iatebrisbane.com

 The Brisbane Food Bloggers unite again! After meeting for the first outing at Bar Barossa, this time we were treated to a 7 course degustation menu at Grasshopper Asian Kitchen in Teneriffe.

Headchef Minh Le is quite playful but methodical in his approach, while he toys around with a plethora of cooking techniques and regions of flavours.  Sometimes the food was almost European and homely, but at the same time had a wonderful modern kick, accented with flavours sourced from around Asia. The menu was detailed, but on more than a few occasions we were given a little happy surprise, such as the palate cleansing sorbet between courses.

The food was fantastic: thoughtful and playful. The photos of the food below speak for themselves.

Thank you to owner Todd Rumble, head chef Minh Le, and Little Lantern Foundation, to whom the proceeds of the night went to.  

Sashimi of yellowtail kingfish with ponzu vinaigrette and tomato salsa

Absolutely fresh, mild and vibrant. A stunning starter. Note the micro-herbs and marigold petals, they appeared through the next 4 courses and were a lovely way to tie the dishes together. The petals were also used as a flavour-link between the meal and the matched wines.

Beef tataki with potato Salad, quail egg and lemon vinaigrette

 This was so tender and velvety. The very Aussie potato salad, high-quality beef, and a tiny quail egg. I love quail eggs – I used to have a couple of laying quails and they make eating eggs lots of fun!

 

Japanese Scallop with duck ma hor, crisp prosciutto, daikon and wasabi puree

Salty and moreish. The sweet 2007 cave de Ribeauville Gewurztraminer from Alsace, France was a perfect match for this course. Sweet and salty together.

Give me more of those scallops!

  

Look at that perfectly crispy ribbon of prosciutto!

Then, a little surprise! A palate cleanser of Lime Chilli Sorbet, Rose and Berry slick with Lime Chilli Sherbert

Boom! What a Kick! A pleasant surprise that certainly acheived what it set out to do.

Lamb Cutlet with Prawn Mousse, sweet potato and wasabi mash, soy beans and lamb jus gras

What mumma used to make… hang on! Check out the novel asian twist on the homely classic. The potato was so smooth and creamy with a *hint* of wasabi. The nutty edamame beans we awesome too.

Slow Brased beef cheek cooked for 6 hours in Vietnamese style aromatic stock with coriander and chili polenta cake and baby vegetables

By this course we were all getting quite full and were resorting to ferreting away this very hearty morsel in our own cheeks like little squirrels. It was too good! The beef cheek was falling apart and the polenta was like a little cloud.

Coconut and white chocolate parfait infused with kaffir lime leaves served with berry consomme and basil seeds

 Well, well…what are these? Basil seeds soaked in sugar syrup until they become gelatinous and fish-egg-like! Wow. This dish was visually and textually appealling. The flavour was so delicate. A very feminine end note after the last, quite masculine, course.  The matched wine was a 2009  Patina ‘Sticky Tea’ Riesling from Orange, NSW.  It is made from the usually-discarded dregs after squashing the riesling grapes for other riesling. Waste not, want not! Very sweet and very sticky. Yum!

All these dishes will feature on Grasshoppers’ Autumn menu

 

 

Grasshopper Asian Kitchen

London Woolstores, 36 Vernon Terrace

Teneriffe, 4006

t: 3252 8622

www.grasshopperkitchen.com