Chefz Table

One of the most fabulous dining experiences that my bf and I've had in recent times have been something a little different and unique to Perth's fine dining scene. In fact, it was this concept that have intrigued both of us, and one we were willing to splash on (we are both trying to save for a massive USA/Canada holiday, that we have been rather conservative with our dining out recently) and hey it was our anniversary. It's a small restaurant on the east side of Perth city on Adelaide terrace (in a quieter part of the city), outside the Fairlanes Apartments corner of Bennett street, sits a very unconventional restaurant with grammatical errors of all sorts, Chefz Table.

So what is different about Chefz table... Well it allows you to "design" your own degustation menu (5 courses) with the chefs at the restaurant. I don't mean completely from scratch, otherwise what is the point of even going to a restaurant right? But more telling them what your likes and dislikes are, and what you would like to see on your personal degustation menu. The two of us had similar tastes in food so made it easier for them, but of course if you and your partner have totally different tastes it's not a big deal they will try their hardest to accommodate and have all the produce you want into one of your courses. There is a little point of note, if it is season it will be done, if it isn't, well they will try their best (but then why would you want the produce that is out of season anyway? it never tastes as good..) Of course, if you don't want degustation style Chefz Table there is always their a le carte menu options. For more information on the Chefz table check it out here.

So what did we tell them? we love our mushrooms and root vegetables such as potatoes, pumpkins and the likes, I love duck and wanted to have venison for a change, while the boy wanted his pork and red meats like steak and we both wanted seafood. The boy wanted chocolate decedent dessert while I wanted a good souffle (you don't see much souffle on the menus these days, apart from at Bistro Guillaume). After emailing our lists of request through to them (the list above is a summarised version of what we told them) we were left with a "we will be accommodating your request to the best of our abilities, some of your request are out of season.. and the menu is a surprise". How exciting - a menu that is sure to be uniquely ours and no one else's, 100% personalised experience.

On the night we were running half an hour late (a courtesy call was made to the restaurant to apologize for our disorganisation) due to the lack of car parking around the area, (bare this in mind, when you go, there is only street parking - which is free after 6pm, prepare to walk to the restaurant). When we arrived the restaurant was rather modern in style with lovely timber tables a little peek-a-boo view of the swan river front, jazz covers of rock and roll playing in the background (which I loved! - the waitress even gave me the name of the artist that did the covers) and modern artwork on the walls.

We started of the night with a glass of scotch for the boy and a glass of red for me from their rather extensive wine and cocktail list (they are also happy to make whatever cocktails you would like, that is not on the menu, as long as you tell them the ingredients). 

Fresh bread was then placed on our table. We later discovered the bread really is made fresh on the night as there is a pastry chef on hand to help with the bread making and the desserts for the evening. The bread was really lovely, warm, fluffy, yummy bread with great salted butter to go with. I also know it was made on the night as when we wanted extra bread, the waitstaff apologised for the delay as the bread was still in the oven! And when it came out and you cut the bread the steam from the bun and the aroma was just heavenly. Don't you just love the smell of fresh bread?? (OK LIKE I'm A BIG FAN OF AMAZING pastry and bread/carbs OK! - No judging..)

Our first course for the night was the amuse bouche, which was a duck terrine with cranberry sauce. The terrine was rather fatty and you can taste the fat through it which made me not a fan of this amuse bouche. But lucky for us the first course was NOT an indication of what was to come, because everything that came after was uphill in food and taste experience.

Course 1: Duck Terrine
(Request one accomplished: DUCK) 

Our second course for the evening was completely different from any dishes, or flavours we have ever experienced before. It was a chef's experimentation and knowledge of good produce and flavours that made a dish that was completely made of tomatoes and trout amazing. It was sweet, slightly sour, crunchy of the tomatoes, and the tomato foam - wow punch in flavour... and the trout was melt in your mouth creamy. If this was on a menu, it was something one would never dream of trying, but when you do it was mind boggling to say the least with regards to how well everything went together and the explosion of sweet, sour and almost creamy goodness. It was the perfect introduction to the rest of the menu.

