‘Audacious move’: Restaurant offering roast goose for insane $87
A new CBD riverfront restaurant offers a broad menu at eye-watering prices
QWeekend
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Half a roast goose for $87? It’s an audacious move to put such a seldom-seen meat on a menu at a price that would make many eyes water. It’s even more brazen when you consider you can get half a roast duck cooked in a similar fashion a flutter away at nearby coveted restaurant Donna Chang for just $44.
But making bold moves is clearly what restaurateurs Andrew and Jaimee Baturo are all about at their newly opened Brisbane CBD riverfront venue Tillerman.
When launched at the beginning of last month, the venture, which slots into the former Kingsley site along Eagle St, was referred to as a seafood restaurant.
A glance at the menu, however, and that’s certainly not the description that comes to mind.
Yes, there’s plenty of seafood, but there’s almost just as much meat, and picking a theme among the myriad dishes is almost as difficult as selecting the winning Lotto numbers.
There are Japanese elements seen in the dressings for the day’s freshly shucked oysters ($66/dozen), Spanish influences with salted cod croquetas and a variety of pickles, French inspiration for duck beignets, roast chicken roulade and whole fish, and even the Vietnamese dish chao tom.
It’s enough to give you jet lag, but compiling a list of the world’s best dishes is apparently what the courageous couple wanted.
It’s a play that is well-suited to groups with varying tastes and those consumed by wanderlust.
There is one underlying theme, however, good produce and solid technique.
The octopus carpaccio ($35) is perhaps inspired by The Beatles’ classic song with the plate akin to a garden blooming with disks of target beetroot, sprigs of dill, leaves and edible flowers scattered across thin rounds of the eight-legged sea creature. A pickled jelly adds
an unexpected heat that catches the back of your throat, juxtaposed with a creamy sweet mango puree.
Better though are the Moreton Bay bug dumplings ($42).
If you don’t choke on the rather lofty price tag for just three small parcels, the delicate
bite-sized pieces are expertly cooked with the sweet seafood complemented by a bowl-scraping bisque.
Then there’s the aforementioned roast goose cooked “Cantonese-style” to deliver soft, fatty meat with just-crisp skin accompanied by a sweet, viscous cherry sauce for pouring over or dipping the included side of well-cooked, skin-on fries into.
It’s very well done but whether it’s worth the nose-bleed price is debatable.
Not living up to the expectations set by our overly enthusiastic, at times imposing, waiter is the side of popcorn cauliflower ($16) which he describes as 10 out of 10 and giving him goosebumps.
The florets of veg covered in fava bean flour before deep frying are fine if unremarkable.
Desserts are just as globally influenced as the rest of the menu with the likes of rum and raisin deep-fried ice cream and lemon meringue pie. We’re too full to try them but they would no doubt go down well with a digestif from the expansive drinks list, heavy with signature cocktails and sherry, and wines from around the world with many high end drops under Coravin, including Champagne.
Enjoying them is made even easier by the captivating view of the Brisbane River and Story Bridge from the luxury yacht-themed restaurant’s deck.
Tillerman is a step up for the restaurant couple behind former Naga Thai in the city and Petrie Terrace’s Libertine, and hopefully this bold elevation pays off.
Tillerman
71 Eagle St, Brisbane City
3071 9142
tillerman.com.au
Open
Tue-Sat noon-2.30pm and 5.30pm-late
Verdict
Food
Service
Ambience
Value
Overall
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