Marque Restaurant: Friday Prix Fixe 3 course lunch menu $45, Surry Hills (4 May 2012)

4/5 355 Crown Street  Surry Hills NSW 2010 
http://www.marquerestaurant.com.au

Hitting the Marque for lunch

Thanks to Richard Elliot for organising a catch up lunch with two other friends at Marque for their Prix Fixe 3 course menu ($45) which is only served for Friday lunch. It included an amuse-bouche and post-dessert plus housemade bread making it perhaps one of the best lunch deals in a 3 hatted restaurant. I was fearing the service would be a bit stiff but thankfully they came across as friendly and welcoming while still being professional with a good knowledge of the dishes being served. Seating was comfortable and the ambient music relaxing and appropriate. On the menu the restaurant prewarns you they've installed a chilled, filtered, carbonated water system and to support this initiative $5 per person will be added to every bill. I thought this was a bit rich since plain old Sydney tap water is available for free at most if not all other restaurants in Sydney including 3 hatted restaurants but luck would have it due to a machine breakdown table water was free on this visit. The wine menu isn't cheap but Richard generously bought a bottle of 2009 Bourgogne Blanc Domaine Roulot ($114). Complimentary Housemade sourdough was good with the Coopers Pale Ale rye caraway bread having a bit more taste than the plain — I enjoyed both. 

First served was an amuse-bouche of Black olive mousse with mandarin granita and juniper salt which I struggled to like. I liked the granita and the olive mousse on their own but not together although others at the table did enjoy. Perhaps the olive taste was meant to help lead the taste buds into the entree? The entree of Fried mussels with barigoule, tomato & mussel custard had great flavours making it a favourite for me. The shavings of their housemade kalamata olive truffle sprinkled over the dish was very good. Celery shavings was a clever technique I hope to use at home one day, maybe for a salad. I enjoyed the tender meat and flavoursome greens in the main of Veal rump with buttermilk, chocolate & lettuce although I could have perhaps done without the flavourless wafers of crispy burnt milk on top. I feared the chocolate would overpower the dish but thankfully was quite subtle mixed in the jus. For dessert the Jasmine with hazelnuts & new season apples had nice flavours and I really enjoyed the jasmine ice cream but I tend to find deconstructed dishes quite awkward to eat when you have to try and get a bit of everything on your spoon to taste it together. The meal finished with a Sauternes custard with bitter caramel which was very smooth and delicious — more please, and I'd love to know how they cut those eggshells so perfectly.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: Service was knowledgeable and professional yet still down-to-earth and friendly, Innovative and interesting dishes, Quality ingredients, Nice ambience and seating

CONS: Expensive menu but good value Prix Fixe, Table water is billed $5 per person, Some dishes challenge the palate which might not suit everyones taste, Need to allow time for a long lunch

MUST TRY: Returning to try the degustation menu

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40º Latitude Tasmania Sparkling Mineral Water ($10, 500ml)

Amuse-bouche: Black olive mousse with mandarin granita and juniper salt

Housemade sourdough

Housemade Coopers Pale Ale rye caraway bread

Fried mussels with barigoule, tomato & mussel custard

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Veal rump with buttermilk, chocolate & lettuce

Jasmine with hazelnuts & new season apples

Post dessert: Sauternes custard with bitter caramel 

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

How do they cut the tops off so cleanly?

2009 Bourgogne Blanc Domaine Roulot ($114) — generously bought by Richard for the table

I love a good refraction — Hi Richard!

Menu: 3 course, 5 course or 8 course

For those with a bit more money to burn

Cutlery by Robert Welsh — handles quite nicely

Always a crowd pleaser. All that's missing is perhaps a nice vase of flowers.

Hand towels = a touch of class

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Taste of Sydney 2010: Free tastings and menu guide to help plan your visit, Sydney (11,13 Mar 2010)

11-14 March 2010

Centennial Park Sydney NSW 2000

http://www.tastefestivals.com.au

OMG, no Turkish Gozleme!

