Moose & Gibson, Woolloongabba, Brisbane

April 01, 2014

Ever since Moose & Gibson opened their doors last year, there was always a part of me that wanted me to visit and give it a try but somehow never got the chance to.. not sure why exactly.. However, when I was contacted to try out the event that they had going on which was their Silent Cinema Tapas night which included a Tapas menu along with a silent cinema showing on the walls.. Quite simple but interesting event to have, especially if you don't get that type of event happening around in Brisbane, eating Tapas and watching a movie.. who could simply resist?

Excuse the very late post since I attended this event early March.. I know it may not be an excuse but I have been quite busy with my uni studies and I never got around to upload and review about it although I did get up to date during the night and month with my food-outings through my Instagram account.. But here it is.. As you can see, the silent cinema was projected towards the wall behind their counter which was quite a good place to put it as the seats were opposite, though people facing the other side of the wall may not see it, but those diners sitting on the sofa would..

It was quite empty throughout the night with only a few tables filled.. I found that parking may be a hassle to those who would want to come and eat here, but since it was at night, parking in front of the restaurant was easy.. Simple tapas menu given which was put together by Chef Luke Tye himself and by reading what was offered for the night, I noticed that their menu had a few interesting choices which got me more excited to try them..

We weren't sure of which to start with but this dish was definitely an eye-catcher.. 'Popcorn Chicken with Sweet mayonnaise' ($9), not those chicken breast balls you can get from KFC or Maccas, no, it's definitely not.. Instead, they were chicken breast strips coated with popcorn.

Their take on this so-called Popcorn chicken would be one of a simple dish which you're so used to hear or see being one thing, but instead, out of your expectations, it comes out better than you thought it would.. The coating of the popcorn was just light and the popcorn was definitely there as you would be able to taste them as soon as you bite them, well.. even just by looking at them on the plate, you could see the popcorn crumbed coating.. The mayonnaise was just the right sauce to go with it. Not too strong nor too light.

Next up was the 'Oysters with Pomegranate Tea Jelly' ($3 each), though they did have the Natural option but who sees Tea jellies on oysters around? Presented simply on a bed of rock sea salt, wilted spinach and thin sliced onion on the side with lemon.

I thought that the oyster by itself had enough flavour to go with it so no need for the lemon. The sweetness of the tea jelly blended well with the saltiness of the oyster and gave it that refreshing feeling.

'Wild rice pork belly cabbage rolls with lime marmalade' ($8) was an interesting dish as you don't see a cabbage roll around, usually it would be a rice paper roll like those Vietnamese rice paper. Three rolls a serve was given and was quite cold when it arrived. I did find it quite hard to eat since I wasn't sure whether to pick it up or to cut it with a knife and eat it with a fork. It would've been quite sticky if we picked it up but then by cutting through the middle of it, I was scared to ruin its fillings and have it all messy on the plate.

Nicely wrapped, presented simply and generous fillings. I didn't mind it being served cold as I could see that it would match somehow with the wild rice. However, the pork belly wasn't what I expected, not much fat which I guess was good and it reminded me of pulled pork instead of pork belly although the flavour was there.. The lime marmalade was a bit too much over the cabbage rolls which may have made the rolls soggier than needed. By using wild rice instead of normal rice was a nice touch to it but I am not too sure of what they were trying to incorporate into the dish as many elements were fixed together into one dish.. I ended up cutting the cabbage roll in half as you can see below in the pictures..

Deciding on whether to end our night with a simple chorizo or a slow cooked beef rib was hard but we opted for the 'Fried chorizo sausage dusted with smoked paprika and a herb salad' ($9). Chorizos, always reminds me of back in my high school days when I would sometime have this for lunch or maybe even a snack after school.

A whole chorizo on the plate, who could argue with that.. A little bit spicy but also had that sweetness to it maybe of the sauce that they had drizzled on it.. Topped with smoked paprika did give it its touch and kick which I liked, though the winner of the dish was how the chorizo sausage was that it was grilled to perfection, with the simple herb salad on the side to accompany it.