Merivale Winter Feast, Bistro CBD, Sydney
squishies
2 September 2009
Dessert, Dinner, Modern Australian, Sydney, CBD
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I thought I wouldn’t be able to post this up before the Merivale Winter Feast ended, but to my pleasant surprise, Merivale has announced that they will be extending the Winter Feast until the end of September due to popular demand. Yay!
So, Gary and I ended up at Bistro CBD simply because it was my turn to choose where we were going eat and I wanted to see what Bistro CBD was like. It also didn’t hurt that Bistro CBD is about a minute away from my work (so lazy, I know! It’s terrible).
For a Wednesday night, the ground floor bar was completely packed out, most if not all of whom were business people. It wasn’t all that fun trying to squeeze past all the tall people too involved in their conversation to move out of the way to get to the spiral staircase tucked away in the far corner. I couldn’t help but survey the room once I got to the stairs and was in slight awe at just how many people there were – it was a sea of dark coloured suits.
Upstairs in Bistro CBD was a completely different story: we were the only people there though a few more people trickled in as the night progressed.
4 freshly shucked Sydney rock oysters
I’m one of those people who don’t like oysters and I’m always slightly sad when I get them at a degustation. Purely because I lack the appreciation to savour it and I just throw it into the back of my throat, hoping I don’t taste or feel anything besides the sauce or stuff on the oyster. Needless to say, Gary chose this dish and he said that while it wasn’t the best oysters he’s had, they were pretty decent. “The extras they had were nice. I’d probably give them a 7-8 out of 10,” added Gary.
Grilled Whiting with Nicoise salad and Tapenade dressing
I’ve never had a nicoise salad or tapenade dressing on any of my salads. Heck, I don’t even know what they are besides remembering a quick mention of nicoise salad in the movie White Chicks. So according to Wikipedia, nicoise salad basically has steamed green beans, tomato wedges, halved boiled new potatoes, canned tuna, and Nicoise olives on a bed of lettuce, and tapenade dressing is just crushed olives, capers and anchovies with olive oil. Interesting.
There wasn’t any lettuce on the plate and I think it might have helped cut through the saltiness from the olives and dressing. The whiting was quite soft and flaky and I liked the different textures happening in the dish, though I’m not sure I’d order it again as olives are a bit hit and miss with me and truthfully, I wasn’t sure whether I liked this dish.
Slow Braised Veal Shank with Potato Gnocchi, Mushrooms and Peas
I was fairly envious when this dish was brought out and placed in front of Gary. I had a little nibble and awesomely, it was as hearty as it looked. Both Gary and I were astounded by how tender and juicy the shank was and for me, the gnocchi, mushrooms and peas were perfect compliments to the veal. However, we both thought the sauce had an overwhelming quality in being too thick and rich – we could only have a bit of it otherwise that was all we would have tasted.
Lamb Scotch Fillet with Caponata, Crisp Polenta and Balsamic Jus
When my dish came out, Gary couldn’t help but exclaim at how “busy” it looked (I think he’s a believer of “simple is best”). The lamb was almost as tender as the veal, but just as succulent. Separately, the components were okay – the crisp polenta was kind of dry actually – but when actually eaten all together… Oh my goodness… The different textures and flavours just played off each other so magnificently. I think that in itself made Gary revised his initial reaction to the dish. It was easily the better of the two mains and definitely more balanced in terms of flavour.
Fromage du jour
Gary ordered the cheese because I had hogged the chocolate and honeycomb cheesecake and he understood my anxious need for him to get something different (bless). I felt bad then that the cheese wasn’t all that great. The mild cheese had a crumbly, almost powder-like texture that we weren’t expecting. With the crackers, the cheese was quite dry – though nibbling on the apple after each mouthful and a bit of conserve help alleviate the dryness. It was a lot different to the cheese I had at Lotus, where the cheese there was fairly bursting with flavour and wasn’t at all dry.
Chocolate and Honeycomb Cheesecake with Yoghurt Sorbet
This dish was our favourite of the night. The chocolate cheesecake was amazing, but with the crunchy texture of the honeycomb and the smooth yoghurt sorbet (that’s reminiscent of frozen yoghurt from Wowcow), the whole thing was an utterly scrumptious party in my mouth. I could easily have had 10 of these. Hehe
Inside Bistro CBD
Bistro CBD was hatted this year and it wasn’t hard to see why: great food paired with polite and attentive wait staff.
Now, whenever I walk past Bistro CBD, I think of that lamb dish and chocolate cheesecake and I wonder if I could spare the time to quickly pop in for a bite.
Bistro CBD
Level 1, 52 King Street
Sydney, NSW 2000
Ph: (02) 8297 7010
Web: http://www.merivale.com/cbd/bistro
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That dessert sounds absolutely fantastic!! I am so sad to be at my computer, not being able to eat it
Anita´s last blog ..Aria Chocolate Tart