My Last Dental Dinner, at the Victoria Park Golf Complex

Victoria Park Golf Complex
www.victoriaparkgolfcomplex.com/



I've long ago given up any desire to remain mysterious/secretive on this blog. Yes folks, I am a flesh and blood human with a real life outside of writing restaurant reviews and amateur cooking attempts on the internet. At the moment, most of my time is taken up by uni but if all goes to plan, that will come to an end after 5 exhausting and long years.

HELLO GRADUATION.

Between now and then, I'm knocking down small milestones. Last written exam, ever. Last day at the dental school, ever. So on.

L: writer and R: head chef of this blog ;)

This past weekend contained my last dental dinner. This is an annual event for all students and staff of the Bachelor of Dental Science and Bachelor of Oral Health at the University of Queensland. I think I missed one in first year but have attended religiously ever since. My social life has now disintegrated to the point where dent dinner and my birthday are the only 2 occasions per year that provide an excuse to dress up.

Menu

Traditionally, the 4th year students organize the event and this year, it was held at the Victoria Park Golf Complex. It was my first time there and because food, service and ambiance are all involved, it makes sense for me to write a review about it.

Driving range in the background

My first impression of the place was that the grounds are huge. There are several buildings within the complex and we had no idea which way to go. It felt a bit like we were trawling through a theme park at night: walk ways, lights, greenery and putt putt. We were 30min early so killed some time at a random pub (within the complex) and watching balls fly through the driving range. That plus a Brisbane city sky line made for quite an enjoyable half hour.

I'm not sure what the name of our building was but we got there by following other dental students. It's a single long room with a sort of 'tent' feel but much more solid. The interior was dreamy, the result of dimmed lighting interspersed with candles and chandeliers. I really liked the atmosphere they created.

There were sourdough bread rolls on the table as starters. This was accompanied by rolls of creamy butter. Great bread rolls. Crusty outside and soft interior. Likewise compliments to the butter.

Wild mushroom gnocchi, garlic and parsley cream

For food, we had the alternating 3 course menu. My entree was the wild mushroom gnocchi. I've had many a bad gnocchi at restaurants before but this one sounded good and it tasted good. The sauce was very creamy without being too heavy and had a deep, mushroom flavor.

Smoked chicken, fig, frissee salad

The other entree was a smoked chicken salad. I didn't try any of that one.

Pan-fried swordfish, slow-cooked kiphler and olives and red peppers

I had the swordfish for main. It was very average. The fish was woody and dry and the whole thing was crying out for sauce. The mash underneath was also dry and flavorless. I can forgive them for the fish since fish is rarely done well (I think) and even harder to get right in a large, catering event... but poor mashed potato is inexcusable.

Char-grilled eye fillet, roasted roma tomato, artichokes on puree potato and salsa verde

Byron had the steak and his primary complaint was that it was overcooked. I guess because they serve the same steak to everyone, they prefer it to be a bit over so that blood-phobic people don't complain? This was well, well done and as a result, about as dry as the fish. We liked the sauce on top though. It reminded me of a McDonalds burger; but in a good way.

I was pretty far gone by the time dessert rolled by thanks to an unlimited bar tab of beer, red and white wine and bubblies. My taste buds might have gotten distorted by then but I'll soldier on ahead with the comments since they're all good.

Callebaut chocolate mousse

There was a chocolate mousse for dessert. It was rich and smooth and served with a bit of cream. Very delicious. Thumbs up.

Lemon meringue, citrus curd, lemon sherbet, mint gelato

The other dessert was a lemon meringue tart. By sheer coincidence, that was exactly what I was in the mood for so I enjoyed this dessert heaps. It came with a mint gelato and that was metaphorically, the icing on the cake. Great desserts.

Desserts were very much devoured

We had a great time at the Victoria Park Golf Complex and I would recommend this place for venue-hire and catering.