Category: Fine Dining

Quay Degustation Menu – The Rocks NSW Restaurant Review

Post author By pegfeeds
Post date January 1, 2021
1 Comment on Quay Degustation Menu – The Rocks NSW Restaurant Review

When you spend $290 per head at Sydney’s most lauded restaurant I think you’re allowed to expect something truly special. Unfortunately special isn’t quite the word I would use to describe our meal at Quay, which we had just before Christmas 2020 to celebrate my partner’s brother’s med school graduation.

The amuse-bouche, a small and delicate tart filled with oyster cream and topped with seaweed, was in my opinion the best morsel of the night. The oyster cream had a very intense fresh oyster flavour, packing an almost illegal amount of umami in this tiny morsel. The pastry was extremely thin and delicate, however still able to provide a nice mouthfeel and also the structural integrity required to hold the tart together. If the entire meal had been up to the quality of this amuse-bouche then this would have been an entirely different review altogether.

The raw hand harvested seafood, virgin soy, aged vinegar was our first listed course of the eight-course degustation menu, and our first encounter with Quay’s interesting array of custom crockery. The “hand harvested” seafood alluded to in the dish’s description included raw scallop, octopus legs, and pipis. The bottom layer of very thinly sliced raw scallop was very nice, with a subtle sweetness and no bitterness. My partner remarked that this was the only time she has ever enjoyed pipi, and one of the few times she has ever enjoyed octopus (apart from as takoyaki). The flavour created by the combination of virgin soy (pre-tainted soy would be far too “common” for this kind of restaurant) and aged vinegar was unexpectedly and delightfully light. This was a good dish.

This is the poached marron, green almonds, pomelo, flowers. Our waitress described marron as a kind of crustacean “native to the shores here in Australia”, which if I’m being honest kind of offended me, as if weren’t also from the shores here in Australia. The dish itself was quite small. Marrons aren’t really that small, but I guess baby ones might be. The flavours of this dish were very mild, with very little being added in terms of taste by the almonds or flowers. I just wonder if she introduces the dish the same way to the Caucasian Australian diners.

My partner’s brother isn’t a big fan of crustaceans and is allergic to some. His plate was three different types of radishes. He did not look impressed.

The bread course was unlisted, but one of the better ones of the night. We were each served a toasted crumpet with house cultured cream and Yarra Valley salmon roe. I really liked the warm butteriness of the crumpet. It was quite crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and obvious that no butter had been spared in the name of health. The cream was the better of the two accompaniments. I couldn’t help but feel like the Yarra Valley salmon roe was a bit of a skimp. Yarra Valley salmon roe, while fitting with the “locavore” local food trend, is well known to be heavily marinated and salty. It doesn’t really compare to salmon roe used by the better sushi restaurants which is more buttery and lighter tasting.

The smoked eel cream, seaweeds, agretti, ice plant is one of the differentiating factors between the $240 tasting menu and the $290 tasting menu. The story told to us is that the chef boils five eels in five litres of cream, and reduces the mixture until it is boiled down to just one litre. The final result is sweet and creamy, however it was difficult for any of us to really appreciate the eel flavour. At most we could appreciate a hint of smoke. I think any concept of eel flavouring was more imagined than actual, and I’m sure that if Quay’s diners were not told of the presence of eel beforehand it wouldn’t even be a consideration. The three types of seaweed atop the cream provided a nice sour tanginess which contrasted well with the richness of the cream.

The shittake and squid noodles, sour koji butter was hyped by our waitress in exquisite detail but left us feeling disappointed. We were told how the buckwheat noodles were infused with shittake mushroom, and how the koji butter was poured in to give it an additional umami kick. Though the plating and presentation were good, the flavours in this essentially mazesoba dish were too light and subtle. The umami kick which was promised didn’t really happen. Our waiter later told us that this was his favourite dish, which is an opinion that I don’t share.

The meatiest dish of the night was the slow cooked pig jowl, umami custard, black pig salami. Chef Peter Gilmore has apparently been using Berkshire pig jowl in various dishes for over a decade. Berkshire pig is breed known for high intramuscular fat content, which helps to create more tender, juicy meat. We found this dish to be quite juicy and flavourful, and enjoyed the fatty meat, as well as the salami on top. The layer of “umami custard” actually lived up to its name this time, and did provide a rich depth of flavour to the dish. Yummy. I might pick up some Berkshire pig to cook with myself.

