My Sweetopia, South Bank

My choc hazelnut cupcake

As I mentioned in my previous post, last weekend I got to try out My Sweetopia in South Bank.We walked into the cute little shop at around 2.30pm on a Sunday afternoon, half an hour before closing time. Even then, there was an impressive range of cupcakes to choose from; white chocolate, cappuccino, turkish delight, choc mint, passionfruit, chocolate mud, berry and many more - but of course, I couldn't go past choc hazelnut. Cupcakes ranged from around $4-5 and were all so beautifully decorated. 

It turned out that I had made two great choices that day; iced vanilla white tea from Tlicious and a choc hazelnut cupcake from My Sweetopia. The cupcake was so moist and chocolatey, the choc hazelnut frosting so rich and creamy. I could have eaten many many more but luckily I had only bought one! I am dying to go back to My Sweetopia and try some of the other delicious-looking flavours!

Tlicious, South Bank

Last weekend I had the pleasure of visiting two cafes for the first time - Tlicious and My Sweetopia - with a lovely group of girls from church.

It was only recently that I discovered a love for flavoured green teas, so I was super excited when we arrived at Tlicious and browsed the huge range of options. It was a hot day, so it was great to know that the entire range could be ordered as iced tea. I ordered iced vanilla white tea ('Vanilla Pearls') with one sugar for $4.

Within 5 to 10 minutes all of our orders were ready (about 8 drinks). I took a few sips, fell in love, complemented the owners of the store, and then purchased a packet of the same tea to take home ($3.50). It was so delicious and perfect for a hot day, although I could easily drink it everyday!

I highly recommend Tlicious, I will be back (very soon hopefully).

Gelatissimo

I recently blogged about Re Del Gelato, and mentioned that Gelatissimo is still my favourite place for gelato. So here's a review of Gelatissimo.

Everyone has GOT to try this place at least once (I guarantee you will be back!). Unfortunately (but fortunately for my waistline), I have only had the pleasure of visiting Gelatissimo twice. The first time I ordered white chocolate gelato topped with melted Nutella (an extra 50c), and it was so delicious, that when I returned, I ordered the same combination with the addition of choc-chip gelato. Yummmmmm. It's just so good, you have to try it.

That's really all I have to say about Gelatissimo: Yum. They have a huge range of flavours and I'm sure every single one would be delicious. I can't wait to go back and try some different flavours! They are a company of chain outlets, so find the nearest one to you and get going!

Re Del Gelato, New Farm

After a great meal at Majo's Casual Italian dining last weekend, my brother, my partner and I crossed the road for dessert at Re Del Gelato. I had read about both venues on urbanspoon.com. One reviewer even wrote that it was the best gelato in Brisbane. My response to that is soon to come...

I ordered a $5 cup of strawberry gelato/sorbet and mars bar gelato. Both were nice - the mars bar wasn't as chocolatey as I would have liked, but the strawberry tasted like real, fresh strawberries. My partner also ordered a $5 cup, but he opted for panna cotta and butterscotch/honey comb flavours. He enjoyed his, although I didn't think the panna cotta had enough flavour, it just tasted like vanilla. My brother ordered one scoop of boysenberry gelato/sorbet in a waffle cone, which he really enjoyed. I had a taste and thought it was a little too tangy for me, but that's fairly common for boysenberry I guess.

So, was it the best gelato in Brisbane? No, I don't think so. I really love Gelatissimo which is in the Brisbane CBD (corner of Queen and Albert Street) and also I've heard that there is one at Chermside. To be honest, I would recommend Gelatissimo before Re Del Gelato, but if you're in the New Farm area, certainly give it a try.

Majo's Casual Italian Dining, New Farm

Last weekend, my brother, my partner and I tried Majo's at New Farm. I discovered it via urbanspoon.com (possibly the best website ever), so we decided to try it out because of its many positive reviews. We arrived at around 6.30pm, and were shown to our table promptly. The restaurant is quite spacious and comfortable. We decided to order a pizza from their authentic Italian pizza menu (apparently they are made according to Italian pizza regulations...). We ordered the 'Mamma Teresa' pizza - Tomato sauce, Italian pork sausage, roasted onion, oregano - to share. We each ordered an entree size main (they were still huge). I ordered creamy chicken and mushroom penne and my partner and brother both ordered chianti beef and mushroom ragu (brother had fettuccine and bf had gnocchi).

We received our meals quickly, but unfortunately I was served creamy chicken and avocado penne instead. Not being a fan of avocado, I told the waitress about the mix up and my meal was quickly replaced and 10% taken from the price of my main. We all dug into the pizza which was delicious - thick puffy base, mouth-watering topping. My main was nice... but nothing spectacular. I probably could have made it at home with just some chicken, mushrooms and some cream... The boys' mains, however, were delicious. That ragu was very impressive, great flavours. My partner was in love with the gnocchi, even stating that it was the best he'd ever had. I tried some and he's right, it was sooo good - light and fluffy without that overpowering potato taste. My brother was also impressed with the ragu and his fresh pasta - although he had not expected to receive multi-coloured fettuccine (not that it affected the taste in any way).

With big full bellies we then wandered across the road to Re Del Gelato for dessert.

All up, one pizza, three entree sized mains and three drinks cost around $90. We will definitely be returning. Next time I will order the ragu, and without a doubt my partner will order the gnocchi.

The Spaghetti House, West End

Gnocchi in butter sauce and pappardelle ragu

A few weeks ago, my partner and I tried The Spaghetti House at West End, Brisbane. My partner is a huuuge lover of Italian food, so you can expect many of my reviews to be of Italian restaurants. The venue is quite small; the inside area is very narrow and other than that, there are just a few tables outside on the footpath. We made a booking for 8pm, and even by then people were still coming and going, the place was packed! We were shown to our table, which unfortunately was right in front of the kitchen. We had a lovely waiter who was very very Italian (he had a thick accent that we sometimes found hard to understand). He seemed to know the menu very well, and easily rattled off about eight different types of pizza that were the special of the night. We ordered a small potato and rosemary pizza for entree, I ordered pappardelle ragu and my partner ordered some sort of gnocchi in butter sauce. For dessert I ordered tiramisu and my partner ordered panna cotta with berry coulis.

Panna cotta with berry coulis and tiramisu

Entree was nice, but a little bland (I guess we should have expected that from a potato and rosemary pizza though). My main was beautiful; the meat was so tender it just fell apart, the tomatoey sauce was delicious and the pasta was fresh and lovely. My partner was not as impressed with his main, the butter sauce definitely needed something added to give a little more flavour. The gnocchi was okay, but quickly to be surpassed by the gnocchi at Majo's Casual Italian Dining. Dessert was a great experience - we both loved our choices. I had expected the tiramisu to be served as a cake (due to past experiences), so I ordered a scoop of chocolate gelato to go with it. On the menu, gelato was served in portions of three scoops, so I asked our waiter if I could order just one scoop with my dessert. He was very accommodating, and when the desserts were brought to our table, he told us that he had included the gelato free of charge - how lovely! We were very thankful, and dug into our delicious treats enthusiastically.  Both were a delight and a great way to finish the meal. On our way out, my partner tipped our lovely waiter. All up, one entree, two mains, two desserts and two drinks cost us around $90. We will go back someday, but we have plenty of places to try before that. I do recommend this restaurant, and especially recommend the ragu, tiramisu, gelato and panna cotta.