Course 2: Requesting seafood with in season tomatoes

(REQUEST ACCOMPLISHED: Tomatoes and Seafood) 

Course 3: Pork croquette with seafood galore (manjimup marron, chargrilled scallops, prawns), silverbeet and turnip chips

(REQUEST ACCOMPLISHED: SEAFOOD AND PORK) 

The third course was seafood galore. Fresh marron, scallops, prawns. All perfectly cooked, succulent with smokey flavours through it. The pork croquette was crunchy, meaty and went will with the silverbeet. A change of flavours and a heavier palate to the last course, but the courses complimented each other well. 

By this stage we were very excited for our mains and were really glad to have a bit of a break as our bellies were starting to be full as each course was rather big in portions for degustation menu (and not complaining about it at all!). 

The mains that came out was slightly different for the two of us. But nonetheless they were both very hearty and winter appropriate mains. Warms the bellies warms the heart right? Not the most photogenic of dishes but one does not care about looks when the food is so delicious and hearty. 

Main course for me: Venison, mushroom, sour cabbage and green beans

(REQUEST ACCOMPLISHED: Venison, Mushroom)

I ended up with the venison, mushroom with sour cabbage and green beans. It was the perfect winter dish. The venison was cooked to perfection, the perfect pink, slight meaty texture was juicy and yet as tender as venison can be. The mushroom was rich, creamy, earthy in flavours which was offset by the fresh and lightness of the green beans and the sour cabbage. It was also a very big main course and one I was surprised I managed to finished. 

Bf's main course consisted of beef fillet with mushroom, tapioca thing and green beans. The beef fillet was perfectly pink, tender and juicy. Another warm hearty winter's meal. He loved it, all except for the tapioca, which he thought didn't go well with the other components in the dish. But it did give it a interesting texture and dimension to the meal. 

Main course: Beef, mushroom, green beans and tapioca

(REQUEST ACCOMPLISHED: Beef and mushroom)

We were full by the end of the main, and even the waitstaff was surprised that we managed to finish a very big main course. We were able to hold off the dessert and the palate cleanser for a while and discuss our dining experience so far. We were impressed with the service, the food has been impeccable in quality, flavours and textures. They have got all that we wanted in at least one of the courses and suffice to say we were impressed with the creativity and experimentation of the food (and the fact that they pulled it off as well!). It was going so good so far. 

The palate cleanser was the next thing to come. It was a decent size scoop of apple and rosemary sorbet. It was refreshing and did the job to cleanse the rich earthy flavours of the mushrooms both of us consumed in the last course. The rosemary was also rather prominent in the sorbet. 

Palate cleanser: Apple and rosemary sorbet

Chocolate haven

(Request Accomplished: Chocolate and Souffle)

The final course for the evening was an extravagant, decadent, rich dessert consisting of dark chocolate

souffle mousse, orange and dark chocolate mud cake with white chocolate and orange sauce and edible flowers. It was exactly what my bf loves. And something I wasn't so keen on, because it was just too rich for my tastebuds (I've always enjoyed something not so sweet and overindulgent, with a little bit of citrus/tangy in flavours). Nonetheless, I cannot fault the dessert. It was exquiste. I'm glad there was a hint of orange throughout it as it somewhat eased the richness of the whole thing. 

Oozing chocolate sauce in our souffle mousse

By this stage we were truly stuffed. I wasn't able to finish the dessert plate off. But it wasn't over yet because we were treated to our petite four, which had the lovely dark chocolate sauce happy anniversary on the top. With a cube of cranberry jubes and dark chocolate truffle. The jubes was exactly what I needed to cleanse the over indulgent rich dessert and the truffle was a creamy dark chocolate concoction.

It was a lovely meal and at $110 per person for a self-made degustation menu with top notch quality produce, dishes and service it was truly competitive to the likes of Amuse, Jacksons and Co-Op. To make it even sweeter for those who cringe at $110, it's in the entertainment book!

Our experience however, didn't end there, we were greeted by the one of the chefs who had a quick chat with us and the tables that did requested the Chefz table degustation menu. The one burning question I had to ask him was "how does the kitchen cope when every table is a chef's table menu?". The reply was "it's chaotic and very busy". I can only imagine.

I'm just really excited that a venue like this exists in Perth. It's not just the concept that is exciting and new, but the skills behind making an impressive menu that is personalised is incredible. The flavours, the ambience, the service is all top notch. I can't wait to come back. Perhaps next time I will try their a le carte menu that's on offer. I highly recommend that you give this place a try for a special event and give the Chefz table degustation menu a spin you won't regret it.

