~ Curious Charlie ~

Dick Whittington Tavern @ Friday, December 28, 2012

Friday 14th Dec.

On Friday late afternoon (about a fortnight now, ~~awaiting jas's promise of his half of the review~~) we went for an ~~early~~ dinner (someone was an hour late) at the Dick Whittington Tavern on Chapel Street, it seems that we weren't the first to get lost. 32 Chapel St, according to Jas is next to the paint shop on the busy shopping strip. Fortunately we had the tavern's number and called them for directions. It's near Balacava Station, not Windsor. I got the right location on google maps, he didn't on his phone.I find it helps to check out the street view, so you're familiar with the location. The tavern is almost on the corner, next to their drive through BWS-esque liquorland, park there.

The Menu

We started with entrees...

Homemade Dips 12.00

Assortment of dips, falafel chips and ciabatta bread

Why does it look so pretty?! Fuchsia is Beetroot, Curry Orange is Spiced Sweet Potato, and White is Tzatziki. Jas says he's working on the reviews, but I doubt he is, that or he's only started, hence half the pictures/dishes don't have reviews.

Soup of the Day 9.00

Sweet Potato & Rosemary

Everything we ordered arrived at the same time which was great. The soup was very nice, I would get it again. Though I did find it made me thirsty, so don't forget to order a drink. It's also heavy on the flavours. The combination of sweet potato and rosemary went very well as you could taste both, rather than having one overpowering the other.

Free Range Rack of Lamb 32.00
Oven roasted rack of lamb, on a bed of spiced sweet-potato mash,

served with balsamic vinegar braised pearl onions, with a honey rosemary jus

Everyone has that one thing they always order from certain types of places like mocha from coffee shops or hot chips from those new gourmet fast food joints. For jas at restaurants, if they have lamb of some sort that's what he'll get. For unknown reasons his food is once again doing much better in terms of food porn.

Inverell high country fillet mignon 29.00
250g Grainfed eye fillet ~~wrapped in bacon~~,

served on creamy mash potato with market greens.

With garlic butter

As I don't eat bacon I got it without the bacon. Wrong move. Rather than order it without a piece essential to the dish pick something else. In this dish the bacon plays a part in cooking the eye fillet, without it the outside of the fillet was overcooked, hard and chewy. Inedible. However the inside was fine. The mash I did find too salty for my liking. I liked this dish, but wouldn't recommend it (w/o the bacon) or get it again.

Xmas Pudding with Brandy Custard & Vanilla Ice Cream 12.00

Pudding, particularly Christmas Pudding is something that's always been fascinating to me - the part where you set it on fire. I've never had this pudding but did make it a decade or two ago. Jas explains that an xmas pudding is a fruit cake but denser and moist. That doesn't sound too appealing, I prefer my sponge and cream cakes.

Creme Burlee 12.00

I love Creme Burlee, and most things custard. This one was great, I've never had a bad creme burlee though, they all taste the same to me... One thing I would change is the presentation, it was quite shallow, the dish was about 1.5cm deep, I'd prefer a smaller deep dish. I'd recommend it, but perhaps not at this price.

We enjoyed our dinning experience at the tavern, with some many places to eat at and so little time I wouldn't go back, due to prices and the location. But the service was very good, and if you're in town do check it out. But don't go on a Friday or Saturday night, there's a pub next door and it's very loud. Oh and on Wednesdays they have half price men's night, which include all their dishes except the fillet mignon. So I am curious, does it mean that if a couple dines and the guy pays it's half price, or does it refer to the consumer?