@elevenstrands has been around for a while, but it’s my maiden visit mainly due to them being on #burpplebeyond. It’s a modest sized, simply decorated restaurant that was positively buzzing even when I visited it on a Thursday night, and you probably shouldn’t expect a quiet dinner here thanks to the crowd.⠀
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The menu is pretty expansive, and the most unique appetiser is their Chicken Liver Pâté ($14 before an additional 10% service charge). The pâté was mild in flavour, with a muted gaminess & salinity flavouring every morsel of the silky smooth pâté. Much of the flavour actually came from the pickled onions were slightly sweet and suitably sour to rein in the richness of the chicken liver pâté, and the parade of strange little cubes on top of the pâté.⠀
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After rereading the menu, I realised that those cubes are pickled apple brunoise. Fun fact: a brunoise is a julienned fruit or vegetable that is rotated & diced up into tiny cubes. The pickled apple brunoise was stunningly sweet, and it was the main flavour force in the appetiser. That’s right, this chicken liver pâté is a predominantly sweet & super smooth appetiser with undertones of salty & sour. It’s good enough to eat already, but it achieves perfection when spread thickly on the toasted baguette on the side.⠀
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Chicken liver is a bit of an iffy ingredient for most folks, but Eleven Strands’ renditions is so stellar that it’s a must try. Don’t be scared to take the plunge, this is simply sumptuous and you really shouldn’t miss out on it.