Wild Duck

Hampden road has numerous cafes, deli, boutiques and quick, yummy, Japanese and Chinese take-aways catering for the university students, office workers and of course the health professionals at the two nearby hospitals. Amongst all the quick food fixes, cafes, healthy options, deli and boutique stores sits a fine dining restaurant relocated all the way from Albany - Wild Duck.

The restaurant opened in south west Albany  and have won many awards including RCAA restaurant of the year, A Star in Gourmet Traveller and was part of the Good Food Guide 2011. The restaurant relocated to Perth, Nedlands in 2012 and was recommended warmly by fellow blogger Sandra of Perth Food Engineers, so I was very much wanting to try it.

I finally found a time early this month, and headed there with a few friends, who were very much foodies. We were given a seat by the window in the corner, which gave us the perfect view of the restaurant. The decor is rather somber  dark, traditional with wooden everywhere and everything. It was spacious and yet had warmth through it.

Interiors of Wild Duck - we were so early for dinner so there was no one else there except us, but not long after the place started to fill.

We were there on a Friday night, which allowed us a choice of A la carte or degustation. I was adamant before we got there that I would don't want the degustation menu, simply because I don't have the funds for it. However, upon seeing the degustation menu and the a la carte menu and the prices of both, I was swayed into having the degustation. Six course meal at $105 (and $155 with matching wines - which we didn't get because we were all driving/had work the next day) was comparable to other places in Perth and was more than reasonable, especially if I were to have a 3 course meal, it would be close to $105 anyway, so might as well go for the taste tester and see why this restaurant has won so many awards in the past.

We started off the evening with amuse bouche of chicken parfait with carmelised onion, came out in friendly bite sized form on Chinese spoon soup. The chicken parfait was silky, smooth and had that slight creamy texture, and for the first time ever, I felt as though it needed a sprinkle of salt for flavour. Although the carmelised onion that give it that sweet kick, there wasn't enough of it to off-set what was a slightly bland chicken parfait.

Amuse Bouche - Chicken Parfait 

The first real course of the evening, was a lovely flavoursome espresso cup full of smoked seafood chowder shot with scallop and king prawn. The scallop and king prawn was perfectly cooked and the flavours of the chowder was delicious, creamy, seafood goodness. I love how it came out in a glass bowl and when opened let out this wonderful smokey seafood smells. Pity I didn't manage the capture it on photo - I was too busy going Ooooo and aaahhh.. It leaves you wanting more.

Smoked seafood chowder shot with scallop and king prawn

The next dish was the beautiful mushroom ravioli - wild mushrooms, goats cheese, asparagus foam, truffled mushroom sauce and micro herbs. The ravioli was pasta perfection and the flavours of the goat cheese with the earthy flavours of mushroom works so well. The asparagus form was so light and delicious, I was attempting to scope every last bit off the plate. Lovely pasta dish.

Mushroom ravioli with goat cheese, truffled mushroom sauce, asparagus foam and micro herbs

The next dish of the evening was fish - I'm really not sure what fish - I can't remember (?trout or barrumandi - I don't believe we were told)  with fennel puree, caramalised leek, snow peas and seared scallop. The fennel puree and caramlised leek was delicious and the fish was cooked to perfection, moist and soft still, as was the scallop. However, I wasn't wowed by it.

Fish of the day*(I'm not sure if we were told because I can't remember and it was noted down on my inote!) with fennel puree, leek, snow peas and scallop

Then there was a bit of wait, in fact a long wait before the next course came out. It was some what nice because it gave us a chance to talk and catch up, however, the boys were a little hungry half way through it. We were all waiting for the 16 hour slow cooked pork belly, but I'm pretty sure what came out was the beef cheek. I queried the waitstaff to ask what I was eating and she wasn't sure and asked if I wanted to see the menu. Hmm.. wasn't impressed with that. 

Beef duo - braised cheek and sous vide fillet with persian feta mash, baby veg and red wine jus

The degustation menu we profuse over at the start of the evenings stated we were getting 16 hour slow cooked pork belly, but what came out was the beef duo. The fillet was lovely, the cheek could have been more tender, it just didn't melt in your mouth and there was  lack of red wine jus making the dish slightly flat.

After the beef dish was the palate cleanser - passionfruit sorbet. It was refreshing and tangy, readying us for the dessert. 

