Excuse me for a moment while I reminisce the sweet brown sugar custard of that fresh pear frangipane. Okay. I think I'm done reminiscing. After all, I can always just drive myself down to Floreat to get myself another piece and pair (pear - see a pun!) it with a sweet brew following my new found and awakened cider tastebuds from the Brews in the Beer Garden Market I attended at The Boulevard Hotel.
I've not been to The Boulevard Hotel before this visit and I sincerely regret not knowing about it. The Boulevard delivers and presents pub food inspired by the Mediterranean. You'll find an abundance of lemons, olives and tomatoes here.
The Boulevard Hotel transformed its outdoor areas into a brewery haven. Ciders and beers were tasted, tested and bought. The Swan Valley Mash Brewery, Gage Roads Brewing Co, White Rabbit, Custard & Co and the Eagle Bay Brewing Company were just a couple of key players at the market. The barbers from Westons Barbershop also traipsed along with their awesome looking salon seat, ensuring the boys (in this case, Mario, pictured) maintained their swagger and stayed looking spiffy.
I on the other hand, was more interested in the food. The Boulevard kitchen is open all day and a couple of us lucky bloggers were given the opportunity to taste the best from their kitchen. The homemade sausage rolls came out first and believe me, they're the best sausage rolls I've had a in a long time. The pastry, the meat - the balance of onion and the fact that when I dunked into a large dollop of tomato sauce, the flavours of the sausage roll were not lost, were all contributing factors to it being one of the best in a long time.
Duck and chicken liver parfait came out next, accompanied by pulled pork tortillas. The lime added that necessary kick but even without the lime the flavours were punchy enough to be enjoyed. Portobello, porcini and gruyere arancini rolled on out as did the platter of chorizo, mixed olives, polenta chips and veal and oregano meatballs. Everyone was quietly eyeing the polenta chips. Stacked in a way that somewhat resembled Jenga, these rectangle blocks did not last long enough on the platter to have the opportunity to topple over.
You can already tell which was my favourite dessert of the selections that the lovely staff at the Boulevard served up. The frangipane was warm and soft while keeping its shape and sweetness. As I have heard from Kristy, this particular dessert can also be had at The Brisbane. The chocolate and pistachio tart with hazelnut gelato was beautiful to look at but quite rich for my liking. However, some people are complete chocoholics and so would devour it in an instant regardless. A hard and soft cheese coupled with a deep and delicious fig chutney and water crackers were also slowly but surely consumed after a long afternoon of feasting.
Now, back to dreaming of that frangipane.
Address:
Corner The Boulevard and Howtree Place, Floreat
Opening Hours:
Monday - Saturday: 11am - 12am
Sunday: 11am - 10pm
