Little Singapore - Charlotte St, Brisbane

Our first visit to Little Singapore was for Sunday lunch on Valentine's Day. Things started out well. We were seated pretty much as soon as we arrived.





First impressions were really good. The restaurant felt spacious. The decor was very tastefully done. The menu was a sight to behold boasting a number of dishes I've never seen in similar restaurants around Brisbane.




I purposely did not bring my camera that day. All I wanted was to enjoy the food and worry about the photos on a highly probable follow up visit.





As it was our first time we wanted to concentrate on our all time family favourites. I wanted to get popiah (Singapore style fresh spring rolls) for entree but apparently it wasn't available. We settled for Roti Canai instead and weren't disappointed. For mains we ordered Hainan Chicken Rice, Fried Chicken Kapitan, Hokkien Mee and Char Kway Teow.




One thing I really appreciate was how generous the servings were. Might not be enough for two regular sized adults but sure is plenty for one.





All in all it was good but not really memorable.





We gave them another go a couple of weeks later with my parents in tow. Again, we started with Roti Canai and some spring rolls. Kiko was pretty disappointed with his chicken rice the last time so he decided to go for the Yeong Chow Fried Rice instead. My girls shared Hokkien Mee once again, mom had Seafood Hor Fun, dad ordered BBQ Pork and Roast Duck Rice, and I had their Curry Laksa.





Another filling lunch but like the last time pretty ordinary. The laksa was especially forgettable.

When I visit a Singaporean restaurant what I'm really after is a flavour explosion courtesy of Nonya style dishes distinct to the cuisine of this island nation. And that's probably why I'm somewhat dissatisfied with Little Singapore. Their dishes were good but lacked the oomph. The spices seemed to have been mellowed to the point of blandness. I had to ask for extra sambal just to get that spice hit I'm looking for and still didn't quite get there. Their sambal was indicative of the rest of the dishes - more sweet than spicy.






This restaurant has got a lot going for it - central and convenient location, spacious and stylishly decorated premises, generous servings of a wide selection of dishes, and very reasonable pricing. Unfortunately though, I believe they have to work on their flavour department.




One last thing, on both occasions we felt like we had to beg the staff to break a smile. It's a relatively modern Asian restaurant run by a fairly young staff. It wouldn't cost much to show your teeth from time to time.

Cheap Eats – HiMaWaRi Tea Room

HiMaWaRi Tea Room
Shop 24-25, Elizabeth Arcade
99 Elizabeth Street, Brisbane
Phone (07) 3210 0784

As a newly employed graduate beancounter (in the late 90’s) I was always in the search for “value meals” and I’m not referring to the McDonald’s kind.

Tempura Udon

I am fortunate to live in a city populated by a lot of university students who are after the same “value” as me. Brisbane, unsurprisingly, has got a wide range eateries (apart from the prolific burger joints) that cater to the budget conscious demographic.

Yakisoba Omelette

Naturally, for an Asian like me, rice wins hands down over any other type of meal in the full satisfaction category. I used to dismiss non-rice meals as merely snacks and therefore insufficient. My exposure to other cuisines has changed this…slightly.

Yakisoba Omelette 2

HiMaWaRi Tea Room ticks all the right boxes in what I am looking for. Not only are they real value for money their food also have got that feel and taste of authenticity. Their mainly Japanese crew, both in and out of the kitchen, have got a lot to do with it. Meals are nicely presented in what look like traditional Japanese bowls and bento boxes.

Chicken Karaage

Our family favourites at HiMaWaRi include chicken karaage, tempura udon, yakisoba omelette and agedashi tofu (all of which they do really well). Mains start at $9. You now have an option to add $2 to your main meal for a side of noodles, chicken karaage or agedashi tofu.

Fresh Tomato & Mushroom Salad

HiMaWaRi is located at the Elizabeth Arcade (destination for cutting edge fashion and all sorts of Asian kitsch). They’re open Mondays to Saturdays from 11am.

Trang, West End

I love Vietnamese cuisine. I like the balance they have in their dishes. Fresh herbs and salad go together with rich soups and stews. But there’s a lot more to the Vietnamese gastronomy that I’m yet to explore. The rest would just have to wait when I get the opportunity to visit the country itself. For now I’m limited by restaurant offerings.