Passionfruit Sorbet palate cleanser

Orange and chocolate - the classic combination, so it should be great right? But the white chocolate ice cream came out melting all over my plate (clearly either been out too long or the freezer isn't working well or it just hasn't set properly at all), the chocolate delice was rich dark chocolate which was beautiful and decadent, it went perfectly with the orange jelly and the orange sherbet gave it that nice tangy kick to try to balance out the richness and sweetness. However, it was a little bit of a let down and nothing spectacular at all.

Chocolate and orange - chocolate delice, orange jelly, orange air, white chocolate ice cream and orange sherbet

Looking back at the photos, and reflecting on the restaurant I feel as though we were missing a course. I believe we are missing the duck course and to state on the menu that they were serving us pork belly and clearly we did not get that - with no explanation seems rather unacceptable. At any restaurant, we should be told, especially so at a fine dining one, when certain ingredients on the menu have not available and what is being substituted

What got me even more was that there was absolutely NO explanation of the menu, or of the dishes that were served to us. Nor was the degustation menu (a small version) left on our table - the menus were taken away - which was fair enough - but to have no explanation of what or reminder of what we were eating, and in fact there just a smart arse reply of "Do you want the menu for referral" - I really should have said yes, because then I would have realized that we were not given one of the courses. The service really wasn't warm or welcoming. 

It's such a pity because it has so much potential. Each dish was lovely, traditionally cooked, lots of foam and micro herbs used. As one of the boys said "we were eating air all night.." - so much foam, which I personally have no problems over, but I can see where they are coming from.  "nothing was wow.. it was a little boring" - it really was - nothing wow, nothing spectacular - except perhaps the seafood chowder and the rivaoli - after that it was all a bit of a blur and nothing too much to drool about. I'm sure in the past the food would have been amazing, but currently, with so many restaurant options in Perth and palates appreciating the finer things, Wild Duck needs to do something spectacularly with their traditional methods of cooking (don't get me wrong - traditional methods are sometimes the best!). 

Will I go back? Perhaps, if their service skills improve - they really need to make us feel like we are welcomed and to at least explain to us what we are served if we are to have the degustation. That is part of the whole degustation dining experience, it is in fact part of the fine dining experience.  

No. 4 Blake Street Restaurant full of surprises

I was kindly invited by Tom Randolph (owner of Tom's Kitchen) and his team to visit their restaurant No. 4 Blake street, which I remember seeing somewhere a few weeks before the email landed in my inbox. Nonetheless, when I got the invite I was rather excited to check out the new place, especially when it was to be a theatrical experience. And I love a bit of a show especially when there are fine foods on display.

Tom Randolph (Owner and Head Chef of No. 4 Blake Street)

No.4 Blake street restaurant is literally where the restaurant is, at No.4 on Blake street in North Perth. The name is not exactly creative, but then it makes you guessing as to what type of dishes you'll be served. Simple black and white decor with exposed lighting with red velvet curtains (where the kitchen lies) greets your eyes as you enter. Although, the second room there is a large collection of wine on display. You would also notice that the tables are laid bare, no cutlery of any sorts at all. This is so that the artists (the chefs) can prepare your meals and serve it on a clean canvas. The cutlery will be served to you as needed throughout the night. No fuss dining at a fine dining establishment. Interesting concept and one which I like.

The blank canvas that is the table

Bf and I were warmly greeted by Majdouline and Romain and we took a seat next to the Miss SM and Miss Anise of Perth Food Engineers and Michelle from Foodie Cravings along with others from the Perth blogging scene. It was nice to see them all and to catch up. We were poured some sparkling, photos were taken, including from the photographer from the Sunday Times (we ended up in the STM social pages) before Tom came out of the kitchen to introduce himself to us. A very warm, friendly guy with a lovely smile. He presented us the philosophy behind the restaurant - a typical dinner but with elements of surprise in the form of the Al Dente and the Palate Cleanser. Tom stated that, the restaurant is an opportunity for him and his partner in crime in the kitchen to be creative with fresh produce and ingredients from around the state. A bit of a show where fine foods are the final products by the actors (chefs).

Tom Randolph

Bf and I in STM confidential with a photo of owner Tom and waitress Majdouline on the right.

