Tear the town apart!

I made a mid WNSC run, with the B group, to Urbane. It was a Wednesday, but no Tin Tin or Dictator.

Im going to start with the service. Urbane has he best service in town. The staff remembers what you had to drink and eat the last time you were there and they are very knowledgeable about their wines.  I wasn’t that comfortable with the wine list in that there were many vintages I didn’t know. None of the standards that I know are good and most of the list was from Boutique Wineries. I was looking at a certain price range, which is usually a part of the formula when I don’t know what I am picking and Brent advised a wine that was 30% less and he thought was one of the best wines on the menu. The Domaine A 2004 Shiraz. It was a very nice wine and reasonably priced.  Although often the Urbane wine list will have a few of the standard popular brands of wine, they also have a great selection of boutique wines selected through the tight distribution network of such goods and an expert taste and feel from the ownership and staff. They rarely steer me wrong.

Enough ass kissing for now, lets get down to the food. We didn’t have dessert, but did have a full 3 course meal with Amuse Bouche, Entree and Main. For the Amuse Bouche I had the 6 oysters. Each flavored differently so let me see if i can remember them all, but before we get to that it is worth noting that the hand picked Urbane Rock Oysters are among the best in terms of taste and freshness in the city. The flavors were: Natural; Thai Chile; Goat Cheese Foam; some sort of Vinagrette; something else and something else. Ok, my memory could be better, but the Domaine A clouded it a bit. What I do remember though is that I thoroughly enjoyed the oysters. They were top quality rock oysters.

My entree was the Ricotta and Garlic Gnocchi. This may be one of the best entree’s in town at the moment. Each bite was magical. Yes, I said it…Magical! There are certain restaurants in town that would’ve given me 2 pieces of the gnocchi and I would’ve been satisfied. Urbane is different than most restaurants in town in that it may not only be the best in quality, but for such a fine dining restaurant it may be one of the best in terms of quantity in town. They don’t stuff you like a pig, but they do take into fact that you came to eat dinner and what kind of people like to have a guest go away hungry? Not Urbane. They had 5 lovely pieces of Gnocchi. Enough time and bites to be able to enjoy this this wonderful dish. The next time I go back, if its still on the menu, I will be ordering it again.

For my main I had the rack of ribs. I also tried some of the pork belly from the B-Sider scrubs. I wasn’t fortunate enough to have the whole geographical layer of the pork belly at one time. I had the bottom part first and the top part second. When all eaten together its perfect. Each side got a big thumbs up from me though. But of course that was just the quick taster I had. What was really in front of me was the rack of lamb…as well as the side of chat potatoes and the other side of greens. The lamb was perfect. No other way to describe. Done perfectly medium rare I was given two full chops and two of the fillets that come with the chops separate. A hearty portion and done so perfectly. Each bite of the lamb meat was a melt in my mouth experience. The chat potatoes were seasoned and buttered perfectly as well and were the perfect companion for my lamb. To bring up a quote that probably has been used to generously in the past, but for this meal it is certainly deserved, this meal was better than fucking!

We didn’t do any dessert, but had a lovely Port along with Espresso’s with Frangelico.

Even hanging with the B-List you can still find an A+ Meal. That is my grade here. A+…the highest grade on my scale.

In these days of high fuel, food and Casio watch prices, $20 bucks doesn’t buy you much. But there is a place where you can catch some of Brisbane and Australia’s up and coming musicians for next to nothing. That place is The Troubadour, where last Friday we caught two Australian music legends and an amazing newcomer.

First on the bill was a relatively unknown Brisbane songstress named Kristy London. When I saw her name on the bill the day before the gig I checked out her MySpace page. Wow. I’m so surprised I have never heard any of her music as her voice is absolutely superb, not to mention that the ‘folkindiepop’ genre of music is very popular at the moment. It’s not hard to imagine the track “You Said” (free download) as the backing track for a perfume commercial. Anyhow, she was brilliant live. Everything you hear on the EP is what you’ll hear at her show.

