Reviews
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"Sequel to Success"
Brisbane News
Louise Kelly
Oxford Street in Bulimba thrives on people looking for a quick bite before or after a movie. But while most eateries serve up fast, no-frills fare, there are a few notable exceptions.
One is David's Off Oxford, just six weeks young. The charismatic David Taplin previously ran The Cinema Cafe, a favourite among movie-goers in Bulimba for the past 10 years.
His new venture caters for those who require a more sophisticated dining adventure.
With its dark wood floors and whitewashed walls, candlelit and intimate, David's was the perfect retreat on a rainy Tuesday night.
We ordered from the respectable, mainly domestic, wine list. A glass of Skillogalee Riesling and a Yering Station Chardonnay were poured at the table as we tackled the menu, a feast of food terminology which fortunately comes with a glossary of not-so-standard terms.
My seared scallops were delicious, four of them sitting on the rim of a very good eschallot omelette, dressed with a black bean butter sauce which, sadly, was laden with cream and too heavy.
A merlot reduction was the perfect partner for the other entree of duck and chilli sausages. Although the heat of the chilli was missing, the crunch of the accompanying tempura asparagus was not.
Next came my veal escalopes with sand crab, a modern take on the Italian vitello tonnato, with the fresh sand crab meat replacing the tuna and served with asparagus and sauce choron. The glossary listed the sauce as being a light tomato hollandaise – and it was. The dish was good, though could have been great.
The eye fillet on kipfler potato and pancetta mash was artfully presented, with the accompanying kumara crisps arranged in a star pattern atop the fillet. The mash, enhanced by the saltiness of the pancetta, was doused with a jus made from the munthari berry (a wild berry from the Murray basin) and was excellent.
I could easily have dug into the Frangelico chocolate souffle, but opted for the millefeuille of caramelised green apples. Rather than being thin layers – as the French word millefeuille implies – it was four thick slices of apple layered with fine shortbread. The shortbread was fine, but the accompanying cinnamon ice cream overpowering.
Despite the need for a tweaking of some dishes, David's Off Oxford is a refreshing addition to the precinct. It has a relaxed ambience, attentive service and a pleasingly seasonal menu.
"A cut above"
The Courier Mail
Alison Cotes
Bulimba food identity David Taplin has opened a new fine food establishment around the corner from busy Oxford St.
David's Off Oxford is half a block up the hill from the main drag, but when you're sitting outside under a leafy tree draped with tiny lights, with white tablecloths and soft glowing candles it's a pleasant change from the noisier cafes around the corner.
Taplin has worked wonders with a small space, creating pockets of privacy by adding a couple of alcoves inside. There is outside dining on the footpath and off the street at the side, and a bar with high stools.
The menu is limited but excellent, I have to say, because this is one place where everything is made on the premises. When I asked my usual question about the provenance of the hollandaise sauce, I was answered with an eyebrow lifted in surprise.
This sauce was indeed the real McCoy, and it crowned five different kinds of eggs benedict with smoked salmon, avocado, baby spinach, bacon and asparagus. These were strictly alternatives rather than additions, but I'm sure had I wanted smoked salmon with my tender spinach I could have had it, because Taplin is the most obliging of hosts.
Poaching eggs to perfection is an art, and here the kitchen has mastered it. Mine were globes of firm white, enclosing a deliciously runny yellow centre. They sat on turkish bread rather than the usual muffin and the taste was sublime.
The sweet-tooth who was breakfasting with me couldn't resist the French toast. Two fat slices of bread were dipped in egg and milk and fried (here they were soft rather than crisp), and were accompanied by pieces of caramelised banana, lots of crisp bacon and not quite enough maple syrup. The other breakfast choices are standard with a twist - a medley of gourmet mushrooms served on homemade toast with scrambled eggs was exalted by a drizzle of truffle oil.
A couple of days later, I was in a hurry and had to eat a solitary and early dinner. Choosing from an enticing list of entrees was the first problem. Was it to be a little tart filled with pan-seared sardines toped with a poached egg? A selection of oysters, some covered with chilli avocado crème fraiche? Or the salad of warm peking duck?
In the end I chose the tasting plate, which was the chef's choice of three items from the menu — a slice of mille-fuille of smoked salmon, a goats cheese tortellini, and a small serve of the duck salad. All were taste tempters.
A crumbled brioche made with spring onions was a good contrast to the strong salmon. The tortellini was more like a large ravioli and its goats cheese filling was rich, warm and runny; but the duck salad was the best for a hot evening, with two slices of tender pink duck topping some gentle green leaves, with fresh lychees adding a tropical touch.
