Ahh Jocelyn! Undoubtedly the fairy god mother of Brisbane providores. Walking into Jocelyn's Provisions (tucked behind the shops on James St, New Farm) is like walking back into your childhood- with the world as it should be, full of all that is good in life. Due to the sheer array of baked treats from the savoury to the sweet you will find yourself with the happy dilemma of which taste buds need the greatest attention. If your like me- you enjoy pleasing both sides and order accordingly.

Weekends and yum cha go together like peas and carrots for Miss Eat Me Brisbane. This is our second visit to Beijing house for yum cha and I have concluded that it is the leading destination for yum cha in Brisbane and the Fortitude Valley. Located centrally in the upper Queen Street Mall, Beijing house is the perfect destination for weekend feasting, conveninently you can shop with your tummy full of goodness after.

Our yum cha staples and benchmarks are as follows, prawn and coriander rolls, scallop dumplings, bbq pork rice noodles, steamed dim sim and sticky rice. On all dishes Beijing house kicks it.

The prawn and coriander rolls- chock full of delicioulsy fresh steamed prawns with a generous smattering of coriander, coriander roots and a touch of garlic. I would die for these they are that good-as the steam boat are always filled with 3 there is always a mexican stare off and high end negotiation for who gets the lucky third!

Ditto for the scallop dumplings- beautiful translucent melt in your mouth dumpling wrapper scrumptiously full of prawns and scallops with garlic chives. Yum

The BBQ pork rice noodles were steamed to perfection- not too sticky nor were they dry and cracked- the bbq pork and vege filling was generous and very moorish.

The sticky rice here doesn’t disappoint either and it is huge, so if you’re not ravenous and you have other yum cha favourites- maybe stay away- this will put you over the edge. The sticky rice is infused with delicious smoky flavours, chicken, prawn , Chinese sausage and chives. It’s a very good realization.

The service here is efficient and the yum cha is reasonably priced.

On a brisk brisbane morning i was drawn into the invitingly warm and cosy Tea Centre in the new Albert Lane precinct. I do declare myself to be a coffee person, however, i was drawn by all the cute tea pots adorning the windows of the shop. I settled on one of the functional and super comfy leather bench seats. I ordered a mumbai chai and fruit toast. You can order tea to have in or take away. Having opted to sit in- my chai arrived in one of those beehouse teapots. My toast followed shortly after, it was deliciously buttery and to my delight, full of fruit- sultanas, apricots, dates and a nice smattering of nuts. For this nutter a few more nuts would have made it perfect.

It’s another well-known fact that cooler weather makes you (or is it just me?) so very very hungry!

Mr EatMe Brisbane and I set out to warm up and pig out. After being very cheerfully greeted by the wait staff at Dragon Inn we were given our choice of tables. We sat outside to enjoy the newly refurbished china town mall. I ordered jasmine tea to start off. It arrived promptly, however it did have a dishwater flavour to it. Bummer.

After a short wait, our starter, steamed dim sims, arrived. They are served in a cute metal steamer and are accompanied by a perfectly sweet and salty sesame oil and soy dressing. YUUUM. These are seriously good and seriously cheap. As you would expect of a dumpling they have an amazingly flavourful pork and herb filling.

The main course- we ordered the chicken, mushroom and black bean hot pot and mussels in XO sauce. The mussels arrived first and were perfectly cooked and seasoned. They were NZ green-lipped mussels that were scrubbed clean and stir-fried through XO sauce. They were succulent and flavoursome and the seafoody, garlicky, chilli quality of the XO is the perfect accompaniment.

Next up what we came for- the hot pot. In a word it is fabulous. Braised chicken with giant gloriously dark brown shitake mushrooms and button mushrooms glistening with spring onion and black beans. The slightly thick braised sauce with it has a delightfully delicate flavor that work oh so well together. This dish epitomizes savoury comfort food for me. YUM.

Before leaving we are given the ubiquitous orange as a refreshment. We leave full and happy. Every time we have been to Dragon Inn we are never disappointed. Great service , good food and cheap. The feast cost only about 40 dollars (honestly it’s enough to serve at least 3 ppl).

Dragon Inn Chinese Restaurant

Chinatown Mall

Fortitude Valley

(07) 3252 4770