Back to Otto’s

December 16, 2023 | Posted by Peter Jakobsen | FOOD, Restaurants, THUMBNAIL REVIEWS |

(Southbank, Brisbane, December 2023) We were last at Otto in 2021 – and had a wonderful lunch. Dinner this time, and just as good, actually even better. It was prefaced by a 90-odd minute power cut at our hotel (and the Queensland Premier hadn’t even formally stepped down yet) but after we were able to return to our room and freshen up, it was a short walk along the Brisbane river to this lovely restaurant. Service was impeccable; tables were not too close but not overly distant either. We were under cover but over the water’s edge, making us feel…

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Victor Churchill

April 22, 2023 | Posted by Peter Jakobsen | FOOD, Restaurants, THUMBNAIL REVIEWS |

(953 High Street, Armadale (Melbourne), April 2023) Originally opened in 1876 as a butcher shop in Sydney, Victor Churchill eventually expanded to Melbourne; specifically, Armadale, to which TVC Ubër-ed in the pouring rain.  Featuring an artisan butchery and grocer, we came for dinner, at the curved marble dining counter. This is the place for former President George W. Bush (“I’m a meat guy”), but there are plenty of nice alternatives, including one of our starters, delicious oysters naturale with caviar, trimmings, and lemon. TVC’s ‘meat guy’, meanwhile, channelled W’s successor (entering Air Force One, he said “Let’s see how you…

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Rice Paper Scissors

April 18, 2023 | Posted by Peter Jakobsen | FOOD, Restaurants, THUMBNAIL REVIEWS |

(15 Hardware Lane, Melbourne, April 2023) It’s a little funky, a little trendy, dare we say? – a little woke, but while Rice Paper Scrs staff shoot from the hip, they are hip when they shoot. It’s a great lunch place, roughly on the edge of Melbourne’s Chinatown, but the grub is more a fusion of east and west – and it is terrific. We started with some tasty cocktails, and then moved onto a nice Melbourne riesling, to wash down a Thai Prawn roll (a brioche bun stuffed with poached prawn salad, makrut lime mayo, sriracha and yarra valley…

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KIIN

March 24, 2023 | Posted by Guest Reviewer | FOOD, Restaurants, THUMBNAIL REVIEWS |

Kiin, Modern Asian Dining, 73 Angas Street, Adelaide, 22 March 2023 Kiin (Thai for ‘eat’) is Adelaide’s newest Thai restaurant, with a modern (‘fusion’?) menu amid understated but tasteful and comfortable surroundings. It is just up from the court precinct, so if you don’t mind dining amid lawyers, there’ll be no problem. TVC visited one mild Autumn night, and were enchanted – nay, dazzled – by a very funky bill of fare. We had: A BBQ Chicken thigh skewer, smoked and served in a light yellow curry, which was fragrant and full of heat; A lychee prawn pop popper (pop in the…

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Erato Teppanyaki

July 2, 2022 | Posted by Guest Reviewer | FOOD, Restaurants, THUMBNAIL REVIEWS |

(21 King William Street, 30 June 2022) What better way to wind up the end of financial year than a blow out at this rather impressive teppanyaki place in Adelaide, in the 1936 AMP Building, built in the Beaux Arts style. There’s a set menu range, for meat lovers, seafood lovers, and mix and matchers: featuring such dishes as Coffin Bay Oysters with sour cream and chive, ponzu and salmon roe; Steamed Egg with Foie Gras, Oscietra caviar; Wagyu roll with Enoki and a Teriyaki glaze; Ora King Salmon with Nori, Kombu butter; Beef Tataki; Teriyaki Chicken, an Angus Beef…

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