Food Stuff: May 2009

THE BURLINGTON

Bored and hungry at work one day, and having recently attended restaurant Balzac, i was keen to take advantage of The Burlington's remarkably priced $35 lunch offer and so again have the opportunity of tasting Matthew Kemp's cuisine.

Rounding up a few of my work colleagues (at prices like this, it wasn't difficult), we headed down the road to the restaurant, situated on , unambiguously enough, Burlington st.
The first thing that struck me about the restaurant was how small it was, and despite having a reservation, all tables appeared to be occupied. Luckily for us, i quickly became aware that the restaurant is significantly more spacious than it seemed, as we were led by the hostess down a corridor and into the secondary dining room. This particular area is situated right outside the kitchen, which provided us with a degree of entertainment as we were privy to one of the chefs emphatically berating a poor apprentice. Of course, this is the nature of the industry and our waitress displayed great composure and judgment in handling this as she joked about the situation with us so that we might get back to the business of ordering.

Despite most of the options on the menu looking incredibly appealing, it was the lunch special which had brought me here so we all decided upon that, with a few nice wines to accompany the food.

The lunch began with bruschetta with white anchovies and sardines layered atop tomato and pesto. The pesto was fresh and lively and despite my worries that the sardines and anchovies might overpower the dish with an overwhelming fishiness, the whole thing harmonised quite well.

Our main consisted of ocean trout with scallops and a sweetcorn and artichoke risotto. The trout and scallops were perfect but i was less convinced by the risotto, which i thought was a bit bland.

Reflecting Matthew Kemp's English heritage, our dessert of eton mess was a superb example of a simple dish done well. Light and velvety cream, raspberry coulis and crisp meringue, what's not to like?

This was a very enjoyable meal, and one which i can honestly say i did not want to end (though that is largely due to the fact that we had to return to work at the conclusion of our lunch). I am told that the menu for this lunch changes fairly frequently and, at these prices, I will be quick to return to sample some different offerings.

Bruschetta with tomato, pesto, sardines and white anchovies

Roast Ocean Trout with scallops and sweetcorn risotto

Eton Mess

RESTAURANT BALZAC

In the heart of Randwick, Restaurant Balzac is housed within a beautfiul sandstone heritage building, which until being taken over by Matthew Kemp and Lela Radojkavic, was -strangely enough- host to a Pizza Hut, though i'm pleased to say that the standard of cuisine in the venue has improved somewhat since those days. Details of the building's history are happily relayed by the friendly waitstaff. They are obviously very proud of the establishment, and so they should be- with a combination of terrific service, beautifully prepared food and intelligent wine pairings, Balzac is wonderful, and has skyrocketed towards the top of my favourite Sydney restaurants.

Taking a friend out for dinner, we decided to go for the degustation, which wasn't much of a decision at all, to be honest- at $85 per person in a venue of this standing, this has to represent some of the best value dining in Sydney.

Starting with fresh bread, though served with a slightly too-salty butter, we were then promptly delivered canapes of bresaola with truffled coleslaw on toast. I love amuse bouches, and i find that they really can colour my overall restaurant experience, naturally enough i suppose, first impressions and all that. This dish was a hit, the delicate truffle flavour accentuating rather than overpowering - as i'd feared - the bresaola.

Next was another amuse bouche of carrot veloute with lemon oil and toasted pine nuts. While velvety, i found the veloute a bit too creamy, with the flavour of carrot slightly too subtle. Despite this though, the lemon oil tempered the creaminess somewhat and did in fact prevent it from becoming cloying, while the pine nuts added a nice savoury note.

The first dish, salad of heirloom tomatoes, goats cheese, olives and confit red onion really doesn't need much describing, with all the ingredients being more or less classic combinations. It all came together very nicely. This dish highlighted a theme of simplicity, with the dish acheiving excellence through the use of top quality ingredients. The tomatoes, in particular, were described to us by our waitress as being 'just like mama used to make'. If only. Sorry mum.

Next was panfried sea mullet with clams, smoked cod and sweetcorn chowder. I didn't like this at all to be honest. Having never eaten sea mullet previously, my first impression of it was that it was akin to barrimundi which had been left out in the sun for a few days. Furthermore, i thought the smoked cod, which appeared in chunks interspersed throughout the corn chowder, jarred with the sweetness of the corn. I'm sure many people like this dish, but it was just not to my tastes.

All was forgiven with the next dish though, which consisted of slices of fig and roast duck breast layered atop a crisp slice of pastry. All of the elements here, including the madeira jus and onion puree, built a lovely and harmonious whole.

Now, the mains. I'd ordered beef while my dining companion had the other option, venison. The beef arrived as gloriously pink and tender slices of rump atop a rich mushroom puree and was adorned with diced vegetables, sweetbreads and a 'chou farce' of oxtail. This was a hearty, meaty dish full of bold flavours and contrasting textures and might just have been the perfect dish for the chilly evening.

My friend, happily enough for me, is not a particularly big eater, which meant i was able to enjoy a singificant share of her venison. The meat was rich, tender and dense. The only aspect of this dish i could find fault in was the accompanying block of spiced quince, which i feel didn't really contribute much to the venison and was too acrid to be enjoyed on its own.

The pre-dessert which followed was a small glass of earl grey pannacotta and plum sorbet. This was probably favourite dish of the evening. I think it was just one of those perfect marriages of flavours, like vegemite and butter on toast. At any rate, although a pre-dessert, this was a beautiful dish in its own right.

And so it was that we were on to the last dish of the evening, a perfect creme brulee. I sometimes enjoy playing with my food, and shattering the glassy brulee top with my heavy spoon delivered much childish glee. Also, i'd had quite a few wines. As a sidebar, i've never really liked any of the bizarre interpretations of this dessert which are unfortunately quite common, ginger and lime or what have you, and i think that anyone lucky enough to have had the traditional version as done by Balzac will probably agree.

So, to summarise, i found Restaurant Balzac to deliver expertly prepared and deeply satisfying food in a warm and friendly setting. I look forward to the next menu change so i can return for more of the same.