Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Food Review: Fabulous dinner at the Quay Restaurant (again) Sydney

Dinner at the Quay Restaurant never disappoints. The level of service may vary from time to time but the food is always superb and divine. Peter Gilmore def nailed down the right way to maintain his chef hats!
Tonite, we had dinner with a view. It prob would wow a tourist better than locals like us but it was still nice.


We didnt go for the tasing menu but instead opted for the 4 course meal at A$155 a head. I had a glorious dinner. Worth every penny.

I went for the mudcrab congee for the starter, though someone should explain to caucasians that "rice in soup" is not defined as congee in chinese language. Congee is cooked rice that tastes really mashed up and you dont even see the grain. Porridge would be a more apt term but we wont get specific here. The soup was flavoursome and tasty, and it was a good nice clean start!

Next on the menu was my choice of confit of crispy skin pork belly with squid strips, combined with a healthy dose of silky tofu. The skin was crunchy and the meat melts as you bite into it. The flavour blend well together and it was a true symphony of the tastebud.


The third course I had picked was Pig Jowl. I never had tasted pig jowl which my dad explained was the jawline of the pig area. So I forgo the milk fed veal and chose another pig dish. I did not regret it. The braised meat was gorgeous!!! Forget describing it but it was just that damn good! But by time, I officially declared that I felt like I was having a fusion of chinese meal more than a western meal:) Not that I mind really.

Personally, the only less than stellar dish was the dessert. I ordered the Snow Egg which our friends had eagerly and it came highly recommended, esp after the Master Chef show that had half the nation tuned in to the programme. (online recipe with the guava version)


Unfortunately for me, it was kind of a let down. It really was more form than substance in this case. While the presentation was flawlessly beautiful, i didnt quite see what the fuss was about apart from the egg shape. It was supposed to be jackfruit ice, the egg filled with somesort of  vanilla icecream custard. The jackfruit flavour could have been stronger. I love jackfruit and the natural sweetness, yet injustice has been done to this dish. Its special "pungent essence" was mercilessly stripped, and I thought the whole dish was too sweet. Maybe they had to tamed the jackfruit flavour and tamper it down for the western palatte who isnt use to the strong taste. Then again, not everyone likes the strong taste unless u grow up in the hot tropic I suppose.

My partner had the other dessert which was some coconut creame and choc and some raspberry. I didnt like it, primarily because I dislike raspberry mixed with choc. I like my choc unadultered and non bastardised with some other flavours, esp with fruits like orange, and cherries or raspberries. I would have liked it better if it was just choc and coconut but that boils down to personal taste. Yet if we must choose, we all would have voted for the coconut choc dessert over the snow egg.

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