cape Tribulation
Queensland 4873

Cape Tribulation Camping has been around for nearly 10 years, and in 2011 “The Sand Bar” complete with wood fired pizza oven opened in what seemed to be the centre of the camping area.

Our accommodation recommended it as a good spot to get pizza and we decided to give it a try. Initially we found some bar stools near the counter, before ordering and then grabbing one of the outdoor picnic tables.

The table was near the wood fired oven, which seemed to be very active trying to supply plenty of hungry diners. The outdoor seat gave us plenty of opportunity to gaze skywards and we even observed a satellite passing overhead.

I had the cheese free vegetarian pizza topped with spinach, which was noticeably lighter and fresher than the margherita with added anchovies. Both the bases and all the toppings were good quality and well prepared.

 It took a while for us to get our pizza's but it was worth the wait. The Sand Bar isn't glamourous, but serves good food in an idyllic location.

View Foodscrazy restaurant map in a larger map

Port Douglas Surf Lifesaving Club

The Esplanade
Port Douglas
Queensland 4877

Right on 4 mile beach, the Port Douglas Surf Lifesaving Club, is situated away from the throng of Macrossan street.

The majority of the seating is set up on the terrace beneath the canopy, with views through the trees to the sand and coral sea.

There are separate counters for food and drinks, and the menu was up on the board as well as the printed versions.

We shares a serve of the Fish Taco's, accompanied by guacamole, salsa, nachos. They were a decent size and contained battered fish, faloursome sauce and coriander, a definite winner.

I had the cioppino or tomato based fish stew, filled with mussels, prawns, scallops and fish and topped with basil and served with bread and aioli.

The grilled reef fish with chips, rocket and tartar wasn't spectacular but delivered the goods.

The food came to around $60 and was pretty good value. It is certainly a good choice if you are keen on beach side dining.

View Foodscrazy restaurant map in a larger map

Star of Siam, Port Douglas

1/12 Macrossan Street
Port Douglas
QLD 4877

With its wide open doors and windows, eating 'inside' at  the Star of Siam doesn't feel to enclosed, in fact you still feel close to the action on Macrossan Street.

Inside there is a definite Thai them to the decor, from the pitched roof of the bar to the chair backs.

The menu offers several classic Thai dishes, plus some less common ones and house specialities.

We shared the fish cakes as an entree, which turned out to be a good plan as they were the largest Thai style examples I'd seen, the texture and flavour didn't suffer either.

The veggie and tofu green curry lived up to our expectations with a good kick of spiciness and  the other expected flavours.

The Banana fish or baked barramundi arrived wrapped in the leaf it had been cooked in.

 

Inside the whole fish was topped with picked garlic, coriander, sliced ginger, and a slightly odd mix of vegetables. The selection of mostly green veggies, along with the wrapping didn't show off or enhance the barramundi but underneath the fish was nicely cooked, however not much different to how we oven cook it at home.

The roti was thinner and crisper than expected, and not so good at soaking up the curry, but still enjoyable.

The meal came to $69 including corkage, it's BYO alcohol only. The service was fairly good although it slowed down a little as it got busier while we were there. Perhaps it would be best to stick to some of the more familiar dishes if dining at the Star of Siam, as the ones we had were good and I'd happily have again.

View Foodscrazy restaurant map in a larger map