Liquorish Bistro + Bar Review

T and I felt like another nice dinner so we perused some menus online and eventually decided on Liquorish, mainly because their dinner menu sounded pretty good and also because we haven't been there in months and months! So I made a booking for that night and there we were, seated in the plush, cosy setting of Liquorish. It's all dark, rich colours except the huge, classy white leather bench seating on one side of the room. I love the decor, it just relaxes me somehow. T got himself a glass of red wine and I ordered a hot chocolate for myself. What arrived at the table was the smallest hot chocolate I had ever seen. It was so cute, like a shot of hot chocolate (almost). The taste? Pleasant, but could do with MORE chocolate! Hehe..

Liquorish provides a list of tapas for entrees and we started with FOUR to share because they all sounded so good! I didn't have the oysters this time *shock* but we did get the Seared Scallops with cucumber, seaweed salad & wasabi mayonnaise ($17), the Bangalow Pork Pie with apple pork pie and riddichio salad ($15), the Tiger Prawn & Crab Spring Rolls with coriander, ginger & palm sugar dressing ($16) and the 250 Day Grain Fed Beef Carpaccio with foie gras toast, balsamic onions & chive oil ($18). The scallops were by far my favourite because they were so cute and perfectly cooked (not too mushy or rubbery) and because I looooove seaweed. Combined with the wasabi mayonnaise (couldn't really taste any wasabi), it was great! A nice mix of textures with the chewy scallops and the crunchy seaweed.

The pork pie was also presented adorably with the pork in miniature puff pastry case and tiny jug of sauce. The overall flavours worked really well and was yummy (as you would expect from a meat pie) but the pastry was a little hard and chewy - not good! If the pastry had been light and fluffy, it would've been a cracking dish. The spring rolls were like any other spring rolls I guess, but for me, the vegetables in them overpowered the taste of the prawns and crabs. I could hardly taste them, it felt like I was eating a vegetarian spring roll and as you know, that does not bode well with me. Note to self, NEVER order spring rolls from ANYWHERE ever again!! T had most of the beef carpaccio and he absolutely loved it. He piled on the carpaccio on top of the foie gras toast and added balsamic onions on top - and he was in heaven.

While waiting for our mains, T just couldn't help himself so he ordered another tapas dish to come together with our mains. He had been eyeing the Crispy Fried Squid with shoe string fries & tomato chilli chutney ($15) longingly but didn't order it because I'm allergic to squid. After he kept talking about it, I urged him to get it so it came together with our mains of the Spanner Crab Lasagne with spiced avocado, tomato, basil dressing, creme fraiche & salmon pearls ($34) for me and the Barramundi Fillet with sweet potato gratin, shaved fennel, hazelnut, watercress salad & citrus sauce ($36) for T. I was secretly hoping that T would get the Roast Duck Leg so that I could have one but alas, it didn't happen :(

Obviously I didn't have any squid but T was making orgasmic expressions and going on and on about how tender the squid was and that it totally made the whole dinner blah blah blah.. Oh, how I wish I could have had some! Good to hear that he enjoyed them so much though! Hehe.. The crab lasagne for me was average. It probably could have been a little cheesier and would have done well with more crab in it (again, could hardly taste any). The phrase that popped into my head when I had my first bite was "Mexican Lasagne" because of the avocado, tomato and creme fraiche. T wasn't all that impressed with his barramundi fish and when I tried some, it was a little overcooked in my opinion. The flavours that went with it were good though, I DID like the creamy sauce (what else is new?) and T had no problem finishing it at all.

For dessert, T had the Espresso Creme Brulee with tonka bean poached prunes & orange biscotti ($14) while I had the Triple Chocolate Fudge Brownie with vanilla ice cream & candied pecans ($14). The creme brulee had a VERY strong coffee taste and T really liked it. He didn't care much for the prunes though but he did say that the espresso creme brulee was better than the one he had at Cha Cha Char. The brownie surprised me because I'm not really a fan of brownies, I tend to find them a bit dense and hard. But THIS one was chocolatey, soft, moist and crumbly - infused with crunchy pecans. YUM! The last time I was at Liquorish, I ordered the chocolate tart with the same feeling of apprehension and it was the best chocolate tart I have ever had in my whole life. The pastry was soft, crumbly and buttery and the chocolate just melted in your mouth. I am still waiting with bated breath for it to come back on the menu!

To sum up, Liquorish would make a great dining venue any day of the week. It's ambience is wonderfully relaxed and posh and the service there is impeccable. The food is good and the desserts are smashingly awesome.


Rating: 7/10

Liquorish Bistro + Bar
Shop 2/140 Oxford Street
Bulimba

Phone: 07 3399 1520
Website: http://www.liquorishbistro.com.au/

Open Tuesday to Sunday for lunch and dinner.