Date night at our house lately has taken on a whole new meaning.

Gone are the candle-lit dinners, boxes of chocolates and flowers, and in are… just dates. Literally. 

This year I decided to enter the Ekka Fine Arts Cookery competition in the highly coveted Date Loaf category. Ok I have no idea if it’s highly coveted or not, but it looked easy enough to have a crack at and was open to novices only.

​Enter me.

So how did I go? Let’s take a look.

• Having grown up in Brisbane, I remember the days when the main strip of West End was easily the go-to place for a good coffee and creative meal. Well, things have changed a bit since my early 20s (despite that being just a few years ago… obviously… *cough*).

These days, you need to meander off busy Boundary road to find such a café, but once you know where to look, you’ll be seeing West End again with new eyes. 

Tucked away on Browning Street is Duo Bar and Restaurant, which is exactly the type of innovative and trendy café you’re looking for when you visit West End.

But does the food actually taste as good as the menu suggests? Let’s take a look. 

Busy Sandgate Road probably isn’t the first place you think of when looking for a little oasis in the inner-burbs, but it’s exactly here that you’ll find one.

At first you may just see an overgrown hedge from the main road, but look again and behind the expansive vines and shrubbery you’ll spot My Mistress Café. 

Is it worth taking a detour for a coffee here?
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Let’s find out.

Lately my two-year old has been singing “I can sing a rainbow” in a true two-year-old fashion: repetitively. 

After waking up at 1am to “listen with your eyeees, listen with your eyeeees,” I decided enough was enough and worked hard to change our vocal rotation to songs about twinkling little stars, mice running up clocks, highways to hell; anything else.

My blanket rainbow ban was working.

That is until I went to Piggyback Café in Brisbane’s west-side. And ordered the most radiant meal I’ve ever had in my life.
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Was I seeing red? Or yellow or green and blue? Let’s take a look. 

​Brisbane’s dining scene has seen a great deal of change over the past couple of decades.

​Restaurants have come and gone, and there’s definitely a lot more pulled pork on plates now than there was in the 90s. 

One restaurant that has remained a constant is Mariosarti, which has been a stalwart of Toowong, for over 20 years. 

Recently though, Mariosarti has been placed under the care of a brand new owner. So does its food still stand the test of time?

Let’s find out. 

Healthy eating in the Winter months can be a bit of a challenge. A salad certainly isn’t the first thing you think of when you’re wearing thermal leggings and a puffy jacket. 

This is where a big bowl of warming, healthy pho fits the bill nicely. While on the hunt for a big bowl of this nutritious deliciousness, I stumbled upon Brisbane’s newest Vietnamese restaurant located in Woolloongabba.

Than Nuong translates to ‘charcoal’, and char-grilled meat has cold-weather-eating all over it. 
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So is it possible to eat delicious warming Winter food and not break the diet? Let’s find out. 

It's quite easy to find an Italian restaurant that doesn't veer too much from it's traditional roots. But what about one that serves up goji berries with its carpaccio? Or edamame beans with it's pesce?

Are these dishes crazy or ingenious?

To find out, we paid a visit to Il Locale Italian at Rosalie; a restaurant that isn't afraid to take inspiration from all corners of the world.

So does this creative flair fare well for the food here? Let's find out. 

I have four words for you: Ricotta Blueberry Breakfast Dumplings. 

When I heard these were on offer at our local Nordic-inspired café, I was there faster than you can say blåbær. 

Lokal + Co at West End offers a very innovative menu which puts the old plate of bacon and eggs to shame. But does this creativity translate into deliciousness?
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Let’s go and find out.

Ever wonder what other people around the world are eating right now? No? Ok, I do on a regular basis, so go with me on this. 

Using recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation, and original sauces imported directly from Thailand, P’Nut Street Noodles has made a name for itself as offering some truly authentic Thai food in Brisbane. 

With restaurants in South Bank and Bulimba, there’s a brand new local P’Nut that has opened up at Windsor.
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So what are people eating in Khon Kaen at the moment? Let’s go to Brisbane’s northside to find out. 

Moorooka may be the go-to suburb to buy a second-hand car, but it’s also becoming the place to find quality brunches thanks to a burgeoning café scene in the winding streets behind the “magic mile”.

One such café to have popped up is Todd and Pup. As the cute name suggests, dogs are welcome here. So are Todds.

This family friendly café also extends its bear hug to kids, so is already a winner in the minds of local families. 
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For those of us though on the other side of town who aren’t in the market for a new SUV, is it worth the drive to this café? Let’s find out.