The Crafty Cow - do I use the term hipsters too much?

http://www.craftycow.hk/

There's a little pocket of shops around Sheung Wan (a.k.a PoHo) that could quite comfortably be called hipster central in Hong Kong.  Cute little shops with arcane and weird offerings, more than one spot selling micro brewery ales and more beards per capita than I've seen anywhere else.  Who could forget the #HKWalls exhibition where you could walk down the many laneways and alleys and watch hip young things strut their stuff on the many brick walls canvases.

That little strip around Upper Station Street even held a little food festival last year, where masses of dressed-just-so-right locals and expats congregated to enjoy the many food options available.  I'm not gonna lie, I love that little strip and am guilty of tripping out to many of the aforementioned activities.....  I may even have a beard.

We'd been eying off the Crafty Cow ever since we first spotted it, the tiny little space looking like an awesome spot to enjoy a Sunday afternoon sippin' on a beer (if that's your thing) or enjoying a good little feed (which is my thing).  I'd had plenty of opportunities to get along before we did, we'd even grabbed a Lemmy from the Craft Cow one sunny and super crowded afternoon.  A Lemmy for those of you that have never heard of such a thing is a Kiwi lemonade, and they're pretty awesome.  It was a Lemmy that also won me a free feed at the Craft Cow based on an #Instagram competition - sadly, a feed I never collected.

So, it was finally time to check out the Cow, one Sunday evening for a quick bite of dinner. Making our way down the hill from our Mid Levels apartment, we reflected that we'd miss wandering around Sheung Wan once our move to Wan Chai finally eventuated.  We'd made a booking, which probably wasn't necessary as we were guided to one of the many available seats in the tiny corner restaurant slash bar (or bar slash restaurant, you choose).

Assembly - gastropub in TST

http://assembly.knutsfordbyprivegroup.hk/

As big as Hong Kong is, it's still amazing how small it can feel at times!  I talk of coincidences mainly, as in how likely is it that you will find yourself in a situation that has a sense of deja vu or serendipity.  I'm slowly getting to know my new city by the only way you can, getting out and exploring and just wandering the streets.  A little while ago, wandering around with the girl, we randomly walked around the streets of Kowloon and came across a little street, actually, more of a laneway called Knutsford Terrace.  Now, Knutsford Terrace is like a little party strip with restaurants and bars for as far as the eye can see and looked a little like a mini Lan Kwai Fong.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and I found myself at the very same Knutsford Terrace for a little blogger get together.  We were there to check out the latest menu and offering from Assembly, part of the Prive Group's stable of restaurants, that included Michelin Starred NUR (a restaurant on my must visit list).

I was the first of our little group to arrive (surprise, surprise), but it wasn't too long before I was joined by our host for the evening JC and fellow Hong Kong food bloggers SupertasterMel and Silverthoughts.  It was the first time I'd met either blogger, so I was a little nervous to begin with, but it wasn't long before we were chatting like old friends!  Ahh, the beauty of food is that it's so inclusive and a great way to share passions.

Drunken Duck - Gastro Pub re-imagined?

http://enotecagroup.com/thedrunkenduck/thedrunkenduck.html

I'd normally get really excited about a restaurant opening, walking by the construction and keeping an eye out on its progress. I don't really have the same level of excitement in Hong Kong, it's not possible; there are so many new restaurant openings in HK that I'd be walking around in a perpetual state of excitement.  But, for some reason, the Drunken Duck was one new restaurant that we'd been keeping tabs on, with a view to checking it out ASAP.

The latest in a number of British style Gastro Pubs that have opened in the last twelve months in HK, the Drunken Duck is the most recent creation of the Enoteca group. who also run a couple of Enoteca restaurants, as well as Iberico & Co in Soho.  

David Tamlyn, who was the head chef of Iberico & Co has moved over to the new venture.  David is one of the multitude of chefs who trained under culinary legend Marco Pierre White then went on to work in a number of well known Michelin Starred restaurants such as Pied-a-Terre and The Square.  David then took a bit of a change of direction to run Michelin rated Gastro Pubs The Bridge and the Salt House, before moving to hot and steamy Honkers.

With pretty high expectations, we braved a wet and stormy Sunday evening to wander along to the Drunken Duck (without reservation, of course) and found ourselves seated at a table right in front of the kitchen.  Like a lot of English style gastro pubs, the Drunken Duck has quite a warm and welcoming feel to it, and it was a lovely refuge from the stormy weather outside.  You could tell that the restaurant was still brand new, it had that new building smell and feel about it, everything was still shiny and new.

