Peppermint Bay - Sunday Lunch.

Having got out of the habit of a Sunday drive sometime late last year, it was with a happy heart that S and myself piled into the car on Sunday to head towards Peppermint Bay. Hopefully to find a fire, good food and stunning views. Unfortunately only two of the three were to be found.

The last time I was at Peppermint Bay was around Christmas last year, when Mum, Dad, the dog and I took a drive for lunch and an exploration of the Woodbridge Markets. As I remember the food was fresh, tasted good and serving sizes were reasonable for the amount paid. I dont know whats happened in the intervening six months, but this time the two of us left feeling disappointed.

We arrived just before what looked to be a large and lateish lunch rush at around 12:45. The set out has changed at fair amount in 6 months. Where there used to be seats in the bar area and outside, with a few down the ramp for bar overflow, most of what used to be the more formal dining resturant is now also casual dining. The moveable wall of the function room is gone, and this space has been converted into the more formal dining area. I am not sure if this is a permanent change, or a temporary one to accomadate the fact that sitting outside was not adviseable due to the wet seats and very very soggy grassed areas. Either way, it makes the space feel alot more open and relaxed.

I ordered the scallop & salmon pie, potato puree and broccolini, while S had shaved garlic roasted lamb, kofte sauce, dressed rocket and minted yoghurt pizza. The wait for the meals was not that long, considering what we had ordered. The disappointment started when the meals arrived.
Now I dont mind pot pies. In fact I quite enjoy them. The scallop and salmon pie came presented in a very cute little cauldron about 12cm in diameter and about 8cm deep. There was a layer of what looked like lovely fluffy pastery on top, nicely glazed in a grid pattern. GREAT I thought, lots of fish and scallop in this! Oh the joys of ignorance. I carefully peeled off the what was actually very thin pastry layer to be confronted by the potato puree. HMM I thought, maybe this should have been a fishy shepards pie. I stuck my fork in, questing for the fabled salmon and scallops. I pulled out, potato puree. No fish. I dug in again, right at the bottom, covering about the last 2cm of the bottom of the pot was a gelatious mass that was the salmon and scallop filling. Now granted the 4 scallops I could find were lovely - soft and but with a nice bite to them. The salmon did not really have any taste at all, and the gravy was literally a jelly type concotion with a texture and taste that I could not quite place. Overall it was very bland, except for the extremely salty bit at one edge, which tasted like someone had forgotten to flavour the broth and dumped salt into it and not stirred it. The broccolini was tepid, so I didnt even attempt to eat it. It was however a lovely colour. I ate about 2/3rds of it before having to give up. This dish had so much potential, but the execution was sadly lacking. Its a pity as the type of weather really was suited for a lovely hearty pie with a good filling.

S's pizza was not much better. The base was well made, but not seasoned at all. There was a distinct lack of garlic taste in either the lamb or the base. The lamb was cut finely, but for some reason still had quite a greasy texture on the tongue. In fact for what should have been a very tasty pizza it had very little taste at all. The presentation was good, but the actual execution of the dish was once again lacking. It was obvious no one had tasted the seasonings in either of our dishes. Now S is one who very rarely leaves anything on his plate, but he gave up after 2/3rds of a pizza saying it was a bit like eating greasy cardboard.

While disappointed in our mains, we thought that desert may redeem the kitchen. S had the warm chocolate & orange pudding with vanilla ice cream and I went for 2 scones with jam and cream. The chocolate and orange pudding by all accounts was ok, but more cake like than pudding like, with what apparently had the texture of a crust on the outside. There were nice bits of distinct orange zest in the pudding, and the chocolate sauce was good but not spectacular. The ice cream however got the thumbs up. My scones were from the display case, but were not heated up prior to serving. I know this is a small niggle but warm scones go so much better with jam and cream. The scones overall were lovely and fluffy, and coupled with raspberry jam and thick cream actually tasted quite good. However I was rapidly getting full so S finished the last half of the 2nd scone for me.

Not sure how much we paid all up including drinks, but looking at prices on the online menu the pie was definately NOT worth $22 and the pizza was pushing to be $12 worth of value. However the fire and the view outside were lovely. I hope this was just an abirition in what is usually a good solid bet for a nice lunch after a drive. However next time I go, it wont be with such high expectations.

I hopefully will become more regular in my blogging habits again. The last couple of months has been very difficult for me due to family reasons, and the last year in generally has been physically and emotionally very taxing. Consequently I have suspended my PhD enrollment for three months to try to sort my life out. While my money is very tight, I will still hopefully be able to make comments on places when friends take me out for dinner/lunch/coffee.

