Wasabi Japanese Teppanyaki

Shop 7/ 18 Flinders Way, Griffith 2603
Ph: (02) 6295 8777

Opening Hours

Lunch: 7 Days, 11.30am - 3.00pm
Dinner: Tuesday - Sunday, 5.30pm - 11.00pm

Teppanyaki Times: Tuesday - Thursday 6pm, 7pm & 8pm; Friday - Sunday 6pm & 8pm

I’m not usually a fan of Teppanyaki after a very traumatising experience in Sydney (it was a disastrous date, don’t ever wear your favourite silk dress to Teppanyaki), so decided to opt out of the group set menu and order my own a la carte.

For entrée: Assorted Sashimi set – consisting of Raw Tuna, Salmon and some white fish which I suspect was either yellowtail or red snapper (the other 2 raw fishes on the menu).

For some strange reason I was craving it, although I think I overdid it trying to finish this on my own. Don’t feel that the fish was overly fresh, but it wasn’t enough to give me food poisoning.

For main: Wasabi’s Three Jewels – “Three of the most famous Japanese dishes, Teriyaki Chicken, Tempura Prawn and Ginger Beef served in a platter”. The beef was tender, diced cubes of possibly a scotch fillet, lightly seasoned with a sweet soy sauce. The texture: separates in an ‘al dente’ fashion for meat. The teriyaki chicken had pleasant crisped edges, in a light sweet soy flavour marinade. Prawn Tempura was, a very bland savoury batter, complemented in a light dipping sauce & served with rice.

Dessert: Green Tea Icecream - Ice cold, not molten, strong distinct tea aftertaste - very enjoyable without being too sweet or sickening.
My dishes were nice when they came out, but paled in comparison by the hot stuff coming off the teppanyaki assembly line of the people sitting beside me. Teppanyaki is a character building exercise - somehow without ordering teppanyaki I still managed to get rice all over me because the person sitting next to me was a bad bowl-of-rice catcher. It is much more enjoyable to watch others in suffering.

Lunico Ristorante Italiano (Woodfired Pizza)

Address: 27 Kennedy St, Kingston (Canberra) ACT
Tel: (02) 6295 0777
Website: www.lunicoristorante.com.au

This was really not a bad pizza. I found this place by accident, and mostly out of desperation. I was a public holiday in Canberra and almost 9pm. That rules out most restaurants in the possibility it would be open or the staff willing to serve.

The restaurant is fairly large, and has a vintage broadway feel to it. I’ve paid more for worse pizzas, and this was quite nice.

The dough and pizza base was freshly made, soft, thin but tasty – really bringing out the flavour of the toppings. In this instance I ordered the Americana: chilli salami, tomato with cheese.

It wasn’t altogether healthy, but not at your extreme of a comparable oily-pan franchise pizza. It had an optimal level of unhealthiness because it tasted hot, fresh and great!

La Pasa Singaporean Cuisine

Address: Shop 1, Alinga St Novotel Building Canberra City ACT
Tel: (02) 6248 6288

Website: www.lapasa.com.au

Opening Hours: Lunch - Mon to Sun 11:30am-2:30pm; Dinner Sun to Thurs 5pm-10pm, Fri to Sat 5pm-10:30pm

Corelli's Cafe Gallery

Address: 352 King St Newtown, NSW 2042
Tel: (02) 9550 4080
Open Daily 7am-11:59pm

I love this seedy-looking café run by women of strange fashions, it is always bustling in the prime property that is King St, Newtown.

The mocha coffee is unforgettable, (probably made using a dark chocolate rather than milk chocolate), and always served with a chocolate tiny teddy biscuit. I only feel that way about 3 mocha coffees in Australia to date, and this is ranked #2.


The first and last time I was here my friend had the beef burger (which I mistakened for the steak sandwich, pictured below) which I eyed jealously. The steak sandwich was nothing out of the ordinary, but the beef burger is served with coleslaw salad and an interesting mayonnaise-eqsue sauce.


