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Friday 22 April 2016

FOOD DIARY: Oscillate Wildly

Where: Oscillate Wildly
When: 15 March, 2016
Price: $120pp, 8 courses + snacks

Oscillate Wildly is so unassuming, you could easily walk past it. In fact, when we turned up to the restaurant, one of my friends thought it was closed. I only know about the place because it is right next to Black Star Pastry in Newtown, which often has such a long waiting line that I decided to pass the time reading the Oscillate Wildly menu and thought "dang, I need to go to there."

So I rustled up some friends — degustation newbies, at that — and we had some good food and good times.

Here's what we ate:

Wednesday 20 January 2016

FOOD DIARY: Bennelong

Where: Bennelong
When: 28 November, 2015
Price: 2 course menu $100, 3 course menu $130

I turned 26 in November and to celebrate, my partner treated me to a 3 course lunch at Bennelong restaurant, in the Opera House. He had celebrated his birthday there in August, and spoke highly of the wagyu tartare, and the special birthday cake they bring out if you tell them it's your birthday. Later in the night, we had tickets to Taylor Swift, so it was one of my more ~exciting~ birthdays.

Bennelong is all glass and steel and optical illusions, which made for a gorgeous dining experience as well as a tasty one. The floor-to-ceiling windows looked out onto the harbour and the Opera House steps, which during a Saturday afternoon had a constant stream of people walking up and down them. It was an interesting experience, eating tartare in suits while mere metres away tourists were sweatily climbing steps in t-shirts an shorts. But isn't that what fine dining in Australia is all about?


Smoked Blackmore Wagyu tartare
fermented chilli paste, cultured cream & grains mushrooms, seaweed, egg
Not gonna lie, the dish I was the most excited about. It was crispy and fatty, meaty and salty, the best thing I have put in my mouth ever. I could eat ten of these.
 


You have to really mix it up for maximum deliciousness.

Cocktail / Bread and Butter
I think I got the Botanical Garden, which I swear was a gin cocktail, except that the menu insists it's vodka. Anyway, it was poured in the most elaborate fashion, with a flourish of liquid nitrogen and everything. I loved it.

The bread was adequate.

Snapper fillet 
strawberry clams, purple asparagus, garlic chives, ice plant, garlic blossoms 
While my entree was a no-brainer, I had a much harder time deciding on my main dish. They all seemed great but simultaneously not quite right, and a number of viable choices makes for a world of indecision. This is why I prefer degustations, because there is no need for decision-making, and you get to try everything.

I chose this dish because of the clams, but in hindsight I should have gone with something else. My partner got the suckling pig, which was a much more satisfying choice.

Cos Lettuce salad / Chat Potatoes
The salad looks deceptively boring, but it was actually one of our favourite dishes. Dressed in a cabernet sauce, it was fresh and flavourful. The potatoes were unremarkable, but a nice accompaniment to our meals.

Birthday (Cup)cake
 I was looking forward to a more elaborate cake, but was told that they stopped doing it because it was wasteful. I understand their reasoning, but couldn't they have stopped doing it after my birthday?

That said, this was the best vanilla cupcake I have ever eaten.

Chocolate cake from across the water
This seemed to be the most decadent option on the dessert menu, and it did not disappoint. Eight textures, all chocolate, all delicious.

While we were there, a couple friends were also there for Cured & Cultured, a more casual dining experience that Bennelong offers. It looked amazing - and then GrabYourFork blogged about it, so of course I need to go back to see what a $22 cheese toastie tastes like.

Sunday 10 January 2016