The secret recipe - Alchemy

Next on the list of Brisbane's top 10 is Alchemy. This one was totally unknown to me. For some reason I had it placed in Customs House, but it was actually tucked away next door in the base of a commercial tower, overlooking the Brisbane River from the Story Bride to Kangaroo Point Cliffs. It was a secret garden in the hubbub of the city.

Inside it was small and intimate (although larger than Montrachet) and was almost Arabian in its feel with flowing curtains and dark lighting (I should point out that I have never been anywhere that is actually Arabian and therefore this is based on my impressions from the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark).

One of the most exciting parts of each of these adventures is the first read of the menu. It invariably results in conversations about ingredients and dishes that are on the menu that we do not know, those we have had before somewhere else and some horse trading on who is going to order what. Sometimes Google helps out, other times we ask our waiter for guidance. This part of the night is always great because it offers so much possibility.

We waked through the menu (making sure to ignore the desserts so we can relive that excitement of the menu at the end of the night). And although this has never happened, we also don't want to commit to a dessert when we may not actually be able to fit it in (and we all hope this never actually happens). Before we arrived, we had heard about the house speciality which is the beef cheeks. We wanted to order this because it's what this place is known for but at the same time, did not seem interesting enough to order. Overall, the menu seemed large and there were great ingredients all over the place, but there was not much that actually jumped out at us. Let's hope this is the the opposite of Montrachet.

We took the opportunity to speak to our waiter to help our decision making. He described the way the beef cheeks were prepared, which included 12 hours of cooking. This did seem too good to pass up so we ended up ordering them. For entrée, we ordered Scallops with roasted Chorizo, Confit Tomatoes and Parmesan Foam and also Lemon and Lime Risotto with Crab and Octopus.

I was most excited about the scallops and chorizo (how could two of the best ingredients in the world be bad?) but we were most impressed by the risotto. We were reasonably happy with entrees and were looking forward to mains of Braised Beef Cheeks and the waiter's suggestion of Pork Belly with Lentils. And the winner is . . . . the beef cheeks. This was one of the best meals we have had to date. I went to cut the beef cheek in half (which was served on the creamiest mashed potato you have ever seen - so much so you would have thought it was the brother of the pillows of love) and much like the red sea for Moses, I am sure it parted into two pieces as my knife hovered over it. For sure it was blessed by the divine.

Mixed with the mash, and the glorious gravy that it was born into, a simple plate of meat and mash was a genuine experience. So if this is what they can do with one of the toughest parts of the beast, what can they do with the joy that is pork belly? The answer is overrun it with lentils and make it less enjoyable. Unfortunately the plate was overrun with lentils and this was the dominant texture. It made the whole dish less than it could have been.

So far we have a balanced main, and a balanced entrée - blow us away with your desserts Alchemy.

We perused the dessert menu and were tempted by the chocolate cake. This seemed like a pedestrian choice but it was chocolate and the name of it did not give away the style of the dessert. We asked the waiter what he thought and he highly recommended it. He had also recommended the pork belly (big mistake, huge mistake) but he had also provided a lot of information about the produce they use and the stories behind some of their menu items so we gave him another chance.

It arrived and it was a chocolate lava cake and boy did it erupt. I cut through it and the molten chocolate could no longer be contained. It was an impressive site, and the up side was there was no Pompeii style side effects. Unfortunately, that was the best it could offer. For a dark looking chocolate cake with a molten chocolate sauce, there was a decided lack of chocolate flavour. In fact, it had a real flavour of packet chocolate cake. It was a real pity that the taste was not equal to the presentation.

Carla and I were at our fortnightly pretentious best so let's not beat around the bush here. The food was a mixture of great and good. The service was excellent - our waiter was attentive but unobtrusive. He was also clearly passionate and knowledgeable. He really improved the experience and would be a factor in our return. To be scientific about it:

Lemon and lime risotto 8 (really acute citrus flavour and light for a risotto)

Scallops and cherizo 7 (just did not work as well as it could have)

Beef cheeks 9 (amazing potato, beef melted, super rich)

Pork and lentils 6 (lentils overpowered texture, pork was tender and pleasant)

Lava cake 6.5 (lacked choc flavour. Tasted like packet cake)

Service 9. Knowledgeable waiter, attentive service.

Overall we rated Alchemy 7 out of 10 on the Anise scale.

Watch our for our next instalment in our pompous gastronomical tour of Brisbane, Enoteca 1889.