Dinner At Megalomania

Megalomania bar & bistro has been open since the 18^th of August and has already made its mark in Yeppoon as the place to go for lunch, dinner, afternoon dessert and coffee or a drink at the bar. After catching up with Kenny today, he said is very pleased with the way things have started. I mentioned that I have heard only very good comments from the public.

So onto my report of our evening at Megalomania. The place is divided into three parts, the bar, the courtyard (under cover) and the deck (open air) which has wooden flooring and a water feature. Up/down lighting accent the walls and changing colour lights in the famous fig tree add to the atmosphere. While we waited for our friends to arrive we had a few drinks. Very nice tall beer glasses and angled mixer glasses as well as the drinks in them.

We then received the menu’s. Once again nice presentation in a compact folder with a clear front and easy to handle (not too big). The general opinion was that the writing maybe a little small as it was quite hard to read in the light. Although it would be hard to enlarge the font as the choice of Tapas and light meals are huge, and probably wouldn’t fit all on. We all ordered tapas @ $12.50 or a light meal (entree) followed by mains. I chose a bottle of wine from the extensive list with great variety, not just your standard wine either.

The drinks service was very good and Melissa was on the ball. I tried the wine and she poured the ladies first, great, we let the wine breath before our meals arrived. We waited a little for our entrees which came to the table without the service knowing who had what, which was a little surprising; this was the same for the main meals, that said, all six dishes arrived together in one trip from the kitchen, which is rare these days, excellent, The selection we chose was; sushi combination, traditional accompaniments. Peking duck pancakes, spring onion, cucumber, hoi sin. Seared Yeppoon scallops, chickpeas, caper raisin dressing. Crisp calamari, rosemary sea salt, cracked black pepper, curry aioli.

And roast mushroom tart, seared veal liver, roast garlic, truffle emulsion @ $15- Mine was the latter. I was a little disappointed with my light meal, the roast garlic was beautiful just delicate and creamy, but the pastry was very well cooked, the liver was just warm and the truffle emulsion was hard to find.

My friends enjoyed all of there meals, but I am the critic. We followed these with our mains; grass fed rib fillet, pancetta parmesan and garlic mash, wild mushroom ragout. Glazed lamb shanks, lemon cous cous, vanilla pumpkin, mint jelly. Steamed miso salmon basket, crab wontons, spinach, chilli jam. And chicken picatta, crisp prosciutto, balsamic tomato, smoked salmon creme fraiche from the light meals section. Crisp skinned chicken breast, potato rosti, French peas, chervil vinaigrette. Everybody enjoyed their meals with nothing left on the plates except for the bones.

Mine was the chicken, the skin was crisp and cooked beautifully; the rosti was again nicely done, as for the peas well that’s a tough one. The chervil vinaigrette was intense with flavour, excellent, could have had some more though. A side of the fat chips with HP sauce, garlic aioli had to be ordered as we had heard lots about them. Hand cut and stacked neatly on the plate they came with the accompanying sauce bowls. They had a distinct homemade flavour that you only get with real chips. Well done.

By this time most were full except Monica & me so we partook in our dessert choice. @ $14.50 Moni had the caramelised pinhead oats, raspberries, single malt whisky, double thick cream, honey and lemon. I had sticky date pudding, butterscotch sauce, honey spiced ice cream.

Both desserts were delightful and all got to try, the verdict was yummy. We then finished with good coffee and hot chocolate. Great presentation with huge bowls, triangle plates, large square plates and bamboo steamer baskets.

A very visually pleasing restaurant with tables clothed and tuxedo folded napkins, water and both red & white wine glasses. Shiny polished new cutlery great to the eye with the knife standing up instead of lying flat, but we all found them hard to use and rest on the plate. A talking point was the salt and pepper, check this out, stainless steel push button spring-loaded top that ejects the measure onto the plate. They will need to keep their eye on them that’s for sure.

The atmosphere was great, nice gentle background music, flickering candles and on the wooden deck outdoor heaters gave gentle warmth. Young Kyle one of the chefs came to see us after dinner. It was Kenny’s first day off since opening, well deserved no doubt. Neil and Kyle had done a good job in his absence. Overall a great night was had at Megalomania. John Mundell (and friends) look forward to return.