Rush Bar Dining Express - lunch in rush hour

http://www.rushcbd.com.au/index.php

For quite a few years now, Rush has been a place that has met the needs of Brisbane CBD workers for a quick bite to eat and has been a mainstay for Friday afternoon drinks.  It used to be quite a dark and secluded spot, with much of the dining completed in dark little booths along the inside but quite an open area for casual dining and drinking along the Post Office Square side.

Something happened a little while ago and Rush closed its doors for some renovations.  Being a city dweller I pretty much walk past Post Office Square a couple of times a day and, generally loving any redevelopment in the CBD, kept an eye on this one.  As months went by, I really wondered if anything was going on behind the erected barriers.  This renovation was taking a very very long time until at last one day you could see what was going on behind those barriers.  The transformation was astounding, no longer was Rush seemingly small and 'dingy' but transformed (by a reported $2 million dollars) into a spectacular looking bar, dining, cafe.

Rush is not normally a place where I would go and eat, but after an extremely busy week on a project we found ourselves here combining lunch with a project meeting.  I won't bore you with too many details about this but it had to do with a capabilities list for blah blah blah.............  So, I found myself seated at a table with 5 work colleagues, a pile of work and some decisions on what to eat.  I had heard that the tapas was ok here so after some consultation with the group, we agreed that tapas it would be.

The tapas was all brought out together on a tower that allowed the plates to be stacked in piles of three, so we essentially had pyramids of food in front of us.  First to be tasted was the Barramundi risotto cakes w sweet chilli jam & lime wedge.  These actually looked quite nice, with a lovely crispy outer shell and a splash of red sweet chilli jam encircling the risotto balls, contrasted with the green lime looked pretty cool.  There were some issues with the risotto balls.  The main issue was that I could not taste the barramundi at all, in fact, if these were not named as barramundi risotto balls there would be no way at all you would know there was fish involved at all.  The sweet chilli jam was nice, but when combined with the risotto balls, all I could taste was the sweet chilli jam.  Texturally it was good, with the risotto inside the crispy outer being quite moist and smooth but from a taste perspective, really bland without the jam.

Next to be tasted were the Duck spring rolls w a plum dipping sauce.  As far as spring rolls go, these were OK, nothing spectacular but not terrible either.  I found them to be a little dry, a fact that was easily rectified with a liberal coating of the plum sauce, which was quite rich and tasty.  One of the comments from my work colleagues was that they were like little chiko rolls, which I am not sure if this was a good comment or bad.  Duck is a protein that I really like normally, but, as with the risotto rolls, the main ingredient was hard to pick out, if I did not know they were duck spring rolls, I would not have been able to guess the main ingredient.

The Tandoori chicken skewers w mint yoghurt were next to be scrutinised and these were not bad.  The chicken was cooked really well and they were presented pretty well on the plate.  I normally associate quite strong flavours when thinking Indian and especially Tandoori.  Not being a huge fan of Indian in general, I was a little apprehensive about eating the chicken, but I need not have worried.  The taste was quite mild and in conjunction with the chicken being well cooked, this was quite a nice dish.  I can't help thinking that for a true lover of Indian food and Tandoori chicken in general, the flavours might have been a bit subtle?

My favourite dish was next, the Chargrilled lamb cutlets w spiced harissa yoghurt came out just as you would like it.  Plump lamb cutlets cooked over an open grill to perfection, just enough char on them to add to the rich lamb flavour but not over cooked so that there was still that lovely pink you like to see in well cooked lamb.  The main problem here is that tapas is about sharing the plates evenly and this this one that I would have preferred to 'gobble' up on my own.  Perhaps there was a little too much of the lovely lamb fat trimmed off the bone and around the outside of the cutlets, which meant that a little depth of flavour was missing, but hey they were great lamb chops!

Another plate that I quite liked the flavour profile of was the Pan fried calamari, chorizo, olives in a chilli & garlic oil served w crusty bread.  This came in a deep dish and was a mix of the calamari, chorizo and olives with a micro salad for good measure.  As mentioned, the combination and profile of the the ingredients were good when combined, however each of the components individually were not well cooked.  The calamari was overcooked and a little rubbery and the chorizo lacked any real flavour.  While calamari can be quite tricky to get right, a few seconds over can do the damage, it's not normally something you can say about chorizo.  The fact that the chorizo had no punch to it, nor that sweet and spicy flavour that the sausage is so well known for was incredible.  I can only think that the flavour had been stewed out of it for some reason?  Quite strange.

The last of the tapas was the Spicy Italian meatballs in a rich Napoli sauce served w crispy sour dough bread.  I really can't say 'spicy Italian meatballs' without saying it just like the Italian chef out of the Simpsons!  Of all of the dishes today, this one was pretty much as described.  There were bags of flavour, really spicy Napoli sauce that packed a punch that was cooled down a little with the slowly melted cheese that blended nicely with the sauce.  This plate of food was not without fault, with the meatballs being a bit overcooked and a little rubbery to eat.  There was one meatball left at the end that no one seemed to want to eat......

The last meal on the lunch menu for us today was not a tapas plate to share, but an individual meal for one of my colleagues.  KC opted for the Rib eye, Swiss cheese, bacon, beetroot, lettuce, tomato, aioli & caramelised onion on toasted turkish bread.  There is not a lot that can go wrong with a steak sandwich and this one looked a beauty.  There were bags of the right ingredients and by the time KC had finished  eating there was nothing at all left on the plate.  The only comment here was that it was a bit pricey for what you got & I tend to agree that $22 for a steak sandwich is a bit on the rich side.

Speaking of prices, looking at the menu of Rush there are some pretty expensive items available, with most of the mains in the $35 dollar range, with a peak in the $40 bracket and a couple of cheaper options.  This is quite expensive, and is the range in which you would expect the prices at a fine diner.  However, to offset the expensive mains, there are some reasonably priced entrees and the tapas menu is reasonably priced.

I can't say that I didn't enjoy the meal today, there were some elements that were quite tasty and some that I would have again should I come back.  However, I also can't say that there was anything here that really excited me.  I would say Rush is a pretty good place to come and have a few beers and relax and enjoy the company of your workmates or colleagues after a long day or to watch the cricket on the big screens.  The wait staff were friendly and helpful, the food came out in quick order and there were no real complaints.  The Rush Bar Dining express is just that, you could get in and out quickly, which makes it a great lunch destination, just don't expect too much when the food comes out.

@FoodMeUpScotty