The Village - Invitation to "Ladies lunch"

It was a pleasure for "My Hunger will go on" to be invited to The Village for "Ladies Lunch" in this lovely afternoon. "Ladies Lunch" was a 3-course meal with a glass of sparkling on arrival, and it was indeed as glamorous as the name suggested.

The Village was actually located right opposite of Gastro Park, standing at the edge of Kellett Way at Potts Point. The entrance was a little bit hard to see at first, but I'm sure you won't miss the coloured building and its huge number "1".

The interior was separated into different parts, and it was divided into 2 floors. We stayed at ground floor, where the courtyard, the bar, the private dining room and the high table and chairs were at.

One random thing: we found the patterns of the tables quite amusing, as they reminded us of Menthols...lol

The friendly waitress greeted us and delivered 2 small plates of snacks. I really enjoyed the variety of nuts on the first plate...but only touched 1 piece of the olives (I'm not very good with olives, especially when they have a tangy taste).


So here are the 3-courses of sweet and savoury plates from "Ladies lunch" ($59.00):

Entrée (Share platters to start)
Salt & Pepper Calamari with Parmesan Aioli & fresh Lemon, Sweet corn & Basil cappuccino with Tempura Cauliflower, Rocket Pear & Parmesan salad with Lemon oregano vinaigrette, Butter nut pumpkin Arancini with Buffalo mozzarella & Fresh basil.

The Entrée plate from "Ladies Lunch" was quite impressive, with its neat and refreshing presentation. We dug into the Salt & Pepper Calamari first, and quickly dipped into the sauce. The Calamari was cooked really well as they can be bite off and chew without much efforts, I've only found the sauce was a little too sour for me. Then we had the fresh rocket pears from the salad, along with few sips of the hot corn and cauliflower soup (Oh the soup was perfect! I totally loved the creaminess). The pumpkin balls were so cute as they sat lazily on the sauce, we really liked that combination.

Main
Crispy skinned confit chicken with Warm potato & Shallot salad with Red wine jus.

With the main dishes, you get a choice between the two, so we decided to try one of each. I loved how the chicken was so succulent and everything was delivered at the perfect temperature. The juice just seemed to drip off the edges and landed mischievously onto the plate.

Seared Fillet of Huon Salmon with marinated fetta, rocked & parmesan salad.

This was probably our favourite dish for the day, as we couldn't describe how wonderful that feeling was to crack the crispy skin. We loved every bit of it as the salmon simply melted into our mouths, leaving us with the craving for more of it.

The Village Dessert Tasting Plate - Selection of The Village signature desserts

I was so happy to see the dessert plate finally arrived, despite the fact I was so full up to this point (seriously, girls will always have room for their desserts!). It was such an adorable and delightful plate, decorated by a variety of colours and shapes. We decided to start off with a less sweet dessert which was the small lemon meringue, and it was really nice as it was soft. Then we moved onto the Nutella tart, and they weren't as sweet as we thought but rather with a tiny hint of bitterness. After that, the moment I've been waiting for has finally come: the White chocolate Panna Cotta. Oh Dear God, it was so good (although very funny as it tend to stick to the plate, as if it doesn't want to be eaten lol), definitely my favourite out of all the desserts. It was very sweet but somewhat gentle rather than an overwhelming sweetness. Lastly, we finished off the plate with three Macarons, the only thing I didn't like was their filling seemed almost invisible.


Thank you very much again to Lilian and The Village for inviting "My Hunger will go on" to this lovely "Ladies Lunch". If anyone is curious, it's served on Saturday only from 12pm onwards (minimum 3 guests or more) but is flexible for other days for group of 15 or more. Reservations are essential so make sure you grab your girls and book them in for a fantastic time!

In addition, they also have event and corporate packages at reasonable prices, so whether you are looking for a 2 hour cocktail course or a complete day package, do check out The Village at this lively location of Potts Point :)


Address:
1 Kellett Way, Potts Point NSW 2011

Phone number:
02 8084 6057

Opening time:
Tue - Thu  5pm till late
Fri  5pm - 3am
Sat  12pm - 3am
Mon and Sun  CLOSED

Website:
http://www.the-village.com.au/index.html

Gastro Park

After being away from my computer for so long, I am finally back for a post from awhile ago. That night was actually my birthday, so we went to Gastro Park! I have always been admiring (and drooling in front of) the pictures of different dishes from this restaurant, so it was really nice to see and taste the real thing!

