Posts Tagged ‘Paddington’
March 30, 2009 | 
Author Grappino
Cuisine: Italian
226 Given Tce
Paddington
We spotted this restaurant on our visit to that French restaurant and made a mental note to come back and check it out. We were quite lucky to be able to get a table, booking very last minute (spontaneous desire to eat out) – prompted from a conversation with MinWye who touted Grappino as a favourite Italian restaurant.
We didn’t realise it was a game night at a nearby stadium which meant a 15 minute limit on street parking. Luckily we were dining quite early and there were spots in the car park behind the restaurant. When we entered the restaurant we were greeted cheerfully by Deanna Roduner one of the owners, letting us know that there was a set menu ($60 per person) because of the game. Not deterred by any means we took a table by the window. Later Deanna returned for a lively conversation about Singaporean food and family. This just set up the whole evening of attentive and friendly service.
First up was our antipasto platter. I will try to recall each morsel as best I can here.
From the left to right, I believe the first item was some very tasty meatballs. Then some chillies topped with herbed cheese (I managed to eat the first one feeling only a bit of a kick then with some bravado tried to take down a second only to be defeated. Luckily I had wine and water at hand.) and the third item was a fish or seafood fritter (like fish cakes) which were very flavoursome.
From left to right again, we had some fried risotto balls (very nice with perfectly cooked rice), at the background, prawns topped with tuna, below that little anchovy and caramelised onion tarts and at the front chorizo with dates. I loved every one of these (even though I’m not a huge fan of anchovies) and ESPECIALLY loved the chorizo with dates. Very tasty chorizo mixed with the sweet date.. mmm perfect flavour combination.
And lastly from our antipasto platter, little frittatas topped with sundried tomato.
All of these served with a bread basket, including garlic and olive oil thin toasted bread slices.
I think I could have just eaten antipasto all night.. but our mains were up next.
There were three on offer that night as part of the set menu and we had all three at our table.
Mum had the seafood marinara, which I ended up stealing a lot of. It was a beautifully cooked pasta dish, with very fresh seafood, fish, scallops in the shell, mussels and prawns all soaked in an amazing lobster cream sauce. Piggy would have loved this dish and I savoured as much of it as I could on her behalf.
Next was my partner’s veal scallopine with potatoes, greens and honeyed carrots. The sauce was rich and tasty and I especially loved the carrots. How do they get them to taste like that I don’t know.
My main next, the duck leg with mushroom and pasta. The sauce for this dish was quite sweet. I was happy to eat it all but it was a bit too sweet for my sister who had the same dish. The duck leg was very tender and topped with what I think were crispy potato shavings.
Though we were very full and satisfied from dinner, I couldn’t pass up the dessert menu. Dessert was not part of the set menu, but how can you pass up things such as:
One of the best tiramisu’s I have ever eaten. Creamy, with delicious sponge and coffee flavour…
Or the Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta, silky smooth and accompanied with seasonal berries (strawberries this time!).
I had the Crespelle Di Arancia – Orange Pancakes “Dolce Vita”. A very thin crepe topped with mandarin liqueur, valencia orange pieces and a scoop of vanilla bean ice-cream. The sauce was quite strong for me as I don’t usually enjoy syrupy citrus sauces, but the ice-cream helps to balance this out and you can let a lot of the sauce drip off before devouring it.
And then there was the Affogato. A scoop of vanilla bean ice-cream with a shot of espresso coffee and liquer of your choice (this time Frangelico for its hazelnut flavour) to be poured over and then eaten/drunk. It was like a very luxurious iced coffee.
I really enjoyed the night, the service and of course the food. I would love to go again to try their ala carte menu and I will probably be forced to take Piggy there for the marinara the next time she’s in town. I can only hope.
Posted in Brisbane, Dessert, Italian | 
Tags: Brisbane, Dessert, Italian, Paddington, pasta, Seafood | 
2 Comments »
Montrachet
Cuisine: French
http://www.montrachet.com.au
224 Given Terrace
Paddington Q 4064
07 3367 0030
There are some food stalls in Singapore which only open for 2 hours a day sometimes less, if they run out of the ONE scrumptious dish that they sell. But people will still line up for 1 hour outside. They COULD open for longer and make more money since their food is so sought after, yet they don’t seem to want or need more money/more business/more customers. Often the things we want the most are the most difficult to attain or maybe its the challenge that draws us in. Either way these places are so popular when they do open that perhaps they really don’t need more business.
Montrachet falls into this category. This French restaurant has wonderful food for your dinner, so long as you do not wish to eat on a Friday night or on the weekend. But I don’t care, I’ll start my weekends early! I’ll eat out on a school night!
The service was lovely, and our waiter was very friendly. Montrachet is a little restaurant tucked amongst the boutiques of Paddington. We sat outside and enjoyed the cool night air. There were quite a few things on the menu that I was trying to decide between. But in the end we decided unanimously to have the degustation menu (The whole table has to have the degustation). Since we were indulging, why not go all out?
The degustation menu changes, so you will certainly experience different dishes than I had. Be careful not to leave the table if you are expecting another course to come out as your fellow guests may steal your food.
