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London Street Food: E8, London Fields

Geneveive

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9 June 2015

LONDON | Street Food vendors have become ubiquitous with London’s public spaces in recent years. Informal dining is in and people are flocking to food trucks and popup stalls. In fact, the mobile dining option is now the choice of many proprietors before they move into the riskier, costlier world of restaurant permanency. For example, BAO got its start in Netil Market and now commands an hour long queue on a Monday for its sleek store front in Soho. Established favourites like Meat Liquor and Pitt Cue Co also started as food trucks.

Over the coming months we will be exploring London’s burgeoning street food scene. For this first instalment, we take a walk through the trinity of markets clustered in the E8 postcode, adjacent to London Fields.

Since moving to Haggerston, Saturdays can’t come soon enough – and it’s not just for the obvious reasons. Just a short walk down Regent’s Canal, the East End explodes with loads of delicious produce, baked goods, and smoked meat. Who said the A to Z was dead? In these markets you can travel the globe with quality food options spanning from the Caribbean to Scotland, Japan to Mexico and back.

Broadway Market

On a Saturday, Broadway Market booms with organic produce, independent clothing and design, and yes, amazing street food. The street between Regent’s Canal and London Fields becomes pedestrian only to accommodate the plethora of vendors which offer a bounty of culinary delights. The soundtrack to the market is the variety of street buskers performing tunes from blue grass to folk.

For a sweet treat, a favourite is Violet Cakes. Violet Cakes is owned by a former pastry chef at the renowned Chez Panisse in Berkeley California and offers a range of American style cakes and pastries. There is a more permenant Violet Cakes cafe in Dalston, however we enjoy visiting the market stall – the atmosphere on a Saturday morning is great. You can’t go wrong with any of the offerings but our tip is the Buttermilk Banana Bread. It’s one of the best banana breads we’ve ever had, and we’ve had a few in our lifetime!

The perfect accessory with which to stroll through the market is a bag of the perfectly sweet and salty popcorn from Drum & Kernel. Every piece of popcorn is perfectly hand popped to perfection by one of the owners Matt or Claire in a huge stainless steel drum at 450°C. In most bags of popcorn there are usually a number of dud pieces; not here – the popcorn is constantly stirred while popping to ensure consistency. If you’re sharing, this is the kind of item that could cause manners to revert to the Kindergarten level.

Schoolyard Market

Tucked away around the corner from Broadway Market, you’ll find Schoolyard Market, which calls itself “Broadway Market’s cooler little sister”.

Schoolyard Market is named for its location behind London Fields Primary School and on a sunny afternoon you find families and friends alike eating market food beneath the trees. Schoolyard commands some big names in the food scene like Crosstown Doughnuts (permanent location in Soho) and Bad Brownie – whose salted caramel brownie has won awards as London’s best brownie (we’re inclined to agree). It’s not just about the established players though – the combination of cheap rent and short term tenancy options means that it’s not uncommon to see new, smaller vendors showcasing their wares. The market offers so many tempting options that even the most decisive person will be bemused as to what to choose for lunch.

A Saturday staple for us at Schoolyard Market has become the Tomo chicken Katsu wrap. It’s a culinary contrast. The woman at Tomo gets you hooked with her generous free samples. For a meagre £4.00, you walk away with a “small” wrap that is anything but. The wrap is a pure delight overflowing with Katsu chicken, hummus, chili, carrot, cumcumber, jalapenos and more. This Japanese/Mexican/Middle Eastern fusion reminds us of what street food should be. There is a table full of fresh ingredients made to order on the spot. Those that work near Petticoat Lane are lucky as Tomo is based there on weekdays. This is kind of place you wish was set up next to your workplace every day. The only bad thing about this wrap is when it’s all done, although at only £4.00 you could always get another…

Another favourite is Mission Mariscos. By the time we arrived in the late afternoon the owner, Mexican-born, LA-bred Andrew Ramirez was all out of his famous fish and prawn tacos but the pork carnitas did not disappoint. We overheard someone say that they phoned in their order the day before and we can see why. The pork taco was excellent, bursting at the seams with perfectly cooked pork and guacamole. You are able to add your own toppings which include tortilla strips, pico de gallo, and pickled onions. Apparently the love of a taco is universal between celebrity and pleb which was evidenced as we were queued up next to Pixie Geldof getting her taco on.

