The March lunch was held in Double Bay and this suburb is showing signs of being a vibrant place to visit again.
23 members and 3 guests attended the lunch. The restaurant was painted white inside and with skylights in the roof, was bright from the sunshine filtering through, and fitted out in a modern nautical theme. Just what a seafood restaurant should be like.
We were seated in the large area at the back of the restaurant which gave us all ample room between chairs and the privacy enabled us to talk freely about the Society’s news and to present and discuss 2 of the wines which were served as mystery wines and talk from the tasting notes.
The two course menu of the day was :
Entrée : Sydney Rock Oysters, Mignonette Sauce, Lemon
Prawn Ravioli, grilled green onion, ginger and shellfish sauce.
Prawn Ravioli
Mains :
Blue Eye Trevalla, Potato Scales, Fresh Ricotta, Roasted Beetroot
Ocean Trout in Filo Pastry, Mushrooms, Leeks, Sorrel Sauce
Dusky Flathead in Batter, hand cut chips, pickles, tartare sauce
Crisp skin Snapper, Jerusalem artichokes, roast garlic, yoghurt, crumbs
Crisp skin Wild Kingfish, confit fennel rainbow chard, salted chilli
Side of Hand cut chips
Blue Eye Trevalla
Dusky Flathead in batter and hand cut chips
Wines : 2014 Wairau River Sauvignon Blanc – Marlborough NZ
2013 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Riesling – Margaret River
2013 Bress Pinot Noir, Yarra Valley
It was felt by a considerable number of the ladies that the Prawn Ravioli tasted bland, needed more flavour and was not served with enough accompanying sauce.
The oysters, whilst we observed them being freshly shucked (and were delicious) the Mignonette sauce contained black peppercorns that had not been ground up enough.
The Crisp Skin Snapper with the Jerusalem Artichokes and Blue Eye Trevalla with Roasted Beetroot were the two stand out main dishes with the other three dishes coming a close second as the fresh food was enjoyed by all, with one comment “the best tartare and pickled vegetables to accompany excellent battered Fish and Chips”.
The comments on the wines :
The 2014 Wairau River Sauvignon Blanc – We get it ladies – no more Sauvignon Blanc!!
The Leeuwin Estate Riesling, unfortunately, the 2013 was showing no character and the 2014 was the opposite and showing some bottle age. It was disappointing that the wait staff topped up glasses with the two different years – not good. This made it impossible to judge the wine.
The Bress Pinot Noir was a typical Yarra Valley wine, showing sweetness and had favourable ratings.
We were fortunate that Steven Hodges, chef and co-owner, talked to us about fresh seafood and how to purchase fresh fish and the sustainability of this food item.
Steven also explained the reason for the Salted Chilli (served with the Wild Kingfish) i.e. taste of chilli without the bite ! The method is to chop up fresh red chillis, put in an airtight jar, cover with salt and leave for 2 months.
The restaurant was considered to have good atmosphere and nice fresh food with good service. The temperature inside was a little hot and could have done with an air conditioner in the main restaurant.
Sydney Ladies Wine & Food Society 