Peasant - 5/61 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane QLD 4000

Upon walking in, Peasant certainly impress with its aesthetic designer décor. The earthy rustic fit-out, large tables and romantically dimmed lights evokes a casual familial atmosphere. Which makes sense because Peasant is a Spanish restaurant famous for its shareplates.

Named best overall in Brisbane at the 2011 Savour Australia Awards for Excellence, we were keen to try it out.

You simply cannot go to a Spanish restaurant without trying their sangrias, so we got a carafe of red wine Sangria ($30).  It was remarkably sweet and very refreshing.

Red Wine Sangria ($30)

Tapas are best enjoyed in groups, so we got a few to share for my birthday. We settled on the Grilled Chorizo with black garlic aioli ($16), Sobrassada Croquetas ($12), and Tequenos with jamon & majorera ($12). Unfortunately, the portions were pitiful and there really wasn't much to share around. (Aha! So that's why this place was named "Peasant"). Despite the small serves, the tapas were fairly enjoyable.

Tapas Galore

The Grilled Chorizo was perfectly charred and served with black garlic aioli which had delicious garlic flavours.

The Croquetas was deep fried and filled with flavourful sobrassadas (a type of cured sausage made with ground pork, paprika, salt and other spices). The creamy tangy sauce complemented these crispy battered morsels very well. I found the Croquetas a little too salty but that's probably because of the sobrassadas.

The Tequeno (sour bread dough) was filled with tasty jamon (a Spanish type of dry-cured ham similar to prosciutto) and majorera (a special type of goat cheese). The tequeno was irresistibly crunchy, but I could barely taste the jamon or majorera as there was only an extremely thin layer inside the tequeno. I still enjoyed it though - anything fried dipped with sauce is generally nice.

Needing something more substantial, we decided to get two large plates.

The Slow Cooked Rabbit with lentils, PX sherry, mushroom and triple smoked jamon ($30) was divine - it was flavoursome and I especially like the mild sherry flavours. The rabbit had an oh-so-tender texture but it was shredded into tiny pieces which made it difficult to find in the stew.

Slow Cooked Rabbit ($30)
Really tasty but the portion was again pitiful 

We also got the Spiced Lamb Shoulder with cacik (diluted yoghurt), pistachios and pine nuts ($35). Packed with different spices, the lamb had an exciting spicy kick. What was most impressive with the dish was that the pistachios were fresh so it had a delicious sweet flavour (unlike the stale stuff you get at Woolies). The spices and the cacik didn't go well with each other so I didn't really enjoy the dish (Thank goodness the serving for this was also very small). On the plus side, the lamb had a fall-off-the-bone texture.

Spiced Lamb Shoulder ($35)

Although the tapas were decent, the service wasn't very pleasant, and at times, we felt like we were being treated like peasants. Halfway through our meal, we spilt our sangria and wanted some napkins. We practically had to jump in front of the waiter before we got some sort of attention. The waiter was kind enough to spare us a few napkins and stood on the side while we cleaned the table ourselves. We also felt a bit uncomfortable after we finished our meal as the waiter cleaned our table and handed us the bill pretty much immediately.

Verdict
To be fair, the tapas were fairly decent, but unless you are on a diet, I wouldn't recommend this place. Total spent for 4 people = $135, but none of us were full.