20190418 Bun Cha and Brunelli + Life of Brian

We were eager to meet this Thursday, the day before Good Friday. It was a good feeling for me to have this as the last day of work before the long weekend.

Stephen, myself, Chad and Con all met around 5pm in the Elephant. Richard was close behind.

Tonight was a big night because we were off to see the 40th anniversary of the movie, 'Life of Brian'. To be honest I had forgotten most of the movie and was keen to view it again.

It was Con's turn to choose tonight. Richard was off to the footy but he was available to come to eat with us and was happy to come along to Bun Cha. It's a quirky restaurant tucked away in the alley. It usually doesn't have many people in the cafe when we visit. I really don't know how they survive with so few people eating there at night.

Stephen and I ordered Laksas - chicken and vegetarian. Con had a pork and noodle dish. Chad had green chicken curry and Richard had chicken and cashew nuts. The famous Bun Cha brown sauce came in handy as Richard used a bit on his meal.

So... what did we think this time around? Richard, as usual, wasn't too impressed with his meal and gave it a 6. Con, Stephen and I gave our meals 7 out of 10. I only gave 7 because despite the flavours being there, it didn't have many noodles or vegetables. I was left wanting more. It was mainly the soup. Stephen ate all of his Laksa, slurping up all the soup. Chad gave his meal an 8 out of 10 - very happy with it (sorry Chad I forgot you) :-)

We were graced with Albert's presence tonight. We met him outside the Elephant on our way to the Palace Nova.

The theatre was buzzing and the queue for the movie snaked down the hallway and around the corner. Quite a few people dressed up for the occasion - as Judeans or beard wearing women!

We had a quiz before the show and a give away for the best dressed. It was all a bit of fun and I learnt some trivia about the movie whilst being entertained.

The movie itself is - you've guessed it - a classic. There are wonderful classic lines that never age.... Blessed are the Greeks and Cheesemakers... What have the Romans ever done for us...

Wonderful stuff - thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

We decided to go to Brunelli for our usual coffee afterwards. We slowed our pace to the cafe to keep up with Albert who had his walking stick.

Stephen bought a chocolate mousse cake and was reluctant to share it with me, but in the end did. The coffees took ages to make - there was one waitress doing everything behind the counter and we had to wait a good 15 minutes for the coffees as they came out in stages.

Albert talked about losing it at work the day before. We talked about the dangers of motorcycles and we even touched on politics! Yes, politics - how surprising for both Stephen and Albert to engage in conversation about the political system :-)

It was a pleasantly warm evening and we enjoyed just sitting around and gas-bagging about the world. I asked Con for more Asian movies as I thoroughly enjoyed the ones he gave us a couple of weeks ago. For anyone out there, see Tampopo - a Japanese film about food. All I can say is watch out for the egg yolk scene :-)

20190412 Brunelli x 2

 We started off, as usual, in the Elephant. Stephen had texted everyone at 4.30 to say he was on his way. He hadn't left home by that stage! I was there by 4.35 and Con and Stephen got there around 5pm. Richard got there around 6 and Chad a little later. It was the last day of school term and Chad had a few bits and pieces to tidy up before leaving work.

 Richard was going to a footy game - some unknown football team :-) - so had had a chicken salad at the pub. It looked rather nice with plenty of salad variation and thick pieces of chicken.

Chad's turn to choose and he was geared up for Betty's Burgers. He was so convinced that we would go to Bettys Burgers that he took a photo of the sign on the way to the pub! That's confidence for you... it turns out that his confidence was unfounded. By the time we got to the cafe, the queues were spilling out onto the street again. With a quick change of plan, at Stephen's encouragement we were making our way to the Sushi cafe instead. But as we stood outside Brunelli's waiting to cross the road, Chad made his final decision - BRUNELLI!


 I warned Chad about going to Brunelli without Richard - after all it was his favourite place there for a while - but no, the decision was made - Brunelli it is! Would we be disappointed? What would it be like after all this time? Would the food be up to scratch?

We didn't have to fear. The meals were delicious. Chad had creamy pasta spagetti, Con had tomato based spagetti, I had the Con Verdure ravioli and Stephen had the Brunelli Pizza. Stephen grumbled a bit about the lack of meat on his pizza but apart from that gave it a 7 out of 10. It got better from there. Chad gave his a 7 1/2 out of 10 with Con giving his a 8 out of 10. I also gave my pasta a 8 out of 10. It was lovely. It was the right heat, the right flavours, the right amount on the plate - everything was balanced and deserved high praise.

Even though Richard wasn't with us in person, he was there in Spirit. Chad sent Richard a text showing him the photo of him on the phone - proving to him that he was here with us.

Most of the conversation revolved around the new series of Game of Thrones. Con and I tuned out because we havn't watched any episodes, but Stephen and Chad were on fire to know what will happen next. Stephen has made a pact with his friend Andris to watch all 6 episodes in 1 super mega marathon day of tv watching.

Talking of televisions, we didn't expect the televisions to be working at Brunelli and indeed they weren't. They were actually switched off.

We didn't have far to go for the $2 coffees, Stephen ordered them for us - nice enough. Overall, a pleasant evening.

