Friday 31 August 2007

satisfied but not satiated.

I think we've already established that I love laksa a little more than most foods, and perhaps a little more than is reasonable. So everytime I walked past the Brasserie's menu on Grote St I couldn't help but salivate over the mention of a vegetarian laksa. And at the bargain price of $25 a bowl, my brain went 'ooooh, it must be amazing' rather than a normal person's brain which would go 'twenty-five WHAT for glorified vegetable soup?'.

This weekend Tom was over and I talked him into accompanying me. I booked in advance and checked that they still had the mythical laksa but then when we got there, NO LAKSA.

Which I was quite disappointed about.

But still, we had a really nice meal. It turns out they have a focus on local produce, each dish featuring a different local ingredient. This makes sense considering the restaurant is located in the Hilton, and would serve a lot of international customers.

We started with a terracotta-pot baked bread leavened with Coopers Sparkling Ale yeast and served with olive oil, Coriole kalamatas, and pink Murray salt. I had a goat Massaman curry for mains and Tom had kangaroo with quince. We shared a side of asparagus topped with a poached egg and parmesan cheese, and we also had the recommended accompanying red wines. For dessert, Tom had a sticky fig pudding, and I had a local honey-flavoured creme brulee which came with vanilla granita and a candied basil leaf.

All in all it was really very good. The atmosphere was relaxed, the waiting staff were helpful and friendly, and the food was great, without being too boring or too poncey. At $45 each (with Entertainment Book discount) I guess it was a little pricey but it wasn't nearly as expensive as lesser meals I've had around the place, and I felt it was excellent value for the quality. All of it was great, but I was completely blown away by my dessert, which I'm tempted to try to replicate. Yum-o.

Now if they would just bring back that laksa...

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