Aberdeen Street Social - Invasion of the British Chefs

http://www.aberdeenstreetsocial.hk/

I first came across the name Jason Atherton while watching one of my all time favourite cooking shows out of the UK.  Great British Menu is a program that pits the UK's top chefs, often with two or three Michelin Stars, against each other in daily cook offs.  It's like a cage battle where many go in and only a few come out.  Jason Atherton was one of the contestants in 2008 and in his first appearance, won through to the main banquet, no less preparing the main course (the most coveted spot).

It was Atherton's only appearance on the show as a contestant, but he later returned to the show as one of the Mentor's and weeknight judges.  Great British Menu has a history of taking amazing chefs and putting them in the spotlight, which certainly doesn't hurt their careers and many of the chefs who have appeared have seen their restaurants flourish.  Not that Jason Atherton needed the attention! He worked for Gordan Ramsey directly and was the executive chef of Maze in London before leaving in 2010 to establish his own restaurant, Pollen Street Social, which won a Michelin Star in its first year.

Aberdeen Street Social is Jason Atherton's flagship restaurant in Hong Kong and is part of his growing stable of International restaurants, including Singapore, Dubi and Shanghi.  Located at the super cool PMQ complex, Aberdeen Street Social combines a fine dining restaurant with a more casual and relaxed bar section that also serves food.  We'd decided that a Sunday night visit was in order, so rocked up without a reservation, after misreading the website stating that no reservations were required.  We were greeted with a puzzled look, one that said 'no reservation? how dare you?' but after a few minutes were shown upstairs and granted a seat.

Casual Dining - Communal Bar and Eat House at Brisbane Square

communalbrisbane.com 

Change, change, change!  The amount of change that's happening in Brisbane seems unprecedented, right?  I was completely blown away by the big hole in the ground that used to be the Law Courts up on George Street and pretty excited for the high rise apartments and hotel that are slated to be built in their place. George Street has seen a transformation over the last few years and it seems as if the 'top-end-of-town' will continue a resurgence.

One of our funkiest buildings is the Brisbane City Council building in George Street, which houses the Brisbane library and from a distance, looks like a colourful kaleidoscope of falling books.  The BCC building has recently undergone a new transformation, with most of the older style eateries being transformed into a 'diner's delight' that includes a pretty wide range of modern looking cafes and restaurants.  I'd already checked out Meat and Eat (see post here) but was pretty excited to get along and check out the showpiece of the Square - the gastro pub style Communal Bar and Eat House.

As part of the ever growing stable of cafes and restaurants run by General Manager Anthony Attard, The Communal Bar and Eat House is the biggest and boldest of the group's ventures, which includes The Cutting Board (see post here), Hive (see post here) and Meat and Eat (see post here).  Communal Bar and Eat House is inspired by the gastro pub culture and combines this with the communal theme by featuring many share tables among the two hundred available seats (yeah, it's big).

What turns Communal into a gastro pub is the huge mix of food and booze options, with both a huge food menu and an even bigger range of beers on tap, as well as a huge range of cocktails. In fact there are twenty four beers on tap as well as twenty different cocktails and eight cocktail jug specialties!  While a gastro pub should have plenty of alcohol options, for me it's always going to be about the food and I was keen to see what head chef Ben Limpus had done with the menu, which included a wood fired pizza oven, plenty of burgers and dishes from a flare grill.

Casual Dining - The Flying Cock

https://www.facebook.com/theflyingcock

I've been a little surprised that the UK phenomenon, the Gastro Pub, has not really taken off in Brisbane. For a while there, I thought that we were on the verge of a new thing, but it didn't quite eventuate the way that American style foodie establishments have hit town.  If you've been to England, gastro pubs seem to be everywhere - it is after all where the phrase was coined in 1991 when mates David Eyre and Mike Belben took over The Eagle pub in London and turned into a pub slash restaurant.  It was a concept that helped reinvigorate the pub culture and British dining.

There have been a couple of Gastro Pubs open in Brisbane over the last couple of years to mixed success.  The Alliance in Spring Hill (see post here) and Statler and Waldorf on Caxton Street (see post here) are a couple that spring to mind, but I'm sure there are a few others out there.  One of the things that I like about the concept of a Gastro Pub, apart from the food, is the great names used - I especially love the name Statler and Waldorf (named after a couple of famous muppets).  I was really interested when I got invited along to check out the new lunchtime menu from Brisbane's latest Gastro Pub - the Flying Cock (what a great name!).

