OK, OK - I'll quit eating out for a while! Lunch at Smolt yesterday, Salt today. Dinner from Dom's Asian yesterday, dinner at Piccalilly today. Chai morning tea at Gilt yesterday and today.
So - to tonight's meal at Piccalilly. It was as everyone who has written and spoken about has indeed said. It was beautiful. It is all about flavours, and the boys do it SO well.
But - if you're one of those eaters who love places where the Schnitzel hangs over the side of the plate, and the chips predominate the meal - you'll take one look at one of the assiettes (plates) there at Piccalilly and spit it big time!
I, fortunately, am a small eater, and had already lunched, so my portions were fantastic - for me.
Obviously a lot of thought has gone into the menu, and the results show. We ordered and shared the following plates, which were:
Butter braised baby abalone with yuzu, cucumber jelly and beetroot egg ($22)
Pan seared scallops with cauliflower terrine, crunchy pig skin and spec foam ($22) (You shoulda been there Sir Grumpy!)
Hand made linguini with spanner crab and crispy beef cheek salad ($23)
They also threw in, gratis:
Longford beef tartare with brioche
Green apple sorbet
We desserted on:
Piccalilly's banana split with caramelised banana, banana icecream and hazelnut foam ($15) (Once again Sir Grumpy - we thought of you!)
My opinions:
Abalone - delicate flavours, beautiful
Scallops - yummy, exquisite flavours
Linguini - I thought I wouldn't enjoy this as much as the scallops, but, after having eaten it, I felt it was head and shoulders above the scallops. Pasta beautiful; crab beautiful; beef cheeks absolutely beautiful
Beef tartare - never tried it before but loved it
Sorbet - a bit tart, but that's what an apple is. Enjoyed it though
Banana split - not your normal, expected banana split, by any means! Interesting! Foam good, caramelised banana (which had been dipped in chocolate) good, ice cream OK.
The service was fabulous. The staff were calm, friendly, helpful, informative and informed. They were also totally approachable in their attitude. No question, of the many we asked about the menu and food, was too much trouble to answer, and we weren't made to feel like fools for not knowing something. They weren't ice maidens either. They were busy, caring waitstaff.
All in all - a great meal, in a great restaurant. Well done everyone at Piccalilly.
Friday, 11 January 2008
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16 comments:
OOOH new menu!
Thanks Rita. It was a pleasure to finally meet you ad put a face to a "name". Thank you for your kind words!
Elysia, Iain, Kate, Michael and the rest of the crew.
Zelda - yes, this was the second day of a new menu there.
Elysia, Iain, Kate, Michael and the rest of the crew - you were fabulous, and set new standards in hospitality for Hobart. Reading your profiles on your website when I got home, I realised I had dealt (in a work situation) with Elysia and Kate when you were at Henry Jones, so it was lovely to see how you'd progressed from there.
Also I feel so embarrassed that I was so busy chatting to Elysia while paying the bill that I didn't leave a tip! I promise to rectify that!
Keep up the great work.
of course the fact that you revealed your identity would not have affected the service and freebies AT ALL, eh rita??
Anon 2.41 - you cynic, you! If it wasn't for the fact that I saw the identical freebies being delivered to all the other tables there last night, I would have loved to think that I was such an important person in Hobart! Alas - no, I'm not!
Also I didn't confess to being Rita till bill-paying time.
totally agree. the beef cheek was wonderful, linguine perfect. Four months in, they are amazingly polished.
I hav a confession - I spelt Piccalilly wrong on my web page (fixed now though....).
Tasmanian foodie - I didn't realise it has only been 4 months they've been operating. You're right - they ARE amazingly polished for just that amount of time at it.
Tassiegal - when is your next review coming up?
Hey Rita, You seem to have gotten over your beef cheek thingy.
Good for you.
Would that I HAD, Christina! I must admit I forced myself to banish all thoughts of its origins - so you see how brave I was to name it as my favourite!
Rita - am off to Pecora in an hour or so for lunch again. Its awhile since we last went down so am looking forward to it. I should finish the Montys review sometime in the next day or two.
Rita, those links on your website are very useful. I used your link to get to Piccalilly's website which I thought was very classy and well worth a look. You can even make bookings through their website.
Cheers
Curly
Sounds good, Rita. I checked out their site and the menu.
Nice. But I had to chuckle over the entry: hand-selected cheeses and accompaniments.
How else do you put them together?
It's like that anoying term: PAN-FRIED. As opposed to what, dangling it over a fire after smothering it in oil?
But, if that's my only caveat, and it is....then this one look a goer for me and the misuse.
Looking forward to more reviews from you tassiegal.
Curly - glad you're getting value for money with the links on the website.
Sir G - Lady Fair will really love you if you take her there! Valentines Day is coming up next month...? Gives you enough time to save up.
Pan fried, as opposed to deep fried. I don't find that annoying at all.
I posted about a degustation at Piccalilly here. Their winter special is amazing value :)
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