On advice from a local, John and I headed out on a ferry to Bulimba. Once there, we walked straight up the street as directed. As it was a Monday night, a lot of places seemed closed, but not too far into the main drag, we saw a sign and promptly got redirected up a side street. (and a great thing too!)
About 40m from the corner of the street, we found our eating place for the night - Scales & Ales.
Quite a small restaurant, but stocked with great beers (including John's favourite - 3 sheets from the Lord Nelson), there's a delightful little bar area were you can sip wine / beer or even eat. The other half of the restaurant had half a dozen tables or so where you could have a proper sit down meal.
Striking a perfect balance between fine dining and casual, the restaurant is open, airy and classy. The atmosphere allows you to relax and enjoy in style without having to deal with the pretentiousness that can accompany a fine dining restaurant. (Apparently, the head chef used to work at Aria)
We started off with some beer (I had a fantastic Apple Cider from WA?) in the bar area before moving into the main dining area for dinner.
Thoroughly spoilt, we each enjoyed 3 courses.
As an entrée, John had Salt and Pepper Calamari, whilst I sampled the twice baked crab soufflé. The crab soufflé was awesome. The crab meat was tasty and tender, and the cheese soufflé wasn't too heavy.
Next, we each had a Fish & Mussel pie. Made Shepard style (in a pan with fluffy potato on top) it was warm and lovely - perfect for a cold night.
Finally, we gave into temptation ... dessert! John had a bread and butter pudding, and I had a flour-less chocolate cake with amazing watermelon sorbet.
All in all, a fantastic little restaurant, that we'd both like to revisit.
John - X / 10
Cindy - 9/10
