Pony

This week we celebrated our wedding anniversary.  We both love our food so usually each year we pick a new restaurant to go to (that's a lot of restaurants we've been to over 35 years).  Pony had come highly recommended by someone "in the know" about city restaurants. It is in a beautiful location at Eagle Street Pier overlooking the river with the Story Bridge in the background.  We were fortunate to be shown to an inside table overlooking the river.  Fortunate because that night the humidity arrived in Brisbane and we had just had the hottest day in a long time.
The ambiance was sophisticated, quiet despite there being a party on the outside deck and just a little romantic, but that could have been because of who I was with.  The lights dimmed at just the right time (no it wasn't a power cut) and the food was great.
There were a couple of little things that let the experience down. We ordered olives as a starter and they were served in a pre-loved jar.  Now that's a great look at a vintage wedding or engagement but in a smart looking restaurant? Didn't work for me.  It looked like they had taken off the lid, drained the brine, tipped out a few olives and ripped the label off.  The olives were fine.  The second was our waitress. Nice girl, pleasant enough but in a restaurant where her peers were all smartly dressed she wore casual jeans and black sneakers - is that being picky? Oh yes, she also really didn't know what they did with the whey and wheat on the lamb plate and told us that of course the whey was poured over the wheat. It wasn't. I would have preferred being told that she would find out and come back to me. Minor detail but if you go out for a dining experience it is the little things that count. 
Enough of the niggles. The meal really was fantastic. I choose the Pork Belly and it looked delicate and pretty when it came out and it tasted good too.  He who I married 35 years ago ate the Lamb and it looked and smelt amazing. The chargrilled marinade was enough to make the mouth water but the texture of the pink lamb was perfect and melt-in-your-mouth. The plates didn't look like big helpings and they weren't but they were sufficient to fill us to just the point where we could still fit in a dessert and we didn't go home feeling over full.

I would go back to Pony just for the dessert.  My White Chocolate Parfait had nothing calorie free in it but oh my it was good.  The parfait was accompanied by a peanut butter crumble, dark chocolate ganache and a caramel sauce in just the right quantities.  Across the table was a German Chessecake with Marscapone and while the lovely gentleman liked his dessert, after the obligatory mouthful I was happy when he said he didn't need to share!