Little Singapore, Sunnybank

Little Singapore was recommended to me by a Singaporean friend for some of the best food outside of Singapore in Brisbane. There are three locations to choose from; Market Square in Sunnybank, Charlotte Street and Albert Street in the city.  All three restaurants have different settings. Both the Market Square and Charlotte Street restaurants both offer table service but the Charlotte Street restaurant is a bit more laid back. It’s great for lunch or a casual dinner. The Albert Street store feels more like a fast food joint, you order at the counter, take a seat at your table and then collect it yourself at the counter once it’s ready. Meal sizes here are also small and the menu is not as extensive.

The quintessential meal at Little Singapore is the Hainanese Chicken Rice. The chicken is marinated and cooked in a chicken broth and then put in ice water in order to tighten the skin and lock in the flavour. It’s also the trick to getting it juicy and tender. The rice is then cooked in the same chicken broth. It is then served with a ginger and chilli sauce and a few slices of cucumber. It’s super tasty and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is going to Little Singapore.

Other dishes I highly recommend are the Roti Chennai, Nasi Goreng, Combination Ho-fun and the Nasi Lemak. I also recommend the homemade lemonade. It’s very refreshing! The meal sizes are very generous and the prices are very reasonable. Expect to pay around $10-15 for a main here.

Overall rating 8/10

Little Singapore Sunnybank
Shop 3a Market Square
Corner Mains Rd and McCullough Street
Sunnybank QLD 4109

07) 3345 5575

Little Singapore City
42 Charlotte Street
Brisbane QLD 4000

07) 3211 1177

Little Singapore Uptown
Shop G14B, 191 Albert Street
Brisbane QLD 4000

07) 3211 5772

http://www.littlesingapore.com.au/

Cyber City 2002, Fortitude Valley

For good quality Chinese food in the Valley in a casual environment, look no further than Cyber City 2002! This hidden gem is just few doors up from the Elephant and Wheelbarrow. Take a short walk through a really run down arcade and you’re there. The walkway to Cyber City 2002 is not indicative of the quality of the food you will find here. Most people wouldn’t even know that there’s a restaurant/entertainment venue through this arcade. Walk through the sliding doors and you won’t be disappointed!

There are over 200 quality dishes to choose from including chicken, prawn, duck, beef, pork, and tofu dishes. The beef brisket and the Malaysian style thick rice noodles as well the Red Bean and Grass Jelly with crushed ice are a few of my favourites. The salt and pepper squid is also to die for. Even the simple dishes such as fried rice, ho-fun, crispy chicken are all tasty. While you wait for your food, you could have a game of street fighter or test your skills on a skill testing game where you could win a fluffy toy. Maybe after dinner, if you have more time, why not do sing some karaoke or play a game of pool? There’s definitely alot to offer here.

Service is also good. It’s also BYO but be sure to try the Chinese beer, Tsingtao. The atmosphere here is very casual. Serving sizes are huge. Expect to pay around $13-17 for a main.

Overall rating: 8/10

Cyber City 2002
206 Wickham Street
Fortitude Valley

The Manor, Eight Mile Plains

The Manor in my opinion is one of Brisbane’s best kept secrets. A popular place for the Chinese community in Brisbane, The Manor in Eight Mile Plains provides quality yum cha at affordable prices. While it’s great to have trolleys coming around when it comes to yum cha, you often to have to wait for something you like to come by or when it does come, there’s a huge chance that it could be dry and cold. Yum Cha at the manor is a bit different. They serve everything on a yum cha menu but when you first go in and sit down, you’ll be given the menu and a pencil and you mark what items you want. The cooks will then prepare everything so it’s nice and fresh and hot. Meals are then served in a staggered fashion. Service is good at the Manor but don’t expect your waiter/waitresses to be fluent in English.

I went today with a group of friends. Between five of us we shared 18 servings including siew mai, chicken feet, steamed prawn dumplings, steamed prawn and coriander rolls, beef tripe, steamed barbeque pork buns, steamed barbeque rice noodles, pearl chicken in sticky rice, deep fried glutinous dumplings, mango pudding and custard egg tarts (just to name a few). We were not disappointed, the quality is above average.

The Manor is my number one choice when it comes to yum cha. Expect to pay about $4.20-$5.80 per serve.

Overall rating 8/10

The Manor Chinese Restaurant
6 Angel Street
Corner Gaskell Street & Angel Street
Eight Mile Plains, QLD 4113

07) 3341 9506

Viale Canova, Clayfield

Nestled away in a small arcade of takeaway shops in Clayfield, Viale Canova is very cosy, inviting and homely from the moment you walk in the door. It's my second visit here and I have to say this time round, wasn't as good as the first. For a fine dining restaurant, top quality service was lacking however I can’t really complain given the tasty Italian food and the relaxing ambiance available here. There was even a pianist who played during the evening to add to the night.

My boyfriend Les and I shared an entree of Capesante alla griglia, oven baked scallops in the shell with olive oil, garlic, and chilli. This was gorgeous. Cooked to perfection, nice touch with a slice of fresh bread to dip in the sauce. For the main I had the spaghetti marinara, they are very generous with the seafood and pasta is very fresh. Les ordered the Gnocchi di patate alle cicale di mare e Porcini, handmade potato Gnocchi with Moreton bay bugs and fresh porcini mushrooms in a white wine and cream sauce. Again, there was a very fresh taste with the gnocchi but for the amount we paid ($39), we were a little bit disappointed with the amount of bugs in this dish, hardly any at all.

You can expect to pay up to around $36 for a pasta dish here. I'd recommend coming here while on a nice romantic or quiet dinner. Overall, you can't go past Viale Canova for its authentic Italian food with the freshest pasta and fresh Australian produce.

Overall rating 7.5/10

Viale Canova
4/828 Sandgate Road
Clayfield
QLD 4011
 
http://www.vialecanova.com/contatti.html
 
07) 3256 1901