We started of the evening with some bread - olive or white sourdough. I tried both. To complement the homemade bread we had three freshly made butter - Olive, Pedro Ximenz and Orange. Out of the three butters the pedro was probably the best, but all three had lovely flavours and taste, with the orange butter, being well, very orangy and I wasn't so sure about it being in butter form.

Trio of butter - L to R - Olive, Pedro Ximenz and Orange

We were served with two wines chosen by Romain for the evening. The Rockford, Semillon 2002, Barossa Valley and D'Arenburg, Shiraz Viognier 2004, McLaren Vale. Being a lover of red I settled for the red for the evening, which ended up going beautifully with all the dishes I was served. BUT before I started on the red I had a taste of the white, and I must say it was a beautiful refreshing white wine that I probably could drink.

Romain the in house sommelier

The amuse bouche was a platter containg little shimeji, porcini foam, mushroom glass, sweet corn pannacotta and truffled popcorn. The combinations of flavours and textures on the plate was so well executed. Meshed so well together - the sweetness of the pannacotta, the saltiness and crunchy texture of the popcorn and the bite of the mushroom was just divine. It got our mouths watering and eager for the rest to come out.

Amuse Bouche - shimeji, porcini foam, mushroom glass, sweet corn pannacotta and truffled popcorn

For entrée, we were served on alternate seatings with bf getting the goat's cheese gnocchi, aromatic oils, baby herbs, borage blossom in tomato water. This flavours of the tomato 'soup'/water was just amazing and I was very lucky to have had the chance to try it. The gnocchi was also amazingly soft and had a nice punch to it (as goat's cheese do..) but with the tomato (the juices squeezed out for 12-16 hours!) herb aromatic oil infused water it was divine. A dish that caused a buzz amongst all the bloggers in the room.

Entree choice 1: Gnocchi, aromatic oils, baby herbs, borage blossom in tomato water

The rabbit parfait, belly presse, loin and kidney terrine with pomegranate jelly was the other entree and one which I had. The rabbit parfait was amazing. It was the best parfait I've had in a long time. Silky, smooth and full of flavour. The belly presse was a little salty for me, but then I have a low tolerance of salt. I just wished that they gave us more of the pomegranate jelly, it went so beautifully with all the elements of the dish.

Entree choice 2: Rabbit parfait, belly presse, loin and kidney terrine with pomegranate jelly

The next course for the evening was the Al dente - an surprise pasta course which changes each day. We were however served a tortellini with sweetbreads with a champagne cream sauce and orange zest. I really thoroughly enjoyed this dish and really wished there was more of it. The pasta was fresh and made in-house and the sweetbreads in the pasta is a little something different but amazing.

Al Dente: Tortellini with sweetbreads with a champagne cream sauce and orange zest

Mains came not too long after, with 3 varieties of mains on our table due to Miss SM's of PFE dietary requirements. I was more than happy about that, it meant more displays of No.4's dishes and Miss SM was kind enough to give a taste of her seared duck breast! Bf and I ended up with same dish of glazed pork, white eggplant caviar, mustard, cassis, eggplant crips as he wasn't a fan of fish or seafood and wanted the pork so swapped with Miss Anise of PFE, who couldn't eat the pork dish due to her dietary requirements. So after a bit of playing musical plates we were settled in to eat our mains.

The glazed pork, white eggplant caviar, mustard, cassis and eggplant crips, was well seasoned, beautiful combination of flavours, although bf would have preferred something with crackling on it (but then he's a little obsessed with pork belly and pork crackling!).

Main 1: Glazed pork, white eggplant caviar, mustard, cassis and eggplant crips

The barely cooked ocean trout was a winner on the table, with those who had it singing its praises. With how silky and melt-in-your-mouth moment the trout was and the squid ink cracker was that little something special.

Barely cooked trout, squid ink crisps and cuttlefish

Miss SM of PFE gave me a little tasting of her druck breast. It was cooked so beautifully, so tender and well seasoned, a little on the salty side for me, but with the plum sauce it cut through the salt and was the perfect partner to the duck.

Duck Breast

Then the second surprise dish of the day - the palate cleanser. We had tropical flavours presented on our plates with coconut sorbet with a sesame base, popping candy, sago and pineapple granita. This dish was well loved by everyone at the table. I was so excited about the popping candy and the textures and flavours of this dish was well matched and so refreshing, the perfect cleanser for my palate before the dessert.

