Thats all I seemed to do this weekend, Eat. I had friends visiting from the mainland and we did alot of the tourist stuff, but of course we had to to eat as well. So here is the run down on where we ate...
Friday Night - Kawasemi - Warning...if you want to eat in BOOK! The last 3 times I have tried to walk in off the street on a Friday night they have been totally full. Had a lovely Chicken Katsudon takeaway, and the bento box got the double thumbs up from my mates girlfriend who had lived in Japan for 2 years. This place has firmly established itself as a good solid reliable source of food in the Northern Suburbs. To be booked out on Friday in the middle of winter suggests that they are definately doing something right. I still believe their bento box is one of the best value meals in town.
Saturday - Brunch at Pigeon Hole. I think the comment of "Beans on toast is now ruined" sums up the reaction. Apparently tinned beans on toast will never be enough again! I had a lovely cherry and almond scroll which was still warm from the oven. The brioche was lovely and flakey. Just right for how I was feeling. I truely wish they could be a bit bigger, but they are only allowed 20 seats, and I suspect that as the weather warms up its going to be harder and harder to find a seat unless you get there early. The other half still has to try the beans on toast, and has promised to get up early with me on Saturday so that he can get some...
Dinner at Magic Curry in Battery Point. This was a little bit disappointing. Last time I was here the food had a quite nice flavour, and was not spectacular but it was good. This time the four of us ordered the banquet, which while lots of food really did not have the kick that I was expecting from Indian food. They were very busy though, and cramming them in. There was about 15cm between our table of 4 in a corner and a table of 2 placed slap bang in the middle of the walkway near the fire. The best bits were the fish curry - the fish was firm and moist, with a lovely light curry taste. The butter chicken had no kick what so ever, and the lamb rogan josh was very very bland. The Dahl was nice - not as blended as some, the chick peas were still obvious and added needed texture. Though there appeared to be a lack of spice.
My view on the food may however be coloured by the fact I lived on the same floor in college as a group of Indian girls who used to have huge cooking parties in the buttery and invite everyone along for a meal. I have very fond memories of cooking roti on electric hot plates and smearing them with butter and gobbling them down.
Sunday - Lunch at Red Velvet Lounge. After reading reviews of RVL I was looking forward to eating here. I must say I was a little bit disappointed. I wasn't very hungry so ordered the potato cakes with paprika mayo. The intention was good but the execution fell short. Potato slices, dipped in a batter and deep fried. Has to potential to be a really good meal, unfortunately they were very oily (one slice's oil soaked through my napkin) and not really as crispy as I was expecting. When they were finished there was an obvious puddle of oil at the bottom of the bowl. The mayo was lovely though. I ended up swapping with Stephen for a few bites of his beef pot pie with mash and peas - which was lovely - although the opinion was we needed bread to mop up the sauce as the mash was a side dish.
My BIGGEST complaint however was that the room was COLD!!! I'm sorry but a place with ceilings that high can not just rely on a fireplace to warm everyone up. The staff also seemed to be slightly unconcerned about service. They talked happily to people who were obviously regulars, but I sometimes felt a bit like an intruder and that I was imposing.
We split 2 deserts between the four of us - Stephen and I shared something that was a bit like a cream catalina type thing, but was not that nice - the best bit was the sugared orange peel on top. Crunchy, sweet and sour all at once. E and L shared a slice of Banoff cake - apparently very nice.
Verdict? I'll go back as I suspect this bad visit was a combination of things - including the fact I was having a very odd reaction to the antibiotics I was taking.
Tuesday 12 August 2008
Tuesday 5 August 2008
Here goes.....
Righto this is from memory - Nat is waaay to organised and has taken down the menu already.
1st Course was Snails 2 ways - one in the shell with garlic butter, and one in a lovely filo pastry with I think it was Tongola goats cheese. I love snails so gobbled them down - I prefered the one in garlic butter, but the other half liked the tiny pastry. Either way it was a good way to start.
2nd course - Quail kiev with quail rissotto held together with pancetta. This was early running to be my favourite dish of the evening. The rissotto was amazing, I seriously could have gobbled a huge big bowl of it and not eaten anything else. Perfectly plump rice with a lovely subtle flavour from the quail and a slight saltyness from the pancetta. The kiev was interesting, it was a boned quail with the tiniest amount of cheese in it, just enough to give it flavour. This is on their August menu and rightfully so - its a lovely mixture of textures and flavours, without any one being overpowering.
3rd course - was Pork. Lovely yummy scrumptious Lee Christmas pork belly, with crackling and BLACK SAUSAGE! Though it was under some fancy name. I'll admit, this is the first time I have eaten black sausage and it was really yummy. It looked very dry, but was quite moist when you cut into it.
4th course - was duck 2 ways. A lovely flavoursome duck liver parfait served with pinot noir jelly and duck rillette. We both found the rillette a little oily, but the parfait and jelly was an inspired combination on crispy bits of toast. I wanted more - both on parfait and the toast. The other half, who doesnt particularly like pate type textures refused to share, so I suspect that means he liked it.
Then was the long break to reset the tables and let everyone stretch their legs etc. We ended up in the bar with our backs to the open fire geting lovely and warm while having a long convaluted chat with a group of four people about family at Christmas, laser eye surgery and something else which escapes my memory at this point in time.
