It’s that time of the year again where you flip over the calendar and turn a year older. In this case, I felt at least half a decade older due to those sleepless nights and early morning. I’m not complaining of course. The look of the little smiling face outweighs any tiredness I felt.
For my birthday we had a little time off. My in-laws had kindly volunteered to babysit while we snuck out for a lunch date. This opened up a whole new dimension of places we could go to as it no longer needed to be child friendly.
After looking at many lunch menus, we decided to go to Malt Dining in the city. We have been there before and the food and service has always been exceptional. Furthermore, they had a scrumptious sounding ‘Taste of Malt’ degustation menu. Perfect!
The ‘Taste of Malt’ consisted of 6 courses, or 5 if you exclude the sorbet which was considered a palate cleanser. We started with a complimentary bread with olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette.
The first dish was the Braised Pork Cheek with Barley Risotto, Grapes and Crackling. The pork cheek was fall-apart tender and delicious. We were very surprised by the grapes (raisin) on the plate. It was sweet and succulent, nothing like what we have tasted before.
The next dish tasted as good as it sounded: Roasted Pumpkin and Chestnut Agnolotti with Truffle Cream, Crispy Bread Tuile. Forget everything else, we would be happy just eating the truffle cream. It was THAT good!
The third dish was a Pan Fried Barramundi with Salmon Gravlax, Confit Leek, Vanilla and Cauliflower Purée, Chanterelle. This was probably our least favourite among the other dishes. There was nothing wrong with the dish, just that we are not that keen on fish in general. The Barramundi tasted very fresh with a good crust on the skin. It went well with the cauliflower purée.
The fourth dish was Wagyu Sirloin, Braised Beef Cheek with Pressed Potato, Bone Marrow, Soubise and Red Wine Jus. It was definitely my favourite dish of the day. It was packed with flavour. The Soubise (onion sauce) had the right sweetness that perfectly balanced the beef.
As a palate cleanser, we were served Pistachio Sorbet. It was light and refreshing to get us ready for the next dish.
The dessert was the perfect finish to the meal. The famous Malt Brownie with Salted Caramel, Chocolate Textures and Pistachio Brittle is a must have for those who visit Malt. It was AMAZING!
Malt was (and still is) one of our favourite restaurants in Brisbane. They even gave me a card when they found out it was my birthday. What a lovely touch!
strawbeari3 