‘A rubbery texture’: We review the Spring Hill pub serving up crocodile bites

Crocodile? Kangaroo? Rabbit? We taste test what is surely one of the state’s most unusual pub menus.

The Alliance Hotel, Spring Hill. Picture: David Kelly

Crocodile? Kangaroo? Rabbit? What’s going on in Spring Hill, it sounds like it’s come over all Australia Zoo.

And it kind of has, with these creatures among the menagerie populating the menu at the newly renovated Alliance Hotel in the inner-city Brisbane suburb.

Joining them on what is surely one of the state’s most unusual pub menus are duck ragu with pappardelle, harissa-marinated roasted quail and venison tenderloin.

That’s just the “game” section, there’s also another page of more traditional hotel offerings including steaks, fish and chips, a wagyu beef burger, sausage and mash, chicken schnitzel and a lamb shank special, with its downtown street cred beefed up with smoked mash and kale ($32).

And the drop of choice to wash this lot down is, also unusually, whisky. In fact the dining room is named The Whisky Warren, and operators Emma Hollands, Katerina Makarov, Peter Hollands and Nick Winter, who also own the Frogs Hollow Saloon in Charlotte St, have ambitions for it to house the country’s largest Australian whisky collection.

There are 100 Australian, 25 Scotch and 20 American whiskys in house now, with plans to continue to grow the line-up over the next few months.

The Whisky Warren in the Alliance Hotel, Spring Hill. Picture: David Kelly

The 1864-built, Victorian-style building is busy on a Thursday evening, with after-work drinks underway in the public bar out the front and the tables on the street.

We’re off to the dining room at the back, with its slightly English pub vibe created by wooden tables of various sizes topped with candles emerging from bottles thick with solidified rivers of wax, bentwood chairs and bare floorboards.

Feature walls are brick or dark green, with book-filled shelves and landscape paintings for adornment.

The pub feel is ramped up with canisters of cutlery, paper serviettes and menus on the tables, with patrons ordering both drinks and food at the bar but the meals are delivered to the table.

Croc bites at The Whisky Warren in the Alliance Hotel, Spring Hill. Picture: David Kelly

We start with a scotch egg ($11) and croc bites ($20) from the game section.

The egg arrived golden crumbed and encased in sausage meat that’s a little under-seasoned and when I slice it in two to share, the yolk spills forth in a yellow pool.

It’s a key menu item with Scotch egg Wednesdays featuring a different whisky pairing each week.

The meat in the croc bites is from the NT and has a rubbery texture and a mild taste somewhere between fish and chicken.

It’s fine but it’s the crunchy, spicy batter that’s doing the heavy lifting to make the dish work.

Rabbit stew at The Whisky Warren in the Alliance Hotel, Spring Hill. Picture: David Kelly

Rabbit, despite its cheap Depression-era reputation, is now a specialty item due to the lack of demand and large-scale producers, and as a consequence is rather pricey.

A rustic stew of the Victorian-produced rabbit ($50) is slow-cooked with mushroom, potato and tomato into a hearty, winter-warming dish.

Three steaks are available, all 120-day grain fed: a Riverina 350g rump ($38) and 300g sirloin ($48) or our 400g MB3 Bachelor flank ($36), which is only offered medium rare and arrives exactly that with a pile of crisp fries and it’s excellent value. Sauces are $4 and range from olive butter to house-made gravy.

A flight of whiskies ($35) is on a blackboard and three are listed on the dessert page of the menu – options are pavlova ($12) or brownie ($15) – but beyond that you need to ask at the bar for an additional menu.

There’s also a strong wine presence with 55 mainly Australian drops by the bottle, nine by the glass well-priced from $11, as well as 10 tap beers from XXXX Gold to Revel Brewing’s The Mango Mac Sour Ale and 14 by the bottle. Service is friendly, although with the one person working the back bar also delivering meals the night we’re there, it’s a little slow at the busiest times.

Housed in an independently owned hotel, The Whisky Warren is aiming to stand out and is successfully walking the tightrope between traditional and innovative pub fare, enticing us into a food adventure one croc bite at a time.

The Whisky Warren

Alliance Hotel, 320 Boundary St, Spring Hill

alliancehotel.com.au

Open

Tuesday-Sunday, full menu from

noon-10pm

Must try

Flank steak

The verdict

Food

3.5 stars

Ambience

3.5 stars

Service

3 stars

Value

4 stars

Overall

3.5/5 stars

delicious.com.au/eatout