I am in London for a week from the 15th to the 21st of July, so expect some blogging on trying to find cheap eats in the the capital. A friend has promised to take me for Dim Sum at a place he knows, and another friend and I intend to be ladies who lunch and do the chocolate High tea at Mandeville hotel behind Selfridges. Expect blog posts on both. Until then...eat well.

Update..

I seem to be posting here about once a month. All food reviews are off due to my being in Brisbane for the last three weeks. The best I could give is a review about the condolence tea we had after my Dad's funeral last Thursday....amazing chocolate cake, and thats all I managed to get due to having to socialise with everyone. The sandwiches were apparently good as well, and the carrot cake got rave reviews, but as I didnt taste em I cant say.
Will be back in Tassie sometime next month I suspect. Then off to London for a week in July. Will do my best to post regularly when I get home.

Seen Around Town and musings.

Sometime soon I really must write my review of the degustation at Montys the other night.
AS usual it was amazing, EXCEPT for the behaviour of certain industry types at a table near us. The saying "If you cant say anything nice dont say anything at all" springs to mind. Also, dont take out you own insecurities on the host...its really NOT that polite!

But anyhow, things that I have seen/noticed around town lately.

There is now a Jean Pascales in Moonah. It is in the space where the cafe used to be next to Woolworths. They opened last Friday, and have breads/sweet things and a few shelves of jams/chutneys etc. There are also a few tables and they will be serving coffees etc. I hope it lasts! The Jean Pascalces take away in New Town still fails to impress. While we had a lovely girl serve us the other morning (I was running late for rehearsal and dived in to grab Breakfast to go) the selection of patisseries etc is still not as extensive as it used to be. However JP makes an amazing Croquembouche which I tasted on Saturday night at a party.

An organic grocer has appeared at the old Manna Bakery site in New Town. Have yet to go in, but it looks new and fresh.

Jay and Emma from Pigeon Hole are back after a week off. Have yet to get back there, but intend to get my granola fix soon.

Criterion Cafe appears to have had a paint job/rearrangement of furniture.

Villaneo in Criterion Street does the best Chocolate milkshakes this side of the river. Lovely thick fluffy things that your straw stands upright in. Their coffee aint half bad either.

Reviews upcoming-
The Ethiopian Resturant in Liverpool Street
Monty Degustation
Crescent Hotel

Shout out for Good service...

Just wanted to say that I had absolutely wonderful service from the boys at Vermeys butcher in Sandy Bay today. WEnt in and very vaguely asked for 2kg of chicken pieces with bone. Neal came out and asked me what I was cooking, how was it being cooked and how long for, and devised a plan that involved Chicken marylands, a cleaver and chopping, along with a discussion about how chicken is used differently in different dishes. I learnt something, bought the meat I needed, and ended up enjoying a lovely meal of sherry infused roast chicken this evening which looked almost EXACTLY like the picture in the magazine. So THANK YOU!

Ebb, Taste and Kawasemi.

The eating out has been curbed a bit due to the demise of my main income source (DAMN time limits on scholarships! ;-) ). However I have been taken out a couple of times and decided I had better write about them, just so that everyone knows I am still alive.
Firstly thanks to everyone who posted on my previous review, it appears I am in the minority with my opinion about Orizuru. I'm willing to go back and give it another try, we may have just caught it on a bad day - but first impressions do last.

First up is Ebb in Swansea. This was a group of four of us for my birthday in early Feb. Its not the first time I had been to Ebb - stopping in twice in December on my way too and from a writing retreat. Both those times were wonderful - delicious smoky filling chowder on one visit, and an amazing oyster taste selection on the way home.

However this time was not as good as those too. I am not sure why - if it was the menu - or the day we went, or the fact I was depressed as it was my 31st birthday but it just did not seem as polished as it did previously.

I dont drink, but the boys did whinge a bit about the cost of a bottle of bubbles, they ended up ordering a white as it was a tad cheaper (but apparently not by much). I have no idea what the prices were, as I was being treated as it was my birthday. The other big gripe was on being asked would we like water, on replying to the affirmative it was assumed we wanted bottled, instead of tap. (well that wasnt my gripe because if I recall correctly Swansea is on a boil water alert still).