The Flying Cock is located on Brunswick Street and is part of the complex, that for many years housed the Valley's favourite Irish Bar, Dooleys until it closed a few years back.  It was a place I'd frequented 'back-in-the-day' when we wanted a rowdy place to play some eight ball, so I was quite familiar with the spot.  While the location was inhabited by Dooleys for what seemed like forever, when the old Irish gal closed down, a string of forgettable places seem to take it's place, so I was keen to see what the lads had done to the place.

Within easy walking distance of the CBD, we decided that we'd walk into the Valley for a bit of furniture shopping (we bought some really cool replica furniture from Matt Blatt) and then stop into the Flying Cock on the way home.  It was a pretty damn warm day on the Saturday of our visit and by the time we'd finished our shopping and arrived, we were a bit hot and sweaty.  Stepping into the shade of the pub was like stepping out of the Sub-Saharan sun into an oasis of blissful cool - we hoped that it was a good sign of things to come.

Casual Dining - The Wickham Hotel

http://thewickham.com.au/

If you've visited the Valley over the last twenty years(ish), then you would know about a little corner of the trendy inner city suburb that has an interesting and checkered past.  The Wickham Hotel is well known in the Valley as being a traditional gay venue (LGBTI) since 1996 and it's fair to say a rollicking good time has been had by many an adventurous Brisbanite.  While it's recent past has been dominated by the Big Gay Day and if memory serves me correct, Boy George spinning some tunes on the 'ones and twos', the Hotel has been around for a lot longer.

Originally estabilished in 1885 by famous Brisbane architect Richard Gailey, The Wickham began it's life as the Oriental Hotel and for all intents and purposes was one of the 'grand old pubs' of Brisbane.  It's a pub that SC had spent a bit of time in 'back in the day' when it would be Sunday beers between Ricks Bar and the Wickham Hotel.  The hotel has been ever changing and if you frequent the Valley or drive down Wickham Terrace, you would have noticed that the next incarnation of the hotel has been underway.

We were pretty excited to be invited along with a number of Brisbane bloggers to check out the renovations and get a peek of the new renovations.  Given that the Valley is a short walk for us, we'd taken the opportunity to have a nice easy walk into the Valley for our Wickham experience.  We'd entered through the new 'car park' area, which used to be the Wickham's car park but was not an outdoor dining area.  It was a large space with lots of share dining tables spaced about, as well as some group seating around different sized cable 'barrels'.  It wasn't until we walked through to the main part of the pub that we saw the magic.

Casual Dining - The Fox Hotel

http://www.thefox.com.au/

**Please note, the all you can eat mussels offer has now finished - sorry

I'm not really a pub kind of guy and I'm definitely not going to head over to a public bar and sit down to have a few beers.  I get the concept of a pub/bar/hotel, it's a place where you go and hang out with mates, sink a few beers and quite often, get on the punt. Yeah, there is a list of things that just does not excite me.

That doesn't mean that I don't love having pubs around, I think they are essential to the vibe and the life blood of a city.  Architecturally they can be amazing and given that many hotels and pubs around have been built in the 1800's they often have a long and interesting history.

The Fox Hotel is one of the original pubs to be built in Queensland and was constructed in the late 1800's and was originally known at the Terminus Hotel, ostensibly as the end of a tram route.  Like many old buildings in Brisbane, the old Terminus Hotel has had its fair share of good and bad fortune, including almost burning to the ground during the 1920's.  Over the years, it's also had many facades and taken on many different forms, including a stint as a backpackers hostel.  Not too many of the ventures have lasted too long and as a consequence, the Fox Hotel has been through renovation after renovation, trying to hit the right market.

I'd been to the Fox Hotel to check out one of it's more recent ventures, the Meatball Company (see post here) and thought it was not too bad, but as fortune would have it, the Meatball Co has made way for a new restaurant - Fish Lane Bistro.  But this post is not about a pretty cool looking new bistro - it's about quite possibly the most amazing food offer in Brisbane, the all-you-can-eat Mussels deal.

