Malt Dining - hidden away in Market Street

http://maltdining.com.au/

It's that time of the year when we sit back and reflect on the year that has passed.  Each year at this time there is a tradition that our senior leaders gather together over a nice meal and spend some time away from work and enjoy each others company.  The big question was where shall we go this year, and after some initial discussion about our options, we settled on Malt Dining in Market Street.

Malt Dining has only been around for a short time but is fast gaining a reputation as one of Brisbane's better restaurants and has already achieved a coveted chef's hat from the Brisbane Times Good Food Guide.  It's also in one of Brisbane's coolest inner city buildings, Wenley House, which was built in 1865 and housed Queensland's first municipal markets.  Now redeveloped into a three level restaurant and bar, it's managed to keep that old world charm and is a great space to enjoy a meal (the Attic upstairs) or savour a single malt whiskey (downstairs in the bar).

Grand Piano harks back to a bygone era

Our group have had some exposure to Malt Dining.  I have been to Malt a couple of times; SC and I have been to the Attic dining upstairs and enjoyed a lovely meal and SC had a work function in the bar area and I came along to meet some of her workmates.  Some of the other senior leaders at the lunch had also been to the Attic dining area and loved it also.  However, one of the team recounted an attempt to come to Malt Dining last year for Christmas which went awry with the booking being cancelled due to a slightly late arrival.  We also had a slight hiccup today with the online booking not working and a rushed call 45 minutes prior demanding that a table be made available.  I was curious how today would unfold....

I did not get the opportunity to sample all of the dishes today, so I will focus in on my selections and then outline my observations and the thoughts of my dining party.

There was a lot to like about the entree selection on the menu and there were some hard decisions to be made.  I finally decided on a dish that I don't normally eat and opted for the Konynen Farm Rabbit Galantine, Walnuts, Tarragon, Apple and Beetroot.  A galantine is often confused with a similar dish, a ballotine.  They are very similar in that they are usually deboned poultry and both can be poached, but a ballotine can also be braised or roasted.  Ballotine's are usually served hot and galantines are always served cold.  I have not had a galantine with rabbit before and it worked very well, with the subtle rabbit flavour combining well with the sweet beetroot and tarragon.  It's very easy to overcook rabbit and if so it becomes very stringy and tough, but this rabbit was cooked really well.  The salad was nice with some crunch of walnut and apple, with some acidity from the dressing and some of the 'bitter' leaves of the salad.  I liked the symmetry of this dish and the colour profile, overall it was a good start.

Galantine of rabbit was the best dish I had on the day

The only other entree that I had a taste of (thanks KT) was Pan Seared Hervey Bay Scallops,

Watercress Potage, Compressed Tomato with Black Olive, which in my opinion was the dish of the day.  There were 6 decent sized scallops that were cooked perfectly with a beautiful caramalisation that enhanced the sweet scallop meat.  They were tasty too.  Some of the scallops around town are imported from the northern  hemisphere     and are lacking in flavour, not so these, which were bursting with flavour.  What was really nice was the watercress sauce that the scallops were sitting in, really nice and accentuated the flavour of the scallops in perfect harmony.  I don't like olives so did not have any of the black olives, but KT assured me they added a nice saltiness to the dish that improved the balance.  I had a case of food envy with this and it turned out not to be the only time throughout the meal.

The scallops were simply sensational

The other entrees selected today were the Chicken Liver and Foie Gras Parfait ,Peanuts, Blackcurrant Jelly with Toasted Brioche and the Roast Zucchini Flowers, Goats Curd, Smoked Tomato, Roast Eggplant and Dukkah.  Both entrees looked great and were well presented on the plate.  I had a little taste of the chicken liver and foie gras parfait and can confirm that it was rich, smooth and creamy.  DJ really enjoyed her entree but thought that the peanuts added little to the plate.  Perhaps they were there for some additional texture, but added little otherwise.  FA also enjoyed her zucchini flowers with the goats curd being the highlight.

General consensus was that entrees were a hit.........