The 5th course was slow cooked Navarin of ‘Rivendale’ Boer Goat with root veggies and barrel aged fetta cheese. This was a lovely rich meaty stew type dish, and the cheese added a lovely salty tang to the sauce. It was served in a cassarole type dish, which was nice, but made getting the yummy juice out very hard!
6th Course was the wallaby tortellini with wallaby consumme, truffle oil and reggiano snow (also on the Aug menu). This was THE dish of the night for me. The edge of the tortellini was a little dry but other than that the mixture of textures and tastes was amazing. I actually asked for a spoon to get all the consumme out it was soooo good. Lovely soft meat, the bite of the pasta and the enhancement of the taste through the consumme made for the most amazing meal. I could have quite happily finished here and gone home content.
7th Course - mini roast of Nichols rivulet organic porterhouse with a beef cheek jus + yorkshire pudding. This was nice, though the beef was a tiny bit pink for me, but any less pink and it wouldn't have melted in the mouth. The jus was lovely and the yorkshire pudding, while not hot proved a perfect sop for the juices.
8th Course - Desert!! twice cooked blue cheese soufflé with double chocolate ice cream. The ice cream was absolutely decadent. Rich, creamy and oh so chocolatey. The souffle was yummy too - though I think it could have been slightly more cheesy. Its interesting to note that my taste buds/tongue can do the flavours this way around but CANT do the blue cheese ice cream chocolate pudding way.
Anyhow I unfortunately was battling the edge of a migraine for some reason by this time, so we skipped out very quickly after coffees. The surprise dish was the apple jellies they served as after desert snacks. VERY yummy.
So thats that. Next one is October, which I will probably go to with Dad as Stephen dont like Seafood that much.
Sorry its taken so long to post, I;ve been in Perth and stuff.
1st Course was Snails 2 ways - one in the shell with garlic butter, and one in a lovely filo pastry with I think it was Tongola goats cheese. I love snails so gobbled them down - I prefered the one in garlic butter, but the other half liked the tiny pastry. Either way it was a good way to start.
2nd course - Quail kiev with quail rissotto held together with pancetta. This was early running to be my favourite dish of the evening. The rissotto was amazing, I seriously could have gobbled a huge big bowl of it and not eaten anything else. Perfectly plump rice with a lovely subtle flavour from the quail and a slight saltyness from the pancetta. The kiev was interesting, it was a boned quail with the tiniest amount of cheese in it, just enough to give it flavour. This is on their August menu and rightfully so - its a lovely mixture of textures and flavours, without any one being overpowering.
3rd course - was Pork. Lovely yummy scrumptious Lee Christmas pork belly, with crackling and BLACK SAUSAGE! Though it was under some fancy name. I'll admit, this is the first time I have eaten black sausage and it was really yummy. It looked very dry, but was quite moist when you cut into it.
4th course - was duck 2 ways. A lovely flavoursome duck liver parfait served with pinot noir jelly and duck rillette. We both found the rillette a little oily, but the parfait and jelly was an inspired combination on crispy bits of toast. I wanted more - both on parfait and the toast. The other half, who doesnt particularly like pate type textures refused to share, so I suspect that means he liked it.
Then was the long break to reset the tables and let everyone stretch their legs etc. We ended up in the bar with our backs to the open fire geting lovely and warm while having a long convaluted chat with a group of four people about family at Christmas, laser eye surgery and something else which escapes my memory at this point in time.
The 5th course was slow cooked Navarin of ‘Rivendale’ Boer Goat with root veggies and barrel aged fetta cheese. This was a lovely rich meaty stew type dish, and the cheese added a lovely salty tang to the sauce. It was served in a cassarole type dish, which was nice, but made getting the yummy juice out very hard!
6th Course was the wallaby tortellini with wallaby consumme, truffle oil and reggiano snow (also on the Aug menu). This was THE dish of the night for me. The edge of the tortellini was a little dry but other than that the mixture of textures and tastes was amazing. I actually asked for a spoon to get all the consumme out it was soooo good. Lovely soft meat, the bite of the pasta and the enhancement of the taste through the consumme made for the most amazing meal. I could have quite happily finished here and gone home content.
7th Course - mini roast of Nichols rivulet organic porterhouse with a beef cheek jus + yorkshire pudding. This was nice, though the beef was a tiny bit pink for me, but any less pink and it wouldn't have melted in the mouth. The jus was lovely and the yorkshire pudding, while not hot proved a perfect sop for the juices.
8th Course - Desert!! twice cooked blue cheese soufflé with double chocolate ice cream. The ice cream was absolutely decadent. Rich, creamy and oh so chocolatey. The souffle was yummy too - though I think it could have been slightly more cheesy. Its interesting to note that my taste buds/tongue can do the flavours this way around but CANT do the blue cheese ice cream chocolate pudding way.
Anyhow I unfortunately was battling the edge of a migraine for some reason by this time, so we skipped out very quickly after coffees. The surprise dish was the apple jellies they served as after desert snacks. VERY yummy.
So thats that. Next one is October, which I will probably go to with Dad as Stephen dont like Seafood that much.
Sorry its taken so long to post, I;ve been in Perth and stuff.
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