Also pictured here is the Risotto Verte – i.e. “green risotto”. Made with asparagus, broccoli, green beans, peas and other vegies to make any primary school kid cringe.
Suprisingly, it was a creative light & tasty (and healthy! Bonus points!) rendition of a traditional risotto.


I ordered the Hungarian goulash because my eyes were bigger than my stomach (again) and suffered a horrible bloating death afterwards.


Cold weather and relaxed evenings do not assist in these circumstances. The view of the kitchen is never a pre-emptive inviting sight, however the home-style meals here which are modestly priced with a coffee is worth it.

Lomono Charcoal Chicken & Lebanese Restaurant

Address: 106 Burnett St, Merrylands NSW
Tel: (02) 9891 1177
Website: www.lamono.com.au

This restaurant offers your usual charcoal chicken served Lebanese style with garlic sauce, pickles and Lebanese bread as well as other cheap & easy dishes.

For entrée I decided to try the deep fried cauliflower. I wondered if they battered it or something beforehand, but nope, when it came out you recognise the slight shrivelled cauliflower which was probably blanched in oil. The ends come out a little charred but the flavour is strangely sweet & addictive. Served with tahini (sesame paste).

On this occasion I was craving kofta (a lamb mince with herbs & chilli cooked on a skewer) and ordered the kofta roll (kofta, garlic sauce, salad rolled in lebanese bread & lightly toasted). The kofta disappointed me because it lacked the chilli spice (and flakes)!

Nice, friendly staff and the trendiest corner you will find in the heart of Merrylands, Sydney’s west.

Arabic Coca Cola out of a glass bottle also tastes better…

(Barramundi Boys) Fish Cafe

Address: 461 The Esplanade, cnr Cambridge Pde, Manly Harbour Village, MANLY, QLD 4179
Tel: 07 3893 0195
Website: www.fishcafe.com.au

This café is a real nice getaway in the “marina” suburb of Manly in Brisbane. It faces the marina, with contemporary décor & furnishings and friendly staff.

The dishes are huge, so don’t do what I did and eat an almost $100 lunch for 2 people with a lot of wastage.

I was dying to try the Crabmeat Lasagne - "Layered sandcrab meat lasagne with preserved lemon & chive bechamel served with mixed leaves & Moreton Bay Bug bisque" – simply unheard of! I’ve had red meat, chicken and vegetarian lasagnes so this seafood derivation would be a real treat. I’m also not a fan of crab (usually) but when the meat is pre-extracted for me, I am much more enthusiastic and easily swayed. So I shared this dish, just to get a taste, as an entrée.


The lasagne wasn’t prepared in an orderly fashion, no clear-cut layers, but rather a melding of different flavours, leaving you with a warm & fuzzy feeling. The sauce was between a caramel/gravy flavour with an almost egg-like consistency. Served on a bed of zingy rocket salad which offsets the intense sweet flavour of the crabmeat & sauce.


I had the battered whiting (smaller, butterflied fish in a panko, “Japanese style batter” - pictured above) & ships & my co-eater had beer battered (in beez neez) & chips - pictured below. Both were ridiculously proportioned and we could have shared one between the both of us. They added little value except for oil & fat.

May's Thai

Address: Shop 18, Mayfair Village, Cnr Manly Rd & Burnett St, Manly QLD
Tel: (07) 3393 9999

I remembered I particularly liked the lamb the first and last time I came here, but upon returning to do my food blog it seemed different.

Entrée: Chicken satay skewer sticks – very wholesome with a thick, crunchy peanut sauce (70% peanut pieces, 30% stay sauce i.e. very peanuty).


Main: Lamb green curry made to Thai hotness.The vegies were fresh enough but the curry might as well have been a soup. It did not compliment the coconut rice very well but maybe the soup-like ‘curry’ was that way to offset the denseness of the rice.


Thai heat was very manageable, but did give me the sniffles (but not purple lips).

I remembered the lamb to be seared and crispy on the edges but this was nothing more than blanched and quickly stirfried. Might have to try the stirfries next time.