SECOND VISIT

Free tastings and a Crown-free day

Saturday 13 March 2010 12-4 pm session

Today's visit was more focused on checking out the remaining restaurant dishes I didn't photograph on my first visit and to check out many of the producer stands — although I totally forgot to revisit Buon Ricordo dishes and Aria's dessert. After Nom Nom Nibblies and Leave Room for Dessert alerted me to 'free' tastings available at the New Zealand and City Tattersalls Club stands this became high on my agenda — a definite MUST! I was very impressed with the Omega Seafood mussels which are supplied precooked with no additives and tasted great and fresh. I'll definitely be looking out for these at the Sydney Fish Markets. Whitestone Cheese had plenty of choices on offer and I really liked the Windsor Blue which wasn't too overpowering on taste but still had enough characteristic bite. The NZ Regal King Salmon Pastrami was a delightful combination of flavours which I'll also keep in mind for canapés. The Kohu Road Ice Cream stand had seven choices and of course I had to try all seven — favourites were Strawberry, Cookies and Cream, Expresso and Dark Chocolate but all were deliciously creamy and good.

The City Tattersalls Club stand should be applauded for their lovely and vibrant service staff which made everyone visiting very welcome as they generously shared lots of excellent food. The Bramble Cocktail was very refreshing, the Wagyu Mini Burger well-presented and tasty, the Apple, Cranberry and Cinnamon donuts a huge crowd pleaser and the Tempura Soft Shell Crab cooked to crispy perfection — do not miss visiting. Gourmet Dinner Service reminded me of a gourmet meals on wheels. Their extensive range of high quality prepared meals are home delivered and seem reasonably priced. I was very interested in their bite sized canapés which would be a great idea for catering a birthday. The well-presented Chocolate and Orange Cassatta was a bite sized party for the taste buds. ThinkSpirits had some amazing looking liqueurs and the versatile Pomegranate Liqueur was my favourite. Baileys have recently released their coffee version which was very addictive — I think I might prefer it over the original now.

Bultarra Australian Saltbush Lamb were doing a simple pan fry of some Easy Carve Leg and it remained juicy and tender with lots of flavour — they have a great product. I tried a sample of the very tender Game Farm Portuguese Spatchcock in Piri Piri Marinade which was also just pan fried — keep your eyes out for this one. Now I'm an avid gin drinker (socially of course) and have always considered Bombay Sapphire as my preferred higher shelf choice but after sampling the smooth tasting Brocker's London Dry Gin from Pure Spirits stand I'll now be looking out for it. Try it straight and you'll be amazed how much nicer it is on the palate to Bombay Sapphire — I was shocked. It apparently won a Masters Award over Tanqueray, Bombay Sapphire and Beefeater at The Gin Masters London 2008.

I met Mark Best from Marque Restaurant who organised sample dishes for me to photograph and then generously let me have them complimentary — oh wow. The well-presented Cured Ocean Trout and Slow Cooked Lamb Rump were soft and tender, and the Sauternes Custard with Caramel was so silky smooth and well balanced on taste. Next I met head chef Jodie Wallace from Flying Fish who also organised dish samples for me to photograph. Their signature dish of Yellow Fin Tuna was nicely presented with melt in your mouth tuna. I enjoyed the taste of the purple herb on top with it. Longrain stand provided their refreshing Tapioca pudding for my photography and free sampling which had a nice balance of flavours although nothing too experimental in this dish. I revisit Restaurant Balzac to have a quick chat with Yasmin Williams and chef Matthew Kemp who provided a complimentary sampling of their tasty Suckling Pig with Garden Peas with a fairly rich Smoked Bacon Jus. The meat was moist and juicy although I was really hoping the skin was going to be more crispy and crunchy in texture. They're running a Bastille Day competition worth $350 I think so be sure to add your entry.

I leave Taste of Sydney totally full. A day of plenty of delicious food which I somehow managed to get through without paying anything :-)

—

FIRST VISIT

Scouting for shots of the dishes

Thursday 11 March 2010 5.30-9.30 pm session

This is the first time I've been to a food festival and not spotted one of those Turkish Gozleme stands — thankfully this must be a real 'gourmet' event :-) So for those of you who are planning to check out Taste of Sydney this weekend here's some of the dishes you can expect to find — I hope you find this a helpful guide. This was mostly a scouting mission to see what's available and I'm planning to revisit this Saturday to take more photos of the dishes and hopefully try a few of them too.

Thankfully the generous Ferrero Rondnoir stand was giving out free yummy chocolates to keep my sugar energy levels high. I've highlighted below the dishes that seem to be the most appealing for me to try in terms of interesting flavours and generously sized which hopefully ends up being good value — although I'd love to try them all.

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Menu:

Check out the full Taste of Sydney 2010 menu.

