BrisVenture 2023: Day 5: Kangaroos, Koalas, and Izakaya Midori

Hello and welcome back to the penultimate post about my adventures with my friends from American.

I took then out to Coombabah at the Gold Coast, for some guaranteed kangaroo watching and probably koala sightings. I am happy to report that both were achieved! Excuse the fuzzy koala picks, it really is like trying to photograph a backlit blob high up in a tree.













Then we hit up Izakaya Midori for a late lunch.

Smoked Edamame.



Agedashi Tofu.



Edamame Chips.



Okonomiyaki and Veef Sushi.



Teriyaki Tofu Don.



Katsu Sushi.



Terichiki Don.



Chiki Avo Nigiri.



Aka Ramen.



After this incredible feast, we headed home, and there was a little bit of resting. Molly made us a late dinner, which included some Lamyong Salty Crispy Chicken she had bought from The Green Edge, rice, salad, and croutons.



Only one more post to share with you about our final two days together! A week goes so quickly.

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



This Monday just gone (the 27th of November) was the three year anniversary of Dim Sim's passing. I miss her so much.

Eating Out: Izakaya Midori and Nonna's Nightmare (Birthday edition)

It was my birthday in November! And I had the day off work, so I spent it eating food. What else does one do on their birthday?

My friend and I headed down for an early lunch at perpetual favourite, Izakaya Midori (see previous posts here). We started with old favourites, the Agadashi Tofu and Smoked Edamame.





As well as trying some new things, most importantly the okonomiyaki, which was lovely! And I love that it comes as an entree (that's starter, for my US friends) rather than a main so you can enjoy it along with many other things! We also had the Katsu handroll, which has wasabi inside as well. I love wasabi! Also, just look at the okonomiyaki, almost too pretty to eat!





For my main I had the Teriyaki Tofu Don, which was a lovely bowl of rice, salad with dressing, tempura silken tofu, teriyaki sauce, and mayo. I realised I didn't take a photo of my friend's main, but it was the terichiki don, which you can see in previous posts.



And we finished off by sharing their wonderful Hojicha and Black Sesame Affogato with Red Beans and Crystal Mochi. So good!



Come dinner time and I was planning on ordering delivery from a vegan pizza place, but they were closed! But never fear, instead we ordered in from vegan Italian restaurant Nonna's Nightmare (previous posts here, which also has pizzas! We ordered the Amatrice (Tomato, mozzarella, red wine braised onions, vBacon, pecorino, black pepper, basil) and the Potato (Mozzarella, ‘pork & fennel’ sausage, roasted potato and capsicum, rosemary oil). Unfortunately on the ordering site, you couldn't modify anything, which meant I couldn't get the capsicum taken off, so I had to pick it off when it came. Still, worth it for potato and sausage pizza! There were both lovely pizzas. I gave them a brief reheat in the oven once they arrived.





I also ordered a serve of their Cannelloni (Cannelloni pasta filled with ricotta and spinach, cooked in a rich tomato sugo sauce and mozzarella), which was INCREDIBLE! Star of the show.





I didn't have a cake, instead we ate tarts that I had picked up from Flour of Life vegan bakery on the way home from Izakaya Midori.



Cute Kitty Photo of the Show



Speaking of birthdays, yesterday (30th of January), should have been Abby's 7th birthday. This photo is from her 6th birthday, and I will never recover from the fact we only got to celebrate one of her birthdays together. I miss her so much.

Eating Out: Izakaya Midori

A few months ago a friend and I went down to Izakaya Midori, an amazing vegan Japanese restaurant at the Gold Coast. I like Izakaya Midori because it has covered outdoor seating, which is good when you want to be in a well ventilated area! We also went on a weekday right as they opened, so there were hardly any other people there. The things you need to think about these days. You can see my other posts about this wonderful restaurant here.

