I like saying Spatchcock

So I’m covering two things tonight. One is a Japanese restaurant and one is an Italian restaurant.

First, to Perth.

So, a couple of weeks ago, I went to Perth for work. Before I left, I found out about a place called Nobu, a Japanese restaurant in the hotel I was staying in.

In the more expensive part of the hotel that I was staying in.

I walked past the theatre, and through the doors of the more expensive part of the hotel, and waited to be asked what i was doing there. No one cared. Okay, now to find Nobu. After a brief look around, I saw the sign for Nobu. Next to the desk under the sign, there were a lot of tables with people eating. That doesn’t look too bad, not as swanky as I expected.

I was looking at the wrong bit.

I approached the desk, and asked if I needed a booking. For one. No you don’t.

They led me through these big doors, through a small hall, with the wine off to one side, and then to the swanky restaurant I was expecting.

This place was nice. There was a sculpture on the wall opposite me that consisted of a whole bunch of small pieces of metal, that were bent to be fish like, in a big school of fish. I kept getting lost in it between courses. Speaking of which.

I ordered three things, and the first one to come out was the special.

Semi char-grilled octopus with truffle. It was really good, the octopus especially. Every bit of the dish. Except the truffle. Sorry WA, but the truffles I have had over here were a lot better. There was very little umami in the flavour. It was definitely a truffle, just not as strong as I like. The octopus was pretty good though.

This was followed by duck sashimi. I loved this one best. It was thin slivers of duck covered in a soy/vinegar sauce, that meant you weren’t quite eating raw. The duck was very tasty, and the sauce combined with the duck was like a few great flavours having a wild dance off on my tongue, where each flavour kept reappearing in succession with each mouthful. The sharp,acidic vinegar burst out first, followed quickly by the soy. The two tangoed sweetly together for a bit, before bowing out to let let the duck shake its tail feathers on the centre stage. There were other flavours there too, but they were standing on the side clapping. The dancers soon had to leave the stage, and left me to get lost in the wall of metal fish shapes.

The final dish was duck breast, covered in some sort of crumb, with yuzu mixed through it.  While it was delectable, it was hardly a dance. More like the long walk you take to help a meal go down, when you haven’t had too much (or as I like to think of it, haven’t achieved the shape of a python eating a goat). It was pleasant, and by  the time I had finished the mastication ambulation, I was ready to head off.

I was not ready for dessert, but I was ready to have a bit of a rest.

Back in Brisbane now.

Last weekend, I went to a place called “What’s in the Pot? Osteria.”. It is a lovely little Italian place in Redcliffe.

Here I had an entree, a main and a dessert.

For the entree, I had chicken liver pate on toasted bread, and stole some of my culinary companions’ entree too. She had mixed bruschetta. One with oil, one with pear and one with tomato. The pear one was best.

For my main I had spatchcock. Spatchcock. Apparently, spatchcock is a chicken or game bird split open and grilled. I liked spatchcock. I am pretty sure it was chicken, but wasn’t a hundred percent certain. It was served in some sort of red wine jus, with broccolini and small cubes of fried potato. The whole thing was very tasty and I would happily eat it again.

For dessert I had Limoncello and some sort of biscuit. At the time I had forgotten what Limoncello was, and had no idea what the biscuit was. I had thought maybe it was gelato and a biscuit. I asked one of the staff. She said it was a shot of limoncello and a biscuit, I can’t remember the name and am now regretting not taking a photo of the menu. Ok, I ordered it and, even though I don’t normally drink alcohol anymore, I was going to have it. I poured a little on the biscuit in case it was like a sauce in a shot glass. Not a sauce. I don’t mind Limoncello, and the biscuit was good, but next time I will get the tiramisu.

 

OK, that is enough about these adventures. In a month and a half, I am sure I will write more before then, I am heading to Malaysia for 5 days. I am pretty sure I will wind up with lots to write about, and even pictures.

 

Eat well.