If you’re on a detox, Schoolyard Market definitely caters to London’s latest trend, the health kick. There are stalls selling organic coconut tea, fresh juices, and paleo fare.

Netil Market

A bit further on towards the rail arches you will find Netil Market. Netil Market is a distinct space where the vendors operate from shipping containers or ram-shackle wooden sheds. Netil Market is open daily but really comes alive on a Saturday. The market is a mix of weekly staples and new faces and we love the variety on offer.

In Netil Market you’ll find what must be one of London’s smallest breweries, ºPlato Brewing Supplies. Plato is the place where the budding home brewer can pick up the essentials needed to get started. The stall offers a starter kit for £49.00 that provides beginners with all they need to pump out a 23 litre brew. For those more into instant gratification, Adam at Plato generally has four beers on tap which have been brewed in the shipping container. You can sample a half pint for £2.00; a full for £4.00. Adam offers a variety of beers from lagers, to bitters, to ales.

Netil market also features a literal BAR-ber where you can get a new do while you enjoy a drink. After a few drinks, you’ve likely worked up an appetite.

When you’re ready for some food, we wholeheartedly suggest the jerk chicken platter from Lamina’s Joint. This is authentic Jamaican food at its best. For £5.00, you get a massive portion of chicken, rice and beans, and oriental salad. The deep fried fish option also has great flavour although the bones could turn some people off.

No discussion of Netil Market would be complete without making mention of Howard’s Meat Co. Howard’s smoke their meat in the authentic central Texas, Austin style, meaning they use a 10ft 100% wood fired smoker, 16 hour cooks and a lot of pepper. The menu includes frozen margaritas and brunch. Along with the usual suspects of beef brisket, pulled pork, smoked ribs and smoked bird (chicken and turkey), Howard’s also have a rotating option – pictured below was thick “bacon” chops that were still in the experimental phase. The flavour was spot on. What else could one ask for to round out the perfect weekend?

Have you been to any of the market’s we’ve mentioned? What’s your favourite thing to eat while there?

Join us for our next London Street Food feature when we head south of the Thames in search of culinary delights.

Sun Moth Canteen & Bar Melbourne CBD

Paul

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8 June 2015

1

Sun Moth Canteen & Bar Melbourne is a cafe and bar hidden down Niagara Lane in the CBD. It’s the brainchild of Luke Mutton and Kylie Mackinlay, formerly of Dead Man Espresso and Common Galaxia and friends Jackson Duxbury and Tod La Mar who learned their trade at Perth’s Epic Espresso and Tiger Tiger. The owners describe Sun Moth as “the kind of place we like to hang out at” and indeed when you walk in you immediately realise that this is not a place that’s trying to appeal anyone’s notion of what a Melbourne cafe/bar in 2015 “should” be.

The space is white and light, with high ceilings and brickwork. The bar and kitchen takes up a large potion of the centre of the room with a range of spaces for people to chill out and chat, work on their laptops or watch the skating montage (and movies sometimes) on the big projection screen. It’s a really chilled out space and has a great vibe about it.

The drinks menu is very foused. There are 6 craft beers on tap at any given time, and they rotate often. The range of beers is always very impressive (we’ve been here a few times in the evenings) and it’s not uncommon for us to find a beer on tap that we haven’t tried before. Craft beer affindicios take note.

Wines are also given a lot of attention at Sun Moth, with the small range consisting of some very unique wines from small Australian producers. Think natural and organic wines from young, start-up winemakers – it’s great to see a venue eschew the big names in favour of showcasing small and unknown brands.

On the food front there are two menus. The day time menu which consists of a range of breakfast and lunch options – simple dishes with a focus on seasonailty. At night, a smaller menu is offered which consists of a few mains and a range of surprisingly sizable and well priced smaller dishes.

