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Trevor Pepys reviews Little Humid takeaways
Well, the snap lockdown put the kybosh on everything, didn’t it? Including a good mate of Trev’s significant birthday celebration.
But we are nothing if not resilient, we who have come from far-flung fields and hideous hell-holes – I’m thinking mainly of Melbourne and Sydney – to create new and worthwhile lives where God (if she exists) kissed the planet. We endure, and, as dudes, we abideth. We can get through eight days without a restaurant meal, can’t we? Any longer, Trev is not so sure.
Which is why his spirits soared when he saw on social media – Trevor doesn’t do social media, but people tell him what they saw, and he claims it as his own – that the gals from Little Humid, the mighty M and Ms, were once again quick off the mark with what saved us last winter, the $25 takeaway. Hearing the news, Trev donned his industrial-strength Covid mask and skipped merrily the seven blocks to Dan’s, where he purchased a six-pack of almost-decent Pinot to celebrate.
By Trev’s reckoning, to become a culinary legend in this tough town, you have to have produced the goods for at least 20 years. Well, Michelle and Mary have been serving up the tucker and the service brilliantly in two Noosaville locations for 17 years now, which, in technical terms, puts them within a bee’s dick of legendary status.
The original Humid, recently demolished in the name of progress, was a cavernous temple of industrial near-chic which was fun to be a customer in, not so much for the serving staff. The girls really hit their straps when they moved to the river, conveniently adjacent to Laguna Realty, where the estimable Olivier Miller turned it into the staff canteen. Well, not quite, but a lot of savvy local businessfolk found it a good place to seal deals.
And it still is! Why, even Trev has convinced hard cases to hand over a cash advance for this project and that over a three-course Humid special. A Little Humid lunch or dinner is a treasured delight, not just for the food, which is consistently brilliant, but for the whole friendly, buzzy experience, and the river view.
So when the boom gates come down and we have to lock down for the common good, how wonderful is it that not only can you get a Humid takeaway, but it’s the bargain of the century. Look, not much to make you smile comes out of a Covid lockdown, other than that feeling of community accomplishment when we all work together to overcome it, but if every cloud has a silver lining, then the lockdown one is the $25 dinner special, three minutes in the microwave, from Humid.
Michelle’s takeout menu is a clever combination of comfort food and the dishes that have made the place famous, all pre-cooked same day and idiot-proofed for immediate consumption. From five mains offered, we phone-ordered the crispy roast confit duck leg, broccolini, sweet potato puree, soy, ginger and turmeric glaze, and the lamb shoulder, roast pumpkin, spinach and beans with carrot puree. Trev picked it up just before six and the missus served it at seven, just as he pulled the Pinot from the rack and switched on the ABC news.
All things considered, you’d rather be sitting in the restaurant, but for a lockdown home dinner in front of the box with plenty of Aussie medal shots to watch from Tokyo later, it was damn near perfect.
The verdict: Little Humid is not the only place in town offering quality takeaways during lockdowns, but they do it very, very well. It’s hard to match a crispy duck carried straight from their kitchen, but Michelle goes very close. We shared our meaty delights and couldn’t fault them. An excellent lockdown dinner.
Little Humid, 235 Gympie Terrace, Noosaville. Phone 5449 9755.