Just thought I’d share some beautiful coffee art pictures that came through as an email today. It’s amazing what a barista can do with a toothpick and a bit of talent!
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A couple of weeks ago we decided to go to Zen chinese restaurant for my partners birthday.
Zen is located on the ground level of the casino tucked around a corner (past the Atrium bar) and it’s one of the best (or the best) restaurant in the casino. It’s a fine dining Chinese restaurant catering to the high rollers and brings a bit of class to the casino which underwent a massive refurbishment about a year ago.
Being a fine dining restaurant means the meals come with a high price tag so is it worth it?
We all had soups for starters - wonton and hot and sour soup. Both were around $9 each. I ordered a wonton soup and it was delicious - the dumplings hand made with a rich, dark broth.
For mains we ordered fillet beef with scallops and vegetables and macadamia nuts $33.50, eggplant with chilli and mince approx $18, chinese broccoli and oyster sauce approx $18 and special fried rice with hidden treasures approx $14.
Everyone loved the beef and scallops dish as the beef was tender and the scallops large. I was grateful that they removed the roe because I hate that part. The macadamia nuts also made it an extra classy dish.
The eggplant with chilli and mince was also wonderful and our friends had never tried this dish and they were impressed although they commented that it’s an oily dish. The oil is needed though to add flavour so I can’t criticise them on this point.
The chinese broccoli in my opinion was overpriced given that it’s only steamed with an oyster sauce over the top but the fried rice was faultless. The hidden treasures by the way are slices of Chinese sausage.
We went back to Zen a few weeks later to try out their $18.50 per person yum cha but were disappointed. It’s a set menu and they don’t bring around the trolleys. The set menu is generous but I prefer to choose what I want to eat and the whole fun of yum cha is choosing items off the trolleys.
Below are some pictures of our dinner meals. To write your own review click here!
Wonton Soup which was around $9
Hot and Sour Soup
At the front: Beef and scallops with macadamia nuts and vegetables $33.50, eggplant with chilli and mince approx $18. In the back: Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce approx $18 and fried rice with ‘hidden treasures’ approx $14
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Last Saturday morning we went to Bumble’s cafe in Budds Beach (in Surfers Paradise - it’s on the river front.)
This cute little cafe has been a big favourite of mine for many years. It opposite the river and it’s a popular spot with families as kids can swim in the river and it’s a nice quiet place to have a picnic.
Bumble’s serves amazing food and the cafe is always beautifully decorated with single flowers in used water bottles decorating the back shelf and decorative pebbles in concrete feature throughout.
It’s become quite a yuppie haunt and it can be very hard to grab a table but don’t be deterred. The breakfasts are wonderful and are city standard with top ingredients used. The service is fast, professional and friendly and the coffee is honestly one of the best I’ve had - they really know how to make a great cup.
If you haven’t been here before then definately visit for breakfast or lunch. They’re open till about 6pm during Summer.
If you’d like to post a review click here.
Where:
19 River Drv Surfers Paradise QLD 4217
Ph: (07) 5538 6668
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We went to the Oxenford Tavern last night to catch up with some friends. Apparently this used to be a bikie hangout but now this unassuming pub is more family friendly and has a kids playroom.
It’s a cosy, rustic feel pub and although it isn’t one of the biggest the food they serve up makes it one of the best. The meal prices are also very reasonable and averaged around $22. They also serve up some decent steaks and it’s nice to find a venue on the Gold Coast that has friendly smiling staff!
Our group ordered chicken parmagiana’s which were approx $17 (or is it parmigiana?), fish and chips and a vegetarian pizza which was $17.50.
Everyone was happy with their meals and the serving sizes were really huge. The parmagiana’s were chicken breast meat so they were tender with no fatty bits and the vegetarian pizza had fetta, sundried tomato and other veggies. I couldn’t get through all my pizza so I had to give a few slices away to the hungrier guys at our table.
The only gripes I had was that our table wasn’t wiped down after the previous customers had left and two of our mains came out about 10 minutes after the first two were delivered (they were ordered on seperate dockets but the couple who ordered after us received their meals first) although when we asked how long they’d be the waitress was prompt in getting straight back to us to say it was on it’s way out.
Recommended for a casual cheap dinner and it’s lovely in winter as they have a fireplace going. It’s a nice down to earth cosy pub.
Location: 179 Old Pacific Hwy, Oxenford. Ph: (07) 5573 1224
The chicken parmagiana
The vegetarian pizza
Fish and chips
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The Mudgeeraba Farmers Markets are on the 2nd and 4th Saturday of each month.
I’ve been only once before and personally I still prefer the Nerang farmers market which is held every Sunday as it has a bigger an more varied fruit and vegetable range. The plus side for the Mudgeeraba markets is that they have dips, breads and lots of cakes inside the green shed area.
These markets are located at the Mudgeeraba showground. They’re not the biggest farmers market on the Gold Coast but if you live locally it’s an easy market to get a free carpark at and less crowds means you can get in and out quickly.
They had a few breakfast type stalls there such as the profertje’s stall, a sausage stall and a bacon and egg roll stall (we each bought one.)
I also bought a large cup of sugar cane juice for $4.50. The cane sugar stall guy freshly crushed a couple of cane sugar sticks for me and he put a big chunk of ginger and some lemon slices in between the mulched cane sugar stick and ran it through the crushing machine again. He was telling me that he saw sugar cane juice stalls throughout India and decided to buy some machines to bring back to Australia but as they were manual machines he soon realised he needed to buy an automatic one because it was too tiring. The juice is a real sweet hit combined with a good ginger and lemon kick. Much better than coffee to get you going in the morning!
We all bought some fruit and vegetables and because we didn’t get there until late we managed to pick up a fair few bargains although next time I will try to get up earlier. I bought some taramosalata dip and turkish bread and some more avocado’s which were 3 for $3.
If you’ve also been to the Mudgeeraba Farmers Markets then let us know what you thought - click here.
Location: Mudgeeraba Showgrounds, Mudgeeraba. Ph: (07) 5525 3525
Some stalls at the Mudgeeraba Markets
The carpark area. Big storm clouds were starting to roll in.
One of the fruit and vege stalls
The sugar cane juice stall.
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