I wasn’t a big fan of the Maremma duck, orach, gooseberries, onions, Kampot pepper. We were told that the chef breaks down an entire duck just for this little piece of meat, discarding the rest. Our waitress mentioned with glee that the skin of the duck was replaced by the orach, gooseberries and onions, which was kind of bewildering to me as someone finds the layer of crispy skin and fat over duck meat essential. Ever worse than the concept was the reality – the dish had a strong caramelised onion smell and taste, which I think unfortunately overpowered the taste of the duck as well as that of the sweet gooseberries. This dish was a great way to completely defeat the purpose of eating duck. Tetsuya’s duck course was much better than this.

The white coral dessert. made of liquid nitrogen frozen white chocolate coral atop peach and vanilla ice creams was definitely a standout of the meal.

The Moo dessert was part of the extended menu, featuring salted caramel, Dulce de Leche, prune jam with aged Madeira, jersey milk ice-cream, whipped jersey cream, dark cocoa tuile biscuits. The most striking things about this dessert was the quite extreme custom crockery (non-edible) that it came in as well as the surprisingly cheap and plastic dessert spoon given to us to eat with. The prune jam was the strongest flavour within the dessert and unfortunately the tanginess of the jam did take over a bit. This was a house specialty that, while special to the house, wasn’t great.

A petit-four, a nice little berry tart featuring the greenest strawberry I’ve ever eaten.

The Apple Island Fog ($30), served with liquid nitrogen, was not great. Don’t eat the petal.

DISCUSSION

Quay has two separate dining rooms, one lower level which is a bit more spacious and quiet, and one upper level offering 360 degree views of Sydney Harbour, which was more crowded and noisy. We were not given a choice of where to sit, and were led to the upper floor on arrival. While the views are nice, it definitely pays to either have lunch or a Summer dinner at Quay, as there’s not much to see once the sun sets.

I do want to make a special mention to the one Asian guy who was eating his $290 meal in a T-shirt and shorts all by himself. That’s real money.

VERDICT

I couldn’t help but feel – given the quality of the meal – that we paid as much for the view and the restaurant’s name as we did the food. Quay’s signature nine course degustation really wasn’t as special as I thought it would be, and was really comparable in quality, taste, and execution to many of the much cheaper ($100-150/head) meals we’ve had recently. If you’re looking to spend over $250 per head on food alone in Sydney I’d easily recommend Tetsuya’s instead.

My first introduction to fine dining was at Sepia after I had just finished med school, and this was the kind of experience we were trying to replicate for my partner’s brother. My meal at Sepia is an experience I’m constantly trying to recapture, but I think if my first ever fine dining experience had been at Quay I would’ve given up on the concept entirely.

I probably won’t go back to Quay unless someone has a wedding here.

3/5. I’m allowed to be price conscious.

Quay
Level 3, Upper Overseas Passenger Terminal, The Rocks NSW 2000
(02) 9251 5600

Tags crumpet, dessert, marron, pork, salmon roe, soba

Asian Fusion Fine Dining Korean

Soul Dining – Surry Hills NSW Tasting Menu Review

Post author By pegfeeds
Post date November 13, 2020
No Comments on Soul Dining – Surry Hills NSW Tasting Menu Review

This is a review of the Soul Dining modern Korean tasting menu as at 13th November 2020. All portions shown were served for 3 people, at $65 per person.

Our first dish was Kingfish in kimchi water with avocado puree, white kimchi. We had six pieces between the three of us to be eaten in one mouthful each. The kingfish sashimi was tender and fresh. The avocado puree added a surprising dimension of creamy umami. The kimchi water added a mild tanginess that was not too kimchi for my partner (an anti-kimchi individual) to eat and enjoy.

The wagyu tartare with singo pear and egg yolk (yukhoe) served on tempura seaweed was special. The wagyu was soft and minced and the egg yolk mixed in expertly by my partner coated it with a level of umami. The tempura seaweed provided a nice crunch for a fun mix of textures. A great dish.

Kim’s grilled eggplant with anchovy paste, tomato jam, manchego was in my opinion the weakest dish of the meal . I guess I’m not a big fan of eggplant and the histamine feeling in the mouth and throat to begin with. I could not at all identify the anchovy paste. The manchego shaved over the eggplant provided a nice sweetness, and melted by the end of the dish.