Casual Dining - The Villager

http://www.thevillager.com.au/

A long time ago, more precisely seven and a half years ago, we decided that we needed to downsize and moved from suburbia to the CBD.  I use the term suburbia loosely as generally most people consider 8 kilometres from the city as an inner city suburb, but you get what I mean.  We didn't know if we would love living in the city and thought it would be best to rent a place first, just to see if it would suit our lifestyle.  That first place we moved into was Casino Towers in George Street with beautiful views of South Bank and the river.  It's fair to say that we loved the CBD lifestyle and have never looked back.

Back when we lived in George Street, there was lots of take away places and a couple of bars, but not really any dining spots.  It was well before the explosion of eateries and Brisbane's current state of dining mecca :). There was a black spot on George Street that couldn't seem to get a venue to last too long and at the time of our residency on the Street, it was Jorge on George, a relatively funky bar.  Fast forward a few years and Jorge came and went and after the site was vacant for some time, a new crew moved in with an idea that was a little different at the time.

It had been the longtime dream of a couple of childhood friends to open up a Gastropub and Supper Club in the CBD, a place for Brisbanites to chill out in the hustle and bustle of the CBD and a place that would keep the kitchen open beyond 9pm.  Neil Shannon and Gareth Ball took a bit of a risk by opening a gastro pub in the CBD, especially in a location that had seen its fair share of failures over the years.  Completely renovating the location, their aim was to provide a New York warehouse feel with the charm of a heritage listed building and the whimsical styling that would seem different in a burgeoning Brisbane dining scene.

Alfred & Constance - A change of seasons and a change of menu!

http://www.alfredandconstance.com.au/

Not just satisfied with changing the Valley forever by introducing some of the coolest spots to eat in Brisbane, the team behind Alfred and Constance continue to evolve and stay fresh. Damian Griffiths and his team know they are onto a winner with the very funky Gastro Pub on the corner of Constance and Alfred Streets in the Valley, but never rest on their laurels.  

For those of you who haven't checked out Alfred and Constance, it's probably about time you thought about it.  A&C is known as a Gastro Pub serving tasty and down to earth food, but it's also so much more.  After lovingly restoring two old Queenslanders, Damien and his team set about creating a series of spaces that so completely fit into the vibe of Fortitude Valley, you would be surprised to know the place has only been open since November 2012.  Since opening, A&C has become a favourite drinking spot in its Tiki bar and a favourite local to hit your sweet tooth with its late night dessert cafe. 

Knowing that you need to evolve to stay ahead in Brisbane's ultra competitive casual dining scene, Damien, along with Patron Chef Jocelyn Hancock have again made some tweaks to the A&C menu.  As we move away from Summer (Noooooooo) and head into Autumn, its no surprise that the new Autumn A&C menu takes on a more earthy feel, yet still adhering to their basic principles of honest, full flavoured food.

Statler & Waldorf - Gastro Pub

https://www.facebook.com/TheStatlerWaldorf?fref=ts

It was a Saturday night and the girls had arranged to visit one of Brisbane's many cemeteries as part of a ghost tour.  It used to be that the boys were also invited to go along for ghost tours as well, but after a number acts of bastardry, we are no longer invited.  I guess that's what you get when you try to scare the bejesus out of your friends in dark and spooky spots.  So instead of hanging out with the girls at the South Brisbane cemetery, we decided that we would have a boys' night out and hit one of the many restaurants around town.

In a clear case of irony, we ended up hitting a new gastro pub in town called Statler and Waldorf, or for those of you who are not Jim Henson and Muppet fans, a place named after the two crabby old bastards that would shout abuse to the entire Muppet crew (see clip here).  While I wouldn't normally consider myself a bastard (defined as objectionable person), something comes over me when I'm in a dark and spooky spot with girls who are easily scared....

There are multiple cultural references to Statler and Waldorf, both names also reference quite well known hotels in the United States, with the Waldorf being one of the most recognisable hotel names in New York. Aside from the cultural references, Statler and Waldorf is is just a really cool name for a gastro pub and it conjures up all sorts of images about a stately and stuffy building.  Nothing could be further from the truth, with the new gastro pub located in Caxton Street pretty much being a hipster hang out.  

Alfred and Constance - Summer's on the way

http://www.alfredandconstance.com.au/

There is no better time in Brisbane than spring.  The cold winds that signify the end of the Ekka and therefore the end of winter have been and gone.  It's a time of renewal, of fine weather and of endless possibilities of things to come.  As spring starts and summer approaches it's also a time of renewal for restaurants as they update their winter menus with the spring and summer offerings.  It's my favourite time of the year, with perfect cloudless days and the end of the heavy winter menus that are comforting, but all so bad for the waistline.

