The Flying Nun in Samford

On a misty and rainy "Summer" Sunday my friend and I drove out to Samford to have lunch at The Flying Nun for her birthday.  Her sister had recommended it to her and suggested that she reserve a table as it is very busy on weekends.
I was immediately excited upon arrival, seeing some cane couches under a tree outside because it looked like a relaxing spot to laze and read the paper with coffee in hand (had it been a fine day that is). We entered the cafe to discover it is a converted old timber church. It's absolutley charming inside with the original tin window shutters with the cross cut out of them on one side of the cafe and beautiful stained glass windows on the other. There is artwork on display and for sale, and massive morrocan style candle holders hanging from the ceiling.

The seasonal menu is not extensive but what I would consider a perfect amount of choices on offer. It included a Ceaser style salad with grilled strips of eye fillet steak and creamy blue cheese ($22), Prime mince burger and beer battered chips ($19), Barramundi fillet with smoked paprika and thyme crust with a greek spinach filo ($23), Grilled chicken panini with sundried tomato, basil tapenade and roquette ($14) along with some other scrumptious choices and various daily specials.  I opted for the Goats fetta, roasted pumpkin and sage tart and crunchy apple and walnut salad ($17) and my friend chose the Tiger prawn and calamari paella with a tomato and lemon salsa ($24). I was hoping wine would be on the menu but unfortunately it was not, however there is an option to BYO and corkage is $5 per bottle of wine/champagne and beer is $3 per person. Our drinks were brought out to us immediately and the lunches a short time after by the friendly and very efficient wait staff.

My tart was the perfect size and my first bite took me straight home to lunch at mum's as I tasted  a warm and comforting creamy delight. The crunchy apple and walnut salad was fresh and delicious and again reminded me of my childhood as this is a salad that was a regular feature and friends and family gatherings. My friend's Paella was equally fresh, flavoursome and delicious and a generous serving and her fresh Pineapple Juice looked out of this world.

Our belly's full, we deliberated whether we could try to fit in a piece of one of the fabulous looking cakes (all made on premises) on display, it was her birthday afterall. Geniously we decided to share a piece of cake so as not to miss out. I ordered a piece of the amazing looking Rasberry and coconut cake to share and an earl grey tea from the extensive list of teas for my friend, and coffee for myself. The tea was aromatic and yummy and my coffee was good. The cake was to die for. My God (well we were in an old church) I haven't tasted a piece of cake like that for...well I'm not sure when if ever. The cream cheese icing was devilishly good and the cake was magnificently moist and the big chunks of rasberrys mixed with the cocunut and melted in my mouth. Yum!

The Flying Nun has a warm and cozy atmosphere with delicious and comforting food for affordable prices. I really enjoyed my visit and will definately be back, hopefully next time in the sunshine to relax in the rainforest gardens that it's set in. Open 6 days a week (closed Mondays) from 7 - 4, I highly recommend a visit!

Red Hill Movie Review and Balmoral Cineplex

The decision made, surprisingly with relative ease, to view Red Hill above other films. Not wanting to wait until 9.30pm to watch it, we opted to journey to the other side of the river to the Balmoral Cineplex at Oxford Street, Bulimba.


The Cineplex is pretty cool I reckon. A little bit Old-Skool. It reminds me of the Roma Cinema actually but plonked in the city. At $8.50 per adult plus a small drink and medium pop-corn for $5 - the price is right!! The actual cinemas are quite small and the chairs are not as comfy as Birch, Carroll and Coyle but you still watch the same movie for almost have the price! The location is perfect with abundant cafes/bars/restaurants surrounding it, giving you the option of having coffee/wine/dinner before or after watching the film and allowing you to be a part of the Saturday night atmosphere created by people out-and-about.


The actual film Red Hill is another story. It is directed by Patrick Hughes and stars Ryan Kwanten, and Steve Bisley. It's an Australian Western set in a small country town of Red Hill where the population has halved and shop fronts are empty.


