uni life
PUERTO
Add some spice to your life at Puerto
I’m going to say it – I love reality TV shows!
As such, I was very excited when Channel
7 shattered the typical format and created
a show where viewers could experience
the reality for themselves: enter Restaurant
Revolution. I recently dined at Brisbane’s
restaurant Puerto: East meets Mex, and
was not only impressed by the food but
also by the staff, atmosphere and location.
For starters, our table of six diners shared a
couple of dishes from the sides
menu; the plantains with lime
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mayo and the tortilla chips
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with pico de gallo. I had
never eaten plantains before
and found the deep-fried
savoury bananas to be quite nice, especially
when paired with the lime mayo. The tortilla
chips were crisp and the salsa-esque pico de
gallo was fresh with a hint of zing.
For my main, I had the tamarind braised
beef cheek with taro discs, stuffed bullhorn
pepper, pickled habanero and mint. The
recipe listed the beef cheek as being
cooked for 14 hours and it was clear that it
had been, with the meat not only being full
of flavour but also falling off the bone.
For dessert, I had the toffee pear; a
Sangria-poached pear served with
whipped coconut cream and coconut
crumble. The pear was poached to
perfection with my spoon gliding easily
through it, and the whipped coconut
cream kept the dish from being too sweet.
This pop-up restaurant is located on the
corner of Grey and Russell Streets, South
Bank, and I highly recommend you show
your support for team Queensland by
dining in for lunch or dinner.
WORDS: NAOMI J MATTHEWS – USQ Alumna
IMAGES: USQ ONLINE MARKETING TEAM