Rosmarino - Fortitude Valley

Have heard so many friends give really good recommendations for Rosmarino, the new Italian place in the Valley. I made a reservation and checked it out with Iron Fist last Friday after a long week's work. It's situated at the top of McLachlan Street in the Valley at the new Stewart and Hemmant Centre. Bookings are definitely recommended.

I really liked the exposed brick walls and the rustic vibes of the restaurant. It added a lot to the ambiance of the place. Staff were attentive, perhaps too much so. Ironfist had come 5 mins late, but there was considerable pressure from staff to order drinks and food quickly.

 

The menu was quite interesting and had a variety of options I was keen to try. We ordered a selection to share.

 

My drink came first as I had ordered whilst waiting. This was the Regina Gitana which contained Absolut Vodka, D.O.M.and Benedictine Sicilian Infusion. It was small, but strong and with a very delicious citrus twist that I liked a lot.

Our first entree was the Ocean Trout Crudo cured with limone and extra virgin olive oil. It was quite a disappointing dish for me as the portions were small given the price. The flavours were also quite subdued, with not much taste to the trout. It was also very oily, without anything acidic to cut through the grease. I also noted that for a restaurant at this price point, they had a marked lack of complimentary bread which would have been a nice hospitable touch.

Our next dish came highly recommended by some friends, this was the Culurgiones cacio nduja, a Sardinian ravioli filled with potato, pecorino cheese and mint with cacio and  pepe. The ravioli skin was quite thick and hard. The potato was soft but bland and there wasn't enough pecorino to elevate the taste of the potato. We had to rely very heavily on the sauce to provide flavour to each ravioli. I'm very surprised that this was the most recommended dish, at the price point of a main (at cheaper Italian restaurants), this was a huge let down.

 

We interluded with a second round of drinks before mains. I had the Aperol Spritz and IronFist had his favourite Dirty Martini. These were strong and refreshing, whetting our appetites for dinner.

It didn't take too long for mains to arrive and soon our table was full.

My favourite of the night was the Risotto agli scampi with Riserva San Massimo risotto with Sharks Bay WA scampi, white bisque, marscapone and Cremant De Bourgogne emulsion and lardo. The risotto was perfectly tender and mixed in a rich creamy white sauce with delicious scampi meat. The portion was definitely smaller than I would have imagined for a main, especially given the price point, but at least it was delicious, I only wish it was a little less oily.

Iron Fist's main of choice was the Anatra, a 7-days dry aged Maremma duck breast served with  mashed

potato, orange sauce, orange segments and amaretti crumble. This was also quite delicious with a very flavoursome duck meat infused with spices, a crisp skin whilst retaining its juiciness. The mash was silky smooth and the orange helped cut into the decadence of the dish. I definitely recommend this.

As a side, we had the patate, which were some crispy triple cooked potatoes seasoned with garlic, rosemary oil and anchovies. Whilst the top pieces were crisp, the ones at the bottom literally sat in a pool of oil. The alleged seasoning was lacking in flavour and I cannot recommend this side.

 

Our dessert was the Macinamisù, comprised of macina mulino bianco, zabaione, coffee pastry cream,

merengue and marscapone. This was surprisingly generous in size, I liked the crisp meringue in the middle, offering an innovative take on Tiramisu. The coffee taste could have been a bit stronger, but it was an enjoyable dessert.

All in all, my experience at Rosmarino was very mixed. The entrees have room for a lot of improvement, the mains were delicious, the side was also lacking but the dessert was enjoyable. If the price point was more reasonable, I'd be more forgiving, but for what we paid, we could have gone to Otto and had a far more pleasant and consistent experience. Whilst I satisfied my curiosity, I don't think I'll be back.

Price Range: $80 - $120pp

Taste: 7/10

Value: 3/10

Service: 7/10

Environment: 8/10
 

Motto Mochi Lab - Fortitude Valley

Those who have kept up with foodie news around town would not have failed to spot the newly opened Motto Mochi Lab in Fortitude Valley. With their limited opening hours and only being open on weekdays, I found it quite difficult to find a time to go get some. Luckily for me, a good friend was on annual leave and offered to pick some up for all of us to enjoy after a dinner gathering. 

Always tempted by his addiction to chocolate, Dr L had an Oreo flavoured mochi donut. This was covered with a cookie crumb coating and topped with half a piece of oreo. He didn't mind the donut but commented on how he found it quite hard.

