Republic Norwood has always been one to challenge the stigma surrounding pub food, striving for innovative use of ingredients and dishes that sway from the norm. This week, Girl About Town PR invited us to Republic’s Eat and Tweet event, showcasing the latest menu courtesy of the venue’s new team of talented chefs.
We were treated to a sit down, four course dinner on Tuesday evening, starting with a glass or two of Hahndorf Hill Winery‘s delicious wines. Our dinner commenced with delightfully crunchy Haloumi Fries paired lemon and chipotle dip: an entree which we simply wished there was more of. We’ve tried many different kinds of deep-fried mozzarella sticks of the sort, but never haloumi fries! This has got to be a new favourite snack, considering the absolute cheese fiends we are.
Haloumi fries
Our second entree was the Oven Baked Field Mushrooms with garlic, thyme, butter, ricotta and sweet sherry vinegar. A considerably simple yet effective combination, the mushrooms provided the perfect segway to our next course: salads.
Oven baked field mushrooms
We got stuck into the Super Charged Salad, devouring sweet potato, pumpkin, lentils, pepitas, sunflower seeds, sprouting seeds, kale and cumin yogurt. As its name suggests, this salad was the ultimate health-kick, leaving us feeling both light on the stomach yet still satisfied. The Lean Green Salad also made a contribution to that, with a healthy mix of broccoli, mung beans, quinoa, pepitas, baby spinach, kale, spring onion, soy bean and apple cider vinaigrette. If salads aren’t quite your thing but you’re still after a light main, we recommend the Greek-influenced Republic Lamb Salad, complete with slow roast rotisserie lamb, tomato, olives, feta, cucumber and tzatziki.
Salads, salads, salads, salads.
Our next course was all about the MEAT. Pork, lamb, chicken, salmon… it was all happening. The Chicken Breast was juicy and tender, pairing excellently with the velvety Paris mash, sauteed asparagus and red wine jus. We loved the Pork Belly and Soba Noodles dish, however we did feel as though there could have been just a little more of that incredible pork belly in it! The dish was successfully complemented with quinoa, soybean, broccolini, garlic and a black vinegar dressing.
Chicken breast
Pork belly and soba noodles
And while the desserts weren’t particularly presented in any kind of crazy fancy manner, nor were they combining ingredients that were anything seriously out of the ordinary, it goes to say that both were strong highlights of the night. The Chocolate Brownie Ice-Cream Sandwich and Warm Sticky Date Cake were simply divine, ending our experience on the ultimate high. We’d probably even come back just for the desserts themselves, they were that yummy.
Chocolate brownie ice-cream sandwich
Make sure you stop by Republic, located 120 Magill Road, during your next visit to Norwood. Whether its for a sit-down dinner, a couple of drinks at the bar or for a dessert night with friends, Republic is set to deliver.
