Hidden Gem: Carolina Kitchen

Pork Ribs

Buffalo Wings

New York Fries

Jordan Image

It’s hard to resist a combination of ribs, buffalo wings and fries. Such an easy combination of finger lickin’ good food. But for some reason, so hard to find in Brisbane.

Carolina Kitchen is hidden in the ‘burbs of Brisbane (Coorparoo). About 10 minutes from the CBD surrounded by houses. It’s a humble American diner with simple furnishing – you’ll feel like you’re in your mother’s kitchen. But the food… great meaty and greasy food. That’s what counts right?

They sell ribs, wings, new york fries (fries with salsa, sour cream and cheese), hoagies (like a 3/4 footlong sub), hot dogs, burgers and American branded drinks.  We usually get a Carolina Pack: $40 for ribs, 12 wings and a serve of fries.

I’ll let the pictures tell the story. The ribs are nice. But I’ll definitely recommend the buffalo wings. Don’t forget to use the dipping sauce – it’s some blue cheese sauce which tastes great. My pick from here – I would drive 20 minutes to pick these up… oh the things we do for good food.

Pizza in Japan?? – Italian Kitchen Buono

Meat Pizza

Italian Kitchen Buono

So I’ve always thought… why would I even try the ‘foreign’ food in Japan? Especially when there’s so much of a variety of Japanese food around anyway! Well, after 10 days of stuffing myself with Japanese food, I decided it was time to be re-acquainted with a western dish. I walked around a big shopping complex, and I seated myself and waited for some ‘Japan-ised’ pizza.

How wrong was I to steer away from ‘foreign’ food in Japan. The place I checked into was Italian Kitchen Buono in LalaPort (Minami Funabashi). I ordered their meat pizza (forgive me, I have no idea what they called it in nihongo, but it looked like the meatiest one). I wasn’t expecting anything great. To be honest, anything close to a Pizza Hut quality dish would have sufficed. But I was pleasantly surprised.

OK. Let’s state the obvious. The meat doesn’t look that great. The bacon was fine, but luncheon meat is luncheon meat, and not very ‘exotic’ or interesting. But the crust was thin and crisp and just right! I’d rank it one of the top crusts I’ve had before. The tomato paste and quality of cheese was also great. Japanese cheese is actually really tasty – compared to cheese in other parts of Asia. I could taste at least 3 different cheeses happening there.

If the meats/toppings were improved, the pizza would have been almost perfect. But I was impressed with the crust and the cheese. This has changed my view of  ‘foreign’ food in Japan. Japan does Japanese food well. It does western food well. I think I’m beginning to really like this place!