Last Sunday, my tap dancing school did a public performance at Luna Park and Acland Plaza in St Kilda to celebrate Melbourne Tap Week. My dances were Kitten In a Blender and the Shim Sham Shimmy. Afterwards, we could attend an optional Hoofers High Tea at Big Mouth, a pub in St Kilda.
The photo at the top of this post features some fellow tap dancers at the Hoofers High Tea, with the school head mistress, Miss Jane, photobombing in the Jackie O sunnies at the back.
A friend of mine said that as a pub, Big Mouth is quite good. It was clearly not a high tea venue, although some of the food was tasty.
We started off with "scones" (actually, mini brioche topped with pearl sugar) with jam and cream:
These were quite tasty, and were one of the best items on our menu.
Next up came chicken and avocado ribbon sandwiches:
Unfortunately, one side of the bread on these sandwiches had dried out, which detracted from the eating experience.
Next came mini vol au vents filled with cheese sauce - these were also very good:
Next up on the menu was mini vegetarian quiche - these were fairly average:
Much to the bemusement of many, the sausage rolls were served in thin slices - unusual, I will grant you:
A lot of people left after that, because the courses were very spread out. Two hours after we started, the desserts came out, and featured some of the best items on the menu, so I am glad that I stayed. I changed tables for dessert because my original table of tappers went home:
Featured left to right are sticky date pudding (meh), brownies (good) and churros with salted caramel dipping sauce (the highlight!). One wise tapper put the sticky date pudding with the churros dipping sauce, a la butterscotch sauce, which I am sure made it taste better.
Like my friend said, Big Mouth is a good pub - I just don't think high tea is normally in their repertoire. The food was a mixed bag, but there were definitely some delicious nibbles. I think the best part about the Hoofers High Tea was the camaraderie and getting to meet some other dancers. They were a nice bunch of people, and made me, as a new comer, feel welcome.
Big Mouth
168 Acland St
St Kilda VIC 3182
Ph: (03) 9534 4611
Lucky you stuck around or you may have missed dessert which sounded good. At first I wondered what the sausage roll was. I thought it was a rectangular tart or something! :P
ReplyDeleteI wondered what it was too! At first I thought it was one of the sweets.
DeleteNo videos of your performance?? Well, I'm glad you shared the festivities afterward---looks like a fun time with friends and some yummy nibbles!
ReplyDelete