Quay is an Australian restaurant that boasts a top “Three Hat” ranking by the “Good Food Guide” for 10 years consecutively, as well as having won “Best Restaurant” and more recently “Chef of the Year” (Peter Gilmore) down here. None of us had ever been to a “Three Hat” restaurant before, nor have we spent $250~ for a single dinner… Not many would, seeing it as ‘just food’ but for us, ‘life is food’, and so, this was quite an experience for us…
So, after three months of waiting, and quarter of a grand poorer, my sister, my old Food Tech buddy Nick, and another friend Gaby payed a trip to the “26th best restaurant in the world“.
“Just so you are aware, there will be a large cruise ship docked here at the terminal that day which may obstruct the view. It is due to depart at 6.30pm”
This post is more of a photo-dump, my sister has a long ramble over at her blog here. =P
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young almonds, bergamot marmalade,
pomelo, green mango, elder, chamomile
Going for the eight-course seasonal tasting menu, I was delighted to sight the amount of seafood on the degustation.
AS expected, a great starter and combination of light citrus flavours to ‘cook’ the raw shellfish.
Also; flowers.
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fresh palm heart
Never had a congee like this before… Definitely the surprise of the night, and probably one of the stand-outs of the tasting menu.
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hand caught Tasmanian squid,
golden tapioca, lobster velvet
Very nice soft dish that focused on delicate flavours of the various seafood.
Wasn’t all that much lobster sadly…
My sister thought the two holes were cute, and created this ceramic, shell creature. (Eyes look like Android?)
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Cocktails (Clockwise); Gaby’s Aperol Sour, My sister’s Amaretto Sour, Green Tea Squash for me, with water and Gaby’s cocktail in the back, and I love the single star anise in Nick’s “Quay Butterfly”
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shiitake, shaved scallop,
Jerusalem artichoke, juniper, bay
Or “The Pork” as Nick so likes to remember it as… The artichoke was fried to the golden crisp you see above. Kinda like an artichoke chip I guess…
You can visually see each layer; Artichoke, Mushroom, Scallop, Jowl.
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stone ground semolina enriched with Alba truffle butter,
buckwheat, faro, walnuts,
pumpernickel, malt
Quail wasn’t much of a story here, but the combined textures was intriguing to say the least. ‘Funky’ was one way to describe it, with almost a rice-bubble like crunch.
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bitter chocolate black pudding,
oxtail consomme.
Far from the most visually appealing of the tasting menu. This is what a Wagyu should be. Marbled and melt in the mouth texture that makes other ‘Wagyu’ definitely not Wagyu.
Gaby treasures her reason for being.
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A truly amazing dessert.
Words are hard to describe how beautiful this little piece of culinary mastership is, and absolutely lives up to the hype behind it.
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caramel, roasted walnuts, prune, Pedro Ximénez ,
chocolate bark, pulled toffee, vanilla milk skin
Loved the chocolate bark and pulled toffee sticking out of the dessert. Fairly decadent, with the salted caramel walnuts and prune hidden underneath the ice-cream.
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Asked if this was an occasion towards the start, mentioned this was an HSC celebration, and we got a ‘congratulations’ towards the end. ^^ Also, as with most restaurants… It’s hard to achieve good lighting, and for me, photography quite diffucult… Overall, it was an incredible food experience that I’d love anyone who even has a minor appreciation for food to have at some point in their life. |
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