Fog Restaurant – Prahran

Posted by Almost Always Ravenous on July 10, 2011 · 10 Comments 

142 Greville St
Prahran, 3181
03 9521 3155

I don’t often travel to Prahran, and of the few occasions I have they have been for HuTong and reluctantly for Chapel St. With its dark exterior and fairly minimal lighting within I would be lying if I said I had noticed it on Greville St on previous occasions. But as of last month, after receiving a last minute invite to Fog’s 5^th anniversary celebrations, I can now safely say I know exactly where it is on the map!

Inside this very dark but sleek venue of contrasting black and white, food of South West American cuisine is served. What is South West American cuisine you may ask? It is vibrant fusion of flavours predominantly influenced by Spanish, Native American and Mexican recipes.

After a couple of pre-dinner drinks with Sam Frantzekos and Samantha Moffatt (owner & restaurant planner respectively), and sharing a few of Sam’s stories, we were seated at our table ready to feed our grumbling tummies. Given the infrequent spread of lighting, I was lucky enough to snare a small window of lighting on a small segment of the table. Good lighting sure does make a food blogger happy!

Yellowfin tuna sashimi – These thick glimmering slices of yellowfin tuna squares are succulent little bites of freshness, with hits of wasabi and jalapeno heat, and have a touch of salt from organic soy and lovely fragrance from the toasted sesame. My only complaint was that the jalapenos were overpoweringly hot, relative to the subtleties of the tuna.

Spanish Ortiz anchovies – Served on a toasty baguette, the long sliver of Spanish Ortiz anchovy – which are not overly salted – is nicely paired with a tangy mix of spiced tomato chutney, lemon and crack of wild pepper.

King prawn tostadas (left) – A big juicy prawn atop a crispy tortilla chip, finished off with a dollop of spicy avocado guacamole, chipotle crema and tomato – these little bites were so irresistibly moreish. After having my fair share of these tostadas, I came back to clean the slate when everyone else decided they’d keep their stomachs for the rest of the night… tsk tsk !!! =P

Southern fried chicken ribs (right) – As much as I would like to dislike this, in view of our current weight epidemic, it is actually deep fried quite well with a light batter, a sharp kick of Tabasco heat and a delicious aioli to serve. Gourmet KFC!

O there it is again… I swear it is calling out for me to eat it now!!! Yummm

All gone now… =)

Empanadas (left) – A crumbly pastry crammed with a mildly smoky mixed mushroom and goat cheese filling. The thick orange sauce (?capsicum) beneath lends a strong smoky note, almost too close to being burnt for my liking.

Side of Roasted brussel sprouts (right) – nicely caramelised brussel sprouts, with a light sprinkle of parmesan and dash of sweet acidity from the vincotto.

Grilled Gippsland lamb rack – the perfectly frenched cutlets of lamb were cooked to a lovely pink and succulent bite. It is completed with a black pepper jus, a bed of aged Vermont cheddar potatoes and a line of crispy buttermilk onion rings (though a tad dry). Does that look like a huge serving or what? I hope these mains are meant to be designed to be shared… =P

Texas BBQ smoked free range chicken – Although I am less impressed with this dish than others on the table, I admit I am not a tremendous fan of BBQ sauce per se. Even so, the flesh is ever so tender with a slight hint of smoky wood. The chipotle BBQ sauce offers a fiery note to the otherwise sweet sauce. Note: apparently due to the time consuming nature required to prepare this dish, it is no longer apart of the menu.

Scotch fillet with sautéed mushrooms – Despite my initial reluctance to try this steak given how extremely full I was already, I was warmly surprised by how perfectly the medium rare flesh tasted on the palate – absolutely soft, succulent flesh with a nice balance of fat to lean ratio. Plus, there were no tendons to ruin the bite. The bed of sautéed mushrooms provided an extra juiciness to the dish. I would have to say, I actually enjoyed this more so than the lamb and the chicken mains!

By this time, most the table was full to the neck, and dessert was essentially left for a mere few of us to finish off. If I remember correctly there were 6 plates of dessert between the 8 of us…

Vanilla bean crème brulee – I am the biggest fan of anything with custard in it, egg tarts, custard in a macaron, custard egg buns, Crème Beignets, and of course crème brulee included! The layer of caramelised sugar is hard but truly brittle, whilst the custard is smooth and fragrantly vanilla. Simple but perfect – custard heaven! Weird thing is, the second crème brulee I tucked my spoon into actually tasted smoother and more fragrant than the first. Must be slight kitchen variability.

*apologies about the blurry photos. Too eager to dig in clearly…

Mexique chocolate molten cake – The molten chocolate cake with a slightly crispy exterior and a pouring lava middle, is absolutely divine and reminiscent of Madame SouSou’s chocolate fondant. The spice poached pear with a mellow red wine note, is a perfect complement with the rich chocolate lava. A cold change with the treacle nut brittle ice cream and brittle crunch from the vanilla twirls are interesting little trimmings to the palate. I virtually ate a whole plates worth on my own … no regrets at all!!!

Rating: quite easily Yummy+1, tipping onto +2. The king prawn tostada, scotch fillet and both desserts were my personal highlights of the night.

Whether you’re in for little bites to have with drinks after work, or a sit down dinner like we did – feasting from starters, then entrée, mains with sides, to finally dessert – it is a fabulous venue with delish South-Western American food. Hugely satisfying on the belly!

[We dined courtesy of FOG and Horizon PR]

See I Eat therefore I Am for more delicious reviews from our feast at FOG. Posts from other blogs still pending – please tell me when it’s up so I can link you =)!

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Yours truly,
Almost Always Ravenous.

Filed under American, Blogger events, Dessert, Prahran, Spanish, Yummy +1 · Tagged with chicken ribs, empanada, lamb rack, prawn tostada, south west american, tuna