The restaurant was “atmospheric” (aka dimly lit hehe) and gorgeously decorated – such attention to detail! Even the toilets were pretty nice.

When we were seated and perusing the menu, the manager (I think) came up and showered us with yellow and red rose petals. Weird, but nice.

Rassel el hanout dusted scallops with tomato, avocado, mint and coriander salad

This was really tasty, even though I don’t really like coriander. The scallops were tender and juicy – cooked just right.

b’stilla fassia filo pastry filled with fragrant almond chicken, infused with rose water and cinnamon and served with delicate orange saffron sauce

I didn’t get a chance to take a photo of the whole thing, as our waiter presented the dish, then promptly cut it up for us and placing a section of the morsel on our plates. The colours turned out odd here, but it was more of a golden-y colour, almost bronze-like. Anywho, the flavours were simply divine – they just complemented each other so well! You can really taste the individual flavours when you think of it, especially the rose flavour.

Pan-fried saffron barramundi fillet with spanish green peas mush and chermoula

This had to be one of the best dish I have ever tasted. I’m actually not too partial to fish (unless perhaps when it’s fish and chips), but this was really an amazingly scrumptious dish. Again, the flavours – of the pea mush, chermoula (whatever that is, but Wikipedia says it’s a marinade), spinach, and the barramundi itself – worked so well together. The barramundi was soft and succulent… and boneless!

Roast duck infused in orange blossom jus with zucchini ribbon, asparagus, and date jam

The sauce really made this dish – without it, I think it would have been quite plain and rather average. It was a good thing there was so much sauce, as we mopped it up with pieces of duck (which wasn’t dry and I thought it was well-cooked) and vegetables.

Saffron braised lamb shank tajine with boiled egg, honey, cinnamon, prunes and roasted almonds

While the lamb didn’t taste very “lamb-y”, it was actually quite an average dish compared to what we’ve had – taste-wise anyways. It was cooked so that the meat pretty much fell off the bone and was still rather juicy, but other than that, it didn’t quite wow us.

Hot hariss

This was super hot. While, yes, I admit I’m a total pansy when it comes to chilli (and pepper if I come to think of it), this was hot for even Ruby, who’s pretty much chilli resistant. We each had a piece of the lemon though, which was I think soaked in brine, and I was the unlucky one to get the bit that was resting on the hariss.

Fluffy couscous

This was really fluffy! Went great with the lamb and duck.

Creme brulee with figs something

The figs, as a dessert, I wasn’t too sure about, but the creme brulee was quite nice. Not the best, but above average.

Something panna cotta with pomegranate jelly

This was the second highlight of the meal – it was… wonderfully flavoursome, for lack of better adjectives. The jelly was more gelatinous than we thought it would be, but it went so well with the panna cotta and raspberries (I think it was raspberries) that our surprise was quickly overcome. The creme brulee really paled in comparison to this dessert.

While the food and its presentation was overall excellent and almost flawless in taste, the meal took us a little over three hours. Even though the entrees (the scallops and almond chicken) came out relatively quickly the mains took what felt like forever; it was a good thing we weren’t too hungry. Being a Saturday night though, they were super busy.

While Ruby and I loved it, Myle wasn’t too partial to the rose taste though and unfortunately for her, seemed to be prevalent in the dishes we ordered. She still quite liked it, but I think not as much as us.

Souk in the City
431 Bourke Street
Surry Hills, NSW
Ph: (02) 9357-7577
Web: www.soukinthecity.com

© squishies for eatshowandtell, 2008. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: lamb, poultry, rose, Seafood, Sydney, Surry Hills