Minh 7 August 2009 Dinner, Events, Modern Australian, Sydney, CBD 9 Comments  Print This Post  Email This Post

15 Years of Dining Excellence

A last minute invitiation from Melanie at Merivale saw a group of food bloggers huddled outside of Bistro CBD in honour of their 15 years in service. Merivale seems to be really stepping up their game this winter, firstly with their Winter Feasts menus and now Bistro CBD celebrations. Having never had the chance to eat at Bistro CBD before I was curious to see what their food would be like.

Apologies in advance for some of my photos! Using flash in a restaurant is usually a taboo I try to avoid, but in canape gathering type situations the flash inevitably comes out of my bag. My settings are somewhat all over the place at the beginning of the night resulting in what must be one of my worst food photos yet… a photo so dark that the platter looks like it is floating in midair… I promise you that somewhere in this photo is the arm of one of the servers.

Duck Rilette & Beetroot En Croute

Oh dear. To its credit the dish tasted much better than my photo gave it credit, the Croute gives a satisfying crunch and being a fan of Duck I enjoy the beetroot/duck combition.

St Agur and Fig on Lavosh

The cheese combo is probably the biggest disappointment of the night, while I cannot find anything wrong with the cheese or fig, the Lavosh is rather stale putting a damper on the mouthful. Later in the night I venture another try and am pleased to find that the Lavosh seems fresher, indicating the first batch may have simply been plated up too early.

Freshly Shucked Sydney Rock Oysters

The Oyster table is a big hit on the night, and looking at the table it’s not hard to see why. The combination of Champagne, *cough* I mean Sparking Wine and oysters sees many of the punters return again and again to the table.

Chicken Liver Parfait on Brioche

Liver is a bit of a hit and miss dish for people I’ve spoken to, you seem to either love it or hate it! In my case I can’t get enough of it, the crunchy Brioche makes for a satisfying mouthful with the strong liver taste.

Crisp Skin Jewfish, Romesco Sauce

The fish is undoubtedly my favourite dish of the night and sees me returning for seconds… thirds… fourths… and maybe too many times for me to mention without feeling slightly embarassed. Perfectly cooked mouthfuls of fish topped with a sliver of crispy skin all on a sweet chilli base. Bliss.

Roast Beef Open Sandwich

The chefs behind each of the tables are working double time as they are still plating as the the punters start to crowd the stands. Watching the chefs work their butts off I can’t help but appreciate the work they’re putting in on the night. My marathon sessions of Top Chef and other miscellaneous cooking reality shows has shown just how hard chefs work to cater for these events.

At first sight the Roast Beef sandwich seems a strange choice for the night, the huge pieces of bread seem a bit too large for a canape, however biting into the bread reveals just how soft it really is and it seems to vanish much quicker than I had thought!

Double Chocolate Brownies

Chef Simun Dragicevich

Our savory cravings sated we quickly move onto the desserts table and first on my list are the chocolate brownies which have quietly been calling my name. The brownies on first taste don’t really seem like anything special, this all changes when Chef Simun Dragicevich comes around to the table with blaster in hand transforming these previously benign brownies into gooey goodness.

Bianchi - Mini Pavlova

The mini pavlova are undeniably adorable and actually conceal a nutty centre.

White Chocolate Tarts

What I initially take for lemon tarts actually turn out to be White Chocolate Tarts. I find myself a little fascinated with the tart shells and am still wondering how they are shaped. The chocolate is nice and smooth but this dessert is nothing compared to my favourite of the night…

Caramelised Banana Cake

Caramelised Banana Cake! Chef Simon attacks each of these cakes along with the brownies and swiftly caramelises the banana topping to make each piece a sweet sticky mouthful that keeps me close to the dessert table for the rest of the night.

Congratulations to Bistro CBD for 15 years of service, here’s hoping for another 15!

Eat Show & Tell was a guest of The Merivale Group at the Bistro CBD Tasting Event on the 28th of July, 2009.

Bistro CBD

2001/75 York St
Sydney NSW 2000
Ph: (02) 8297 7010
Web: http://www.merivale.com/cbd/bistro