Dates and Times:

Thursday 11th March: 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Friday 12th March: 12 pm - 4 pm
Friday 12th March: 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Saturday 13th March: 12 pm - 4 pm
Saturday 13th March: 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Sunday 14th March: 12 pm - 5 pm

Other food blog reviews:

• Nom Nom Nibblies

• Tasted by Two

• Leave Room for Dessert

• Food, Booze and Shoes, Food, Booze and Shoes #2

• The Garden Club

• The Ninja Review

• Pigged-out

• Not Quite Nigella

• Citrus and Candy

• Chocolatesuze

• I'm hungry too

• Angie Lives to Eat (and Cook)!

• Penguin says Feed Me!

• Missklicious

• OOh, LOOk...

• FOOD, FUCK YEAH!

• Eat, Show & Tell

• Almond and the Hazelnut (Unseen TV promo video)

• The Raw Noodle

• Migraphy

• Yaya's Yum Yums

• Nom It Like It's Hot

• Goth Gourmande

Other visits to Taste of Sydney:
March 2012 / March 2011 / March 2010

SNAPSHOT REVIEW:

PROS: A taste test of Sydney's top quality restaurants, Meet the chefs in person

CONS: Can end up being quite expensive if you want to try a lot of dishes, Weather permitting, Time limit, Can get crowded and quite overwhelming

MUST TRY: Checking out the other dishes I didn't get to see

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FREE TASTINGS

New Zealand stand

New Zealand King Salmon

Salmon tartare canapé

Smoked salmon ceviche

NZ Regal King Salmon Pastrami canapé

Omega Seafood

Mussels

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Clams

Whitestone cheese

Double Cream Brie, Brie

Vintage Cheddar, Camembert

Windsor Blue

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Kohu Road Ice Cream

Vanilla

Strawberry

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Golden syrup

Cookies and cream

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Expresso
SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Dark chocolate

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Milk chocolate

City Tattersalls Club

Bramble Cocktail

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Mini Wagyu Cheese Burger with capsicum relish

Apple, Cranberry and Cinnamon donuts with white chocolate or sour cherry

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Dulce de leche and Chocolate Panna Cotta

Tempura Soft Shell Crab with Lime and Ginger Aioli

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Friendly service team

Gourmet Dinner Service

Smoked Salmon Roulade

Chocolate and Orange Cassatta

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

ThinkSpirits

Pama Pomegranate Liqueur

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Baileys

Baileys with a hint of coffee

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Bultarra

Australian Saltbush Lamb Easy Carve Leg

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Game Farm

Portuguese Spatchcock in Piri Piri Marinade

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

Pure Spirits

Broker's London Dry Gin

SIMON FAVOURITE :-)

The charismatic Andy Dawson (director) signing customer purchased

RESTAURANT DISHES

Etch
Executive Chef - James Metcalfe

Dish 1: Prawn cocktail (Etch) $10

Bécasse
Executive Chef - Justin North

Dish 2: Organic Grass Fed Wagyu Beef Burger (Plan B) $12

SFF Note: To really appreciate this dish I think you're better off going to Plan B and get it freshly cooked for only $10.

Dish 3: Chocolate Souffle (Bécasse) $12

ARIA
Executive Chef - Matt Moran

Dish 1: Cured ocean trout with cucumber and horseradish $10

Dish 2: Slow roasted Moran Family Lamb Spit Roast $12

[NO PIC]

Dish 3: Strawberry jelly with Champagne foam

Pilu at Freshwater
Executive Chef - Giovanni Pilu

Dish 1: Suckling Pig panino with apple, mustard and rocket served on Sonoma sourdough $10

Dish 2: Risotto with Crystal Bay prawns and zucchini $12

Dish 3: 'Zippulas' - Sardinian donuts with citrus sugar $8

Restaurant Balzac

Executive Chef - Matthew Kemp

Dish 1: Crispy Wagyu Beef with Wild Mushroom and Truffle Foam $10

Dish 2 : Saddle of Suckling Pig with Garden Peas and Smoked Bacon Jus $12

Dish 3: Warm Chocolate Fondant with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream $10

Longrain Restaurant & Bar
Executive Chef - Martin Boetz

Dish 1: Longrain Fish cakes with sweet chilli lime coriander and bean sprouts $10

SIMON WISHLIST TO TRY :-)

Dish 2: Longrain Yellow curry of Byron Bay Berkshire Pork with pickled mustard greens $12

SIMON WISHLIST TO TRY :-)

