By Trevor Pepys
Semi-professional restaurant reviewer Trevor Pepys came bouncing into the Noosa Today offices in early June (just as we went back into print) claiming to be a descendant of the renowned 17th century diarist Samuel Pepys, to possess similarly lurid literary skills and to have travelled the globe for decades, familiarising himself with Michelin hats.
Brickbats and bouquets have been hurled at his alleged restaurant reviews ever since, but we love Trev, despite the fact that there is a distinct possibility that he’d never eaten a restaurant meal before taking on the Tucker column, and never travelled further than Kin Kin. This was Trev’s half-year.
June – Whisky Boy
Whisky Boy resembles at first glance a double garage that has been converted into a granny flat and a kitchen, but hey, some of the best meals Trevor Pepys has ever eaten have been in sheds of one kind or another, and this is a pretty classy example of the genre. Oh, and a short note here: Trevor Pepys occasionally lapses into the third person because a) there is no third person, just you, the reader, and he, the writer, and b) he is a bit of a tosser.
We opted for a few entrees to share, along with an excellent bottle of Domaine Grand Cros rose ($45). The ice cream dollop of house-made chicken liver pate, served with grilled flatbread ($16), was excellent in flavor and texture, the salt and pepper calamari ($18) made up for in taste what it lacked in presentation. Only the raw tuna special ($16), billed as sashimi, disappointed. Nothing wrong with the tuna strips, as fresh as yesterday, but sashimi needs wasabi and soy, and none was forthcoming, and neither did the kitchen have any.
July – Sindo’s, A Taste of Spain
Next came the star turns, which looked lonely without another bottle of tempranillo to be going on with. Making a Spanish omelette is not rocket science and yet it’s hard to find a truly authentic one in this country. Chef Daniel Mati is Catalan and it shows. If I’d picked a slice of his tortilla de patatas ($13) off the counter of a tapas bar in Barceloneta, I would not have been disappointed – texture perfect and served warm, not hot, with crunchy Catalan bread. And the same with the albondingas ($18), flavoursome meat balls in a delicate tomato and parmesan sauce.
August – Light Years Asian Bar and Diner
Then came the dish of the night, so good we had to double down while trebling on the pizzini. The chicken yakitori in a sweet plum glaze ($18) was everything you expect of this simple Japanese staple, and so much more. If you’re going to call yourself a diner, then you have to get the basic Asian street dishes just right, and at Light Years they seem to have got that one down pat.
September – Bombetta
While Pascal’s Gaston was a bit like a Parisian bistro without the attitude, Bombetta veers more towards the eclectic/eccentric d¨¦cor of some of Trev’s most-favoured hang-outs. The original Heteroclito on the ocean steps at Guethary in the French Basque country springs to mind, a fabulously loony caf¨¦ and wine bar where Trev would arrive early to grab the most comfortable seat in the house, an old barber’s chair whose sagging springs offered a soothing rectal massage every time he leaned forward to refill his glass.
October – Haru Asian Kitchen
The missus insists on the beef bibimpap ($25) because of its low chilli rating, Trev opts for the super-charged spicy pork bulgogi ($23). We’re supposed to share, but she finds the bulgogi too hot to go on with, so Trev eats all of that and half the bibimpap, which is more or less a nasi goreng with the egg whipped in rather than sitting on top, but the beef strips are tender and tasty and lift the dish above the ordinary.
Trev’s bulgogi is the star of the evening, a scintillating stir-fry of succulent marinated pork with genuine spice flavours, served with excellent black wild rice. This was a Korean dish to bring a tear to the eye, and not just because of the spice. If this is standard at Haru, no wonder the place was full.
November – Copper Kitchen
The menu at Copper Kitchen is unmistakably dominated by the cuisine of the north (the friendly manager is from Delhi), but there are also a few interesting southern touches, so for our shared main we opted for the Goan fish curry ($22.90), a lightly spiced barramundi with tamarind and coconut cream. It seems unlikely that you would be offered a barra at a beachside caf¨¦ in Goa, but who cares! This was bloody delicious, and ample for two.
December – Ricky’s River Bar and Restaurant
Having mixed steak and ros¨¦ elsewhere recently, Trev decided to give keeping it light over lunch another shot, ordering the pasture-fed eye fillet, potato boulangere, caramelised Jerusalem artichoke puree, and red wine jus ($47), medium rare, of course, with a side of chips with chilli salt and aioli ($12), because too much potato is never enough. This was matched with a chilled glass of the 2018 Chateau Peyrol Grenache ($16), and the Provencal pinkie was so good, Trev ordered a bottle of it ($75).
EDITOR’S NOTE: Well, of course he did, seeing as Noosa Today management was paying for it!
TREVOR’S NOTE: I resemble that remark, and to all my readers and fans, please stop sending gifts and money. I do this for the love. And may we all munch and slurp our way through a better 2021.
