Little Hunter, CBD

Hot Buttered Rum - $16

Goslings Black Seal Rum, Spiced Apple Juice, Brown Butter

A Pear of 8's - $18

Ocho Reposado Tequila, Poire William, Pear Puree, Lime Juice, Thyme

Complimentary Herbed Cheese Bread with Chicken Skin Butter

Cured Kingfish, seasonal roe, roasted peppers, bay oil - $16

Lobster Hushpuppies, softened vinegar batter - $12

Pork Crackling, paprika, white cheddar, pepper sauce - $6

Hopkins River Ribeye, bone marrow, beef fat butter - $54

Dry Aged Lamb cooked with olives, crisped belly, parsley, orange - $36

Grilled Cabbage, blue cheese, anchovies, hazelnut vinegar - $9

Frangipane, meringue, passionfruit curd, whole pear sorbet - $15

I found out a few days ago after reading Libby's post (here) that Little Hunter had actually closed down. I decided to go ahead with publishing this post anyway because I had already written it half way and it *was* quite an interesting restaurant anyway so here goes...

My friends Libby, Dave and I had planned this dinner a while ago as we felt like we hadn't caught up in awhile prior to this. We chose Little Hunter mainly because of how interesting the menu sounded. It was meat heavy (good for me) but served in rather interesting ways. I was reluctant to come here for a long time despite hearing so much good things about this place prior mainly due to the price. 

Must say that our experience here was one disappointment after another. Although Lib's hot toddy with butter was delightful, my expensive pear cocktail tasted almost exactly like plain water it was so heavily diluted. Then, the food took so damn long to arrive. 

I don't think any of the entrees lived up to its glowing description as you could barely taste anything it said it was meant to contain. Our steak was good and the beef fat butter did make the steak taste as if you were eating Wagyu. But it was definitely way too rich to eat on your own, especially with the bone marrow. That lamb was unforgettable, but not in a good way. Hands down the worst lamb dish I have ever eaten... In my life. Period. It was so flavourless, mushy and appalling. It was really bad. The waitress had recommended we go with the grilled cabbage with blue cheese and anchovies. When they said grilled, I had no idea it was going to still be 99.95% raw. Which I don't mind since eating raw wombok was better than I thought. Just don't say it's grilled. And make the dressing unbearably salty, which it was. 

Although I must say that the only good thing we had that night was the signature herbed cheese bread with chicken fat butter. That was ASTOUNDING. So flavourful and addictive I could have just that and be content. But that was actually complimentary. What about the rest of our meal? I felt like we paid so much that night too, grrr...

As hard as it may be to believe from how I sound from this post, I really enjoyed my meal that night. But ONLY because I had fantastic company. I place very little emphasis on the food when I'm surrounded by good people at a restaurant. The food took long to arrive but that just gave Dave, Lib and myself a chance to keep chatting away. We were in no hurry and it was a good way to unwind midweek after work. Those guys rock and this post is reminding me that I should organise something with them soon. That said, the place was packed out with people still in suits obviously doing the same thing as we were (which is why I was surprised it had closed down).

Now that everything is done and dusted, I guess Little Hunter will just remain as a distant memory of a place that served food that sounded great on paper but failed to deliver in real life...