Tonight I walked from my hotel into town and through to the Hanuman Restaurant. I wasn’t sure where I wanted to eat initially and I thought it would reveal how predictable and obsessive I am, but you know what? Who cares. I like the food. I like the restaurant. It was my choice.
A couple of weeks ago Mum and Dad celebrated 50 years of marriage. Mum wanted a family celebration with her children and grandchildren. There’s 15 of us including Mum and Dad.
A favourite restaurant for my parents is Morgans Seafood at Scarborough.
Morgans Seafood Restaurant
We had a booking for noon because basically the Lums don’t like to wait too long to eat. On the drive (we had a convoy of three cars), I had a niece with me and she said she was a real Lum because she preferred meat and fish and dessert over vegetables.
We get to the restaurant and Dr47 tells me I’ve been here before but I can’t remember. Not long after, Mr42 arrives with his kids and we’re all seated at a long table with a water view. I find myself at the end with all the kids which isn’t a bad thing since I’m a big kid 🙂
Inside Morgans Seafood Restaurant. We got there just before 12 noon.
Because we had decided we were also going to go out for dinner we all elected to enjoy a main course. The menu doesn’t have a huge selection but every item looks like a winner to me.
It’s been nearly a decade since I enjoyed a seafood platter (my favourites being at Crustaceans and Christos in Darwin). I was so excited when Miss17 said she’d like to try a platter with me. It was the second most beautiful thing I’d heard all weekend. The most beautiful was when Miss19 told me that when I visit in October she wants me to cook for her a meal like I used to when we lived in Darwin. I nearly cried.
Even though I had a camera with me I didn’t want to annoy everyone by capturing images of their food so I took a couple of ninja snaps.
Miss17 and I chose the Moreton Bay platter because it was a combination hot and cold creation and focussed on the local crustacean, Thenus orientalis, which is a slipper lobster and known locally as the Moreton Bay bug. In Cockroach territory (aka New South Wales) it’s known as a Balmain bug. Fittingly Dr47 described it to his Miss8 as the cockroach of the sea (not that that description would put her off eating it). I loved her description of calamari. She calls them Japanese chips (fries for my North American friends).
The Moreton Bay platter consists of Chilled Moreton Bay bugs, Florida lobster, Pacific oysters, and ocean prawns, with Grilled Coconut crumbed prawns, Moreton Bay bugs, half shell Queensland scallops with macadamia nut and lime butter, salt and pepper calamari (aka Japanese chips), and crumbed fish fillets.
Crumbed calamari (aka Japanese chips)Seafood pastaSeafood tasting plateMoreton Bay platterMoreton Bay platterMoreton Bay platterChilled Moreton Bay bugs and fruitGrilled seafood on the Moreton Bay platterMmm…Queensland scallops with Queensland nut and lime butterMy plate at the end
It’s meant to be a platter for two but the quantities are not served evenly, so there is an odd number of oysters, bug tails and only one lobster tail. This could create a little tension, fortunately, I’ve learnt to be less macrophagic in my eating habits and so Miss17 and I made very equitable decisions on the division of the spoils.
After the mains were devoured a spectacular cake was produced. A white chocolate mud cake for Mum and Dad.
We all had a great time at lunch. The kids loved their meals and the setting was perfect. Brisbane turned on a beautiful day for Mum and Dad. They shared that on their wedding day it was brighter and more blue but a little colder in Brisbane. On that day the Beatles were playing in Brisbane and the Wallabies were playing the All Blacks. An uncle from New Zealand asked if he could skip the wedding party and attend the test match. So fifty years on and my parents have a family they love and in Mum’s words they’ll just take each year as it comes now.
I give it 4 colonies out of 5. Really good. I will aim to return. As a bonus they use cloth napkins and the mens’ room had good hand basins and soap to wash off all the seafood odours.
If you have any comments or questions please send me a comment in the space below.
The Yummy Lummy restaurant review colony rating system
I’ve created a page to explain the restaurant review colony rating system and I’ll link to it in future posts.
I’ve copied and pasted the information here in this post.