I will say straight up that my main was a huge  disappointment.  I knew I was taking a risk in getting the Sous Vide Grimaud Duck Breast and Confit Leg, Artichoke Pudding, Braised Napa Cabbage.  The second it was placed in front of me I knew the duck was badly over cooked.  The whole idea of sous vide is for the duck to be sealed in a bag and cooked really slowly over time in a water bath, then finished off really quickly in a frying pan to get the skin crispy.  This should leave the duck beautifully pink through the centre with that lovely caramelised crispy skin.  What was presented was dark, with no pink at all, and quite rubbery with an unpleasant texture.  The confit leg was also over cooked with the meat being too firm and was stuck to the bone.  Confit is the process of duck being immersed in a liquid to help preserve it and when done well, the meat just falls off the bone, not the case here.  To wrap things up the braised Napa cabbage was severely overcooked and looked like brown sludge.  It was not very nice to eat and I left pretty much all of it on my plate.

My duck was disappointing and well overcooked

I have mentioned before in my blog that sometimes when you go to a restaurant you just have poor menu selections and I think this was my day for it.  This does not excuse a kitchen from putting out sub standard food....  Looking over the remainder of the mains and talking to my lunch buddies, the all fared much better than I did.  There was a general consensus that the Corn Fed Free Range Chicken Breast, Chive Puree, Espelette and Fig Compote was the pick of the day and I did have another case of food envy here as this was my next option.  While almost everyone else enjoyed their mains, DB was probably the other person in the group who was not happy with his meal.  DB had the pan seared market fish, which today was Atlantic Salmon, which was overcooked and a bit dry.  Also, the accompaniments that came along with the fish did not really work and he thought that overall the fish was a bit of a disappointment

The salmon didn't quite work with the accompaniments

I thought for sure that I would pick a winner with the dessert, I mean what can really go wrong with a soufflé?  A couple of us had the Passionfruit Soufflé, Vanilla Yoghurt Sorbet with Citrus Biscotti which looked pretty on the plate but fell a little short of the mark.  Where a dessert soufflé should be light and fluffy, this one was quite heavy and dense and more reminded me of some of the savoury entree soufflés I have had before.  It was sweet enough and had a nice flavour, but the texture was all wrong.  The other big problem with the dessert was the vanilla yoghurt sorbet, which was way too bitter and was vanilla in name only.  I can't really say what its flavour was but I would never have guessed vanilla, more of a citrus flavour.  Overall not a great dessert for me.

soufflé was slightly off the mark

The other desserts that were presented around the table looked fantastic and by all accounts were really enjoyed by all.  I did have a taste of the ‘Malt’ Brownie, Salted Caramel, Chocolate Textures and Peanut Brittle and what I tasted was top notch.  The dessert looked beautiful on the plate and there was a crafty piece of cooking here with some caramel ice cream sandwiched between rich chocolate brownies.  The combination of warm brownie and cold ice cream was lovely in the mouth and a taste sensation.  Underneath it all was a layer of caramel which added a nice sticky texture to it all.  I think this was the dessert to have and for the third time I had food envy.

The brownie was stunning

So, this was one of those days where I left pretty disappointed while my lunch companions had a pretty good experience.  I had a great time chatting to my peers over a very relaxed lunch in an environment that has a great feel about it.  There were times during lunch when the sunlight was filtering through the windows onto the exposed brick walls and timber tables that really enhanced the feel of the restaurant.  There was a great atmosphere and the service was good.  I think we all would have been transported back to a bygone era if we had someone playing a jazz tune on the grand piano near the entry.

There are some things to like about Malt Dining with some of the dishes being well thought out and clearly well presented and tasty, but there are some elements that disappointed.  I can understand a menu having some items that don't gel perfectly for my tastes, after all you need to cater to all tastes.  However, I get quite disappointed when some key techniques go badly and food is over cooked, even worse is when it seems to be only me impacted!  Also, if a restaurant is going to use an online booking system, it's critical for it to work well.  We are not sure what happened on the day as we had an electronic confirmation but we almost didn't have our annual Christmas lunch and that would have been a shame.

@FoodMeUpScotty

Chicken Liver and Foie Gras Parfait

Roast Zucchini Flowers

Corn Fed Free Range Chicken - main dish of the day

Assiette of Berkshire Pork - KC loved this dish

Pan Fried Herb Gnocchi and Spring Vegetables

Roast Wagyu Sirloin & Braised Beef Cheek - CN loved this dish

Fina Apple Tart looked a treat on the plate

Light through the window