345 Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst NSW 2010
French wave of satisfaction
Onde has been opened for about 14 years and was recommended by a couple of foodie friends so my expectations were high and thankfully it was a good experience. They don't take bookings so was eager to arrive early to secure a table. Most of the customers seemed to come around 7–7.30 pm so arriving before 6.30 pm seemed a good idea. Our friendly waiter Michael was very knowledgeable of the menu.
One of their signature dishes is the Duck Liver Pate which comes with a generous slab of pate and is served with traditional baguette — it's simple, very smooth and buttery and I also enjoyed the cornichon which I now know are gherkins. The fried squid was a light tasting dish which I thought was perhaps overpowered a bit by the distinctive taste of the rocket — yet the squid itself was nice and tender. The Duck confit was nicely cooked with meat falling easily off the bone and went well with the caramelised apple — although I wasn't really sold on the accompanying wilting salad (due to the heat of cooked duck) and crunchy walnuts and prefer the Glass Brasserie combination of ingredients. The Crisp Skinned Chicken dish worked better for me with it's leek and olives. Very much enjoyed all the wine choices.
I seem to be noticing the L'Occitane liquid soap is getting around to a few Darlinghurst restaurant toilets of late which is always a pleasant surprise to find — I wonder why this is? I look forward to my next visit to try other dishes.
Other French restaurants visited:
• Tabou - Surry Hills, 27 June 2010
• Sel e Poirve - Darlinghurst, 1 Dec 2009
• Tabou - Surry Hills, 9 Oct 2009
• Onde - Darlinghurst, 25 Sept 2009
• Chez Pascale Cuisine Francaise - Sans Souci, 8 July 2009
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)
Duck confit with caramelised apple, mesclun and walnuts $27.50
4 comments:
I will have to try this one!
drool factor 20!! Look at that pate! Its obvious you need more bread for that, or at least make sure that a generous amount of pate goes on each piece of bread.
I have that L'occitaine in my bathroom! Around Melbourne everyone has Aesop! Its kinda overpowering though and can totally overwhelm the smell of your own food!
I have been going to Onde for years, since their Bondi days, in fact. And Laif has been consistent throughout. Michael has been there for years, too. I agree that the squid and rocket is a left-of-field pairing. I (like the French) do not agree that cornichons = gherkins. The latter is not only larger in size, but also much much more robust in taste; compared to the far more delicate cornichon, both in size and taste/flavour. Next time, try and find room in your dessert belly for the buttermilk pudding. Its truly divine. Truly.
Gobsmack'd
PS Maria - lots of Sydney outlets have got Aesop on tap in the lavs too. Personally I prefer it to L'Oc
hi tonioz, you surely will. tabou is my first choice though for French, then this place!
hi maria, your definitely right, a bit more bread would have been good, although I think that would have filled me up. Aesop seems to be the other popular fancy choice. I'm actually quite surprised to see them at all because I consider them quite expensive and would think just a normal soap liquid would be all they would afford.
hi gobsmack'd, i just thought cornichons meant gherkins in French but perhaps I'm mistaken. thanks for the recommendation of the buttermilk pudding, i'll surely keep this in mind, sounds yummo! :-)
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