Meatmaiden

Meatmaiden is of course, the (little) sister (daughter) restaurant of Meatmother in Richmond. It is by no means, a small joint. That underground hideaway is a big maafakka, and because we went down on a certain public holiday where you aren't meant to eat meat, it was pretty empty. I highly doubt it is like this most days, but it made for some nice open shots.

As soon as we sat down we were served complimentary Meatmaiden CHIPS! Which were just like your normal potato chips but FREE! And slightly spicy. Naiz.

I ordered me a Maiden Sweet Tea which came in a SOFT option (sans EtOH) and with Buffalo Trace (HARD $16.0). It was definitely not sweet enough for my liking, but tasted quite refreshing nonetheless, and surprisingly the bourbon didn't make it disgusting. 

These Smoked salmon rillettes, pickled fennel, toast ($13.0) were pretty on the plate, but did not have the "oomph!" to match. The rilletes were a bit bland, incredibly smoked but simultaneously not being salty enough; the toast, though buttered and slightly salted, didn't really compliment the rillet. The pickled fennel was probably the highlight; I don't think I've ever had pickled fennel before, and it brought the flavours out well.

Here is my fancy artistic-slightly-left-of-centre shot of the Cajun tuna, horseradish, avocado ($15.0) which was lightly seared to bring out a nice smokey flavour. This dish disappeared quickly; it was amazing. The rub on the lightly seared sides really brought out a spicy herb flavour. The mayo and avo went well (duh!).

I ordered an Oyster with smoked fennel dressing ($3.5) which was plump, fresh and delicious, but pricey for what it was. The smoked fennel dressing was quite tart, so overtook the sweetness of the oyster. I have had better toppings on raw oysters.

If you are looking for melt-in-your-mouth, pull-apart beef, choose the 20-hour Rangers Valley Wagyu brisket, Tasmanian pepper berry rub (200g for $24.0) I really, really enjoyed this fatty cut, it had just the right amount of fatty streaks. Every mouthful was so full of flavour, and the pepper berry rub was very good, subtle and not overpowering, though more rubbed onto the sides wouldn't go astray.

Spring onion mash, gravy ($8.0) was okay, but not buttery enough, nor had enough gravy - so ended up being quite dry and we left a lot behind. Plus the serve was massive.

With a name like Crack mom's apple pie, vanilla, walnuts ($10.0) I was expecting full on comatose insanity. It did not live up to that expectation. The cool part was, we were introduced to this pie being told to listen before we ate. Popping candy! The pie was nice, with a nice buttery shortcrust pastry, and the filling was very sweet stewed apples and giant sultanas, but nothing that blew my mind. A heavier style blondie caramel something or rather would have been amazing.

I am not usually a fan of the Choc fondant, raspberry sorbet ($10.0), but I enjoyed this dessert more than my beloved apple pie. The fondant was soft and squishy, decadent chocolate cake, with a tart raspberry sorbet. The caramel crumble was also a nice sticky addition.

TL;DR A good meat hit. I will try Meatmother next!