Food & Drink

Tuck into beef cheeks at Simpatico, Ortiga and The Survey Co.

Taking that first bite of a butter-soft, succulent beef cheek can change your palate forever, as the taste of the rich, sticky juices is implanted in your memory long after the plate has been wiped clean with a slab of bread. Requiring a decent investment of time to make – albeit a rewarding one – beef cheeks obtain their tenderness from being cooked very slowly, until they can be cut with the side of a spoon and scooped onto your plate with its precious juices.

While Melbourne’s Movida is renowned for its version of the dish, a few Brisbane bistros are making their own mark on this particular cut. Paddington’s Simpatico offers a share plate of Braised Beef Cheeks with Pearl Barley, Speck & Mushroom Duxelle, perfect as a small meal for one or sampled among other plates of succulent tapas.

Down Burnett Lane, The Survey Co. has served a few versions of this dish since opening in March this year. The current beef cheek offering is accompanied by sauteed shallots, confit lemon and crispy onion rings. Or twisting the traditional, Ortiga in Fortitude Valley presents a main of moorish pork cheeks served with eggplant and pisto manchego cheese – Carrilleras de Cerdo in its native Spanish tongue. Tuck into these cheeky, heartwarming eats while the nights are still nippy with that winter chill.

Image via Nic Cooks.

Published on 16 Aug 2012 by Linsey Rendell