The Noble Experiment

Disclosure: I was invited to dine as a guest 

I have to say that recently I’ve kind of gone off cocktails. I much prefer something neater, and a little less sweet, like a refreshing gin and tonic or a deep and mellow whiskey, or a glass of vino. 

However, a little while ago, I was reminded just how fun cocktails were though, and how well they could be done, with a visit to Noble Experiment.

I mean, anyone who’s going to serve you a cocktail in a bathtub with a rubber duckie has got the fun factor turned up. But beyond the novelty, the guys at the Noble Experiment stay true to their name, their experimental with their cocktails, but seriously know their stuff. 

Our rubber duckie friend here is happily floating in the ‘Bath Tub Gin’ cocktail (aptly named) with Bombay Sapphire, house made tonic water, Lillet Rose, pomegranate liquor, lemongrass syrup citrus, topped with spiced rhubarb and pink grapefruit air. There’s a lot going on in there, but it’s immensely well balanced, and very dangerous. Who can even taste the gin with the lovely sweet pomegranate, rhubarb and grapefruit in there? 

To go with our cocktail tasting, we also had a sample of dishes come out, which, much like their drinks, are thought out and beautifully executed. The lightly cured kingfish was cut generously, topped with honey and grapefruit vinaigrette with charred mandarin which was refreshing but richly sweet as well. Sea scallops with a smear of goats curd, cauliflower and wood ear were also cooked perfectly.

As mentioned earlier, the guys pride themselves on experimenting, and trying new things. One thing they do take pride in, are their bottle and barrel aged cocktails, which are exactly as the name might suggest! We had the absolute delight in trying out their bottle aged negroni (which I think had been bottled for 6 months), which we had with just a wee bit of orange peel, which we wiped around the rim of the glass. Oh man, what a difference it made to the flavour of the negroni! This was so delicious; the alcoholic edge of the negroni was softened, and the flavours were rich and warm. Beautiful. Also dangerous (as everything ended up being this particular evening…)

Fried green tomatoes with fresh goat curd, buffalo mozzarella and basil makes for a delightful bar snack. Very much reminiscent of a caprese salad in flavours, but with an additional crunch; which contrasts beautifully with the juiciness of the tomatoes. Absolutely loved these!

A sous vide duck breast with mead cooked radicchio, duck skin crumble, balsamic and beetroot gel and parsnip is warm and comforting. Also, did you read that? Duck. Skin. Crumble. Hell to the yes.

Can I just say, barrel aged espresso martinis are the espresso martinis you never knew you needed in your life. 

For our last cocktail, we got a little table side liquid nitrogen action for the Spiced Berry and Basil Smash. A concoction of Hendricks gin, Lillet Rose, house made spiced berry puree, nitro muddled basil, citrus, sugar and basil sherbet, this was the perfect cocktail to have with dessert. Sweet and berrylicious, but with a herbaceous and fresh note from the basil to cut through.

With this, our dessert plate carrying a warm chocolate fudge brownie, with burnt fig and honeycomb ice-cream, chocolate soil and honeycomb, passionfruit curd with coconut meringue, Chambered berries, coconut and lime sorbet, and finally a beetroot sorbet, all went down a treat. 

The fudge brownie was as promised, melting in the mouth with a smooth and velvety texture and  the passionfruit curd punched up the palette with it’s bright and vibrant flavours.

I’m absolutely keen to bring back some of my best girlfriends with me to Noble Experiment. It’s the perfect spot for a relaxed, but still fun evening, with people who appreciate the good stuff but also know how to have a good time. The guys here push the envelope, without being pretentious, and make everything they do so accessible; you don’t even know how progressive you’re being!

Make sure you’re not driving when you visit! 

The Noble Experiment

284 Smith Street

Collingwood 3066