Bistro Ortolan, Leichhardt
2 hats ? just give them 3
Have you ever liked something so much that you find yourself seeing it again, buying it again or eating it again ? I remember when The Matrix came out, I watched it at the cinemas three times and then purchased the DVD. I’ve recently found the perfect pair of jeans by A.P.C, I end up buying two pairs so I can rotate them. In terms of food, well, this is my second visit to Bistro Ortolan in two weeks.
It hasn’t been easy coughing up $110 in consecutive weeks for dinner, but I just had to bring Teresa, Linda and Minh along to confirm that the food was in fact amazing and it wasn’t me going crazy or just blatantly hyping the food up for no reason. Did they agree with me ? Indeed they did.
Bistro Ortolan is tucked away from the hustle and bustle of Norton St. It’s unusual to find such an amazing French restaurant in Leichardt, which is known for it’s Italian. Though some would argue that Haberfield is Sydney’s own ‘little Italy’ these days.
After being seated, we are promptly offered some warm sourdough rolls with fresh butter.
We opt for the degustation ($110 pp) as we were throughly impressed with it the week before. Instead of matching wines, we go with a recommended from the waitress.
The meal
Shellfish and celeriac velouté with aniseed choux
The first time I had this, I just remembered how remarkably smooth this soup was, fortunately, this time round everything was exactly the same as my first experience. The celeriac added a hint of sweetness to this somewhat naturally sweet soup.
Paired with a buttery warm choux filled with aniseed cream, it soaks up the velouté very well. Be careful with your first bite, the cream has a tendency to rush out.
‘Virgin’ Pacific oyster
I don’t know what “virgin” oysters are, but what I do know is that this oyster is bloody awesome. Despite it’s relatively small size, this sucker packed a punch. The flesh was so sweet and plump, surrounded by the naturally salty brine, indicative of how fresh it was.
Brandade of Spanish salt-cod w/ fennel salsa, herb salad & toasted brioche
I was staring at the dish for a good minute or two before eating, it was amazing.
Gooey quail egg
The best way to describe this dish is that it is art on a plate. As the dish was presented to us, we were instructed by the waiter to dip the brioche into the quail egg and salted cod cream. The combination of all the ingredients and the vibrancy of all the colours was very overwhelming, but in a great way. Firstly, the brioche was warm, buttery and fluffy, just the way a perfect brioche should be. The poached quail egg oozed out yolk with a pinch of the knife, it’s creaminess contrasted the slightly salty cool cod cream. Standing tall and mighty on the side of the plate was a crispy flakey cigarette filled with beautiful creme fraiche.
Pappardelle of biodynamic hens egg with wild French chanterelles, black trompettes and Tasmanian black truffle
This is without a doubt my favourite dish at the restaurant. I was soo impressed with my first experience that I was ecstatic to find it once again on my second experience. What I love about the Chef Paul is his ability to pair different ingredients succesfully, turning such a simple pasta dish to something so exquisite. The aroma of the truffles, chanterelles and trompettes is something which needs to be experienced first hand. In the mean time, you’ll have to take my word for it by looking at the pictures.
Biodynamic egg
Biodynamic egg, I was told by the waiter is an egg derived from organic hen. The entire end to end process is organic, a win-win situation for everyone. The egg is freshly cracked over the dish.
Burnt butter is poured over the dish by the waiter just before serving. The heat from the burnt butter aids in slightly cooking the freshly cracked egg.
Pot-au-feu of organic Burrawong chicken with roast chestnuts, cauliflower and foie gras
The chicken was surprisingly tender for a piece of breast, very tender and moist to be exact. The main attraction of the dish for me was the small parcel of foie gras tucked under the baby carrot. It’s best eaten in one go, the richness of the foie gras was amazing.
Vegetarian alternate dish
Teresa’s version was almost identical, with the chicken replace with generous portions of barramundi.
