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28th June 2010

Highlighted Campaign for June/July

(My apologies for a lack of highlighted campaign for May, and this one barely scraping in to June, I may as well marry it up to July…)

SAVE OUR KANGAROOS!
While the World Cup is in the media’s headlines, activist groups are taking the opportunity to campaign against the slaughtering of kangaroos and their joeys to make football (soccer) boots.  Read the following newspaper article in the Daily Mail, 22 June, 2010: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1288639/WORLD-CUP-2010-John-Terry-kangaroo-skin-football-boots.html
There are some graphic photos there, so please be prepared.  Have a look at VIVA (Vegetarians International Voice for Animals) website at:  http://www.viva.org.uk/  for further information about the campaign.  There is a link on their website to their Save the Kangaroo campaign (http://www.savethekangaroo.com/) where you can sign a petition asking the EU to become a kangaroo meat and leather free zone.

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27th June 2010

King Ahiram

88 Vulture St, West End Qld

In what might be politely called the triumph of hope over experience, but would be more realistically be thought of as the triumph of laziness, I’ve sometimes picked up from the supermarket ready-made servings of Lebanese food, always to regret it on getting home: despite being packaged in a manner apparently designed to appeal to those who identify with hippy values, it’s pumped full of preservatives and somehow lifeless.  The take-aways at the popular King Ahiram, on the other hand, are freshly made and very much the real thing. The baba ghanoush is beautifully rich, and the assault on the taste buds of the earthy coloured hummus  is powerful (I recommend a drizzle of olive oil over it.) There are slightly tart pies of spinach and dark lentils, and large cabbage rolls…think vine leaves where the leaves have been replaced by cabbage. While you can eat in the King Ahiram, most of its business is take away, and food of this kind is perfect for taking home and enjoying (there will be no need for repenting) at your leisure.

King Ahiram Lebanese Food on Urbanspoon

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20th June 2010

Vietnam Corner

Shop 140, Sunnybank Plaza, Mains Rd, Sunnybank Qld

It may be a good idea to skip a preceding meal before tackling the vegetarian spring roll with vermicelli rice and salad served at the Vietnam Corner, for the portions are large. The dish offers a nice balance of colours, textures (the rolls come chopped into bite-sized pieces) and flavours. This is particularly true of the salad component, which comprises sprouts, lettuce, cucumber, carrot, chopped peanuts and, most importantly, the mint that gives the dish a wonderfully light feel; it comes with a bowl of viscous soy sauce to pour over it. The wide range of drinks on the menu includes one that always strikes me as a half a meal in its own right, the coconut and red bean frappe, in which a glass comes with layers of small red beans, coconut milk and ice, and a very necessary long spoon. But you’d never think you were dining with the Devil here, where an air of happy conviviality hangs over the diners.

Vietnam Corner BBQ Restaurant on Urbanspoon

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6th June 2010

Cantina

172 Hardgrave Rd, West End

Most of the restaurants reviewed on this site are orientated towards a particular national cuisine, so it’s good to find an inner suburban cafe with no particular leaning beyond that of being modern. Vegans will gravitate towards the red lentil and vegetable pie, in which the ingredients come mixed together in a parcel, with a side salad of tomato, cucumber and onion and a red spicy dip with a sweet undertaste (orange?) For vegetarians the Spanish omelette which comes with a solid piece of bread is strongly recommended, all its ingredients being beautifully fresh. For others there is a wide selection of dishes. The frappes, available in such combinations as raspberry and apple and lemon, orange and mint, are excellent. I guess ‘contemporary Western’ would be as good a description of the cafe’s cuisine as any, so that for people who may be disconcerted by an non-Western menu, and reports suggest that such folk may still be found even in these multicultural times, the range of dishes here will be most welcome, while for those of us happy to eat ethnic it provides a welcome reminder of how satisfying mainstream Western cuisine can be.

Cantina on Urbanspoon

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