The first week of spring has heralded some changes at Alfred and Constance with the early introduction of the new summer menu and I was invited along to the launch party, with a few dozen of my blogger buddies, to check it out.  Owner Damian Griffiths, along with patron Chef Jocelyn Hancock decided to introduce the summer menu earlier this year so they could take advantage of the amazing and fresh produce that is produced at this time of year.

New York Series - The Spotted Pig

http://thespottedpig.com/

Many of the restaurants I wanted to visit were well planned out in advance.  I had done my research back in Australia and knew which Michelin starred restaurants I wanted to visit and had them squared away and booked nice and early.  

The Spotted Pig is a restaurant that I stumbled upon by accident.  We had just moved to the Chelsea area after spending some time in Little Italy and were just exploring the local area (well, it was a bit of a hike the first day), and found ourselves walking through the West Village.  The West Village is quite different from much of Manhattan in that the streets are a little less planned and a bit chaotic.  There are lots of little side streets to explore and it was down one of these that we stumbled upon The Spotted Pig.

The West Village is a great spot and has so many hip places to look at and visit.  Known as 'Little Bohemia' from 1916, the West Village is the centre of the bohemian lifestyle on the West Side and has lots of classical artist's lofts.  There is the re-instituted High Line (converted from an elevated railroad track to people's space) which connects this historic district to the art galleries of Chelsea and beyond.  The West Village is also home to many of New York's rich and famous and as a consequence property values are astronomical.  There are also lots of great restaurants and dining spots, like The Spotted Pig.

The only clue that it was a restaurant was a little pig above the door and apart from that, it looked just like any other semi industrial building (all-be-it a moss covered building).  We had walked past it without realising it was a restaurant and then curiosity got the better of me, so SC and I walked back to the building and had a peek inside.  Wow, talk about a surprise, this looked just like an 'Ye Olde English Pub' inside and was packed.  I made a mental note to investigate this further and then come back for dinner.

Helm Surfers - A surprise packet on the Gold Coast

http://www.helmbarsurfers.com.au/

This has been a very cold and very wet winter so far and I have not enjoyed it at all.  So when I had the opportunity to head down to the Gold Coast to check out a new restaurant, Helm Bar and Bistro, I was pretty happy to leave Brisbane behind, for a few hours at least.  It's pretty amazing really, as cold and miserable as it can be in the Queensland capital, just sixty odd kilometres down the road is a completely different story.

We were pretty lucky really, it was one of the few weekends where the sun had been out and while it was still pretty cold, there is nothing worse than heading down to Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast on a rainy day.  It has been ages since I last visited the Gold Coast, the glitz and glamour of the nation's holiday strip does nothing to excite me.  In fact the last time we went down we had a pretty disappointing meal at a (then) hatted restaurant.

I alway forget how easy it is to get to the Gold Coast nowadays, with a pretty good road that is going to get better once the fourth freeway lane opens up and traffic flows even better.  What I always forget though, is how painful the bottleneck is when you get off the Pacific Motorway and head towards The Spit, it was like a car park.  It was also pretty painful driving into Surfers as well, with heaps of roadworks and lots of crazy coast drivers.

Alfred & Constance - Late Night Dessert Cafe

http://www.alfredandconstance.com.au/

In a very short period of time Alfred & Constance has become a place to see and be seen.  It's no surprise really, a lot of planning went into A&C by owner Damien Griffith and he has done so to perfection.  One of the best things about A&C is that it is many things to many people;  It has The Vanguard, which is a beer garden and restaurant (which I checked out on opening night, you can see the post here); White Lightening Tiki Bar, the obligorary cocktail bar; Alfred's Cafe for those who want a simple bite at lunchtime and finally the Late-night Dessert Cafe which is self explanatory!

It was the Late-night Desert Cafe that had me out on a weeknight to check out the latest offerings and sample some of the lovely desserts.  It was an interesting mix of people I would be hanging with on the night, included a fashion photographer, a well known local book retailer and business owner, a stylist from a well known magazine, a hair dresser and a public relations specialist!

I was the first to arrive at A&C which gave me the opportunity to wander around and take some photos of Alfred's Cafe, which doubles as the Dessert Cafe after hours.  There was a really comfortable feel with dimmed lighting and heaps of comfy looking chairs and couches spread out over the floor.   I also noticed a mishmash of retro chick items placed around the walls with one of the walls essentially being a stack of old stereo speakers....