You may have noticed for some of the latest restaurant reviews I’ve included a rating system based on colony numbers. This was in deference to CBR Foodie’s Canberra Raiders beanie rating system. I did think of using Brisbane Broncos or Queensland XXXX Maroons beanies but I had to be true to myself and choose something closer to my heart. I’ll always be an old fashioned bacteriologist longing for an agar plate in my left hand and a nichrome bacterial loop in my right. In my dreams a Bunsen burner burns with a bright blue flame that never dies. For me, molecular microbiology and newer technology like the MALDI-TOF have taken some of the enjoyment out of clinical microbiology. If someone can put a packet of plates and a few loops in my coffin when I croak I’d be eternally grateful.
The colonies I’ve chosen are those of my favourite bacterium, viz., Chromobacterium violaceum. I’ve even mentioned this is my favourite bacterium before an Australian Senate committee in 2011. You can see the transcript here. It’s on page 152.
Colonies
Interpretation
½
I’ll tell my enemies not to eat here.
1
I’ll be telling friends not to eat here.
1½
I paid the bill but with regret and I’m thinking of stopping at McDonalds for a Big Mac.
2
I’ll pay my money but there won’t be a tip.
2½
It was an okay meal, I won’t come back, hopefully the rest of the night was fun.
3
Good. If I never ate here again it wouldn’t bother me.
3½
Good. Given the opportunity I’d return.
4
Really good. I will aim to return.
4½
Fantastic. I’ll be back.
5
Outstanding. I’ll be back multiple times.
Broth culture
I’m in food heaven I’ll leave in a box
Examples of the colonies can be found at
From http://germsandworms.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/chromobacteriumviolaceum.jpg
On the old blog, I also had a rating system for restaurant rest rooms (dunnies in Strine) and napkins. I’m not sure I’ll continue with this. I am a fan of a well appointed rest room so when I experience one I’ll try to mention it, especially if they offer a Dyson airblade hand drying experience and suitable moisturisers for men. For napkins, nothing really beats a well starched linen napkin in a fancy restaurant. Having written that I don’t mind the ‘tea towel’ napkins that Jamie’s Italian restaurant chain offers.
Tonight is game two in this year’s state of origin series. On the old blog you can find many posts about state of origin and where my allegiances lie. Needless to say the photograph of me on my about page has the Queensland flag as a background. The Maroon jumper I wear in my twitter and instagram avatars says it all QUEENSLANDER!!!
On the way home tonight I stopped at Jamison Takeaway in the Jamison Plaza and bought some potato scallops and calamari rings to snack on while I cooked my dinner.
Footy food from Jamison Takeaway. Potato scallops and calamari rings. I hope Queensland defeats New South Wales tonight in the State of Origin game.
Sorry it’s a little blurry. I was so excited about eating them 🙂
A need to do a shout out to the lovely ladies at the Jamison Takeaway. They always give me an extra potato scallop. They are the best.
For dinner I made honey soy chicken wings. They make great footy food. Click on the image if you want to see a bigger version.
Happy hump day honey soy chicken wings while waiting for the State of Origin game #QUEENSLANDER
Honey soy chicken wings | Footy food by Yummy Lummy
Recipe Type: Footy food
Cuisine: Australian
Author: Gary Lum
Rugby league is the greatest game of all. State of origin is the greatest example of rugby league. Queensland is the greatest state in Australia and in the world, even the universe. Footy and food go hand in hand.
Ingredients
Chicken wings
Honey
Soy sauce
Olive oil
Sherry
Dessicated coconut
Sesame seeds
Chilli flakes
Pepper
Instructions
In a bowl add the chicken and everything else
Mix well and allow to rest for ten minutes
Put into a preheated oven (150 °C) for one hour
Plate up
Capture an image with a Nikon D5300 and a Tamron 90 mm Macro lens at 1/25 seconds, f/8 and ISO 100
Eat the food while watching the pregame highlights
Wash the dishes
Write the blog post
Enjoy the game
Hope Queensland defeats New South Wales
Notes
Just to repeat, rugby league is the greatest game of all. State of origin is what sport is all about. Queenslanders are the best FULL STOP
3.2.2708
If you have any comments or questions please send me a comment in the space below.
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