We shared the Agadashi Tofu and the Smoked Edamame. I've had the tofu before, and it is lovely. I hadn't had the edamame before because as much as I love them, I can't eat too many without getting gut pain. So it was nice to share them. These had a wonderful smokey sweetness that I adored.



We both go the same main, the Terichiki Don. Their terichiki is really remarkable and delicious! Put into a bowl with rice, salad, and dressing and it is such a wonderful meal.



My additional entree (that's appetiser for my US friends) of the Cheese Canape took a while to prepare, so it came out after the other food. Seared mozzarella with pickles and a miso sauce. The pickles offset the richness of the cheese (which I suspect was made out of a lot of coconut oil) very well! This was fun to try.



We finished off sharing one of the dessert specials, the Crystal Mochi Affogato. I'd been seeing this on Instagram for a while, and I was dying to try it! It had hojicha ice cream, sweet adzuki bean paste, three types of cyrstal mochi (black sesame, red bean, and matcha), and a black sesame latte (no coffee of caffeine, making it Susan friendly). This was amazing and delicious! I'm so glad I got to try it while it was still on the specials.





Of course no trip to a restaurant down at the Gold Coast is complete without stopping by Flour Of Life on the way home to pick up some treats for later (see other posts here). I of course got my favourite Strawberry flan, as well as a passionfruit tart, chocolate custard log, and my new favourite cinnamon sugar snail!



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Tucked Boo in with my jumper while she was snoozing on the back of the couch, she was not sure about it.

Eating Out: Easy House and Flour of Life

Easy House is my favourite place down at the Gold Coast, because I just love yum cha a lot! So in my week of eating last week, my friend Amy and I went down to eat our favourites. It had been a while since we had been. I don't always post when we go to Easy House, because I have posted a lot about it before and we tend to get the same things, but I thought in honour of the occasion I'd share these favourite things again.

While not originally on our radar, when they suggested getting some skewers with satay sauce, we said yes. We'd had these before (as with everything), and knew they were good. They seemed extra good today!



They make these amazing pan-fried rolled rice noodles in XO sauce. Problem is, XO sauce is spicy! But if you ask, they will switch out the XO sauce for some sweet soy sauce, and then I can enjoy them too! These noodles were extra crispy and delicious. But so hot... do not burn your mouth. Restrain yourself and try and let them cool a bit.



An array of favourites! Two lots of steamed BBQ pork bao, some steamed coriander dumplings, and my beloved radish cakes!



And no trip would be complete without some delicious steamed beancurd roll. Oh so good.



No trip down would be complete for us without stopping at Flour of Life, the vegan bakery. I got a strawberry flan (my favourite) and a blueberry crumble for me, a passionfruit tart for my mum, and an apple crumble for my dad.



My friend Amy is also a magnificent seamstress. She makes all her own close and they are so cute, she has amazing style. For my birthday, she gave me a super cute pair of pyjamas made in this adorable Pusheen fabric. I feel so lucky to have some talented and generous friends!


Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Abby being very cute on top of the cat turret.

Eating Out: Gold Coast Vegan Markets

I've posted about the Brisbane Vegan Markets several times before, but this is a post about the Gold Coast ones! I haven't been to the Brisbane ones in a long time. Even before COVID, but now since COVID the venue is very narrow and cramped, I don't know that I'd feel safe there. The Gold Coast ones have been running for quite a long time, though I have never gone down there. But I had the opportunity to go down for their August markets (that had been delayed a couple of weeks due to a lockdown). The markets there are in the carpark for a school, and there is lots and lots of space and the seating is nicely spread out throughout the school itself (some undercover), so it seemed like a good choice.

I headed down with my friend, who had been to one previously. It was a bit under an hour away from my house, and we got there right on opening (at 9am) so we could be home before it got too hot and sunny. My friend had been once before, and mentioned that there weren't as many stalls as last time. I certainly noticed the lack of a lot of the animal rescue stalls as well as some food stalls, which was sad. But there was still lots to choose from.