The main courses, which include fish, lamb, spatchcock, beef and a vegetarian risotto, but when you read that it's Mandalong lamb served with kumara mash, fennel puree and parsnip crips, you know that you're in another dimension.
The spatchock is marinated in seeded mustard and paprika, the beef is an MSA-grade eye fillet, and the fish of the day, which I had, was a meltingly tender thick piece of barramundi, rubbed with Middle Eastern spices and served on a julienne of fresh vegetables. Simple but perfect.
Taplin recommended the panna cotta for dessert. It was in two layers, the just-wobbly creamy base hiding a couple of fresh lychees, and topped with a clear jelly of young coconut milk, again enclosing lychees.
What lifted this from fine to sublime was the bright red granita that surrounded it, a house made icy concoction of watermelon and blood orange that sent the palate out of this world.
The addition of three tiny candied wild limes gave the dish just the touch of sour that it needed, and this has now been added to my list of best puddings in the world.
"The kind of place every suburb should have"
The Courier Mail
Lizzie Loel
It's got to be one of the busiest and most successful Eat Streets in Brisbane. Oxford St at Bulimba is lined, from the river end to the roundabout heading for Morningside, with places to eat, sip, nibble and shop. And it's always packed. The variety ranges from casual tea house to upscale bistro, with everything from Ceylonese to sushi in between.
David's Off Oxford is the kind of place every suburb should have. It's the blueprint of suburban casual dining with great, personalised service and close, cosy seating, but on weeknights the menu branches out of the basic bistro into slightly more adventurous territory.
David Taplin ran the Cinema Cafe, just around the corner, for 10 years before taking over the space at the back of the building to create his new venue. Seating is inside in the cosy European-style bistro fitout, on the side in a hedge-lined courtyard or on the footpath.
It attracts a band of locals who enjoy the cosiness of the interior or the airy spaces outside.
The menu falls into the Mod Oz realm with the six-by-six formula (six entrees, six mains) offered with mainly Mediterranean and European flavours, with the odd Middle Eastern and Asian accent thrown in, sometimes on the same plate.
Scallops, for example, come with cauliflower, dukkah, almond, vanilla, risotto and a lemongrass vinaigrette. Now that is one big trip with multiple stopovers.
Spring chicken terrine comes with mushrooms, polenta, pancetta and kipflers with a tarragon dressing. And all this as an entree.
On Sundays, the menu is pared back and more casual. Breakfast is sensibly served until 11.45am, and you can choose from egg dishes like chorizo and olive omelette to eggs Benedict, Florentine or Arlington (with salmon). There are also sweet choices like banana and coconut bread and big fluffy pancakes topped with fresh fruit.
Sunday lunch recently was very pleasant on a sunny day, and a salad of seared scallops seemed to fit the bill. Laced with thin strands of roasted capsicum and black olives, the salad greens were nicely dressed and the scallops fresh, plump and lemony. Big pieces of fried chorizo tossed throughout were perhaps a tad top heavy for such light, fresh flavours.
The chicken liver pate served simply with cornichons and toasted Turkish was really gorgeous once you had poured off the large quantity of melted butter on top, but the next course, a tangy and delicate breast of duck served over braised du puy lentils with a raspberry vinaigrette, hit the mark.
Ditto the snapper that arrived on a mound of spiced couscous with a ginger and fennel seed sauce. Couscous is about as absorbent as farinaceous foods can get, so when used in a dish, extra sauce is usually required or it will disappear without meeting too much of the main event – which in this case was a wonderfully fresh piece of crisp skinned snapper.
Serving the sauce in a pot is another option as the diner has control over the couscous's drinking habits and can ensure the overall dish is not dry, which it was, by the end of this dish.
Pear, star anise, Turkish delight, ginger and caramel is the dish description for one of the five desserts. Squares of vivid fuchsia Turkish delight sat next to a feathered poached pear, a quenelle of caramel, mini meringues and a pile of sherbety ginger dust. But for the slightly garish Turkish delight, everything else blended successfully.
Service is always gracious and prompt, as you would expect from a place of this nature, but there's also a level of experimentation coming out of the kitchen that lifts David's out of the normal suburban bistro mould.
A little less though, can sometimes be a whole lot more.
Look out for the spring menu with dishes like quail ravioli with celeriac and walnut, an assiette of rabbit done three ways and pork with pumpkin and lentils.
