EatReview – Primal Pantry, Teneriffe

PRIMAL PANTRY, Teneriffe

For those of you who aren’t in the know, Primal Pantry is a Paleo cafe in Teneriffe.

What is paleo you ask?   Well I’m just gonna link you to Wiki for that one, but in general it’s following the diet of our ancestors – the cavemen.  Hence the name Paleo which stands for Paleolithic.

Since I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome and have a very restricted diet (I’m following the Low FODMAPS diet), Primal Pantry sounded like a winner!

So first up, parking around here on a Sunday morning can be a bit hectic, but if you drive around you’ll find a park pretty quickly.

Primal Pantry is a cafe, not a restaurant, so it has an open dining casual front with a small grocery store section inside where you can buy Paleo ingredients.

Service was a tad confusing.  They give you the menu at your table but you have to go up and order from the counter.  No problems with that, but it wasn’t explained particularly clearly. 

Next up is the menu – it’s pretty simple stuff.  It all looked healthy and sounded delicious – so it gets a tick.

I ordered a cappucino with almond milk and paleo toast with a side of smoked bacon (any diet that allows bacon is pretty amazing in my books!)

My friends ordered between them a long black, a chai latte on almond milk, paleo toast and a caveman’s plate.

I was on about 4 hours of sleep from the night before so I was in NEED of my coffee.  It came pretty quickly, but I could only manage about a sip of it.  It was revolting.  I’ve drunk almond milk before and I’ve had good and bad experiences with it – rest assured, this was a bad one.  My friend who got the long black wasn’t a fan of the quality of the coffee to begin with, so all I can say is DO NOT go to Primal Pantry for the COFFEE.

Cappuccino of Doom

Food wise, it was great.

paleo toast with smoked bacon (mmmm, bacon)

 

caveman’s plate

 

The food was simple but tasty.  The bread was made of coconut and was quite sweet but still enjoyable.  The eggs were poached nicely – yolks were still runny.  The bacon wasn’t too crispy, which is how I like it!  The rest of the food on the plate is pretty self explanatory.

My friend really enjoyed her caveman’s plate and boy, was she hungry!

A good way to get a healthy breakfast – just skip the coffee.

SUMMARY

Decor   Casual cafe

Service  7/10

Food   8/10

Price  $$

 

Good healthy breakfast – but a cafe with bad coffee, just doesn’t seem right. Worth a visit, but I don’t think I’ll be heading back soon.

EatReview – DEVOUR, Fortitude Valley

Hey Peeps,

So this is my first EatReview!  I needed a catchy new tagline for all my restaurant, cafe, bistro, eatery reviews and this is what my tiny brain came up with.  I kid, it’s a work of genius!  On to the actual review:

DEVOUR, Fortitude Valley

A couple of weeks ago, my friends and I decided to meet up and have dinner at Devour – the newest tapas bar in the Valley.

The first hurdle to overcome was booking a table.  I was determined to find a phone number and despite my best efforts, could not find one.   I ended up emailing them my booking request and hoping for the best.  They replied within a couple of hours, confirming the booking –  quick and easy!  Though they might want to make it clear in future that they only accept email bookings.

First impressions – very ambient setting, a kind of sophisticated industrial look that I really liked.  The lighting was very dim so they actually had to turn the hanging light on over our table so we could  read the menu.

The service here is impeccable.   In between my first visit and writing this review, I have frequented Devour again and yet again, the service really stuck with me.

They were attentive, friendly and knowledgeable – everything you need from your waiter.  The bartender was lovely and even gave us free mini cocktails to get our feedback on his new Dragonfruit cocktail (it was fantastic by the way – light and refreshing, it didn’t even taste like alcohol).

Devour serves up Asian Tapas.  The food here is very reasonably priced  – we tried the Gohan set menu, which gives you 2 tapas and 1 main for $26.

Which leads us to the food itself.  I ordered the beef sliders and pork dumplings for my tapas and the pork dish for my main.

Let me just say that the beef sliders blew my mind.  Tender shredded beef on a  steamed bun with this flavoursome sauce (I think it might have been pesto) and mint.  I loved it.  Light and tasty, it was a perfect start to the meal.

(Just a little note here on the photographs:  I initially instagrammed them but thought it was a better reflection of the food if I leave it unfiltered)

beef sliders

I forgot to take a picture of the pork dumplings because I was too busy eating them 😛  But rest assured, they were decent.  I won’t rave about them because they weren’t memorable but they were, like most pork dumplings, tasty and a good bite.

I got the Pork Main which was a Pork Noodle Salad.

pork main

It was small but the perfect size when you take into consideration the two tapas that preceded it.  The pork was tender, the vegetables were as they should be – carrots were soft, lettuce crispy, cool as a cucumber – and the noodles were noodling.

The main was tasty and healthy, I should add, so it gets points from me.  Nothing to write home about but all in all, a good show from Devour.

The Liz Score  

Decor –  Industrial contemporary (something I may have invented – but describes it pretty well).

Food – 8.5/10

Service – 10/10

Price – $$

Would go back for seconds (and I already have!)

