Hakataya Noodle Shop

I've been carrying a hacking cough with me for a number of months so her Mothership delivered an ultimatum: see a Specialist or visit a Chinese Herbalist. Since I believe Specialists are a waste of time and space and am cynical enough to believe that my appointments are funding their next Mercedes Benz, I decided to take the latter choice. After the appointment, we stopped at Hakataya Noodle Shop for lunch and though it was the middle of the week and only 10:30am, there was still a line of customers eager to place their order.

Hakataya Noodle Shop offers no more than six menu options and is located in the row of shops opposite Landmark. The set up is mostly designed for take away but the few available tables are neat and clean. The image above is my brother's Miso Spicy Men with extra char siu pork. I recommend adding extra noodles for $1.80 and extra char siu as the pork has been slow cooked to melt in your mouth.

I wasn't feeling as adventurous as my brother so I ordered the signature Nagahama Ramen. This ramen is suspended in a flavoursome pork bone stock and oh my goodness it was amazing! The noodles were chewy, the char siu pork was melt in your mouth and your $10 even brought a free side order of takana (spicy Japanese Pickles). Though my Mother grumbled that offerings overseas were superior, I just loved my trip to Hakataya Noodle Shop and would be more than happy to travel to Sunnybank for another serving.

Rating: 3.5 out 5.
Address: Shop 27B, Sunnybank Plaza, Cnr Main and McCullough Street, Sunnybank, QLD 4109.
Open: Monday - Sunday, 9am - 8:50pm.
Phone: (07) 3344 1313
Price: Mains: $6.50 - $15.

The War on Consumer Stupidity

Now that I've neatly hopped over my first quarter of a century, I've got permission to be old. This means telling today's youth to speak in proper English and to cover up, grumbling about how unfortunate it is to be a useless sack of organs and becoming irrationally crotchety over small things. Keeping the latter in mind, I would like to declare war on consumer stupidity. Sure we like convenience and being an evil Marketing Overlord I snuggle filthy Capitalism close to my bosom every day, but can we stop and use some logic for once? Here are some of the worst offenders:

• Avocado related Faff: Things that fall under this category include the annoying Brand Power Lady spruiked AvoFresh and the Avocado Slicer. Please stop, the Avocado comes naturally packaged, it's just as quick to prepare it with a knife, contains no hidden nasties and at the risk of sounding like a smelly hippy. In Australia alone, we throw away more than one million tonnes of plastic waste a year. Keep walking, don't look.
  


• Milk Carton Holder: Having friends or trying to impress that special someone in your humble share house abode? Need to add that touch of depression era chic, well you need the Milk Carton Holder! But seriously, unless you are disabled, how difficult is it to pick up a carton?
  


• Slicing Dicing Paraphernalia: Want to spend more time cleaning? Choose from any one of these: Garlic Zoom (yes you have to peel the cloves before you dice them), the Herb Mill or Pizza Scissors.
  
  
• Eggcitement: Ensure those slippery little suckers don't get the better of you by using the Ez Cracker and then cooking them in the Egg Cuber!
  
  
• Perfect Soldiers: It must have been a boring year when this tool won the 2005 British Invention Show Gold Medal.
  
  
• Hot Dog Pop Up Toaster: Only in America.
  
  
• Kiwi Guard: A unique way to protect and enjoy your single precious daily Kiwi fruit. It even comes with a colour coordinated spoon! Noice!
  

Taste Gallery

If you have spoken to me about Chinese Restaurants for anything length of time you will know that I bemoan how backwards they are. With such fierce competition, it's time to get a website, engage with your client base, rework the 80's menu and let go of the vinyl table cloths! So Taste Gallery in Sunnybank's Market Square complex is an aesthetically pleasing addition with its slick dark wood interior, transparent display kitchen and lavish menus. However could this be a case of all style and no substance?

The first dish to arrive was the spicy shredded pork with bamboo shoots. This was delicious and we decided to enjoy them on thin savoury pancakes. The dish is ample but the serving of pancakes were scarce, so I would recommend purchasing two serves. Unfortunately the staff forgot our second set of pancakes and when they were reminded, brought out steamed bread pockets. These steamed bread pockets are designed to house something more robust like a piece of slow cooked pork belly and when I queried the staff member they insisted this was the correct accompaniment.

With a transparent show kitchen, it seemed only fitting that we ordered some Xiaolongbao. These Shanghainese dumplings are delicious and I was especially impressed with how neatly they lifted from their lined baskets so you could fully appreciate the burst of soup enclosed.

We decided to finish our meal with Pork and Vegetable Wonton and unfortunately this was the most disappointing dish. The wonton were beautifully presented and I really enjoyed the seaweed but the soup had zero flavour. It was as though the kitchen had simply poured boiling water onto these dumplings and served it. This wouldn't surprise me as we felt the front of house staff had checked out for the day. There were staff getting changed at the front counter, another was sleeping at a table in clear view. I found the whole experience disappointing as the cost of the meal totalled $50, which is well above what you can expect in the area. Taste Gallery is gorgeous creature but my curiosity was satisfied after one visit.

Rating: 2 out of 5.
Address: Market Square Shopping Centre, Shop 20B/341 McCullough Street, Sunnybank, QLD 4109.
Open: Monday - Sunday. Breafast, Lunch and Dinner.
Phone: (07) 3423 8483