While waiting for Dave McCormack to start, super cute Kristy bumped into TinTin and they had a little chat. A bit later, J-Rod also had a lengthy conversation with her and her bandmate Pete Jones. Really good people and they are both headed to London for a year or so. All of us here really wish them the best of luck and hope they breakthrough the ultra-tough London music scene.

Your last chance to see this amazing talent in Brisbane for a long while is this Wednesday, the 30th July as part of the Brisbane Festival. Oh, did I mention it’s free?

On to ex Custard, ex The Polariods front man, Dave McCormack. Maybe it was TinTins constant rubbishing, but there isn’t a lot to write about this part of the night. He opened with 3 or 4 new tracks which no-one really got into. He finished up with “The Truth About Love“, “I Wanna Execute Your Ex-Boyfriend” and the song we all love him for “Girls Like That“. The older tracks were crowd pleasers. To our amazement, a fair portion of the sold out crowd left after his set. That didn’t make much sense.

However, there is no doubt who the star of the night was. Angie Hart, the voice behind the Aria Award winning, platinum selling Frente!. Firstly, words can not do her voice justice. Trust me I tried for almost 20 minutes. You need to head over to her MySpace page right now and listen to every track.

I’ll wait.

See!? She opened with a track off her solo album Grounded Bird, then a track from the last Frente EP (which I can’t find anywhere). The set closed with her version of “Bizarre Love Triangle” and then Dave joined her back on stage to cover “Only You” by Yazoo. They cleared the stage but Angie returned after a short encore chant and ‘asked’ what she should sing, to which TinTin and I both shouted “PICTURES OF YOUUUUUUU!”. I like to think we were heard as she quickly obliged! The perfect way to close an outstanding set.

We love you Angie. Please come back soon!

Picture of You by Angie Hart, used in the brilliant TAC road safety campaign.
WARNING: saaaaad!

446 Brunswick Street

Fortitude Valley, 4006, Queensland

ph: (07) 3852 1155

http://www.isisbrasserie.com.au/

This was WNSC’s second outing to Isis and was visited with the express condition of answering that long debated question; which is better Isis or Urbane?

I immediately like the atmosphere and decor in Isis, it has a great feel and the lighting is perfect. But forget that, lets get onto the food! We were immediately offered drinks which were quickly followed by an Amuse Bouche of Tomato and Seafood bisque.

The Entrees were possibly the highlight for me this time. Grande and I had crab and zucchini cannelloni with a gazpacho salsa and yellow rouille. The waiter pointed out that no pasta was involved as the zucchini acted as the pasta. It was a generous serving and up there with Il Centro’s Sand Crab and Avacado Salad as my favourite entree in Brisbane! The Dictator plumped for the special of Carpaccio of Kobe Beef with mustard seeds, rocket, parmesan and red onion jam.

We ordered three different mains, which is a rarity for us. I had Lamb Rump with Jerusalem artichoke risotto and pumpkin seed gremoulata. Tasty although the risotto was a little sloppy for my tastes. Grande had venison with a white bean, creme fraiche and coco nib cassoulet and savoury chocolate sauce. He kicked himself afterwards for going for the chefs recommendation of “rare” as he doesnt enjoy meat cooked that way. Anyhow, I tasted it and it was fab. The Dictator was the controlling benchmark for us all. Last time we eat at Isis the three of us had buffalo fiillet, caramelised brown onion broth with Gruyere dumplings. Let’s just say it passed the test with flying colours!

Following on the theme from Montrachet we ordered two cheeses and two deserts. Grande was pleased that Isis had obviously been following his blog and that both cheeses were served at room temperature. We had two goats cheeses; the Valedon, a blue  from Spain and Cambrino Rosso from Holland.

One desert was excellent, the other a little disappointing. The Cookies and Cream parfait was a little too much like Haggen Dass, and it was well and truly trumped by the Lemon and Ricotta cheesecake.

So, to go back to the original debate, who wins………….

Urbane, by a whisker.

