Builders Arms Hotel

There has been a tidal wave of hype around the recently renovated Builders Arms Hotel in Fitzroy, Melbourne, particularly around the restaurant within the hotel – ‘Moon under water’.  Not wanting to be too much of a conformist my review this week is on the bistro at the Builders Arms Hotel.

The new look is refreshing.  Simplistic crisp clean lines bathed in white leaving the entire pub exposed.  It’s open and airy creating an atmosphere of warm noise all around the bar and bistro area.  The staff are cool, smart and friendly.  You feel like you are in safe hands from beginning to end.

The team at the Builders Arms has taken their bistro menu to a whole new level in the old pub counter meal arena.  It is clean, intelligent and there is absolutely no sign of a parma. Enhancing the ordering experience is the knowledge and exceptional recommendations by the wait staff.  It’s clear that the floor staff are passionate about the food and strive to excel in the delivery of their service.  We were encouraged to share dishes (my favourite way to eat) and settled upon – ‘smoked curd, crudité’, ‘parmesan tart, grilled asparagus’, ‘dry aged, grass fed, porterhouse on the bone, Cape Grim 400 grams’,  a side of‘iceberg, buttermilk, cucumber’ and the ‘chopped broccoli, freekeh salad’.  Every single dish was FANTASTIC and FLAWLESS.  Truly perfect. We were fully consumed in each dish and personally I didn’t want the meal to end.  It made the concept of sharing quite a challenge because it was so good I wanted it all to myself!

Smoked curd, crudite

Tart

Not stopping there we were compelled to have desert and they did not disappoint either.  We devoured the ‘chocolate terrine and eccles cake ice cream’, ‘poached meringue, buttermilk ice cream, rhubarb granita’, and a scoop of the ‘home made ice, gelato’.  Sometimes having dessert at the end of the meal can tip you over the edge in the wrong direction.  But not this time, dessert was precisely the best way to close this deal.  The sweetness was balanced and light totally complimenting the earlier dishes.

Chocolate Terrine

Gelato

The wine list is enticing.  I love it when I find an Austrian Riesling on a wine list particularly in a pub.  It tells me that they are serious about pleasing their customers but not just having the run of the mill offerings.   The price point on the food is great.  You could assume that the dishes mentioned would be over the top but they aren’t, it is exceptional value for money. 

The new and improved Builder Arms Hotel bistro is remarkable.  They have stripped it bare in every way.  Almost gone back to basics in the best possible ways - the decor is clean and stylish, the food is fresh and delicious and the service is as it should be – friendly and switched on.

Thank you Builders Arms Hotel.  You have restored my faith somewhat!

Food – 10/10

Service – 9/10

Ambiance – 8/10

Builders Arms Hotel

211 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy.

Phone – (03) 9417 7700

www.buildersarmshotel.com.au

Open – 7 days/nights.  Walk ins only.

The Sweetest Thing – Part 8

It’s spring.  When the days get warmer our taste buds seem to crave food in a different way.  We still want something sweet, particularly after dinner, but the need to satisfy this craving can be overcome by summer fruits rather than something heavy like a pudding.  That’s’ what I tell myself anyway.  My sister in law Jess backs this up with her recipe for ‘The Sweetest Thing’ series.

Jess admits that sweets aren’t really her thing but she has come up with something that will satisfy a hankering for something sweet in the hot months ahead.  We love Jess not only because she’s sweet but also because she’s heaps of fun and she selflessly serves to protect us as a policewoman in the Victorian Police Force.  How lucky we are to have her on our side!

Thank you sweet Jess.

Fruit & Custard Tart

 

What you need;

Base -
2/3 packet Teddy Bear biscuits
40-50 grams butter

Custard -
125 grams sugar
500ml milk
4 egg yolks
2 tablespoons flour
1teaspoon vanilla essence

Topping –

Fresh raspberries and blueberries

Cream and/or Ice cream

What you do;

Crush the Teddy Bear biscuits with rolling pin.  Melt the butter and mix together with the crushed biscuits in bowl to make biscuit stick together.

Spread biscuit mix evenly in ovenproof tart dish and bake for 15 minutes.

Bring vanilla and milk to boil gently in saucepan.  In a large bowl beat eggs and sugar until light in color and frothy. Sift in flour and beat well.  Add milk slowly, beating constantly with a whisk.

Slowly reheat, stirring in one direction until thickened.

Cover with cling wrap, allow to cool, will thicken more once cooled.

Pour custard mix into biscuit base and decorate with fresh raspberries and blueberries.

Serve with cream/ whipped cream/ice-cream.

Jess says - best served straight away and not refrigerated.

Enjoy the summer loving my friends! x

The Sweetest Thing - Part 2

Keely's Peach & Raspberry Tart

Keely is the reigning ‘Trifile-off’ champion in the family from ‘The Sweetest Thing’ story I posted a few weeks ago.  Strangely enough there has yet to be another challenge after all these years.  But the sweet thing that Keely is best known for is her version of Donna Hay’s Peach & Raspberry Tart.  This has been her speciality for a few years now and it never gets tiresome. 