Shane Cooper, played by Kwanten is a young Constable who has been transferred from the city to Red Hill so his heavily pregnant wife can lead a more quiet, less stressful life after miscarriaging with their last pregnancy. Old Bill, played by Bisley is the Sergeant and Top Dog of the town. News of a convicted felon and past resident of Red Hill, Jimmy, breaking out of prison sends Old Bill into a spin and he has the town troops rallied and on full alert.


My boyfriend assures me that it was a laugh at Western Movies but I felt it wasn't funny enough to really be sure of this. The storyline was ok with The Prisoner wanting revenge on the town, but the actual acting out of this was like Crocodile Dundee meets Naked Gun. Really over acted and laughable. There were some incredibly lame one-liners in there too but again, not lame enough to get across if it was Satire or not. There were no real twists and turns to speak of and it didn't captivate me one bit. I wish they would have had a real go at this movie because I would love to see a great Australian Western.


Although I give the actual flick a thumbs down, I did enjoy the beautiful Australian Scenery and I think Steve Bilsey is a fabulous actor and felt he played his intended role well.

Nundah Farmers Markets

Held in the car park at Nundah Train Station every Sunday from 6am - 12pm is the Northside Farmers Markets.

They are quite small with 3 or 4 stalls selling fruit and vege. As with most markets, if you arrive early you will receive the freshest produce but if you arrive late you will be sure to grab a bargain.

My favourite stalls include the Apple stand selling delicious crunchy apples grown in Stanthorpe and the Asian stall selling a large range of greens including wombok, pak-choy and bok-choy.

Coffee Zip provided me with my morning caffeine fix for a reasonable $3. They also sell yummy melting moments and cookies from $2! There is a van selling fresh meat for good prices, cake stalls and plants for sale all for great prices.

A sign written in Nikko pen that read "PLAY CHESS HERE" was placed in front of a table and two old men sitting on fold-out chairs. The concentration and determination etched on their faces, made me smile and the whole scene nurtured a nostaligic feeling inside. :-)

Nundah Markets are less commercialised than some others in Brisbane, and I think for this reason they have more character without lacking good fresh food for great prices. In saying that, it's a market purely serving the purpose of buying your groceries as opposed to a cultural day out.

Let's face it. If we can buy fresh, good quality food from anywhere rather than Coles and Woolworths it's a good thing.

K

Short Break

Passing paddocks thick with chick peas, mung beans and wheat, staring into the setting sun which cast colours of orange, pink and purples across the horizon (yes I could see the HORIZON), I realised I was glad of a short break away from my suburb and my city.

Having grown up in Southern Western Queensland, I have seen a fair amount of drought. Visions of dust, dirt and death. Death of livestock, feed, trees both the introduced species, (which didn't put up much of a fight against what Mother can dish out in this country) and long standing aged and wise native trees. Death of spirit and the will to live.

This trip brought a different vision. One of water lying on the side of the road. One of lush green grass and suckers growing, of branches shooting, of new calves suckling their fat and happy mothers. One of life and one of breath and most importantly one of hope.

My boyfriend and I enjoyed all of Mum's country cooking over the weekend and the sound of birds and silence. We enjoyed playing golf on a quiet, (we had the course to ourselves - which is a sad, tell-tale sign of the lack of population in the bush but we enjoyed it) green country course with gum trees as the obstacles and a beautiful sky as our backdrop. Saturday night we sat out under the Southern Cross and had a barbeque with fresh, home-grown produce and a cold beer. Then my parents spoke. They spoke about some of the experiences they have endured and enjoyed in their life on the land.

Life on the land is not an easy one and not for the faint hearted and this is a gross understatement. There is so many contributing factors that must align to be able to produce food in Australia. Just the right amount of rain to enable planting, the right amount of sun, follow up rain, no frost, no great heat to burn off the fresh, fragile shooting crop, no pests or bugs or disease etc etc. Supply and demand as well. If you are skilled enough and lucky enough to have pulled the right reigns to have a crop come off - you kinda hope not every bastard in Australia has too!