The Lamb backstrap in potato bun with cabbage salad, green tomato relish, cumin was also a bit weak. The lamb backstrap was steak-form, not minced, and crumbed. It didn’t really feel like more than your standard burger. I wonder if our three person serving was the same size as the two person servings, but just cut in 3 pieces. My partner took a fork and picked up the middle piece first. She thought it was a bit too lamby and could’ve used more cumin, however both myself and her brother thought that the lambiness was just fine. This was one of the favourite courses for my partner’s brother.

The Half free range chicken ‘traditional way’ with Korean chilli glaze is basically Korean fried chicken with a twist. The chicken was fried but not battered. The meat was tender and juicy, and my partner thought it was more tender and juicy than the crispy chicken at Khoi’s Vietnamese in Surry Hills that we had had the previous night. The presentation was really nice with a nice mix of colours. A good dish.

The Cinnamon Churros with espresso glaze, salted caramel ice cream, sea salt and coffee peanuts would be my pick of dessert. The churros were nice and crunchy. I am not normally a fan of salted caramels and while it was true again today I did not mind it. I liked the difference in temperatures between the churros and cold ice cream.

As a non-fan of honey, I actually quite enjoyed the honey in this Snow bingsoo with baked mango, mango sorbet, milk snow, honey and nutmeg. What I didn’t enjoy so much was the sheer volume of baked mango which added too strong a concentrated, sticky, and dry mangoness to this mango dessert. Despite this I enjoyed this bingsoo more than the last time I had bingsoo at Hello Happy in Strathfield.

The house provided this Green tea panna cotta with chantilly cream & strawberries, dango, rice syrup dessert for us for free. It was very generous of them to allow us to try all three desserts, as normally with two diners only one dessert is provided. It’s hard to judge this dessert as it was served last, after our palates had been sweetened by the previous two. The green tea panna cotta was not sweet.

**yuzu iced tea** (L), omija with five berries spritz (R)

The omija with five berries spritz was good. Not too sweet. The yuzu iced tea I thought was a bit too sweet, and not iced enough on serving. It could’ve done with a few more shakes to cool the liquid down a bit.

Overall we had a great meal at Soul Dining. Service from one of the Caucasian front of house staff was also very good. She was very friendly. $65 per person for a tasting menu of this caliber is also a very good price. I’d love to come back for a few more things on the a la carte menu, for example their octopus.

$210 for 3 diners including drinks
4.5/5 (lean 5)

SOUL Dining
204 Devonshire St, Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 8593 4957

Tags beef tartare, bingsoo, chicken, churro, degustation, dessert, eggplant, kingfish, korean, korean fried chicken, lamb, panna cotta, sashimi, soul dining, surry hills, tasting menu, yukhoe

Fine Dining Japanese

Yachiyo – Darlinghurst NSW Omakase Review

Post author By pegfeeds
Post date October 30, 2020
No Comments on Yachiyo – Darlinghurst NSW Omakase Review

Yachiyo seems to be a true hidden gem of Japanese dining in Sydney. It’s one of, if not the only place where you can get a full 20 – piece omakase without basically any notice. My partner and I were able to book at around noon for a same-day Friday evening omakase dinner. Be careful though – If you try and book too late in the day you won’t be able to – but you normally will be able to book the following day.

Yachiyo has three grades of omakase – we chose the middle grade, “OMAKASE MIX”, which featured a bit of yakitori and tempura as well as the usual yakitori. Here’s what we got for $80 per person (it was quite impressive.)

The first nigiri offered was a piece of tuna belly (toro) of Japanese origin. It was very oily and fatty, as tuna belly should be. My partner really enjoyed this first piece, but I felt like mine unfortunately had a bit of connective tissue to it which decreased the quality of the fish. Overall quite good, but I didn’t like it as much as course 2.

2: Bluefin tuna nigiri – aged for twelve days (Australia)

The second piece was nigiri with Australian bluefin tuna, aged for twelve days. This morsel may have been my favourite little morsel of the meal. While not imported from a far away land, I found that the fish in this piece had a perfect texture with no distracting components. It was fatty but not overpoweringly fatty, and the aging really enhanced its umami tuna flavours.

3 – Aburi salmon belly nigiri (Salmon Toro)

The third serving of the night was an aburi salmon belly nigiri. The fatty salmon belly with the lightly caramelised surface with rendered fats was delicious. The chef Mitsuhiro Yashio told us that each salmon only had enough belly to produce six pieces of this nigiri. Poor salmons.

