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Venue Rating - 8.70/108.7/10
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Food Rating - 8.90/108.9/10
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Wine Rating - 8.70/108.7/10
The 3rd of September saw the Brisbane chapter of the Beef and Burgundy Club attend The Bent Elbow. A recent addition to the booming Stones Corner entertainment precinct, The Bent Elbow transformed the former Fasta Pasta into a popular venue with barely a lick of paint and a little astro turf. The cost was $50 after some much needed funds were raised for the website in August.
With a background in fine dining, the stalwart staff moved to Stones Corner after abandoning long running CBD venue Jeremy’s Bistro. The new venture is more relaxed, with an indoor ‘beer garden’ greeting customers on entry, a row of stools at the bar and friendly bar staff ready for a yarn. The dining area harrows back to the Bistro, with excellent table service not found at other similar priced venues. The bar features 10 regularly rotating taps of beer/cider hand picked by beer connoisseur Dan, and a superb selection of well priced boutique wines selected by Jeremy. A large chalkboard lets customers know what’s on offer.
Long serving chef, Dave, recently left the venue to have some leisure time and the venue quickly snapped up Jason who’d just arrived in town. A long stint in Indonesia inspires plenty of spice in the new chef’s menu, so Beef and Burgundy Club felt he should prove his worth in the kitchen with an Australian favourite; steak. Unfortunately due to a mix up in the kitchen, the chef’s chosen cut of meat, the ever impressive tomahawk, was not ordered in preparation for the event. After a panicked attempt to procure the cuts, a switch to a grass fed, 300g ever ambiguously named sirloin (2+) was agreed.
The beef was rubbed in salt, pepper, cumin, smoked paprika and coriander seeds and oven cooked to perfection. The starters and sides were piled onto diners as a little guilt was felt in the kitchen, with bowls of in house biltong, garlic bread and peas with honey roasted heirloom carrots a plenty. I’ve never seen food left on plates at Beef and Burgundy Club before, but it was all too much for some. All members agreed that the meal offered extremely good value.
The wine, red as is the tradition, served by the house was the 2014 ‘The Fix’ Shiraz from Clare Valley winemaker Ben Jeanneret. Noteable aromas include sweet plum, blackberry and chocolate and diners were duly impressed. Of note, the regular sight of al-foil covered bottles was absent this month, with the venue offering full table service from the lovely waitresses who covered the bottles in towels to keep diners on their toes at question time.
First time Beefmaster, Brad Smede, received plenty of positive feedback from members about the venue, staff and most importantly the beef and wine and many stuck around for dessert and drinks into the evening.
Phil Johnson topped the scores on the evening.