My parents are in the cattle game. They have a face and eyes to stare into when times are tough. Without rain, nothing grows. When nothing grows, there is nothing for cattle to eat. When there is nothing for them to eat, they starve and die. So, outside feed must be bought and trucked in. Cattle feed can include hay, molasses with mixtures of vitamins and minerals and cotton seed. In the last drought loads and loads of these were trucked into my parents property. Starting at X amount and gradually ending in triple per load, as the demand for feed grew stronger and the supply depleted.

Not having expensive machinery, my Parents had to hand bucket 1 tonne of cotton seed into a trailor, 3 times a week and distribute it to the starving mouths, with screaming Westerly Winds picking up dust and spewing it into their faces. Tales were told of cattle having to be sent to feedlots and agistment properties to be kept alive over the hellish times of drought. Sometimes the agisted cattle were well looked after and sometimes they weren't checked or separated and naturally the bigger, stronger cows were fed and the weaker ones left to die.

Mum and Dad had Poddies (orphaned calves) from time-to-time which they would bottle feed. This helped keep their spirits up and helped get them out of bed every day. Mum would talk and talk about what mischief the calves had been up to on phone-calls home.

They kept going because they had to. Because, in their opinion, when you have worked on something your whole life, to have it crumble in your hands and leave you with nothing, is more more heart-breaking then facing the onslaught. Luckily, they had each other. Stressed and strained and overwrought with worry of the situation they would be in, if the relentlessness remained, they stood together and got through it.

There were positive stories too, of the kindness of a family in the district who had received more rain and had slightly more feed who took a few head to help out. Of Dad's neighbour and very good friend who has always been there to lend-a-hand. Most-of-all the positive stories were of rain when it eventually came. Especially in the last two years. Inches being tipped out of the precious rain gauge. Of the first shoots of buffle pushing through the dirt.

When it is green and cattle are fat, life is good on the land. It's quiet and idle. It's uncomplicated. Where your children and grandchildren are safe to run around and be free. Where important, family values are instilled and where the simple things in life like watching a beautiful setting sun over the horizon or a home grown barbeque under the stars with nothing but the sounds of laughter and perhaps crickets and frogs can be enjoyed.

Treacle Treacle Little Star

Boldly standing on the round-a-bout on Days Rd, Grange is Treacle. On a rainy Saturday morning (it seems as if there is no other kind this Spring) we decided to go to Treacle for Breakfast as I had read a review in the Brisbane News stating that it does the best big breakfast around.

We decided to take a seat on the verandah and watch the rain trickle down the plastic blinds. Upon opening the menu, I was immediately excited when I read that their coffee was a carefully selected orgainc coffee from Nimbin. I loooove Nimbin so it must be good! I ordered a skinny flat white and my breakfast date, a flat white.

The menu looked sensational. The big breakfast includes two Cumberland Sausages, two eggs of your choice, potato rosti, black pudding, HP and toast! Also listed on the menu is Zesty avocado on sourdough with bacon and halloumi cheese and two poached eggs, Gypsy pocket filled with double smoked ham-off-the-bone and swiss cheese and Porridge with rhubarb and apple compote to name a few of what I thought looked like the stand outs. I, however, could not go past the Ricotta pickelets served with berry roulade and lemon curd, and my boyfriend made his choice in about 3 seconds, going for the Eggs Benedict on organic cornbread and hollidaise with double smoked ham-off-the-bone.

Our coffee came quickly and it tasted good, a little on the weak side but still satifsying. Our brekky came shortly after and was so tasty! My pickelets were really fluffy and home-made looking and were scrumptious. The berry roulade was just the right amount and the lemon curd was devilishly sweet but oh-so-good. Really well presented too. The report on the Eggs Benedict was positive as well. The cornbread was crunchy and yummy and the ham was cut thickly enough that you could taste it's delicious smoky flavour but not too thick like ham steaks, the eggs were cooked perfectly and the sauce was nice too. The hollandaise could have been a little stronger "but that is being picky".