Shopping for Wedding Dresses in Brisbane

In keeping with the series on Wedding Vendors in Brisbane, I thought I would talk to you guys about the most important dress of your life, your wedding dress!

I completely and utterly loved my wedding dress.  It was gorgeous, but more importantly, it made ME feel beautiful in it.

When you go wedding dress shopping, you’re bound to get overwhelmed and confused.  There’s a lot of choice out there.  Even though Brisbane is a smaller city, there’s still plenty of places to visit.

These are some of the stores I went to on my quest for the perfect dress:

The Bridal Centre – located on Queen Street Mall.  This store was like a meat market.  Terrible lighting, overbooked appointments and the dresses did not look  like they do in the catalogues.  I was really disappointed with this place.

Wendy Makin – located in Woolloongabba.  In terms of decor, this was the most beautiful bridal store I went to.  It had gorgeous chandeliers, carpeting and the whole thing just looked wonderful.  They had a great range of silhouettes and styles and all the dresses were great quality.The attendants were very helpful and attentive without being overbearing.  I really liked Wendy Makin – they also have a good range of prices, so you’re sure to find something you like.

Belladonna Bridal – also located in Woolloongabba.  This store is the budget sister of Wendy Makin, so be prepared to dive through the racks to find a bargain.  There were some nice dresses here, but you have to sort the trash to find your treasure.  Worthwhile if you’re on a tight budget, but make sure to make an appointment in advance.

Babushka Ballerina – located in Wintergarden, Brisbane City.  They also have a store in Fortitude Valley.  While I can’t fault the service or the quality of the dresses at this store, let me tell you that these dresses are made for the petite.  I am an Australian size 10 and have a large chest and these dresses were so unflattering on me and just made me feel like a heifer.  Again, more to do with my shape than the dresses – I saw them on a petite lady in the dressing room next to me and she looked fabulous!  This store is for the bride looking for something unique – and it’s worth a visit!

Casar Elegance – located in T&G building, Brisbane City.  This is where I found my dress.  The first time we went in, we had amazing customer service from a lady named Kimmy.  She was hilarious and pepped us all up after a big day shopping.  She pulled out a dress that I would never have considered and that ended up being my dress.  My subsequent visits to Casar were not the greatest experience.  My next attendant was a lady named Denise.  Denise’s customer service left something to be desired.

On one occasion, I booked an appointment to try on veils after I’d purchased my dress and she booked me in for a Saturday.  When I went in, she basically rushed me through the appointment because she had made a mistake in booking me in for a Saturday, as once you purchase your dress, you’re only allowed to retry it on weekdays.

That was fine – but then continually telling me that I wasn’t supposed to be there and I would have to hurry up just made the whole thing horrible.  Here I am, having paid a large amount already for my dress and about to spend for a cathedral veil and being treated like I wasn’t wanted there.  It was horrible.

Having said all that, I absolutely loved my dress.  I think the moment I knew it was my dress was when I came out of the dressing room and the whole store stopped and stared.  It was just the perfect dress for me and it made me feel beautiful, which it what it’s all about!

I hope this helps you in some small way when you’re looking for a dress.  Just remember, don’t be pressured into buying anything if you’re not sure.   I went back to Casar 3 times before I purchased my dress.  Be comfortable with your purchase, it’s probably the most you’ll ever spend on a dress.

I ended up getting a Maggie Sottero Mermaid Style Dress:

 

Hope this helps!

Love,

Liz xx

Lonely Planet has confirmed what we already knew!

Lonely Planet names Brisbane coolest city in Australia.

So I think we all knew that Brisbane is an amazing city, but now Lonely Planet has confirmed it 🙂

The new edition, released just before Christmas, describes Brisbane as Australia’s “hippest city” and a star on the rise.

According to the article in the Herald Sun, the guidebook says:

“Booming Brisbane is an energetic river town on the way up with an edgy arts scene, pumping nightlife and great coffee and restaurants”.

Awwww yeah.  Brisbane is awesome.

So in celebration of this fact, I’m going to rededicate myself to sharing with you the fabulousness of Brisbane.

Love,

Liz xx

Wedding Suppliers in Brisbane – MILQUE PHOTOGRAPHY

Good Morning!

I’ve decided to kickstart the new year with a series on wedding suppliers in Brizvegas.

We had our wedding in October 2013 and it was glorious.  The best day possible.  And that was largely thanks to all the people who helped out on the day – family, friends and suppliers!

When you plan your wedding, hiring a photographer is one of the most important decisions you will make.  The photographer will take your memories on the day and hopefully, turn them into wonderful photos that will remind you of all the happiness and love you felt on the day.

Our photographers, Milque Photography, did exactly that.

I cannot say enough how much I loved our photographers. They were professional, friendly and just so easy to get along with.  When they said they would do something, they did.   I loved them even before I got our photos.  And then I got our photos….

Here’s my favourite pic of my dress:

 

Suffice to say that after getting the pictures, I am overjoyed.

They are a little bit more expensive than your average but so worth it.  I do not at all regret spending the money, because we will have these amazing photos for the rest of our lives.

