Number of People: 2
Cost: $114 including 2 alcoholic beverages.
Rating: 4/5 on the lunch scale.
Pros: Lovely simple menu, the view
Cons: Dust from the wind, serving sizes, beer selection
What we ate:
yours truely: The risotto balls (Arancini alla ragu), New season garlic soup with smoked eel and summer savory and a cherry, sheep's curd and pistachio praline sponge along with 2 cordials and a hot chocolate.
The other half: arancini alla ragu, the carne (pork belly with something), chocolates, cappacino, a beer and a glass of the house wine.
We both had the Arancini alla ragu which came out on silver platters with a small piece of baking paper under them to catch any excess oil. Three good sized risotto balls, covered in crunchy crumbs and topped with a small amount of veal ragu (which I would have quite easily eaten as a meal by itself). This was quite large and if I had known this I would have only order this and desert.
My garlic soup was lovely - I didn't however realise it was a cold soup, so got a little bit of a surprise on the first spoon! It was not overly garlicky but had a lovely texture and taste to it. The smoked eel really added to the flavour. It was however VERY rich, so I only managed about 2/3rds of the serving.
The desert was massive and I ended up taking most of it home for a snack the next day. Lovely mixture of tastes and textures however, and I hope they keep it on the menu.
I am still not enamoured with their hot chocolates, large bowls, never really hot and not that chocolatey. The home made cordials on the the other hand - OMG! I really wish they would sell these, they are so flavoursome. I had a choice of three, Plum, clove and brown sugar, elderflower (I think) and another one that had rhubarb in. I had the plum and the rhubarb and both were very refreshing.
SO's meal was nice, though his pork belly apparently wasnt as nice as it could have been (the ratio of meat to fat was a little off).
Verdict: I love Pecora, and think its a pity so many people stop at Peppermint Bay and do not go any further. My only BIG gripe is that when its windy you get all the fine dust from the car park and fields blowing up, and landing on your glasses etc. However we were there on a very breezy day and the actual verandah wasnt drafty at all thanks to some well placed glass slides. Pecora seems to be the "money" spot at the moment - car cost estimate when we were there approx 1/2 a mill (a porsche 4WD, a merc, a new BMW, an Alfa Romeo and a convertible of some sort).
Next review: Divinge at Cygnet
Wednesday 23 January 2008
Wednesday 16 January 2008
Quick Note
Went to Pecora on the weekend - brillant meal - will write a proper review once I am not so drugged out. Unfortunately have had a reoccurance of the pre Christmas ear infection so am dosed up on Augmentin for that and anti immflamatories for my shoulder and intend to stay very close to home over the next few days so I am not falling over like a drunk woman.
Friday 11 January 2008
Quick Review of Piccalilly while I wait for Abstract inspiration to hit.
NYE at Piccalilly.
Cost: $345 for 3 including drinks.
Rating: 4/5
Pros: Great Staff, Great Food
Cons: Lack of airconditioning/air flow, the fact theywere not offering the matched wine or 4 course menus, ability to cope with many patrons at once.
What we ate: (well what I ate anyhow, can not remember all what mum and dad had).
The Amuse bouche was a lovely teeny tiny hamburger that asked to be eaten with the fingers and was only as tall as my thumb but still had a gorgeous meat patty with tomato and picalilly in it.
yazu-cured yellow-tail king fish with green apple and cucumber jelly
This was a lovely way to start the meal, small pieces of king fish, served shashmi style. The green apple added crunch and the cucumber jelly an interesting texture.
Seared scallops with toasted sesame seeds, spec foam and green bean slaw
This is definately one of my favourite dishes here. The tastes and textures are wonderfully complimentary, even down to the foam. My only problem is there is not enough of it!
whole-roasted quail with red currants, green peas and Pimms #1Cup glaze
This is quite a heavy meal, and I personally would have preferred it AFTER the chicken. Out of all of them I probably liked this the least. The quail, while nice, was quite large and there is NO way to eat a whole quail delicately with a fork and knife that I know of. The glaze is overwhelmed by the quail itself which the red currents and green pea flavours are not really apparent.
pressed terrine of confit chicken with mustard seed vinaigrette and mushroom ice cream
This is nice, but I still (even after trying twice) CANNOT reconcile myself to mushroom ice cream. The taste/texture makes me gag for some reason. I love ice cream and I LOVE mushrooms but never the twain shall meet according to my tastebuds. (I do however suspect it was something in this that made me feel naseous later that night)
House made cola spyder with pop rocks (now known as Vanilla bubbles after comments by diners that pop rocks sounds childish!)