Palazzo Versace (High Tea)

Address: Sea World Drive, Main Beach (Gold Coast) QLD 4217
Tel: (07) 5509 8000
Website: www.palazzoversace.com



If you can’t afford to stay at the Palazzo Versace, having a high tea there is undoubtedly the next best thing. Enjoy a view of beautiful architecture & furnishings and attention-to-detail, while sipping on tea and nibbling on cake & pastry items.

The high tea experience was not a cheap one, and I do feel that you are paying more for the maintenance of your surroundings than the quality of your actual food.

The top tier of the high tea tray was sandwiches – smoked salmon & cream cheese scrolls; ham & cheese rectangles; egg & mayo rectangles.



The mid tier consisted of bite-sized mini cakes: a mini cupcake, fruit tart, lemon meringue, sponge madeira cake, choc orange drop and chequered chocoloate mousse. Wasn’t the freshest tasting culinary sample…



No high tea is complete without scones and jam – I actually quite enjoyed this with cream & raspberry jam. Simple, effective & filling.

Omeros Bros Seafood Restaurant

Address: Marina Mirage Seaworld Drive MAIN BEACH QLD
Phone: (07) 5591 7222
Fax: (07) 5591 7003

Open for lunch & dinner

Website: www.omerosbros.com

I ordered my staple 2 favourites from Omeros Bros:

For entrée: half a dozen Kilpatrick oysters (it was here the love affair began).


Main: Spaghetti Marinara. The serving size was just perfect, not too small, but not overwhelming unachievable to finish. It was enough to make you feel sleepy and needing to be rolled out the door though. The flavours in this marinara are indescribable and how I believe every marinara should taste – fresh seafood flavour, infused in a ripe tomato pasta sauce. The key word is infused – I suspect the chef uses parmesan or something to seal the flavours.

The Big Pineapple

Address: Nambour Connection Rd, Woombye QLD
Tel: (07) 5442 1333
Website: http://www.bigpineapple.com.au/


I came here to buy a souvenir (pineapple money box with face if anyone wants to sell me theirs), and learn about pineapples (and macadmias if that tickles your fancy).

We didn’t get to try any pineapples on this tour, but I learnt much about fruit and random facts about the locality.

The best thing I did eat here was the freshly roasted macadamias here (sold in heated metal cabinet) in an apple / cinnamon flavour. The nuts are coated in this cinnamony batter and then roasted so it forms kind of like a shell – perfect pungent spice and not too sweet.

The macadamia nut tour was also quite a novelty – including a train ride in a cabin shaped like a giant macadamia. We got to sample fresh macadamia nuts, which were not at all hard, took a lot of effort to separate from shell, and tasted like coconut (in a fibrous sense).

The Boathouse (Floating restaurant)

Address: Bartender Jetty, 194 Gympie Terrace, Noosaville QLD
Tel: (07) 5440 5070
Website: www.boathouserestaurant.com.au

We chose this more for the novelty factor and there being a lack of any other restaurants I wanted to put my health on the line for. Wanted to see what this floating restaurant business was all about.

Upstairs is a cocktail bar (with not all that many cocktails, 90% of them containing vodka or some flavoured derivative of vodka which did not impress me), and downstairs is the main restaurant area.

For entrees: Scallops pancetta, pea mash - this was very average, mainly due to the scallops, although being large & juicy, undercooked with a slightly slimy feel. Definitely not a winner in trying to get my co-eater hooked on scallops.



Szechuan calamari on the other hand was absolutely divine! It had a spicy, fresh lemon tang to it, light battered and fried which gave a melt-in-mouth feel, and perfectly cooked so as not to be slimy/undercooked or rubbery & overcooked. You could bite through the calamari and taste the freshness. Would come back here just for the calamari – arguably the best I’ve had.


For main I had this very simple pizza – very disappointed that a supposed ‘nice’ restaurant served a cold pizza which looked like the ingredients were plucked from Woolworths (premade pizza base?) and put together by a primary school kid.



There was nothing pretentious about this place, but if they made more of an effort with the menu they could really get away with charging murderous prices for the indoor/outdoor/seabreeze dining experience.