Lebrina

"A belated birthday dinner at a secret venue when you return from Canberra" was the promise Rita had made to her by a good close friend last week.

Last night was the night. Lebrina was the venue.

Rita partook of the following fine food:

Entree - Seared local abalone with crisp berkshire cross pork belly and a celeriac salad $25
Main - King Island Beef with freshly prepared horseradish, cabernet glaze and potato puree $39
Dessert - Malt creme brulee with citrus icecream - $17.50

She also sampled, courtesy of her exceedingly generous friend:
Entree - Double cooked cheese souffle of Ashgrove Cheddar
Main - Berkshire cross pork shoulder with sage leek pudding, braised red cabbage, apple butter and pan juices

My thoughts:

Lebrina is a top restaurant. The atmosphere is way more sombre and formal than somewhere like, say, Marque IV. It is one of the rare places (nowadays) where you have your vegetables silver served with your mains. I feel it is a place that is suited for a romantic evening, especially if you want to splurge and spoil your best beloved. It is the place where, if I were a bloke, I'd take my girlfriend to propose to her. It's a special place. Not frivolous. Not noisy. Not overwhelming. Linen napkins.

my abalone - lovely
my beef - fine
my dessert - absolutely the most breath-taking dessert ever!
friend's cheese souffle - gorgeous
friend's pork - tender, tasty

My main course, in any other restaurant, would be called steak, jus and mash. If you are a regular Rita reader, you'll remember the great Le Provencal post from mid-last year, when Rita had the temerity to order a well done steak at Le Provencal, then report that fact back on the blog. This seemed to elicit the most amazing response from all and sundry ever! In fact 106 comments from memory!

It was, quite rightly, pointed out that as Rita was in a French restaurant, why would she bother ordering a well done steak. Rita's response was that she had ordered it because it was on the menu, and she loves a well done steak! And that's what she had at Lebrina. Possibly my waiter went out to the kitchen after taking my order and heaped a fair amount of shit on the uncouth moron wanting her KI beef 'well done'. Maybe not. I'm not too fussed - I like it WD.

The service was absolutely spot-on. The standard of food, and variety of options on the menu, was everything you'd expect from all that has ever been written or spoken about Lebrina.

But - do you sense a 'but' coming? It just felt bereft of life for me. I didn't connect with it. I couldn't fault it, but I just didn't feel 'at home' there. I'm sorry Lebrina. I feel like I've let you down. But I know that people can read things I DON'T write on this blog, as well as what I DO write, and I can't disguise my feeling of a lack of connection to this beautiful place.

Once again, I thank my beautiful and devoted friend for taking me there, especially as the main reason was the thought that my website was incomplete without a review of this favoured restaurant.