Rosella crusted scallop with strawberry and grapefruit dressing at Tukka

I wrote a list of all the blog posts I wanted to write from my Wicked Road Trip and it was a really long list (in blog post time I’m only on September 21st). So, I’m jumping forward a bit to the present to tell you about my dining experience with Sarah last night before I forget what everything tasted like.

I was telling Sarah about how I wanted to try kangaroo again because I suspected that the chef was the reason it wasn’t good last time. She did her usual “Oh!” thing when she gets a bright idea and said we should go to Tukka for dinner. Tukka is one of those trendy restaurants in the West End. Yes, that’s right Vancouverites, not only does Brisbane have the same “Translink” system, skytrains that they call either “citytrains” or the “airtrain”, but they also have a trendy bohemian West End very similar to our own West End. It’s no wonder Brisbane feels like a second home to me.

The Native Platter for Two (minimum order is for 2)

You know you’re at a fancy restaurant when the portions are literally bite size. LOL Tukka takes bush tucker (traditional Australian bush food) and makes it gourmet by serving it in slivers with unusual bush-inspired sauces.

Sarah and I both ordered the native platter entree (note: in Australia, an “entree” is an appetizer and a “main” is an entree) because it comes with an assortment of native berries, home-made damper (a heavy herb bread — I think it was thyme), native dips, kangaroo, emu and crocodile. We also asked to have a bit of Tasmanian possum thrown in as well.

Before our entrees came out, everyone received complimentary appetizers: rosella crusted scallops served on top of strawberry and with a grapefruit dressing. Each plate was really well presented and the scallop was yummy but I wasn’t a big fan of the grapefruit dressing. I know this is a terrible thing to say about food at a fancy restaurant, but you know that sort of sour gaggy taste you get when you’re just about to throw up from too much tequila? That’s what the grapefruit dressing reminded me of. Terrible eh? I’m obviously not cut out to review fancy restaurants…

Sarah hesitant to try the roo

Our entrees came out on one big wooden platter — sushi boat style. Again, the food was very well presented. We started off by trying each of the berries. A couple were on the blander side, one was sour and had the worst bitter aftertaste, the big purple one started off ok like a bland grape and then quickly turned to tasting like a bad grape, and by the end we decided we didn’t like any of them.

Time for kangaroo. Sarah was hesitant about trying this because she’s not a fan of rare meats and the roo was still pink in the middle. Because the meat was so rare, its texture reminded me of sashimi but it tasted like beef jerky and was tender, flavourful and mild. This was much better than the roo I tried at Undara.

Next up: emu. I definitely preferred the roo to the emu. The emu was tougher and I think there was a little bit of tendon to it because it was difficult to cut and chew. The meat had a smokey flavour to it but neither of us could quite put our finger on how to describe the taste of the actual meat. Nothing special, but just slightly different than your usual meats.

The roo and emu also came with little roo and emu sausages. The roo sausage was so good! It was full of spices and had just the right consistency. I was a big fan. The emu sausage was good (you can’t really go wrong with sausages), but it felt more packed than the roo sausage and I didn’t like it as much.

Trying to cut the emu sliver

Crocodile time! *sigh* No croc will ever beat the croc burger I had at Daintree Village! The croc here was a little fishy again and also a little bit on the drier side. It certainly wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t nearly as good. I wish Sarah could’ve tried the burger at Daintree too.

Finally it was time for Tasmanian possum. I haven’t seen possum on any other menu in Australia, and I think I know why: it’s not good. Possum tastes like day old chicken McNuggets. It’s a bit chewy, reminds you of whatever is the opposite of fresh, and you actually feel like you’re eating road kill. Sarah said it reminded her of that scene in Shrek where he’s roasting rats. I guess neither of us are cut out to be food critics. LOL

We finished off with some lemon myrtle tea which was a lot calmer and soothing than I expected. When I think ‘lemon’ tea, I think of a tea with a little kick. This was more like a tea you’d have in front of a fireplace with some heavy cookies just before heading off to bed. A nice ending to an unusual dinner.

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