Neil Perry, you dead set legend.
As soon as you open the enormous wooden doors you feel as though you’ve entered another world. The candle lit corridor behind the doors sets the mood and builds anticipation as you admire the aging beef behind the glass on one side, and the hundreds of bottles of wine on the other. At the end we were surprised to see such a large dining room however there were smaller areas sectioned off by large sheer curtains giving a warm and inviting sense of intimacy. We were shown to our table and handed our menus and very extensive wine list.
For entrée I chose the roast squid, smoky chili and pork belly ($28) and D chose the charcoal king prawns, split and marinated ($30). My squid was cooked wonderfully and the roasted red onion and capsicum was so complimenting with the chili giving it the perfect kick. I am not a huge fan of pork but it was delicious! It was very substantial and could easily have been shared between two people. D was just as satisfied with his prawns saying they couldn’t have been any more flavorsome and well cooked.
There were four different types of beef on the menu and apart from the wagyu, we weren’t sure of the difference between them all. Our waitress was very helpful and we learnt that the grass fed beef has a meatier flavor whereas the grain fed has more of a creamier taste and texture. D went with the Rangers Valley dry aged 300 day grain fed fillet (250g, $69) and I ordered the Cape Grim dry aged 36 month old grass fed rib eye on the bone (350g, $60). The steaks are served on their own with only a slice of lemon so we also ordered two sides - royal blue potatoes sautéed in wagyu fat with rosemary and garlic ($10) and the green beans with creamy anchovy, chili and lemon dressing, and toasted almonds ($9). Our steaks were mouth-wateringly good and came with a complimentary condiment service. D admitted that his fillet looked little rarer than he would’ve liked but it tasted incredible. We both tried each other’s and could definitely taste the difference between grass and grain fed, grain being the winner! The beans, oh the beans! They were hands down the best beans I have ever eaten. Sweet and crisp and the dressing was amazing. The roast potatoes were also delightful – crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, like a good roast potato should be.
By this point we were so stuffed but just couldn’t bring ourselves to skip dessert. Being a massive sucker for pudding and any dessert containing rhubarb, I couldn’t go past the warm rhubarb, strawberry and almond pudding with vanilla sauce ($25). It was heavenly but I couldn’t finish the very generous serve. D chose the butterscotch pecan tart with iced coffee ($16) which the perfect balance of sweet and bitter.
We finished our meal with peppermint tea which came with complimentary caramel popcorn. The popcorn was divine. Sweet, light, and so utterly mourish.
Overall it was an incredible experience. The service was wonderful, the food was spot on and timing between meals was perfect. I had to think really really hard to come up with a fault and it would only be that the tables are a little bit too close to each other. But we were in our own world so it didn’t matter. We will be back. Very soon.
A big 5 out 5 juicy steaks for this bloggers first post!
x Caramel
PS. Next time I will post photos. Promise!
Update! 27/06/11 - Check out my second post on Rockpool which also has a few pics :)
