‘Falling-apart tenderness’: The $32 beef cheek bourguignon pie you must try
A major transformation of a landmark city venue has delivered an elegant new restaurant, with a standout pie among its offerings.
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The beef cheek bourguignon pithivier (or pie as we call it in these parts) looks like an escapee from the discus competition at the Paris Olympics, the golden brown flying saucer-shaped pastry artfully placed on the plate.
We’re at The Brasserie in newly opened Naldham House, the latest enterprise to grace the white, heritage-listed 1864 building on the corner of Felix and Mary streets in the Brisbane CBD, with executive chef Douglas Keyte (ex-Melbourne’s Grill Americano) offering up a traditional menu featuring the likes of oysters, beef tartare and chicken liver parfait to begin, and perhaps steak with cafe de Paris butter or fish meuniere to follow.
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The pithivier ($32), is best in show on our dinner visit, with its filling slow cooked into deeply flavoured, falling-apart tenderness, encased in flaky pastry and surrounded by a puddle of jus, but the lamb is also a hot contender with pink-centred noisettes of Margra lamb – the premium micro-marbled NSW product – lining up before a hillock of lentils du puy studded with speck ($59).
After a decade of standing empty, Naldham House – which began life as a steam navigation company office before morphing through a variety of owners and uses, including the Polo Club in the ’80s – has been transformed into a multi-level space by Brisbane hospitality group DAP & Co, which has a track record in restoring historic spaces, such as award-winning bar The Gresham and Walter’s Steakhouse.
On the ground floor of the beautifully restored building, which opened in mid-July, is a large marble-backed bar facing a lushly decorated restaurant designed by Anna Spiro, with her signature blend of a mix of fabrics, patterns and colours offsetting original features. Dark green walls offer an eye-catching backdrop to a dramatic abstract Clare Dubina painting over a marble fireplace, bookshelves, enormous pottery vases bursting with greenery, plush drapes and colourful carpets. The tables are sturdy metal-edged wood, with upholstered chairs and booths along the walls. Added to the mix is a retro soundtrack including Elton John and Queen. The bar also serves the 120-seat The Terrace, facing Waterfront Place, which has outdoor furniture and heaters and its own menu – including chicken skin crisps with whipped cod roe and caviar, prawns on toast or a wagyu cheeseburger – with cocktail-style venue Club Felix upstairs.
The drinks list is broad, with cocktails from classics to signatures such the Pinahina, featuring Husk coconut rum from just over the border, Queenland beers, a hefty wine list with mainly European by-the-glass options in two sizes and a wide selection of spirits.
A beetroot, goat cheese, ricotta and hazelnut tart ($25) is a proven blend of flavours in a pastry case resembling a large vol au vent, while three Mooloolaba king prawns ($36), arrive dressed in with finely diced shallot, chilli, anchovy, parsley, lemon and olive oil.
Beyond the previously mentioned main courses and crumbed flathead, eggplant cotoletta and pasta with oxtail ragu, there are share plates, including a 650g pork tomahawk ($65) and a 800g cote de boeuf ($165).
A large contingent of white-clad wait staff is on hand, ranging from the very experienced to newcomers such as our waitress, who is pleasant but unable to help with questions about the menu or the drinks. However, senior staff members drop by occasionally to check in and everything works well enough.
Desserts are a choice of the French standards of rhum baba, berry mille-feuille, creme caramel and chocolate paris brest ($20) – a doughnut-shaped choux pastry sandwich with dark chocolate filling and a crown of hazelnut praline.
Like the rest of the dinner, it’s a solid version from a menu that offers no surprises but plays to the brasserie classics, perhaps inspired by the history of such an elegant venue.
Naldham House
33 Felix St, Brisbane City
naldhamhouse.com.au
Open
The Brasserie:
Mon-Sat 11.30am-3pm, Mon-Thu 5-9.30pm,
Fri-Sat 5-10pm
The Terrace: Mon-Sat 11.30am-11.30pm
Must try
Beef cheek bourguignon pithivier
Verdict
Food
Service
Ambience
Value
Overall
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