Duck Degustation at Isis Brasserie

Isis Brasserie is one of the places in town that I would recommend anyone to go to for some seriously good food. Chef Jason Peppler and his team have, in the past, provided Bev and I with some of our top dining experiences here in Brisbane. For all you food lovers out there, you might like to know that they're running a special degustation menu exclusively for the months of May and June. I have attached the degustation menu here. The menu costs $95 for 9 courses of food, and $155 for food and matching wines.

The feature of this degustation is duck. And my oh my, these people really know how to turn the feature ingredient inside out, manipulating the humble canard into shapes and forms that go beyond our immediate expectations. Lo and behold, duck neck skins, duck eggs, duck livers, duck wings, duck blood, and the entire duck works found their way onto our plates in the most refined and elegant manner.

There was an article in The Age about the dawn of the degustation menu age, and how these dining styles ought to be tools for chefs to showcase their talents and the quality of their ingredients. I completely agree that the chefs at Isis have done precisely that. Even my dining companions agree that they could, I quote: "taste the skill that went into the food".

I apologise for the shoddy photos. I normally have trouble taking photographs at Isis because of the combination of the following 3 factors: 1) I'm still an amateur photographer, 2) their lovely mood lighting makes for a photographer's nightmare, and 3) I just want to dig in as soon as possible, the aroma of duck is way too irresistable to hold off for too long.


Canape: Duck and pork rillettes, sour dough crostini and cornichon


Cappuccino of duck with porcini mushroom powder- my favourite course of the night


Duck neck sausage (in the style of a galantine), with a salad of quince, apple and pistachio


Duck egg pasta, seared Queensland scallop and sauce albuferra- I lapped up every last drop of the gorgeous sauce


Duck liver on brioche, crisp proscuitto and sauce soubise


Civet of duck wing, home-made duck black pudding, peas and smooth potato puree


Sorbet: Lemon and star anise- I personally loved this combination of flavours


Seared duck breast, sweet potato fondant and Amarena cherries


Lemon scented souffle (probably made with duck eggs), white chocolate sorbet

We were highly impressed with most of the dishes on the menu. In our opinion, there were 2 dishes that fell a little under the mark though. We all agreed that the duck liver was slightly overcooked, and the dessert way too sweet. But yet again, in their defence, these are all mistakes to do with the food preparation on the day itself, rather than with the core concept of the dishes. Hopefully, these glitches won't occur when its your turn to dine there!

You need to book the duck degustation menu in advance should you wish to treat yourself to this all out duckfest. I suggest you buzz them real quick as this menu only lasts for a few more weeks!

Isis Brasserie
446 Brunswick Street
Fortitude Valley
Tel: (07) 3852 1155

Technorati tags: Food and Drink, Food, brisbane, food blogs, slow food, restaurant reviews, food outings, brisbane dining, duck, degustation, duck egg, pasta, rillettes, porcini, soup, duck liver, black pudding, star anise, lemon, souffle

Settlers Cove Celebration of Australian Food and Wine Festival - Noosa

The Grand Marquee

Finally the day had come! We were in Noosa, and the weather was perfect. It was the day we had all been anticipating. The Saturday of the Settlers Cove Celebration of Australian Food and Wine Festival. And what a mouthful that was, in both senses of the word.

It truly was a day to remember, and although we did not participate in any degustation dinners or guest chef cooking masterclasses (we did not have the budget for it), we were fortunate enough to have been able to participate in the culinary exhibition and food and wine tastings in the Grand Marquee at Lions Park.

Our day began with cooking demonstrations by celebrated chefs from all over Australia. Chefs Giovanni Pilu and Matt Moran were the two that I was particularly keen on seeing. And so it was. Chef Pilu teamed up with Chef Phil Scott, Head Chef of Pilu in Noosa, to prepare classic Italian dishes such as grilled sardines and tomatoes on bread, and pasta Amatriciana. Matt Moran was scheduled to present together with Fifteen Melbourne chef, Tobie Puttock, but ended up doing a solo while Tobie couldn't be present. He cooked up some fried calamari and a tuna nicoise salad, both recipes from his book. What better a way to gain publicity than that! We were all impressed by the tips and tricks he shared throughout the session, like his 2 minute 20 second quail egg technique for perfectly soft yolks.


chefs Phil Scott and Giovanni Pilu preparing classic Italian fare


pasta Amatriciana


chef Matt Moran of Aria, Sydney


seared tuna Nicoise

We then adjourned to the exhibition areas where we exchanged food coupons for plates of food prepared by chefs of local Noosa restaurants. Wonderful smells permeated the entire venue, and took us in all directions, going wherever the aromas seemed to originate from. We found ourselves indulging in orange crusted prawns with goats cheese and fresh peas, flash grilled Mooloolaba baby calamari drizzled with chilli oil and lemon aioli, and rotolos filled with Gympie Farm goats curd, rocket and mushrooms, topped with a decadent sage butter sauce.


at the food stalls


orange crusted prawns with goats cheese, fresh peas and mint


squeezing lemon aioli on grilled baby calamari


flash grilled baby calamari from Mooloolaba, sweet and succulent- one of the best I've tasted


pasta rotolo filled with mushrooms, rocket and goats curd, drizzled with sage butter

It was a fantastic day, and we even had time to head to the beach after the festival had wrapped up. This is the kind of day that I live for, and I'm certainly looking forward to next year's festival.


Technorati tags: Food and Drink, Food, brisbane, food blogs, slow food, restaurant reviews, food outings, australian restaurants, australian restaurant reviews, brisbane dining, australian food and wine festivals, food and wine festivals, festival review, sunshine coast, noosa