L and I have been engaged for over a year now, and we are starting to suss out a few potential places for our wedding reception to be held. Also, it was the weekend before Valentine’s Day (a romantic dinner was in order), so we booked a dinner at Aqua Linea at Teneriffe.
Aqua Linea has a lovely view of the Brisbane River and has obviously recovered quickly from the flooding in the area. We were seated indoors facing the window outwards to the river, so it was certainly the romantic setting we were after. I would have to say the decor is a bit outdated and could do with a sprucing up.
The service we experienced was an odd mix. The maître’d was a jolly sort of fellow who was a bit toooooooo enthusiastic, but uncomfortably so. He brought us the wrong wine by mistake, our waiter forgot to take our order for a while and then our entrees took a while to arrive. It did get better though towards the end of the meal.
To start I ordered Quail breasts with sautéed zucchini, pinenuts, crushed peas and mint pistou ($19.00). The quail was cooked nicely, however the pinenuts and vegetables on the plate were burnt and far too salty. I had to scrape some of the charred bits onto the side of my plate and wasn’t able to eat some of the pinenuts. It was a shame as it would have been much more tasty had this not occurred.
L ordered seared Harvey Bay scallops, braised leeks, flying fish roe, pomelo and baby herbs (also $19.00). In contrast to my meal, his was probably underseasoned, as the leek was a bit bland. The scallops were fresh though and it was nicely presented.
We hoped our main meals were a bit better than the entrees, and fortunately they were. They were served pretty much straight away after our entree plates were cleared, which didn’t really give us much of a break between courses, something I didn’t like.
I ordered Angus eye fillet with white bean puree, porcini soil, spring vegetables and truffle jus ($36.00). The size of the steak was generous and it was perfectly cooked. It was one of the nicer steaks I’ve experienced for a while and was a pleasant surprise. The porcini soil was a bit bland, just tasting a bit floury and I didn’t really eat it. I wanted more of the white bean puree to soak up the jus also, both were really flavoursome.
L’s meal was a Confit duck leg, with red current couscous, braised fennel and pomegranate reduction for $32.00. The duck was lovely and succulent. Pomegranates are amazing things to eat, just bursting with flavour in your mouth and they went really well with the duck.
For dessert, we decided to share a Raspberry soufflé with a sesame seed and orange gaufrette ($16.00). We discovered the gaufrette was a sort of wafer biscuit. The soufflé was a winner, and was large enough for both of us.
Aqua Linea started out a bit awkwardly but ended really well. All of the food was beautifully presented. As to if we will have our wedding reception there, only time will tell, we have a few other places to sample first!
Love,
C
No comments:
Post a Comment