Public Restaurant & Bar | Brisbane CBD
August 29, 2019
Being located at the other end of town, near Roma St station, it was located amongst the area where it's away from the bustling city. The style of Public was more tapas style, where you order a few small plates designed to share or even large plates too. When word goes around that a restaurant offers and showcases ants and worms in their menu, it makes me wonder and gives me that want to try feeling.
If you're not too keen on having ants or worms in your dishes, there are other dishes that will make you enjoy your meal in Public. Its interesting pairings and good cooking, a cocktail bar on site, it definitely is a must .
Different animals hung up on the wall, funnily enough Mr's and mine's chinese zodiac was next to one another. A good sign?
Steak tartare, yolk and worms, was served with an egg yolk, micro herbs and corn crackers. The corn cracker was fried well but a bit oily. The egg yolk combined the whole dish thoroughly giving it that stickyness and creamy texture it needed. The steak tartare itself was cut in smaller chunks that I thought it would be.
The micro herbs and the herb oil which reminded me slightly of chimichurri but different gave the dish that extra freshness. The worms tasted interesting too, adding the crunch element in the whole dish other than the corn crackers on the side. The worms also stayed crunchy despite the egg yolk and the rest of the dish including the steak tartare being combined altogether.
Salmon ceviche, prawn crackers and black ants, was an interesting one indeed. The salmon wasn't smoked as such but the rough chunk cuts of it I enjoyed with the thinly sliced radish. The black ants were sourced particularly to be served on dishes, fed on mostly citrus diet. The waiter who served the dish to our table also explained where it was sourced from and further details.
If I had to explain what the ants tasted like, it was more of a crunchy, citrusy bite. The texture wasn't very ants-y or somehow so obvious that it did taste like ants. Overall, it combined well with the salmon and was quite an experience to eat. It was also served with prawn crackers on the side.
You can spot all of the ants in the dish, to be honest, even the heads and legs everywhere..scattered all around the dish. Again, just a crunchy taste and texture in every bite. With the sliced radish
Last but not least, we decided to try one of the famous dish in Public.
The Kentucy Fried Duck, is one of their most famous and popular dishes so of course, we just had to order it. It came in a plastic white with blue edged bowl. The duck wing and drumstick was in one piece and was served with grilled corn topped with a creamy sauce and shredded cheese. The lime was also quite subtle.
I have to say that it was just okay, it wasn't wow by it but maybe I was comparing it to Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) though this was just the other version. Abit hard to share this one but we managed. Would've been good if there was more than 1 cut though.
Although I had a good time at Public, I focused more on dishes I would not get elsewhere, hence my overall experience was that I enjoyed my meals and thought that the dishes were interestingly executed.
*Please note this is a delayed post and as such, the menu may have changed since my visit to the establishment.
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