I ordered the Oysters to start, with sour cream and fish eggs - which were lovely, plump, fresh and juicy. I personally would have loved the oyster taster which I had last time, but for some reason it wasn't on the menu we were given. My main was the cured salmon stack with crispy wontons, nashi pear salad & wasabi aioli, which was nice, but the wasabi aoli totally overpowered any of the other flavours which had the potential to be there. The salad which did not have the wasabi aioli on it had a lovely crispy light texture to it, with the sweet pears really complimenting the salmon.

The others had Tempura battered Fish and chips,oven baked fish with crispy potatoes, lime & ginger salad & wasabi aioli and seafood marinara with scallops, salmon, trevalla , mussels & linguini pasta. *thanks to Rita whose posted menu jogged my memory*

Verdicts were mixed, with the oven baked fish and the tempura battered fish both being "good but nothing special" and the seafood marinara being voted best value and best tasting of the day. It had a good half dozen mussls in it, along with everything else you would expect in a marinara in massive quantities - leading to a filling and tasty meal. (We all got fed bits as the person who ordered it, despite being a competitive swimmer found the serving a little too big!). We skipped dessert and headed out into the wild yonder of Swansea, where Stephen bought a large hat, I bought Indian Ribbon and the other boys had a discussion about rings.

If this was my first impression of Ebb I am not sure if I would rave about it. But know what they are capable of made this visit a little disappointing. I honestly suspect it is dependent on who is around, as although we had the same staff who served me in December, Jamie was not on hand, and the lack of polish was obvious.

I was going to write a long diatrabe on Taste, however the moment has past. Suffice to say I still dont like it and until they sort out the whole seating/queueing/crowd control thing I will be avoiding it, despite the fact the food appeared better this year than last.

I have been to Pigeon Hole on average once a week, generally devouring either a panini or the granola - I love everything at the cafe, and now knowing Jays background a little better can appreciate what he is trying to achieve. I also heard of his plans for the future, which are brillant, and I hope that they turn out.

Kawasemi the week before last was lovely. Its still impossible to get a table on a Friday night unless you book, but I actually had thought ahead and booked on Wed for Friday night at 7. Had a lovely bento box with tempura, sushi, sashimi and all the other yummy things you expect. The tempura with lovely and crisp, the sushi fresh and the sashimi tasty. The other half had chicken misoyaki which was delicately flavoured and generously served with japanese potato salad and rice. This little resturant is phenomonal and I hope it continues for many years to come.

Am off to the Monty's seafood Degustation next weekend, the menu looks amazing and I am looking forward to it.

Orizuru Sushi Bar

Being unable to procure a table at Kawasamei at short notice - booked out on a WEDNESDAY - the other half and I went in search of sit down Japanese.
Now you would think that Orizuru sharing space with Mures would have GOOD seafood at its disposal. Unfortunately not.

Booked a table for 7:15 - arrived and was shown table and handed hot towels - nice touch.
We examined the menu for what we felt like - I was craving sushi and/or shashimi, the other half wanted similar. So we decided on the dinner platter for 2, complimented with some yakini beef entree for him, and oysters for me.

The beef was tough - and difficult to eat with chopsticks, the pieces were too large to be a polite mouth size. The oysters, while fresh, did not have that lovely sea salt taste to them you would expect with truely fresh oysters.

As for the main course - oh dear, oh dear oh dear. A large platter was presented to us, including about 9 small pieces of sashmi, 2 oysters, 4 maki and about twenty smallish pieces of sushi (6 nigiri, 3 californian, 3 vegtarian (letteuce and mayo), 3 salmon, 3 tuna and 2 other pieces).
Firstly, the oysters were not that good - definately not fresh, as they were not plump and juicy.
The sashimi was dry and shrivelled looking. The tuna in the shashimi was a dark maroon colour as oppose to a lovely dark pink colour you would expect. The salmon was ok, but the white fish (not sure what it was) looked like it had either being frozen and defrosted, or dried and rehydrated. It was stringy and chewy. This applied to the nigiri as well. The prawns on that were wrinkled - obviously prepared earlier and left to sit out. The tamagoti (rolled egg) had no flavour or texture what so ever. The sushi itself had quite dry rice, and the nori around the rolls had no discerable seaweed flavour. We actually left some of it, as it was so unappetising.

The service was patchy at best. My second requested solo never arrived, and the other half had to go and ASK for another set of chopsticks when his first pair was taken away with the entree plate.

Total cost (including 1 beer, 1 solo and 1 green tea) - $82.50. DEFINATELY not worth it. 2.5/5 and thats being generous. I'm going back to Kawasemi and never darkening any other Japanese in Hobart again....