my name is Food.: Asian Fusion

Bin 931 | Westfield Chermside, Chermside, Brisbane

Asian Fusion May 24, 2021

Bin 931 was quite a nice place to have shared plates trying a bit of this and that. Unfortunately they have now permanently closed but I thought they deserved a review hence why this review has been written. Offering modern australian cuisine options but also some asian fusion, as what I'd like to call it.

Wanting to try something cold but also warm and refreshing as well, we opted to order a bit of everything. Not so much a starter or entree, a main or a dessert per say but shared plates. Their menu isn't as extensive so you won't take too long perusing through it.

Salmon cured with lemongrass & lime, pickled cucumber, chilli, coriander and sweet soy. This was refreshing to eat. The salmon was cured nicely and yet it still melted in your mouth. The pickled cucumber was a nice kick to pair it with. There was no coriander though even if it was written on the menu.

Sticky sweet and sour pork served with asian slaw and crispy shallots. This was yum! I would definitely order this again but a bigger bowl would've been good as it was hard to even fork out something without anything falling out. Or even trying to mix it altogether was a pain. The pork seemed like it was fried then marinated and the sweetness and stickiness of it definitely popped out but not so much the sour. The asian slaw had a good mixture of cabbage, carrots, capsicum, cucumber topped with crispy shallots.

Prawn & Moreton Bay Bug agnolotti with lemon beurre blanc. Such a delicate dish but I ordered their Entree size which came with four agnolotti. The sauce was rather subtle and I would've preferred it to be stronger but yet I didn't mind it. The prawn and moreton baby bug was quite substantial but I could not distinguish the difference between the two when I bit half into the agnolotti. So I wasn't too sure myself if it was more prawns or vice versa, or maybe half half. The agnolotti was cooked al dente and paired off nicely with the beurre blanc.

I would simply go back for the sweet and sour pork salad and would go back again to try their other items on the menu but sadly they have now closed.

*Please note this is a delayed post and as such, the establishment has now permanently closed.

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Southside Bistro | Sunnybank, Brisbane

Asian August 12, 2019

After having a few coffee catch ups here, we decided to come and try their actual savoury food one afternoon. They don't have much seating inside so we opted for their outside seating which has more space and fresh air too. It does tend to get quite busy here especially during the night time but the downside is that many places that do offer coffees and desserts don't open till late.

Started off our lunch with their homemade lemon tea, it was just okay. Nothing special but it was more on the sweet side for me which I wasn't a big fan of, less sugar would've been preferable.

This was one of their specials on the day which I was interested in so decided to get that. It was their Pan fried pork fillet served w sticky tamarind glaze, sweet potato puree, fresh bok choy and marinated bamboo salad. One thing I have to say about this dish would be salty.

Unfortunately the whole dish was just salty here and there for me, for us. At first I thought it was just me but then when he tried it too, he said that same thing. The sweet potato puree was smooth but salty. The pork fillet was pan fried well but the actual meat itself could not be enjoyed thoroughly due to the bok choy and bamboo salad placed on top of it, which again..was salty.

The sticky tamarind glaze on the pork fillet was very mild as I could not taste the tamarind flavour. Underneath the sweet potato puree was also quite watery which I was unsure whether it was from the actual tamarind glaze or maybe there was supposed to be something liquidy that went with it. The creamy sauce was okay but I think it did not add anything to the dish as the dish itself seem disjointed.

One of their well known dishes would have to be their baos. I was excited for it but when it arrived, I didn't realise it was going to be quite small and not as filling as I had hoped it would be. Yes, the amount of paprika salted fried was generous but I would rather have smaller portion of fries and maybe another bao for the price I paid.

The green pesto sauce was really nice, I enoyed it with the fries. The bao itself was fine, the char siu pork was great but we had much more fat content than meat. It was also hard to pick it up like sandwich to bite into it as everything started falling out of the bao itself. Again, for the Mr, this could've easily been a few bites and he would be done with it.

Overall, I liked this dish better than the other but would've been better if we had another bao, filled sufficiently and suitable for people to hold and bite into it without everything dropping from left and right after each bite.