FoodMeUpScotty: The Survey Co.

http://www.surveyco.com.au/

There is no easy way to say this, so I will just come straight out with it..... Brisbane has laneway envy! We look to the southern states and their glorious laneways filled with cool restaurants and bars and wonder 'why not here?'.

Thankfully over the last year or so there has been a move to establish a laneway culture in Brisbane and Fortitude Valley. We now have Wynn Lane and Burnett Lane and a city council that is determined to establish a laneway culture, which is fantastic. It was to Burnett Lane that SC and I made our way with the intent of visiting The Survey Co, one of a number of ventures that has opened up in the once seedy Street that runs parallel to Queen Street.

I love the name - The Survey Co - it really fits with the feel of Burnett Lane with a very industrial feel to it. The restaurant name harks back to the street's namesake, Charles Burnett, who was a surveyor and explorer. Burnett established a surveying company in 1844, which is where the name The Survey Co comes from.

The Survey Co is the latest venture from Simon Livingston, who has Piaf, Sardine Tin and Espresso Garage already under his belt. The restaurant was fitted out by architects Richards and Spence with a raw, organic palette of cork, timber, brass and steel that offsets the wonderful rough brick walls and gives the space a very organic feel. The restaurant itself is built around a very open kitchen, that gives you a view of the chef in action from most angles.

The Survey Co bills itself as a modern European style and usually when you come there is a distinct Italian feel to the restaurant, in fact, The Survey Co is well known for its Gnocchi dish. On this night there was a Spanish Mexican Asian fusion theme running, which at first glance was a bit confusing. For entree I opted for peppered brisket with sriracha coleslaw and a flour bun not really knowing what to expect. What was delivered was a brisket taco in a flour bun! I really didn't think I would like this dish from appearances, but as you know, appearances can be deceiving. The bun was light and sweet and the brisket tangy and very meaty with a slight peppery undertone. The whole dish was brought together with the wonderful coleslaw that was both sweet and savoury at the same time. A delicious dish but not really much to eat and it really only whetted my appetite.

SC went for one of the more unusual looking dishes on the menu and opted for the fried free range egg with dirty duck rice and XO sauce. Again not knowing what to expect we were surprised when the order came in a really large bowl and was essentially a bowl of rice with a fried egg on top. The rice was cooked well and the fried egg was, well..... it was a fried egg. The thing that saved this dish was the wonderful XO sauce and the shredded duck throughout the rice. SC loves duck. It was a big dish and SC did not eat the whole lot. I think this dish could have been a bit more refined if it was about half the size and presented in a less rustic way.

For main I could not pass on the half roasted spatchcock with kipfler potato, chorizo and garlic mayonnaise with a chipotle dressing. I am really loving spatchcock at the moment and am seeing it on quite a few menus around town. I have one thing to say about this dish, it was freakishly good and I now have a new favourite meal in town. The spatchcock was cooked expertly with lovely crispy skin that was seasoned perfectly. The real winner on the plate was the combination of the garlic mayonnaise, chorizo oil, chorizo and the chipotle dressing and how it worked with the subtle taste of the chicken. This was truly a marriage made in heaven, I can only describe this as YUM! No flavours were too overpowering and this was a dish in total harmony. Not only did it taste wonderful, it looked lovely on the plate too.

There were a heap of menu items that SC was considering for main but in the end chose the corned beef fritters with horseradish mayonaise and mignonette dressed peas and carrot. This was a delightful looking plate of food, it really looked fresh and inviting, you really wanted to dive right in and get started (of course SC had to wait until I took the required number of photos!) The corned beef fritters were lightly battered which helped intensify the flavour of the lightly salty corned beef. The carrots and peas were perfectly cooked and provided a nice balance to the meat on the plate. The main problem with the dish is that there was a heap of food and unfortunately SC did finish it off (and she was still reeling a little from the huge entree).

SC was so full it was up to me to carry on with the meal and readily agreed to see the dessert menu when offered by the waiter. There were some really interesting choices and after seriously considering the salted caramel I finally decided on the condensed milk pannacotta with vietnamese coffee syrup. I loved sucking condensed milk out of the can when I was a kid and thought that this would bring back memories of scoffing the sweetened dessert down when I was young. There was a bit of theatre with the dessert, with the pannacotta coming in a glass and a coffee filter attached to the top. The waiter then proceeded to add the coffee syrup to the top, making the dessert looking like a reverse cafe latte. I am really glad the coffee was added because that pannacotta was sweet! It had the lovely condensed milk flavour but was brought to earth with a deep and rich coffee flavour to balance out the sweetness. I really enjoyed this dessert.

I had some real concerns about the dinner after the entrees were placed in front of us, they lacked any refinement and looked a bit out of place on the table. My concerns were soon set aside when we tasted the entrees and then they were blown completely away once the mains arrived. The menu was very different to all of my previous visits here and the simple clean Italian flavours that I had experienced before were replaced with much more complex offerings.

There is no doubt that I am going to remember this meal for quite some time to come. The spatchcock has rocketed up my list of favourite meals and now easily sits somewhere in the top ten. The service on the night was excellent and I was happy to see that The Survey Co was really busy on a Wednesday night. I really enjoyed watching the chefs in action and again marvelled at how easy a skilled chef can make cooking a wonderful meal so easy.

Leaving The Survey Co and wandering back down Burnett Lane, SC and I reflected back to some of our previous visits to Melbourne and our exploration of the laneways and bars that are prolific in that part of the world. I love the fact that Brisbane is chasing the laneway lifestyle. When you think about it we have the perfect climate for laneway dining. We are a few years behind our southern counterparts, but I have a feeling we will be seeing many more laneway openings over the next few years.

@FoodMeUpScotty