Ham Hock Terrine With Pickled Egg & Hazelnut Rocket Salad ($13.00)

The ham hock terrine was very tasty. A classic terrine done right with the pickled egg adding a nice touch. The light salad was nothing fancy and didn’t really add much to the dish, although we’ve looked at the menu since and notice that the salad has been replaced with piccalilli, an English interpretation of Indian chopped pickled vegetables and spices in a relish. This sound like it would work much better with the terrine.

Taleggio, Poached Fig & Jamon Toastie ($8.00)

This was one of the best things on the menu. A very generous filling of full flavoured jamon and taleggio was lifted by the addition of poached fig which gave the sandwich a touch of sweetness. A very simple thing to make and eat but the flavours and proportions were spot on. Really tasty.

White Bean Stew ($17.00)

The white bean stew is something that those who are both vegetarian and gluten free can enjoy. It contains rosemary, leek & white bean stew with a choice of either
lamb & leek sausage & bread or braised mushrooms. We went for the non-vegetarian option and were very happy with our choice. The stew itself was creamy as tasty with the sausage adding a nice textural balance.

Eggplant Parmigana ($13.00)

The eggplant parmigana contained braised eggplant with red sauce, mozzarella, croutons, basil & pecorino. Putting a vegetarian parmigana on the menu without an accompanying chicken or veal option is always a risk but in this case the risk paid off. The thick slices of eggplant had good texture and the flavours were all you’d want from a parmigana. At $13.00 it’s really well priced too.

The best place to finish this write up is where I began. The desire to “create a space where [they] wanted to hang out” has well and truly been met. You can tell that the guys really enjoy working here. They look genuinely happy to be working and are clearly passionate about the wines and beers that they serve. The food was an unexpected surprise and, after seeing the day time menu, we know we’ll certainly be back to try some of the other food options.

Sun Moth Canteen & Bar

28 Niagara Lane
Melbourne
Victoria 3000
Australia

Telephone: (03) 9602 4554
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.sunmoth.com.au/

Open
Mon: 8:00am to 4:00pm
Tue – Fri: 8:00am to 11:00pm
Sat: 3:00pm to 11:00pm

Brother Burger, South Yarra

Jeff

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7 June 2015

0

Brother Burger and the Marvellous Brew opened in Fitzroy in 2012 and with its combination of 100% wagyu burger patties, the immersive feel of the open kitchen and a rotating craft beer range, quickly became my favourite place to get a burger in Melbourne. When Brother Burger announced that they were opening a second location in South Yarra on the previous site of the iconic Cafe Greco on Chapel Street, and asked The City Lane to come down and check it out, I keenly accepted.

On arrival there was already a noticeable visual difference between Brother Burger’s northern and southern branches – whereas the Fitzroy location has a relatively simple frontage, the South Yarra venue is adorned with a much louder neon sign which is more in line with the general vibe of Chapel Street.

The interior of the venue has been transformed completely from its Cafe Greco days to give the place a much more industrial look with sheet metal bolted to the walls along with over 800 vintage meat grinders. We thought the latter was a nice touch given Brother Burger’s primary cuisine. The narrow frontage means that the venue is reliant on artificial light sources as there are buildings on either side – again this has been done well with exposed bulbs hanging from the room enclosed in ‘cages’ which fits in well with the industrial motif and also creates just the right amount of light so that you can see what you are eating without being overly bright.

Most of dining area is set up in typical American diner style with a series of booths with cushioned bench seating – in this sense the South Yarra venue is even more diner-like in nature than the one in Fitzroy. There are also high benches which retain some of the old Greco feel with black marble-esque tabletops.

Brother Burger South Yarra also has an open kitchen which is a key feature of the Fitzroy venue. We really like this as it creates a more immersive experience, and the sound and smell of cooking burger meat helps to increase the anticipation of what is to come.

As expected, the menu offers an array of wagyu beef burgers, as well as a range of non-beef meat burgers including chicken, pork (both in patty and pulled form), lamb (ditto), and also a duck burger which we had previously tried and enjoyed at the Fitzroy location. There are also a couple of sandwiches (a BLT and a reuben) and also some salads and other plated meals. The drinks list, not surprisingly. is focussed on beer where there are 13 beers and two ciders on tap (up from 9 taps in total in Fitzroy) featuring a wide and rotating range of local craft breweries.

