What can I say? It was a spendiferous dinner at Restaurant Balzac sponsored by kind supporters of the Alicia's 21st cause...
Thank you all!
On Saturday evening we made our way through the cold and wet to Randwick where we quickly shuffled into the romantically lit restaurant, decorated with dark wood and sandstone walls.
Upon starting the degustation course we were brought out warm bread rolls which were "crispy, warm and soft on the inside" (Pun, unpublished... :P)
As we were enjoying the warmth from the interior of the restaurant and our warm bread rolls canapes were brought out - bacon, serrano ham and capsicum on a crispy crouton topped with rocket and sprinkled with rocket oil... P: Tasty salty ham, capsicum gives it a good balance. A touch of oil makes the crouton less dry.
Cauliflower soup with salt cod and truffle oil was served next, so salty it was sweet, pureed so the texture was of a thick, creamy cappuccino. P: Very smooth, warm, scent of cauliflower.
We were presented with a sweet, light and smooth wine 2004 Alsace, Hugel Riesling - Alsace, France (P: Smooth, goes down easy, warms up the throat on a cold night) to compliment the raw kingfish, deliciously mixed with chives, spanish onion and a dash of lemon juice and olive oil, topped with aruga caviar, golden fresee and egg yolk.
Our second wine for the evening was very clean and sharp, 2005 Petit Chablis, William Fevre - Chablis, France (P: I like it) complimented the tender, pan fried Silver Dory (P: soft fish, beautiful, great texture!) served with soft steamed mussels, clams and a touch of celery (P: gives it a nice flavour mix) and topped with the froth of the emulsion.
Moving on to the reds (of the meat and wine variety) we were introduced to a french predominantly carignan wine, with a slight blend with wine from grenache grapes 2004 Minervois'La Bastide' Chateau Coupe Roses – Langedoc, FRANCE. Although it went well with the rich duck flavours it wasn't a particular favorite of mine, but Pun said "Mmmm, very light, easy to drink".
The Slow Roast Tasmanian Lamb was very tender and served with a Warm Salad of White Beans and Mache. P: Medium rare lamb with creamy fat delicious with the white beans and sweet garlic chips.
A pleasant surprise to the evening (it wasn't on the menu listed on the internet) we finally got to sink our teeth into a Wagyu sirloin steak, cooked rare to medium rare with carmelised baby onions and parsnips, slow cooked angus beef (5 hours!) with parsnip puree and watercress. I was eating this course in small small morsels... To make it last longer... One of those things you can die eating... Mmmm... At this point Pun sent a message to Phil about her taste orgasm trying to stir competition...
The wine was another french one, very fruity with a full bodied blackberry flavour. 2003 Côtes du Rhône, Mon Redon - Rhone Valley, France
Taking on the extra course of a cheese plate; (how could we resist??) We indulged in "cheese so good, no words need to be said..." (Pun)
Gympie Goat (Oz) - so creamy and smooth
Brillant Savarin (France) - P: Melty goodness, mild, slightly bitter with the rind.
Fleur des Alps (France) - Strong flavour, soft and creamy... Best of the cheeses so far...
Cheddar - P: Wonderfully salty against the fruit bread which is soft but crispy with fruity and nutty goodness...
Roquefort (France) - Great taste, especially good with the crisp thin sweet slices of apple... Mmmm... Potent stuff...
On to the dessert! Vanilla bean yoghurt with quince puree was delicious, the yoghurt blending well with it subtle flavor to the sweetness of the quince.
Out came 2005 Telmo Rodriguez ‘MR’ Moscatel – Malaga, Spain so sweet and warming I drank my share before the arrival of the Hot Chocolate Fondant (P: Very chocolatey and warm, not too sweet) with Guinness Ice Cream which melted quickly when mixed with the fondant allowing the flavours to merge in your mouth... Mmmm...
Pun and I, with an earl grey and cappuccino respectively, topped off the night totally satisfied with a brain freeze (from the marscapone bonbon coated in dark chocolate) and sweet, soft (P:) creamy, nutty almost, covered in icing sugar; carmel truffles.
A wonderful night... Phil, if you can't satisfy Jasmin take her to Restaurant Balzac for the Wagyu beef...
In speaking to the couple beside us (who were bemused by our picture taking) we heard rumours that as good as Tetsuya's was Guillame at Bennelong is BETTER, although with that better comes 'more costly' as well... (Trees and Cam, have you been yet?)
And if you missed the Tetsuya visit you can read about it here...
Sunday came with a lazy sleep in (Pun and I both went to the evening service of our churches), lunch in Burwood of won ton noodles, fried rice noodles with pork and spicy (well... Not really...) calamari at 'Best One'.
Parting ways I tripped off to Ronni's place for delicious dark chocolate fondue with marshmellows, lolly bananas, musk sticks, Corinthians, pears, bananas, strawberries and shortbread. It was wonderful! Thanks Ronni! And I love your place too, the view from the roof is amazing!
