Stokehouse Brisbane

Stokehouse is a funny choice for my first restaurant post. I have dined here once before when it first opened and I was thoroughly disappointed, never thinking I'd be back. Recent reviews have said nothing but great things and I decided to give it a second chance. Besides, I came when it had just opened.

Maybe it was the long awaited public holiday or the 27 degree warmth that made this lunch so enjoyable. Will and I were seated near the river. When I say near, I mean we can hear the water hitting the banks. None of this Eagle St Pier riverside view rubbish.

Our waiter was very helpful and friendly. She carried out a huge board of daily specials and leaned it against the table beside us so she could read them out. She then left it there for us to read alongside the a la carte menu. In theory this was a great idea but the party for that table arrived just then and this caused a bit of a kerfuffle.

We ended up ordering the special for the day to start. 

Kingfish sashimi with smoked eel, celery, fennel, pickled onions

The smoked eel added an earthy element to the fresh raw kingfish. I managed to get a mouthful that had a bit of everything on the plate. This all worked really well together. Crunchy onions and fennel, tangy vinegarette, smokey eel and soft fresh kingfish. Because we shared this entree, we only had two pieces of kingfish each but nevertheless it was a good way to start our meal.

Will had the duck main.

Free range duck breast with crispy skinned leg, almond, spiced quince, smoked beetroot

What struck us the most was the serving size. Very generous for fine dining. Will was very happy with this, he was expecting a single tiny portion of duck breast. The breast was cooked perfectly and the skin was rendered nicely. The crispy skinned leg gave the dish the rich duck flavour that you can only get from dark meat. The smoked beetroot worked nicely with the duck. A perfect duck dish in my opinion.

I had an entree sized pasta.

Squid ink linguine, local spanner crab, garlic, chilli, parsley

For some reason I was expecting a creamier pasta, perhaps with a white wine base? Now that I think about, that was a silly assumption given that it was squid ink based pasta.This was a cold, citrus and fresh pasta. Being my first time trying squid ink pasta I found the flavour of the squid too overpowering. The linguine itself reminded me a bit too much of asian noodles.There were nice big chunks of crab which was sweet and juicy. I don't think I would order this dish again but it was still enjoyable. What made it ten folds better was when paired with the chardonnay.

Farr Rising - 2010 Geelong Chardonnay

It went so well with the pasta. I am no expert on wines but I felt that this matched very well. I took a bite of the pasta. Then a sip of the wine. Then sat there for a good 5 seconds savouring the flavours. It was as if the linguine had a sudden revamp in my mouth. The wine really brought out the flavours of the linguine.

Overall it was a very enjoyable meal in a pleasant setting. I highly recommend Stokehouse for a relaxing and scenic lunch especially on one of Brisbane's many sunny days.

Dish I'd order again: The free range duck