4 – Aburi kingfish belly nigiri (Kingfish toro)

The aburi kingfish belly nigiri was the fourth piece of the meal, and the first piece that I didn’t feel was very special. Chef talked it up a bit as another rare piece of fish, but despite the slightly higher fattiness of it I found the taste and texture not too different from the commodity aburi kingfish nigiri that you would get at a normal sushi restaurant (for example Sushi Rio or Sushi Hotaru). Still yummy.

Piece 5 was the bluefin tuna temaki (hand roll). I wasn’t sure if there was some natto inside – I thought that’s what I saw and is pictured on the left side of the photo, but I couldn’t really taste it and my partner doubts me. Keeping in the theme of the delicious bluefin tuna, this hand roll was also one of my favourites. I loved the tender fatty tuna, as well as the really high quality seaweed. Delicious.

6 – Bluefin tuna sashimi with ponzu dressing

Our sixth dish was bluefin tuna sashimi in ponzu dressing. For some reason I didn’t like this as much. I think I was more a fan of their fish with rice, as rice generally can provide a bit of a contrast to fatty fish.

The seventh course was royal red prawn nigiri. Unfortunately I made a mistake, and the chef paid the price. I had advised the restaurant that I was allergic to scampi, but that prawns and other crustaceans were OK. Unfortunately the prawn that they served me was the exact same prawn (royal red) that I had at the debacle at MOXHE. While I don’t know if it was the prawn or another piece of mystery seafood that set off my gastrointestinal tract, I didn’t want to leave it to chance. Had it been literally any other prawn I probably would’ve gone for it. My partner ended up having both of the royal red prawn – she said that the texture was similar to MOXHE’s but the taste wasn’t as sweet and not as good – and the chef prepared me a consolation prize at no additional cost. Thank you.

My consolation prize for not being able to really eat the royal red prawn was this piece of salmon sushi. I can’t find any words to describe this form of sushi, but it was basically a piece of fish and some rice sandwiched within a folded piece of seaweed. Almost like a mini, single bite temaki. It was actually quite good, and very thoughtful and nice of the chef to fix what was ultimately my own doing.

Items eight, nine, and ten were assorted yakitori. I will describe them in the order I ate them in.

Item eight, the chicken thigh yakitori, was juicy and flavourful. It was delicious, and exactly how I remember all of the good yakitori that I had in Japan. It is much better than some of the yakitori I’ve had here in Sydney, for example at Lantern by Wagaya.

Item nine, the salmon belly yakitori, was super fatty and delicious. It basically melted in my mouth as soon as I bit into it, and I loved that there was some crispy skin to mix up the texture. My partner didn’t like this that much but she’s wrong – she’s not a big fan of seafood in general (but seems to love sushi!).

Item ten, the skewered pork and ginger meatballs, were less exciting. The chicken and salmon belly yakitori were just so special, but I felt like the meatballs were just meatballs, and perhaps a bit too strongly flavoured for my liking.

Food number eleven was a cuttlefish nigiri with shiso-salt. As I usually eat nigiri with fish-to-tongue, I was quite shocked to receive a strong flavour hit as the shiso-salt coated my tongue with saltiness. Evidently that is not the way to go with this particular piece of sushi. Once I got over the intense saltiness of the salt I started to enjoy the rich, creamy cuttlefish texture and flavours. I don’t normally think of cuttlefish as creamy, but a combination of this particular cuttlefish’s intrinsic qualities, the normally chewy texture of cuttlefish ing eneral, as well as the flavour micro-cuts gave it an extremely creamy flavour that actually lasted a long time in my mouth.

12 – hokkaido scallop nigiri with yuzu dressing

I thought that morsel twelve – hokkaido scallop nigiri with yuzu dressing, was a bit of a letdown. While I’m used to raw scallop being sweet I actually thought this nigiri had a bit of a bitter taste to it.

Dish thirteen was bar cod nigiri. This is the first time I have had bar cod, but to be honest it didn’t leave a lasting impression. It tasted very similar to most other white fish out there.

14 – Tempura zucchini with prawn-meat filing

Number fourteen was tempura zucchini with a prawn-meat filling. Chef warned me about the prawn as I wasn’t keen to eat the earlier prawn sashimi, but I thought I would be ok with this prawn and I was right. I wonder if the potential allergen is something that is denatured by cooking. I enjoyed the tempura – it came fresh from the deep fryer, and the distance from the fryer to us seated at the bar was very limited. This was my first time having tempura zucchini, and I enjoyed it. I’m not sure how common zucchini is as a vegetable to tempura. The prawn meat inside was tasty, but not quite prawn – more like cooked surimi type stuff. Not bad.

