Fromage The Cow

FROMAGE THE COW HAS PERMANENTLY CLOSED.

Fromage the Cow, Brisbane’s first licensed fromagerie with in-house wine bar and café, lives in the landmark historic Smith’s Shop on Milton’s Park Road.

A giant pink cow stands sentry outside while inside Fromage the Cow mixes chic contemporary décor and heritage features such as a free-standing handmade brick fireplace. The walk-in glass-walled cheese room takes pride of place at the front, while a coffee counter of French pastries has its own window for takeaway and a cosy wine bar with a separate entrance on once side can be found at the rear.

In the cheese room you’ll find a selection of some 80 cheeses from Australia and around the world stored in gleaming glass fridges and those who stick around to dine can partake in the French-inspired menu that features cheese in the majority of the dishes.

For Fromage the Cow serves a delicious breakfast and lunch as well as dinner mid-week to weekends, while the bar* is the place for wine and cheese pairings (including Spanish, French and Australian).

On the breakfast menu there’s deliciousness like the Open 3 Cheese Omelette with red cheddar, provolone, goats cheese and spinach with tomato salsa and sour dough or Crushed Avocado with goat cheese mousse and roasted sesame dukkah.

Highly recommended are the signature Monte Cristo Breakfast sandwich (also available as takeaway) with thick-cut ham, gruyere and Brioche French Toast or the Brie en Cocotte – brie baked with pumpkin, mozzarella and eggs, served in a little Le Creuset pot with sour dough on the side.

For those who’d like to sample the cheese in-house, the For the Table menu offers the Fromage Signature Cheese Platter served with quince, preserves, fruit, fresh crusty bread, lavosh and grissini, as well as a Charcuterie Board.

From the Lunch and Dinner menu, diners can go solo or share, with Entrees including Twice=baked Cheese Souffle, French Onion Soup, Crab Risotto or Truffle Pecorino Mac’n’Cheese, while Mains include Hand made Gnocchi with wild mushrooms, kale, roasted garlic, lemon butter, truffle and pecorino; Grilled Pork Cutlet with fried bread and white bean and pancetta cassoulet or Grain fed Sirloin with whipped gorgonzola, roast garlic mash, braised kale and red wine jus.

Otherwise to share there’s a Grazing Platter for Two – fondue of Barossa Valley camembert baked inside a sourdough cobb with crudites – or Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder with sauce arabiatta and ricotta salad.

Meanwhile for Dessert as well as the Signature Cheese Platter, on offer are White Chocolate Panna Cotta with chevre beignet, sorbet and raspberry preserve or Cow’s Milk Ricotta with Victorian honey and semi-dried figs.

Drinks-wise, beer drinkers can choose from a small selection of Holgate and Stone and Wood beers as well as Fortitude pacer, Fixation IPA and a special Moo Brew Single Hop Enigma and for cider fans Treehouse Crisp Cider or Aspall Draught Cyder.

Fromage the Cow has 4 cocktails on the bar menu – Tom Collins, Peach Bellini, Negroni or French Martini – and a terrific selection of wines from around the world.

Whites, the majority of which come served by the glass or bottle, hail from Australia, Germany, France and Argentina, while Reds include drops from France, Italy, Spain, New Zealand, Argentina and Australia, with a small selection of Rose from Chile, France and Oz.

Bubbles by the bottle include Louis Roederer and Veuve Clicquot while by the glass as well as bottle there’s Prosecco NV and Moscato NV from Victoria and Louis Bouillot Perle d’Ivoire Blanc de Blancs.

Need to know – A delish range of toasties and pastries are available for takeaway from the coffee window.

Nice to know – There’s a small range of Kids size drinks available at Fromage the Cow, including babycinos, juices and Iced Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry or Caramel.