Wanting to try something different (for once), I had the Sakura flavoured mochi donut. Having had the benefit of enjoying Mister Donut on my travels across Asia as well as making my own home made mochi donuts, I had a certain expectation of what it was going to be. This was definitely not what I expected. Visually it was the same, but biting into it, it was very hard and not chewy or soft at all. This was after assurances from my friend that it had not gone into the fridge and was eaten same day of purchase. The glaze was standard for Sakura, very fresh and fruity, but the marshmallows were a bit of a strange addition. Like their other venture, Botanical Lab, I found Motto Mochi Lab to be mostly appearances and not much by way of substance. Until improvements are made, I think I'll stick to making my own mochi donuts at home.

Price Range: $4.20 each

Taste: 6/10

Value: 6/10

Service: N/A

Environment: N/A

Leonards - Brisbane CBD

Readers may remember that a few years back, I had the privilege of dining at one of the most distinguished restaurants in town, Urbane. Due to unfortunate circumstances, they closed shortly before 2020 started. Fortunately, Leonards decided to take up the spot with it's modern Australian style bistro and I checked it out with a good friend a couple weeks ago.

With it's elegant setting, we were offered two leather bound menus. I also really liked the rustic vibes of their exposed brick walls. As for the menu, there were quite a few options for three course meals, but as with most people confined to their lunch break, I was keen to keep it quick and so was pleased to see some express lunch options.

Starting off, we had some complimentary amuse bouche. These were delicate slices of crisp bread with what seemed to be a light creamy seafood salad on it. We quite enjoyed it and liked how appetizing the snack was. 

My friend had the Leonards Burger, comprising of house minced brisket patty, melting emmental and white onion jam served with skin on fries. He really enjoyed the burger, especially the melty cheese. I stole a fry (or two) and loved how crunchy they were, especially with the skin on.

Opting for the express lunch, this was the smoked chicken maryland, tomato, charred corn and soft polenta. Compared to my friend's lunch, this was far inferior. The chicken was tender and moist but the dish was so salty I could barely eat it. Unfortunately, we didn't have staff come and ask us how our meal was, otherwise I would have raised it on the spot. The polenta eased it a little bit but I was hardly able to get any other flavours over how salty the chicken was. Unless drastic improvements are made, I definitely don't think I'll be back anytime soon.

Price Range: $25 - $50pp

Taste: 6/10

Value: 6/10

Service: 8/10

Environment: 9/10

Kintoto - Sunnybank Hills

2021 seems to be the year that Omakase started becoming popular in Brisbane. From the opening of my friend Takashi's namesake restaurant in Southbank to Sono and now the newly opened Kintoto at Sunnybank Hills, there seems to be a good variety of choices for those who are keen to leave their dinner up to the chef. Kintoto has just opened a couple of months ago in the Shauna Downs shopping centre on Beenleigh road near one of my favourite Korean restaurants, Go Bull. The restaurant is very small, with a maximum capacity of 12 and has two dinner seatings at 5.30pm and 7.30pm. Being recently opened, I had read a couple reviews of teething issues and was keen to wait a month or two, but after being notified that they were going to put their prices up in November, Dr L and I decided that we better go there for our anniversary dinner.

Arriving just before 7.30, we were the first ones there. As with all omakases that we've been to, we had a counter seat, providing a front row view of the chef performing his art. In this case, the chefs are Korean but the food they make is Japanese but sometimes with some strong Korean influences. Stepping into the restaurant, it was very cute and homey. Unlike Takashiya which is extremely refined and leans towards the decadent, this was rustic and had a decidedly wooden theme that reminded me of Muji or Sasaki. I actually love this setup and had always thought that if I ever had a kitchen of my own, it would look somewhat similar to this.

 

Starting off with drinks, the menu was quite short and mainly had beer or sake. We opted for a chilled sake to share. It was served with two adorable Mount Fuji cups. The sake was smooth and complimented our sushi well.

 

Throughout the evening, we were very well looked after by the two chefs. Both were constantly smiling through the whole night and we could definitely feel their joy and passion for their craft. 

 

First course was of course Chawanmushi. This was very delicate and silky smooth. The flavours of egg were balanced with the fresh sweet shrimp and spring onion, neither of the three overpowering each other. It tasted delicious and reminded me of steamed egg that my mother would make me when I was young.