Bite fifteen saw the return of the as yet unnamed temaki-but-not-curled, gunkan-but-not-a-boat, now with oyster filling. I enjoyed this oyster – it was not seasoned, unlike the oysters I’ve been having with dressings at Western restaurants, which helped accentuate the mild ocean flavour. My partner, who is not very keen on oysters at all even tried it.

16 -cooked abalone with rice, sandwiched within a folded nori sheet

Nibble number sixteen was cooked abalone with rice, sandwiched within a folded nori sheet. Abalone is quite an upscale seafood, but I was sad not to have it raw (not that I’m sure if it’s even possible). If I’m being honest I couldn’t really taste the taste of the abalone, which must have been subtle. Most of the flavour was from the sauced up rice and the nori.

Mouthful seventeen was finally something I could identify – ikura gunkan. This particular gunkan had absolutely massive bulbous salmon roes, larger than any I’ve had in recent memory. Unfortunately though I found these particular roe to too marinated for my personal taste. They had a strong sweet and salty taste that didn’t really leave much of the fresh roe flavour. My partner also criticised it for not being as creamy as she would have liked.

The eighteenth and final fish piece of the meal was a deliciously fatty cooked black cod sushi. It had a flaky, melt in your mouth texture, with strong patagonian toothfish energy. Yum.

Our nineteenth and final morsel was a crunchy matcha dessert, which tasted of white chocolate and rice puffs. A nice, light, but not very showy end to a nice meal.

Overall we had a really good time at Yachiyo. The food was delicious, the price was excellent, and even the table water was filtered. I can highly recommend, and indeed have already recommended Yachiyo to two separate groups of colleagues on the same night that I’ve eaten there. Yum.

Yachiyo Darlinghurst
346 Victoria St, Darlinghurst NSW 2010
(02) 9331 8107

Tags darlinghurst, degustation, omakase, sashimi, seafood, sushi, tasting menu, tempura, yakitori

Fine Dining Japanese

Tetsuya’s – Sydney CBD Japanese Degustation Review

Post author By pegfeeds
Post date October 24, 2020
No Comments on Tetsuya’s – Sydney CBD Japanese Degustation Review

A long-standing fine dining establishment such as Tetsuya’s hardly needs the insights of an unlisted food blogger with a cell phone camera and no hats to give, but this blog isn’t about what Tetsuya needs. It is about what I need.

Let’s first set the scene. Tetsuya’s tucked away behind a nondescript, kind of shabby looking former homeless shelter on Kent St. It would not be possible to tell, from the street, that there was a beautiful Japanese inspired building and one of the most expensive restaurants in Sydney just metres away.

Diners were seated around the dining hall, with two groups seated in the middle. There was ample room between us and the other diners, and we were seated in a way so as to face away from the other parties. Our seats were in fact arranged facing the window as opposed to the inside of the room, which helped create a sense of intimacy as well as a sense of insulation from the other diners. We had the opportunity to admire the serene Japanese garden for a few minutes before sunset

Table water was ample, and surprisingly served with a slice of lime. It was at testament to the service that I only found myself wanting for water once during the entire three hour affair. Utensils were adequate.

Our waiter joked that Testuya’s Negroni (L) was the best in town, and that he wasn’t just saying that because he was Italian. This joke was lost on us, two casual diners who were not previously aware of the geographic origin of the drink. My partner just wanted it because it had cherry in it. I had the Kyoto Mule (R), which was a non-alcoholic, yuzu and ginger beer based mocktail. Both drinks were good.

The oysters were a $12 supplement (for 2 oysters each) per person. The citrusy dressing paired well with the fresh oyster meat, so much so that my partner even enjoyed them. You will know from my review of our time at MOXHE that she doesn’t like oysters very much at all. A worthy supplement, in my opinion. After all, when you’re spending $250 a head, what’s another $12?

**Sashimi of SA Hiramasa Kingfish with Sesame leaf and Daikon**

One of the things that I quite enjoyed at Tetsuya’s was that each dish was served to us in the same orientation. That is, while my partner and I were sitting at right angles from each other, the dishes appeared the same for us. This was actually quite helpful for photography, as I did not have to turn the dishes to get the full view.

