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HOT: Black Forrest German Cafe Restaurant – 196 Gladstone Rd, Highgate Hill

There’s something extremely satisfying about a stein of authentic German beer accompanied by a kransky in a doughy bun and now that I know about Black Forrest, there’s no reason to wait ‘til October fest.

Although I quite enjoy it, German fair would not be my pick of venues for a Saturday night dinner with friends or family, but MM’s side of the family used to live just round the corner from Black Forrest and thought it might nice to head back to their old stomping ground.

The bustling cafe was packed full of smiling punters and it was great to see mostly German nationals running the show (in traditional German costumes too).

Typical of a German venue, the beer menu was just as extensive as the food menu and I had a tough time deciding which cool ale to choose.  Three or four Lowenbrau’s later…..

The Black Forrest menu was full of schnitzel options, sauerkraut-accompanied melees of sausages, meet upon meet with more meet and sauerkraut, and of course pork any way you like.  There were varied options at our table of 8, below is a selection of these – note how huge the dish sizes are, I don’t think a single one of us managed to get through our meal.

Jaegerschnitzel ($28.90), pork schnitzel with champignons, onion, white wine, tomato paste, bacon, sour cream and home made spaetzle (noodles).

Nuernberger Rosbratwuerstchen ($27.90), Sausages originating from Nuernberg with sauerkraut and mashed potato.

Holzfaeller Steak ($29.50), wood cutters steak marinated in olive oil and red wine for 24hours served with brandy sauce and spaetzle.

Muenchener Schweinshaxe ($31.90), oven roasted pork hock with sauerkraut and Bavarian dumplings.

Black Forrest boasts to have the most authentic German meals in Brisbane with specialist dishes that you won’t even find outside of Bavaria and Munich.  I’ve not done the rounds of other German venues to find out, but we did thoroughly enjoy our meals and the overall experience.  There was even some entertainment by way of the wandering piano accordionist who even took requests towards the end of the night. 

• Black Forrest German Cafe Restaurant – 196 Gladstone Rd, Highgate Hill +61 7 3217 2180

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NOT: Little Singapore – 42 Charlotte St, Brisbane

MM and his cronies seem to know all the go-to spots around the city where you can find quick, cheap and tasty lunch time meals and they constantly badger me to try them out for the purposes of the HOT or NOT readership, as well as to satisfy my own love affair with food.   Little Singapore has been mentioned several times, namely for its quick service and great price tag, so I rallied some troops together for a mid-week, midday feed recently – unfortunately we weren’t too impressed.

 Little Singapore was bustling upon our arrival and we were lucky that JPC had arrived a little earlier to jag a table.  First impressions were pretty good really; there was a mix of clientele with some large, rowdy tables of 6 or more making it an occasion, down to tables for two on a quick mission.

 The large, laminated menu had so many good looking options and what I liked about it was they didn’t really give a description of what the dish was – it had an authentic name and a photo of the end result; so we had to go with gut instincts which gave it an element of danger yet excitement (scary for someone like me who is notoriously bad with menu choices).

 The three of us made our selections and I joined the queue at the counter to order.  A few minutes later I was back at the table, waiting with bated breath for our meals to arrive.  We were surrounded by tables with large portions of steaming noodle and curry dishes – with nothing over $14 on the menu it was clear this is a value for money experience.  However, as we waited 10, 15, 20 and finally 30 minutes for our meals (watching people who ordered after us cleaning their plates with their Roti) our first impressions had fizzled.

 We had to ask several times for our meals and it was clear they had forgotten our order, yet none of the Little Singapore wait staff bothered to acknowledge this and were quite abrupt with us when we requested they check with the kitchen.  When the meals finally arrived (not together, but 5 minutes apart) our hungers had somewhat diminished and it was almost time to get back to the office.

 We quickly scoffed our meals and to their credit the dishes were very tasty.  Princess’ black bean beef ($10.50) was flavoursome, packed full of meet (a tad on the fatty side) and vegies as well.

