1889 Enoteca - little italy at the gabba

http://www.1889enoteca.com.au/

Bar area and entrance

There has been a renaissance happening around Brisbane for some time now and Logan Road at Woolloongabba  has been at the forefront of this.  There are lots of cool hubs around Brisbane, old furniture stores are now restaurants and dinky little shops have turned into bars.  One of the restaurants to start it all at the Gabba is 1889 Enoteca and now many others have followed.

1889 Enoteca is one of those restaurants that transports you to another place.  When you walk up the the front door the alfresco area is more often than not overflowing with happy patrons and when you walk inside, you are transported to a cool little 'ristorante' that could be in any cosmopolitan Italian area.  One of the first things that strikes you is the vast array of wine that is on display, in fact you could be mistaken for walking into a specialist wine cellar.  Next, is the cozy seating arrangements booths down one side of the bar.

Most people may not realise, but 1889 Enoteca is one of Brisbanes most decorated restaurants, with plenty of hats and stars to its name and a perennial place in the Gourmet Travellers top 100 list of restaurants, currently 83 in the country.  Chef Matt Stubbing has done a fantastic job keeping 1889 Enoteca right up with the best.

old world bar feel

Tonight it was a casual catch up with SC and my best mate, the Big Boy, to have a nice meal before the BB heads back OS to bring his lovely wife and newborn back to Australia.

There are two superb menu's here, firstly there is a dearth of selections on the dinner menu that make selection quite difficult.  Secondly, there is a book that is given to us that turns out to be the wine selection, not surprising as 1889 Enoteca has one of the best wine menu's in Queensland.  While I don't drink, both SC and the BB allowed the sommelier to choose a lovely local red for dinner and it was only after the order did we realise that it was <gulp> $29 per glass, oh well.

We faced a conundrum when ordering tonight, we all wanted the same thing!  The signature dish here is their famous gnocchi and none of us were prepared not to order it, so the BB ended up getting it for entree and SC and I for main.  The Gnocchi di patate con salsicce e tartufo nero (potato gnocchi, pork & fennel sausage and black truffle tapenade) is an exceptional dish.  It is a prime example of ingredients working together in perfect harmony to deliver the flawless meal.  With so few ingredients the balance needs to be perfect......  and it was.  Soft, fluffy pan fried potato gnocchi mixed in with a sweet, sticky sauce infused with truffle.  With the pork and fennel sausage adding a firmer texture and another rich meaty flavour.  It's little wonder that the 1889 Enoteca menu specifically states that the gnocchi will never leave the menu.

gnocchi with truffle - does it get any better?

SC went for another traditional dish with the Spaghetti alla carbonara (guanciale, egg yolk & parmigiano reggiano), which was not that pretty to look at.  As with many of the pasta dishes at 1889 Enoteca, you get a traditional pasta dish with only the key ingredients with the idea that less is more.  The pasta was well cooked and al-dente and the guanciale (for those who are not sure what this is, its an unsmoked italian bacon prepared with pig's jowl or cheek) was plentiful.  Some carbonara's are overly creamy and this was not the case here, but the dish ended up being a little dry and a too salty.  The combination of the guanciale and the parmigiano was a bit overpowering and after a while the salty flavour accumulated and left the mouth feeling a little dry.

the carbonara was a little salty

My choice was probably the pick of the entrees and is the dish that SC normally goes for.  The Tagliatelle con gamberi peperoncino e aglio (tagliatelle, prawns, garlic and chilli) is a simple and beautifully presented plate of pasta, with large prawns sitting on top of thick ribbons of pasta, infused with a simple garlic and chilli sauce.  The three generous prawns were perfectly cooked and had a lovely fresh taste that was not overpowered by the chilli.  There was heat coming from the chilli, make no mistake, but it was really well balanced so it did not detract from the pasta at all, and in fact blended the combination of flavours together perfectly.  There was much sharing of this around the table and we all agreed that it rocked.  I am not sure that the micro herbs added anything to the plate, but did bring some additional colour.

tagliatelle with prawns, garlic and chilli - dish of the night

SC and I opted for the large sized gnocchi as our mains, which was a mistake due to the large size of both the entrees and mains.  While it was a mistake for us, the BB (who is 6'5" tall and had not eaten all day) was pretty happy as he got to eat the left overs.

The BB chose a slightly different path for mains (and I wish I had too) and chose the Pesce del giorno con asparigi, salsa bolzanina e capperi (market fish, asparagus, boiled egg & caper salsa).  The fresh fish of the night was grilled kingfish, which is one of my favourite white fish as it has a nice strong fish flavour but is also firm.  The BB really enjoyed the kingfish which was extremely well cooked with a lovely crispy skin on top and moist through out.  There was a creamy looking salsa that went along with this which we could not really place, but ended up deciding it was a soft cheese.  The asparagus and greens adorning the fish were also well cooked and added a different texture and flavour.  BB ordered a side of greens with this and was disappointed when this consisted only of green beans.  We all agreed that some broccolini and snow peas would have also added nicely to the dish.

Kingfish cooked perfectly

Its always had to walk past the classics and it was no surprise to me when SC and the BB both opted for the Panna Cotta, con mirtilli e amaretti (vanilla panna cotta, raspberries and almond biscotti).  The panna cotta came out suitably presented with a lovely smear of raspberry coulis and some fresh raspberries surrounding the mountain of panna cotta.  The panna cotta itself was set really well and had just enough give in it as the spoon pierced it,  the texture perfect, and the taste divine.  A really great example of how a panna cotta should be, which generally leaves you wanting more!

Vanilla pannacotta with raspberries

I chose Sfoglia croccante con frutto della passione e fragole cotte (pastry, passion fruit cream and poached strawberries) and really did not know what to expect.  I was pleasantly surprised by the masterpiece that was presented to me, which was visually stunning and looked delicious.  Simply put, this was sweet and creamy and had a strong flavour of passionfruit and a lovely texture added with the pastry.  The cream was layered in the pastry and the ratio of cream to pastry was just right and gave a wonderful crunch when I speared it with my spoon.  The poached strawberries were soft and succulent and provided enough tartness and acidity to balance the sweet cream and pastry.  I had not had a dessert like this before but am really pleased I went for something a little different.

pastry and cream - yum

It was time to finish up and as usual when coming to 1889 Enoteca I was completely and utterly stuffed.  We joked with the wait staff about a previous visit when we left half of the meals on the plate due to the sizing and were informed that they had the portion sizes better balanced, but I am not sure about that.

The staff were really friendly and knowledgeable about the food and wine.  They were attentive without being too 'in your face' and we hardly noticed them all night, which for me is a great sign as our water glasses were always full and we never felt that we did not have the right amount of attention on us.

While sitting at our booth and contemplating all of the changes that have happened over at Woolloongabba over the last few years, I was thinking what a great thing that was.  Its such a cool feel over there with the great antique furniture shops, violin studio and now some great bars and cafe's, its definitely become a destination.  I pulled out my phone and added a couple of additional places to come and check out again, and knowing that we would be back here again soon felt pretty good about the world.

@FoodMeUpScotty

poached strawberries