Palate Cleanser: Coconut sorbet, sesame base, popping candy, sago and pineapple granita

The desserts caused a stir to our table, alternate seating of chocolate pot garden and textures of passionfruit. Although before was rather upset and disappointed (and still is) that he couldn't eat chocolate garden (still whinging about it!).

So I must say that bf although whinging that he got the passionfruit dessert (which really isn't his style and more mine sort of styled dessert) - white basil ganache, mango, salted sesame and coconut sago, he polished the plate before I could try it. But from what was said around the table it was refreshing.

Dessert 2: Textures of passionfruit - basil ganache, mango, salted sesame and coconut sago 

(the presentation is oddly similar to that of the palate cleanser)

The cherry chocolate garden pot - valhrona chocolate mousse, salted peanut, dacquoise, cherry and macadamia nuts. It really looked like a garden pot, as it was presented in a ceramic pot (no idea who they would wash that!) with the micro herbs being the flowers. Cutest presentation ever! Love it! The dark chocolate was divine and with the crunch of the nuts provided that additional texture. It was beautiful if not slightly rich for me at the end, but if boy were to have it he would have adore it. Pity it had nuts in it, otherwise he could have shared.

Dessert 2: Cherry Chocolate garden pot - Valhrona chocolate mousse, salted peanut, dacquoise, cherry and macadamia nuts

The evening was very enjoyable and hosts Romain and Majdouline certainly made us feel welcomed and were very friendly. Our thanks to the chef and owner Tom and everyone involved for the beautiful evening at No. 4. I can't wait to take my girlfriends there for a nice night out or even for the high tea (it sounds exquisite!).

No. 4 Blake street really was a special experience with many pleasant texture and flavour surprises which worked beautifully. It's priced decently as well for a 6 course meal at $90. They also do breakfast, lunch and high tea (an exciting and a different sort of high tea menu!). No. 4 Blake street is worth checking out with that special someones.

Birthday Pampering at the Loose Box

For my birthday a month ago bf and I booked a lovely romantic dinner for two at the Loose Box ran by Alain Fabregues. We've been meaning to try the Loose Box out for years but never managed to get around to it because 1) Booking takes a few months 2) It's about a 30-40 minutes drive from the city. The distance opposing more of a problem then the booking troubles. After all having a degustation meal means that it's at least 3 hours of eating and then having to drive all the way back. Booking the chalet that resides within the Loose Box grounds and ran by the restaurant is a huge problem because there is only 3-4 chalets and it's always booked out if you don't get in early and there isn't any accomodation nearby that really entice us to stay for the night, with high price tag and not worthy of the type of accommodation and service you get (you may disagree with me on that one). 

Anyway apart from those troubles we found ourselves looking at the rather cute cottage turned restaurant, located beneath the canopies of native Australian trees and overlooks their vegetable patch.  So quaint so cute so Australian and yet with an essence of French.

We were promptly welcomed and shown to our seats, which was once a patio/veranda with simple chairs and tables laid out with white tablecloths and an occasional wooden antique furnishings on the sides for the waitstaff to place what water and what nots. Cosy.

Loose Box is a little different in the way they set their degustation menu. It's flexible unlike other places. It's a 7 course degustation and there are three menus where you can mix and match and swap between courses. There is a vegatarian menu, their classic menu and their seasonal menu. So for courses 2-5 and the dessert you can either chose from course 2 of vegatarain or classic or seasonal etc. A great concept and allows you and your partner to try at least two of the menus if you wished! The other great thing about Loose Box is that unlike other degustation places the "servings" of the courses is decent sized (note worthy for those who have the appetite and are not used to tasting sizes of degustations!) - it's almost entree like sizings. 

Freshly baked bread was served to us with creamy butter. This was again offered after another batch of fresh bread came out of the oven! It was warm and fluffy and flaked so much that I made too much of a mess. But it was just lovely to have freshly baked yummy bread.

Fresh bread

To start off the night there was the beautiful, creamy coconut and prawn broth with decent amount of prawns in the soup and lovely smell of kaffiir limes and coconut which cut through the smell of prawns. A not too rich and yet the perfect way to awaken the appetite.

Coconut and prawn broth 

The second course was a choice of 3 (from vegetarian, from the classic and from the seasonal menu). Both bf and I decided to chose from the seasonal menu and opted for the oysters served three ways with three different sauces/seasonings and a lovely lime granita.

