Restaurant Assiette, Surry Hills

Spring Degustation Dinner @ Assiette

After having a joyous lunch at Warren Turnbull's new restaurant, District Dining, it prompted me to make a booking for a long overdue return visit to his other restaurant, Assiette. 

Even after having degustations at other places, Assiette is still number one on my list.

Just love how the flavours in the degustation are put together, delicate and simple but still interesting at the same time.

Not to mention the excellent value of $99/person for 10 courses or $159/person with wine matching. 

Warm Crusty Sourdough Roll 

Warm bread fresh from the oven, crisp on the outside with soft, fluffy centre.

Seasonal Oyster w/ Vietnamese Dressing & Baby Coriander 

Though the degustation menu changes with the season, this first course stays.  I suppose you can call it Assiette's signature dish ? The oyster on the day was rock oyster from Camden Haven, Coffs Harbour, served with a tangy Vietnamese dressing, topped with crispy fried shallots and baby corriander. 

Sashimi Style Hiramasa Kingfish w/ Wasabi Pannacotta, Radish & Ginger Marmalade

This dish reminds me of the Marinated Tuna, Wasabi Pannacota, Soy Bean & Daikon at District Dining. 

The flavours were similar but this one was more flavourful. The sashimi kingfish was marinated in ginger marmalade served with dollops of  wasabi pannacotta sprinkled with freeze dried soy sauce. 

To add texture to the dish, a scattering of finely diced crunchy cucumber and puffed rice. The flavours were light and delicate and the presentation was pretty :)

Cured Marlborough Salmon w/ Prawn Beignet, Orange, Mandarin & Fennel

The strip of rich cured Marlborough salmon was topped with an orange segment and a freeze dried mandarin chunk that just melts in your mouth with citrusy flavour. The prawn beignet was lovely as well, not too greasy and went well with the orange mayo. 

My favourite component of this dish would have to be the fennel sorbet. 

Everything I love about fennel was there, the aniseed flavour and the sweetness, but in an icy format. Perfect for such a warm spring night. Give me a tub of fennel sorbet and I will be all smiles :)  

Cannelloni of Beetroot & Goats Curd w/ Beetroot Salad & Pine Nut Vinaigrette

Next course was a plate of bright vivid colours. The cannelloni was made of a sheet of beetroot jelly, filled with creamy goats cheese topped with beetroot strips. To go along with the jelly theme, the basil was served in its jelly form which I loved too :) I was a bit worried with the goats cheese filling, but thankfully it was not to bad when eaten together with the others *phew* .

Terrine of Thilmere Duck & Foie Gras w/ Cured Duck Breast, Figs & Toasted Brioche

First of the 3 protein course in the degustation was duck. The terrine of duck with foie gras centre was packed with flavours and very tender. The duck breast I found didn't have as much flavour on its own, so it was best eaten with the fig jellly. I wish there was more than one cube of the buttery, caramelized toasted brioche though, they were good (calorie laden goodness...).  

Pan Fried Dory w/ Seared Scallop, Onion Bhaji, Cauliflower Puree & Mango Chutney

The dory though was cooked perfectly was a bit too salty for me. The scallop was done well as well, sweet and nicely seared. This was my first time having onion bhaji and I liked it ! A little bit on the salty side as well but love the onion and distinct tumeric flavour.

Roast Junee Lamb Loin w/ Caramelized Sweetbread, Miso-glazed Eggplant & Olive Crumble

It was not until the plate was set down that I realized our next course was going to be lamb (why did I not read the menu *doh*). In moments like this, I just pray and hope that the lamb doesn't taste too lamb-ey :P 

But alas...it had quite a strong flavour distinct of lamb T___T

The garlicky lamb was served with celeriac puree, wilted spinach, the delicious miso glazed eggplant and crunchy pickled daikon. I wish that they serve a bigger piece of sweetbread though, it was quite small and I love sweetbreads :)

View from another angle :) 

Dessert Eating Tools

So many utensil to eat desserts LOL

Brillat - Savarin Cheesecake w/ Honeyed Walnuts & Pear Puree

Brillat - Savarin is a triple cheese brie, here it was mixed with sour cream and made into a cheesecake mousse. It was then sprinkled with freeze dried Manuka honey, plump Pedro Jiménez soaked raisin, pear puree, crumbed biscuits, honeyed walnut and a very thin raisin toast crisp. 

The cheesecake has a distinct earthy flavour of the Brillat - Savarin cheese which I found was a bit too strong to my liking, but not too bad when eaten with the cute little raisin toast crisp .

Granny Smith Apple Jelly w/ Vanilla Syrup & Apple Granita

For palate cleanser we had the very refreshing crisp granny smith apple verrine. 

The jelly melts in your mouth and there was apple pieces in the granita. Love this very much :)

Nectarine Parfait w/ Strawbery Tapioca, Summer Berries & Raspberry Sorbet

A slice of smooth, velvety, light yellow nectarine parfait surrounded by red things : red berries (except for the blueberry of course), strawberry tapioca pearls that sadly didn't have much of a flavour and the slightly tart raspberry sorbet. A nice finish to the degustation :)

Petit Four -  Pate de Fruit

We were naturally full to the brim by now so we passed on the coffee or tea (not included in the degustation). To our surprise, we were still served petit fours when we asked for the bill. I cannot remember what flavour the pate de fruit was, could be passionfruit or grapefruit, all I can remember it was very sour >__< It did wake us up again as we were feeling sleepy by the end of the night LOL

Once again, we had a very satisfying degustation at Assiette. The flavours of spring were definitely on the plates, the flavours were light and refreshing, nothing was too heavy and rich.

The service was impeccable as well, our maître d' for the night was lovely, she even waved us goodbye at the door :) 

Assiette also have an amazing Friday Lunch Deals - 3 courses for just $35 - which I'm still yet to try. 

I suppose I have to make sure when I take a day off work its on a Friday :)