L’Etoile – really is a star

by Larni on April 7, 2012

 It was with much excitement that my country friend and I entered L’Etoile, Manu Feildel’s restaurant in Sydney.  I was very excited.  I love French food and the chance to dine at Manu’s restaurant was too good to pass up.

We arrived and were seated promptly.  There was a slight delay to our drink order being taken, I ordered a glass of the sparkling white and my country friend ordered a rum and coke.  We decided that we would indulge in 3 courses, one of my goals of dining here was to try Manu’s boudin, so that was my choice for entree and my friend chose the chicken terrine.  For main I was torn between the risotto (a personal favourite) and the snapper, I went with the snapper, my friend went with the risotto.  Though we were ready to order dessert we did decide to wait until we had enjoyed our first 2 dishes.

The entrees were served promptly.  The boudin and crab bisque was delightful, though the bisque was a touch too rich for me however I found the dish delicious.  The terrine was tasty and the croutons crisp.  The French-speaking staff were efficient on our meal service.  I asked to see the wine list, I asked of the Maitre’D which of the French pinot gris’ were best, he suggested the Mornington Peninsula bottle was the best on the list.  So I ordered one, whilst my friend continued with her rum and cokes.

The mains were served after an appropriate respite, my snapper was beautifully presented, with a smattering of butter beans, carrots and a heavy drizzle of carrot butter.  The crispy skin complemented the soft flesh of the fish well.  The carrot butter with the soft fish was quite tasty.  As Manu says, if you are questioning if you have enough butter, add some more.  The risotto was creamy, buttery and had a true mushroom flavour.  Unfortunately, I was nearly finished my main by the time the wine was served.  My friend requested another rum and coke.  This was disappointing that she had to request another drink, as well as us having o request our water glasses be filled and my wine to be topped up.  I encouraged my friend to order the creme brulee she said she had never had, I was very tempted to order the same, however, I settled on the raspberry sorbet with a white chocolate mousse.

The creme brulee was creamy and bursting with vanilla flavour, after cracking through the candied sugar crust.  The tart of the raspberry sorbet blended nicely with the mousse.

Whilst Manu was not in the kitchen that night, he did turn up later in the evening and was very obliging with greetings and photographs.

http://www.letoilerestaurant.com.au/

L’etoile Restaurant & Bar Address

Five Ways 211 Glenmore Road Paddington NSW 2021

 

 

 

 

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Ribs and Rumps – Hmmm mmmm

by Larni on March 25, 2012

My birthday presented itself again, and I chose the recently opened Ribs and Rumps in the HQ complex on the edge of Fortitude Valley for my friends to celebrate this momentous occasion :-)

After previewing the menu online, I was quite excited to sample their offerings.  When I made the booking I was told we had to choose our dining session, so I went for earlier than later, and was told we needed to vacate by 8pm for the 8.30pm session.  I accepted this, as I had considered a visit to Freestyle for dessert.

We arrived on time and had a drink order taken.  As we were nearly all there for the ribs, it didn’t take long for us to order our meals.  We all skipped entree, not wanting to spoil our appetite for the enticing ribs.  It turned out that one of our number doesn’t like to eat sticky food with his fingers so he opted for a steak.  After placing our order, our bibs and moist cloths were delivered.  Imagine our excitement at the opportunity to wear these bibs!!  We were like little kids again.

A good variety of drinks were available, a few tasty cocktails as well.  I settled on a Toohey’s Extra Dry, one of our number tried a cocktail ?monkey on fire or something to that affect.  Almost cough medicine like, but just this side of tasty.  Our ribs were soon delivered, larger portion than I expected.  Most opted for chips with a sauce on the side @$2.95 a pop a little rich I would suggest.  I, on the other hand, went for potatoes, that appeared to have been boiled and then deep fried or something…they were a bit dry and rubbery, not so the chips, good reports all around.  The dessert menu looked quite appealing too, though we had decided to visit Freestyle Tout.  In hindsight we should have sampled RandR’s menu…oh well, next time.

My major gripe would be that when I made the reservation I was instructed that we would have to have our table free then for the 8.30pm seating, so I made our booking for 5.30pm so we could have a leisurely dinner.  7.45, 8.00, 8.15 no-one had come near us, when we finally left at 9.00pm I was a little miffed that we had eaten early for nought!  I don’t mind doing seatings but I expect that someone does actually need our table…as we walked out there were a number of free tables.  So I would suggest when you make your reservation that you clarify this request.

http://ribsandrumps.com/locations/australia/fortitude-valley

HQ Complex 540 Wickham St Fortitude Valley, QLD 4006

07 3252 7611

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Freestyle Tout – par du tout

March 25, 2012

A post dinner venture to Freestyle Tout – Emporium was very enticing, pity it didn’t live up to the hype.  We are not Freestyle virgins, but I would suggest that with each time we have visited it has gotten just a little bit worse….sadly.  Trading on an old, yet well earned reputation. Dmitry was co-ordinating [...]

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Toscani’s???

March 16, 2012

I have only one question:  how is Toscani’s still in business?  Their service is shit, 13 yr olds more interested in gossiping than exhibiting any semblance of customer service.  I don’t know how many times I’ve been there, rarely as a first choice, and the service is always substandard.  Their menu is nothing special, possibly [...]

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Heaven in Manakai

March 13, 2012

After an exhausting shopping outing to the new Westfield in Sydney’s centre, we were in much need of sustenance.  After deciding we would head back towards the QVB and see what we found along the way, we stumbled across this Japanese eatery.  To me, it was heaven!!  You could do self-service for sushi rolls and [...]

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King St Brewhouse

March 13, 2012

On a recent visit to Sydney, we ate out at every opportunity, the first venue, King St Brewhouse was a lively venue.  On the waterfront of Darling harbour, this spacious brewhouse offers both table service as well as bar service.  The mostly foreign staff of this King St venue, were friendly and patient on quite [...]

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Ladies Lunching @ Iceworks

February 18, 2012

For my friend’s birthday, we met at Iceworks for a Ladies Lunch.  As usual I arrived late to the restaurant, but just in time for bubbly!  The restaurant was empty, we were the only lunch customers.  A fairly formal dining area, with dark browns and stark white tableclothes. We said Cheers to Bec’s birthday, then [...]

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Libertine – bar and restaurant

February 8, 2012

To help a friend celebrate his birthday, we wined and dined at Libertine bar and restaurant in the new Barracks development on Petrie Terrace. The al fresco dining area is welcoming with fairy lights in the trees and timber slatted seating. There was some initial confusion as to whether drinks were table service or bar [...]

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McMahon’s at Quay West, degustation dream

June 12, 2011

Let me start with a disclaimer, their current Head Chef is leaving this coming week. My dining companions had recently sampled the redundant Autumn menu and were keen to try the newly launched Winter menu. So we booked in on the first night. I arrived early and was promptly seated and poured a glass of [...]

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Another disappointment at Ahmet’s Turkish

May 15, 2011

My friend has a penchant for Greek and Turkish food, so she went seeking a tasty quick Sunday dinner.  Reluctantly, I agreed to go to Ahmet’s at Southbank.  A few weeks ago we had a delightful meal with great service at the Bulimba restaurant, but I’m yet to have a good one at the Southbank [...]

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