FOOD VIXEN
GETTING THE PARTY
STARTED at F lame
I don ’ t know about you … but I get pretty excited about new and exciting places to eat in Cairns . So when good old social media alerted to me to Bushfire Flame and Grill ’ s new pop-up restaurant and bar ‘ Flame ’, I made plans to go that very evening . Located on the street side right in front of Bushfire on the Cairns Esplanade , Flame is serving up tapas plates and bar street bites until the end of September .
My handsome “ Plus1 ” and I arrived about 7pm on a Thursday evening and grabbed ourselves a table right in front of the chef , who was busy sizzling away on a large grill ( the food , not the chef ). With the Rio Olympics almost upon us it would be rude not to partake in one of Brazil ’ s favourite pastimes – and no , I don ’ t mean soccer . I followed the waiter ’ s recommendation to try Brazil ’ s national cocktail , the Caipirinha . The three ingredients of cachaça , sugar and white rum served over crushed ice , make for quite a yummy concoction - and something that I could surely get used to ! Considering that Brazil ’ s climate is very similar to that of Cairns , it ’ s no wonder they went down so readily .
Turning my focus turned to food , there ’ s about 10 dishes to try – reasonably priced between $ 7 and $ 14 . Sharing is the name of the game at Flame ( I made a funny ) so we started off with the Smoked Barramundi Bruschetta and Salumi . Barramundi on Bruschetta ? How has no one thought of this before ?
We then moved onto the Twice Cooked Pork Belly Skewers , Empanadilla ’ s and Calamari Fritti .
And then , because we both had a tiny little bit of room left , ( and also because I spied it on its way to another table ) the Chivito with melted provolone cheese , prosciutto , rocket , roasted capsicum , chimichurri and caramelised onion / tomato / green chilli relish on artisanal bread .
The Chivito was almost too good to share .
If you ’ re looking for something classy , but a little more casual , Flame is the place for you ! The Olympic party might be just getting started in Rio , but you can have your own party - in your mouth - with the tempting tapas and street bites at Flame .
Flame ( outside Bushfire Flame and Grill on the Esplanade ) is open 5.30pm – 9pm 7 days right through to the end of September .
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