Overall, Treacle served the nicest breakfast I have had out for ages. The staff were friendly, and their service was awesome. The atmosphere is relaxing and homely. There is a pot belly stove inside which would create a warm, cosy surroundings in winter and a cool verandah for spring mornings. I give Treacle a 7.5/10. http://www.treaclecafe.com.au/

Crust Gourmet Pizza Bar

It was a rainy Friday night. Exhausted from a chaotic week of work and feeling a little chilly, we decided to stay in and snuggle on the couch, with glass of red wine to relax the mind and some pizza to feed the body and soul.

Having self-banned ourselves from Pizza Capers (as disappointingly they have dropped the ball - actually they have knocked it on, kicked it over the dead ball line and sworn at the ref) I was trying to think of where else to try that was located in our vicinity. I remembered that a new place had opened up in the Grange called Crust (http://www.crust.com.au/) and it was on our way home, so bingo Crust it is!

It was busy! Lots of people waiting to order and/or receive pizzas and lots of people behind the see-through bar making them. Crust has quite an extensive menu with starters including Herb and Garlic Squares, Olive and Feta and Sweet Chilli and Basil Squares. Mains include Traditional Pizzas like Margherita and Capricciosa and Meat Pizzas such as Pepperoni, Meatball, Mexican and Philly Steak to name a few. Chicken Pizzas are also on their menu with BBQ, Peri-Peri, Satay, Saffron and Tandori, there's Seafood Pizzas and Vego too as well as Healthier Choice Pizza and Calzone. There is also an Upper Crust Menu which features rectangular shaped pizzas. Salads are on the menu as well as some desserts and of course Beverages.

We chose an Upper Crust Moroccan Lamb (which states that it received the 2007 International Best Pizza Award) and a traditional Margheria. There was a 15 minute wait and as mentioned above, they visibly make it for you while you wait. The packaging looked great and it smelt fantastic on the way home! The Lamb Pizza was delicious rating a 7.5 - 8/10. Thinly sliced Lamb with red onion and spinach topped with yoghurt. Topped with yoghurt. Not saturated in it which is great. Lemon pieces come with the pizza to squeeze over before eating and this really makes it. I was sadly disappointed in the Margherita. It's a simple pizza but can be done so very very well. This version had way too much mozzarella and it drowned out any other flavours. The tomato sauce just tasted like tomato paste and the other herb used was oregano. I would have loved to have tasted some garlic and perhaps basil in the sauce as well with a little mozzarella and a little parmesan and some love. It rated a measly 1.5/10. We will go back to Crust and try some more pizzas as the Lamb has pulled it over the line.

Peace.

K x

Chermside Spice Centre

Relatively new to Chermside (or Chermy as us locals like to call it) is the Chermside Spice Centre. It's located on Gympie Rd near the Sewing Machine shop, Laundraumat and Bristol Paint Shop. It's not large as the name hints at, but it is filled with wonderful spices, and cooking ingredients from India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and other Asian countries. It stocks supplies like Cumin, Sumac, Black Mustard seeds, Chippathi Atta Flour and frozen ready made, Tamarind and other essentials for the perfect Dal or Curry. (Let me know if you want an AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS Vege Dal recipe served with a banana yoghurt salad and home made Chippathi Atti) It also stocks international phone cards to many countries. The staff are polite and helpful and the prices are reasonable with a good range of products. Chermside Spice Centre gets a big tick in my suburb, my city blog!

New Chungshan

New Chungshan is a licensed Chinese Restaurant located on Gympie Road, Chermside. I can only comment as take-away customer, having never dined in. I first tried dishes from New Chungshan during the unpacking stage of my move into the area. You know the part where there are what seems like towers of boxes around you and newspaper strewn all over the floor. Where you can't find sheets to put on the mattress to sleep in, let-a-lone cutlery or cooking utensils. Anyway myself and my moving crew (my poor ol' Mum and Dad have become professionals at moving since I turned 18) thought we would try New Chungshan as my Dad is a lover of Chinese food. To be honest, I can't exactly remember what we had. I think we had spring rolls for entree and my Dad chose Beef and Black Bean for his main and my mum and I shared a chicken dish with a large fried rice for all of us to share. The spring rolls were fine. Nothing really stand-outish though. Probably average. The Beef and Black Bean was quite good, but I remember my chicken dish wasn't cooked very well. It wasn't undercooked but just not right. The fried rice was ok. Typically served with the little prawns and peas but fairly bland tasting. Mmmm....my first experience was not great. Not baaad, but not great.

