What I ate today - the food thread

[Solid]

Farmer and the Bao Burger at Farmer and the Cow, Wilmington, Delaware. Good amount of spice and delicious. The Bao reference refers to the filling not that it was on a Bao bun.

 

[Denali]

Treated ourselves to a monthly cheese box from Bruny Island and today for lunch, with a salad, we enjoyed the Otto with some home made low carb crackers (4g carbs only) that I made in the air fryer

A very nice, salty, soft cheese. We were both a fan and will add to our next box

Otto

A fresh One Day Old cheese wrapped in slices of local prosciutto, that you bake in the oven until the cheese goes all gooey, and the prosciutto goes all crispy. Serve it up with crusty bread and a leafy salad, and dinner is sorted.

brunyislandcheese.com.au

 

[Oscarq]

A delicious Mooloolaba prawn salad at the Mornington Peninsula home office.

 

[drron]

Dinner last night at the IC Mumbai. A Fawlty Towers experience. Got my order wrong twice, Mrsdrron’s mushroom risotto had 4 tiny bits of mushroom. Added to that the wine we ordered was out of stock and they didn’t come back to ask us if we wanted another.
I ordered a simple chicken tikka masala and was first brought a lamb dish. Second attempt was a chicken tikka biryani. When the ordered dish finally arrived it was delicious.
First Mrsdrron’s dish then mine.











The staff called the F&B manager so we were brought complimentary desserts.


But more importantly we got a table at the booked out rooftop bar for our last night. Never let a chance go by.

 

[Captain Halliday]

Dinner at a restaurant called Huth Demoritz in Vienna.

Mrs H and I shared the 800 gram prime rib for two.

Once cooked, they brought it out whole, presumably to prove it was actually huge, then whisked it back to the kitchen to be sliced.

The enormous serve of butter makes the steak look tiny.



Served with side salad…



…and chips (not pictured).

We paired it with a German Cabernet Merlot blend.



Miss H opted for a pizza.



For those with the Amex Platinum Charge, this place also happens to be on the list for the global dining benefit.

 

[drron]

Breakfast at IC Mumbai this morning. I went conservative.




But I was flabbergasted when I was passing the pastries. I saw a spoon protruding from one of the 2 lower shelves of 3. The upper shelf had pastries. It turns out that the 2 lower shelves were for the chutneys. Would have loved knowing that on the first day.

 

[Scash]

Donuts at Kenilworth Bakery in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland

 

[Scash]

Taco Tuesday @ Captains Daughter Peregian Beach

Chicken tacos



Beef plus one fish taco

 

[Captain Halliday]

Dinner in Vienna.

Veal schnitzel for both Mrs H and me.



Served the traditional Austrian way with a side of potato salad.



Miss H had risotto.



And grilled veggies to share.

 

[drron]

My iPhone has finally synced my first day cruise photos to icloud so we can catch up a little. for dinner we have been having a pre dinner drink in The Avenue and then going to their main restaurant Waterside. First pictures whilst sitting in the bar.


You can keep an eye on the dinner queue.



There is a rush when they open at 6.30. Every one wants a window seat. I don't see the point as when at sea on 2 of the 3 nights all you see is a black void. but some pictures of the restaurant.





Service was excellent. The wine service as well. With all our meals so far your wine glass never falls below a third before being replenished.
For appetisers Mrsdrron had a caesar salad and I waygu crudo.




There always a regular butter and a special which changes.
For mains Mrsdrron had an excellent salmon dish and my pink veal loin was very good.



The dessert menu.


Mrsdrron had the creme brulee and I the cheesecake.




A great start to the cruise.

 

[Ade]

Blu Ginger Indian restaurant, CBR CBD.

Maharaja Thali (Veg) for lunch. Decent portion sized curries (x3), a serve of rice, 1x Naan bread, salad, pappadums, dessert. Should also include pickles, but my plate didn’t have it. I didn’t bother asking for it either. No drinks included.



The curries were - Dal Makhani (butter lentils curry), mixed veg curry and paneer curry. Personally, I’d ranked the Paneer curry to be the top one, followed by the Dal and then the mixed veg.

The Paneer curry had a good kick of spiciness that I like. The mixed veg was creamy and had broccoli in it … I love broccoli - by itself steamed or in a stir fry, but not in an Indian curry. But that’s just me. The Dal had good amount of butter and hit the spot.

The dessert was Gulab Jamun (fried dough balls soaked in sugar syrup) - really nice and a fitting finish to the meal.

Naan bread was soft and went well with the spicy Paneer curry.

Will definitely come back. Might even ask for the pickles next time.

 

[Ade]

AFF catchup dinner at BNE. Wu Kong, BNE CBD.

