squishies 3 March 2010 Degustation, Dessert, French, Sydney, CBD 24 Comments  Print This Post  Email This Post

As you may recall in my previous post, F was super bored and picked out 3 restaurants to visit so as to make full use of my Entertainment Card. This was the second restaurant on his list.

We were given what seemed to be A3-sized menus (they were huge!) and spent some time trying to decide which set to order. There was the Fine Gueule 3-course set for $120 where you get to select each course from quite a few dishes, or there was the Fin Bec 7-course degustation set for $135… or the Fine Bouche 10-course degustation set for $165. We thought the Fin Bec degustation would be enough to showcase what Bilson’s have to offer (and would be more financially sensible), but we couldn’t resist the extra dishes in the Fine Bouche degustation. Well, to be honest, I think the fact scallops featured in the set kind of cinched it for us. We’re so terrible.

Amuse Bouche - Blue Swimmer Crab, Grape, Verjus Jelly, Almond Cream

For a dish so small, it sure does pack a punch in flavours while being really refreshing and light. The blue swimmer crab was so utterly creamy, brightened by the perfect dose of kaffir lime and verjus, which we learnt is a condiment made from semi-ripe, unfermented wine grapes. The almond cream wasn’t at all nutty but quite creamy and very smooth.

I just realised that the angle I took the dish at you can’t really see the crab, sorry about that. My bad.

Freshwater Crayfish Remoulade with Caviar Dressing and Yuzu Meringue

The remoulade was layered with green apple (sliced and julienned), yabby, prawns and topped with I think what was a grape jelly. On the other side of the dish, there was an amazingly fine avocado puree with a yuzu meringue that literally sparkled on the tongue. We both adored this dish as it was just as refreshing and light as the amuse bouche. We thought it was so very well balanced with the green apple giving the seafood the lightest touch of acidity, the avocado puree rounding the flavours with its creaminess and the meringue simply made each mouthful even more brighter.

Tartar of Abalone and Black Angus, Beetroot Carpaccio and Horseradish Ice Cream

I find this dish kind of hard to describe, but I will try. Again, this dish was very well balanced, if a little heavier than the first two dishes (but that is to be expected as we progress through the degustation). We found the tartar to be really fresh and for a meat dish, it was very, very delicate. The tartar was topped (though underneath the ice cream) with roasted puff grains which added a nice crunchy texture to the dish. The horseradish ice cream added a nice kick to the overall flavours, where the sharpness of the horseradish was blunted a bit by the cream.

Roasted Scallops with a Leek and Mango Fondue, Champagne Beurre Blanc

I think you all know by now that both F and I have a terrible weakness for scallops and that we have a high standard (or preference if you will) of how seared scallops should be set by Selah. Now, I know that these are roasted scallops, but they are scallops nonetheless…. and they were so freaking awesome. With one bite, we established that Selah may have another contender, but by the time we were done, we thought Bilson’s were better. It was kind of exciting – a record that had stood for a little over a year was broken. Kind of like the Olympics but not as important to anyone else but us… hehe. These scallops were perfection in every way possible: it was perfectly seasoned, roasted in such a way that it retained its sweet, plump succulence consistently and scrumptiously tender.

The presumably deep-fried chiffonade filo pastry added a welcoming crispy texture to the dish, where its delicateness seem to reflect the delicate flavours of the dish. The mango component of the dish added a sweet-sour flavour while the Champagne beurre blanc added a very slight bitterness to the dish that tempered the sweetness of the dish.

Hiramasa Kingfish with Braised Octopus, Cauliflower and Black Olives

The kingfish was perfectly cooked, perfectly seasoned and had a delicately crispy skin while the braised octopus was incredibly soft and juicy, hardly chewy at all. The sweet red capsicum and green and black olive bed was dressed with a balsamic and olive oil vinaigrette, which added a lovely acidity to the overall flavours. F was in complete and utter awe of the cauliflower puree. I was too actually. It was astoundingly smooth, creamy and light – like whipped butter kind of light.

When all the components were combined, with an added crunchy texture from the brioche, it was really a mouthful of wonderment as the flavours and textures played off each other and was able to somehow bring each flavour to the foreground.

Roasted Partridge in Foie Gras 'Salmis'

The partridge was simply oven-roasted with thyme and some other herbs that we kind of don’t remember. It was sauced in a reduction of partridge carcass, kidney and liver stock, which was wonderfully rich and had such depth.

A sweet fig stuffed with foie gras mousse was a beautiful accompaniment to the partridge, though F wished he had more foie gras mousse stuffed into his fig. While we have been in agreement with all of the dishes so far, we diverged on the pine nut and rocket puree. I thought it was okay but slightly too bitter for me, while F loved it whole-heartedly and advised that I should eat it with the partridge to take the edge off the bitterness. Surprisingly, he was right – it did take the edge off the bitterness but still rather punchy in flavour.

One of our waitstaff discreetly paused at our table while we were eating and told us that while they’re not one to tell their customers how to eat their meals, this particular dish would be best eaten with our fingers as the bones are quite small and would be difficult to slice the meat off.

Dry Aged Black Angus Striploin Facon 'Nicoise'

The 200-day, grain-fed black Angus was wonderfully tender and succulent. F complained a little bit that his was a bit chewy and I agreed that while it was a touch chewy around the outside, we were cutting it with a butter knife so that’s got to say something about how soft it actually is. He was quiet for a moment before laughingly agreeing with my point.

The potato and white onion boulangere was cooked in I think black Angus stock. It was so soft yet firm enough not to have a too mushy texture. The white onion added a touch of sweetness to the stack but the best part of the boulangere was that it had bits of meat floating around between the layers. Yum. The caramelised onion puree did not buck the creamy and velvety smooth puree we’ve been experiencing and was not overly sweet. Both were wonderful accompaniments to the Angus.

