There was much excitement when Eightysix announced a south-side restaurant. From what I’ve read, Eightysix South has more of an Italian cuisine focus, which suits me just fine. I had lunch on opening day with my friend (Tales of a Confectionist) a few months ago. The fit out looks pretty much the same as the Braddon restaurant with the long blackboard filled with the day’s menu along the wall, and an open kitchen with stools along the kitchen counter. We’re led to our reserved table, but could spot it immediately. The only one with a high chair next to it.
Our waiter introduces himself and asks if we’ve dined at Eightysix before. As we both had, he quickly went through the menu from the appetisers, the new mains, and desserts, and left us to decide.
We try a staple appetiser, the duck parfait with dates and toast ($24). I haven’t dined at Eightysix in a long time, so although there were other appetisers I just couldn’t go past this. The sweet jam on top is divine with the smooth parfait, spread over the charred bread. We were asked if we wanted additional bread some time later, and yes we definitely needed a second serve of bread to finish off the generous serve of parfait.
We ended up deciding to try ALL four of the pastas on the menu at the time. Given the Italian-focus, why not?
The squid, tomato and lemon zest risotto ($30) is the first to arrive. Good combination of tangy from the tomato and lemon, which goes well with seafood.
The corn and taleggio tortellini with fermented chilli butter ($28) is a favourite. The tortellini are plump and filled with a mousse-like texture. It’s not spicy at all, light and so very moreish.
By comparison to the first two pasta dishes, the gnocchi nduja cream, kale and bread crumbs ($28) wasn’t as bold in flavour and very creamy. I’m disappointed that the spiciness of the nduja didn’t come through. However there’s nothing wrong with the pieces of gnocchi which are fresh and cut into large chunks.
The duck porcini and sage ragu with tagliatelle ($30) is mouth-watering. Perfect blend of spices and herbs, and a satisfactory amount of duck meat. All topped with cheese. I’d definitely order this again!
The portions aren’t substantially large, but I was feeling quite full by the end of this. However, there is no way I wasn’t going to try a dessert or two.
As we both love tiramisu, this new dessert by Eightysix was a must try ($18). The square piece is soft and moist, with plenty of mascarpone on top which flowed over the sides. There’s a strong hit of coffee, and I can’t taste any liqueur. It’s basically a 1:1 mascarpone to sponge ratio. I do prefer slightly more sponge but overall, a decent slab of tiramisu.
I also wanted to try the salted chocolate and caramel tart but there weren’t any available that day. So I picked the signature banoffee pie ($19), simply because I’ve only ever had it once before at the Braddon restaurant. This is very sweet and rich, and I’m so glad it was shared between us.
Eightysix South seems to be the only restaurant open for lunch with some lunch specials, while Eightysix North remains a dinner service only.
Eightysix South
45 Furzer St, Phillip
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