Movie night! And Cabiria :)

When my pal proposed that we have a "girlie night" I didn't know quite what was in store.  Granted, I was super tired - having just come back from an amazing sailing trip around the Whitsundays - so if she was proposing some wine, cheese and doing our nails on this particular evening, I was all for it.  But when she suggested dinner and a movie, I mustered the energy to look presentable and head out for a nice tapas meal and a good chick flick.

We ended up at Cabiria, a lovely little resto at The Barracks in Brisbane.  I think one of the reasons that M and I get along so well is because we have such similar taste in food; a good wine and a few snacks are all we need to have a pleasant evening - plus good company too! We got to Cabiria at about 7ish and set about deciding on our tapas.  Once that priority had been actioned, we decided on some vino; I chose a French Rhone blend while M went for a cool climate Aussie Pinot Noir.  Both wines were nice choices for the array of flavours; rich, salty, meaty and sweet.

When our snacks arrived, we had quite the spread: a lovely meat and vegetable terrine, some 'devils on horseback' and a big chunk of Manchego cheese.

The Country Terrine was fantastic!  Wow.  One meat that I really do enjoy is rabbit, especially when said meat is in the luscious rillette-type consistency.  Merged with earthy, meaty mushrooms, creamy white beans and wrapped in salty bacon, a bite of terrine atop a crunchy toast was divine - especially when said toast was slathered in date puree.

Country Terrine ($16)

Rabbit, Porcinni Mushrooms & White Beans

Wrapped in Bacon w/ Date Puree & Toasts

Devils on Horseback ($5)

Egyptian Dates wrapped in Speck

These 'devils on horseback' were delicious - and a great snack to make at home too.  The sweet, meaty dates were wrapped in paper-thin sheets of salty Speck; a salt-cured, smoked ham originating in Italy.

Manchego cheese

w/ crisps & Quince Paste

How can you go wrong with cheese?  When our original order of Truffled Pecorino from Italy wasn't available, we opted for this hunk of Manchego; a Parmeseanesque sheep's milk cheese from Spain, which share's Parm's nutty, salty bite.  This was served with some quince paste, and crisp pita-type bread. 

And on to the movie theatre, where there is more than just popcorn and M&Ms.  At the theatre in The Barracks, one can order a deluxe cheese plate w/ crisps, bread and jams (bottom) or baguette served with a trio of dips..(Top)

What a treat!  Once in the theatre, we sat back in our seats; cracked open our bottle of shiraz, and relaxed for a couple hours.  Movies and wine? It was almost as though we had stayed in after all. 

Tempranillo & Tapas at Pintxo!

On my first real Friday night out in Brisbane -  that is, when I wasn't falling asleep at the table from the trip's resulting jet lag - myself and M&J went to dinner at Pintxo, a little Spanish tapas place around the corner from the apt. It was an exciting day for me -  that morning, I had attended the Queensland Wine Show, and had the opportunity to meet some cool people and taste dozens of Aussie wines that I never even knew existed - selection in Nova Scotia is limited, after all...

                           

Due to a late reso, we were unable to get a table inside, so we braved the cold on the patio and warmed ourselves with a little Tempranillo.  Viva Espagna...!

We started with a bottle of Calo Tempranillo from Rioja for $44. True to the Temp. style, this bevy was full of cherries, leather and spice with light acid and grippy tannin.  We ended up having two bottles!  For the tapas, we had to get some meat - there was a man involved, after all.  We chose a nice nibbly of cold Aussie and Spanish olives to start, which were the perfect salty snacks to salivate our palates for the plates to come. 

Aceitunas Mezclados

Selection of cold Spanish & Australian Olives ($9)

These button mushrooms cooked in garlic and olive oil were fantastic - I would have been happy with a bowl of these to myself.  The plump, meaty 'shrooms were succulent and cooked perfectly; not oil sogged, but deftly caressed.

Setas al Ajillo

Fresh button mushrooms cooked in 

garlic & olive oil ($14)

Not gonna lie - there was a funny taste to this dish.  The scallops were tender and well cooked and the cauliflower was nicely al dente...but something in the cream sauce made me move on to the next dish.

Vieiras en Cava

Scallops | cream & Cava sauce | roasted cauliflower ($24)   

Ah, the lamb and chickpeas!  I could eat chickpeas everyday...especially when paired with tomatoes a nice rare piece of lamb.  This was a really nice dish with the meat being both slightly sweet and savoury and with a hint of smokey BBQ - a great pairing for our Tempranillo. The cassoulet-style of the chickpea/tomato mix was a nice addition creamy peas and sweet tomatoes, complimented by some olives in the dish as well, which added another layer of flavour.

 Cordero con Garbanzos

Grilled lamb cutlets | tomato & chickpeas ($28) 

Who doesn't love Serrano-wrapped prawns?  These are pretty self explanatory.  The dish was fab and being the veggemite that I am, I also consumed the nice little bed of greenery beneath.

Pintxo's Gambas

Prawns wrapped in Jamon Serrano ($24)

And from here, a night of club-hopping began, from which I thought I would never recover. Maria and I left Josh behind and explored the bar scene in New Farm...which may have ended with some greasy pizza...