Oysters cooked three ways with lime granita

The oysters were very fresh and the sauces placed into each oysters complemented the taste of the ocean that occurs with oyster and removes that "slimey" texture without overpowering it that you can no longer taste the oyster itself. There was a salsa flavoured one, a lime/lemon/mint one and one which was almost kilpatrick like. The lime granita was the perfect refreshing finish between each of the oyster and to cleanse the palate afterwards.

 The next course saw bf and I part our ways with our choice. I opted for the venison carpaccio with mushrooms and he went for the crispy skin salmon. 

I'm rather surprised the venison carpaccio was so tender and the creamy nutty taste and texture of the mushrooms gave this dish the little kick it needed to make it taste not so "slightly seared/cooked meat" taste that can sometimes occur with low quailty (or badly done) carpaccio (whether it's venison or beef!).

Venison Carpaccio with mushrooms

I had a pleasure of taste-testing out bf's salmon dish - it was perfectly cooked salmon that melted in your mouth with this lovely broth sauce, which unfortunately found a little salty (you know my very senstive taste buds to salt!). But overall a very nice course indeed.

Crispy skinned salmon

The third course also saw us divided. Bf opted for the pig trotters and I on the other hand went for the duck foie gras.

I don't usually like foie gras because I find them to be really overpowering and the texture never really took to me. This however, was beautiful and the fresh fruits really complemented and sweetened the deal. It actually makes me change my mind and makes me understand and appreciate why the French likes foie gras so much! I figure if a chef can do I don't think I need to say anything else do I?

Duck foie gras with fresh fruits

Bf's pig trotters were enclosed in something we couldn't remember and it definitely wasn't presented the way we were expecting. Nonetheless, it was tender and moist mixed with mushrooms and vegetables which I couldn't figure out. It was enjoyable but I think the foie gras was better.

 

Pig trotter

 The next course also the main course. Bf opted for the crumbed lamb, while I went for my usual favourite - duck confit. Bf's crumbed lamb whilst the crumbs were delicious lacked a bit of crunch. The lamb however was very well cooked and the sauce was lovely addition to the dish. 

Crumbed lamb

The duck however, was the favourite out of the two main dishes for both of us. It was so tender it fell off the bone. The sauce was this divine broth of goodness (which I can't fathom what's in it!). It was just a perfectly well executed duck confit!

Duck confit

The palate cleanser or the sorbet is probably the best sorbet/palate cleanser I have ever had. It was this rich intense flavour of strawberries. So dense in flavour and so creamy smooth I wanted more of it and even asked the waitress if I can have some to take home! Unfortunately it was a no, but on the plus side I found out that thermomix was used! (I new I had to get the thermomix after I went to the demostration! Just a little longer until I get my own place..).

 

The palate cleanser - Strawberry Sorbet

 Then as bf puts it.. the best part of the night.. the dessert course. Bf went for the Loose Box infamous majestic swan with vanilla bean ice cream and tuille buscuit, while I went for this very creamy and extremely nutty pistachio and almond nougat. Both were amazing but the nougat ice cream was so big and jam packed with nuts I was actually surprised as to how nutty it was (as strange as that sounds - but you know how people say it's a pistachio ice cream or whatever and it barely has pistachio apart from a few flakes? well this was the opposite of that!)

The desserts - the infamous swan on the left and the very nutty nougat ice cream on the right.

I was also surprised by the restaurant and was given a little dove/bird with their yummy and very intense vanilla ice cream topped with a tuille happy birthday sign. How sweet.

After our desserts we were so stuffed that we were unable to finish or even remotely ask for our petite fours and coffee/teas so instead the lovely staff at Loose Box packed it into a clear container. The petite fours consisted of a very delicious and perfect almond macaroon in the middle, a chocolatey dark chocolate truffle topped with a macadamia nut for me and a white chocolate drop for bf and then there lovely toffee custard donut. This was a great dessert to our lunch the next day.

The Petite Fours

The waitstaff we had at Loose Box was absolutely lovely. She was warm friendly and happy who explained everything to us was accommodating and wasn't too invasive. It was a wonderful night out even if it was a trek to get there. I'm glad Loose Box was far better than my experience at Alain Le Bistro Des Artistes.

I will hopefully be back one day.