85 Miskin St | Toowong

Degustation dinners are usually few and far between for most people thanks to the hefty price tag attached to the plates and plates of food that are served up.

However, as part of the 10 year celebrations at Toowong restaurant 85 Miskin St, a special July degustation menu has been concocted which features six of the restaurant’s favourite dishes over the past decade.

And the best part? it’s only $60 or $95 with matching wines.

Does this affordable night out still serve up the wow factor? Let’s take a look.

---

To kick off our historical dining experience we were served some soupy starters:

• Wild Mushroom Cappuccino, Prosciutto Crumbs and Truffle Oil

    with NV De Perriere Blanc de Blanc Brut (Brugundy, France)

• Sautéed Seafood and Creamy Bisque, Crusty Loaf, Shellfish Oil and Sauce Rouille

    with 12 Ross Ritchie Chardonnay (Mansfield, Victoria)

From now on, I’d like all my soup to be served in the form of a coffee. The mushroom cappuccino was ridiculously cute, served up in a tiny latte glass. It tasted very earthy and the foam added a lovely bubbly texture to the creamy “cappuccino”.

The seafood bisque was rich and packed full with flavours of the ocean. It was a bit salty, but this worked well with the fresh bread and garlic-packed creamy sauce rouille. The scallop, mussel and fish were all lightly cooked to perfection.

We then moved onto:

• Garden Lemon Myrtle, Watermelon and Lime

• Crispy Confit of Duck, Butternut Pumpkin, Liquorice and Eureka Lemon

    with 12 Bouchard Aine and Fils Cote du Rhone (Beaune, France)

The lemon myrtle sorbet made for a very refreshing palate cleanser, and the lime added a nice citrus zing to the sweet melon.

I absolutely loved the duck, which was made by confiting a whole duck and pressing it back into its crispy skin. This was served with a shard of liquorice which added a great aniseed taste dimension to the whole dish. The sweet and creamy butternut pumpkin was a wonderful addition as well.

Finally we came to:

• Braised Beef Cheek, Truffle Potatoes, Crispy Prosciutto and Asparagus

    with 10 Chateau l’Eglise Bordeaux (Pomerol, France)

• Black Forest Floor

    with Hanwood 10yr Tawny, (multi region, South Australia)

The beef cheek was ridiculously tender, and fell apart as soon as you took a mouthful. The addition of truffle oil to the potato harked back to the first dish of the night and gave a nice winter touch to the dish.

One of the night’s biggest wow factors then came out in the form of the black forest floor.

This was a mini chocolate forest on a plate and was absolutely delicious. The log in the middle was made out of chocolate canolli filled with a light cherry chocolate mousse. This was then surrounded by cherries, pistachio moss and chocolate soil. There were also two mushrooms on either side, which were made from cherry marshmallows with chocolate mud cake stalks.

Now this is my kind of trek through the woods!

For drinks I also started with an Iced Espresso Martini, made from Coffee and Hazelnut Ice Cream, Espresso, Kaluha, Vodka and Frangelico.

This was a fantastic example of an espresso martini, thanks in part to the very, very moreish Lick Ice Cream that was used.

After all the noms, I also finished with a peppermint tea that came in a cute-as-a-button teapot.

This feast down memory lane is available for both lunch and dinner during July.

With 85 Miskin St absolutely nailing interesting and delicious foodie concoctions, I can’t wait to see what the next 10 years brings.