Blackbird Bar & Grill, Eagle St Pier, Brisbane CBD

April 19, 2015

Friday nights at Blackbird are hectic, with both the restaurant and bar usually filled up in seconds especially later at night at the bar. Bookings are recommended especially for those peak hours. We decided to try the restaurant as we've been to the bar for drinks and so on but we were quite interested how the restaurant and food were. We were seated right in front of the open kitchen but there were also a more romantic and intimate seating by the window overlooking the Story Bridge in which we would've rather preferred than awkwardly in the middle of the pathway of people entering and exiting and being next to a big loud group of people on a platformed table. We did try and ask for a more intimate and quieter setting but the waiter just said they had none left (in which, they actually had a few empty tables even just for two).

An assortment of mustards is given when ordering a steak

'200g Northern RiversTenderloin' served with a side of slaw and Kampot pepper sauce. Asked for a medium and from what I remember it was slightly under but it was okay. The slaw was perfect as it was fresh and crunchy, adding a different texture onto the plate.

'Pepperberry crusted Kangaroo Fillet' served with a beetroot tarte tartin, caramelised cauliflower puree and riberries. I thought that this was a very pretty and elegant dish to have through the night. Presented well and I thought that the beetroot tarte tartin was a very cute element of the dish which brought out its elegance.

The beetroot tarte tartin was thin, had subtle hints of the beetroot and it wasn't as strong as I thought it would be. However, the beetroot was quite thick which was nice to see. The kangaroo fillet was cooked nicely, brown on the outside and has that redness in the middle making it chewable and lovely to eat. The riberries allowed the dish to have that sweetness as well as giving it a pop of colour and fun. However, the bed of cavolo nero placed under the kangaroo fillet wasn't that much and it would have been good if there were abit more of it to balance out the dish.

'Dutch Cream Potato' ($10) which were baked in clay and parmesan butter and rosemary salt. What caught my eye in this dish was the fact that it was baked in clay and when it arrived on the table, we were quite taken away by the fact that there was a broken up clay on the side for show of course, not for eating. It was a subtle but nice side for our meals this evening however I would've liked it if there was abit more parmesan butter as the creamyness just died down at the bottom of the potatoes whilst not covering it fully.