The first dish was “Sashimi of SA Hiramasa Kingfish with Sesame leaf and Daikon”. I cleansed my Kyoto Mule addled palate with some table water before digging into the daikon radish, however I found that this was pointless as it was marinated in prominent yuzu flavouring. Indeed the taste of the yuzu-marinated daikon radish was very similar to my drink. I found the kingfish to be fresh with its characteristic mellow and mild flavour, and we did note some flavour cuts in the sashimi itself to help accentuate its taste. This dish was ultimately good, however I did think that the strong yuzu flavour overpowered the delicate kingfish.

The Sancho Infused Corn Custard with Alba White Truffle was a disappointment and a half. The corn custard was very sweet and tasty, so much so that it made it very difficult to appreciate the subtle flavours of the shaved white truffle. The sweet corn was no more than just sweet corn, and neitiher my partner nor I were wowed. The custard was allegedly flavoured with sancho however it lacked both ma and la. This was the first dish that our waiter served without calling it memorable, and I stronlgy agree. A truly forgettable experience.

Whilst eating the above corn cream dish we were presented with this bowl of butter without explanation. I will reveal what it is later on, but for now I want you to feel the feeling of disjointedness that I felt on the night. My impression of fine dining is that the restaurant’s staff are meant to anticipate your speed of eating and deliver the dishes as you finish the previous one. This was not the case however, and I felt like I had to hurry through my disappointing corn cream as I wasn’t sure if they were about to bring the next dish.

The Confit Ocean Trout with Salad of Apple and Witlof is Tetsuya’s specialty, and it shows. Cooked in oil at a very low temperature, the trout maintains its raw, firm texture. We were instructed to cut the portion of fish up with our spoons and then eat it however we liked. The seaweed and spice crust was superb. The roe was deliciously creamy with a physically strong wall which required greater than average pressure to pop open. While a delight I can’t help but notice that we only received one scoop of roe as opposed to the four scoops of roe featured on Tetsuya’s website. The apple salad was fresh and tangy, and provided a good counter for the taste of the trout. Hidden underneath the apple salad was a smear of goat’s curd, a hidden ingredient if you will, which really elevated the dish to the standing of a specialty.

This is a pretty standard leafy green salad. It is not part of the written menu. It was served at the same time as the confit trout, however I do not understand how they fit together. Nothing to write home about.

Next was the Patagonian Toothfish with Asparagus, Smoked Pil Pil and Finger Lime. We’ve been having quite a bit of toothfish around the place as well as at home, and unfortunately I think that took away a bit of the magic from this dish. The serving of fish was extra small but quite nice. My partner very kindly said that it was not cooked as well as the toothfish I made recently at home, but I disagree. It was not faultable. I enjoyed the asparagus which was wrapped in seaweed along its stem but not at the head – a nice detail to add. This was my first time eating finger limes and I was surprised by how such small beads could pack so much sour flavour, however I didn’t think they went well with the more traditional flavours of the asparagus and toothfish.

Welcome back to the truffle butter, now with breads. We overheard the water telling the couple seated next to us that they had forgotten the bread, which was meant to be served at the start of the dish. They did not afford us the same courtesy of open disclosure, which was disappointing. The bread was served four courses in. It consisted of one piece each of loafy bread and one piece each of a seaweed flavoured scroll. Both pieces of bread were good. I thought that the seaweed scroll stood well on its own merit (with a bit of a vegemite scroll feeling) and did not benefit from the addition of truffle butter. The loafy bread did benefit from the addition of truffle butter, which we found to be very soft and almost foamy.

I really enjoyed the NSW Duck Breast with White Turnip, Kohlrabi and Pickled Garlic Capers. The duck was dry aged and had a delicious honey-soy like flavour. The skin was extra crispy, with a delicate layer of sweet fat underneath. The garlic capers added a fun zest to the flavouring, while the white turnip mash provided a mellow and sweet homey feeling to the dish. I didn’t enjoy the green garlic sauce.

I enjoyed the fatty marbling of the NSW Rangers Valley Wagyu Sirloin with pickled Shittake and Radicchio. The meat was cooked medium rare which was perfect to bring out the marbled texture. The sliced shittake was a delicious and perfect accompaniment. I did not care for the radicchio/chicory.

This Yuzu, Chartreuse, Apple dessert was a light and tangy and cold palate cleanser. I really liked this one.

This is a chocolate stone with honey and milk. We both really enjoyed the milk-flavoured ice cream. The chocolate was indeed a stone and the external layer required some force to crack. I did not find the chocolate circle to be any different to the chocolate on top of the chocolate stone, however I understand it must have been difficult to arrange.