The first time I had this the sensations in my mouth were amazing. This time not so much so. I suspect it has something to do with how cold it comes out of the kitchen.
Verdict: The young well trained staff make Piccalilly. While the food is generally excellent there are still a few things which are not 'quite' right.(Heating/cooling issues in the dining rooms primarily and the ability to cope with lots of patrons all at similar stages of thier meal). Dad (who has done silver service waiting in his time) was impressed with the fact everything was served correctly and the staff were unobtrusive but attentive. I still miss Gondwana, and probably always will, but this is a jolly good substitute.
Cost: $345 for 3 including drinks.
Rating: 4/5
Pros: Great Staff, Great Food
Cons: Lack of airconditioning/air flow, the fact theywere not offering the matched wine or 4 course menus, ability to cope with many patrons at once.
What we ate: (well what I ate anyhow, can not remember all what mum and dad had).
The Amuse bouche was a lovely teeny tiny hamburger that asked to be eaten with the fingers and was only as tall as my thumb but still had a gorgeous meat patty with tomato and picalilly in it.
yazu-cured yellow-tail king fish with green apple and cucumber jelly
This was a lovely way to start the meal, small pieces of king fish, served shashmi style. The green apple added crunch and the cucumber jelly an interesting texture.
Seared scallops with toasted sesame seeds, spec foam and green bean slaw
This is definately one of my favourite dishes here. The tastes and textures are wonderfully complimentary, even down to the foam. My only problem is there is not enough of it!
whole-roasted quail with red currants, green peas and Pimms #1Cup glaze
This is quite a heavy meal, and I personally would have preferred it AFTER the chicken. Out of all of them I probably liked this the least. The quail, while nice, was quite large and there is NO way to eat a whole quail delicately with a fork and knife that I know of. The glaze is overwhelmed by the quail itself which the red currents and green pea flavours are not really apparent.
pressed terrine of confit chicken with mustard seed vinaigrette and mushroom ice cream
This is nice, but I still (even after trying twice) CANNOT reconcile myself to mushroom ice cream. The taste/texture makes me gag for some reason. I love ice cream and I LOVE mushrooms but never the twain shall meet according to my tastebuds. (I do however suspect it was something in this that made me feel naseous later that night)
House made cola spyder with pop rocks (now known as Vanilla bubbles after comments by diners that pop rocks sounds childish!)
The first time I had this the sensations in my mouth were amazing. This time not so much so. I suspect it has something to do with how cold it comes out of the kitchen.
Verdict: The young well trained staff make Piccalilly. While the food is generally excellent there are still a few things which are not 'quite' right.(Heating/cooling issues in the dining rooms primarily and the ability to cope with lots of patrons all at similar stages of thier meal). Dad (who has done silver service waiting in his time) was impressed with the fact everything was served correctly and the staff were unobtrusive but attentive. I still miss Gondwana, and probably always will, but this is a jolly good substitute.
Procasintation....
Righto - I'm finally getting off my arse and doing something about this blog while I wait for my virus scanner to play nice and the 15 page paper I just finished writing to format properly before I submit it to my supervisor and then the big bad world of Academic publishing.
I owe this blog decent reviews on
Montys Orphans Christmas lunch - suffice to say it was one of the BEST christmas meals I have had ever since my parents and I started going out to lunch for Christmas in errr 1982 when I was about 4.
NYE at Picalilly
As usual VERY yummy.
Off to Pecora on Sunday for a latish lunch, and I believe we are going to 373 next week for dinner (not sure about that yet as Stephen is booking it).
Valentines Day next month is on a Thursday we am debating dinner either the Wednesday or the Friday....I'm pushing for Wed as it will be easier to get a table. Thursday is a no go as I am teaching from 6ish.
I owe this blog decent reviews on
Montys Orphans Christmas lunch - suffice to say it was one of the BEST christmas meals I have had ever since my parents and I started going out to lunch for Christmas in errr 1982 when I was about 4.
NYE at Picalilly
As usual VERY yummy.
Off to Pecora on Sunday for a latish lunch, and I believe we are going to 373 next week for dinner (not sure about that yet as Stephen is booking it).
Valentines Day next month is on a Thursday we am debating dinner either the Wednesday or the Friday....I'm pushing for Wed as it will be easier to get a table. Thursday is a no go as I am teaching from 6ish.
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