2 years and 14 courses | Saturday, September 22, 2007 |
This week we'll have been in Australia for two years. On the whole it's been pretty positive though the initial feelings of 'never return to the UK' have dissipated and now we're seriously considering it towards the end of next year. It's early days and we all know things can change rapidly but the language has shifted from the 'if' to the 'when'
Still, that's the future. Today is about racking up two years - sort of.
In June we had arranged as a birthday treat for Gillian to head for Tetsuya's for lunch. I ended up with a massive cold (I won't use the word 'flu) that confined me to bed for 3 or 4 days and we opted to cancel instead of blowing several hundred dollars on a lunch that I wouldn't be able to taste.
So after returning from my travels (and on Thursday succumbing to another, albeit minor bug - damn air travel) we went for lunch this afternoon and what's widely regarded as Sydney's best restaurant. The Sydney Morning Herald food guide rates it as their top choice and it's one of only 7 'three hatted' eateries in the city. Since the competition opened it's featured in every list and for the past 3 year's it's been within the top 5 in the annual The S.Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants which according to their own blurb is
That aside, it probably was the best meal I've ever eaten. Take a look at the menu and the matched wine list which we opted for assuming that they know more about it that we do. In fact it was far from the most intimidating wine list I've ever seen, but given that we choose wine based on what we read in the paper, what's on special and what has interesting labels, well, you get the idea.
Neither of us bothered to check the price before we went in although we knew that it would be expensive. I'm pleased to say however that it actually came in about $200 lower than my guess which is not something that happens every day though it says something about the cost of lunch. On reflection the last couple of months has had a couple of most expensive meal moments. Today lunch, and $80 each on breakfast at the Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok (the price of which was a suprise) when on holiday recently. Thnking about that though, it's inline with the cost of a fry up at the Landmark that I've previously stayed in while in London for work. I suppose we just didn't expect that in Bangkok where you can eat well for peanuts.
The only real observation was that in my opinion the signature dish of trout with konbu wasn't all that stand out. Don't get me wrong, it was delicious and as lovely a piece of trout as you'll ever come across but it just wasn't that surprising compared to some of the other dishes (for example, paua and oxtail with orange, a combination that wouldn't immediately spring to mind).
Highlights were the smoked ocean trout and caviar, the abalone and oxtail and veal with wasabi. I'm not sure that 4 deserts was entirely necessary, but the courses were all small so we didn't leave feeling like giant porkers. That many deserts is usually restricted to Christmas! On the wine front, perhaps surprisingly, the Saki stood out, chilled and lovely and smooth. Service was impecible, almost invisible.
Oh and we skipped the optional oyster course at the start, delicious though Australian oysters are thinking that 14 courses would be quite enough. And, as it's 22:10 and lunch started at 12:30, I think I was right :-)
Still, that's the future. Today is about racking up two years - sort of.
In June we had arranged as a birthday treat for Gillian to head for Tetsuya's for lunch. I ended up with a massive cold (I won't use the word 'flu) that confined me to bed for 3 or 4 days and we opted to cancel instead of blowing several hundred dollars on a lunch that I wouldn't be able to taste.
So after returning from my travels (and on Thursday succumbing to another, albeit minor bug - damn air travel) we went for lunch this afternoon and what's widely regarded as Sydney's best restaurant. The Sydney Morning Herald food guide rates it as their top choice and it's one of only 7 'three hatted' eateries in the city. Since the competition opened it's featured in every list and for the past 3 year's it's been within the top 5 in the annual The S.Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants which according to their own blurb is
"recognised around the world as the most credible indicator of the best places to eat on Earth"
That aside, it probably was the best meal I've ever eaten. Take a look at the menu and the matched wine list which we opted for assuming that they know more about it that we do. In fact it was far from the most intimidating wine list I've ever seen, but given that we choose wine based on what we read in the paper, what's on special and what has interesting labels, well, you get the idea.
Neither of us bothered to check the price before we went in although we knew that it would be expensive. I'm pleased to say however that it actually came in about $200 lower than my guess which is not something that happens every day though it says something about the cost of lunch. On reflection the last couple of months has had a couple of most expensive meal moments. Today lunch, and $80 each on breakfast at the Mandarin Oriental in Bangkok (the price of which was a suprise) when on holiday recently. Thnking about that though, it's inline with the cost of a fry up at the Landmark that I've previously stayed in while in London for work. I suppose we just didn't expect that in Bangkok where you can eat well for peanuts.
The only real observation was that in my opinion the signature dish of trout with konbu wasn't all that stand out. Don't get me wrong, it was delicious and as lovely a piece of trout as you'll ever come across but it just wasn't that surprising compared to some of the other dishes (for example, paua and oxtail with orange, a combination that wouldn't immediately spring to mind).
Highlights were the smoked ocean trout and caviar, the abalone and oxtail and veal with wasabi. I'm not sure that 4 deserts was entirely necessary, but the courses were all small so we didn't leave feeling like giant porkers. That many deserts is usually restricted to Christmas! On the wine front, perhaps surprisingly, the Saki stood out, chilled and lovely and smooth. Service was impecible, almost invisible.
Oh and we skipped the optional oyster course at the start, delicious though Australian oysters are thinking that 14 courses would be quite enough. And, as it's 22:10 and lunch started at 12:30, I think I was right :-)