I still remember the first time she made it for me, I loved it.  The textures of the fruits with the simple base make it seem like an old fashioned crumble when you bite into it.  With the contrast of sweet peach and sour raspberry the flavours are a mini explosion. Serve it warm with double cream and ice cream to be really decadent!  You can still love it completely naked at room temperature too.  It’s just gorgeous either way.

This exquisite tart is perfect to take somewhere when you have been asked to bring something sweet because it looks like it’s off the shelf. Your friends will be very impressed when you tell them that you baked it and didn’t buy it from your favourite store on the way over. It is impeccable as a dessert but is so versatile that it’s very suitable to have for afternoon tea also.  Someone pop the kettle on please.

Give it a try this weekend.  Thank you sweet Keely x.

Keely’s Peach & Raspberry Tart

What you need;

125g (4 oz) butter, softened

1 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1½ cups self-raising flour
2 peaches, halved and cut into thin wedges*
150g (5 oz) raspberries*
2 tablespoons icing sugar

What you do;

Preheat oven to 160c (325F).

Line a 22cm round cake tin with a removable base with baking paper.

Place butter, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until light and creamy. Add the eggs and beat well. Fold in the flour and spoon the mixture into the tin.

Top with peaches and raspberries and sprinkle with icing sugar.

Bake for 1 hour or until tart is cooked when tested with a skewer.

Remove from the tin and serve warm in wedges with vanilla ice-cream.

Serves 8 – 10

*Keely uses tinned sliced peaches and frozen berries

Taken from a Donna Hay cookbook "Off the Shelf: Cooking from the Pantry”.  Harper Collins, 2001.

The Sweetest Thing Series - Part 2 of 9.

copyright - food for you reviews

The Sweetest Thing

I am very fortunate to have a group of beautiful women in my family; most of them have quite a sweet tooth and all of them have a sweet personality.  They are all great cooks and very passionate about food – particularly sweets.  I don’t think I am exaggerating when I tell you this – I have never seen a group of women get so excited about cakes, slices, desserts, in fact anything sweet. I would go as far to say that in my opinion one of their favourite things to do would be to have some cake with a strong cup of tea over a chat with each other.  It is something that I get much enjoyment from watching.  I myself don’t share the same passion for sweet as I am more at one with savoury, however I love food and one of the main things that I love about food is how it brings people together and bonds them in such an ordinary and seamless way.

At our family gatherings there are many of us and it’s growing each year.  The dessert table is always the one with the most dishes on it and it gets the most amount of attention. It is the one that provides the shrieks of happiness. I am always waiting with much interest to see who has made what this time – an old favourite or has someone been experimenting with something new since we last met?  There was even one Christmas when my brother in law and his wife had a ‘trifle off’.  Each thought they had the best trifle recipe.  A panel of judges was assembled from within the family to determine who had made the best trifle. It was a tough contest but of course the sweet lady was triumphant.

Each of the girls has their speciality, possibly more than one. But they have mastered each one with patience, passion and a desire to share with those that they love.  That’s the thing – the sweetest thing, that no matter why or when, food is always the one thing that threads people together.  For happy times, sad times, difficult times, celebration times, family and friends come together and share their food and it becomes the fundamental point of the gathering.  It is the easiest way to express your condolences or your delight without a spoken word. You can just hand over a baked good and the other person knows exactly what you are trying to say.

So this love or near obsession for all things sweet that the lovely ladies in my family have, has prompted me to ask them to share their number one sweet recipe with me so I could share it with you.  It was not easy for some of them to choose just one.  Although this was to be expected!

Over the next few months one by one I will share each recipe with you to try.  In the meantime here is the list of number ones and the first recipe that I will share with you. If you do try one I would love your feedback.

·         Sue’s Golden Dumplings
·         Angela’s Butterscotch Pudding
·         Fiona’s Hazelnut Slice
·         Marita’s Trifle
·         Keely’s Peach and Raspberry Tart
·         Jess’s Fruit & Custard Tart
·         Veronique’s Easy Chocolate Cake
·         Rachael’s Apple Crumble
·         Amanda’s Caramel Butternut Snap Cups

The Sweetest Thing - part 1; Sue’s Golden Dumplings

This is one of Sue’s favourite sweets recipe.  It’s loved by many in the family.

What you need –

DUMPLINGS

1 cup self raising flour
1 tablespoon butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
A little milk

SAUCE
1 cup water

1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon golden syrup

1 tablespoon butter

What you do –

Place sauce ingredients in pan and heat.

Rub butter into flour, stir in egg and enough milk to make a fairly stiff dough. Roll into little balls and drop into the boiling syrup for about 5 - 10 minutes.

Sue usually doubles the sauce.

THANK YOU SUE.  Enjoy everyone!

Sue found this recipe in the NMAA COOKS RECIPES FOR BUSY MOTHERS COMPILED BY NURSING MOTHERS' ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA