After the dessert diva, Christine Manfield, took over the Eightysix kitchen to produce and deliver some of her amazing signature desserts last year, I was eager to go back this year when it was announced that she would not only produce more desserts, but take over the lunch/dinner menu for a few days. This year, the theme was Asian with dishes such as Sichuan wallaby tartare, salted duck egg with sticky rice cakes, strange flavour chicken noodles and tea smoked duck. There were also 5 desserts this time compared to 4 last year. A group of us booked into a lunch time session and ordered a few dishes to share with the notion that we were really waiting for dessert.
First up was the entree of Hiramasa kingfish sashimi with seaweed and finger lime ($24). The kingfish was fresh and delicate. I absolutely loved the seaweed mix some of which had been pickled and packed a punch in flavour. The acidity worked beautifully together with the kingfish.
The bulgogi beef steamed buns with kimchi pickle ($10 each) were very expensive. But they had to be tried! The bulgogi flavouring wasn’t as prominent as expected which was disappointing. I couldn’t tell that it had even been marinated to be honest. I loved the kimchi chilli kick and the pickled vegetables but I felt that this drowned out the beef which should have been the star.
The coconut prawn, clam and fish stew with coriander pesto ($29) came with a side of rice for the four of us. The stew smelled amazing with wonderful spices and flavours. There was a lot of chilli and salt in the stew, and I could really taste the heat on the back of the tongue. The distinct flavour of seafood still shined through with chunks of fish, some clams and two prawns. There was plenty of stew which I poured over the rice to eat (though the rice was overcooked and too soft). A bit too salty for my liking but I wasn’t going to let it go to waste.
The spanner crab fried rice ($29) was fragrant and delicious – great seasoning, chives and fried strips of egg. However, there was only a minimal amount of crab tossed throughout the dish. Disappointing for the price tag, but it was one of the nicer fried rice dishes I’ve had.
We decided to order all 5 of the desserts and share them. Desserts were $14 each, considerably cheaper than last year ($20 each) and slightly smaller portions. First up was the Tropicana with passionfruit curd, meringue and mango sorbet. The meringues were crispy on the outside and soft and marshmallowy inside. The mango sorbet was outstanding – lusciously thick and mango fresh. More please! The passionfruit curd provided a lingering bitey hit of sourness while the crunchy caramel popcorn provides a pop of extra sweetness.
The Raspberry Ripple with vanilla yoghurt cream and raspberries topped with fairy floss is served encased in an edible sugary clear prism made to look like a glass at first glance. It cracks open with a spoon to reveal the glorious vanilla yoghurt cream. This is divine with the cream taking the edge off the sourness of the yoghurt. The trifle-like layers of fresh raspberries, cream, raspberry sauce and meringue were well balanced and light leaving me wanting more after each spoonful.
We all loved the name of the next dessert, the Sugar Daddy of chocolate praline mousse, candied cumquats and freeze dried mandarin (or orange I couldn’t tell). The mousse fills a soft chocolate pastry shell and is sprinkled with crunchy chocolate waffle balls on top. What looks like a thin sheet of tempered chocolate on top actually had some kind of wafer/biscuit like texture which was a nice surprise. Unfortunately, we all agreed that this was the least favourite dessert of the day. This was partly because the mousse was a lot more bitter than expected and no one at the table was appreciative of the bitter chocolate. The candied cumquats added a huge punch of citrus zing but these had a very strong bittersweet flavour to them. It just wasn’t to my liking.
I was looking forward to trying the Rice Queen of sticky white rice, pandan coconut, custard apple and salted caramel. I noticed that there was a lot of sticky rice compared to the other elements. A LOT more rice. The salted caramel had only been drizzled on top so most of this was gone by the time I got to it and it tasted quite weak for a caramel. The small slivers of custard apple were few and I only seemed to get the seeds which had been left in. I’m disappointed that I didn’t get to taste the full impact of this dessert. I think it would have tasted great if it had been more balanced.
The Coconut Twist with spiced pineapple, coconut sorbet and a wafer was another favourite in the group. The sorbet was creamy and the perfect accompaniment to the juicy pineapple sitting atop a layer of panna cotta. I couldn’t make out the spice in the pineapple as it was very subtle. A simple tropical dessert that would be refreshing in summer.
Overall, I’m glad I booked into this special lunch especially to try the desserts. The others in the group were also pleased with lunch. Staff from Christine’s team were present at Eightysix to help explain menu items. There was a good range of gluten free items available and the majority of the dishes we picked were gluten free (all except the bulgogi buns and Sugar Daddy dessert). I’m disappointed with certain dishes that were either too salty or not well balanced, but other dishes were superb.
Side note: When I booked the table, I asked if a pram could fit in the eatery as I remember it being quite a tight squeeze. I was reassured that a pram would fit and we were seated towards the back. This made it extremely difficult and awkward to get the pram back out when exiting the restaurant as we had to say ‘excuse me’ to every single person on every stool at the bar and at the tables opposite as the pram could just not fit through. Embarrassing and awkward. If you have a pram, I recommend you specifically request a table at the front of the restaurant.
Foodgasm 6.5/10
Value for money 6/10
Service 6/10
FPJ score 18.5/30
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