Aria

Our friend Carol gave us a very generous engagement/farewell present before we moved - a gift voucher for Aria Restaurant. Having just been to The Press Club we were excited about trying out another fine dining restaurant owned by another of our Masterchef favourites, Matt Moran.

We had booked a table for 6pm and this early seating time came with an offer of a complimentary glass of 2007 Stonier sparkling wine (Mornington Peninsula, Victoria) on arrival. The meals were absolutely divine and the service was attentive without being intrusive. Pair that with a view of the Brisbane River and you have the making for a wonderful evening.

ARIA Restaurant Brisbane • 1 Eagle Street, Eagle Street Pier, Brisbane QLD • Ph: +61 7 3233 2555

Oysters - freshly shucked and served with a selection of dressings: cocktail sauce, red wine vinaigrette and ginger and shallot

Salmon - seared fillet with a crab and kipfler potato salad, broccoli, almonds and quail egg

 Duck - roast breast with duck pastilla, parsnip purée, caramelised witlof and a muscatel jus

Banoffee - banana brûlée with caramel, almond praline and toasted almond milk ice cream

Ekka

Being a newly minted local I thought I'd better check out the highly publicised Ekka - "Queensland's biggest and most iconic event - the Royal Queensland Show (Ekka) - is a 10-day celebration of life in the sunshine state. Each year, Ekka attracts about 400,000 visitors who can enjoy more than 3000 free things to see and do."

It was very similar to the Melbourne show with lots of cute baby animals, fatty foods, rides and showbags. Although it was a bit cheesy we had a good night embracing the festivities.

Back to Yatala

I've been craving Yatala Pies ever since our first visit in July and now that we are living in Brisbane I can cruise down there as often as my waistline allows... Today we opted for a chicken and mushroom pie to share with and apple pie for dessert. We also grabbed a family size pie to take home so I'll have to try to make mushy peas on my own for that one...stay tuned!