Quay, Sydney

For the husband's birthday this year, I decided to surprise him with a meal at Quay in Sydney, which was 1 of 2 Australian restaurants on the San Pellegrino list. We tried the other restaurant in Melbourne earlier this year, and I had previously expressed my sentiments about the rather disappointing dining experience. 

Having heard how popular Quay was, I made the restaurant bookings prior to booking the flights and hotel. This was the view at the entrance of the restaurant,, and it's hard to beat the Rocks and the Harbour Bridge for an entrance.  

The menu - we were happy with everything except the black pudding, which we swopped for mushrooms.

The view from our table. Again, the Opera House is a pretty tough view to beat.

We started off with cocktails. On hindsight, this was perhaps not the smartest thing to do, given we were planning to order a bottle of wine as well. On the left was the Quay Butterfly ($18)- an absolutely delicious cocktail, and something I would drink again in a heartbeat. Comprising Absolut Vanilla vodka, butterscotch schnapps and limoncello over muddled lemon. So, so, so GOOD. On the right was the 10cane storm, with 10cane rum, raspberries, lime and ginger ale. Nice, but it paled in comparison with the Butterfly on the complexity of flavours and smoothness of the drink. It was also more expensive, at $20+.

The amuse bouche of raw beetroot, goats curd and rose hip something...pretty tasty.

The texture of the goats curd was like it had been freeze dried; it was a great combination of flavours.

This was the saltwater poached quail with salted egg yolks, smoked parsnips and pickles- such a pretty dish, but it felt very Asian. 

Loved the way the dish was assembled.

The quail was very tender, and although it appeared to be a motley crew of different things, they all came together beautifully with the rather neutral quail.

By this time I was feeling rather intoxicated from the cocktails, so we asked for bread.

Next up was the mud crab congee with egg yolk emulsion.

We also ordered a bottle of NZ Gerwurtztraminer, our new favourite white wine. Bad idea since the cocktails were already getting to me. But when one is eating at Quay, there are no chances of slowing down. So I pressed on.

Absolutely gorgeous. The crab was sweet and the broth was rich without being over the top. This was one of my favourite courses.

Next up was a dish called XO Sea, which I took to mean seafood with XO Sauce. It was a very interesting pattern that we observed, that so many Australian chefs are influenced by Asian food so extensively. 

Our view from our seats- the restaurant was packed by then.

In particular, the calamari was very well executed, but one can't just take boiled seafood and serve it with XO sauce. Ok probably a lot more effort went into the dish than was obvious, but to an Asian, it was kind of a cheap kop out.

Next up was mushrooms with brioche cream and walnut floss. I thought the mushrooms were nothing out of the ordinary, so this was my least favourite dish of the day.

The roasted snapper with oyster crackling restored my faith though.

The snapper was cooked to perfection, although it felt like the sauce was like a sambal smeared on top. Again, Asian influence it seemed.

This was a NZ Hawkes Bay Angus with dried Jerusalem artichoke and mushrooms. Amazing.

Cooked to perfection.

By the time we were done with the savouries, it was 3pm. I was highly intoxicated, and everyone had left. But I never lose control, and this super clear photo proves it.

The first dessert that emerged from the kitchen had (and has) to be THE BEST DESSERT IN THE WORLD. Peter Gilmore's super famous snow egg, with a custard apple filling on a granita bed. Nothing can be better, absolutely nothing.

Perfection.

The egg white was whisked super light, and the custard apple filling was the yolk.

The second dessert was a chocolate dessert...not quite as mindblowing but delicious in its own right. By this time it was almost 4pm and the sun was getting low.

A closer look- a combination of chocolate and caramel and goodness knows what else.

Petit fours. By the time we stumbled out of the restaurant, it was almost sunset.

Verdict: in my opinion, better than Attica for more interesting food combinations, and more effort with new techniques and textures. Then again, I'm no professional food reviewer, just a hungry housewife. 

Website: http://www.quay.com.au/

Narisawa - Possibly my second best meal ever

I had the good fortune to visit Narisawa recently and it was perhaps the second most amazing meal of my life, behind Eleven Madison in 2011. I'm sure Eleven Madison has grown by leaps and bounds since then, but unfortunately I've not had the opportunity to head back to NYC since. Narisawa came in at No. 20 on the latest San Pellegrino list, and it also topped the list of Asia's best restaurants. Expectations were definitely running high! 

