So my sister-in-law’s folks are on their first visit to Australia so we decided to check out Tukka Restaurant in West End. Tukka is very niche serving an array of native Australian animals up to their clientele. Seeing as this was more about taste sensations than filling up we decided to do our own degustation as we often do in restaurants by ordering as many dishes as we can and putting them in the middle of the table so everyone can have a pick at them. As nice as some the other dishes sounded we wanted to stick with predominantly unique Australian game.
I’ve copied the a la carte menu below and bolded the items we ordered.
We started with the possum and pork belly pie, emu liver pate, cured crocodile and a native platter for three (To share between the five of us)
df = dairy free, gf = gluten free, v = vegetarian, $mkt = market price
Entrées
Confit of Tasmanian possum and pork belly pie, sautéed brussel sprouts tossed with pepperberry pancetta and a davidson plum jus – $19
Emu liver and port pate served with lightly toasted brioche and a cumberland sauce (gf) – $19
Pepperberry and lime cured crocodile fillet cooked sous vid, cider braised pears and a baby watercress salad with a mandarine reduction (gf df) – $19
Forest mushroom and asparagus terrine, baby herb salad and a white truffle foam (v gf)- $18
Coffin bay oysters shucked fresh, served natural with a preserved lemon and pink finger lime salsa (gf df)
$21/half $36/Doz
Native platter: Our signature selection of native game meats, fruits, nuts, berries, spices with damper and dips all prepared in house by our chefs (gf df)- $21/pp
Roasted crown of rabbit wrapped in prosciutto served with seared local scallops and lemon aspen and apple puree (gf df) (subject to availability)- $20
Our amuse bouche was a spoon of salmon tartare topped with fingerlime cream. Very tasty.
The native platter was presented on a big slab of Australian hardwood timber. It was definitely a great way to taste a variety of Australian bush tucker and there some great flavours there. It’s easier to just watch the video to get an idea of what was on there as there was no way I was going to remember each item so the waitress kindly repeated the explanation for the vid.
Native platter: Selection of native game meats, fruits, nuts, berries, spices with damper and dips
Confit of Tasmanian possum and pork belly pie, sautéed brussel sprouts tossed with pepperberry pancetta and a davidson plum jus
Emu liver and port pate served with lightly toasted brioche and a cumberland sauce
Pepperberry and lime cured crocodile fillet cooked sous vid, cider braised pears and a baby watercress salad with a mandarine reductio
Mains
Seared Queensland kangaroo fillet, roasted winter vegetables and a rhubarb lemon myrtle jus (gf) $29
Confit of farmed rabbit leg Jerusalem artichoke puree with spec, braised cabbage and a winter tarragon jus (gf) $31
Seared Marburg emu fillet, anisata honeyed dutch carrots, braised du puy lentils and a port jus (gf df) $32
Roasted beetroot tortellini served with goat’s curd foam and a garden fresh basil salad (v) $27
Slow braised wallaby shank, buttered greens, hickory smoked creamed potato served with a red wine jus (gf) $29
Fish of the day (One of our wait staff will inform you of today’s fresh special) $Mkt
The palate cleanser was an in-house sorbet made from Australian desert lime. A lot of sorbets are very icy, this however was excellent with a fine crystalline texture and all the lightness of a sorbet.
I was expecting the braised walllaby shank to be one of the better dishes however there was something a little off with the flavour that put it at the bottom of the list. I wouldn’t order it again personally. I can’t quite pick what it was as I imagined it would be almost identical in flavour to kangaroo but it wasn’t. I may have been the way it was cooked as well in that there was an ingredient in the braising that wasn’t agreeing with my taste buds.
Slow braised wallaby shank, buttered greens, hickory smoked creamed potato served with a red wine jus
I’ve cooked kangaroo fillets so many times at home that there were no surprises with this dish. It was cooked well and was nice and tender.
Seared Queensland kangaroo fillet, roasted winter vegetables and a rhubarb lemon myrtle jus
The emu was one of the highlights of the meal for me. Not having had it before I was expecting something a little more poultry-like. Instead it was more like a tender bit of juicy beef rump! Meaty and juicy.
Seared Marburg emu fillet, anisata honeyed dutch carrots, braised du puy lentils and a port jus.
We ordered a couple more dampers and lilly pilly salad even though we’d already tasted them with the entree tasting platter. I would have preferred that the damper was a bit more bread like, like a traditional damper rather than it’s cake like texture which was very soft and crumbly.
The lilly pilly salad was nice and was lightly dressed. The bunya nuts had a great texture however the macadamias were awkward as they rolled everywhere except onto your fork. Overall though it was a good accompaniment to the main meals.
I am a big cheesecake fan. But this also makes me a picky cheesecake fan too. Unfortunately the rosella cheesecake didn’t cut it. It was quite dense and heavy and didn’t really highlight the flavour of the rosella at all. The compote was nice but this dish fell well short of my expectations. I’m never impressed with pistachio ice cream as it’s difficult to get a strong nutty taste from them. This was the same however I’d have to say that this was the best pistachio ice cream I’ve had to date.
Individual baked rosella cheesecake with rosella compote and pistachio ice cream
There wasn’t much on this plate that appealed to me. More so because I don’t get into intense chocolate flavour and have never been a fan of peppermint. The others were a bit ambivalent towards this as well. I guess if you liked chocolate and peppermint this would be right up your alley.
Valrhona dark chocolate fondant with peppermint gum ice cream and an almond tuile
The crème brulee was easily the best dessert of the three for me. The wattleseed flavour had infused nicely into it and the texture was fantastic. I can’t really remember much about the accompanying ice cream as it was overshadowed by the brulee.
Wattleseed crème brulee with macadamia biscotti and ‘triibe’ ice cream
Everyone should at some point try our Australian game meat. Not only does Tukka offer a considerable selection of meats, berries and nuts in one place, they do it well. If you have visitors from overseas I guarantee this will be a talking point for them when they return. They may not like all of it but there will be something in the selection that will tantalise their taste buds. I highly recommend you dine like we did by ordering several dishes and putting them in the middle so everyone can have a bit of everything. It’s extremely social and Tukka are more than willing to accommodate this style of dining.