175 Eagle St
Brisbane, Queensland
ph: (07) 3229 3175

I went to Alchemy last week on a Wednesday night. Not to be confused with the A list WNSC, but still a good group nonetheless.

Its certainly a top tier restaurant. I wont put it in the upper top tier, but since it is right across the street from me, it certainly is deserving of a top local billing. Ive been there during the day and I thought the decor was sterile. At night though its a much more dining friendly atmosphere. Good enough for date night or a group of friends.  We had a 7 o’clock seating and the place was about half full. By 7:30 it was packed. With groups as well as couples out for a special night. The wine list was well above average and a true wine drinker would have plenty of choices to whet the palate. Also worth noting, although the restaurant is not in an obivous place in the cbd, it is right on the river and has a great view of the Story Bridge at night.

For starters i had the Bacon Wrapped Scallops as well as a few oysters.  Im an oyster fan and although this town has excellent seafood, only a few places have top tier oysters. The sydney rock oysters that i had were nice, but not true A grade.  The scallops were great. Lets face it, if you have fresh scallops sauteed in butter and a nice quality bacon meat, its hard to mess this one up. I give this dish a check mark. Id have it again too!

Dinner was the chef’s specialty: Braised Beef Cheeks. Que Magnifique!!! Ive been here twice and both times i had the braised beef cheeks. And why not. Its that sort of melt in your mouth excellence that should accompany a good dinner with good wine. On the side i had mashed potatoes. Not a lump; very creamy; very silky; very smooth.

Tonight, no dessert. Discipline!

Although Alchemy doesnt have that certain special something that you can’t put your finger on that the top tier restaurants have, the man in the kitchen is a Chef, not a cook. His restaurant should be commended. The food is very nice and he has a young but experienced and professional wait staff.

Overall Score: B

224 Given Tce
Paddington, Queensland
ph: (07) 3367 0030
http://www.montrachet.com.au

When i walked into Montrachet, the first thing in noticed, other than the back of Tin Tin’s head, was the strictly French Flavour in the feel and decor of the place. About a third of all the potential diners in the place would sit at the dining bar. Where we sat. We didnt get the feel of the actual table service, but i did like what Sheree, our Bartender/Waitress brought to the table. She made a couple of suggestions which worked out nicely. She knew her wine, although we didnt test her much. With the amuse-bouche, she noticed that we all wanted to try each of the 3 selections on the menu, and made up a special off the menu plate which gave us a portion of each item. The Prawn Spring Rolls, the Beef Tartare and the Jamon Iberico were excellent. Very straightforward as I thought most of the meal was. Very few, if any, hidden flavor’s that are unexpected and knock you off your socks but nothing either that would detract from a high quality eating experience.

For the Entree portion of the dinner I had the Crab Souffle to myself; I shared the Cocquille St. Jacques (over a crab dumpling) with Tin Tin and i also had a taste of The Dictator’s Chicken Sausage. Again, for me it was very straightforward. Nothing hidden, no extra herb or spice which was unexpected. Straightforward in this restaurant is a very good thing though. No surprises, but all top quality ingredients, great textures and flavors, with a great presentation. The Souffle was an item that i am fairly certain would be difficult to find anywhere in brisbane. And if so, would not be equalled.

For the main i had the Rack of Lamb. With that came a small serving of Potato Gratin (which was more like a scalloped potato) and Ratatouille. Straightforward again. I keep coming back to this but it has to be emphasized. There was nothing i ate tonight that surprised me. Often when fine dining, Ill look at the new dish that is presented to me, try to surmise the taste and often be pleasantly surprised to find hints of flavors, herbs, spices and oils that i didnt expect. There was none of that at montrachet. Not yet at least. But in this case, not being pleasantly surprised, but still having a very good meal was more than satisfying.

We ordered some sides as well with our mains. The Pomme-Frites were an item that did blow me away. Not all French Fries are alike and these were some of the best, if not the best, i have ever had. The cauliflour gratin was average though, but i think i was expecting something more cheesy than creamy.