Some of our favourite breweries from both Victoria and interstate were featured on the night we visited, including Moon Dog, Feral and 7 Cent amongst others. We were particularly impressed and excited to find the Bridge Road Brew 1000 Imperial Stout by on tap – that Brother Burger South Yarra managed to get a relatively obscure and quite intense beer on tap is a testament to their dedication to the craft beer cause. After salivating over the beer list, we then turned to making decisions regarding our dinner.

Mushroom Arancini ($9.00)

We decided to start our meal with the mushroom arancini which were a special on the day we visited. These were smaller than usual aranchini balls (but to compensate you receive more than would typically come in a serving) which results in a higher coating to filling ratio which may or may not be to the taste of all people. The filling was tasty with the mushroom flavour coming through clearly without being overpowering, and the coating was not too thick.

Hot Stuff Burger With Double Cheese ($14.80)

We obviously couldn’t leave without trying a beef burger so next we tackled the Hot Stuff burger, which comes with double bacon, cheese, pickles, mustard mayo and chilli jam. The quality of the burger was up there with the original Fitzroy location, which is to say it was great – the patty was juicy and cooked medium with a bit of pink in the middle (just the way it should be), the bacon was soft rather than crispy (which I like) and the sauces nicely complemented the flavours of the meat and cheese. The buns are baked in-house daily and were also excellent – soft with a good density so as to not fall apart in your hand and not overly sweet.

Chicky Babe Burger With Double Cheese ($18.20)

We thought we would diversify and also tackled the Chicky Babe, Brother Burger’s version of a chicken burger with a crumbed chicken breast, to which we added double cheese on ‘Brother Mikey’s’ recommendation. This was probably one of the best chicken burgers we have tasted, the chicken was cooked perfectly as was the bacon and these combined well with the slaw and the cheese. The only suggestion that we have would be that the cheese could be a bit better distributed through the burger – we found we would hit ‘pockets’ of cheese in one part of the burger and then no cheese in other parts.

Lemon Tart ($8.50)

We were about to leave but couldn’t resist dessert and on this occasion the pie of the day was a lemon tart. This was a reasonably standard lemon tart but nothing to write home about – this said the lemon filling had the right texture, and the pie base had good structure and was not too sweet.

We ended our meal at Brother Burger South Yarra both very full and satisfied – the quality of the burgers at the new venue definitely meets the high standards set by the original location in Fitzroy and we would highly recommend it to anyone who finds themselves south of the river and in need of a burger and some craft beer.

Of course there are few things that divide a group of foodies more than a discussion around people’s favourite burger joints. The problem of course is that each person uses a different set of criteria to assess a given burger – some prefer the bun sweeter, some would rather a juicier patty with more fat in the mix, some want it spicy and so forth. What do you look for when searching for the “perfect burger”?

Brother Burger and the Marvellous Brew South Yarra

560 Chapel Street
South Yarra
Victoria 3141
Australia

Telephone: (03) 9041 1393
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.brotherburger.com.au/

Open
Sun-Thu: 12:00pm to 11:00pm
Fri-Sat: 12:00pm to 2:00am

Bentspoke Brewing Co, Braddon

Chris

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5 June 2015

0

Canberra’s Bentspoke Brewing Co. is a bustling gastropub that features beers brewed on-site in a range of styles and strengths. It’s a popular choice in the city and when I was there, a Thursday night, it was busy, very busy. It’s located in Braddon, an area that I have been reliably told is the cool, hip, hipster end of Canberra.

On entering Bentspoke Brewing Co., it is easy to see a lot of care has been taken to make sure that this is what someone might describe as a ‘modern brewery’. As well as the gleaming tanks behind the bar and the polished silver railings on the stairs, hops, or at least what I assume to be hops, hang from the roof and on one particular wall, so too do bike wheels. They’re covered in plants of course.

We sidled up to the bar and ordered a round. Bentspoke Brewing Co. offer a long list and so as thirst outweighed patience, I found myself gravitating to my go-to beer, the red ale, in this case called the Reflector. Meanwhile, my friend asked the bartender for something fruity and was directed to the Pedal Pale Ale.

