Pecora - 13th Jan 2007

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

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.

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.