Bacchus - South Brisbane. In the Rydges Hotel in South Bank, on the podium level of the building, one of Brisbane's most talked about, and top-rated restaurants resides. With such a wide, ardent array of accolades in its young existence, it has won numerous awards of a high caliber. That is something that the team here needs to be proud of. What is to be expected is that this is not a cheap place to get into; mains start in the 30's and go up. From a look at photos and the menu, that is somewhat reasonable. There are various modes of the menu including degustation (one being dessert, believe it or not) and breakfast buffet. The menu is heavily inspired by fine European cuisine, and would not look out of place is great cities like London or Paris. Without hyperbole, it is something special.
With such a great reception that needs to be shown further, how to get a wider audience? Well, that is how I got here. The weekly email came out (the deal for 50% off your bill), and this time it was for the restaurant Bacchus. In the Dimmi deal, there was the choice to have it either for dinner, for lunch, or to come in for a high tea. As usual, I forwarded the details onto my dining buddy to see what his sentiments on it were. After perusing the information for a bit, he decided that a high tea sounded good - and it was something a bit different as well - and it was off to make a booking for one afternoon.
It is right on the balcony, and space is shared with a pool bar. Straight in the heart of one of the biggest dining scene areas, along with one of the most happening areas of the city there are inevitably going to be brilliant views. Not that I went out, but even just a glance gets some wonderful sights of the city's skyline. As far as Brisbane is concerned, it is hard to beat this place for location. For sheer beauty and atmosphere, the interior is absolutely wonderful. Every aspect about it is well thought out, from the lighting to the choice of tables to the carpeting. They matched well with a choice of brown and gold throughout. A good way to put it is that it looks and feels genuinely luxurious. The seating was some of the most comfortable that I had ever felt; it felt like a hybrid of an armchair and a good quality chair for a table. The designers of restaurant made sure that there was a feeling of special within the dining experience.
At the time, it was really quiet. There might have been one other table occupied at the time; but for the most part the restaurant was empty. After the lunch rush, it is understandable - just how the food business works (and off-peak is where the Dimmi deal works for interested diners). Therefore, it took a bit of a while to get the attention of a waitstaff member but when we did, he was really lovely. Heck, the service here is of such a high standard that it contributes more to that feeling of luxury. With such a small number of people in the restaurant at the time, even so much as the water being low in the glass got attention to be refilled.
Most of the high tea choices revolve around their "Quintessential High Tea", with choices to get it with champagne or dom perignon or as is, plus the additional choice of a cream tea. No questions asked, or ifs and buts, it was one order of the Quintessential High Tea coming up. This consisted of three layers of finger foods, though there was forks and spoons provided. Another aspect about the service that was notably admired was the suggestion to go bottom up, and what a good idea that was. Down to this meal, there is plenty of presentation going about. For each diner, there is one of each item on the plates. Tea comes in a teapot, there are small plates to put the items on for the diners, cutlery is provided and the china just simply looks beautiful.
Starting with the bottom layer, it was a small selection of savoury items. This choice varies daily, and therefore is more than subject to change. First up eating, it was a deviled ham sandwich. This was not bad, pretty simple done on white bread. It had a small bit of flavour and was creamy. Next was what I perceived to be a curried egg sandwich which was also pretty good. However, it was on to the really good stuff afterwards - one of them being a mini croissant which had a generous amount of leg ham (it was spilling outside the pastry) and a smearing of mustard. Ham and mustard are a great match together, and the pastry of the croissant was rich and buttery. From the savoury selection though, the best aspect was what seemed to be a goat's cheese and capsicum tart; the semi-strong tart flavour of capsicum combined with the smooth creaminess of the goats cheese in a puff pastry. This little morsel is good enough to be served as a canape.
So with a more dynamic range of savoury items than expected, it was onto the second layer. This middle one was essentially a cream tea. Two kinds of scone - date and plain - were served with a French raspberry preserve and cream chantilly (a sweeter version of whipped cream). This was simply wonderful. The amount of both toppings was really generous, the scones were soft enough to tear apart and sturdy enough to hold their own, and both toppings tasted good and not overbearing. Cream tea is another one of those deserved classics of the dining scene.
Finishing off the meal was the best part of it. A sample size of several different types of sweet. The selection process was erudite, since each one had a completely different flavour and even a different texture to the others. There were no repeats or similarities, which is the best way to leave an impression. Even the colours of the sweet all managed to be different from each other. The sweets were a raspberry mousse stack, a lemon cupcake, a blueberry & almond friand, an after-dinner mint panacotta snobinett, and there were a couple of different types of macaroons - my dining buddy got a peanut butter flavour and from memory mine was more of a lemon flavour. All of this was really good.
Starting off is the mousse stack, which was cylindrical and had a jelly-like texture. It had a slightly sweet, and even more slightly bitter flavour to it akin to the aforementioned fruit. This was the weakest of the lot, but still tasty in a way; it was possibly the fruitiest and the softest of them all. Then it was on to the cupcake. Cupcakes can easily be messed up, often looking good and pretty but ultimately end up not tasting like much; this time though, it was in favour. The base of the cupcake was soft and moist, with subtle hints of vanilla, and on top of it was a generous dollop of frosting. As simple as they always are, the blueberry friand was still delicious. A small cake with some vanilla flavour in it and a small bit of fruitiness makes it a safe choice at the patisserie. It is an interesting idea, the snobinett. Think of a small chocolate edible cup, and it can get filled with whatever can come to mind. The one at the high tea was filled with a choc-mint mixture, which was liquid - one bite and it started oozing out; it may have been meant to be eaten in a single bite. That may have been the highlight of the highlights for sheer intrigue. Finishing off was the darling of French desserts, the macaroon. Flavours are chosen at random, and can even be different flavours on the high tea altogether for the different participants. Soft yet like a meringue, it was a rare case where I could see the fuss about macaroons right here. The flavour was also not overbearing.
Of course, what high tea would be complete without the namesake component? Or a coffee instead as it was offered? Either way that is chosen, there is a great selection of both beverages (four different categories for teas, and several to represent them) . The blends are courtesy of Harney & Sons, all the way from New York. With each one, it is given a description underneath it. Starting off, I went for a cappuccino and had to go for their signature blend - Bacchus' Bespoke Blend. Starting off, the way it was crafted was simply fantastic. The texture was smooth and almost like one fluid range of textures from the good head of foam to a clean, lithe body of milk and espresso blend. Plus, plenty of chocolate powder on top. The flavour also was brilliant, being more complex than most. It first had a somewhat fruity taste to it, and then came some hints of chocolate throughout. It was one of the most memorable that I have had in the city, or maybe even ever. That first coffee was so good, that upon being offered another order after the meal I gladly complied. The second one was the Colombian blend; my dining buddy went and ordered one as well (the Bespoke Blend). They were both cappuccinos, and as per the quality description as before - it was fantastic. It had a different sort of flavour, more of a honey type - a new one on me.
The high tea was absolutely brilliant. Each aspect of it was given due care, and thus the food, the ambiance, the presentation was at the top quality. If there was any place around town to have the full-blown experience of a high-tea, you can sure bet that the Rydge's Hotel have that sorted. For the restaurant's food as a whole, can it really be critiqued by something as specialised as a high tea? However, the rest of the important aspects were all present; Bacchus is a restaurant which which makes it well suited for a president.
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