With BOOTO and Stinks on a promotional tour of Victoria (leaving the Sponge trying in vain to remember what he used to do when a bachelor), it was decided to take guests for our next blog: the Pakistani Prince and the South Sea Island Princess* gratefully accepted the Bloggers’ invitation to join them for an evening of lager and pub grub at the Flying Scotsman.
(* Note: not real royalty.)
We had no expectations as to quality of the food at the Scotto – each of the Bloggers had been there from time to time for a quiet (or loud) drink, but never to eat. All recent reviews we could find appeared to be of the whiny variety, focusing on how much character and ambience the place had lost since its upgrade and how it would never be the same. (Apparently someone had neglected to pass this on to the punters though, who were there in droves.)
A table was booked (which we found to be essential if intending to eat), and was promptly and graciously reconfigured at least 3 times by the friendly staff as they tried to find the best way to seat 5 people. The Scotto is a bit like the scruffy, charismatic cousin of the Queens and (being what we understand to be the only viable drinking alternative up this end of Beaufort) was packed, while still maintaining a friendly and informal atmosphere.
Starters (ordered from the bar) arrived promptly and were unexpectedly brilliant: a platter consisting of a generous spread of such delights as octopus, ribs, chicken wings and some of the best and most tender squid any of the Bloggers (or their royal companions) had eaten for some time. This was accompanied by a dish that made the Deliberator curl into a foetal ball: pouteen. Pouteen is simply chips, melted cheese and gravy. Once combined however, they transform into a manna-like concoction that would make a grown man (in this case, the Deliberator) weep.
Mains were again impressive: the Brains’ Fat Bastard Pizza lived up to its name, parmagiana was bloody good (and enormous), the Deliberator’s ribs (washed down with a second bowl of pouteen) did the trick and the South Sea Island Princess’ salad was tasty and lovingly crafted. Unfortunately, so too was the Pakistani Prince’s. The Bloggers are collectively still stunned and slightly hurt at the Prince’s decision to order a salad at a pub, and will no longer mention his name on this blog. He is dead to us.
Service was attentive, speedy… and knowledgeable – our waitress chimed into our heated debate to confirm that the minimum contingent for a gang-bang was indeed 5 people. Debate concluded. (Incidentally, and while we had already established that 3 people formed a threesome, we are still in the dark as to the correct term for a beast with four backs. Suggestions welcome.)
In summary:
Service: Great, with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the karma sutra.
Food: A couple of cuts above what we anticipated. Sorry, Scotto.
Ambience: Lively, informal and eclectic. The Brisbane it ain’t.
Highlight: The squid. And the Deliberator’s vow to plant a pouteen tree in his backyard.
Lowlight: Maybe slightly cramped and noisy for dinner. (But hell – it’s a pub.)
Rating: 3.9 pouteen trees out of 5.
Will we be back: Yes, either to eat, drink or both. (Not just for the fact that we note that the bloody upstairs balcony is finally completed!)
Details: The Flying Scotsman is just down from the Walcott/Beaufort St intersection. The bill came to about $50 a head for mains and a shared starter (and drinks. Lots of drinks.) Kitchen closes at (we think?) 9pm, although pizzas are available later than this.
Coming up: Alright Diva – your turn next so we can finally tie up everything north of Walcott.
16 comments:
Great review. It always looks too noisy to eat there, but may need to change mind.
Thanks Lazy Aussie. Got there early in the week if you want to eat there. From Thursday night onwards it's a bit more of a nightmare.
Tennen-Parman [from Japan] - very kind of you to link our site to your blog, along with basically every other site on earth.
We're not sure that your blog would be particularly useful to our readers, given it's in Japanese and all. In any event, we have no idea how to add links to our blog, and it would probably take us months to learn.
The Prince is dead to you? The Prince just ate 7 party pies at a Melbourne Cup lunch - surely that makes up for the salad.
Good review by the way....Tennen-Parmen you could learn from this.
Pakastani Prince - The Beaufort Street Bloggers have long believed that the party pie is the toy poodle of the pastry world. Come back to us when you've got 7 full sized steak and kidneys under your belt.
The new upstairs area is sumptuous and very inviting. Have sampled the new balcony and I think it is going to be the most enjoyable place in town to have a drink on a lazy Sunday arvo, or any time for that matter, the view is stupendous.
Good work BSBs and shame on the Pakistani Prince (I bet he was probably drinking Cascade Light to wash it all down too).
We went to the Scotto for a quick lunch on a Saturday afternoon a few months ago and were also pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food on offer, not to mention the friendly service. It was nothing fancy or ground-breaking, but it was fresh and tasty, which is all I really want from a pub to be honest.
P.S. The word I was asked to verify before I can post was 'fockole'. I like it and will try to use it next time I comment.
Thump Thump Eyes - we're sold. Sunday drinks on the balcony is in the diary.
Brad - the Pakastani Prince was drinking Cascade Light Shandies as far was we were concerned. Thanks for your comment, and we couldn't agree more, the food and service at the Scotto is perfect for a pub.
We look forward to seeing fockole in a sentece very soon.
BSB's - thank you for an enlightening journey thus far. As a long time reader and first time commenter coupled with being an enthusiastic culinarist I feel compelled to comment on your Scotto review.
Having recently returned from Edinburgh, relishing "cheesy chips with gravy" and being looked upon strangely by my jock companions it is with absolute delight I see it held in the same vein.
http://www.avivalasvegas.com/Pages/poutinetalk6.htm
"Micken" Quality all round guys...
Cheers!
It's spelled poutine, basically the national dish of Quebec. Tasty stuff, thanks for the tip!
Nice review. I'm not so sold on the poutine. Chips are good hot with salt. Dat it, nuff said. It's like putting Coke in your whisky. Why try to improve on perfection?
Hi anonymous 1, thanks for your first time comment and many thanks for that enlightening link. We're about to settle in and watch the video about Italian Poutine.
Hi anonymous 2, thanks for that, we were clearly too boozed to remember the correct spelling from the menu. Either that or the Scotto got it wrong.
David, sort of agree, sort of disagree. Yes. Chips are great with salt. But sometimes they are also great with salt, cheese and gravy. It's not an every day way to eat chips, but certainly worth a try.
I'd also like to add the unrelated yet very important fact that The Flying Scotsman is one of the few pubs in Perth that hosts 'happy hour' (one served by clothed bar staff that is).
Their pizzas also defecate over those of the Queens down the road.
The beast with four backs would be a "fourgy".
Great review, great pub. I miss Perth.
Alrighty then you lot, excuse my parpherm but I've had just about enough of checking your site for the latest review to no avail. C'mon already it's been weeks since the last post. Are you not eating?
Kind regards,
BSB Groupie.
PS my verification word was parpherm. Not quite as cool as fockole tho.
Grrfrommars - couldn't agree more re the pizza. The Queens is rubbish in comparison. In almost every respect.
Rob - Thanks for the heads up, Fourgy is now officially a part of our language.
Anonymous - your parpherm is excused. Thanks for getting us into action, our new post is up. We're a bit slow sometimes because we struggle to get out once a week, it's costing us a bloody fortune.
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