DolceBunnie

Showing posts with label Gastropub. Show all posts

The Montague Hotel | 363 Montague Road, WEST END QLD 4101

When our roast lunch came out from the kitchen, I swear my jaw dropped and I thought to myself ‘holy-moly, this is a carnivore’s paradise’.

We were at The Montague Hotel, a popular hangout that takes up the sizeable corner of Montague Road and Kurilpa Street at West End. Opened only a few months ago, the Monty is this incredibly decked out gastropub that dishes up all-time favourites like juicy steaks, schnitzels, beer battered flathead served with skin on fries, house salad and smoked jalapeño aioli, and gourmet burgers. But at the same time, you can also order healthy salads or get low and slow on their popular smokey charcoal rotisserie that changes daily.

In the centre of the establishment, you’ll find an impressively stocked bar with copper beer tanks above that serves more than just as a decoration. If beer isn’t your thing, I’m sure that there is something that would tickle your fancy from their page-long cocktail list which offers everything from the classics like Aperol spritz and amaretto sour to drinks such as the dirty Havana that comes in shared jugs. The Monty also has a martini range with the espresso martini being their signature - made with double shot espresso, Stoli vanilla vodka, Kahlua, Frangelico and sugar syrup - don’t be surprised if you find it extremely delicious.

I was on a mission; I had one thing on my mind and that was to devour their Sunday long lunch which involved a wooden plank topped with what looked like the Mt Everest of meats - charcoal spit roasted chicken, pulled pig and lamb. But that’s not all, accompanying the tantalising meat was buttery chargrilled corn, mac n cheese, crispy pork crackling (O.M.G. this was so addictive), sauce & condiments, as well as house-made slaw for good measure. It was epic. There was just so much to share between two adults and there’s no way that we would be able to prepare that much food, with that many ingredients for $70 plus all the cooking, washing up and cleaning of the grease. We did manage to finish almost everything on the wooden plank; it was too delicious to leave anything behind. Paired with friendly service and chilled vibes, our Sunday lunch was very satisfying indeed.

Oh Monty, it was a pleasure MEATing you.

Disclaimer: with thanks to The Montague Hotel for welcoming DolceBunnie and the family to the property as invited guests, please note that my opinion is as always, my own.

Communal Bar and Eat House | 266 George Street, BRISBANE CBD QLD 4000

The holiday season in the city is usually quiet, other than on Boxing Day when people go crazy at the shops. Unfortunately it means that many food outlets close their doors. The other travel bunnie and I would take minibun George out everyday around lunch time just to get some fresh air and grab a bite, but we weren’t faced with too many options and most of them involved food courts.

We ventured to the top of the mall one day and were surprised to find that Communal Bar and Eat House was open. It was a grilling hot day and not many people were out so I picked a table along the wall while the other travel bunnie placed our lunch order at the front.

Having seen the yellow-tiled Italian wood fired pizza oven proudly positioned at the front of the restaurant, I thought I’d be silly not to order a pizza. Their pizzas are 32 centimetres and all boast true Italian fare. I decided on the casalinga ($24) which is topped with fior di latte mozzarella, san marzano sauce, prosciutto, porcini mushroom and olives. I watched the chef making my pizza from the scratch as my mouth watered. Bring it to me, I thought and it was good! The pizza base was thin but slightly doughy, and the thinly sliced prosciutto added just the right amount of saltiness while the porcine mushroom showcased its strong, nutty flavour. The other travel bunnie was going to order the bourbon braised beef ribs with mac n cheese, coleslaw, corn on cob ($29) which sounds pretty amazing to me. But he got carried away when he found out that they were doing a pulled pork special($17) and went ahead with that instead. Turned out, it wasn’t a bad choice after all. The pork was juicy and flavoursome.

Feeling extremely satisfied and not to mention, sleepy after lunch, we both agreed that Communal Bar and Eat House would no doubt be a regular eating spot for us.

Total Bunnie Dollars Spent: $50

Tippler's Tap | 22 Masters Street, TENERIFFE QLD 4006

A while ago at a bloggers dinner gathering, I learned that in Brisbane you can actually get beer marinated ribs and they are nothing short of delicious. Intrigued, the next morning I dragged the other travel bunnie out of the pad and demanded to be driven to Tippler's Tap, a craft beer bar close to the Gasworks where these juicy ribs can be found.

The buffalo wings were a little dry and definitely weren't as spicy as I had hoped for, but I can't think of anywhere else where I get a kilo of buffalo wings for $10. The beef marinated ribs were $16 and they came with fries on the side.

The other travel bunnie also had a 'Mountain Goat' craft beer, which he proudly pronounced was not bad at all.

Tippler's Tap is definitely a great place for catch-ups with decent valued nibbles on the side.

Total Bunnie Dollars Spent: $40 (or thereabouts)

The Meatball Company | 71-73 Melbourne Street, SOUTH BRISBANE QLD 4101

I spent most of the day baking at home today. Feeling quite proud of myself for successfully making salted caramel macarons, I declared to the other travel bunnie that I demand to be taken to the recently popular “The Meatball Company”.

The Meatball Company can be found on the ground level of the newly refurbished The Fox Hotel, which is conveniently situated across the river from the CBD.

The décor reminds me of one of the hip eateries in SoHo, New York City. I really like the black ceiling which is filled with chalk-like drawings of cute cows and sheep, you know, all the fluffy cute animals that you would like to be made into delicious meatballs.

The menu is simple. You've got six different meatballs and a number of sides to choose from. Unless you are extremely hungry, you'll find that one serve of meatballs with a side would be sufficient to satisfy your cravings. We had the pork & veal with a chili, tomato & roast pepper sauce and chicken & sweet corn with iceberg & crème fraiche ($15 for each serve of three generous sized meatballs).

The pork meat balls were delicious and the sauce had the perfect amount of spice, whereas the chicken meatballs had a slight sweetness with a hint of cracked pepper. I thoroughly enjoyed both of them and I think they are great value. We also had a side of seasonal greens with garlic butter ($9) and roasted potatoes with rosemary salt ($8) to share.

The service was pretty good and very friendly at the start, however as the night went on and the restaurant got busier, it was pretty obvious that the two waitstaff were not enough to cover the entire floor. It took fifteen minutes before we could get anyone's attention to place an order for a strawberry and cream ice-cream sandwich ($12). If we didn't wait for another twenty minutes for the dessert to come out, I probably would say that we had a fantastic gastropub style meal.

For $1 more, I would've had a perfect grilled popcorn parfait at Esq and let my taste buds run wild. So, I'm going to be honest and say that the ice-cream sandwich was below my expectations.

I would definitely go back for more meatballs, but if they don't put enough staff on the floor, I would have limited expectations for their service.

Total Bunnie Dollars Spent: $65.