twas a fine dining experience indeed. everything about brent’s is fine dining: the white table cloths topped with elegant settings, romantic candle light, professionally friendly staff dressed all in black, multiple tiered courses if you choose to eat that way, rich and delicious high quality food with prices, in the end, being quite reasonable. definitely an experience.
my partner and i had planned on going to brent’s for a celebratory dinner (sept 8) and were told that this restaurant was a great place for special evenings. walking in, i was amazed at how beautifully the restaurant was set up and laid out. each table was either turned slightly or was straight-facing creating an element of privacy as not to be staring at the patrons around you. in that we did have a reservation, the hostess led us to our table which we were happy to discover was right in the window.
asking if we’d like a drink, my partner went with flat water while i decided to have the sparkling ($7.50) which was a bottle large enough for me to have 2 glasses.
looking over the a la carte menu, there were a lot of choices with categories including appetisers ($4-8.50), entrees ($22-24) and mains ($38-39) as well as palate cleansers ($3), sides, which were your vegetables ($8-9) and of course, desserts, including coffee liqueurs($12-15). there was also a romantic package ($175) which was a 6 course meal complete with a bottle of wine.
we decided to start off with the pasta dura bread with truffle & parmesan butter ($8.50). my partner wanted to try the market white fish, which was barramundi, with tomato confit, peas, pancetta and crispy potatoes in a bouillabaisse sauce ($39) and i went for the slow cooked eye fillet with duck fat potatoes, field mushroom and beef tartare & truffle cream on the side ($39). we were told that my eye fillet would take 40 minutes, but it didn’t matter as we were in no rush.
a short while later another waitress appeared and with a white glove, set the table and put our napkins on our laps. she also set out a bread plate and butter knife for both my partner and i and within a relaxing amount of time later, our pasta dura bread appeared. the well-timed service was impeccable!
the bread was a nice sized loaf, larger than we thought it was going to be and cut into four pieces. it was warm and smelled fantastic. the truffle and parmesan butter was whipped unbelievably light and was fabulous to spread. the taste was rich with the distinct taste of parmesan and the texture was like silk. tremendous!
it was a none-rushed comfortable time later when our meals appeared. the aroma was the first tease to our senses. my partner’s barramundi was beautifully crispy on the top, fresh and tender throughout and delicate in flavour which was complimented by the deep, rich broth-like bouillabaisse sauce finished off with peas and a decent amount of pancetta, cooked somehow to a perfect crispness that didn’t go soggy from being in the sauce. the potatoes on the other hand, were a bit more sparse and did lose their crispiness as they had soaked up the sauce. that part was unfortunate but overall my partner thought it was outstanding!
my eye fillet was succulent and tender, juicy and moist and absolutely perfect. the slow cooking of it made it so easy to cut and sink my teeth into. there was an over-generous amount of beef tartare that seemed more obvious due to the lack of starch on my plate to absorb it. rice may have been a good option for this abundance. but i did have two pieces of duck fat potato which was the most incredible thing i’ve ever tasted! the duck fat certainly added a unique but rich savoury flavour during the coking of the potatoes. they complimented the deeply intense flavour of the beef tartare sauce and truffle cream. my meal stated that on the menu that it came with field mushrooms, however, i failed to notice them as they weren’t apparent. i’m wondering if the mushrooms may have been reduced by the amount of time they had been cooked. although i would have liked some more veggies on my plate, i am aware that in french cuisine vegetables are often lacking. i know there was a “sides” category, but i didn’t want to pay an additional $8-9. i know i’m just stating my preference, so overall i can easily say that this meal was superb in every way!
with both of us more than satisfied with our meals and experience, my partner and i left brent’s after many pleasantries from the staff. this certainly was the place to go for the special evening we were having. it was nice to be pampered and spoiled with the exquisite attention to detail paid on all levels.
i would highly recommend this place for not only birthdays and anniversaries, but also for romantic evenings as well.