by Larni on June 12, 2011
Let me start with a disclaimer, their current Head Chef is leaving this coming week.
My dining companions had recently sampled the redundant Autumn menu and were keen to try the newly launched Winter menu. So we booked in on the first night.
I arrived early and was promptly seated and poured a glass of the Chandon Brut bubbles. A light, fresh, dry sparkling to awaken the palette. My companions soon arrived and we discovered that all diners were there for the degustation launch. Our starter of brushettea with heirloom tomatoes and sweet basil was promptly served. I’m not a basil fan, but the sweetness of the tomatoes and basil was a great start. We were soon served the Chandon Chardonnay, heralding the arrival of our second course, Artichoke ravioli. Though the artichoke was too subtle for me, the sweetness of the red onion and semi-dried tomatoes worked well with the ricotta. I was looking forward to the potted prawns with the caramelised shallot parfait, and I was not disappointed.
Salmon is also far from the top of my list of favourites, however, the salmon mousseline with the rich tomato and taragon coulis was terribly complementary. Turns out I quite like buckwheat as well, as was served with the final main dish of glazed duck breast, also served with a rich shitake mushroom broth. Divine! To finish our meal we were served a triple cream brie with crackers and crisp breads. Finally a rhubarb and ginger jam pie was served, with a remarkably robust portion of ice-cream that refused to melt. A wee dram of port accompanied our dessert. Strangely though, tea and coffee were not part of the meal and needed to be ordered and paid for separately.
Overall, a wonderful dining experience. Lovely warm, inviting atmosphere with friendly obliging staff. I would recommend following chef Sian Bressolles to her next venture. Saying that, McMahon’s is highly recommended and worth seeing what their new head chef serves up. I would suggest Friday and Saturday nights warrant booking ahead.
132 Alice Street
City QLD 4000
(07) 3853 6000
My friend has a penchant for Greek and Turkish food, so she went seeking a tasty quick Sunday dinner. Reluctantly, I agreed to go to Ahmet’s at Southbank. A few weeks ago we had a delightful meal with great service at the Bulimba restaurant, but I’m yet to have a good one at the Southbank Ahmet’s. I was hopeful…
A busy Sunday night trade dictated we wait for a few minutes for a table for our party of 3. A drink order was promptly taken, an Efes beer and I had a LL&B, and we were left to peruse the menu, notably different to their sister Ahmet’s. As we were all quite hungry and my female companion is quite the fan of breads and dips, we ordered the beetroot dip and pumpkin dip to be accompanied by garlic Turkish bread as our starter. I was tossing up between the Moussaka and a Vegetarian pide (pid-eh), my companions ordered the Karides (Prawns) and Pilic Sehrazat (chicken) and I settled on the Moussaka.
We sat and waited and sat and waited, finally I summoned a waitress to check on the progress of our entrees, meanwhile joking that our mains should be served soon. Not 2 minutes after the first waitress walked away a second delivered our joked about mains. We then had to explain that we no longer wanted our entree…much to my dip-loving companion’s dismay. She did however request a piece of bread to accompany her meal, only to be told that was not possible as bread was only sold in baskets…The Prawns looked lovely, with 2 golden fried croquets and a small side salad. My moussaka was accompanied by a small salad with a lovely zesty dressing and turkish rice. My other companion’s chicken dish while very tasty seemed to be lacking something: no potato, no rice, no bread, not even a vegetable…
We had previously decided to have dessert elsewhere, though I had noticed the usual suspects – turkish delight, baklava, ice-cream and Turkish fairy floss.
I would have to say another disappointing experience at Ahmet’s, and made moreso by the fact we had not long ago had such a great experience. WHilst our many servers were adequate, they weren’t particulary accommodating. I believe there are other better options available nearby if you are feeling like Turkish..but I suppose to each their own.
South Bank
07 3846 6699
Shop 10/164 Grey St South Bank
Bulimba
07 3395 8600
136 Oxford St Bulimba