Thank you all!
On Saturday evening we made our way through the cold and wet to Randwick where we quickly shuffled into the romantically lit restaurant, decorated with dark wood and sandstone walls.
Upon starting the degustation course we were brought out warm bread rolls which were "crispy, warm and soft on the inside" (Pun, unpublished... :P)
As we were enjoying the warmth from the interior of the restaurant and our warm bread rolls canapes were brought out - bacon, serrano ham and capsicum on a crispy crouton topped with rocket and sprinkled with rocket oil... P: Tasty salty ham, capsicum gives it a good balance. A touch of oil makes the crouton less dry.
Cauliflower soup with salt cod and truffle oil was served next, so salty it was sweet, pureed so the texture was of a thick, creamy cappuccino. P: Very smooth, warm, scent of cauliflower.
We were presented with a sweet, light and smooth wine 2004 Alsace, Hugel Riesling - Alsace, France (P: Smooth, goes down easy, warms up the throat on a cold night) to compliment the raw kingfish, deliciously mixed with chives, spanish onion and a dash of lemon juice and olive oil, topped with aruga caviar, golden fresee and egg yolk.
Our second wine for the evening was very clean and sharp, 2005 Petit Chablis, William Fevre - Chablis, France (P: I like it) complimented the tender, pan fried Silver Dory (P: soft fish, beautiful, great texture!) served with soft steamed mussels, clams and a touch of celery (P: gives it a nice flavour mix) and topped with the froth of the emulsion.
Moving on to the reds (of the meat and wine variety) we were introduced to a french predominantly carignan wine, with a slight blend with wine from grenache grapes 2004 Minervois'La Bastide' Chateau Coupe Roses – Langedoc, FRANCE. Although it went well with the rich duck flavours it wasn't a particular favorite of mine, but Pun said "Mmmm, very light, easy to drink".
The Slow Roast Tasmanian Lamb was very tender and served with a Warm Salad of White Beans and Mache. P: Medium rare lamb with creamy fat delicious with the white beans and sweet garlic chips.A pleasant surprise to the evening (it wasn't on the menu listed on the internet) we finally got to sink our teeth into a Wagyu sirloin steak, cooked rare to medium rare with carmelised baby onions and parsnips, slow cooked angus beef (5 hours!) with parsnip puree and watercress. I was eating this course in small small morsels... To make it last longer... One of those things you can die eating... Mmmm... At this point Pun sent a message to Phil about her taste orgasm trying to stir competition...
The wine was another french one, very fruity with a full bodied blackberry flavour. 2003 Côtes du Rhône, Mon Redon - Rhone Valley, FranceTaking on the extra course of a cheese plate; (how could we resist??) We indulged in "cheese so good, no words need to be said..." (Pun)
Gympie Goat (Oz) - so creamy and smooth
Brillant Savarin (France) - P: Melty goodness, mild, slightly bitter with the rind.
Fleur des Alps (France) - Strong flavour, soft and creamy... Best of the cheeses so far...
Cheddar - P: Wonderfully salty against the fruit bread which is soft but crispy with fruity and nutty goodness...
Roquefort (France) - Great taste, especially good with the crisp thin sweet slices of apple... Mmmm... Potent stuff...
On to the dessert! Vanilla bean yoghurt with quince puree was delicious, the yoghurt blending well with it subtle flavor to the sweetness of the quince.
Out came 2005 Telmo Rodriguez ‘MR’ Moscatel – Malaga, Spain so sweet and warming I drank my share before the arrival of the Hot Chocolate Fondant (P: Very chocolatey and warm, not too sweet) with Guinness Ice Cream which melted quickly when mixed with the fondant allowing the flavours to merge in your mouth... Mmmm...
Pun and I, with an earl grey and cappuccino respectively, topped off the night totally satisfied with a brain freeze (from the marscapone bonbon coated in dark chocolate) and sweet, soft (P:) creamy, nutty almost, covered in icing sugar; carmel truffles.
A wonderful night... Phil, if you can't satisfy Jasmin take her to Restaurant Balzac for the Wagyu beef...In speaking to the couple beside us (who were bemused by our picture taking) we heard rumours that as good as Tetsuya's was Guillame at Bennelong is BETTER, although with that better comes 'more costly' as well... (Trees and Cam, have you been yet?)
And if you missed the Tetsuya visit you can read about it here...
Sunday came with a lazy sleep in (Pun and I both went to the evening service of our churches), lunch in Burwood of won ton noodles, fried rice noodles with pork and spicy (well... Not really...) calamari at 'Best One'.
Parting ways I tripped off to Ronni's place for delicious dark chocolate fondue with marshmellows, lolly bananas, musk sticks, Corinthians, pears, bananas, strawberries and shortbread. It was wonderful! Thanks Ronni! And I love your place too, the view from the roof is amazing!
6 Bludgers' annotations: