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Matthew Evans' review of Darley's at Lillianfels in this weeks Good Living (15/20!) reminded me of our recent and tasty trip to the Blue Mountains.
We stayed at Lillianfels (and didn't eat at Darley's because it was closed) but we had some great meals (Vulcan's, Silks) and an ok but somewhat disappointing one (The Rooster).
Here are some tasty postcards:
Each month the charming space and stunning skills of Randwick's Restaurant Balzac offer up some stunning degustation action. Chef Matthew Kemp constructs a new meal from amuse-bouche to delicious dessert. On our first visit, last month, we were sufficiently impressed (and stuffed) but yesterday's menu really blew us away.
Highlights included: a terrine of tripe, trotters and Calvados with sweetbreads and delicious little pigs ear beignets, Smoked eel and bacon ravioli and boudin of pheasant and foie gras.
But it is hard to play favorites when the rest of the line up included seared swordfish with a rock lobster, fennel and creme fraiche salad (above), creme brule tart with dates and marsala and a cheese course with truffled brie.
Service was snappy and professional but with a warmth that conveyed a real passion for the food and a belief in the restaurants' philosophy of providing "good honest food and good value trying to use the best and freshest produce"
The degustation, served on the last Sunday of the month is $90. It's only $45 more for the wine matching, although you can also BYO if you (like us) enjoy trying to play sommalier.
Restaurant Balzac is at 141 Belmore Rd Randwick
Hi all,
Thanks for the encouragement. It's been way too long.
We've mostly been M.I.A. mostly due to lack of time rather than lack of commitment but we are working out the kinks. We've obviously got a lot to catch you up on and hope to start slinging musings and photos by Monday.
Best regards,
Sean and Michelle
These little nuggets can be a big help if you just don't quite know how to order a meal when you are oot and aboot...
"When you're out to eat with friends and family, it can be challenging to decide what to order off the menu. There are often too many choices on the menu, everything sounds good, nothing sounds good, you're unfamiliar with a particular type of cuisine, you'd like have what that woman over there is having but you don't know what that is, etc. etc.
Luckily, a group of authors has recently released a series of pop science books focused on solving this particular problem"
