Andyd
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 30/10/05
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Hi Folks,
Just thought I'd drop a few words about the brilliant dinner I went to last night. It was held at the Courthouse in North Melbourne, and was hosted by Brad Rogers of Matilda Bay. (Spoilers below... if you're going next week you might not want to read on).
We started off with a Kronenbourg with an Oyster and home made merguez sausage (I'm not a big oyster fan, but the sausage was sensational), and then the Barking Duck was served before we went in to be seated for dinner. Nice, cleansing beers to set us out on the right foot.
The entree was sensational (yes, I'm going to use this word a bit in this post...
). Twice cooked crisp pork belly, steamed prawns, rocket, apple and caper salad. The pork was to die for. This was served with a selection of wheat beers; Red Back, Schfferhofer Hefeweizen, Hoegaarden, and an unlabelled mystery beer which turned out to be a version of Barking Duck which has been in wine barrels for 8 months. The last was liquid gold - personally I thought it had a lavender aroma to it which was a really interesting change from the usual fruity aromas of the wheats. All four went really well with the entre, although my favorites were the Schfferhofer and Barking Duck. I was extremely hesitant to discard the remnants of the Duck, as I'd been to the Garage Brewery in Melbourne a couple of months ago, where Neil (the head brewer there) told us about this version of the beer, but we were unable to taste it. Alas, I was driving *sigh*.
The main was similarly sensational. Carbonnade of Black Angus cheek (Ox cheek by any other name), pommes puree, horseradish, baby carrots. I probably would not have chosen the Ox cheek from a menu (some bad childhood experiences with dad's experiments with Ox Tail stew), but it was an amazingly tender deilight - no knife was necessary as the meat flaked away as you'd expect for fish. Just divine.
This was served with four lagers - Bohemian Pils, Rooftop and Dog Bolter and another I don't recal at this stage (should have taken notes...). Nothing unexpected in the lagers, but the Rooftop and Dog Bolter were best suited to the succulent red meat (IMHO).
Dessert was Shropshire blue (a caratine enriched blue cheese) with Eccles cakes (small, puff pastry versions of mince tart). These were served with a variety of heavy alcohol beers, including a Duvel, and a smoked beer (sorry - no notes on these yet, I'll try to fill the gaps later today).
Overall the evening was fantastic. Brad was very personable, not overly "flowery" in his presentation of the beers, and was very happy to talk about the types of malts, hops, yeasts and techniques that go into each of the beers.
There is only next week left, and I understand that it's booked out - so for you lucky folk who have booked, you're in for a great evening. For everyone else, keep your eyes peeled for this one next year, and if you're in the vicinity and up for a meal, the courthouse was a suprising find for me - I'd consider the food up there with the best served in Melbourne (I have no affiliation).
Regards,
Andy
Just thought I'd drop a few words about the brilliant dinner I went to last night. It was held at the Courthouse in North Melbourne, and was hosted by Brad Rogers of Matilda Bay. (Spoilers below... if you're going next week you might not want to read on).
We started off with a Kronenbourg with an Oyster and home made merguez sausage (I'm not a big oyster fan, but the sausage was sensational), and then the Barking Duck was served before we went in to be seated for dinner. Nice, cleansing beers to set us out on the right foot.
The entree was sensational (yes, I'm going to use this word a bit in this post...
). Twice cooked crisp pork belly, steamed prawns, rocket, apple and caper salad. The pork was to die for. This was served with a selection of wheat beers; Red Back, Schfferhofer Hefeweizen, Hoegaarden, and an unlabelled mystery beer which turned out to be a version of Barking Duck which has been in wine barrels for 8 months. The last was liquid gold - personally I thought it had a lavender aroma to it which was a really interesting change from the usual fruity aromas of the wheats. All four went really well with the entre, although my favorites were the Schfferhofer and Barking Duck. I was extremely hesitant to discard the remnants of the Duck, as I'd been to the Garage Brewery in Melbourne a couple of months ago, where Neil (the head brewer there) told us about this version of the beer, but we were unable to taste it. Alas, I was driving *sigh*.The main was similarly sensational. Carbonnade of Black Angus cheek (Ox cheek by any other name), pommes puree, horseradish, baby carrots. I probably would not have chosen the Ox cheek from a menu (some bad childhood experiences with dad's experiments with Ox Tail stew), but it was an amazingly tender deilight - no knife was necessary as the meat flaked away as you'd expect for fish. Just divine.
This was served with four lagers - Bohemian Pils, Rooftop and Dog Bolter and another I don't recal at this stage (should have taken notes...). Nothing unexpected in the lagers, but the Rooftop and Dog Bolter were best suited to the succulent red meat (IMHO).
Dessert was Shropshire blue (a caratine enriched blue cheese) with Eccles cakes (small, puff pastry versions of mince tart). These were served with a variety of heavy alcohol beers, including a Duvel, and a smoked beer (sorry - no notes on these yet, I'll try to fill the gaps later today).
Overall the evening was fantastic. Brad was very personable, not overly "flowery" in his presentation of the beers, and was very happy to talk about the types of malts, hops, yeasts and techniques that go into each of the beers.
There is only next week left, and I understand that it's booked out - so for you lucky folk who have booked, you're in for a great evening. For everyone else, keep your eyes peeled for this one next year, and if you're in the vicinity and up for a meal, the courthouse was a suprising find for me - I'd consider the food up there with the best served in Melbourne (I have no affiliation).
Regards,
Andy
