May 08 布里斯本博客

May 24

Q1 revisited. I went to Q1, the tallest residential building in the world, when it first opened. But since they offer concession fare to retirees like myself($13), I went up again.

While at Gold Coast, we found a really good yum cha restaurant, the best one I've been to in Australia (yes, better than the top yum cha restaurants in Sydney). The food was both fantastic and authentic, and it was located right in the heart of Surfer's Paradise. On top of this, the price is very reasonable, around $4.5 for most dishes, even some more gourmet items that Yum Cha restaurants tend to charge more in Hong Kong. We walked away with a party of three completely filled up for a bill of under $50, incredible! If you ever go to Gold Coast, you absolutely need to give it a try. After the lunch, I chitchatted with the manager, a Hong Kong native about how he manages to deliver such authentic food. According to him, the secret is - hire a whole kitchen of Hong Kong chefs. Here is the address and phone

Gold Coast Shark's Fin & Seafood Restaurant 天寶魚翅海鮮酒樓
Level 1, 3298 Gold Coast Hwy
Surfer's Paradise, QLD 4217
(07) 5539 9866

They also have a sister restaurant around the end bus stop of Surfer's Paradise that is called 金寶魚翅海鮮酒樓.

這家酒樓的水準在很多香港本地的茶樓之上，最主要原因是用料新鮮，海鮮可以在黃金海岸就地取材，而且價格非常實惠，灌湯餃，帶子餃這些頂點貨色也不過算作大點而已，叉燒酥，芋頭酥這些中西合壁的小點做得恰到好處，不會太甜太油．我這兩年都沒有在香港飲茶，但是以三人埋單４０多澳幣的價格來說，在香港也是很便宜的．Sunnybank的港式飲茶餐廳相對之下就遜色很多，主要原因是那裡都是台灣移民，做港式點心還有不少改進的餘地．如果來澳洲南昆士蘭州旅遊，要吃港式點心還是要去黃金海岸，我至今在布里斯本還是無法找到一家合格的茶樓．

Here are a few photos at the observation deck of Q1.



Interior of the building
May 10 Montrachet is widely recognized to be the best French restaurant in Brisbane, some would even argue that it is the best restaurant. So we went there for lunch to test it out.

The cafe is located in lower Paddington, and the ambience is exactly what you'd expect in a little Parisian Cafe. Our waiter is very competent and efficient, because he had to handle a dozen or so tables by himself, and yet he kept a watch on everyone to make sure the patrons wouldn't be left waiting. Food came out to everyone at the table pretty much at the same time, and the wait time was minimal. This restaurant was one of the most competently run gourmet restaurants I've been to.

Now about the food. We ordered almost everything on the fairly small menu, which explained why they were so efficient at cooking. Sauces, the soul of French food, came out excellent, and all the dishes, particularly the Canard (duck), are above average. The starter dishes were around $20 and mains around $32-38. This is always the problem of gourmet restaurants, no matter how great your food is, you are at a disadvantage of beating the price performance expectation, because you charge more. However, in the French food category, Montrachet's pricing is on the mid-to-lower end. My bouillabaise (French seafood stew) was very tasty, but again, it had more to do with the good ingredients they use. One thing that I really appreciate about Montrachet is, they try to source all their ingredients locally which adds to the freshness of their food.

Overall speaking, it was a pleasant lunch experience, and I am glad that I went to Montrachet. But is it the best restaurant in Brisbane? I have my reservations.