The Artisan in Narrabundah is a restaurant I’ve been meaning to try out for quite some time. A friend organised dinner here on Friday night so I was very excited to finally try it out.
I was warmly greeted upon entering the restaurant and shown to our table. The waiter provided the drinks list, kindly asked if he could take my coat and whether I wanted sparkling or tap water. The restaurant’s space is narrow and long with sleek furnishings and a nice long bar down the side.
I’d already viewed the menu on their website and had picked out my entree, main and dessert. After we’d ordered the entrees and main, we were provided with freshly baked bread that was still warm from the oven. We all agreed the bread was awesome. Extra points for the fact that they also brought out gluten-free bread for my gluten-intolerant friend. Not many restaurants are this prepared.
I chose the ‘truffle’ as my entree ($22) – slow cooked free range truffled hens egg with shaved truffle, whipped truffle butter and toasted soldiers. The egg was very runny and I enjoyed dunking the crunchy multigrain soldiers into it. The few shavings of truffle were light in flavour but worked well with the egg. I couldn’t really taste the truffle in the whipped butter though. A nice dish but probably more suited for breakfast.
My friend found her scallops nice but not the best she’s had.
I chose the barramundi ($33) as my main – miso poached barramundi with scampi tail, confit potato and sugar snaps. The barramundi was fresh and cooked perfectly. The tiniest piece of scampi tail sat on top of the confit potato. Tiny but tasty. The sugar snaps were the best sugar snaps I have ever tasted. Crunchy, fresh and beautifully green. There was also a piece of fish crackling on top. I really enjoyed this dish.
Food porn of my friend’s dishes
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| Cider braised belly, jowl cabbage roll and poached loin with puy lentils and crackling |
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| Pure Black eye fillet with potato soufflè, spinach puree, baby beetroot and horseradish mustard |
I had picked out the wagon wheel for dessert, but when the dessert menus were provided, it had been taken off! Our waiter informed us that the meringue was their best selling dessert. Not being a huge fan of meringue, I decided to go with the jaffa cake instead – warm mandarin cake with chocolate fondant, mandarin sorbet and Persian fairy floss ($15).
The mandarin cake was lovely and light. I loved how they managed to place the warm chocolate fondant on top of the cake, so that when you broke through it, it was still nice and gooey. The fairy floss was pretty average and looked like it was added clumsily onto the plate. The mandarin sorbet was surprisingly bitter to counterbalance the sweetness of everything else on the dish. Not the best dessert I’ve had but still interesting.
My friend let me have a taste of her banoffee and caramelised banana tarte tatin. Just one bite and it was heaven! Definitely the best dessert of the night.
My friend’s panna cotta
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| Elderflower panna cotta with honeycomb, yoghurt sorbet and popping candy |
The service at the Artisan is excellent, friendly and very professional. I love how the waiters synchronised placing dishes in front of us, two at time. The ambiance of the restaurant was nice and laid back. A simple yet classy restaurant with excellent service and lovely food. I’d love to go back and try out their degustation menu. A nice place to visit for lunch or dinner.
Foodgasm 7.5/10
