`You want to eat?: The Sardine Tin

The Sardine Tin

The tapas are little distillation of awesomeness that grounds you yet leaves you lusting; The Sardine Tin @ South Bank plays punters like Kitchen Eaten like a string, moaning and groaning and wanting more.

* Palate: 8.5/10 * Wallet: 6/10 * Coffee: N/A * Benchmark: Ortiga *

A few months ago Kitchen Eaten tried to impress an honoured guest from Melbourne – Mamma Yos is a great cook, a great person, and one of the great regret of Kitchen Eaten having to move to Brisbane all those years ago. The challenge is simple - the chosen venue needs to:

Serve food so good it floors the most seasoned of Melbourne palette
Maintain a casual and informal ambience where old friends may catch up
Be in a convenient yet stylish location that showcases the best of Brisbane

I decided on one of the tried and tested places that I have gone back to time and again:

The Sardine Tin, a tastefully appointed little tapas joint located in the heart of the South Bank food district.

And so we begin.

Too cool

Food

Kitchen Eaten and Mama Yos went for the tried and tested cluster f*ck approach - disregard stomach space and cash account depth and order a little of everything.

We were really lucky.

Deep-fried artichoke

The deep fried artichoke has a fluffy batter – crisped up fantastically while in the meantime protected the artichoke content beautifully. The artichoke was juicy, the batter’s beautiful crunchy texture adds to the dish, and the aioli sauce adds a bit of creaminess to offset the crunch, while the garlic adds a bit of intrigue.

Mama Yos declared the artichoke as one of the best she’s had.

Stewed octopus

Octopus can be a bit tough, but the stewed octopus here is firm yet comes apart to the chew it is like biting into butter. Wow. The paprika dusted over it can in truth be a little more intriguing – some flavour can be blended in there; the roasted potato could have had a crunchier skin to add some variation in the texture. All of that, however, is beside the point. This dish is about the octopus, and the octopus is fabulous.

A winner.

Sardine - in a tin!

The sardine of The Sardine Tin, unsurprisingly, comes in a tin. And it is absolutely awesome. The ideal sardine in Kitchen Eaten’s mind is oily, slightly salty, firm to the bite and mightily juicy. This ticks all the boxes. Sardine can taste a little too fishy to some (Kitchen Eaten reckons the fishier the better) – the dish helpfully comes with a wedge of lemon to offset that. The dish also comes with perfectly toasted bread – adds crunch, soaks up the wonderfully tasty oil, and makes both Kitchen Eaten and Mama Yos very happy indeed. Mama Yos subsequently declared that the tomato relish is the best she’s ever had. It is tangy and slightly spicy. Kitchen Eaten reckons it is simply a case of the relish harmonising with the sardine and the toast: it adds some freshness and cuts through the oil perfectly.

Masterstroke.

Prawn in claypot

The prawn is simply sensational - screamingly fresh, bouncy to the bite, and that sauce. Kitchen Eaten can’t describe that sauce – stock base, smoky and rustic, balanced with a little tomato acidity. Kitchen Eaten wants to take a bath in it; instead, Kitchen Eaten licks the pot clean.

After fending off Mama Yos rather forcefully.

Perfect smoked trout

Kitchen Eaten never knew that a cold dish can look so warm. Kitchen Eaten never knew that smoked trout can be only a little salty, and very creamy. The juice oozing out of the trout taste like smoked dairy infused with trout oil; Kitchen Eaten wishes that it never ends.

The sauce, however, is a bit of a dud. Minced green (Kitchen Eaten suspects marinated olive vines), overly tangy and salty, and overpowers the delicate trout. This is really the only dud point of the night.

Forgiven!

Kingfish ceviche

The ceviche absolutely traumatised Kitchen Eaten – what if he never had it so good again? What if he then lives forlornly for the rest of his life trying to find this perfection? Fresh seafood is actually creamy yet extremely delicate, so delicate it melts in the mouth. When paired with a little minced salted vine, the salt releases the subtle taste of the kingfish; when paired with top quality olive oil, the fruitiness then creeps in at the end. It is like kissing. At which point Mama Yos smacked Kitchen Eaten on the head because she knew him so well she knows when he is misbehaving in the head.

Both the ceviche and Mama Yos are scarily good.

Service & wine

The drinks here are carefully selected – nothing dud here. Kitchen Eaten and Mama Yos shared a light delicate red that compliments the seafood heavy meal here beautifully.

The staff that served us is knowledgeable, ultra friendly, speaks with the cutest French accent, and oh so pretty. She lit up the night for Kitchen Eaten (oh if you are reading this lets be friends).

At which point Mama Yos smacked Kitchen Eaten’s head again. Scary.

Wallet

$60 per head for a full tummy and wine. The price is slightly expensive, but the quality pokes through.

It is worth it.

You want to eat?

Laze away al-fresco style near the river, with cool decor, good atmosphere, fine wine, good company.

And let the food take centre stage and sing to you.

Eat here.

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