Seared loin of Cervena venison with bone marrow gnocchi, white asparagus and Café de Paris croquette
I have never tasted such tender succulent pieces of veal. The veal is quickly seared on the outside, retaining all it’s natural juices, with very minimal seasoning, which acts to highlight the sweetness of the steak. A common theme I’ve noticed with Bistro Ortolan is the theory of quality AND quantity, time and time again, this mantra is drilled into the food that’s been presented. As a side to veal were two towers of gnocci made with bone marrow, a crispy croquette filled with burst in your mouth foie gras, perfectly blanched white asparagus and some lightly pan fried mushrooms, all held together by a creamy mushroom and parsnip puree. Each aspect of the dish has a purpose and flavour, nothing is there just for show.
This was the final meal for our resident vegequarian. Teresa is one of those people that loves food, but sometimes cannot finish her meals, so lucky for us, whenever we dine with her, we always get two mains. As to ensure that Teresa wasn’t missing out on the mushroom love, Paul replaced the pieces of veal with a barramundi ravioli cooked al dente, served with some potato and hazelnut mousse gratin. The flavours of the hazelnut mousse paired with the thin slices of potato was so good that all four of us were fighting for the last piece.
Roquefort ‘Le Vieux Berger’ with fresh honeycomb and walnut and fig toast
By this stage, I am so overwhelmed by the remarkable talents of the chefs of Bistro Ortolan that if I was told that there was a problem in the kitchen, so I’d have to miss out on the cheese and desserts, I would be more than happy. Fortunately for me, the kitchen was functioning perfectly, so our cheese course was presented to us, freshly toasted raisin bread with blue vein cheese and honeycomb.
The blue vein was very strong, just the way I like it. This was offset by the honeycomb, a perfect combination of saltiness and sweetness.
Pink grapefruit and Campari sorbet with citrus salad and Yuzu
The dishes so far have been outstanding, but I needed a breather and something fresh to finish off the meal. Fortunately our next dish was a palette cleanser of sorts. Everything though was perfect, the tiny cubes of strawberry marshmallows just melts in the mouth, the sweet/sour lime sorbet complimented it’s citrus counterpart, orange segments, while the dusting of fizzy/salty/fragrant strawberry was enough to blow away the indentations in my stomach from being too full from our previous dishes.
Spice-chai soufflé with rhubarb and custard tart
We as a group of diners absolutely love desserts, we love them so much that at the beginning of the meal, I was tempted to order an extra dessert, the creme brulee to be exact, which I spotted a couple digging in to. Firstly, I had to eliminate a couple of things standing in my way; a luscious strawberry ice cream, which tasted a bit more like frozen yoghurt, a flaky custard tart with stewed rhubarb, and a spectacular spillage of chai souffle. By this stage, my neurological and respiratory system got the better of me, there was no way that I could fit in another microgram of food. I guess I would just have to leave the creme brulee to next time.
Tea, coffee and petits four
Our parting gift for the night were petit fours in the form of apple macarons and truffles. I’m not one to waste food, so I had to muster my stomach for the final act of this evening. I see my hand reaching across the table, grabbing the delights, it was like a slow motion scene, where my eyes were registering what I did and relaying it to my brain. Before the brains could interpret the influx of nuerosignals and thus reason with me, I somehow scoffed the truffle and macaron, leaving nothing but traces of cocoa dusts on my fingers.
Have you ever come across something or been to a particular place which has made such a great impression that you say to yourself, “yep, I’m in the zone, this place rocks.” After my two experiences within the space of less than 2 weeks, I experienced an epiphany. The service was also flawless, a combination of down to earth friendliness yet comfortable enough to know everything from the food to wine inside out.
Bistro Ortolan is “the one.” The restaurant that I will be recommending to all my mates and family when asked for a recommendation, it will be the place that I turn to if I’m looking to impress, if I’m feeling like eating French, it’s my every occassion place. I talked it up didn’t I ? Everyone has different taste buds, but if my taste buds had a checklist, Bistro Ortolan would tick all the boxes.
Bistro Ortolan
134 Marion StLeichhardt NSW 2040Ph: (02) 9568 4610w : http://www.bistroortolan.com.au134 Marion St
Leichhardt NSW 2040
Ph: (02) 9568 4610
w : http://www.bistroortolan.com.auPhotos taken by Minh
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By Howard
We started eatshowandtell in 2008, it was meant to be just a journal of where we ate. The first thing I usually do when I'm looking for a restaurant is check out eatability and the restaurant website. But what is usually missing is pictures of the food, how do I know I'm getting what I expect? This blog hopefully plugs that gap.
