Lockdown in Canberra has seen many local eateries pivot towards offering dine at home packages where all you have to do is finish off the cooking process and assemble your food at home. Otis is one eatery offering a different set menu each week. I was booked in for a truffle dinner at Otis but this was cancelled due to lockdown, so I received credit to spend instead. Luckily Otis was able to provide truffle dinners via its dine at home packages at about half the price. I ordered the very last truffle dine at home package for the year ($160 for 2 people) and collected this at the restaurant.
Luckily I’m quite pedantic at checking that I got everything, and discovered the truffle brie was missing. After a quick call to the restaurant, Mr FPJ picked up the last brie at the restaurant. Everything is packaged up neatly and the instructions for finishing off each course provided.
Course 1 – focaccia and truffled mushroom pate. The easiest to finish off – simply put it in the oven for 5 minutes to warm and crisp up!
Course 2 – truffle baked scallops. A dollop of truffle butter provided on top of each scallop before baking. Another easy dish!
Course 3 – pumpkin and truffle risotto. This came with half a stick of truffle butter to add into the risotto. It seemed like way too much butter but I followed the instructions. Yes it tasted amazing! But not great on the waist line. I didn’t read the 7th step to this course, which was to add the rosemary pangrattato on top whoops.
Course 4 – Otis prime beef fillet with brandy jus, asparagus, duck fat potatoes and salad. I let Mr FPJ handle the cooking of the steak. It gets seared on all sides before baking in the oven (our exhaust fan isn’t great so the place got a little smoked out – will open the windows first next time!). We have never finished off a steak in the oven before, but this turned out sensational so we will be doing this more in future.
The duck fat potatoes didn’t crisp up enough for us and turned out dry, but that could be due to our oven settings. Unfortunately this was the only side we didn’t want to finish eating.
Course 5 – truffle infused brie. I actually saved this for the next day as we were so full already. Delicious and I could definitely taste the truffle.
Course 6 – apple crumble with vanilla and local bitters poached apple, truffle creme chantilly, and truffle custard. After a quick bake in the oven, this was ready.
I was disappointed with dessert when I found out the apple skins had been left on. I much prefer my apple crumble without the skin. Both the chantilly and truffle custard were amazing and should be bottled and sold separately. Yum!
The Otis dine at home packages are easy enough to follow, and I appreciated the little hints after each course to turn up/down the oven for the next course. Although the truffle menu is now finished, Otis are still offering weekly set menus on weekends, plus a Friday roast at home menu. (Note this weekend might be the last dine at home offering since the restaurant can open from the 15th October!)
Otis Dining Hall
29 Jardine St, Kingston
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