The white anchovy with olive oil dressing balanced out the heavy flavours with its bright, slightly salty flavour.

Petit Sucre - Basil Ice Cream, Butter Crumbs, Carrot Rose

I must admit that the basil ice cream was a bit weird for me, but I did quite enjoy it. F, on the other hand, revelled in its herby flavour. We also had a bit of a debate over the carrot rose, where I thought it was carrot having something to do with rose water or the like and F was certain that it tasted more of ginger. We never got that sorted, but I’m sure I’m right… right?

The Raspberry and the Rose

There is always one dish that reminds F of why certain establishments earns three hats. For F, it was this dish. He thought it had every element of the perfect dish: it was visually orgasmic, mind-blowingly creative and most importantly salivatingly delicious. For me, this was the best dessert I’ve ever had – even better than the Bananarama from Universal.

The rose water jelly with raspberry, topped with a gold leaf, was one of the components of this dessert that made an impression on me. Besides being utterly cute, it was rather cool to see a whole raspberry encased in rose water jelly – one does not really see that as often as one should. The jelly was sweet and lightly flavoured, while the raspberry inside was bursting in flavour that may seem to overwhelm the jelly but rather somehow melded together really nicely. Next to it was a rose water cream that was light and fluffy and delightful to eat. Underneath it all, lies the raspberry gelee that had a bit of a stronger raspberry flavour with its sweet-sour tang.

The raspberry macaron was paired with rose water cream and the flavours, while delicately fragile as its physical aspect, was quite scrumptiously pervasive. There was some confusion whether the vanilla bean stick was edible. I actually had a portion of it in my mouth (without biting down) before deciding that it might be best to leave it alone. Despite me telling him that it’s most probably a decorative piece, F decided to try it too and quickly came to the same conclusion as I did.

Next was the raspberry sorbet, which had a similar sweet-sour tang as the gelee, but not as strong. The raspberry sponge was so fluffy that it could almost be mistaken for fairy floss and the raspberry dust contained such an incredibly intense, sweet-sour raspberry flavour. In topping it all off, a raspberry reduction was used as garnish on the plate.

I know I’ve gone on and on about this dessert, but it was just simply amazing with so many components to it that worked so harmoniously together that I can’t help it.

Autour du Chocolat

I loved the slice of dark chocolate mousse sitting on top of a bed of hazelnut praline based shortbread, as the mousse was incredibly airy while in contrast, the base was lightly crunchy and creamy. The white chocolate ice cream on top of all that wasn’t at all overly sweet but it was enough to bring a sweet element to an otherwise slightly bitter dark chocolate component. The dark chocolate brittle brought an extra crunch to the dessert and it wasn’t as bitter as I’d thought it would be – it was the dark chocolate smears that were actually quite bitter but was, again, balanced out by the delicate sweetness of the white chocolate ice cream.

The dark chocolate sorbet was reminiscent of the dark chocolate sorbet we had at Oscillate Wildly. I noticed it wasn’t as “dry” as Oscillate’s, but it still had that “dry” component. I loved it though, especially when eaten with the white chocolate ice cream sitting on the opposite side of the plate – the difference between flavours really made each flavour stand out. The chocolate meringue was delicious and its crunchy texture provided a nice contrast to the soft ice cream and sorbet.

F thought the chocolate jelly was the weak point of the dish, but I really enjoyed it: I love jelly and I love chocolate, so it was a win in my books.

Petit Fours - Chocolate Praline with Dark Chocolate Dust, Green Apple/Pear Macaron

Lately, F has been ordering chamomile tea to have with our petit fours and I always take the chance to tease him that it’s an “old woman’s tea”. This dinner was no different and he retorted that Earl Grey tea was just as much as an “old woman’s tea” as chamomile. I think not. Either way, the teas we had with the petit fours was a very lovely ending to our amazing dinner.

The chocolate praline cube covered in dark chocolate dust, which I think was pretty similar to the base of the chocolate mousse as it had that light crunchy texture, wasn’t overly chocolate-y and was sadly gone in one mouthful. We couldn’t determine whether the macaron was green apple or pear, or perhaps it was a combination of both, but whatever it was, it was scrumptiously sweet and I wished I could take some home with me… or ask Linda to recreate it for me muhahaha.

Our awesome waitstaff

From beginning to end, our waitstaff were incredibly wonderful. They were so helpful in re-telling us what our dishes were, sometimes adding in how it was made, and were so naturally friendly. F had a little notebook out on the table to jot down details of the dish we might forget (which we do too frequently) and one of our waitstaff teased us gently about our dinner being an interview. He’d ask F how I was doing so far in the interview and at the end of the dinner asked whether I got the job.

F noticed that there was no salt and pepper at the table and I think it speaks of the confidence they have in their food to be perfectly seasoned to everyone’s taste, which I think is a very hard task indeed. On the other hand, I noticed the heavy and thick damask tablecloth they used and it reminded me of something a friend’s mother said to him, “If there’s tablecloth on the table, the restaurant is too expensive.” I suppose there is some truth in that, considering how much it’d cost to eradicate that oil stain I accidentally dripped on such fabric. Eep.

In reviewing the dinner, I realised something: I am so spoilt and incredibly lucky – I had the most spectacular dinner I’ve ever had, complete with amazing service. Seriously, after having The Raspberry and The Rose dessert, I think I can die happy. It was truly an outstanding dinner experience.

Bilson’s Restaurant
Radisson Plaza Hotel Sydney
27 O’Connell Street
Sydney, NSW, 2000
Ph: (02) 8214 0496
Web: http://www.bilsons.com.au/