I Love Food Awards finalist

Whenever I get a hankering (7 days a week that is) for Vietnamese food I only go to one place, Trang at Brisbane’s West End. Among all the Vietnamese restaurants I’ve tried Trang stands out for several reasons:

Bun Bo Hue (Spicy Beef & Pork Soup)

1. Food is delicious & consistent

We tend to order almost always the same menu items. Naturally, we expect the food to taste like the last time. Otherwise, we might as well select something else.

It annoys me a whole lot when a dish tastes different from one day to the next depending on who’s manning the restaurant. This is never an issue at Trang where food is consistently delicious.

the classic pho (beef soup)

2. Food is authentic

A Vietnamese friend introduced me to Trang. That says a lot about the authenticity of the food on offer. You don’t get a “watered-down” version which is pretty commonplace in Australia.

com chien (fried rice)

3. Family Friendly

With four kids in tow it’s quite a challenge to find a restaurant where one feels “welcome”. Trang has established itself as a “family-friendly” restaurant where everyone goes away satisfied.

mi ga chien don (crispy fried chicken noodle soup)

4. Warm and friendly service

The staff are friendly but not in your face. As “regulars” we’ve done away with the menu as the staff know exactly what we want.

sam bo luong (mixed drink)

5. Price is reasonable

To top it all Trang’s prices are exceptionally reasonable. They’ve recently pushed them up but for what you get you’ll be willing to fork out more. A satisfying bowl of pho, for example, will still only set you back less than $10.

kem chien (deep fried ice-cream)

My original intention was to include Trang in my “cheap eats” series. But that would be doing them a disservice.

Cheap Eats – Laksa Hut

51 Sherwood Road
Toowong, QLD 4066
Speciality: Laksa

You’ve heard the old adage “do not judge a book by its cover”. It’s fairly true with a lot of my favourite eateries. They are sometimes literally “hole in the wall” operations. But the look of premises betrays little about the glorious food that is on offer.

Laksa Hut is a good example of such. The signage was obviously done on a very limited budget (it looks hand painted – and I do not mean that as a compliment). There’s very little décor to speak of. Basic white crockery was probably too minimalist for them (an eclectic mix of tableware was more their thing…Hello Kitty plastic spoons, etc). And so on and so forth… but the food is good and that’s what matters!

Laksa Hut almost did not make it on my list of cheap eats. You see, a cheap (but not nasty) meal for me should cost less than $10.00. But Laksa Hut recently pushed up their prices by a $1.00. The cheapest laksa on their menu now costs $10.50.

I’m no laksa expert. All I know is how I want my laksa. And Laksa Hut do theirs pretty close to my idea of a good laksa. My Singaporean friends concur with this. The laksa here, according to them, is very similar to what they get back home.


I always order the Roast Pork Laksa but they offer a whole range, from vegetarian to roast duck. It always comes steaming hot, chockfull of the ingredients you would expect and with just the right amount of spiciness!

Laksa Hut can push up their prices a bit more (they might actually do as another unwanted effect of the GFC). I might complain a bit but I know I’ll be back.

Cheap Eats - Jackpot Noodles

I’ll be doing a series on “cheap eats” in Brisbane starting with this one – Jackpot Noodles.

Jackpot Noodles began as a noodle bar mainly catering to city students and workers on a tight budget. They offer cheap, quick but satisfying meals.

During its infancy the restaurant had a very limited menu. It specialised mainly in Beef Brisket and Wonton noodle soups. They have since grown. They moved to bigger premises and added 2 other branches around the CBD. Together with this expansion was the addition of typical Chinese meals (read: Sweet & Sour Pork, Lemon Chicken, etc) to its menu.

Unfortunately, they also jacked up the price of their meals. What used to be $4.00 bowl of noodles will now set you back $5.60. That’s a 40% increase in price (I can’t help it, I’m an accountant)!

That might be the case but Jackpot Noodles still remain one of the cheapest in Brisbane.

I think the name is quite apt for what the restaurant represents. You won’t exactly feel like you won a million dollars when you visit them but you’ll certainly feel like you got your money’s worth and more.