Gerard's Bistro, Brisbane: "Can I eat this everyday?"

Oysters with Pomegranate

When we were up in Brisbane the other day, we booked early enough to get a table at Gerard's Bistro. I had been scouring the internet, twittersphere and blogs for restaurant ideas and I'd come across a few posts about Gerard's which it turns out is the "Best New Restaurant 2013." The menu looked a bit out of the ordinary with the Middle Eastern twist on the dishes, which caught my eye, and the realistic prices also made me think that we were on to a winner!

Slow Roasted Wagyu Brisket

Winner it was! I loved the passion that all of the staff brought to their descriptions of the food, and the casual but classy atmosphere. We were watching a group next to us tucking in to what turned out to be one of the house specialties  the slow roasted Wagyu Brisket, and we couldn't get past it, so after a couple of oysters each and a charcuterie plate, we were brought our board with the melt in the mouth, tender beef and interesting veggie sides.

Spiced Date Cream

One comment from the table was "Can I eat this every day?" Yes....It was that good!

After polishing off that lip licking deliciousness, we got a dessert for the table to share - the spiced date
cream. It looked stunning and finished off a gorgeous meal perfectly whilst still allowing us to remember the piece de resistance, the gorgeous Brisket. We'll be back again the first opportunity we can get!

Pork Belly Perfection

Babi Guling

I was inspired by the My Kitchen Rules Winners, Dan and Steph, to make Babi Guling, a  Balinese roast pork belly. So, I found a recipe in one of my Gourmet Traveller Magazines, bought a couple of pork bellies for our dinner party, and ground the fabulous paste to marinade the pork. I haven't had much luck with pork belly in the past, so I was starting from scratch in my mind, hoping it would go as nicely as Dan and Steph's turned out on MKR. It looked so good, and was exactly the kind of flavour combinations we love.

What an amazing result! Tender, juicy pork, with an amazing flavour, and an impressive crackling (although I didn't follow the recipe on this one - instead of brushing the skin with turmeric, I sprinkled some ground turmeric on and oiled it up as usual) Just delicious!

Laksa Leftovers

The question I always have with amazing roast dinners, is what to do with the leftovers. Chicken is easy - I just add it to a salad. I have a great recipe for filo parcels for leftover roast lamb. Nothing though for Pork. This pork leftovers had that amazing paste running through it - mildly spicy with a great curry flavour. Perfect I decided for Laksa. All I needed was some noodles, coconut milk, stock, fried tofu, chilli, and some veg to throw in and out came a delicious Laksa!

Winner dishes that will be a definite addition to our regular repertoire!