We had a great cheese course next. The Roquefort and Brie were great, but we had to wait 20 minutes to start eating it as they were a little too cold. Those should be set out to room temperature for the next time. They werent necessarily out of the refrigerator cold, but were a little too chilled for my liking to start with. But once they warmed up they were both nice cheeses.

Desert blew me away. Although Tin Tin wasn’t high on the Chocolate Truffle Cake, I though it was excellent. But what followed was the piece de resistance: The Creme Brulee!!!! That is how a custard is supposed to taste. I havent had anything like that in years. It was Genius.

To go back to the theme of the review. Montrachet is a top end, high quality, straightforward meal. Everything is excellent but you willl find few surprises. Not to be misunderstood i want to be clear that this was an excellent meal. I was thoroughly satisfied with everything and it definitely goes up to the top of the list for me in Brisbane. Just a notch below Urbane and Isis for me.

Overall Score: A-

The Point Restaurant, Melbourne (http://www.thepointalbertpark.com.au/)

I know its not Brisbane but felt that this was worthy of a review even though it was pretty empty for lunch on a wet and windy Monday. The views over the lake and the park were impressive and it would be a brilliant place to watch the Grand Prix from.

It is a stylish restaurant with impressive wine racks and displays of Australian meat and details in the menu that show they are proudly Australian. Perhaps thats why i found it a little weird when the waitress was pushing an entree of Black Truffle Risotto and by reiterating that the truffles were from FRANCE!! One of the guests had it and it looked good as did the Spanner Crab Tortellini. Anyhow, I plumped for Housemade gnocchi, truffle butter, confit egg yolk and reggiano parmigiano, which was superb. The steak, a 350g Scotch fillet from King Island, with field mushrooms, sweetbreads, baby carrots and ‘The Point Butter, was a little disappointing. Good but not fantastic. For desert, I had a Valrhona chocolate fondant, poached rhubarb and clotted cream, which was to die for.

The wine list was impressive and we had two bottles of Torbreck “The Struie” 2005, which were reasonably good value at $95.

Overall 7/10

Welcome! Now that the introductions are out of the way, lets get into the good stuff.

Era Bistro (Cafe Menu)
http://www.erabistro.com.au/

With the food coming out of the same kitchen as their ‘Top Tier’ restaurant, you would expect the food to be awesome, and its not too far off. I ordered the char grilled chicken pizza and a bowl of chips. All up I think it ran me for $25. The pizza came out and immediately impressed Tin Tin. While Vespa still wears the “Best Pizza in Brisbane” crown, Era lurches in the shadows. My only complaint would be that it was obviously made to be eaten with a knife and fork, as it was really messy to eat with hands.

Anyhow, Era is a great spot to chill out on a Friday. Great selection of beers, better than decent food, plenty of seating and an interesting mix of young, old, cute, horrid, straight and gay to the crowd.

Quick Score: 4/5. Great ‘pub’ meal.

An Horse @ GoMA

Tin Tin’s favorite Brisbane band of the moment, An Horse, played a shortened set at the Gallery of Modern Art as part of the “Picasso Up Late” series. I didn’t spend enough time checking the exhibition out so this is just a review of the bands set.

There is little doubting that Kate Cooper (ex(?) Iron On) can sing, however, I was left wondering how much better there act would be if she had some help on the song writing front. The first two tracks of the set were great and both Kate and Damon seem to be more comfortable on stage together than when I last saw them play at the powerhouse. As the set progressed, you couldn’t help but notice that tracks were starting to sound much the same as those played previously, even some phrases seemed to pop up in multiple songs (”I wish you well” is one that comes to mind). You might be tempted to say ‘ease up, they haven’t even released an LP yet’, but I think Iron On suffered from the same problem to a lesser extent.

That said, the last song of the set was outstanding, but mostly due to Damon Cox (Intercooler) having the opportunity to open up and play one of the best drum solos I have seen in ages.

The acoustics at GoMA are supprisingly good. They haven’t announced who is playing the closing gig for the Picasso exhibition and given that ‘I Heart Hiroshima‘ closed the Warhol show, keep your eyes peeled for an announcement!