Oriental Yum Cha, Fortitude Valley

I consider myself a pretty greedy person when it comes to food, so me hearing about any kind of buffet is like a kid hearing about Disneyland. I've been waiting for an all can eat yum cha for some time, so when Thoa mentioned Oriental yum cha was doing this, I didn't hesitate, not even for a second. 

We were seated and offered tea but food was yet to come around as they were still setting up, apparently twenty minutes after opening was still too early to arrive. We must of sat around for about 15 mins before trolleys came around so it really took time out of our 1hr seating time which they were very adamant about keeping. They however didn't seem to mind how many items you have on table at once though, so we made up for some lost time on the first trolley that came by.

Along with ordering classic favourites, we decided to try a few new things since it wasnt costing us any extra. Beef balls were a new discovery...not the good kind of discovery though. I have nothing to compare it to so i'm not sure what a good one is suppose to taste like, but what I can say is, as a dish in general, it was quite unpleasant to eat. Texture was gelatinous and slimey and tasted and looked like raw mince despite being cooked. I'm not sure i'm game enough to try that one again at a different place unless someone can tell me that I just had some dud ones.

Xiao long baos were okay. The broth along with pastry was average in flavour but we found the presentation to be annoying. We had a few mishaps with the pastry sticking to the silicon and no matter how careful we would be, it got a little bit messy.

The chicken feet was probably the stand out from this visit although not quite on the same standard as other places, but it was full of flavour and we both enjoyed it.We ordered a few other dishes too that we didn't take photos. Har Gow would be one of my favourite dumplings and i recall the pastry being super thick and dry and the fillings are minimal prawn. sui mais were pretty tough and dry and lack the usual flavours. We finished with some egg tarts and mango pudding; the former lacking flakiness in the pastry and the latter being overly sweet and tasting superficial. 

We stopped ordering at this point and were just finishing off dessert and tea, but we were gently reminded about 3 times by different wait staff that our time was up. There were a number of tables still empty with no new customers coming in, so it seemed a little unnecessary. I think the last girl noticed how uncomfortable she made us so she top up our tea before leaving, but nonetheless we didn't want to overstay our welcome so we scoffed down the rest of our egg tarts and got up to pay.

It set us 19.90 each and I was satisfied enough that I had every intention of coming back but since the, I've been to a few other yum cha since (old favourites and new ones), and really, you can eat all the yum cha you ca handle and it costs you a little over $20 anyway. not to mention that the food quality is better and you can sit for as long as you please.

Food: 5/10
Service: 4/10
atmosphere: 5/10
Value: 6/10

Overall 5

Little Sista, Coorparoo

In my constant search for a local cafe where I can be a regular at, I decided to try Little Sista. I've been here for coffee a long time ago with a friend and made a mental note that it might be worth coming back to for a proper meal. So on one fine day off, sleeping in well breakfast time, we decided to come here for their all day breakfast!

We sat outside in their patio area to soak in some sun. I often sit outside in the sun with my coffee on my days off and while on holidays so I thought the setting was relaxing and peaceful and felt like was away from Brisbane for a little while.

We started with a couple of coffees and after the many awful coffees we have had recently, we were looking forward to a cup of Campos. The espresso shot was extracted well but the milk texture could have been smoother.  The coffee wasn't bad, but it was nothing to write home about either.  I'm a Barista and a decent one at that, so my expectations are probably a little higher than my dining companions.

Our waitress was very quick and bubbly and ordering was done without a hitch. Jamie, being a growing man, ordered the biggest breakfast he could; the Big Sista breakfast which consisted of eggs, chorizo, mushroom, bacon, beans, tomatos and hasbrowns served with sourdough. 

I went with the little Sista breakfast, which wasn't all that little. I thought this was a pretty good option because you're given a few steps to build and customise your own meal. You get eggs your way on sourdough, followed by a meat option and two sides. I went for the greasy and hearty options of savoury mince, vegetable fritter and hash browns. 

The savoury mince was delicious, full of flavour and nice and saucy. The fritter from what i can recall (a fair few weeks have past since we were here) was primarily spiced pumpkin and deep fried. it was crispy around the edges but being quite oily and mushy, became sickening half way through. 

I thought it was a little pricey for breakfast coming in at $50 for two people but then again, that would be the average price in a trendy cafe these days. The quality is definitely worth it though, you wouldnt be able to get anything like this from any place with a big sign out front offering a $12 big breakfast...not in Brisbane anyway.

Food: 7/10

Service: 7/10

Atmosphere: 7/10

Value: 6/10

Overal: 6.5