These are the petit fours, however there were only two per person. The mandarin flavoured macaroons were some of the best I’ve ever had, however they were certainly very petit.

Happy birthday to my stupid and smelly girlfriend. The diners next to us did not receive such cake as it was merely their Scottish wedding anniversary. Their son, now 18 years old, stays inside his room all day playing video games. They are scheming as to how to get him out of the house – perhaps on a holiday (they seem like they can afford it – they ordered sparkling rather than tap water to drink), perhaps in a part time job.

Tetsuya’s
529 Kent St, Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9267 2900

Tags degustation, fine dining

Fine Dining Modern Australian

Moxhe – Bronte NSW Degustation Review

Post author By pegfeeds
Post date October 10, 2020
No Comments on Moxhe – Bronte NSW Degustation Review

Last night was one of the worst nights I’ve ever spent a lot of money on. It was not one of worst nights of my life.

On the strong recommendation of one of my partner’s gaseous friends we dined at Moxhe, a Modern Australian Seafood restaurant. Moxhe offers a four-course and an eight-course tasting menu for dinner, based on whatever the guy finds at the fish market that day.

We settled down nicely in a suburb we can’t afford to live in for a nice meal and a completely missable glass of $25 chardonnay each (oops! check the price before you order next time!).

Moxhe – Héritage flour sourdough, cultured butter

This is the bread. It has the noteable distinction of being one of the only things I got to eat last night. I found the bread to be quite middling. It was a sourdough of “heritage flour”, whatever that means. There were some black dots in it but I don’t think it made it as premium as black dots normally make vanilla ice cream. In all seriousness, the bread was non-special, and paled in comparison to other breads we’ve had – for example at Ester and Lumi – in the past. The cultured butter this bread was served with was limited and not refilled, though my partner continually edged the sad, empty butter dish further and further away in the hopes that someone would notice.

These are the Pickled Mussels Tartelettes, of which we had one each. The tartelettes were a fun and strange mouthful of zesty weirdness. I did enjoy them, although it was not clear at the time what I was eating.

MOXHE – Petite Claire and Label Rouge Oysters

Before we started dining we were treated to an extensive list of oysters to choose from. Words like “rustiness” and “mineralness” were used to describe what was essentially an list of Bateman’s Bay oysters that increased in size and price. We had the two petite claire oysters (one each) that came with our tasting menu, and supplemented them with two label rouge oysters ($6 each), of which I ate both. While initially scoffing at the varied descriptions of differently sized but identically sourced oysters, I do think I enjoyed the flavour of the smaller Petite Claire oysters more. I wasn’t able to gain a consensus however as my partner doesn’t really enjoy seafood and didn’t want to eat a second oyster.

This is some unknown nigri. Unknown because the published menu for the night said that we would be getting an octopus skewer and instead we were given this. It was entirely missable, not at all better than any $3.50 nigri from Sushi Rio or $3.80 nigri from Sushi Hotaru.

I really enjoyed this Smoked & Aged Ocean Trout Blini. I thought the blini was really well toasted, and had nice crispiness to it. The ocean trout had a delicate flavour, and we both appreciated that it was not too heavily smoked. My partner was particularly excited that it came served on a warm bowl. “Wow,” she said, “this bowl is hot”. This was one of the stars of the meal for me, and you will soon find out why.

MOXHE – RAW (snapper, bight red fish, alfonsino, trevally, royal red prawn, scallop, salmon roe, bonito paste, curry leaf, smoked and regular soy sauces)

This beautifully presented raw sashimi platter was where everything fell apart for me. We were served a plate of snapper, bight red fish, alfonsino, trevally, royal red prawn, scallop, and ikura ikura with bonito paste and curry leaf garnish, as well as a smoked and unsmoked soy sauce.

I dutifully made my way through the dish, eating my allotted fishies in the order that was prescribed. Unfortunately I encourted three scales in three of the fishes, which didn’t reflect the care or the skill of the chef and hurt the experience. We both enjoyed the red scarlet prawn’s delicate sweet taste, as well as the very small but quite enjoyable scallops.

