Urban myths
Adding to my restaurant review, last Friday one of the guys from work was leaving to go to the same company I'm going to (a coincidence, I didn't know until I got offered the contract). The chief took the whole software team to lunch at the Urban Bistro on Fullarton Road, near the race track.
As the name suggests it's one of those trendy, whatever the trend is, eateries with wanky minimalist decor. Thankfully they had wooden floor boards as opposed to the standard minimalist concrete. Still for a decent sized room holding 40 or so people it was rather loud, I couldn't hear much of what the waitress (or is it waiter these days) was saying about the specials.
The menu was I guess what you'd call Modern Australian, that is French jargon and Mediterranean flavourings and perhaps the occasional Asian ingredient. It all sounded pretty pretentious and the servings looked rather small sitting on those huge dishes. I went for the roast venison on polenta with spinach and grated beetroot. Since I was feeling pretty crook I thought I'd pass on the wine.
The staff were quite pleasant although it did take a while for the dishes to arrive, due in no part to the delightful waiting staff. The venison arrived looking rather diminutive and rare. However it was deliciously tender and packed full of flavour but I knew I needed a glass of wine, probably pinot (yes I'm still stuck on pinot thanks to Sideways).
The polenta was nice and wholesome, with effective but subtle garlic seasoning capable of standing up to the venison, just the thing for a crook little manchild. The spinach and grated beetroot were a refreshing balance to the rich flavours of the polenta and venison. Finally my glass of Nepenthe Pinot Noir arrived, although my nose wasn't in peak condition I could smell a distinct leafy aroma and a bit of that luscious strawberry fruit. The wine married with the food quite nicely, the general strawberry and slightly herbaceous flavours coming through, not quite as full as I'd hoped but then again I was crook.
During our conversation, I got reminded of a segment on the ABC science show the day before (Catalyst?) about how easy it is to imprint false memories. One example was the researcher doing quite a good job of convincing the reporter that she had visited the place they were at before. She would ask leading questions and was firm in her assertions to the reporter.
The other case study involved identifying a thief, participants were shown a video of a theft taking place and then photos of one group of suspects and a video of a line up of another group. Only one suspect was in both the photos and video. Over 50% of the participants wrongly identified the suspect in both the photos and video as being the culprit. This was attributed to him looking familiar, although that was most likely due to him appearing in both groups of suspects shown to the participants.
The researchers related this study to the case of a man in the US whom many involved in the case thought was innoncent. In this case he was also the only suspect shown in both the photos and video, this would seem to cast doubt over the reliability of the witness testimonies. Interesting stuff, psychology can actually be useful if removed from all those bleeding heart, nihilistic liberals.
Back to the meal, it was quite pleasant with the flavours lingering for quite a while. Overall I was pleasantly suprised that a seemingly pretentious eatery could serve up a satisfying, well balanced meal. Oh the overall price per head was probably comparable to Mapo which was a suprise and the bread was quite nice, a good balance between crusty and soft.
As the name suggests it's one of those trendy, whatever the trend is, eateries with wanky minimalist decor. Thankfully they had wooden floor boards as opposed to the standard minimalist concrete. Still for a decent sized room holding 40 or so people it was rather loud, I couldn't hear much of what the waitress (or is it waiter these days) was saying about the specials.
The menu was I guess what you'd call Modern Australian, that is French jargon and Mediterranean flavourings and perhaps the occasional Asian ingredient. It all sounded pretty pretentious and the servings looked rather small sitting on those huge dishes. I went for the roast venison on polenta with spinach and grated beetroot. Since I was feeling pretty crook I thought I'd pass on the wine.
The staff were quite pleasant although it did take a while for the dishes to arrive, due in no part to the delightful waiting staff. The venison arrived looking rather diminutive and rare. However it was deliciously tender and packed full of flavour but I knew I needed a glass of wine, probably pinot (yes I'm still stuck on pinot thanks to Sideways).
The polenta was nice and wholesome, with effective but subtle garlic seasoning capable of standing up to the venison, just the thing for a crook little manchild. The spinach and grated beetroot were a refreshing balance to the rich flavours of the polenta and venison. Finally my glass of Nepenthe Pinot Noir arrived, although my nose wasn't in peak condition I could smell a distinct leafy aroma and a bit of that luscious strawberry fruit. The wine married with the food quite nicely, the general strawberry and slightly herbaceous flavours coming through, not quite as full as I'd hoped but then again I was crook.
During our conversation, I got reminded of a segment on the ABC science show the day before (Catalyst?) about how easy it is to imprint false memories. One example was the researcher doing quite a good job of convincing the reporter that she had visited the place they were at before. She would ask leading questions and was firm in her assertions to the reporter.
The other case study involved identifying a thief, participants were shown a video of a theft taking place and then photos of one group of suspects and a video of a line up of another group. Only one suspect was in both the photos and video. Over 50% of the participants wrongly identified the suspect in both the photos and video as being the culprit. This was attributed to him looking familiar, although that was most likely due to him appearing in both groups of suspects shown to the participants.
The researchers related this study to the case of a man in the US whom many involved in the case thought was innoncent. In this case he was also the only suspect shown in both the photos and video, this would seem to cast doubt over the reliability of the witness testimonies. Interesting stuff, psychology can actually be useful if removed from all those bleeding heart, nihilistic liberals.
Back to the meal, it was quite pleasant with the flavours lingering for quite a while. Overall I was pleasantly suprised that a seemingly pretentious eatery could serve up a satisfying, well balanced meal. Oh the overall price per head was probably comparable to Mapo which was a suprise and the bread was quite nice, a good balance between crusty and soft.
Labels: restaurants, wines
posted by Forrest Rivers at 23:46
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