The restaurant itself is elegant and understated. The atmosphere reminded me a bit of Lebrina in that it was quiet, calm, subdued even.
The service was fine, and the food ranged from quite good to excellent. Jamie and I shared:to start with:
Tasmanian crab bisque, rouille & parmesan sticks $14
Leatherwood honey cured ocean trout, new season potato salad, dijon
mustard & dill dressing, micro herbs $21
for mains:Slow roasted Macquarie Harbour salmon fillet, prawn & asparagus risotto
fresh orange aioli, salmon caviar $32
Magret duck breast, crushed potato cake, citrus & green pepperberryreduction, steamed snow peas $34
for dessert:Tasmanian apple plate: apple crumble ice-cream, green apple & Lark’s
liqueur sorbet, toffee apples $16
Brioche pudding soaked in Tia Maria & Galliano syrup, espresso &mascarpone semi freddo, sticky coffee $16
The bisque was quite good; the trout excellent; the salmon top notch and I couldn’t fault one mouthful of it; the duck underwhelming but good; the apple plate – stunningly perfect; the brioche good but wouldn’t get that one again, especially after sampling the apple plate.
This is a special restaurant, which should be reserved for a special occasion. It’s not the kind of place I would just pop into to have a meal. Swansea provides that facility with all its other restaurants and cafes.
With Piermont, it’s your more dressy, upmarket venue, and were I more affluent, I would book a weeks stay in the accommodation there and make sure I ate at least a few times in the restaurant – just for the sheer pleasure of it.
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7 comments:
Hi Rita, just wanted to say the site looks fab! LT
Hi Rita
Just wondering how people (restauranters and other diners) react when you whip out your digital and start snapping away at the plate in front of your dining companion?
Or do you have one of those Bond-style cameras hidden in a lippy stick or something?
Oh, a picture's worth a thousand words, Rita. So these pictures ensure this place won't be bothered by the likes of me.
Food for the eye, rather than the palate.
A little care in plating up, sure...but this wank on a plate repels me. (A good thing for many, I'm sure).
Hi LT - great to hear from you, and glad you like the new site. Trust you are liking your new job just as much!
RO - sometimes I think it would be good to have the Bond-style camera, but generally no one raises an eyelid when I 'snap' my meals. I actually try to do it unobtrusively, and not make any kind of production of it, so it's not usually an issue.
Sir G - I suspected you might not become a regular at Piermont! But - I challenge you to taste that apple sorbet on the dessert plate and tell me to my face that it is "wank on a plate"!
Rock oyster. From this side of the fence when I find myself staring out at the dining room and see people taking pictures of the grub, I find myself just shrugging my shoulders. Four years back i used to be like WTF.
Camera phones are so prevelant now that people text and message eachother about every detail of their day,so eating out does not suprise me now. Makes you wonder though what they have left to talk about face to face.
SGBF, despite all what has been said before (and some by me) wank has its place. You know I enjoyed my meal at Piermont, took me mum there.
Moorilla got a bit of stick too. But in fairness these and others are not places you go to every week. You plan it as something special, a treat and I personally expect a little wankerism with the experience, (not an invite for anyone to add some natural flavourings to my chowder).
I do not expect to turn up and be told its spuds chops and gravy with victoria sponge for dessert.
I want to see a little imagination in the description, a little innovation with the ingredients, and above all good execution.
We treat ourselves seldom, we want a little extra.
Cartouche
Cartouche - are you wondering what Rita might have had left to say to her son after she'd taken her pics of their meal? Don't worry. It might have been along the lines of what you and your mum talked about when you took her there? As Jamie and I share a mutual interest in/obsession with food, we are never at a loss for something to talk about, let me hasten to assure you. On reflecting about this more deeply, I think I can safely say that I only eat out with people who share my fascination and love of good food.
And I agree with you that for these more special places, we expect a modicum of wankerism. For all its starchiness, I loved the fact that Piermont's menu was, as per previous post about language used on menus to describe each item, excellent. It stated quite plainly and matter-of-factly what each menu item consisted of without the excess verbiage most often used in that instance.
And finally, you are totally correct. We DO seldom treat ourselves, and we should do it way more often than we do. Cancer taught me that lesson, so now I feel absolutely not one iota of guilt when I treat myself to these beautiful meals. People often ask me how I can afford to eat out so frequently. Well - the main reason is that I prioritise my spending. I consider that treating myself to the dining-out experience is a luxury which I have settled on as my own personal right. Should I be diagnosed again with cancer tomorrow, I could justify every previous meal out that I've had, and be overjoyed that I had seized the moment when it was there in front of me, rather than thinking "I'd better save this money for that rainy day". Sorry to get so deep here, but I read that sentence that you wrote and it resonated thoroughly for me.
Spuds, chops and gravy sounds great to me Cartouche. (well it would, I'm a Phillistine).
As long as it weas good mash with plenty butter or pinkeyes still in their skins and a decent chop plus a gravy made with the help of the pan juices.
We're talking rural France here!
Wash it down with a glass of some local plonk or ale...what's wrong with that?
With sponge to follow with decent custard, cream or ice cream. Bring it on....
I resigned from starchy, picture-on-a-plate places a few years back. I go out for a feed and to socialise. Mainly the grub comes second.
All that presentation stuff and flowery description just amounts to competitive dining.
Both on the part of the establishment and (mostly) the people who frequent it.
Bigger car, bigger house, bigger holiday and better eats than the next person.
No wonder the arse is falling out of the materialistic planet.
Next it'll be drive-through takeaways but you'll only get into them if you have an Audi or above.
Am I past it? Do I care?
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