Saturday 2 December 2017

Molly Adventures Part 2 (Brisbane)

After a morning of museums and galleries, we were ready for some lunch! There are a lot of vegan options at South Bank these days, and we decided to go and try Tipplers Tap, a bar that recently added a range of vegan options to their menu. We shared a basket of Beer Battered Fries with vegan aioli, which were crunchy and creamy. Molly got a vegan chicken burger, which she really liked, and I had a Chicago Dog (minus the hot pepper). It was a nice lunch and is a fun place to check out if you are nearby.

Fries with Vegan Aioli at Tippler's Tap


Vegan Chicken Burger at Tippler's Tap


Vegan Chicago Dog at Tippler's Tap


After lunch, we strolled back through South Bank along the river. Brisbane, you are alright!

Brisbane


Come dinner time we were of course hungry again, so we went with my parents to local favourite Pu Kwong (see my other visits here). We ordered a bunch of food to share, including my two favourite starters - Steamed BBQ Buns and my beloved Bean Curd Rolls.

Steamed BBQ Buns at Pu Kwong


Bean Curd Rolls at Pu Kwong


For mains we shared some Tofu and Combination Mushrooms (my pick), Salt and Pepper Tofu (Molly's pick), Sizzling Mongolian Lamb (mum's pick), Chicken in Szechuan Sauce (Dad's pick, I did not eat this because spicy!!), and of course some Chinese Greens in Ginger Sauce (because vegetables!).

Tofu and Combination Mushroom at Pu Kwong


Salt and Pepper Tofu at Pu Kwong


Sizzling Mongolian BBQ at Pu Kwong


Chicken in Szechuan Sauce at Pu Kwong


Chinese Greens in Ginger Sauce at Pu Kwong


After this feast, we came home to some very special cake. My birthday was in a couple of days, and Molly's birthday had been a couple of months beforehand, but we had decided that this two weeks was our combined birthday holiday. So we ordered cake from The Borg Chicken, a local vegan caterer and cake maker who has extremely reasonable prices. She does huge cakes, but we asked for something a bit smaller and with a PB&J theme. We ended up with two adorable little mini-cakes, one with peanut butter inside and one with strawberry jam.

PB&J Cakes from The Borg Chicken


After the food extravagances of Sunday, we took Monday a bit easier. Breakfast was toast at home, and then we headed out to Garden City, a very large shopping centre (or mall, as Molly called it in the American fashion). It is always fun when I travel to see what sort of shops exist in different cities, and this was the quickest way to give Molly and overview because it has almost everything. Including loads of vegan options! Molly was impressed that there were so many options at the 'mall'. We ended up having lunch at Zambrero, a mexican chain. We both got bowls. Molly got the standard Classic Bowl (at the rear), and I got the IQ Bowl (at the front, which has black rice and other silly superfood things in it). They have two vegan options for fillings - rice and beans (we both got this), and spiced cauliflower (too spicy for me!). I also got a sugarcane juice with passionfruit from another nearby stall.

Classic Vegan Bowl and IQ Vegan Bowl from Zambreros


Sugar Cane Juice from Hueys


Part of the shopping trip was to buy some groceries so that Molly could see some of the vegan things available in our everyday shopping lives. We had decided to make an easy dinner at home for the family. We ended up making angelhair with pasta sauce (store bough), some vegan sausages, mushrooms and spinach, served with some roasted broccoli and nutritional yeast.

Pasta with mushrooms, spinach and sausage, roasted broccoli, nooch


We also had a cheese board with some local cheeses bought from the Cruelty Free Shop - the Nutsy Dill and Garlic and the Fenn Smoked Sesame Cheese. The Fenn cheese is pretty much my favourite, but I hadn't tried this Nutsy one before. I'd had their paprika one, though could only eat small amounts due to coconut oil. With this flavour, the coconut oil was even more pronounced, so I didn't eat much. We served it with some water crackers and some yummy olive sourdough from Coles... Coles actually has a really great bakery section.

Cheese plate


Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Mouse


This goody little guy was a recent boarder at work.

6 comments:

  1. I could definitely go for some fries & the vegan chicken burger! The PB&J cakes sound fun, too!

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    1. For so long a lot of the focus on vegan options in Brisbane has been salads and smoothies and acai bowls, which are fine sometimes. But it is great to see more places offering fun junky foods like this!

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  2. Beer battered fries?? I need these in my life!! Honestly all the food looks amazing. I've never had a Chicago dog but they always look good to me.
    The little cakes are not only adorable, but they sound really delicious too.
    That kitty, I just want to hug him!!

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    1. I'm not sure how authentic the Chicago Dog is... though I just went a googled it and it looks like it is mostly, except for the cucumber (which did seem like and odd addition). But give me mustard and gherkin relish and a dill pickle and I am there.

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  3. All the food looks awesome. But the Chinese food stands out. They always do such a great job plating- but then again I am use to takeout so that never looks pretty XD

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    1. It always looks so great on the plate when it comes out.

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