The Alliance Hotel - rise of the Gastro Pub

http://www.thealliancehotel.com.au/

I really didn't know what to expect when we caught up with some mates for dinner at the Alliance Hotel in Spring Hill.  Being a denizen of the city, I am well aware of some of the more recent history of the Alliance and on the whole it has not been great.  I mean, this is a hotel that used to have a nightclub attached to it called the Hellfire Club!

Originally built in 1888, the Alliance is one of the few remaining 'old school' pubs left in Queensland and has not had great luck with successful ventures and it had been empty since the last failed venture until late this year when the new owners with a vision decided to turn the Alliance into a Gastro Pub.

In deciding to check out the Alliance SC and I immediately thought of our good mates DD, AT and MT to come along and dine with us.  We arranged to meet at 7pm at the Alliance and were surprised that our dinner guests had beaten us to the venue (this is a rarity as the guys are usually 'a bit late' when we catch up!).  We immediately noticed a huge difference between the front bar area and the bistro just behind, with a grand sweeping staircase and cool art on the walls, this was definitely a departure from the Alliance of old.

Once seated and with drinks orders away, we noticed that the menu was quite eclectic, with some traditional pub fare, but also some interesting departures from what one would normally associate with a pub.  My entree of Crispy Skinned Pork Belly, Scallops and an asian salad could have been considered pub food, but its also on many menus around town so I had high hopes of a brilliant start.  My plate consisted of two very large scallops, large square of pork belly and thin slices of apple that constituted the asian salad and it looked very pretty.  However, there were some major problems with the dish.  The scallops, while tasty, were severely under cooked and were raw in the middle and the pork belly was also severely undercooked, so much so that the fat had not rendered at all.  The pork was tough to cut through, the skin was not 'crispy', it was cold on the bottom and the fat was hard and gelatinous and not very pleasant to eat.  There were great flavours with the asian salad which would have worked well with the dish if it was just cooked more.

The rest of the group fared much better than I did with their entrees.  SC opted for a starter for her entree, which was Duck Spring Rolls with hoi sin and coriander pesto which was well presented and quite a large serving for a starter.  The spring rolls were very well cooked and the duck was moist and full of flavour.  There was a bit of a spice and heat to the sauce with the duck spring rolls and added a nice complexity to the duck.  DD and MT chose oysters natural with red wine and nahm jim, which were fresh, plump and completely delicious.  AT also chose a side to begin with and went with some Onion Rings.  The onion rings came out in a cool little basket and were lovely, with crispy batter and perfectly cooked onion inside.  At this stage, everyone else was super happy with the start of the meal. 

There were a number of specials attached to the menu and the 450 gram Rib on the Bone with Kipfler Potatoes, Asparagus and Swiss Brown mushrooms caught my eye.  This was a massive plate of food!  I asked for my rib to be cooked medium rare and this and it was delivered just right.  The meat itself was tender and quite tasty, but a little bloody (needed to rest for a while longer).  The asparagus were nicely cooked but the real stars for me were the swiss brown mushrooms, which added a rich earthy flavour to the meat.  Kipfler potatoes are always nice and these were cooked well, nicely seasoned and plentiful.  Unfortunately, there was quite a bit of fat and gristle on my steak, which was quite unpleasant. I think I would have liked this rendered down a little more, or removed completely from the steak.  Overall though, it was pretty nice and quite filling.

SC and AT chose Piri Piri Chicken with Sweet Corn Salsa and Acocado Cream and it looked to have been the pick of all the dishes.  The chicken was well cooked and had retained all of its moisture during the cooking process, but still had lovely crispy skin.  The Piri Piri had just enough bite to make it interesting without over powering the subtle taste of the chicken.  The sweet corn salsa was a welcome addition and provided some texture and contrasting flavours.  DD had less luck with his main selection in the Spaghetti with Local picked Sand Crab, Chilli, Garlic and Italian Parsley.  I had a big taste of this to help DD finish it off and it was not a good dish.  The pasta was undercooked (and tasted like packet pasta) and was too firm, but worst of all was the balance of the dish.  The garlic and chilli simply overpowered everything else, there was no taste of the crab at all (unfortunately).  MT chose the 200 gram Eye Fillet with Blue Cheese Souffle, wilted English Spinach and trussed Cherry Tomatoes, wich looked great and MT assured us also tasted great. 

