Freestyle Tout

It came like a bolt out of the blue.

"TSG! U working this week!"

"I have monday and tuesday off, you in town?"

"YESSSSSS"

"yessssssssssssssssssssssss"

That's right, Yassmin from http://redefiningthenarrative.com.au/ was back in town and it was time for another intense meet up. Every time we meet up, we go out for food, talk about everything under the sun since we met, our jobs, our love life or lack of one, the books we've read, the books we're reading, ethnic family dramas, I lose my voice and then Yass has to run off to a meeting somewhere. 

I'll save you the pages and pages of WhatsApp conversation but the trouble with Yass is, she is her own secretary. While she is a brilliant visionary, she is quite forgetful, and doesn't seem to understand that if you book a meeting that ends at 11am, you can't be on the other side of the city at another meeting or meeting up with a friend by 11.30am. We were talking about ideal super powers one time, and she said she'd love to be able to teleport from place to place and I don't blame her. She books herself back to back, meeting up with the hoards of Brisbanites she calls friends, her work commitments and saving the world.

Pretty much her day. 

This time was no exception with Yass originally intending to meet us at Three Monkeys in West End at 9.30am before running off to the Emporium in the Valley for her next meeting at 11.30am. We then decided to go to the movies, at Garden City, South Bank Cineplex and then the Barracks. Then we were going to meet up somewhere in the Valley, because she had a meeting at the Emporium at 8.30am, had to meet us at 9.30am in West End then had to be back for her 11.30am meeting. Then we were back at Three Monkeys at a different time cause she was meeting up with another friend. In the end, we went to meet up with Yass at the Emporium in the Valley between meetings.

Being the polite people we are, Yassmin, my Boyfriend and I had a hard time deciding where to go to eat. I didn't particularly want to go to Mecca Bah, which I know is halal. Yassmin told me she normally eat seafood or vegetarian if the place we're going to doesn't serve halal food. I didn't feel like seafood, or Japanese. As usual, my Boyfriend said he was happy with whatever we ate. In the end, we went over to investigate Freestyle Tout because I said, I've never been there when the kitchen was open for savoury food.

Woo Freestyle!

I really like Freestyle Tout, in addition to their fixed menu, they have a weekly specials menu that is constantly changing. This was the menu from the week that we went.

Another attraction is that they do cocktails by the jug. I'm just saying haha.

Nice. Classy binge drinking.

The cafe is lovely, with a circular room in the front with tables all around the sides, backed up against a very comfortable window seat with scattered cushions in front of huge windows. The view is terrible however, of a busy road and all the car dealerships nearby but the breeze is lovely. It knocked over a lot of our stuff though, I lost a napkin, cushions were knocked over and at one stage I'm pretty sure Yass was hit in the back of the head with one of the curtains. Around the back are some communal dining style long tables and seats. Its also quite a bit darker around that side hahaha, we've sat there before when we've come here on previous occasions. They did ask if we wanted the curtains closed but we were happy to be basking in the cool breeze.

So bright. The light, it burns!

Woah did we actually sit on stools?
I don't remember that

I was the only person to get a drink, the Berrylicious iced tea. A very pretty house iced tea with bits of crushed raspberries floating everywhere. It wasn't actually very tasty, tasting like unsweetened fruit tea. For something so pretty with such a nice name, I'd have expected a splash of berry juice or something to boost up the flavour.

Not very Berrylicious tea.

We order the trio of tapas for the three of us, and my Boyfriend and I split a Caesar salad wrap for a more substantial meal.

Salt and pepper squid with soft herb and candied citrus salad. The salad I think is that collection of lemon wedge with some flat leaf parsley, some spinach leaves and what looks like a red pickle in a horrible picture I took and didn't include. I think it goes without saying that no one ate the salad.

I normally think salt and pepper squid is always a good idea wherever you go, but I always find its never as good as the ones my mum makes deep fried oil, crispy tentacles and all. Its never quite as salty, its never quite as crunchy, it doesn't have that little sweetness from briefly cooked capsicum. These were tenderly cooked, possibly quickly pan fried? Mildly seasoned with salt and pepper despite the little black flecks you can see here. I did like the cross hatch scoring on the squid pieces though, I think it makes it very pretty and very easy to do too! I probably wouldn't get it again, not bad though.

Salt and pepper squid!