If you want to check out more of their work, go to their facebook page-https://www.facebook.com/milquephotography

Let me know if you have any questions!

Love,

Liz xx

New Years Resolutions (NYRs)

We’re in 2014!   How crazy  is that?

I am, at best, an occasional blogger and one of my NYRs is to be more regular about my blogging (fingers crossed!).

I have been a bit slack about making any NYRs – we’re already up to 6 January.  Woops!  Better late than never right?

So without further ado (and I doubt anyone else besides myself is interested in this), my NYRs!

NYR #1 – Stop being so anxious all the time.

So I get anxious over really stupid things like –  people not calling me or texting me or not getting enough likes on facebook.  First world problems, huh?  I have gotten better and I’ve managed to partially paralyse the gremlins in my head, but I am going to continue the battle until I feel secure enough in myself that I don’t second guess everything I do.

NYR #2 – Tie up the loose ends.

Change my name, get admitted as a solicitor….whatever else is left over from 2013 that I was supposed to get done.  Procrastination is not my friend, clearly.

NYR #3 – Take action, stop talking!

I have a lot of plans, but I need to put them in action.  I really want to launch a wedding based business this year and I just need to do it. Stop talking about it and DO it!

NYR #4 – Work on being a better person and accepting myself.

I’d like to give more to the community, spread the good fortune 🙂

And love myself.  I need to stop picking on myself so much.  I’m not perfect and I need to accept that before I can move on to something bigger and better!

What are your plans for 2014?  Sometimes it helps to write it down and set yourself some concrete goals.

Happy 2014 people, hopefully it’s a good year for all of us 🙂

Love

Liz xx

 

Lightspace Photos

Hello all!

Here are a few photos of my engagement party at Lightspace just to give you an idea of the venue 🙂

 

Hope that helps 🙂

Love,

Liz xx

The Amazing Malteser Cake!

It seems like all of my cakes are malteser based, but I swear this is not the case!

In any case, when I saw this recipe for a malteser cake in Good Taste (the Woolworths magazine), I just knew I had to try it.    

A few points:

• Make sure you don’t overheat the butter and brown sugar mixture in the microwave ( I did that!);
• Use a cake saw for the layers if you’re uncoordinated;
• Refrigerate the cake after icing the layers, before you’ve done the ganache (another mistake I made!);
• You may need a little extra ganache to stick the maltesers on in tricky spots.

This is the link to the recipe: http://www.taste.com.au/good+taste/article/every+month/amazing+maltesers+cake,1941

And here are my attempts:

 

Enjoy baking!

Love

Liz xx

 

Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation Review

Hi Guys,

So as part of my getting into shape for my wedding in October, I signed up for Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation.

Basically, for $200 you get fitness plans and nutrition plans for 12 weeks.  You also get mindset videos and guidance from Michelle herself.

I’m up to week 3 and I’ve had a few health setbacks (unrelated to the exercise and nutrition plan), so it’s been slow going for me.  So far, though, I am loving it!  It’s given me a guide on what I should be eating, which is something I’ve really needed!  Her recipes are really easy to make, which for someone as time poor as myself, is an absolute blessing.  The exercise plans are great because they give you the option to choose based on location, for example, gym, outdoors, home etcetera.

So far, so good.  I’m actually enjoying the exercise and can feel the muscle building.  I’ve put on quite a bit of weight in the last couple of years and I just feel so uncomfortable with myself.  There are a lot of emotions that bubble out throughout the experience, I’ve been happy, sad, disappointed, angry and the list goes on.  Changing your bad habits is tough, but it’s definitely worth it!

If any of you are on or have tried the 12 Week Body Transformation, let us know! It’d be great to know what you think too 🙂

Love,

Liz xx

Cake Me Happy :)

Hello hello!

I’m in the process of trying to lose weight for my wedding, but I’m having a bit of trouble giving up my baking habit!

My new thing is to bake cakes and give them away before I get a chance to devour them all.  In any case, here are a couple of cakes I’ve made recently and subsequently given away!!

VALENTINES DAY HEART CAKE

This frothy confection was a double batch of butter cake layered with oh so creamy buttercream frosting, and sprinkles on top!  Can you feel the love? 

My newest baking innovation, which has made my life soooooo much easier, is a cake wire cutter.   It’s basically a cake saw which lets you cut beautiful even layers, even if you are a bit challenged in the co-ordination department like me!

 

MALTESER LAYER CAKE  (following a recipe on the amazing sugar hit blog, run by a Brizzy gal)

Chocolate cake in three layers, with crushed maltesers and chocolate frosting in between and maltsers on top!  Can you say heaven?

Sugar Hit recommended using a sheet pan for this, but I just used a loaf pan….worked out pretty well and doesn’t require you to cut out rectangles.  Just use the cake saw and you’re good to go!

Here’s the recipe:  http://www.thesugarhit.com/2012/03/chocolate-malt-layer-cake.html

 

 

 

 

 

Anyways, that’s all I’ve got for now.  There are plans for a Chocolate Sour Cream Cake with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting this weekend, but we’ll see how that pans out 🙂

Love,

Liz xx