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This article was written on 31 Aug 2009, and is filed under Degustation, Dinner, French, Sydney, Inner West.
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Wow, the choux filled with aniseed cream got me going… and then the gold leaf quail egg is simply beautiful! Would you mind a 3rd and bring along a few foodbloggers perhaps?
.-= billy@ATFT´s last blog ..Secret life of Street Food in Malaysia =-.
Oh my, all dishes look very exquisite! I’ve been hearing great reviews about this place + it’s in my area, it’s been on my must-go list. I’ve got to book soooooooon.
.-= Yas´s last blog ..Add some Asia to it – trying to eat sensibly. =-.
we managed to do the degust and 4 additional desserts! lol i think the EST crew need to give up that sweet tooth title to yours truly j/k
wouldn’t rate it as 3 hats though, it just didn’t have the *wow* of marque or est. especially in the desserts department. a deserved 2 hats though.
and A.P.C ftw!
The flavours, presentation and attention to detail look wonderful. And the quail egg with the flowers – *swoon*. Must go there soon!
.-= Belle@OohLook´s last blog ..A dark night at the Riverview Hotel restaurant =-.
Every course looks like a piece of art. They look too good to tuck in.
.-= Ellie@AlmostBourdain´s last blog ..Beef Rendang =-.
Being a local, your non-stop gushing is verrrrrrry tempting, Howie… maybe for my birthday next month
i haven’t heard of this place but looks great. thanks for blogging. great pics!
.-= Simon Food Favourites´s last blog ..MuMu Grill: Lunch Express Menu using my $35 discount voucher, Crows Nest (15 August 2009) =-.
I’ve been meaning to go here for a long time but it’s a bit expensive for me! Good to know that they serve fantastic food – it makes me less reluctant to fork out the money knowing that I’ll get something great in return!
.-= Jacq´s last blog ..Ichi-ban Boshi, The Galeries Victoria =-.
Nice pics and I can’t wait to visit this place when I return to Sydney. One thing though… erm, not sure if in your excitement you got confused, but venison is deer meat. Veal comes from cute calves. Hope that helps
Wow. Just Wow. The photographs are stunning, at $110 I think it is good value for what you are presented with, I’d happily eat sandwiches for a couple of weeks so I could eat here regularly!
.-= Moya´s last blog ..A Tale of Two Dumplings =-.
I went here last year and was similarly amazed by the excellent food, warm service and relative obscurity of this establishment. I thought it was excellent value for the price too and given your winter menu looks so different and tempting to the one I had, it looks like a return visit has to be on the cards for us too.
.-= Forager´s last blog ..Freddy and Faheem’s Fast Food =-.
Everything here does look like art! Yummm must try! I love this D700 action mmm
.-= FFichiban´s last blog ..Rengaya – North Sydney, Sydney (3) =-.
@billy : hey I wouldn’t mind going a third time
@yas : You must go Yas, if the degust is too much go for ala carte but the price ends up being similiar thats why we go for the degust.
@poptart : Yeah I agree, it does miss the “wow” which makes it a 3 hatter but if judging on food alone it is up there. A.P.C ftw indeed, never wearing anything else!
@belle : They sure do, the quail egg dish was too pretty to eat.
@Ellie : I thought so too, lucky the food lived up to it’s looks.
@bubz : Great spot for a bday, ask for an upstairs table I think it’s a bit more intimate.
@SimonFF : Cheers, D700 is a powerful camera
@Jacq : It’s a tad exxy, but you get what you pay for. With mains these days average $30 and desserts not far behind it’s tough to eat cheap!
@Luke : Thanks for the correction, I blame posting at 2am but it’s no excuse
@Moya : It’s great value considering the variety and size of dishes.
@Forager : It’s great the menu varies in seasons, I can’t wait to go back for Spring/Summer
@FFichiban : D700, you know you want it!
Everything looks great. I really must go some time!
.-= Y´s last blog ..You can take the girl out of the ghetto, but you can’t take the gateau out of the girl =-.
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