Dinner at Pier, Rose Bay
It usually doesn't take too much to convince me to go to a 3-hat restaurant; though my search for top Sydney restaurants basically revolves around the following three variables:
1) The amount of money i happen to have in my bank balance at a given moment
2) How hungry i am at the time. It's like that piece of wisdom- don't go grocery shopping on an empty stomach; if i'm hungry and happen to be flicking through the good food guide or reading reviews on eatability, chances are i'll make a booking at an expensive restaurant instead of doing something more sensible like, say, making a sandwich.
3) Whether or not i can round up any of my friends to come to the restaurant with me- not necessarily an easy proposition, given they are, by and large, the sort of people who are more inclined to spend somewhere in the region of $100 less on a meal than i am. Luckily, i have recently moved into a new place with a good friend whose love of seafood even extends to purchasing an expensive fishtank, though the number of edible fish in this fishtank is, well, for all intents and purposes, nil. At this point i must mention that i actually had been to Pier once previously, though on that occasion i left rather underwhelmed. Maybe it had something to do with the strange ambience that surrounded myself and my dining companion on that occasion - she happened to faint dead in the middle of the dining room as our main courses arrived (we had just given blood). Pier, is however, one of Sydney's top restaurants, apparently, and as such was willing to give it another go, hoping this occasion would exceed my expectations.
So, mate in tow, we headed out to Rose Bay one sunday night, ensuring we had done nothing so charitable as donating our precious blood. We were seated at the back of the restaurants, perched out over the water and seated at a table right next to Pete Evans and Julia from masterchef, who were enjoying what appeared to be a lovely, if slightly awkward, dinner. I am also a huge fan of masterchef but i did try to keep my eavesdropping to a minimum.
Not being too sure of what to order, as far too many things on the a la carte menu looked appealing, we decided to go for broke and indulge in their top degustation menu, which we paired with a great sav blanc from Martinborough, NZ.
Anyway, it was an absolutely fantastic meal. Pier redeemed itself and then some. Highlights included, well, basically everything, though special mention must be made of the pan roasted scallops with gorgeous, plump sweetbreads, cauliflower tofu and shimeji mushrooms, the whole dish emboldened with a madeira reduction.
To describe a couple of other memorable dishes, the murray cod was a splendid main event- the fish itself was wonderfully cooked was accompanied with dutch baby carrots and witlof, glazed with bitter orange.
Finally, the dessert was simply breathtaking. Slices of caramel rum braised banana were accompanied by coconut sorbet, tamarind jelly, rum-soaked sponge, almond brittle and little rum balls that i suspect were made via the el bulli spherification method. Now i think it needs to be said that i don't especially like rum or banana, and so had a degree of trepidation prior to the dessert arriving, but in this dish the flavours were perfectly restrained and balanced, with every ingredient bulding toward a hamonious, texturally profound whole.
Fantastic food, good company, attentive service and a beautiful setting, this was a meal to remember.
1) The amount of money i happen to have in my bank balance at a given moment
2) How hungry i am at the time. It's like that piece of wisdom- don't go grocery shopping on an empty stomach; if i'm hungry and happen to be flicking through the good food guide or reading reviews on eatability, chances are i'll make a booking at an expensive restaurant instead of doing something more sensible like, say, making a sandwich.
3) Whether or not i can round up any of my friends to come to the restaurant with me- not necessarily an easy proposition, given they are, by and large, the sort of people who are more inclined to spend somewhere in the region of $100 less on a meal than i am. Luckily, i have recently moved into a new place with a good friend whose love of seafood even extends to purchasing an expensive fishtank, though the number of edible fish in this fishtank is, well, for all intents and purposes, nil. At this point i must mention that i actually had been to Pier once previously, though on that occasion i left rather underwhelmed. Maybe it had something to do with the strange ambience that surrounded myself and my dining companion on that occasion - she happened to faint dead in the middle of the dining room as our main courses arrived (we had just given blood). Pier, is however, one of Sydney's top restaurants, apparently, and as such was willing to give it another go, hoping this occasion would exceed my expectations.
So, mate in tow, we headed out to Rose Bay one sunday night, ensuring we had done nothing so charitable as donating our precious blood. We were seated at the back of the restaurants, perched out over the water and seated at a table right next to Pete Evans and Julia from masterchef, who were enjoying what appeared to be a lovely, if slightly awkward, dinner. I am also a huge fan of masterchef but i did try to keep my eavesdropping to a minimum.
Not being too sure of what to order, as far too many things on the a la carte menu looked appealing, we decided to go for broke and indulge in their top degustation menu, which we paired with a great sav blanc from Martinborough, NZ.
Anyway, it was an absolutely fantastic meal. Pier redeemed itself and then some. Highlights included, well, basically everything, though special mention must be made of the pan roasted scallops with gorgeous, plump sweetbreads, cauliflower tofu and shimeji mushrooms, the whole dish emboldened with a madeira reduction.
To describe a couple of other memorable dishes, the murray cod was a splendid main event- the fish itself was wonderfully cooked was accompanied with dutch baby carrots and witlof, glazed with bitter orange.
Finally, the dessert was simply breathtaking. Slices of caramel rum braised banana were accompanied by coconut sorbet, tamarind jelly, rum-soaked sponge, almond brittle and little rum balls that i suspect were made via the el bulli spherification method. Now i think it needs to be said that i don't especially like rum or banana, and so had a degree of trepidation prior to the dessert arriving, but in this dish the flavours were perfectly restrained and balanced, with every ingredient bulding toward a hamonious, texturally profound whole.
Fantastic food, good company, attentive service and a beautiful setting, this was a meal to remember.
Cone of Salmon tartare
Kingfish carpaccio
Tian of Spanner crab
Scallops, sweetbread, tofu
Crispy Skinned Murray Cod, witlof, serrano ham
Capparis Goat's Curd with brioche, grilled figs, truffle honey
Beet Sponge
Caramel Rum braised banana
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