Saturday, March 26, 2011

The Firehouse


Somewhere not too far away from where we live is a cozy place called The Firehouse, an ex-fire brigade that was given a make over and converted into a restaurant. With its fine selection of food, cocktails and wines, we may just end up finding ourselves grazing over their tapas after a leisurely evening stroll.

The building definitely feels old but the interior decor is modern, with artwork for sale hung on the walls and empty wine bottles showing telltale signs of how they were once eagerly consumed. For some reason I am having a cocktail thrill these days, so I started with the curious Sage and Butterscotch Martini. It was nice, but probably too sweet for me (but hey, it has butterscotch, what was I expecting?)


Sage and Butterscotch Martini
tequila, butterscotch schnapps, lemon juice, cointreau and sage

After that first round the second drink was interestingly named "Here's Johnny 16" - apparently an Italian take on the Rob Roy cocktail. With limoncello, ginger, lemon thyme and Johnnie Walker Red scotch - who would have given it a miss?

 
 slurped

The selection of tapas was also quite tempting, everything on the menu sounded good. By unanimous vote, the following arrived:

(left to right)
whitebait, corn and coriander egg fritters with sour cream,  
marinated char-grilled octopus with fennel seeds,
beetroot cured ocean trout, horseradish mascarpone and chervil,
and country terrine of duck & pork, roasted pickled fruits, melba toast.
Across the table is a glass of Pontack's Head cabernet sauvignon.


The fritters were very tasty, the octopus so-so (but meat was tender), the beetroot cure on the ocean trout was very interesting and made us wonder how they did it :) The terrine was also flavorful, and was perfectly combined with the pickled plums.

With eyes bigger than bellies we continued on to the main course of lamb shoulder bastilla with pumpkin and cinnamon (a parcel of crispy puffed pastry with very rich meat) and another small plate of short cut beef ribs with mole sauce.  Yes, it was as yummy as it sounded.

Will definitely come back!

Interested? Check out their website. Bookings essential!

* photos from my blackberry

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