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

Cafe Citrus

As an idealistic young soul, I was actively involved in grassroots politics so one evening the group decided to book a table and meet at Cafe Citrus to talk shop. While everyone made a purchase, the group kept to the lighter end of the meals spectrum being poor students. So you can imagine our shock when a waitress trotter over, slammed the bill on the table and declared, "when you book a table here, we expect you to dine." I was furious and from that moment on declared that I would never return to Cafe Citrus.

Several years down the track, I find myself back at Cafe Citrus to catch up with the very elegant Sara and Rob over Sunday Breakfast. Though the establishment has doubled in size, not a lot has changed as it still has the same wicker style chairs, standard menu and sub par service. The staff neglected to provide crucial pieces of cutlery, the drinks order was slow and it took several enquiries to determine that they were unable to provide heating as they had run out of gas.

I decided to select the Eggs Benedict with Smoked Salmon but as you can see from my photograh that my $18 didn't provide me anything imaginative. Cafe Citrus continues to baffle me as to how it continues to survive with such a poor service and menu offering, perhaps it is all location location. Honestly, you may as well go to the Coffee Club than stop here. Keep walking and don't look back.

Rating: 2 out of 5.
Address: 2/161 Oxford Street, Bulimba, QLD 4171.
Open: 7am - 10pm. 7 days a week.
Phone: (07) 3899 0242.
Price: Breakfast: $6.50 - $18. Lunch: $11 - $28.50. Dinner: $14 - $32.50.