Within the walls of the Brisbane Hilton Hotel lies Vintaged Bar and Grill, with its wooden features, high ceilings and see through glass wall wine cellar. From an event to a family gathering to your date night, here is just a perfect place to show your sophisticated side. With every season allowing for special menu that welcomes you nicely to the season you're in allows you to be able to dine here without having to order or look at the same menu again and again.
Note that this is a delayed post from the start of this year so some menu items may have changed and the special menu definitely would have changed since the time of this dining.
As soon as we were seated, we were warmly greeted with water and were brought out some complimentary char-grilled sourdough with a capsicum and anchovy spread. The bread was nicely char-grilled and was crispy however I did find it that they sliced it a bit too thin as some of us had big holes in our slices. The capsicum and anchovy spread had a unique taste and it is quite nice being served something else rather than just plain butter. It had a salty taste from the anchovy but did not overpower the spread.
Served with lemon, baby herbs and a choice of one condiment. The steak was not cooked as what we wanted, it was abit overcooked than asked. A bit dissapointed in the fact that a good piece of meat sometimes is better eaten in a certain way and to have the chef overcook it, just isn't a good thought.
'Moreton Bay Bugs' (AUD$32) served with lemon, baby herbs and a choice of condiment (in this case, Creamed Horseradish was chosen). Moreton Bay Bugs always interest me in a way that the meat of these bugs are usually only found in their tails. It definitely looks much prettier than other seafood when plated or in cold seafood platters.
The bugs were grilled well not too much nor too little until you would not be able to see the char-grilled marks. Presented on a rectangle chopping board also served with baby herbs, a lemon wedge and cherry tomatoes. It has a medium flavour in terms of its meat and by dipping it into the sauce gives it a more in depth flavour however sometimes, some seafood is just great and best eaten on its own with a squeeze of lemon, cracked pepper, and that's it.
The flesh itself was quite filling though you do have to take your time in trying to get the flesh out of the bug itself, just like trying to get crab meat out or lobster though crab is usually the hardest I do find out of the three. There is little moisture in the flesh and had a firm texture. Another wonderful thing I did find was that it seemed to have very little oiliness.
'Beef Tenderloin' (AUD$45) was a special they had that month with the main theme of Mushroom. Served with a chive puree, grilled exotic mushrooms, crispy enoki and jus, it was a perfect combination to appreciate the different aspects and variety of mushrooms. A beautifully presented dish and I was quite excited to dig in as soon as it arrived on the table. Remember to always give it a bit of cracked pepper and you're ready to go!
The beef tenderloin was cooked well and as asked, it was juicy and had a depth of flavour especially when combined with the jus and the chive puree. The baby herbs allowed the dish to have a sense of colour which managed to blend in with the chive puree well. As you can see from the photo above, the grilled marks on some of the mushrooms is great to see as you would never want a menu that actually states it has been grilled and you find it wasn't. It sucks when that happen, really. The beef tenderloin itself was quite generous in size as I had trouble finishing it myself in which I ended up having to offer the others some in which they were too happy to try as well.
The chive puree was very subtle in terms of the chive taste but I appreciated it more than your usual mash potato or mash sweet potato. I quite enjoyed it with the mushrooms as it combined well together with both elements complementing each other.
The various exotic mushrooms created a sense of elegance within the dish, also the fact where you are able to have different textures and flavours in various mushrooms. Each has been grilled aftertaste as well as a buttery feeling. The crispy enoki was a delight, very nicely done, thin but some seemed to just have been or tasted like batter. Overall, having a combination of various exotic mushrooms is something that you don't get often and may bring a smile on your face especially if you're a mushroom person.
'Shoestring fries' (AUD$10) topped with Parmiggiano Reggiano and truffle salt. The Parmiggiano Reggiano was slightly shredded but did not cover all of the fries which was shameful and as for the truffle salt, I was not able to find a distinct taste or even a slight hint of truffle. I just felt as if it was just salt. Of course with truffle salt, sometimes it can be abit hard but I have had truffle fries before where you are able to sense, smell and taste the hint of truffle.
'Coconut Rice Pudding' (AUD$17) served with mango coulis, mango and minted tapioca salsa, toasted coconut snow and salted caramel pearls. Presented on a round wooden board, it was placed beautifully but I did find the Coconut rice pudding and the mango coulis was quite small in terms of size. The fact that it was placed in a small jar made it quite hard to get it out, of course in terms of look, it is delightful to see but once you try to get the small spoon into it and trying to scoop the coconut rice as well as the mango coulis out, it does get abit hard sometimes.
The toasted coconut snow and caramel pearls was placed beside it and made the outlook of the dish more sophisticated and elegant as well as pretty I must say with the colourful baby herbs and flowers amongst them. The toasted coconut snow was quite wonderful I must say however, I did find it overall to be quite bland. It just did not hit it for me, even with the minted tapioca salsa.
The mango coulis had a very strong mango taste but was very sweet even as you try and spoon out the coconut rice underneath it, the mango coulis had overpowered the coconut rice pudding which was ashame as it could not balance both flavours.