Individual tartlets of caramelised fennel, blue cheese and roasted truss tomatoes. Random microherbs everywhere, literally everywhere. I can't really see why they put them there, they look very disorientated. I quite liked this actually, the caramelised fennel was surprisingly sweet! I've never had fennel before but I've read somewhere that its supposed to have a strong aniseed taste and I'm no fan of licorice, so I was pleasantly surprised. The blue cheese was very strong, that sweaty gym sock smell and it made my boyfriend steer right clear. The gorgeously coloured heirloom tomatoes were soft and sweet. I like it all in all.

Our tartlets of blue cheese, roasted truss tomato and caramelised fennel

Croquettes of roasted mushroom and goats cheese. We got a dish of garlicky, super creamy aioli to dip with. We dipped it with everything, I would just buy a big pot of that aioli and eat it with chips or something. It was fantastic. The croquettes themselves were a bit fiddly to share between three people, for some reason I was expecting little deep fried balls not these long oblong shapes. They were very creamy and that's all I have to say about them. I didn't notice any noticeable pieces of mushroom and the goats cheese wasn't enough for me to comment on.

Delicious sauce and some fried croquettes

Oh man this Caesar salad wrap. We were all super impressed when it came out. It came with its own serving PLANK and was the size of a tissue box. Its bloody huge and absolutely delicious. My boyfriend and I normally lovingly share bites between each other, he was sneaking bites when my head was turned, and claimed it as his dish. No bloody wonder with those charry, crunchy slabs of rasher and loin bacon, the grilled chunks of chicken, that crisp unidentified lettuce leaf, that house made Caesar dressing drizzled over the insides and the soft pita wrap.

Oh damn Caesar salad, you looking good enough to eat hahaha

Where's the egg you say? In this picture. Its been deep fried and was deliciously gooey in the centre. Disgustingly deep fried and brilliant. This is the best Caesar salad wrap I've ever had, and if it appears on the Freestyle Tout menu again, buy it, and buy one for later too. For $12 it fed the both of us admirably.

Peeking out!

We were fatties and ordered dessert too. We did sit there for about half an hour afterwards and then decided to get dinner.

Bread and butter pudding with vanilla ice cream and butterscotch sauce for Yassmin. My god, it was good. The bread and butter pudding was meltingly soft, with plump juicy raisins studded throughout the pudding and a marmalade glazed top. The butterscotch sauce was apparently fantastic but I had eyes only for that pudding. I ate more of Yassmin's pudding than she did I think. The vanilla ice cream was delicious as well with a dense, creamy texture and real vanilla bean seeds throughout. Yassmin and I both agreed its one of the best we've ever had.

Bread and butter pudding

Smooshed

My Boyfriend went for the creme brulee, raspberry sorbet, vanilla ice cream, forest berries, pashmak fluff and a slice of biscotti. Pashmak is a Persian dessert made from sesame seeds and sugar and it has a noticeably nutty grit to it. I've had this before with a friend and I advised my Boyfriend not to get it but he did cause apparently he makes a mean creme brulee. Like me he ate everything but the creme brulee, I thought it tasted like pure cream set with gelatine and not much else. He was criticising it for having an unevenly golden top, not being crunchy enough when broken through and that he's made better ones before.

Creme brulee

Poor abandoned creme brulee. The pashmak fell on the ground.

I got a rapidly melting Cocolusicious sundae made of coffee, chocolate and vanilla coconut based ice cream with an organic chocolate coconut sauce. It had the first few spoonfuls of this and regretted choosing it as I tend to not really like sweet/creamy thing and have a dessert taste for things that are sweet/tart. It wasn't bad though but no one was keen to help me finish as they were all struggling to finish their respective desserts.

Cocolusicious sundae

Well that was a pathetic effort

That's what greedy food blogging gets you, overindulgence and uneaten desserts! I guess I haven't developed that second dessert stomach yet hahaha.

Many thanks to my Boyfriend for taking the food shots! He did a much better job than I usually do hahaha. I took over during desserts cause the noon sun had gone down a bit and the change in quality is noticeable!

Freestyle Tout
Atmosphere: 8/6 Inside, light and breezy. Outside parked right outside some parking spaces.
Service: 6. Given some menus, cheerful smiling staff, help yourself drinks, they did come to take away our plates though.
Food: 7, split between my love of their savoury and my general indifference for their desserts.