Merrijig Kitchen

Sunday night dinner took place at the Merrijig Kitchen. We were a little early but our table was ready after long deliberation by the waitress who greeted us and also served us for the remainder of the evening.

I think that was the first sign of things to come really service wise. Somewhat hesitant and given we were in Port Fairy, seems apt to describe it as "away with the fairies". Ever so pleasant she was but no sense of purpose or urgency. She'd float in and out of the dining room in spite of it being full and really take her time with things including clearing our main course plates and then another spate of waiting and us watching her float around before she offered us the dessert menu. Not quite the zen like calm of a professionally run dining room and just more irritatingly slow.

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Strange really as whenever the kitchen door opened. we'd hear meals be called out and the real sound of hustle and bustle When I visited the ladies and walked past the kitchen it was a hubbub of activity and action yet front of house just didn't have that buzz.

Anyway whilst I'm on about the not so good, I guess I'll also call out that our table wasn't the best one for a relaxing evening as it was just inside the dining room so every table that arrived and every party that left would walk by and in this small and cosy room it was a bit annoying.

I've called out what didn't make me merry at the Merrijig and I don't want to dwell so let's talk about the good stuff...

Oh and in case you're wondering what those two cups of liquid are; it's a welcome palate cleansing spiced pear tea. Prettily presented, it was a tad too sweet for me but a nice touch.

We chose well for our entrees:

• Char grilled quail with Spring garlic, globe artichoke hot pot and house made fig leaf ricotta
• Tassie scallops in their half shell with brown butter and pickled cauliflower

I had the quail which was deliciously savoury and so well seasoned with a tasty jus. The ricotta added some creaminess. I wasn't sure what artichoke hot pot meant but enjoyed the bitter fruitiness of it cutting through some of the saltiness. 

Steve opted for a trio of local oysters (unpictured) and ordered two of the scallops but we were generously served three as it was the last one. Lucky me - I was the worthy recipient. It was a small scallop but it was delicious with notes of buttery goodness and sea saltiness and then finished with a tang and a crunch from the pickled cauliflower. And I loved the colours in the presentation too.

• Quinlan's dry aged Scotch fillet with roasted duck fat potatoes, green beans and salsa verde

• Roasted Portland Hapuka fillet with a potato and saffron bisque

Main course were as above with me going for the steak and Steve continuing his seafood theme and going with the hapuka. The other fish was Mirror Dory with a farro risotto and Spring greens and I think I'd have gone with that choice had I wanted a fishy on my dishy. Steve's verdict on the fish was that it was cooked well and flaked beautifully. The bisque was a bit watery and light on flavour and probably more broth than bisque but the fish itself made up for it.

I enjoyed the steak with the salsa verde and I think there were hints of cheese either in that or the green beans that it came with. I liked the surprise cheese element and the steak itself was tender and flavoursome.

Food was going down well so we decided to finish things off and share the rhubarb and strawberry trifle. A trifle is one of Steve's favourite desserts so it has to be good. What was good about this one were the strawberries. At first sight, it wasn't really a trifle as we couldn't see the layers of sponge or custard. When we dug in, we were pleasantly surprised to find some sponge (not very much) and some creamy stuff (not the stuff on the top) so that might have been the custard. It was pleasant but not really a trifle and Steve called it fruit, cream and a compote.

There were definitely some tasty highlights at the Merrijig and the food was on the whole cooked really well with some satisfyingly savoury flavours coming through. Service was a bit here and there as mentioned previously and dessert wasn't robust enough but in all, we enjoyed this country fare.

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