DETAILS
Black Cow Bistro is an exciting new development from the Stillwater Management Craig Will (ex Marque IV) and Mark Welsh (Stillwater Sommelier)are the next generation to lead this exciting venture. These two young exciting stars are leading the Black Cow team. Dishes are based around fresh local produce and served in a warm bistro style atmosphere with well priced Tasmanian wines.
PROFILE BY BEST RESTAURANTS
Black Cow is located in a lovely old art deco building which for a long time was Lucks Butchery then, for a considerably shorter time, Lucks Restaurant. Now, if you like, it's something of both – a very stylish restaurant featuring premium dry-aged, free-range, grass-fed Tasmanian beef. The restaurant is an offshoot of Stillwater (one of Tasmania's top restaurants) and shares an overall commitment to excellence with its parent, so if you associate beef with steakhouse blokeyness, think again. Here it's white-clothed tables, subdued lighting and beautiful murals inspired by the 17,000-year-old cave drawings of Lascaux in southern France. The wines have been selected with the same care and consideration.
You can start with an absolutely delicious warm salad of butternut pumpkin, fetta and rocket or a Chinese-style pork belly with pickled apple salad, a dish which like a number of other entrees, reflects the Asian-inspired flavours found at Stillwater. The steaks are then listed by cut, sizes from 200g to 400g, Tasmanian provenance and how long they've been aged. A two-year-old Wagyu fillet from Mirragong in Central Tasmania that had been aged for 42 days was grilled perfectly as ordered and, in flavour and tenderness, I doubt could have been bettered. From the extensive wine list, a 2003 Grey Sands Merlot was a fabulous match with the meat and the Tasmanian blue cheese to finish. Little wonder Black Cow is so busy.
Graeme Phillips