This was our degustation to the best of my recollection.
Prawn wrapped in a thin pastry (filo or spring roll pastry, I can’t remember). You will wonder why there is only one, because its so yummy and you’re hungry you will think you could eat at least 10. But you should know that you have quite a way to go before the end, so just be patient.
Yummy bread! I don’t know why this bread tasted so good, but it did. And you will want to save some of it for the souffle (trust me, you won’t have to wait long).
I can’t remember what this one was. It was delicious and I think a kind of seafood – lobster? crab? prawn? scallop? some combination of those? Fried in a batter. Again I could have eaten 10 of these if there weren’t more courses to come.
Ahhhh the Soufflé aux Crabe et Gruyère. Double baked soufflé with sand crab meat and gruyère cheese finished with a light cream bisque. Magnifique! This is what you have conserved your bread for. To dip in the creamy sauce.
Another fried parcel of goodness. Possibly fish?
Lamb cutlet with an eggplant tart. I loved this. I love lamb, and this was excellent. If you’re lucky like we were, someone on your table doesn’t like eggplant and you can steal their tart.
Cheese! You have a choice between two cheeses. This was the one that wasn’t Roquefort (a blue cheese).
And ahh dessert. The culmination of your evening. You have a choice of two desserts. For us we could choose between an insanely chocolately chocolate torte or what I remember was panna cotta.
The chocolate dessert will melt right in your mouth. But its quite a large slice and so dense and rich that unless you are a crazy chocolate fiend like Yang you probably won’t be able to finish it.
The panna cotta was wonderful. It came with a berry sauce. I could definately eat a whole one of those again. I didn’t get to try their creme brulee. At the start of the evening I considered ordering it in addition to the degustation. But when you near the end you will realise that it is just not possible to eat any more than they have already given you.
But you will come back, you say to yourself. You will return, and the creme brulee will be yours.
Posted in Brisbane, French | Tags: Brisbane, Degustation, Dessert, French, Paddington | No Comments »
Anouk
Cuisine: Modern Australian
Mains: $14 to $26
Entrees: $7 to $14
Breakfast: From $7.50
212 Given Tce
Paddington
Tel: 07 3367 8663
They accept bookings except for weekend breakfasts.
I decided to take a fellow longtime fan of The Gun Shop Cafe to try out a new venture by the same lady of culinary delight.
My friend and I, although we aren’t regulars (mainly because we’re too sleepy to go all the way to West End for weekend breakfasts), absolutely love The Gun Shop Cafe. So we made a staggering effort to wake up one Saturday and head over to Paddington for shopping and food.
It didn’t take us long to find Anouk amongst the boutiquey stretch of road. The shop front was not unlike The Gun Shop with outdoor seating, a line out the front and big windows so that the people in line can spend their wait choosing their meal from what’s on other people’s plates. Up on the walls were enlarged photocopies of lino prints. The atmosphere was buzzing and the restaurant was packed. But service was pleasant and quite speedy which is a plus.
I don’t know what we were expecting entirely. Not quite more of the same as “the other cafe”, maybe something better, different? But the ONE thing we both wanted more than anything was there to be a repeat of the famous (to us) Gun Shop hashbrowns. A good breakfast to us, must involve some kind of potato, preferably in hashbrown form. Sadly we were let down in this respect. No potatoes to be had.
We’re quite simple in our breakfast desires. Usually eggs, bacon, mushrooms and of course a hashbrown or more is enough to satiate. In the end we managed to find a couple things on the specials board that interested us.
Poached eggs on sour dough with hollandaise sauce and asparagus wrapped in proscuitto. With a side of mushrooms.
And I had the herbed scrambled eggs on sour dough with a side of bacon.
Along with our meals we also ordered a mocha (mmm morning coffee yay) and a really surprisingly yummy and refreshing drink made up of muddled fresh lemon and lime with sparkling apple juice. This sort of became the highlight of the meal.
In the end, worth a stop over if you’re in Paddington at breakfast time. It was nice food, however, I think if I had to decide between getting up early to go to The Gun Shop or Anouk, I couldn’t go past the original, hashbrowns included.
Posted in Breakfast, Brisbane, Modern Australian | Tags: Breakfast, Brisbane, Mod Oz, Paddington | No Comments »
Simpatico bar bistro espresso
Cuisine: Modern Australian – with Asian and Mediterranean influences
“Mains”: Each dish we ordered was between $12 an $16.
Sides: The side we ordered was $6
Desserts: I think they were mostly about $10
(I’ve listed a breakdown of what we paid below)
Cnr Given & Latrobe Tce (Go down the street off this corner, next two Cocoon – across the road from Harem)
Paddington Qld 4064
Ph: 07 3367 1117
sim·pa·ti·co (s?m-pä’t?-k?’, -p?t’?-)
adj.
- Of like mind or temperament; compatible.
- Having attractive qualities; pleasing.
Scallops with wakame seaweed and sesame oil: $12
Maybe next month.. 
Posted in Brisbane, Modern Australian, Sharing Plates | Tags: Brisbane, Mod Oz, Paddington, Tapas | No Comments »