Next course was the slow cooked abalone with konbu. This was fresh on their menu as they had recently come into some very fresh wild caught live abalone. As is the spirit of omakase, the chef serves what is seasonal. I was very keen for this. It was exceptionally tender and the additional flavours of konbu really complemented the dish well, bringing out the flavours of the sea without being fishy. 

Agemono, which literally translates to deep fried food, came next. As a passionate fan of Japanese food, I am keenly aware of the proper order of courses and note that agemono should come at the end of the course, just before the heavy rice dish as fried foods are always relatively filling. I was surprised and a little concerned that the fried course was served so early.  Anyway, it was made with two components, prawn and potato. Although the ingredients are fairly basic they were executed quite masterfully. The prawn looked quite big but the batter was thin and the actual meat was fresh and crunchy. It was actually a huge and very fresh prawn. The dipping sauce was a bit runny and wasn't your traditional tempura sauce. The potato was very thinly sliced, rolled up and then deep fried. This was crispy and indulgent, especially with the dipping sauce. I only wish they had put this course closer to the end of the meal.

Having dined in a few omakase experiences now, I know to get super excited when an empty long plate is put in front of me. 

 

First two pieces was the Salmon and Tsubugai. The salmon was aged for seven days before serving to give it a firmer texture. It was a generous thick cut and lightly painted with soy before serving so we didn't need to add soy sauce. I quite enjoyed the texture, it was a nice change from the usually soft salmon. Tsubugai isn't something that I have all that often as I'm not a huge fan of whelk, but this was quite crunchy, not fishy at all and had a generous amount of roe on top. 

Next up was the kingfish. It was not served as a nigiri, but rather one fairly large piece of sashimi. It came with a generous serve of spicy chilli sauce, (probably gochujang) and topped with spring onions. The fish was fresh but I found the flavours to have been overpowered by the chilli. Perhaps it would have gone better with the fried course instead.

 

Our remaining two nigiris were the aburi scami and conger eel. I love scampi and this one was delicious. It was only lightly seared and the majority remained raw and tender. There was almost no additions other than a slight dab of wasabi under the scampi and I could fully appreciate the sweet flavours of its meat. Definitely one of my favourite dishes of the evening. The last nigiri was conger eel. I haven't had this since I was last in Tokyo and this really took me back. The portion was generous. For those who don't know, conger eel is from the sea and has a far more delicate flavour profile compared to unagi which comes from the river. Without a strong taste, it is often grilled without too much seasoning and then offered a light glaze of bbq sauce, which is what we had that night. It was very delicious and Dr L said that this was his favourite of the evening.

For the keen eyed readers, the scampi head didn't go to waste at all and ended up in our mussel soup. With a dashi base and a generous amount of mussels as well as a scampi head, it was very flavoursome and sweet with a melody of seafood flavours, making for a nice interlude after our sushi.

 

Our ceviche course was made with some salmon tartare. Artfully placed within some thinly sliced cucumber, it was served with crispbread. This was a new dish to me, especially with a creamy but light dressing. It reminded me a little of coleslaw. With an abundance of spanish onion and cucumber, it was very refreshing. The crispbread though was a little oily for my tastes.

Our final savoury course of the night was a bento box. Inside the bento box contained a huge block of tamagoyaki topped with salmon pearls, a very big piece of unagi and an (also) very big piece of sushi. The tamagoyaki wasn't as layered as I would have thought, but I liked how it wasn't too sweet. The unagi was delicious and the portion generious, I can only imagine that it came from a giant eel. The sushi was also filling and had elements of salmon and kingfish along with cucumber, making for an abundantly filled roll, a perfect way to round off our meal.

After such a filling dinner, dessert was fairly light. We had a cannelloni filled with salted maple cream, a quarter of a green tea mochi and some seasonal fruits, all served with a cute miniature samurai sword for us to stab it with. The cannelloni was a new creation by the chef, it was not too sweet but the light saltiness did accentuate the sweet maple. I liked the crisp outer shell and the addition of popping candy on top. The mochi was soft but I had thought it would have a bit more green tea taste to it. The fruits were delicious. 

Overall, I had a really great time at Kintoto. It was not as luxurious as Takashi by any stretch of the imagination, but for the price, it represents excellent quality food for very good value. If anything, it is a happy medium between Sasaki and Butterfly. I can't wait to go back at a later date to see what chef creates.

Price Range: $85pp ($110pp from November onwards)

Taste: 8.5/10

Value: 9/10

Service: 9/10

Environment: 8/10