After contemplating if we should finish or go on for dessert, MT and I decided on dessert and DD and SC decided to share a cheese platter.  I felt like something a little lighter and refreshing so chose the Hazelnut Meringue with Vanilla Cream and fresh Mixed Berries.  This was a simple dessert delivered in a martini glass with layers of cream, meringue and fresh berries.  The cream was sweet and creamy and was a great contrast to the hazelnut meringue, wich was a little bitter, and combined to have nice mixed texture.  The lots of strawberries, blue berries and raspberries included which added another level of tartness to the sweet cream.   I very much enjoyed the dessert. 

Dinner was finished and naturally we discussed the highs and lows of the meal.  We all agreed that there was a great menu at the Alliance and there was huge potential for the bisto, but were surprised with the prices of many of the menu items.  The Alliance is marketing itself as a Gastro Pub / Bistro, but we found many of the prices to be closer to what you would expect in a Fine Diner, with some of the mains in the $35 to $39 range.  The entrees were more reasonably priced around the $18 mark, but creeping up to $25.  I wouldn't mind paying these prices, but the quality and consistency of the food would need to be much higher than we received on the night.

We went for dinner on a Wednesday night and it was encouraging to see the bistro area packed out, with no spare tables.  There was a great vibe in the dining area and the service was really good.   It is interesting to see that the kitchen area is open so you can see the chefs at work and the care that has been taken in putting together a dining area that is cool and retro but does not take away from the natural charm of such an old pub.  I think that if the consistency of the food was a little better and the prices come down just a little bit, this is the type of 'local' I could see myself spending quite a bit of time in.

@FoodMeUpScotty

Lovely fresh and plump oysters with a spicy Nahm Jim sauce

The Onion Rings were superb, crunch on the outside and sweet onion on the inside

Unfortunately the pasta was not great.  The balance was out with the garlic and chilli completely overpowering
the dish.  The Crab as lost, which was a shame

Expertly cooked eye fillet with a blue cheese souffle and yummy tomatoes

The flowerless cake looked a little different to what we were expecting.  It was more like a muffin and was missing
a really rich chocolate flavour.

The cheese selection was cheddar and brie, wich SC and DD loved.  There was a slight pear taste to the cheddar
but the brie was creamy and tasted great with the accompaniments 

Clean lines of the bistro area with a large chalk board with the latest menu

A familiar sign for those who frequent the valley

One of the oldest pubs in Queensland has had a slight makeover

Alfred & Constance - this place has a Vibe

http://www.alfredandconstance.com.au/

This place has a vibe.........

Kitchen area, see the
Pig?

Alfred and Constance had its official opening tonight and I was pretty keen to check it out.  I had heard some talk around town that a great new food and beer destination was going to be opening soon....... but time dragged on and there were delays and I forgot about it.  Then on Wednesday night eating with a few friends I was reminded that the grand opening was Friday night and that I should check it out.

Located on the corner of Constance and Alfred streets in the Valley (no prize for guessing why the name) SC and I decided that a Friday night stroll into the Valley for dinner would be a great way to start the weekend.  If only the weather had played its part, it pretty much rained the whole walk over, oh well, at least it was still warm.  As we crested the hill of Constance street and started down towards the tastefully renovated old queenslander, there was a buzz and 'hubbub' coming from the building, I could not yet see any people, but I sure could hear them.

Once we walked up the steps of Albert & Constance, we were affronted by a wall of people, many of whom were clearly dressed for a night in the Valley.  We were greeted by a friendly waitress who found us the only table that had a couple of seats for us.  The style of the establishment is very much along the lines of shared seating, so SC and I had a spot in the middle of a long bench table.  This was actually pretty cool and there was immediately a feel of togetherness with the people around us, everyone was clearly happy to be here.  We were given some menus and it was time to decide.

The first thing we noticed about the menu was that it was in alignment with the current trend of share plates and the second what that it had a lot of meat....... a lot!

Being share plates, all of our dishes came out in quick succession and we soon had every available space taken in front of us, and quite a bit in front of some other diners too.  The first thing that I tried was the Chorizo Scotch Egg.  I quite like a good scotch egg and normally expect to see quite a dainty quails egg or similar but what was put in front of me was far from dainty.  I was confronted with a huge red egg, clearly as a consequence of the chorizo, along with what looked to be a spicy aioli.  Unsure of how to proceed with such a monster, I finally decided that I would try to 'crack the egg' by cutting it down the middle, to see if the yolk wold be under or over cooked.  Unfortunately my cutting skills are not up to scratch and only managed to crush it into thirds.  I did not see the ooze that I expected but it was not hard boiled either, so only slightly over.  I am a massive fan of chorizo and loved the taste of this, there was a great amount of heat coming from the chorizo crust, which was cooled down by the aioli and the yolk.  It was quite yummy and I would easily have eaten half a dozen of these.