20190405 San Giorgio and Brunelli

The Elephant! It was so warm we sat outside. The fencing had been put back up and there was a rowdy crowd on the table in front of us who seemed to know the crowd from the table across the lane. They were singing on the tops of their voices intermittently throughout the night. A good time by all!

Con was on fire tonight with his matching turquoise shirt and glasses - you couldn't pay to get that colour match! Chad and Richard were also on form with matching shirts. Chad had triangles on his black shirt reminisant of the 'play' icon on a video recorder. Richard had a similar navy shirt with 'play' icons together with stop circles and the 'pause' symbol.

We talked about going to Melbourne together as a group and watching a footy match. Stephen and I are up for it - Chad is too - and Richard is going to be there anyway. Con is a bit hesitant but we might swing him around.

Because it was my birthday on Tuesday, I got to choose tonight even though it was Chad's turn. I suspect Chad was going to choose Betty Burgers so I got in quick and choose San Georgios. I'm inspired by the Italian fare after visiting Amalfis.

We managed to get a table fairly easily at the restaurant. I had the linguine salmon, Richard had chicken in a creamy sauce with potatoes and veg, Chad, Stephen and Con all ate pizza.

The atmosphere was pleasant enough. The televisions were buzzing away in the background without too much interference. The doors was pulled back because of the warm night.

I was a bit disappointed with my pasta as it was too 'fishy'. It should have had vegetables to make it more varied, but it just had the salmon with the odd small section of mushroom. I would give my meal a 6 out of 10.

 The pizza eaters gave their meal a 6-7 out of 10 and Richard gave his a 7 1/2 out of 10. His meal certainly looked the tastiest out of the lot.

We all paid cash and Richard paid by waving his phone app. A way of paying that I've seen alot of lately. The bill came to exactly $125. The right amount that Richard had calculated. Whew!

We agreed to go to Brunelli - Chad said that it was my choice and I could choose anywhere. I was happy to have my $2 coffee. Stephen and Con had eclairs and Richard had a chocolate cheesecake. All looked too rich for me.

We talked about going to see the Book of Mormon and that Richard was going to try and get a free ticket by reviewing it. We'll hold off from booking our ticket until we hear from Richard then.

Stephen and I were yawning and we excused ourselves after the coffee - time to go to home to watch a movie and bed... it's been a long week!

20190402 ** Amalfi **

It is my birthday today and even though it's not a Friday night (it's a Tuesday night) I'm posting about the amazing experience we had at Amalfi tonight!

Stephen and I met in the Elephant and had 2 jugs for beer before heading off to the Greens School on Pirie Street. It was an introduction to the Greens Party and talked about how a volunteer and member can get involved in the Green Party.

We finished early - about 7pm and then went to the restauarant.

I had my usual (Zingarella) and Stephen had the Amatriciana (spicy spagetti). We had the same waiter again and he was very pleasant.

Love Amalfi! Such a perfect Italian place... I can see that it won't be the last time we go here this year...

20190329 ** Amalfi ** and Brunelli

I was the first one in the Elephant and managed to score a booth after 5 minutes of sitting by the bar. Jen came in and soon afterwards Con and Stephen. Chad was only slightly behind with Richard following up the rear. Richard had a Norwood footy game and decided to eat his bangers and mash at the Elephant.
It was Stephen's turn to choose and he had already booked a table for 5 at Amalfi's. It was coincidental that Jen was out tonight and that Richard couldn't make it, so we still ended up with 5 people for the restaurant.

It was a cold night tonight. The wind whipped through the thin shawl I was wearing and Stephen was shivering in his jacket.

We talked to Jen about Toastmasters and she put the date in her diary to hopefully come on 3 April.

We went into Amalfi's into the bustling warm atmosphere of the restaurant. We all agreed that it is an experience to go to Amalfi's.
We got the same waiter that Chad got the other week. The waiter didn't write any of the orders down and memorised them all. He had a shock of grey hair even though he was young. We had excellent service at Amalfi's.

 Stephen and Chad shared the Amalfi Special Pizza (Large) with the lot. Con had a small version. I had the prawn linguine and Jen had the Puttanesca. All meals were delicious! Top marks from everyone. Chad even hit the top note with a possible 10 for the pizza. I would be close behind with my pasta. The flavours were all there but the dish was still delicate and not bloaty. The prawns were deveined (yes, Stephen, deveined) and they were delicate to taste.

Stephen, Chad and Jen shared a bottle of house red at $38 a pop - a bit pricey but they agreed it was worth it - a smooth wine which complemented the meal perfectly.

Chad is thinking of going to Kuala Lumpar next year with Con and Stephen and I said we would like to come along. I think it would be nice to have a trip away together. Chad was also thinking about a trip away to Sydney or Melbourne. We'll have to wait and see on that one.


We all agreed that Amalfi is the winner so far on the Rundle Street year (even though technically it is not on Rundle Street but Frome Street).

We went to Brunelli for a coffee. Jen went to get money to pay us for her meal. Chad ordered the coffees and we sat in the luxurious seating in the booth. It was a bit squeezy trying to slide around the table as it was so close to the bench seat, and Stephen drew the short straw to slide all the way around to the back.

We talked about Stephen's speeding fine and the psychology of driving and road rules. Jen talked about Craig's bear hugs.

It was lovely to see Jen - we had a terrific Italian experience. I'm sure Richard is just a tiny bit sorry he couldn't make it...