Reflector (left, $11.00) and Pedal Pale Ale (right, $9.00)

In both cases, the beers’ descriptions, creamy for the red and fruity for the pale, were eerily accurate. I had been told prior to coming here that the variety of beers at Bentspoke were quite hoppy, and given the decorations hanging throughout the pub, I assume this is a claim they are more than happy to embrace.

My second choice, now having read the beer list and feeling a little more informed, was a Pilsner called ‘Mort’s Gold’. It’s apparently named after someone named Thomas Sutcliffe Mort, but to me the name had more in common with it being named after the street the brewery is on. I blame my own ignorance for that one. Meanwhile, my friend went for the Dick Tracy, a beer that also claimed to be fruity.

Mort’s Gold (left, $11.00) and Dick Tracy (right, $11.00)

By the time we finished the beers, it became clear that food was becoming necessary to justify more beer and so we promptly rustled up the menu. The menu ranged from share plates to traditional modern pub food like steak sandwiches, burgers and an eggplant parmi (or parma, depending on your state of origin). We both chose the burgers, myself the B-Ten burger and my friend the Pork Belly.

At this point I also moved on to my third beer, while my friend sat this round out. This time I chose the Larken’s Brown, a chocolate brown porter which boasted liquorice, fresh ginger, and cacao nibs. It also contained hops called ‘Fuggles’ which to me sounded like a forgotten Jim Henson film. I asked the bartender what they were but was given a polite shrug. I assume it’s a secret.

Larken’s Brown ($11.00)

Not long after, the burgers arrived.

The B-Ten Burger ($19.00)

The B-Ten burger is made of a braised beef brisket combined with bacon and beet slaw, although I didn’t really notice there was bacon in there until re-reading the menu afterwards. The burger was served with chips, or as they were called on the menu Hop Potatoes, along with an undescribed red dipping sauce. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this burger. It certainly wasn’t anything groundbreaking, but it was modern and interesting, and with the dipping sauce, provided a solid combination of flavours. It was a little smaller than I expected but it remained surprisingly filling, although I’ll confess that the beers prior could have helped with that one.

On finishing these and our last beers, we walked away feeling pretty fulfilled with what Bentspoke Brewing Co. offered. A brewery can often run into the dilemma where it offers food and beer but it is only good at one of those things, and it is always the hope that the one thing is the beer, but Bentspoke manages to make a great beer, while also having top-quality pub food.

The décor also puts it on the upper scale of the modern brewery and gastro pub and it does so without the coldness that often comes from this style. While it didn’t feel quite like a place I would choose to go to as a local, I would still be very happy to go back there, even if the staff can’t tell me what fuggles are.

Bentspoke Brewing Co.

38 Mort Street
Braddon
Australian Capital Territory 2612

Phone: (02) 6257 5220
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.bentspokebrewing.com.au

Open
Mon – Sun: 11:00am to 12:00am

The Viktor Wynd Museum Of Curiosities & Last Tuesday Society

Paul

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4 June 2015

0

The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & Natural History in London is unlike any museum we’ve ever visited before. It presents “an incoherent vision of the world displayed through wonder enclosed within a tiny space”, a Wunderkabinett if you will. Nothing is classified or organised as everything on display is deemed to be beyond classification. After a walk through the museum, we’re inclined to agree.

The museum is housed within a bar run by The Last Tuesday Society, which is “dedicated to subverting life, the universe and everything bored of the life and world it sees around it seeks to create a new world filled with beauty, wonder and the imagination”.

As soon as you step inside, you’re greeted by a range of oddities, including a large number of skeletons and stuffed animals. In fact, The Last Tuesday Society also runs taxidermy classes (you can learn how to stuff animals as small as a mouse or as large as a goat) and sessions on how to prepare and preserve organs & wet specimens such as hearts and brains. A range of lectures on a variety of obscure topics, cocktail classes and storytelling sessions are also run on site.

Our drinking partner for the night. Yes, the lioness is real.

