In preparation for our European honeymoon, I'm learning French. Here are some of the words I know: "Bonjour!"; "Merci!"; "Mon dieu!"; "Au revoir!"; "Croissant!". Are you impressed yet? I thought so.
Last week, Caliban took me to The Little Snail (the French, if you're wondering, would refer to this as "Le Petit Escargot"...that's just a little something I picked up) in Pyrmont. He'd been before, but I hadn't. I was incredibly excited, as I love French food and I've heard good things about the restaurant. Also, I love escargots.
The restaurant was near empty when we arrived at 7pm, yet the waiter sat us right next to the piano...where the jazz singer was about to set up shop. Not a great sign. We asked to be moved, and the waiter whisked us upstairs. Much better.
We ordered a bottle of chardonnay and our entrees - escargots for me and salmon terrine for Caliban. Less than five minutes later, we had our first dishes. Again, not a great sign. The escargots were lovely - properly buttery and packed with herbs and garlic. My white dress didn't agree so much...so I took to wearing my napkin as a bib after the first splatter of butter hit the silk. Caliban's salmon terrine wasn't as good - slices of smoked salmon forged together with generous smears of cream cheese didn't quite live up to the lofty expectations of salmon terrine.
For our mains, Caliban ordered the seafood plate and I the kangaroo fillet. Again, they were at our table just minutes after we finished our entrees. I really love eating out, and so I want it to be an enjoyable, relaxing, even languid experience. I don't want to feel as though I'm being rushed...but that's exactly what this felt like. We took our time with our main dishes, though. Mine was superb. The kangaroo was served rare (as it should be) with a beautifully soft, flavoursome honey demi-glaze. The sweetness of the honey tempered the gamey bite of the kangaroo. Caliban, unfortunately, got the raw prawn again. Or should I say, the fried prawn. Almost everything on his seafood plate was fried, except the mussels. Quelle disappointment! I'm always puzzled why seafood plates are so often comprised of fried calamari, crab and prawns. Seafood in Australia - in Sydney, no less - is so fresh and tasty that you really don't need to do much to it. It's such a shame to deep-fry such gorgeous produce.
We requested a break between our mains and dessert, but again, our dishes were served within minutes of each other. My fresh, homemade profiteroles were great - beautifully light choux pastry filled with silky custard. Poor Caliban - his "Tasmanian brie with raisin puree and spiced carrot salad" just wasn't any good. And that's being kind. The "brie" was clearly from a supermarket and wasn't served at room temperature. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's cheese served incorrectly. I mean, how hard is it to take the cheese out of the fridge before serving? Sheesh. Feeling bad for poor Caliban, I gave him one of my profiteroles, which he loved.
At over $170 for the two of us, The Little Snail was overpriced and underwhelming. Je ne suis pas impressed.
The Little Snail
50 Murray St, Pyrmont
+61 2 9212 7512
www.thelittlesnail.com.au
Showing posts with label blueberry cheesecake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blueberry cheesecake. Show all posts
Saturday, February 13
Monday, November 30
buppa's bakehouse
Excellent news: our excellent friends, David and Jo, have had a gorgeous baby girl - Little Miss M. Caliban and I have been visiting the new parents at their house (much easier for D&J - babies require a lot of time and energy to move), armed with a variety of brunch goods.
Last week, I read about Buppa's Bakehouse in the SMH. An American bakery in Newtown, it specialises in bagels (boiled, natch), homestyle American pies and cakes, and even stocks Ben & Jerry's icecream (one of the few retailers in Oz to do so...so far!). I couldn't believe our luck. We were due to visit D&J, and as David is Canadian, and Jewish, bagels would be the perfect baked treat to bring. I also know he loves cheesecake, and that Jo is up for pretty much anything sweet and frosted - so I could hardly wait to go nuts at the Bakehouse and buy up big.
Unfortunately, it seems that a lot of people pay attention to Helen Greenwood's SMH reviews. By the time we got there on Saturday afternoon (around 2pm), most of their stock was gone. Faced with scarcity, we took home four plain bagels (blueberry is also normally available), two slices of red velvet cake, a slice of Key Lime pie, and a slice of blueberry cheesecake.
We ate the bagels unadorned - without cream cheese, and untoasted. This was not a great idea. Whether it was the bagels themselves, or the lack of tart cream-cheese-y goodness, I was not impressed. The bagels seemed a little stale, to be honest. Were they yesterday's bagels? Hope not. On the other hand, I hope they weren't indicative of the fresh bagels Buppa's has to offer. Either way, I'm definitely willing to give them another go, but next time, I want dense, chewy bread that's not crumbly and tasteless.
When we're with D&J, we have the greatest idle chats. Babies, Friday Night Lights, books, Christmas, holidays, friends, work troubles and so on...it's guaranteed fab natter. We chat over the sweets. Jo and I are huge fans of the red velvet cake, which features white chocolate frosting (as opposed to the more traditional cream cheese frosting). The mild chocolate flavour of the red velvet definitely wants something richer on top, so the white chocolate pairs well. Like all good American servings, Buppa's piles on the icing thickly. It's exquisite. I only wish we had more.
The Key Lime pie is also fantastic. Unfortunately, it has an almond meal base, which tastes great but means that David, who is allergic to nuts, has to pass. We're only too happy to scoff his portion. The base is similar to that of a cheesecake, and the Key Lime filling is creamy, and properly strong on citrus. Lime is one of my all-time favourite flavours, and I am certainly not disappointed by this pie. The filling is thicker and denser than a cheesecake filling (which tends to be a little fluffier), and the lime flavour would be fab with some raspberries or cream (or both!) on the side. FYI. The blueberry cheesecake, too, is made with almond meal (poor David!) so we have to do the tasting for David. This is more about the texture of the cheesecake than the flavour of the blueberries (rightly so, I reckon: blueberries don't really have enough punch to do the heavy work here). The filling is rich and creamy and yes, slightly fluffier and lighter than its pie cousin. Grins all round.
Buppa's Bakehouse
482 King St, Newtown
www.buppas.com.au (note: website currently under construction)
+61 2 8065 0681
Last week, I read about Buppa's Bakehouse in the SMH. An American bakery in Newtown, it specialises in bagels (boiled, natch), homestyle American pies and cakes, and even stocks Ben & Jerry's icecream (one of the few retailers in Oz to do so...so far!). I couldn't believe our luck. We were due to visit D&J, and as David is Canadian, and Jewish, bagels would be the perfect baked treat to bring. I also know he loves cheesecake, and that Jo is up for pretty much anything sweet and frosted - so I could hardly wait to go nuts at the Bakehouse and buy up big.
Unfortunately, it seems that a lot of people pay attention to Helen Greenwood's SMH reviews. By the time we got there on Saturday afternoon (around 2pm), most of their stock was gone. Faced with scarcity, we took home four plain bagels (blueberry is also normally available), two slices of red velvet cake, a slice of Key Lime pie, and a slice of blueberry cheesecake.
We ate the bagels unadorned - without cream cheese, and untoasted. This was not a great idea. Whether it was the bagels themselves, or the lack of tart cream-cheese-y goodness, I was not impressed. The bagels seemed a little stale, to be honest. Were they yesterday's bagels? Hope not. On the other hand, I hope they weren't indicative of the fresh bagels Buppa's has to offer. Either way, I'm definitely willing to give them another go, but next time, I want dense, chewy bread that's not crumbly and tasteless.
When we're with D&J, we have the greatest idle chats. Babies, Friday Night Lights, books, Christmas, holidays, friends, work troubles and so on...it's guaranteed fab natter. We chat over the sweets. Jo and I are huge fans of the red velvet cake, which features white chocolate frosting (as opposed to the more traditional cream cheese frosting). The mild chocolate flavour of the red velvet definitely wants something richer on top, so the white chocolate pairs well. Like all good American servings, Buppa's piles on the icing thickly. It's exquisite. I only wish we had more.
The Key Lime pie is also fantastic. Unfortunately, it has an almond meal base, which tastes great but means that David, who is allergic to nuts, has to pass. We're only too happy to scoff his portion. The base is similar to that of a cheesecake, and the Key Lime filling is creamy, and properly strong on citrus. Lime is one of my all-time favourite flavours, and I am certainly not disappointed by this pie. The filling is thicker and denser than a cheesecake filling (which tends to be a little fluffier), and the lime flavour would be fab with some raspberries or cream (or both!) on the side. FYI. The blueberry cheesecake, too, is made with almond meal (poor David!) so we have to do the tasting for David. This is more about the texture of the cheesecake than the flavour of the blueberries (rightly so, I reckon: blueberries don't really have enough punch to do the heavy work here). The filling is rich and creamy and yes, slightly fluffier and lighter than its pie cousin. Grins all round.
Buppa's Bakehouse
482 King St, Newtown
www.buppas.com.au (note: website currently under construction)
+61 2 8065 0681
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