I had heard from a friend that used to live on the North side that New Chungshan was "The Bomb", so I thought I would try it again after trying some of the other eateries.

It has taken me a long while, but the second taste test occurred last Saturday night after a few quiet afternoon beers. We decided to walk down to New Chungshan and order. Folded napkins were the first thing I noticed on entering the restaurant. Not sure why but folded napkins remind me of the eighties and in turn my childhood. I think we thought that it was "flash" to have folded paper napkins on the table back then. My boyfriend and I decided not to have an entree but opted for a beer while we waited instead. We ordered Mongolian Lamb $15.00 and a chicken Chow Mein $10.50 and fried rice to share. We took a seat at the bar and chose a Chinese beer called Tsing Tao or Ching Tow (or something like that the lady said it was pronounced) which was surprisingly nice. The vibe in the restaurant seemed alive with plenty of patrons. We received our meal 3/4 of a beer later and trotted off home to enjoy.

The Mongolian Lamb was really quite yummy, I would say a 7/10. The Chicken rated about a 5 being a little on the bland side. The fried rice was ok - but I am used to the Westerner style with loads of soy sauce, so taking this into consideration, I would rate it about a...ohhhhh...this feels harsh.....5.5. On the whole New Chungshan looks to be a fun place to take family and friends and is reasonably priced with passable food.

A New Beginning in Chermside and my Inital Findings and Thoughts

Chermside has only been my place of residence for 17 months, so it is fair to say that I have much to learn about my suburb. Nooks and crannies and secret findings only locals know about are probably a while a way for me, but I can comment on what I have found so far.

What sprang to mind when I thought about Chermside before residing here, is that it is a fair way out of the city. That there is a big shopping centre which I got lost in every time I entered it and that one passes it on the way to the Sunshine Coast.

I didn't want to live in Chermside. I wanted to buy my first home in Nundah. Nundah was/is affordable, on the train line and what I thought was "up-and-coming". Buy now and reap the benefits of a higher valued property later when it becomes a trendy place to be. A couple of pubs close-by, a few little restaurants and cafes and a Natural Therapies Clinic (which triggers something my mind that suggests open-minded or somewhat alternative people may live in this suburb which I found an attractive attribute). However, the universe had a different plan it seemed and I couldn't find anything I liked for my budget in Nundah.

My parents had seen a unit in Chermside advertised on the Internet and phoned me to tell me to check it out. Long story short, I loved it and bought it and it became my first home.

Upon arriving and unpacking, I quickly became a supporter of my new surrounding community, buying paint from the local paint shop and house- hold appliances and white goods from the local electrical stores.

I noticed plenty of take-away food places and restaurants near-by, and that there was copious amount of buses into the city. Both positives I thought.

I did notice that it wasn't the prettiest of suburbs and was quite noisy with all of the traffic that uses a major road that calves through the middle of Chermside and is a sublte as a one of the freight trucks too!

A little put off by this, but not disheartened I set off on my journey of discovery of Chermside Living.

Stay tuned for my critique on the restaurants and take-away food venues next.

Respect and peace to all... especially fellow Chermside residents.

K x

Virgin Blogger

I must admit I am new to the Blogging scene. I will have probably entered this in the wrong spot and my first attempt will be deemed "belly up". However, there is a first time for everything as they say so here goes. Head first into the blogging abyss.

I have created or rather am creating this blog as I want to learn more about my suburb and city and want to share my opinion of my discoveries with you. From my perspective that is. Perception is an interesting thing but I won't go into that now.

If you are open minded and interested in finding out about events, places, shops, markets, things to do/see/hear that you didn't know existed in your neighbourhood, or perhaps want to share, then please tune into My Suburb, My City.