A 4
Entree:
Organic poached eggs, enoki mushrooms, puffed wild rice & red curry stock, simply an explosion of contrasting taste, fragrance and texture. Dish came out piping hot (which i love), yet the eggs were not overcooked, whites was set (nicely). I got quite a shock on my first slurp of the innocent (not-so-red) curry stock. I leave it to you to decipher. The ginger hair garnish were perfectly fried adding another layer to the aroma when one creamy egg, crunchy asian greens, mushroom, earthy watercress n the (not-so-innocent) broth was carefully manoeuvred into the gaping hole in my face. Wait.. Where are those puffed wild rice?? Searching in a mild panic, i found a few n popped them in. I have no idea a few grains of wild rice could taste so good, they were crunchy and tasted like none i have experienced. Cant ever do that @home with my own wild rice. I want this dish for breaky every morning. 5/5
Snow crab/avo, watercress n wasabi mustard, lime n green apple. Another sensory trip of a different kind than the poached eggs above. Is a cold dish to start with. Being cold doesn't mean bland because on my first mouthful, i was taken to a lush mountainous green valley with a kick to my back. The wasabi mustard is really innocent here, just a background accompaniment to that lime green apple n watercress. Then those crab/avo combo cradled me in its soft creaminess hug. 4.5/5
Yellow fin tuna, buffalo cheese n tomato water with ponzu perilla shiso herb. This one kind of baffled me though perhaps i was still coming down from my previous high. I must admit i have never tasted perilla shiso herb. And I have never quite taken to any ponzu or raw tuna anywhere. Keeping my ignorance and bias in check, i took a small bite of the raw tuna. For fans of tuna, this dish is worth a try. Not gonna score because of my bias.
Sydney rock oysters shallot n red wine dressing. I couldn't bring myself to steal 1 of the 6 oysters from our dinner companion. I had wished that he would have been more distracted though with the opera house view for eg. Was told that oysters were real fresh n the dressing fine. Sorry, cant score.
Main:
Tasmanian salmon with radish nashi celeriac n green apple sabayon. Now, this is how ALL salmon should be cooked. Outside firm, inside pink AND uniformly across the whole fillet. The slight nuttiness of the mashed celery roots, slight sourness of green apple along with the sweet sabayon made each bite of the salmon simply heavenly. 4.25/5
Pork belly black garlic condiments with smoky potato balls. I love everything pork belly, whether roasted, braised, slow cooked, bbq'ed. This is a relatively simple dish cooked very well, though how they infuse those cute pommes balls with smokiness is a mystery to me. Would have loved a thicker crackling skin but an outstanding dish nevertheless. 4.25/5
Barra with roasted turmeric cauli n leek, cashew nut n chicken jus. Barra can be quite boring and so it was. In isolation. Ditto cauli. Thanks to the amazing chicken jus, it took the humble barra to new heights. Hats off to the 'saucier' chef. The bombshell, however, was the leek, complete with hairy roots and all. Never before could i taste the subtle change eating leek from the top to the root. I want more leek. 4/5
Sides:
Fries and pommes puree. Imaginative choice yes? We had to have something familiar to keep us grounded ;p ????
Dessert:
Never quite a fan of dessert, keeping it short n 'sweet'.
Around the corn popcorn corn cream n blackberry sorbet. Outstanding sorbet. Good mix with the all things corn. 4/5
White peach mousse, beetroot cake palm seed, lychee sorbet n hibiscus ;). Initially approached with caution (bec of the beetroot), it was a surprising delight. 4.25/5
My paris brest, guanaja n azelia choc, pear sorbet n hazelnut with choc cream. Fans of everything sweet, go for it. 4/5
Service front to back was professional, warm and knowledgable, except staff couldnt help much with wine selection. Not a wine connoisseur, cant be bothered with a sommelier, so it was simply point n order.