The theme when we visited was Evolve with the Forest, with a number of cryptic menu items. 

The restaurant, as expected, as packed, since we had made bookings a few weeks before that. 

It was a nice French white that the sommelier recommended, from the non-existent wine list. 

This, I suppose, was Essence of the Forest, with salt water infused with oak and cedar. Pieces of crispy burdock skin on a yogurt bed topped with Japanese herbs and soy bean powder as well as carbonised bamboo. We managed to detect the wood flavours in the water.

The dip was pretty amazing. I couldn't even work out the individual flavours of the carbonised bamboo and herbs. 

Then out came this shell of carbonised bamboo powder, with a slow roasted onion inside. 

Next, the waiter explained that the bread would be baked at the table in a stone bowl, but showed us the raw material - bread dough, with chestnut tree powder and yuzu peel, as well as chestnut chunks, which was left to proof at the table for a bit. 

In the bread dough went...

And it was covered to bake for what felt like an eternity- it must only have been 20 mins max

In the meantime, the next course arrived - this was Okinawa. It arrived looking pretty innocent. 

It consisted of winter melon, a yam ball and roasted pork all from Okinawa. That was what I heard. There were a few things I couldn't catch.

This dehydrated ugly thing was brought to the table subsequently. That was when I found out that the Okinawa dish was cooked with essence of smoked sea snake from Okinawa. Two options were available - to either retch, or move on. I chose the latter.

After 12 minutes the bread was done, and the stone bowl uncovered

It was covered with chestnut tree powder, yuzu peel and chunks of chestnut. 

And served accompanied by moss butter, covered with chlorophyll extracted from kale and spinach, and sprayed on with dried olive powder.

A closer look at the non-rolling stone

Butter on the inside. 

There was also mugwort bread. Delicious.

Next up was langoustine served "warm sashimi" style, served with tomato puree and pepper.

The langoustine was cooked just under, and it was beautifully tender and sweet. 

Then this super exciting thing appeared from the kitchen with vapour coming out.

This squid was placed in front of me. (Ash 2009, Scene of the Seashore is such a non-descript name!)

And liquid was scooped out from the bowl

And poured onto the squid.

Oh the excitement that this theatrical display caused!

All settled down. It was paprika ash, lemon juice and olive oil in liquid nitrogen.

Super intense flavours mixed with the squid juices. This was divine. 

Blow fish fried in some flour served with sansho pepper and citrus. Lovely. 

Served on a piece of paper

Super tender flesh, cooked just right. 

A Hiroshima oyster, sauteed with onion, tomato, capers, Japanese herbs and chicken stock. Lovely and sweet. 

Another view. Absolutely picture perfect. 

So pretty I couldn't stop taking photos

It was all cut up already, we realised, after we moved the flowers and onion, and yet it was reassembled so perfectly. 

Served in a plastic bag - tile fish and mushrooms with turtle essence

I ate this quickly because I didn't want to think about the turtle essence. 

Then this appeared - rump from Gifu prefecture cooked with the inside at 55 deg C by scooping hot olive oil over it for 30 mins. Subsquently, it was rolled in carbonised leek powder that was earlier ground in a coffee grinder and left to sit for 3 days to develop the umami flavours. 

It was served with consomme, beef jus, and Japanese microgreens. 

So perfect inside

A palate cleanser of sake sorbet

The first dessert dish was a rum and raisin ice cream with chestnut sauce, warabi mochi and fried chestnuts. The combination was amazing. 

Served in a martini glass, no less. 

Followed by a maple pudding, comprising apple, more warabi mochi and chestnut.

The petit fours trolley was the thing that completely blew me away. 

Plus a whole range of chocolate macarons for the table to share

Another view of the trolley. Heavenly.

Too pretty to eat. 

The waiter told us we could choose more than 4. So I had an apple warabi mochi, a chestnut macaron, an apple macaron, an apricot jelly and a whisky profiterole.

SO GOOD. 

All this, for 12,600 Yen, or at today's exchange rates, S$160 (Aus $145 or therabouts). After adding in the price of a glass of wine and service charge, the bill could not have come up to more than S$250. Of course this was lunch and not dinner, which would have cost 21,000 Yen or around S$300. 

The difference between Narisawa at No. 20 and Attica at No. 21 is even more stark when juxtaposed with the Attica post. Seriously, what were the San Pellegrino judges thinking??