Betty C.
Yelp
We spent three hours for a five course meal. Of all 13 dishes we tried only one was lackluster and not properly spiced/flavored.
We sat in the covered outdoor space. Chris our server was very knowledgeable about the wines and helpful in making our choices.
We had their standard five course degustation and added three of the five possible side dish add-ons.
Course 1 - The beef tartare was slight spicy and fresh and the wonton base was very crispy.
The chicken liver parfait was as creamy as ice cream, the silkiest chicken liver mousse I've ever tasted anywhere. The flavor was very light as well, almost too light. The sweet caramelized onions served with it were almost overpowering. The focaccia with rosemary was tasty on its own and I am not sure the best carrier - I think a few slices of high quality French bread would have better suited the mousse so there wouldn't have been composing flavors. The fresh potato chips were a tad too greasy although they had good flavor. For me something with less oil would have been a nice foil to all the creaminess and fat in this dish.
Course 2 - in a tie for first place of all the dishes was the lobster with bearnaise on a crumpet. The bearnaise was perfectly flavored and silky, almost as if heavy cream had been added to it. The lobster was perfectly cooked, tender and sweet.
The octopus on salsa verde was cooked perfectly in the large pieces, the tentacles actually had some crunch and overdone. The salsa was a bit overpowering although it did taste very good.
The Exmouth prawns were cooked exactly to the right point - tender and moist and the butter and light garlic sauce was devine. Here's where some plain French bread would have been awesome to soak up that sauce. We used our forks to eat as much as we could.
Course 3 - lightly toasted focaccia with stracciatella and paper thin slices of zucchini, along with mint and dill. It was a burst of spring in every bite!
The arancini were a tad heavy with some unexpected smokiness with a few pieces of Spanish chorizo and a very tasty tomato sofrito sauce as well as a manchego cream.
The patatas bravas were crispy and at the bottom of the serving dish a tad too oily/salty - which is saying a lot as I am always always adding salt to dishes. This was the only dish where I felt that it was too salty today. The aioli that came with them was perfectly balanced in flavor, well emulsified and smooth.
Course 4 - sauteed broccolini with rhubarb and greens was a nice light vegetable to cut though the last course.
The jerk chicken thigh skewers with fried plantain chips and pineapple salsa was tied for best course of the day. It had the perfect balance of rich flavors, heat and acidity - magnificent.
The fried, breaded short rib balls were a serious let down. The coating was not crispy, the mashed potatoes base was not as smooth or creamy as it could have been given how well other sauces were prepared and the filling was stringy, almost dry and had an off flavor. It was not rich or interesting in any way whatsoever. It needed more spice/flavor and some moisture and the coating was just not right.
Course 5 - dessert and cheese was a great way to end the meal.
The cheese course was interesting with more of the same focaccia, black lavish crackers, a spiced pear puree, some dried apricots, a cow milk double (or triple cream?) washed rind cheese, a few grapes, some thinly sliced pear and a strawberry.
The burnt Basque cheesecake with spiced honey crunch, apricots and miso caramel was smooth and flavorful however just too much after all of the other courses, so we took it home!
Service was friendly, professional and perhaps just a tad slow at times. The roombambiance and views to the vineyard are wonderful. The pricing is very, very reasonable. Given all of those factors it deserves 5 stars on Yelp as it is probably right around a 4.7, not perfect yet very, very good!
Would highly recommend it to foodies and oenophiles. Come hungry and don't plan to eat another full meal that day!