 

I really liked how the restaurant was presented, it felt like I could turn around at any point and find some artistic objects. I've heard about how creative the dishes were like, so I was really looking forward to the 7-course degustation.



Firstly we started off with a selection of snacks:

Mmmm...talking about crunchy things...yum yum. I found it really fascinating that they were placed on a stone rather than an actual plate.

We got a little cheese stick, and I felt like waving it and let the wind blow on it! Somehow it reminded me of those spirits gathering stick thingy from an ancient temple...lol

Sourdough bread

Ofcourse, how can we not have sourdough bread in a degustation? Except this one came in an extraordinary presentation that almost reminded me of a rock, a wave and bits of glittering diamonds floating in the black sea.

Foie gras, cherry, rhubarb, toasted grain.

Ok, I won't lie, when I first saw this, I thought it was some kind of animal lying on a rock plate. First thing came into my mind was "lobster", then some random bug with long legs. It was visually surprising, and definitely challenges your tastebuds.

Spanner crab, carrot, endive, pork pebbles.

By this time of the meal, I already knew that every dish will turn out to be an artwork. I was very pleased at how well they balanced the colours and textures for each dish. This one was a little mischievous, almost like something we usually see in children books, where the plants grow in all sorts of directions. I loved that combination of spanner crab and pork pebbles, it's that perfect almost of saltiness that stimulates your senses.

Roast scallop, cauliflower tofu, leaves & crisp, lobster reduction.

Comparing to the last few dishes, this was a little bit less outstanding in appearance. Yet the satisfactions from its taste did not disappoint us at all. We especially liked the cauliflower tofu, as it was like the softest food on Earth.

Liquid butternut gnocchi, shimeji, mushroom consommé.

When this came, I was like "nooooo! Egg yolks!!" (Yes egg yolk is not one of my favourite), but then I realised what it was suppose to be. Gnocchi, yep, you got it, it was POTATO. I carefully placed one in my mouth, then closing it, and then...BITE. Oh that sudden juicy feeling down the throat, it was somewhere closer than heaven. I loved it, and it was definitely my favourite of the night.

Crispy scaled jewfish, smoked potato puree, calamari crackling, ink sauce.

We got a choice between two main dishes, so I decided to go with the crispy jewfish. Those scales were so crunchy and they make quite a bit of noises as you chew on them. I liked the idea of calamari crackling, as it was a completely refreshing taste. The only thing I didn't quite enjoy was the ink sauce...I found it a little too heavy in the taste for me.

Salted bush baltarra lamb sirloin, cabbages, blood pudding, aged sherry vinegar.

Bun picked this one...just because it's meat...? It was a simple dish, but the combination of the lamb and vinegar was quite a good one.

Chocolate, honeycomb, vanilla sphere, cardamom, saffron, ginger.

We also got to pick a dessert out of the two, so Bun decided to go with this one as he found it amusing to crack eggs. That initial crack took a little while, and then all you see was an explosion of all the sweet goodies, flowing out eagerly into the bowl. It was a little sweet but still a really nice dessert.

Cooked & raw cherries, red wine pear, bolero snow, hibiscus ice cream, sesame sponge.

I actually regret a little about picking this one after I've seen how entertaining Bun's dessert was. Although it was nice, I wished it had something more to it. I think my favourite part of this dish was actually the sesame sponge, and I found the idea pretty interesting mmm...


Overall I really liked this place, particularly its creative dishes! I would highly recommend this restaurant to people, you can order either a 7-course or 10-course tasting menu...mmm I wonder what's the 10-course is like?


Address:
5-9 Roslyn Street, Kingscross NSW

Phone:
02 8068 1017

Opening time:
Lunch
Thu - Sat  from 12 noon
Dinner
Tue - Sat  from 6pm till late