Sunday was Jeff’s birthday and I thought it might be nice for us to go back to Abattoir for dinner since that’s where we went for it last year and have been dying to go back ever since.
There’s the birthday boy!
He got a bit tired of me snapping photos of him and grabbed the camera to take one of me when I wasn’t prepared.
“Why are you taking a picture of me eating bread?”
Ah, that’s better!
We started things off with a couple of signature cocktails. Mine was a rum cider cocktail with dark rum, cider, apple gastrique, and some other tasty stuff I can’t remember. His was the Herb’s Harvest, a really boozy tequila drink tinged with fall spices.
The menu at Abattoir is incredible; everything sounds so good. We ended up ordering a bunch of small plates rather than entrees so that we could try more things.
First up was the steak tartare with miso soy glaze and a sesame aioli. I could have just ordered 2 or three of these and had that as an entree cause it was so so good! Buttery to the point of almost melting and heavily flavored with oniony chives and creamy aioli. There was too much of it to all fit on the crostini so the last bite was just a fork full of it topped off with a super soft quail egg. Insane.
And we got one of the specials for the evening which was a pair of duck meatballs in miso glaze with sauteed asian vegetables. They were soft and pink-centered and perfect.
Then one of my favorites: sweetbreads. They were spicy and crispy and paired wonderfully with the bacony cabbage saute.
We also tried the chicken liver mousse with whipped apple butter. This one was not my favorite. I like liver when it’s spiced well but this one was completely plain so you tasted all of it’s livery, minerally glory. The texture was odd for me too. My brain kept expecting a dessert flavor with the creamy moussey texture and then freaked out at the shock of liver that came instead.
This place is named Abattoir for a reason. Abattoir means “slaughterhouse” in French and the menu is undoubtedly meat-centric. I always love a good charcuterie platter with one or two cured meat selections and a little wedge of cheese to smear on crusty bread with some good-quality whole grain mustard, but I was completely thrown off guard by the charcuterie selection that landed on our table which I quickly dubbed “the giant meat plate of doom.”
Seriously, we had no idea we would be receiving all of that! It had crispy prosciutto spirals, duck prosciutto, blood sausage, honey roasted ham, head cheese, bacon-wrapped pork terrine, and some other sausage I’m not sure about, all paired with pickled vegetables and fruits, two types of spicy mustard, quince butter, and a wine-soaked dried fig. EPIC.
I cannot believe we had room for dessert. We chose the buttermilk tart with roasted pears, pear sorbet, creme anglaise, and brown sugar crumbles. Oooooooohh……yeaaaahhhh….
Another mind-blowing meal at Abattoir and another glorious year of life on this planet for my wonderful husband!
Looking forward to another night of playing with one of Jeff’s birthday gifts, the new Zelda game! I actually love to watch other people play video games, to me it’s like watching an interactive movie. Yes, we’re nerds.
What is one menu item you can never resist ordering if it’s available? (Mine is tartare of any kind.)
Mussels especially if they are in a marinara sauce is my to-go item. I do like tuna tartar too.
I went to Abbatoir when I was completely vegetarian and they were super accommodating to me.
Lee recently posted..Grandma’s 90th
Oh yeah, mussels are soooo good when they’re done right. You’re right that they do have a lot of great vegetarian options. All of the sides sounded really good and there was a risotto that I was eyeing pretty hard.
Holy charcuterie. I think I would have died and gone to heaven. Too bad about the liver – it sounded like a great idea with the apple butter.
This place is next on my list to visit! I wonder who the new chef will be…
Laura @ Sprint 2 the Table recently posted..Cinnamon Cacao Nut Butter
For the record, it was definitely the best charcuterie plate I’ve ever had. We were just already really full after 4 very rich and very meaty courses, so when that appeared on the table my eyes kinda rolled back in my head a little!
You both have such shiny, shiny hair. Shiny, shiny hair.
*stares*
😛 There must always be room for dessert! And when you come to Canberra, I’ll take you to the Ottoman for its awesome liver entree (which is appetiser, to you
)
Hannah recently posted..Artespresso, Because We Didn’t Burn It Down
LOL! I have no idea what the secret to shiny hair is, eating healthy fats? If only I could create some sort of wrinkle in the space between here and Canberra that would allow me to hop right across in mere minutes rather than the bulk of a day. Curses to air travel for being so expensive and time-consuming!
Favorie food on the menu – that seems to change often for me, but recently it was the Mochi that jumped off the menu and grabbed me. That’s my favorite dessert and so hard to find around here. I know in my pre-vegan days it was Foie Gras or Sweetbreads…so much has changed!
Heather @ Better With Veggies recently posted..Tuesday Training: Creating Your Weekly Schedule
Oh yes mochi! Never see it on the menu anywhere either. I can’t believe I haven’t tried to make it myself yet though. I think you’ve just given me a new project!
Ya’ll look so pretty, and well the food….I have’nt ventured out of the norm very much so a really good steak is my favorite go to food although we tore up some fresh oysters on the half shell in PCB this summer. Hope Jeff had a great birthday and many more with my sweet daughter.