We knew exactly where we were going first, and made a beeline for the Grassfed food truck for their market special, Loaded Mac and Cheese Fries. Yes, you read that right. Their seasoned curly fries topped with mac and cheese and bacon. You guys, this was SO GOOD! The cheese sauce for the mac and cheese was made by Fine Cultures, a local vegan cheesemaker, and was delicious. The only issue was the serves were HUGE. We got one each, and even though we had to sacrifice some of our chips to the bin gods in the hope that we could eat more food, we were very full.



Photo of a cheeky magpie friend, who helped themselves to some mac and cheese right out of my friend's bowl! The audacity!



I was feeling a bit thirsty, so I got a Grapefruit Iced Tea from Iced Tea Co. I love this flavour, it is caffeine free and is a little sweet but a little tart and very refreshing!



I was excited to try Izakaya Midori's marked special, the Gyu Don bowl. Veef and onions in a sweet soy sauce over brown rice with pickles. This also came as a very substantial serving! It was delicious, but I could only eat half after those loaded fries. But I always come prepared and I had a takeaway container to put the rest into to take home.



After that... we were kind of done. All full. Such market amateurs, but to be fair we were out of practice. Normally I would have tried to eat more from more stalls, but I was just full full full. I didn't even get any sweets to take home... And I couldn't even thing about getting some of the pizza I was really excited to try. Alas.

But I did get half a Karaage, cream cheese, and avocado sushi burrito to take home from Izakaya Midori for a small later lunch. And it was delicious!



I definitely would love to try the Gold Coast Vegan Markets again, though it probably won't be until the cooler months come back because it is SUNNY and HOT... so maybe in about 9 months? But I'd be more inclined to go back there rather than to the more cramped Brisbane vegan markets, even though it is a bit of a drive. And I will take some bowls so I can COVID-safely share things with friends so we can try more food, and containers to bring extras back! I will not be defeated again.

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



A sleepy little Boo for you, snoozing away on top of her cat scratcher in the sun room, basking in the glow.

Eating Out: Cardamom Pod Brickworks

Earlier this year, I had been back at work for a few weeks but things were still hard. I was on reduced hours, so on one of my days off I decided to get out of the house by doing a little mini road trip down to the coast to get some food and visit some nearby shops. The food came courtesy of The Cardamom Pod Brickworks, a fabulous almost all plant-based cafe (they do have cow milk for their coffees), which I have visited a few times before.

I was keen to try the Iced Matcha, which was described as being made with oat milk, tahini, and maple syrup. It was a good matcha, though I couldn't really tell it had tahini in it.



For my food, I ordered the Healthy Benny. They also have a 'blinged out benny' (that I have had before), but I was craving something a bit lighter and tempeh and sweet potato sounded just right. It has sweet potato, field mushrooms, avocado, tempeh (yay tempeh!), cashew hollondaise sauce, asparagus, and cherry tomatoes. As you can see, it was beautifully presented! And it was really just what I wanted.



The cafe is situated in a little centre that has several other shops, including a bulk foods shop, an eco friendly shop, and a fruit and vegetable market and deli. The market and deli also has an ice cream shop in it, that had several vegan flavours. I didn't get any as I was pretty fully, but I took a photo!



I got a couple of nice things from the market, including some lovely heirloom tomatoes and purple carrots, also some curry leaves as I was looking for some to make some specific recipes.



But the main other reason I went down there was to visit Discount Grocery Outlet in Southport, just a few minutes drive away. This is a discount shop that I heard carried quite a few vegan products at heavily discounted prices. But most importantly, they were selling the new Flora Professional Plant Cream for only $1.99 per carton, rather than the usual $14.99 or thereabouts. They had that, and more. All the products were either close to or just past their best before date, but they are just a suggestion and I had no problem with any of these products. I got all of this for less than $24!



I'll be talking about some of these products in upcoming posts, so stay tuned!