FoodMeUpScotty: Era Bistro - South of the border (river)

http://www.erabistro.com.au/

A short walk from the city, over the Victoria Bridge and and about halfway to West End is one of the best restaurants in Brisbane that does not seem to factor into my thinking too often. This same restaurant is one that SC seems to visit quite regularly as it's directly across from her workplace and for some reason finds herself there six or seven times a year.

Era Bistro has been around since 2006 and in that time has been a perennial award winner for head chef Marcus Turner, currently holding a Brisbane Times Good Food Guide Chefs Hat. Era was always going to be a Brisbane favourite with Bob and Brad Hamilton behind the venture, having run one of Brisbanes most awarded restaurants for seven years, Circa. For those of you that don't remember Circa, it was in Adelaide Street in the old Jamesons building, which is now home to several high rise apartments, and was considered extremely cutting edge and very fine dining in its day.

The approach taken with Era is a much more casual style but the same emphasis on great service and spectacular food.

SC and I chose to head over to Era on their opening night back after the Christmas and New Year period and it was predictably quiet, which meant that we had the restaurant to ourselves! There was a shortened menu available on the night, but luckily all of the items that looked appealing from a quick look online were available and it was decision time. Unfortunately SC and I were eying off the same items, so we decided to let SC have her choice of entree and I got to choose my preferred main.

Right off the bat I knew I had made a terrible mistake. SC had no hesitation in choosing the Seared Scallops, Chorizo with Prawn Angel Hair Pasta, Caviar, Snow Peas in a Prawn Veloute and when it was presented it was spectacular. The three incredibly large scallops cooked by a master to perfection in a sea of prawn veloute was simply stunning. The sauce was sweet and delicious with a hint of the sea and worked wonderfully with the angel hair pasta. There was a little fire and texture with the chorizo and some nice saltiness from the caviar. I had passed from envy to outright jealousy on this dish and am pretty disappointed that I missed out on eating an incredibly well balanced and delicious entree. I will have to go back and order this myself!

Even though SC's entree was so stunning, my entree was not too far off perfection itself. I chose the Braised Suckling Pig, Pork Crackle, Jamon, Carrots & Mustard Fruits, which while a little heavy was no less amazing. There was a ring of fat around the suckling pig that was rendered wonderfully and when combined with the delicate and sweet suckling pork was a real treat. There were some interesting textures and tastes on the plate, especially when you added the jamon and the suckling pig together, with hot and cold mixing with different textures. The pork crackle provided a completely different texture and crunch, so there were all sorts of complex textures and tastes here. The jus that supported the pork was sweet and sticky and was a great combination with the pork, but I am glad there were some root vegetables on the plate, which helped cut through all the sweetness on the plate. It was a brilliant piece of cooking, but really heavy.

I was starting to think I may have gone too heavy with my selections tonight and with hindsight should have opted for the fish as my main but instead I chose the Duck Breast, Confit Leg, Kale, Pumpkin Puree, Plum & Cherry Crumble with Anise Jus. Not a fan of pumpkin, I asked the chef to swap this over with straight mash potato, so I am sure this threw the balance of the dish off slightly. The duck breast was supremely cooked and was lovely and pink, with the skin and fat rendered just right, and tasted amazing. While the breast was good, the confit leg was a triumph. The last time I had confit leg somewhere it was terrible, overcooked yet not falling off the bone. No such issues here, with a perfect confit, the meat fell off the bone and was cooked perfectly. There were some interesting tastes with the plum and cherries that I was a bit indifferent to and the mash, while nice, was a bit much and did not really work on the plate. Completely my fault for asking for it. Overall, a great example of duck breast and config leg in combination.

SC's main of Potato Gnocchi, King Brown Mushroom, Hazelnuts, Squash, Piquillo Peppers and Cep Sauce was a real splash of colour after looking at my rather brown plate of food. It had a real summery feel and look to it and SC was amble to confirm the waiter's claim that the cep sauce that came with the gnocchi was simply stunning. Everything on the plate was cooked really well with the highlight being the pan fried gnocchi and the cep sauce. The sauce had a hint of mushroom flavour to it but was not overpowering. SC enjoyed the gnocchi and thought the best way to describe the dish was 'really tasty'.

On to desserts and SC's Mascarpone Tart with Caramelised Fig, Sautéed Cherries and an Orange Sauce was a very beautiful looking dessert. The pastry on the tart was very short and had just the right amount of 'crumble' and the mascarpone was creamy, but the real star of the show was the caramelised fig. The fig had that nice sweet and tart taste all rolled into one and the caramelised sugar from the tart was added another level of complexity. Mascarpone is a cheese made from cream and works really well in a tart. Probably the only downside was that SC does not like cherries and did not want to eat them with the dessert. I had a crack at eating them and they were not that nice, so they were left behind on an otherwise empty plate.

Its been a while since I have had a brûlée so I decided I would go for it and have the Orange & Rosemary Crème Brûlée with Coconut Sorbet. The burnt sugar onto of the brûlée was a little too thick for my liking but the oh-so-smooth and creamy brûlée underneath was great. It was cooked and then cooled perfectly and it was an interesting departure from the usual vanilla brûlée that is most common. You could definitely taste the orange and rosemary but it was not at all overpowering and any lingering doubts I had about the combination were soon dispelled. While I loved the brûlée I really didn't like the coconut sorbet that came with it. Sure it was smooth and texturally perfect, I just did not like the taste at all and would have preferred something a little more tart to combat the sweetness of the brûlée perhaps a lime sorbet would have worked better.

Over the years I have eaten at Era Bistro maybe two or three times and have had enjoyable meals there. The meal we had tonight surpassed enjoyable and entered the realms of superb. On the whole, each of the flavour combinations worked really well and the meals just looked awesome. I love it when the look and the flavour of a meal compliment each other so well.

While it would have been great to have a little more of a vibe in the restaurant, the fact was we had our own private dining room for the night. The wait staff were great and as you would expect we were attended to without any delay. It was also more personable with a little more time to talk to the waiter, which I really like. I have to say that Era Bistro has gone up a few notches in my estimate and I can see why its pretty much had a chefs hat for its entire existence. I think I am a little more jealous of SC's frequent visits and may need to engineer some more myself.

@FoodMeUpScotty