Alchemy Restaurant | Brisbane

I have an old photo of a much younger me at my engagement dinner, holding a glass of champagne over an ornate seafood dish at Brisbane restaurant Lat 27. Sadly, Lat 27 is no more, but previous owners Brad and Angelica Jolly are the imaginatives behind another Brisbane icon restaurant, Alchemy.

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Alchemy has been going strong since it opened way back in 2006. Situated on Eagle St in Brisbane, the restaurant overlooks the Story Bridge and Brisbane River, with big glass windows making the most of the view. Alchemy has just released its new Autumn menu which I was lucky enough to stick my fork into.

We started with Noosa Hinterland crispy courgette flowers with herbed goats cheese and truffled honey, which were an instant hit with everyone around the table. The creamy goats cheese was particularly flavoursome and nicely balanced the honey and truffle. 

This was served with a NV Canaletto Prosecco which had beautiful citrus notes.

Next was the Tasmanian salmon ceviche with citrus, glazed beetroot, horseradish and white chocolate crumble. Yes you read that right: White. Chocolate. Crumble. I can honestly say this is not something I’ve had with salmon before and it was a divine combination, adding an element of richness to the ceviche. As you can see in the photo as well, Alchemy is particularly generous with its salmon-slab.

Alongside the cerviche, we drank a 2012 Sirromet Verdelho which was a simple wine that didn't really add to the meal to be honest, but in saying that it didn't detract either.

The concept of seafood in Autumn continued with the perfectly cooked Hervey Bay scallops, crushed peas, goats cheese and lemon dressing. These scallops melted in your mouth and were a match made in taste bud heaven with the smooshed peas and broadbeans.

Served with this dish was a 2012 Henpecked Sauvignon Blanc which was light and lovely.

For anyone wondering what that white foamy-looking thing is, it’s pork crackling. It was light and crispy and almost dissolved off your tongue. I do personally prefer ye-olde style crackling, but I very much appreciate the uniqueness of this version. 

The rest of this Northern Rivers pork belly with yoghurt spiced aubergine, apple salad and crackling, was divine. The pork was tender and I rated the little aubergine and apple salad. And really- who doesn't love some little flower petals on their pork??

The wine we had with this was just fantastic. The Rockford Alicante Bouchet was well rounded and had a subtly hint of cherry. A perfect drop with pork!

In between our meaty meals, we received a cute-as-a-button lemon sorbet palate cleanser. I do love a palate cleanser, I wish I could get one every hour at work. Or maybe that's just ice cream. I wish I could get ice cream every hour at work.

Our final plate of deliciousness was venison loin with celeriac puree, chocolate coffee crumble and dark chocolate ganache. Again- chocolate with a savoury dish and again, I as a chocoloholic almost clapped as this plate was placed on the table.

Everything on this plate worked together beautifully, and the rich chocolate sauce and coffee crumble complimented the gamey tastes in the venison. The herb crust on the meat added a fantastic texture to each mouthful as well.

To compliment the venison we were served 2013 Elderton E Series Shiraz Cabernet which was almost as rich and lush as the dark chocolate sauce in the meal. It paired wonderfully.

Every great meal needs dessert and we were served a treat with soft set buttermilk panna cotta with rhubarb and basil ice cream. This dessert… I loved this dessert. The panna cotta was the consistency of cream and was beautifully rich. This is something traditional panna cottas struggle with- when too much gelatine is used, it tends to lock up the delicate flavours. The basil ice cream was phenomenal as well- it really packed a basil punch and was so much more interesting to eat than plain old mint ice cream.

Making sure we didn't go thirsty, we were served 2012 Castello Banfi Moscato D'asti with this dish which was a subtle dessert wine and was a solid pairing with this kind of delicate dessert.

I was not the only one in love with this dessert.

We thought we were full, but then out came the "liquid nitrogen sweet gastronomic nibbles" which got everyone out of their seats and around a little nitrogen trolley to watch an alchemist at work. Creamy dollops of either chocolate malteaser, mango and basil, or minted honeycomb were spooned into a nitrogen bath and in seconds scooped out as crunchy little moon rocks.

This was a fantastic way to end a great meal with everyone laughing at the bursts of fog that came out of people’s noses as we each took a bite of a “sweet gastronomic nibble” (or moon rock). 

This really did complete the whole experience at Alchemy- experimental flavours and cooking styles made for a fun atmosphere. And seriously, I still remember the panna cotta... man that was good.

Website: Alchemy
Twitter: Alchemy

Tanya dinned as a guest of Alchemy Restaurant and KDPR.