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Feed Me....Feed me now!!!
Well, Friday night appears to be the night to go out in Bunbury!!#Bunbury Lisa and I went out this weekend for our eighteenth wedding anniversary. The CBD was heaving. Just walking along Victoria street, the sounds and smells coming out of all the eating and drinking venues was intoxicating. We ended up having a fantastic meal and I think I have found my new favourite drinking hole, look out for that blog coming soon.
This night was all about celebrating. Being a foodie couple, our anniversary present to ourselves is always going to involve a good restaurant. Tonight, we were certainly not disappointed. Our choice of venue was Market Eating House.#MarketEatingHouse
It was a chilly night on Friday, so when we walked into the warm restaurant it was immediately inviting. All sorts of food aromas filled my nostrils and put my tastebuds on high alert. We were greeted right away and shown to our table. Our food and drinks menu were laid out in front of us. A choice of water was offered which is always good to see. Not everybody wants to drink tap water! Who am I kidding, we opted for the tap water!
Being a special night, we ordered a couple of cocktails.#Cocktails Lisa’s was an intriguing fig based affair. A sweet and sour triumph to wake up the culinary juices. I went for a ginger and lime flavoured tipple. A nice hit of fiery ginger and fresh lime to balance it. Quite exquisite.
For anybody that has been to Market Eating House, you would know that as well as their comprehensive a la carte menu they also offer what they call “Feed me” This option is a bit of a trust exercise. You will basically be bought a selection of food from the small and large plate sections of the menu as well as a few sides. The chef is basically deciding what to serve you. All I can say is bravo! If I didn’t know any better, I would have said the restaurant had been tapping our phone line, facebook stalking us and going through our rubbish in the dead of night. The food that was bought out to us, we could not have chosen better. It was like they had an uncanny sixth sense.
They guy who was serving our table, really knew his stuff and his passion and enthusiasm for the food he was bringing out to us is certainly worth comment. Everything from the local source of the figs in Lisa’s cocktail to the age of the chicken we were eating. His knowledge and willingness to impart with it made a refreshing change and certainly added to the positive experience.
So, the food. Our first lot of plate consisted of some spiced olives, plump, juicy and a good hit of chilli. A Persian Dhal. One of our favourites. The lentils were perfectly cooked and the aromatic spices had been expertly blended into the mix. A good dollop of sour cream and the ingenious addition of some fresh pomegranate sealed the deal. A stand out dish for us. Next was a colourful vegetable salad with some delicious salty Parma ham. A good slab of flatbread was served to mop up and juices the dishes had left over. With round one complete, we were bought an interim dish. Two mushroom croquettes served with a sauce which to be honest, can’t remember the name of. This dish was my only regret of the night! I regretted not ordering a whole plate of these crisp balls of indulgence. I almost had a tear in my eye when I finished the solitary delight on my plate. We were more than excited to see what was coming next.
Now, usually, we will order a bottle of wine when we are out on special occasions, but tonight was all about doing things different. After trawling through the drinks menu, we decided to go distinctly Spanish.
“Glass of Sangria?” I suggested with a wink
“Why not get a carafe!” Lisa replied with a mischievous glint in her eye.
So a carafe of sangria,#Sangria it was. This was another lesson in the art of drink making. I have to say this was as good as any Sangria I had tasted in the many places in Spain and her islands. Even after a good stir it got stronger and more syrupy as we worked our way through it. Sublime!
With half of the Sangria drank, the next lot of dishes were bought out to us. Baby BBQ chicken. Oh gosh, the chicken literally fell of the bone and melted in the mouth. The Caramelized lemon it was served with added a wonderful zing to it. The meaty theme continued with delicately sliced beef rump with shitake mushrooms, (google Catherine Tate shitake if you want a good laugh), The beef could not have been cooked any better, and the mushrooms gave the whole dish an earthy robust flavour. Two simple ingredients bought together in a rich flavoursome sauce. Outstanding!
A bowl of Middle Eastern Rice made for a good side dish. Lots of flavours here that took me to the Persian gulf. Another handful of plump pomegranate which just popped flavour into the mouth. I think the chef has a fetish for this fruit, I certainly ain’t complaining! If Rice isn’t your thing, we were also served a crisp and fresh cabbage salad. I guess I’d call it a posh coleslaw. It made a refreshing accompaniment to the meal. Finally, just to add a veggie element a stunning spiced cauliflower dish was served. I have been experimenting at home with cauliflower, such a diverse vegetable. I have been making everything from cauliflower rice to Aloo Gobi, an Indian potato and cauliflower dish. Tonight, they turned this humble veg into something quite spectacular. I will be scouring the online recipe sites to find something similar to this. The cauliflower was firm but not under cooked and the flavour they packed into it was off the chart!
We were both happy and full at the end of this meal. Market Eating House ticks all the boxes from ambiance, service, quantity and quality of the food. I reckon it’s pretty good value for money too. If I was to have one small minor negative, (and this seems to be the norm in Bunno) Why, oh why does such a quality establishment feel that it’s customers are not worthy of linen napkins? Surely this must be a more cost effective option in the long run, not to mention a win for the environment.
I give a well-deserved 9 out of 10. Invest in some linen and it could have been a 10!