Rise, Darlinghurst
Although I wasn’t going to blog about the degustation at Rise, Howie thought it would be good to have a different point of view. So here it goes…
Rise is situated on the side of a semi-steep hill and fakes you out with a “door” at the front of the restaurant. My friend, Sam, had been there before and so told me to keep walking to an unassuming closed door (topped with a little blue, curved awning). The interior’s quite nicely decorated, if a little awkwardly laid out I thought.
Tama no Hikari Semi-Frozen sake (Kyoto, Japan)
Sam nursed this for about a quarter through our degustation, by which it got a rather slushy near the end. I tried it, but it tasted rather unpleasant (which I put down to me not liking sake in the first place).
Duck confit, beans and tofu with Hoisin sauce
The duck was soft and tasty; tofu silky and smooth. I liked how all the ingredients went well together – a delicious tiny morsel! Though this being my first degustation, I wasn’t quite ready to expect how small our first dish was and it really left me wanting more subtantial dishes.
Tom yum style soup with prawn tortellini
My only gripe about this dish was that the prawn in the tortellini was, I think, prawn paste *gasp* hahah. Otherwise it was okay; slightly spicy, but not so much so (Sam was rather disappointed about this aspect of the dish). They also added a few sago balls too, which we discovered at the bottom of the bowl. Lightly flavoured with cute semi-spherical cucumbers.
Oyster, Kingfish and Ocean Trout Sashimi
Not a big fan of bivalves, so not surprising that I didn’t like the oyster (Sam really liked it though). The kingfish was great with the peppery mustard sauce and ocean trout was delish with or without the soy sauce and wasabi. We got two slices of each fish, which left me wishing there was more ocean trout.
Spicy tuna tartare in wonton cup, Soft shell crab sushi roll, Steamed baby octopus with ume plum vinaigrette
The spicy tuna wasn’t kidding that it was spicy; fortunately it was only a small piece, otherwise I think I might have been in trouble. I wasn’t too sure whether the wonton cup was suppose to be crunchy or not, but it seemed a bit… stale. Hmm. The baby octopus was quite nice – a light and refreshing spoonful of cephalopod – while Sam thought it was a bit rubbery. We both agreed though that the soft sheel crab sushi roll was the best, even though it harboured pickled ginger slivers. To be honest, the ginger made the crab nicer than if we had it without. It was a bit difficult to eat (awkward to place into the mouth), but after we had it, we wished there was more of it.
Grilled scallop & soba buckwheat noodle salad
I think this dish was missing something, but I can’t seem to put my finger on it. The scallop was rather nice, but seeing that I have a weakness for scallop I’m not sure if that counts.
Kingfish tempura, tartare in cucumber cup & Agro-Dolce sauce
This dish was really good: the tartare with the cucumber and tempura was delicious, and the agro-dolce sauce went well with the vegetables (I couldn’t help but notice that they like string beans so much!). The cucumber cup, Sam realised, was the left over bit from the cucumber ball in the tom yum soup! Nice.
Almond jelly, fresh mango & Amaretto milk granita
This was definitely the highlight of the degustation. The dessert was almost perfect (I only say “almost” because I wanted more of it… lots and lots of it… I’m such a glutton =_=). I’m kind of stuck for what else to say besides ranting about the subtle sweetness, the delectable milky coldness of the granita, and surprise cranberry (Sam thinks) hidden under all that diced mango pieces.
While the presentation of each dish was impeccable, there were only a couple of dishes that really stood out for me and made me crave for more.
We went during the special degustation, where it was 30% off (so $42, though only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Sundays) and subsequently had slightly less number of dishes than the normal degustation that Howie went to (though that was no surprise there).
Rise
23 Craigend Street
Darlinghurst, NSW 2010
Ph: (02) 9357-1755
Web: www.riserestaurant.com.au
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By squishies
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This article was written on 02 Mar 2008, and is filed under Degustation, Japanese, Sydney, East.
Current post is tagged
Darlinghurst, Degustation, fusion, poultry, Seafood, soba, tofu
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One of the more affordable degustation menus, i rather like the place and make a trip every few months to see what they have changed on the menu.
Have they changed much, Squishies and I went pretty close to each other in terms of time frame and nothing changed.
I’m going to give it another go as we have an entertainment book voucher (I think). I found their ‘entrees’ better than the actual mains.
ok interesting looks like they have tweaked the menu a bit
http://www.riserestaurant.com.au/menu_eng/index.htm/-/mode_view-detail
Totally agree with you there connico, I was actually really surprised at how (relatively) cheap it was! Value for money I thought, considering we left the restaurant feeling (surprisingly) quite full. =)
aside from it being value for money, would you guys spend say $100-ish (reasonable by other restaurants’ rates) for the degust based on the merit of the dishes alone?
I used to regularly eat out and paying 100 a head per week on a restaurant really was just normal.
I dont eat out much these days as i tend to cook myself and also trying to save..
Last degustation menu i hit was atelier. Thier weekday special was really worth while.
oh i meant would you do the rise degust if it costs $100 because the food was worth it.
and atelier is on my hit list albeit just a little further down! next up though is forty one for a friend’s b’day
Generally, I would, but only if it was worth it… though even then I wouldn’t do it very often.
Then my response would be no, the rise degustation is not worth 100 bucks a head. But its not meant to be, they price it accordingly to what they put into the dishes.
Its like when I went to bilson’s or tets, from the get go I knew it was going to be an experience worthly of the money I put down. So I can say the same to rise, it does not over price which is why I like them so much.
Regardless I hope on your short list you have No. 2 Oak Street, that is one hell of a resturant.
Anyhows, i havent been to a degustation restaurant and and thought “its not worth it” most of them a very careful as a degustation menu is a huge risk
No. 2 is way out of town for me. Being unable to drive, my list consists mainly of places that I can access via sydney’s reliable (!) public transport.
Balzac degust – BAD! The only things that didn’t make it a waste of time was the company, their eton mess and bread and butter pudding. The actual food missed the mark completely for me – there’s a fine line between subtle and bland they didn’t seem to know it.
Squishies – remember to order up on the tea at Tetsuya’s! It’s free! lol Hopefully he picks up his game from last year!
lol okay.
I’m actually more worried how I’ll be able to take photos without the flash >_< bah
[...] trend these days. It is a fusion of Japanese and Eurasion elements, much like what you can find at Rise. The main dining area consists of communal tables and dimly lit lights. It has a nice feel about it [...]