If you’re not turned off by the idea of drinking and eating here, a focused menu of drinks and food is offered. Cocktails are reasonably priced at £8.00 a pop. We tried a variety of cocktails during the night, with our favourite being the “From Nina With Love”, which contained Monkey Shoulder scotch, smoke, sweet vermouth, a drop of lemon juice and chocolate bitters.

Another standout was “What makes the Monk”, which contained Benedictine D.O.M., peanut butter sherry, lemon juice and maple syrup.

Food wise, a selection of starters and more substantial options are offered. The cheese plate was excellent, with a good variety of English and French cheeses.

The cured meat plate was also very tasty.

On the more substantial side, a variety of exotic meat options are offered. We went for the camel burger, crocodile burger and kangaroo meatballs. The camel burger was delicious – gamey but not overly so with a subtle sweetness about it. The brioche bun had the right texture without being overly sweet too. The crocodile burger was tasty and more neutral in flavour. I hate to say it but… it tasted like chicken but with a more fishy texture. The kangaroo meatballs were also excellent. As Australians kangaroo isn’t exactly exotic however to the Englishman and Canadian at the table it was. The key with kangaroo is to not overcook it and the meatballs here had a really good texture to them and were full of flavour.

Moving downstairs is the museum proper, which costs £3.00 to enter. Words that came out of our mouths as we walked down the spiralling stairs and saw the contents of the cabinets for the first time included “wow”, “what the fuck”, “awesome”, “oh my god” and “this is fucked up”. This is certainly a situation where a picture is worth a thousand words so instead of blabbing on and trying to talk about the images, I’ll let them speak for themselves.

A fijian merman hangs from the ceiling.

A caged lion’s skeleton.

One of the museum’s many mummified specimens from around the world.

There’s something amiss about this collection of antique dolls.

Is it playtime yet?

A variety of books full of useful information.

Suitable bedtime reading for any child.

Along with a jar containing the piss of Russell Crowe, there was also a jar that allegedly contained some of Amy Winehouse’s poo. It’s clear to see why the classification of objects in this museum is impossible.

The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities & Last Tuesday Society certainly isn’t for everyone, but if you’ve got an open mind and a taste for great drinks and food, visiting will provide you with one of London’s most unique and authentic experiences. Skip the West End chains and visit here instead – it’s the kind of place that the world needs more of.

The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & Natural History

11 Mare Street
London E8 4RP
United Kingdom

Telephone: 020 7998 3617
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://thelasttuesdaysociety.org/

Open
Wed – Sun: 11:00am to 10:00pm

Bombay Sapphire Project Botanicals: Upcoming Event

Paul

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3 June 2015

0

Bombay Sapphire Project Botanicals returns in 2015 to offer Melbourne diners and cocktail connoisseurs a range of carefully crafted cocktails matched with seasonal dishes for 3 weeks during winter.

Chef Gary Mehigan will be teaming up with Bombay Sapphire Brand Ambassador Andy Wren to create a refreshed menu of 10 botanically inspired Bombay Sapphire cocktails with 10 matching tapas style dishes designed to show just how well gin can be matched with food.

Wren and Mehigan have taken the approach of focusing on specific botanicals to highlight each pairing – think juniper berries from Tuscany, coriander seeds from Morocco, liquorice from the grassy plains of China, bitter almonds from Spain and cassia bark from Indo-China. To help design each cocktail, mixologists from Melbourne bars Black Pearl, Eau De Vie, 1806, Union Electric and Gin Palace have also gotten involved.

In fact, when we heard about the Gin Palace’s ‘Eve’s Cheat Day in Paradise’, we knew we had to put Project Botanicals in our calendar. It’s a mixture of Bombay Sapphire, vermouth, ginger syrup served warm with chocolate butter, paired with a warm hazelnut and brown butter friand, olorosso ice cream, raisins and black sherry syrup.

Project Botanicals will also include music from guest DJs, live botanical walls and installations and special effect lighting. You can find out more and purchase tickets at the official site.