Chorizo Scotch egg intact, then smashed!

Pork Belly with Rhubarb and Ginger Relish was the next dish to be devoured.  Those of you that are regular readers of my blog know that I love pork belly.  This was beautifully presented on the plate with three lovely looking pieces of pork.  There was a great contrast between the burnt colouring of the pork skin and the rhubarb and ginger relish and the garnish.  The pork belly was perfectly cooked with just enough crunch through the skin and the soft almost gelatinous fat from the belly.   On its own it tasted fabulous, but with the relish, a lovely slight bitterness offset the succulent sweet meat.  SC kindly gave me two of the three pieces, which I was very grateful for.  It was around this time that the others seated near us started to show interest in what we were eating and started ordering the same!

Great pork belly with rhubarb & ginger 

SC ordered an A&C hamburger with crispy bacon and fries.  This was probably the most disappointing element of the meal all night.  The burger itself was dry and overcooked and there was not enough sauce to compensate.  In addition to this, the bun was too crunchy, hard and dry, which led to an overall feeling of dry mouth when eating, in fact the bite I had was hard to swallow it was so dry.  In addition to this, the cheese that came along with the burger was also dry and flakey, overall not a good experience here.   The chips were not too bad, thick and crunchy and well cooked.  I love chips cooked with the skin on as was the case here.

Skip the burger & go for the meat

We were starting to feel a little full now but we still had one of the stars of the night to eat.  Roast Pig carved from the whole pig with crackling was next.  This was sold by the weight and you could get 250g, 500g and 1kg.  I am glad we opted for the 250g serving size, otherwise we would have had to be rolled out.  The pork was simply stunning.  Soft, succulent and perfectly roasted on the whole pig it was a joy to eat.  Mixed in with perfect pork pieces was the crackling and skin of the pig.  The contrast between the soft pork and the hard sticky skin was a marriage made in heaven, and once the apple sauce was added, took this to a new level.  Pork and apple sauce, such a classic combination!

Pork by the gram, delicious

As good as the pork was, the last item that we had selected was my favourite by far!  The flame grilled Lamb Cutlets with Anchovy and Parsley Mayo was spectacular.  This was rustic food at its absolute best.  More often than not, when you have lamb cutlets, they have been french cut, that is the fat has been cut off the bone.  This was not the case tonight, so not only was the lamb supremely cooked, there was more of it to go around.  My first mouthful of the lamb was a revelation!  Sweet lamb perfectly cooked to a stunning pink along with the lovely caramelised fat, with the slightly salty anchovy mayonnaise.  Sometimes with a lovely dish, the first bite is the best, not so with this.  Each progressive portion of the lamb just simply got more delicious.  SC who was pretty full by the time we started on the lamb had a couple of bites and also fell in love with this.  Next time I come to Alfred & Constance I would be hard pressed not ordering three or four plates of the lamb and ignore the rest of the menu.

Dish of the night, lamb cutlets - a taste sensation

By the time we had finished our dinner the place was pumping, with people everywhere and customers lined up to wait for seats to be vacated.  Given that tonight was the official opening night, things ran pretty smoothly.  Sure, the wait staff looked a bit stressed and rushed off their feet, but we never felt at any time that we were not being looked after and the wait staff remained friendly and helpful throughout.

Snout to Tail philosophy - here is the tip!

Alfred & Constance is the creation of Damian Griffith who is also the owner of Limes Hotel, just down the road.  His idea for the establishment was a warm rustic gastro pub and 'entertainment village'.  There is a restaurant, beer garden and bar upstairs.  The principals of the food offering is to deliver warm, old world charm twisted to modern tastes.  When we walked in SC and I felt that Damian had hit the mark with his vision, with some extra elements thrown in.  If you are looking for a cool place to have a beer and gastro pub meal, then this is the place to come.  My view on the philosophy of the food is very much the 'snout to tail' approach and the meat served here is second to none.  Its fun and the seating arrangements really lend to a community feel.

As I said, this place has a vibe........

@FoodMeUpScotty