Busy. Tired. Tired. Busy.
That time of year, I'm afraid.
Hectic weekend, biggest two nights out that I've had since... since... well, probably since the first half of this year. Cocktails, Martinis, Tequila, Cowboys, Bacardi, Jager-bombs. Ouch.
No hangovers, but extreme tiredness, definitely. And it'll just keep going this week... DJ Krush on Thursday, a work Christmas party on Friday and a wedding on Saturday.
Will post more once I'm energised a little bit more.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Hot off the presses
As mentioned as coming soon in previous posts, I wined and dined at The Press Club last night.
Short review; food was delicious, service was average.
The restaurant itself is pretty slick; lots of dark colours, sharp modern lines, an open kitchen, and some big windows looking out towards Exhibition and Flinders Sts. The table set-up seems pretty flexible - we had 6 at our table, but other tables had anything from 2 to 8 or 10 people pretty comfortably. (Actually, now that I think about it, I did find the actual chairs/table set-up reasonably comfortable - I didn't get particularly fidgety or on edge at all, which I usually do by the end of a big meal courtesy of my long legs and a general lack of leg space in fine dining establishments). The menus are on a single large cardboard sheet, with a layout definitely influenced by newspapers.
The first signs of underwhelming service were when I received my pre-dinner drink in a short glass, rather than tall glass, despite the waitress specifically asking if I wanted a tall glass (and me saying yes), as well as a description of the menu that ended up with me being more confused rather than less (an attempt to describe the entree/main/dessert versus sharing plates). Unfortunately, this trend continued through the night... drinks forgotten or taking an awful long time, loads of time taken to clear away finished dishes, a long wait with the menus before someone took our dessert orders. Perhaps they were only teething problems - I certainly hope they work them out soon. It didn't turn me off, it just left a slightly sour memory of the night.
Anyway, on to the positive - the food. These was probably some of my favourite dishes of the year, easily up there with choice dishes from Taxi, Pearl and Becco during 2006. I was doubly impressed since, as much as I love my food, I can be a little picky when it comes to avoiding prawn/scallop/oyster types of seafood and there were some of these options on the menu, so I had to choose carefully.
I chose the salad of cumin roasted beetroot, pistachio biscuit, yoghurt cheese and honey for my entree. The beetroot had a lovely intense flavour, with each mouthful finishing with a distinct cumin flavour. The pistachio biscuit was more like a mini-pistachio sponge cake with a slightly firm/crisp outside... sweet, spongy and delicious. The yoghurt cheese rolled in herbs and the drizzle of honey complimented the rest of the dish beautifully.
For my main course, I chose the seared salmon with cauliflower cream and a moussaka cigar. Wow. Easily one of the most perfectly cooked pieces of salmon I have ever eaten, still moist and rare inside, slightly crispy and salty skin, and a lovely delicate taste. The salmon fillet was in a "puddle" of cauliflower cream - like a smooth and creamy cauliflower-flavoured sauce. Tasty, but subtle enough to compliment the salmon, not overpower it. For a different texture, a flaky pastry "cigar" with moussaka filling was on the side. The dish was topped off with a passionfruit sauce, adding a slight tang. Top marks.
Dessert was a rich, intense and divine chocolate souffle, with cinnamon ice cream and what was listed as sour cherry jam but seemed to be more chocolate (with a gold leaf sprinkle). The souffle was an impressive size, and was a decadent mix of fluffy, spongy souffle and oozing chocolate.
So, in summary, the food did not disappoint (we could even see head chef George Calombaris running things in the kitchen, complete with surprisingly shaved head), but the service was not quite up to scratch when compared to some of the slick operations at other restaurants we've dined at this year. But don't let that put you off... the food was well and truly worth a visit to the Press Club.
Short review; food was delicious, service was average.
The restaurant itself is pretty slick; lots of dark colours, sharp modern lines, an open kitchen, and some big windows looking out towards Exhibition and Flinders Sts. The table set-up seems pretty flexible - we had 6 at our table, but other tables had anything from 2 to 8 or 10 people pretty comfortably. (Actually, now that I think about it, I did find the actual chairs/table set-up reasonably comfortable - I didn't get particularly fidgety or on edge at all, which I usually do by the end of a big meal courtesy of my long legs and a general lack of leg space in fine dining establishments). The menus are on a single large cardboard sheet, with a layout definitely influenced by newspapers.
The first signs of underwhelming service were when I received my pre-dinner drink in a short glass, rather than tall glass, despite the waitress specifically asking if I wanted a tall glass (and me saying yes), as well as a description of the menu that ended up with me being more confused rather than less (an attempt to describe the entree/main/dessert versus sharing plates). Unfortunately, this trend continued through the night... drinks forgotten or taking an awful long time, loads of time taken to clear away finished dishes, a long wait with the menus before someone took our dessert orders. Perhaps they were only teething problems - I certainly hope they work them out soon. It didn't turn me off, it just left a slightly sour memory of the night.
Anyway, on to the positive - the food. These was probably some of my favourite dishes of the year, easily up there with choice dishes from Taxi, Pearl and Becco during 2006. I was doubly impressed since, as much as I love my food, I can be a little picky when it comes to avoiding prawn/scallop/oyster types of seafood and there were some of these options on the menu, so I had to choose carefully.
I chose the salad of cumin roasted beetroot, pistachio biscuit, yoghurt cheese and honey for my entree. The beetroot had a lovely intense flavour, with each mouthful finishing with a distinct cumin flavour. The pistachio biscuit was more like a mini-pistachio sponge cake with a slightly firm/crisp outside... sweet, spongy and delicious. The yoghurt cheese rolled in herbs and the drizzle of honey complimented the rest of the dish beautifully.
For my main course, I chose the seared salmon with cauliflower cream and a moussaka cigar. Wow. Easily one of the most perfectly cooked pieces of salmon I have ever eaten, still moist and rare inside, slightly crispy and salty skin, and a lovely delicate taste. The salmon fillet was in a "puddle" of cauliflower cream - like a smooth and creamy cauliflower-flavoured sauce. Tasty, but subtle enough to compliment the salmon, not overpower it. For a different texture, a flaky pastry "cigar" with moussaka filling was on the side. The dish was topped off with a passionfruit sauce, adding a slight tang. Top marks.
Dessert was a rich, intense and divine chocolate souffle, with cinnamon ice cream and what was listed as sour cherry jam but seemed to be more chocolate (with a gold leaf sprinkle). The souffle was an impressive size, and was a decadent mix of fluffy, spongy souffle and oozing chocolate.
So, in summary, the food did not disappoint (we could even see head chef George Calombaris running things in the kitchen, complete with surprisingly shaved head), but the service was not quite up to scratch when compared to some of the slick operations at other restaurants we've dined at this year. But don't let that put you off... the food was well and truly worth a visit to the Press Club.
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