Huxtable

Huxtable has been on my to-eat list for a while.  I had read about their tasty morsels and thought 'Gimme a bit of that'.  Not being a fan of dining alone, Tina and Shazza joined in on the fun.  The 'hangout' status of the southern end of Smith Street has been elevated in recent times, fueled by the restaurant revival in the area.   I was there last night across the road at Easy Tiger!

Like many newish eateries, communal dining reigns supreme here and our aim tonight was to eat into excess.

Not one to say no to wine, I had a glass of the Mojo shiraz.  Naice. 

Jalapeno and cheddar croquette.  I love croquettes and I was pleasantly surprised to find that they didn't dumb down the chilli flavour.  More, more!! 

Steamed crab and corn rice noodle with XO chilli.  Yummy too.  

(L-R) Tempura eggplant prawn fritter and shiso.  Yummy.  We also had the special - king salmon with fresh wasabi.    Well, sashimi is sashimi.  If it's good, it's good and if it's bad, it's really bad and like at Matteo's, it was weird to eat raw fish without chopsticks.  Korean BBQ pork ribs with spicy slaw and chilli gherkin.  I heard many good words about this and I sure wasn't disappointed.  My arteries were clogging but how could I say no to crispy crackling, melt in your mouth fatty pork?  My red wine was going to offset any bad stuff anyway!

(L-R) Red wine braised short rib with parsnip puree and persillade.  Melt in your mouth pork and now melt in your mouth beef.  Freaking yummy.  Quinoa with zucchini flowers, pomegranate and goats cheese.  I'm really digging the combination of goats cheese and quinoa.  This was our healthy dish to balance the meal.  Lightly smoked duck breast, figs, chevre, honey and frisee.  Not the highlight dish of the night but still nice.

I was full but dessert was not going to be given up that easily.

Shazza had the dark chocolate delice, jaffa, raspberry sorbet and pistachio.  Tina and I each had a cinnamon ice cream and fudge sandwich.  It was massive with a big chunk of fudge in the centre of the ice-cream.  Next time, I probably won't try to eat it alone and I should've realised it was going to be huge by the $12 price tag.

Yes I was impressed with Huxtable especially given my so-so reaction to Easy Tiger.  Our dinner was about $80 per head which makes it sit comfortably in the moderately priced dining category.  I would have convulsed at paying such a price a year ago but I've come to terms with the increased cost of living in Australia and now expect dinner to be between $50-$100.  Service here was friendly and not intrusive and yep, it'll be a matter of time before I eat here again.  Num nums!