Bombay Sapphire Project Botanicals

When: Wednesday 24 June 2015 – Saturday 11 July 2015, 6:00pm to 1:00am

Entry: $45.00 (includes 2 cocktails and 2 matching dishes)

Where: 64 Sutton Street, North Melbourne

Liberty Brewing: The Softail Shane

Beer Reviews

Chris

-

3 June 2015

0

Brewed exclusively as a collaboration between New Zealand’s Liberty Brewing and Melbourne’s the Alehouse Project is the Softail Shane, a 9% ABV a coffee and bourbon barrel aged beer, also known as an imperial/double stout, according to Untappd.

I really like it.

– Jeff

It could be one worth aging for a year.

– Paul

It has got a lot in it. But I can really taste the strength and I don’t think it needs it.

– Chris

The Softail Shane from Liberty Brewing in collaboration with the Alehouse Project was featured in Season One, Episode Twelve.

Mountain Goat Brewery: Barrel Breed: Barelywine

Beer Reviews

Chris

-

3 June 2015

0

Mountain Goat Brewery: Barrel Breed: Barelywine

From Melbourne’s Mountain Goat Brewery is the Barrel Breed: Barley Wine, an 11% ABV (according to Untappd) American Barleywine. We were lucky enough to drink from 1 of 300 limited edition bottles of this beer.

The Barrel Breed: Barley Wine won the 2015 Beer of the Year at the Australian International Beer Awards, which is fantastic, and while we think this is an incredible beer, because of its limited quantities, we think it’s a little sad that very few others will get to enjoy it.

It smells amazing and it tastes pretty special as well. This almost has a subtle, almost a toffee, caramel sort of flavour to it. It works really well.

– Paul

I really like it. It’s not mega mega sweet … This is quite lovely.

– Jeff

This is absolutely nothing like the Bad Boy Bubbly [also a barley wine]. I really quite enjoy this. I think it’s superb, I really do.

– Chris

It’s quite tasty. Definitely can taste the ABV limit, the 12.9 per cent, but it has a really sweet smell on the nose. I’m quite enjoying it.

– Ben

Barrel Breed: Barelywine by Mountain Goat Brewery was featured in Season One, Episode Twelve.

S01E12 – Season 1, Episode 12

Chris

-

3 June 2015

0

PODCAST | In this, the last, and most certainly the noisiest, episode of season one, Chris drinks in a foreign suburb, Paul is disappointed by Iran’s complete lack of alcohol, and Jeff chronicles a Monday night that started with one beer and ended in skittles and Erdinger. Ben also laments his continually unsuccessful efforts to find craft beer on a recent holiday to Noosa, Queensland.

Along with all that, we compare the Australian International Beer Awards with the Oscars, wonder about what we calling ‘the Noosa effect’, and attempt to open a beer sealed with more wax than a decorative candle.

This is the last episode of season one, but don’t worry, we’ll be back in early July for season two.

Featured beers: Softail Shane by Liberty Brewing and Barrel Breed: Barley Wine by Mountain Goat Beer.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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BCKYRD Brunswick, Brunswick East

Jeff

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2 June 2015

0

Whilst the Brunswick parts of Lygon Street and Sydney Road have developed significantly over the last 5 to 10 years and have become the vibrant home to a wide array of bars and restaurants, the parallel strip in Nicholson Street has been relatively undeveloped with the exception of Pope Joan, which appears to be slowly taking over the block it resides in! As a result, when we noticed that a food truck had set up shop in what was previously a largely unused parking lot on Nicholson Street this immediately piqued our interest.

BCKYRD Brunswick is the latest venture by Hammer & Tong, which brings the Fitzroy cafe’s food truck to a permanent location every weekend, serving lunch and dinner in an open air dining space. Upon arriving at the spot we came across a simple and unassuming wooden frontage that is consistent with the feel and philosophy of the surrounding area.

The menu on the front wall promises a mix of styles of food, ranging from Melbourne cafe-type staples such as charcuterie and a grilled cheese, truffle and mushroom sandwich, to Asian-influenced szechuan lamb ribs and ramen with duck meatballs and the classical fish and chips. However, when we walked around past the menu and “now open” sign we were (pleasantly) surprised to see the following:

BCKYRD Brunswick has only been in operation since Easter, so it is understandable that their menu is in a developmental state. The menu that was available on the day we visited, which was written on a chalk board on the the side of the food truck, spanned a number of parts of the American food spectrum, including a Texas-style smoked meat (beef briskey, pork belly and beef short ribs), a corn and crab chowder served in a bread bowl San Francisco-style, biscuits and gravy and beignets that took us back to our visit to New Orleans.

The space itself is quite the contrast to the outside, with the black brick matching the Hammer & Tong food truck parked inside and the column heaters creating a rather industrial environment. Whilst there are a two covered areas with a number of tables (which we think the people of Brunswick will be thankful for given this year’s early onset winter!), the rest of the space is quite sparse, with only one large wooden table available. Given the nature of the food which isn’t exactly “eat on the go” like a lot of other food trucks we think it would be good, and easily possible, to fit a few more tables in to create a bit more seating capacity – we ended up sitting on the edge of one of the large planter boxes.

Upon arriving at the venue we were almost immediately handed a complimentary meat platter consisting of beef brisket, beans, slaw and a buttermilk biscuit (for those who aren’t up with the lingo of the American South think of a scone but less sweet). If we had been up to date with our Twitter thread we would have known that on this particular day free meat plates were being handed out to the first 50 customers. Bonus!

Meat Platters ($22.00)

The brisket itself was a bit dry, although we would like to go back for a second try as this might have been because the complimentary plates had been circulating the venue for a little while. It did however combine well with the mustard sauce which was a little tart and helped to cut through the density of the meat. The beans and slaw however were great, as was the buttermilk biscuit which had just the right level of crumbliness without being too dry.

Once we had whet our appetite for smoked meat we couldn’t stop at one plate so we went back for another meat platter, this time with pork belly.

Even though we had tried pork belly from a smoker before, the pork belly at BCKYRD Brunswick came out completely different to other versions we had tried (for example, at Bluebonnet BBQ), and also from pork belly prepared in the Asian or Modern Australian style. This said, we really liked it, the meat to fat balance was spot on, the meat itself was very juicy and had excellent flavour despite not having that smoked taste at all, which was actually a nice contrast to the aromas emanating from the smoker.

The drinks list was short, as is to be expected, with standard soft drinks being accompanied by the Pipsqeak cider and the Sample Pale Ale ($9), which is what we choose to combine with our feast of meat. This was a nice refreshing drop which successfully kickstarted our drinking day without being so bitter as to the taste of the meat. We were also given some boiled peanuts which were a pleasant snack while we planned our next move.

Beignets ($3.00)

Whilst we had consumed plenty, we felt it would be remiss to leave without having some dessert so we decided to sample the beignets. These came in two varieties – chocolate whiskey and salted caramel – we went with the second option.

The beignet was not entirely like those we had eaten in New Orleans at the famous Cafe Du Monde, the ones at BCKYRD Brunswick were more dense and not covered with nearly as much sugar (although the latter was not exactly a concern for us). However, this is not to say that it was bad – in fact quite the opposite! The inside of the beignet was a little on the doughy side, as if it had not been fully baked through, which we quite liked and found gave it an interesting texture, although we were a little disappointed to find that the salted caramel was provided as a sauce on the side rather than inside the beignet. The sauce was a good balance of sweet and salty, the only thing we would have changed would have been to provide more as we ran out pretty quickly.

Overall we think that BCKYRD Brunswick is a much welcome addition to the Brunswick strip of Nicholson Street and are confident that however the menu develops from here that this Hammer & Tong offshoot will continue to impress.

Brunswick Bckyrd

18-20 Nicholson Street
Brunswick East
Victoria 3057
Australia

Telephone: n/a
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://bckyrd.com.au/

Open
Fri – Sun: 11:00am to 9:30pm

THE CITY LANEEAT & TRAVEL LIKE A LOCAL

THE CITY LANEEAT & TRAVEL LIKE A LOCAL

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Sun Moth Canteen & Bar

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Hot Stuff Burger With Double Cheese ($14.80)

Chicky Babe Burger With Double Cheese ($18.20)

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Reflector (left, $11.00) and Pedal Pale Ale (right, $9.00)

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The B-Ten Burger ($19.00)

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Meat Platters ($22.00)

Beignets ($3.00)

Brunswick Bckyrd

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