Started with lychee, passionfruit and mango mocktail. Loved this drink. With the Brissy heat, this mocktail went down quickly.



Entree was the veg dumplings. Great tasty filling, served with red wine vinegar (or some vinegar, which added acidity to the dish, which I liked).



Mains were seasonal vegetables and tofu hot pot. I was expecting a hot pot like the Korean ones - saucy, soupy etc. But this dish was more a stir fry rather than hot pot. Regardless, loved the flavour of the dish. The veggies were crunchy. Had this dish with a serve of rice, and with a serve of fresh chillies (obviously!).







Didn’t order dessert. But saw a fellow AFF’er order a second drink of boba pearl frappe and I wanted one too. So ordered a coconut frappe with lychee pearls (yes, I love lychee!).



All dishes were excellent and the discussions were interesting. A great evening with fellow AFF’ers!

 

[Ade]

Lunch at Star Kebabs, Fyshwick markets.

Back to my favourite kebab store in CBR! It’s been a while since I visited Star Kebabs. Had been travelling a bit and the days the market is open were the days when I had a busy time at work. So my mate and I decided we’d go to Star in the new year and we did.

The main chef was really happy to see us and did note that it’s been a while since we had visited the store.

We ordered our usual - falafel plates with fresh bread, loads of chilli sauce and jalapeños. You’ll see what I mean - with the chilli sauce literally on everything. Lol.

We took a table outside as it was very hot inside the store #CBRSummers!




When our order was called out the main chef gave us a free serve of hummus with sumac and onions. He said it’s on the house! Such a nice person.




The dish was excellent. We always had really quality and tasty food at this joint and it was no different this time around.

We will be going there soon for another lunch. Once I’m back from my next trip.

 

[Ade]

Family lunch at Annalakshmi, Chennai.



Annakshmi means “goddess of food” in Tamil. The restaurant is an upscale, pure veg (Jain food included) fine dining place in Chennai. Pricey, but worth it. I’d definitely recommend this place to anyone who wants to try authentic Indian style vego food.

It’s been a while since my parents, siblings and I went out for a meal. Most of my trips to India are of short duration with packed schedule. So this time when we had a few planned things cancel, my sibling and I thought we should do a family meal outing some place. We thought we’d go out for a meal on 01 Jan, but something else popped up and we couldn’t. So went on 02 Jan.



The menu is very varied and has so many options. We decided we’d do the “Mahalakshmi Preethi Bhojan”. It’s a set menu - the items vary by the day and what the chef chooses to serve.



Fried crispies/papad before the actual menu items come out.



Started with a sweet amouse bouche



Then a soup



Then Aloo Bonda (mashed spicy potato rolled in dough and fried) with coconut chutney.



Then Ginger Cauliflower - had a nice kick to it. I loved it.



Then the actual main meals - unlimited, can be refilled as much as one can eat. From left, panner butter masala, black chickpea curry, cucumber and pineapple salad, yogurt vada (fried savoury donut soaked in yogurt) served with bhoondi (fried pearls of runny chickpea flour, tossed with chilli powder), bottle gourd and lentils curry, finally, potatoes cooked with spices. Served with a roti (Wholemeal flatbread).



Once done with the roti, we were served an assortment of pickles. From left, garlic pickle, lemon pickle, fresh mango and ginger pickle, and mango pickled in spice powder.



Then potato stuffed naan bread.



Then pulao rice. Followed by idli and tomato chutney.



Followed by turmeric and lemon vermicelli, mint rice, fried okra.


Followed by green beans cooked with lentils and spicy mixed veggies rice (sambhar rice)



Followed by tamarind curry rice and yogurt rice (not pictured).

Now, desserts. Started with rice, sago kheer with condensed milk and saffron.



Followed by Gulab Jamum



Finished with a butterscotch ice cream.



The meal was approx $40/person. We could barely move after the meal. But loved it to bits. I’m thinking to visit this place once a year - sort of a annual ritual

 

[Ade]

A quick stop at SYD Domestic J lounge to take some meetings and to try the Panini bar. I had dropped from WP to SG at the beginning of 2025, right about the time QF introduced the Panini Bar at SYD domestic J lounge.

I hit WP around Nov 2025. I had a 12 hour layover in SYD, so took this opportunity to do some work meetings and also try the panini bar.

It was 24 Dec, so the options were avo toast and banana bread with berries and ricotta cheese. The person behind the counter said what I liked and I said it’s my first time at the panini bar, so she said I should try both and made both vego dishes for me.






I love savoury dishes. But today the sweet dish won. I’d happily have this banana bread recipe any day. It wasn’t too sweet, well balanced. Had little pockets of sweetness from the honey and berries balanced with the ricotta.