 JPC’s char kway teow ($11.50) was a delicious, smoky dish of chicken with fat egg noodles in a soy based sauce.

 I chose the BBQ pork and roast duck with rice ($13.90); the pork was a little on the dry side but the flavour was spot on and the duck was mouth-wateringly fatty and roasted in a delicious (what seemed like) plum based sauce.

We all shared a roti planta plate ($9.50) of sweet flat bread with dahl and mixed vegies which was perfect for mopping up any left overs.

Needless to say, the food and price are both winners at Little Singapore so I’ll no doubt be returning to give them a second chance.  I suspect that on this visit we were unlucky; but the overall experience on this occasion definitely warranted the NOT Little Singapore has been given.

• Little Singapore – 42 Charlotte St, Brisbane, +61 7 3211 1177

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HOT: Two Small Rooms – 517 Milton Rd, Toowong

My hard working colleagues were looking for something a little more cultured than the standard Friday pub lunch recently and in celebration of CB’s birthday we turned it up a notch by booking a table at Two Small Rooms. 

Better suited perhaps as a romantic venue for two than a Friday lunch for the office crew, Two Small Rooms is a deliciously quaint, fine dining restaurant that most people on the west side of Brisbane would know of.  I’ve been driving past it most days since I was 10 years old and only recently have I had the pleasure of dining there.  It’s actually about 2 and a half rooms by the way…

Whilst there is an a la carte menu on offer in this French influenced venue, we opted for the value-for-money option of the Two Small Rooms set lunch menu for $40 per head, which included an entree, main and dessert each. 

Each course had a selection of 3 dishes to choose from, all of which sounded well rounded and appetizing.  For entrees, the majority of our table chose the Barramundi fish cakes, but being the black sheep of the group I opted for the pork belly with cauliflower puree and apple salad.

I’m not fussed on things that are crumbed or fried, but these fish cakes were very lightly crumbed and fried and plump full of fresh Barramundi in a herbed and creamy white sauce.  My pork belly was cooked well with a nice thin, crispy layer of crackling.  It was resting in a thin gravy as well as a cauliflower puree – both very subtle but complimentary with the pork.

For mains there was a choice of sirloin and shoe string fries, mushroom linguini or sand crab omelette.  Upon recommendation by the waiter, CB and I both decided the crab omelette was a winner and a first time for both of us.  The omelette was in essence a great dish however it was a little on the skinny side and over-salted for my liking.  It was drizzled in balsamic and accompanied with some greenery which all worked well together.

The mushroom linguini was to my right and I managed to sneak a taste; the linguini was perfect with an abundance of mushrooms in a light yet flavoursome cream sauce.  Like the omelette, it was also a little on the small side size wise (sorry, no pic for this one).  The sirloin and shoe string fries took the remaining two places at our table. The meat was cooked as requested and beautifully juicy and tender and the accompanying fries were (too) more-ish.    

For me the stand out course from the Two Small Rooms set lunch menu was dessert.  A selection of ice creams and sorbets was my pick and they didn’t disappoint – one scoop of caramel, one of yoghurt sorbet and a berry sorbet scoop.  All accompanied with a few juicy strawberries and a shard of waffle cone.  Yum!

Princess chose the cheese platter with quince paste and apple, which she thoroughly enjoyed, but I suspect she had a touch of the green eyed monster when the Eton mess (the third dessert alternative) arrived at the table – a big creamy mess of berries, meringue, red wine jelly, cream and ice cream with piles of sugar stirred through.  Double yum.

The courteous and prompt service at Two Small Rooms is worth noting, however the lunch time vibe felt a little hasty and lack lustre.  Perhaps it was because we were a table of 5 in a room that looked better suited to star crossed lovers, gazing at each other over flickering candle light.  I’d like to sample the ambience (and the delicious menu) on a Friday night with my Mr Right and see how it feels; I have no doubt it would be perfectly perfect.

• Two Small Rooms – 517 Milton Rd, Toowong +61 7 3371 5251

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