Since the massive powerhub that is 1 William Street got built, I have long wanted to explore it, especially for the food options that have opened to satisfy the sheer population of the building. With a small food court down on the ground level, there is variety to satisfy almost everyone. Last Wednesday though, I was lucky enough to be invited to try out Black Market Bar and Grill for lunch, with the most famous instagram food celebrity FoodieAdam.
Blackmarket is situated above their sister cafe, Market Cart, accessible via internal stairs.
I loved the relaxed wooden theme with the indoor greenery. No doubt a relaxing experience after after a long day's work. They also have a rooftop bar, which is always great for after work drinks.
The menu consisted of quite a number of steak options along with some seafood options, starters, desserts and drinks. A major feature of Blackmarket is that they source almost all their ingredients from within 100km, which means that they are bound to be fresh whilst supporting local produce, a win win if you ask me.
Giving our friendly waitress our order, drinks arrived promptly after.
Not one to ever resist an Espresso Martini, I got one to try. It was cool and sweet and, a kick of alcoholic caffeine, just the way I like it.
I thought that my drink would have been the more exciting of the two, but it turns out the deconstructed iced coffee was amazing. Having read online so much about freezing coffee into ice cubes rather than using water cubes that dilute the coffee taste, this was the first time I had seen it executed in real life. The coffee cubes were served with a side shot of espresso (naturally), in addition to cold milk and sugar to add as needed. Of course, I constructed the coffee whilst Adam was taking his action shots, and I got to sneak a taste and loved how strong it was.
Food came as we were finishing our drinks off.
For our starters, we had a shared plate of semolina crusted calamari served with preserved lemon aioli. It was crunchy and tender with the sharp lemon bringing balance to the dish. We both really enjoyed this.
Starting off with our shared mains, this was the Oktoberfest pork chop. Comprising of an ethically sourced pork chop, slow cooked then grilled, it is served with house made pickle, sauerkraut and mash. We enjoyed the nice caramelisation on the pork, but the interior was a little dry for my tastes. This was however, easily rectified by the moist saucy mash, pickles and sauerkraut. The sauerkraut and pickles had just the right amount of sourness to it, while the mash was warm and homey, satisfying Adam's constant potato craving.
Our other main was the rib fillet, as my readers know, I always love steak. It was served with a side of salt and rosemary chips, and house slaw. Normally I would have preferred my steak to be cooked rare, but at the recommendation from the chef, we had it cooked medium rare. Like the pork it was a little on the chewy side, but it wasn't too dry. The chips were crisp and fragrant which I really enjoyed, and the house slaw was really amazing. It was crunchy and so very creamy, with the fragrance of spring onion, a rare find in coleslaw, which I really liked.
Our dessert was almost just as interactive as the iced coffee. With citrus pie being out of stock, we had an affogato to share. The scoop of macadamia ice cream was served with a shot of hot fresh espresso to the side. Mixing together produced a sweet concoction of smooth ice cream, crunchy macadamia nut with a hint of bitterness from the affogato. Adam was so excited he even spilled some on the table (tsk tsk can't take him anywhere). As for me, I loved this dessert for its contrasting textures. It was a wonderful way to round off the meal before going back to work.
Espresso and Matcha were invited guests of Blackmarket Bar and Grill, but as always, our opinions are solely our own.
Taste: 7/10
Value: 8/10
Service: 8/10
Environment: 8/10
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