Whilst having this dish however I felt a sad and scary tingle at the back of my throat. I know that I am kind of allergic to scampi, however there is no scampi here and I thought I would be safe. I was wrong. I can’t really pinpoint which of these sea animals was the culprit, however I suspect it was the deliciously sweet scarlet prawn, which has a close relationship to the scampi. I managed to finish my portion of this dish, and the tingling in my throat settled, howver this was quickly replaced by spasmodic retrosternal and epigastric pain, lasting for up to 20 seconds at a time, and coming in minutely intervals. As you can imagine, this was a very bad time for me. I sought the opinion of my gastroenterology colleagues, who were really not that concerned, however it felt very bad. I suspect it was the continuation of the allergic reaction that I had, but of course have no proof. It felt like how a corkscrew oesophagus looks on chest X-Ray.

This is the Capellini pasta, Pesto, Ricotta, Olives. I wish I could tell you about this dish, however the severe abdominal and retrosternal pain I was in meant that I only had a small bite of it before I decided it was safest not to tempt fate. I felt really bad! This is where my partner will have to take over the review, as I have no idea what anything after and including this dish tastes like. The restaurant was gracious enough to charge me only $65 for the entrees as I just could not continue. A point of humour for the waitress was that just the previous night a husband sitting in the same chair that I was also felt very unwell during his meal and had to leave for fresh air many times whilst his wife enjoyed wining and dining. This was basically me, however I remained seated and watched longingly at all of the seafood that my seafood-phobic girlfriend got to eat alone.

My partner actually enjoyed this pasta, which was surprising as it mixed several of her least favourite ingredients – being pesto and olives. She is someone who will readily rip out the olives from any given pizza, but she tells me that the finely minced nature of the olives made it less offensive to her.

MOXHE Large Clarence River Prawn, Prawn head sauce, Tomato, Burnt eggplant

I actually laughed to myself when they described this dish to us. My partner hates prawn, and Large Clarence River Prawn, Prawn head sauce, Tomato, Burnt Eggplant , sounded like her worst nightmare. Little did I know that she would be having the last laugh.

I was really sad to miss out on eating this giant prawn. The photo doesn’t really capture the largeness of the prawn, but just trust that it is. I have been seeing people on Instagram chowing down on their giant scarlet prawns for some time, and I longed for a large prawn myself. While I didn’t get to eat this dish, I did get to watch my partner slowly eat her prawn with her knife and fork, unsure whether to like it or not. They actually served me a prawn too, but I didn’t eat it. My partner must not have liked the prawn that much as my prawn was returned to the kitchen uneaten.

MOXHE – Murray Cod with rosemary and spring vegetables

This is the Murry Cod with rosemary, broccolini, asparagus. Again this is a deviation from the printed menu. Whilst I didn’t get to taste this dish, my partner thought that the fish is a bit tough. Perhaps she has been spoiled by all the toothfish we’ve been having.

This is the Marigold and yoghurt sorbet. My partner enjoyed it but she thinks it was just a palate cleanser, not a proper dish. The yoghurt paired well with the marigold, and I’m told it was fresh. I secretly nommed on a leaf and it was quite leafy. As an aside, I’d really like to get a pacojet one day but I think that day will be far far far into the future.

This aged gruyere tart looked absolutely delicious. Watching my partner eat it gave me strong FOMO feels. She told me it was just a normal cheese tart but I think she was trying to make me not feel sad. She had some cheese today in a different setting and let slip that it paled in comparison to this here pictured cheese tart.

MOXHE – Strawberry & rhubarb pavlova, black pepper ice-cream

Making good use of the pacojet or whatever sorbet machine they have going on in the back, the Strawberry & rhubarb pavlova, black pepper ice-cream was the next dessert offered. The pavlova I’m told was light and fluffy. I did sneak a taste of black pepper ice-cream as I was feeling a little better by this time, however I decided not to tempt fate as not only was I having a gastroenterological problem but I am also lactose intolerant.

The last dish which I didn’t get to enjoy were the Mignardises. This consisted of four desserts, at least two of which was chocolate or chocolate t ruffle, and one of which was a cookie. I cannot identify the third item in the photo, but I think they were probably good as I was sending a quick message to a group chat and by the time I looked up all four elements were gone.

Overall I had a pretty bad time at MOXHE. It was not their fault, but it was also not my fault. I don’t know how to avoid this in the future. I’m very sad that I didn’t get to eat all of these yummy foods but I don’t think we will go back. What a shame.

Moxhe
65b Macpherson St, Bronte NSW 2024
(02) 8937 0886

Tags bread, cheese tart, degustation, murray cod, oysters, pasta, prawn, sashimi, seafood, sushi