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.