Dinnered tonight at Henry Jones. My first time for eating a meal there. (Have previously had nibbles in the bar).
To sum it up - highly priced; average service; good food. Would I return? Probably not.
I had an Entree of: Seared Wild Scallops (4 of them, no roes) with orange caramelised Hampshire pork belly and vanilla, white chocolate and carrot puree. $19.50
For Mains: Roasted Longford Eye Fillet with potato, hazelnut and chevre wafers, leek veloute, braised ox cheek medallion and mushroom "brandade"*. $33
You order veges as Side dishes, so we ordered side dishes of:
Rosemary and garlic roasted potatoes. $8.50
Steamed broccolini with scorched chilli soy dressing. $8
For Dessert, I had: Wattle seed and leatherwood honey parfait with coffee foam and wattle seed rice paper tuille. $15.
We were also served, at the start of the meal, a complimentary plate each of Salmon Tartare with spinach foam. It was lovely.
The overall meal was fine. The flavours were interesting. The combinations bizarre, but worked OK.
It just lacked that certain, indefinable pizzazz. The service was very average, especially given we were paying top dollar.
The bill for 4 of us was $300. I'm happy to pay double that to emerge on a gastronomic high but that didn't happen tonight.
The menu is 3 weeks old. I don't know if that had any bearing on matters. Anyway, I'm glad I got to eat there and experience Henry Jones.
It'll be back to the Lee How Fook for me next time!
* Checked in my Larousse for definition of "brandade" - quote - Method of preparing pounded salt cod...it is flavoured with garlic, and is prepared by cooking slowly over moderate heat and stirring vigorously and constantly with a wooden spoon, maintaining the same heat throughout the operation. Add oil, little by little.
Going by that definition, I don't see how you can have a mushroom "brandade".
Monday, 7 May 2007
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9 comments:
better watch out rita u know the Henry jones doesnt take kindly to anything other than praise :-)
ha for the first time in a month it has let me post time for a drinky poos now lol
Sounds as if they're trying too many flavours on a plate Rita.
I suppose we look for something a bit exotic on a big night out but chefs show a lack of maturity when they try to show off too many ingredients and skills.
Some places think they are so posh and upmarket you should be overawed just to be there...the dining experience is just a plus and you should be humble and grateful!
Sir Grumpy.
Haven't eaten at Henry's for many moons but they have struggled to get it right since they opened.
Sadly, sounds like they're still flailing around. Thanks for the update and better luck next time/venue Rita.
Yay Smurf! Glad to hear a peep out of you again. Come on. Join us again, or throw away that crap computer of yours & get a new one.
Hi Sir G & pc - I think you can read between the lines there. I wasn't my usual gushing self, like I am when I have had a really great meal (& time) which knocked my sox off!
So, yeah. I think they're still flailing!
Yes, I wish Smurf woul get busy too, to add to our local repertoire and knowledge.
I, too, check in almost daily and have been disappointed recently.
HRB isn't as prolific as I'd like either.
I'm too PC ignorant to know how to set up my owm blog.
Sir Grumpy.
Sir G - that's how I came to set this site up. I had the idea that a blog site for work would fulfil requirements, but it was taking up too much time while I faffed round trying to work out how to get it set up.
I decided to work on how to do it at home, after hours. Decided to chat online on my blogsite (after I set it up) about what I know & love (hospitality & food), and voila. Here we are today, blogging.
You must admit, in todays terms, I am truly a dinosaur, so if I can work it out, I'll bet you could, if you wanted.
But, feel free to keep chatting here with me.
were you in the restaurant proper, or in the atrium? We ate there moons ago, shifting from "outside' to in, I think in an attempt to find some ambiance. Can't remember what we had, except that the serves were substantial but strangely bland - a sort of "international" cuisine experience - that pork dish sound alright though (and that's given I've just had lunch)
Yes Kitty - we were in the restaurant proper not the atrium. The pork was fine, but my companions, who are all much bigger eaters than I (one was from the north and a good, solid, rugby-playing, country boy) found it sadly lacking in substance!
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