Before heading out to my brother's second EP launch (Panoptics - check them out) i decided to have a late dinner nearby. Given the gig was on Johnson street i had a range of restaurants available to visit including an old favourite in Cutler & Co. but decided on a newly crowned hat restaurant (2013 Hat winners were announced on the 27th August) in Easy Tiger.
Located on Smith Street just up from the busy corner with Gertrude Street, the restaurant was a modern but cool and relaxed fit out with both large shared tables, individual small tables and an outdoor patio area out the back.
Having arrived early at 830 for my late 845 booking i was told my table was not ready and shown to the outdoor area. Wooden tables, chairs and waiting benches, i was seated and offered an palate cleanser of subtle green tea. Fresh, hot and subtle it worked well.
They also offered me the drinks list and food menu to peruse while i waited. After a couple minutes they returned and they suggested i have some taro chips with chili salt whilst i waited and that a lager would go well to accompany them. Obviously some great minds work at Easy Tiger cos i was thinking the same thing. I went with a large Singha beer. The taro chips had a good hit of chili, were crisp and delicious and very addictive. I went back for seconds after being shown to my seat inside.
I was seated inside near the front at a low table with leather couches and candlelight. Having looked online before leaving and having looked at the menu whilst waiting i had already decided on my dishes when the wait staff came around but let the waiter tell me about the specials and recommendations in case he swayed me from my original choices. I decided on 2 small snack dishes, one main with a side and desert.
The first snack was a double serve (2) of Ma Hor. A mixture of prawn, pork and chicken mince combined with peanuts and cooked in palm sugar and then rested on a small disk of watermelon. Perfect execution, great balance of flavours with the meaty and nutty flavours balanced by the fresh sweet watermelon. A winner and a great start.
The next snack was a dish of classic Thai fish cakes with sweet chili sauce. Great, bold flavours and a slight kick of chili and were good. Maybe i shouldn't have expected more than what was stated but given the inventiveness of the menu, i was expecting a twist or something extra. But a solid dish.
The next was a main of stir fried duck with snake beans, hand main egg noodles & chili oil. Big bold flavours with a substantial hit of chili it was a superb dish and was perfectly accompanied by a side of big fluffy, perfectly cooked rice. I also went with a further side of a 'son in law egg'. Runny yolk in the centre of a slightly crisp outside batter. Excellent side dish and well cooked.
To accompany the main course i went with a moorooduc estate pinot gris which was ok but nothing special but was reasonably priced and part of a smaller (2 page) but intriguing wine, beer and cocktail list.
I then went on to desert and the desert that first attracted me to going to this restaurant. The waitress didn't even need to hand me the menu as i had known for months if i went to Easy Tiger, this would be my desert. The desert was the chocolate and pandanus dumplings, melon and salted coconut cream. The dumplings were green in colour and great in flavour and filled with a rich decadent dark chocolate. There was also small round melon balls and a layer of coconut cream that had only a slight salting. The dumplings were the standout and i would have preferred more of these than the melon but only because the chocolate was so good. Excellent dish and due to a slight delay (the waitress didn't immediately put the order in but corrected it before i noticed the time delay or even thought that it was delayed) this dish was give for free.
Definitely worthy of the hat that was recently bestowed and loved the style and atmosphere of the place. Amazing food, excellent friendly service and very decent value (snacks, 2 entrees, main and side and desert with a giant beer and a glass of wine for well under $100 - although the desert was free and would have pushed it close to $100). Would definitely go back with a group of friends to show off a very cool, hip and quality restaurant.
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