Dish 3: Tapioca pudding with poached jackfruit & lychees $8

Danks Street Depot
Executive Chef - Jared Ingersoll

Dish 1: Organic Chicken Liver Parfait with Sweet Vinegar Raisan and Dressed Baby Herbs $10

Dish 2: Beef Ribs Smoked in Watermelon with a Watermelon and Avocado Salad $12

SIMON WISHLIST TO TRY :-)

Dish 3: 'Saucy Tart' with Chocolate Mousse and Liquid Raspberry Centre $10

Restaurant Assiette
Executive Chef - Warren Turnbull

Dish 1: Sydney rock oysters with Vietnamese dressing cripsy shallot and baby coriander $10

Dish 2: Miso glazed Malborough king salmon with Japanese radish salad $12

Dish 3: Fig and Heilala vanilla ricotta tart with honey ice cream $8

SIMON WISHLIST TO TRY :-)

Bird Cow Fish
Executive Chef - Alex Herbert

Dish 1: Terrine of Berkshire pork with 'Grain Organic Bakery' white sourdough and a remoulade dressed salad $12

Dish 2: Braised Cape Grim beef cheek and galzed onion pie in a sour cream & puff pastry case, red wine veal jus $12

Dish 3: Tiramisu roulade - chocolate sponge rolled around a Paesanella mascarpone and Marsale sabayon $8

Berowra Waters Inn
Executive Chef - Dietmar Sawyere

Dish 1: Chilled Vichyssoise, Salmon Caviar, Hawkesbury River Oyster Beignet $10

SIMON WISHLIST TO TRY :-)

Dish 2: Quail Breast & Truffled Risotto Croustillant $12

Dish 3: Cheesecake Foam, Late Summer Fruits, White Chocolate $10

Four in Hand
Executive Chef - Colin Fassnidge

Dish 1: Dashi and soy marinated tuna with spicy avocade puree and pickled cauliflower and garden radish salad $10

Dish 2: 12 hour slow cooked lamb shoulder; minted crushed peas and feta dressing $12

SIMON WISHLIST TO TRY :-)

Dish 3: The 4's dark chocolate Cherry Ripe $8

Jonah's at Whale Beach
Executive Chef - George Francisco

Dish 1: Alba White Truffle popcorn $8

Dish 2: Fries with Eyes - Crisp school Prawns with a spicy Cajun remoulade $12

Dish 3: Vanilla panna cotta with lavender honey and fresh pomegranate $12

SIMON WISHLIST TO TRY :-)

el Toro Loco
Executive Chef - Miguel Maestre

Me mixing Paella a la Maestre

Dish 1: Manchego and Serrano Montaditos with sourdough and extra virgin olive oil $8

Dish 2: Chef and Paella a la Maestre $10

Dish 3: Grilled vanilla stone fruit with sangria $8

Marque
Executive Chef - Mark Best

Dish 1: Cured Ocean Trout with Coleslaw, lemon & Dill Jelly $10

Dish 2: Slow Cooked Lamb Rump, Confit Capsicum, Eggplant caviar & Black Olive Oil $12

Dish 3: Sauternes Custard with Caramel $8

Flying Fish
Executive Chef - Peter Kuruvita

Dish 1: Yellow fin tuna with sweet pork crackling and ruby grape fruit $10

Dish 2: Grilled king prawns with black pepper and curry leaf sauce steamed rice and curry leaf malum $12

Dish 3: Sri Lankan Love cake with raspberry tea coulis $8

Flying Fish sauces, dressings and cooking products

Guillaume at Bennelong
Executive Chef - Guillaume Brahimi

Dish 1: Mini Sandwich with Blue Swimmer Crab meat and coriander mayonnaise $10

Dish 2: Wagyu Beef Daube with Paris Mash $12

Dish 3: Pistachio Macaroons $8

Buon Ricordo
Executive Chef - Armando Percuoco

[NO PIC]

Dish 1: Pasta e piselli: Tubetti pasta with peas, onions and bacon $8

[NO PIC]

Dish 2: Fagottini di carne: Homemade sausage bound with parmesan and truffle egg, served with rucola $10

[NO PIC]

Dish 3: Braciolette Napoletana: Veal rolled with parsley, pine-nuts, sultanas and garlic cooked with fresh tomato $12

The Festival grounds

Entrance

Crown Bank lineup — look out for sellers walking around as well.

SMEG stand - cool retro coloured fridges

Plenty of stands

Opera Bar stand

Chandon stand

Victor Churchill stand

King Island Dairy stand

Planet Cake stand

Environmental cutlery

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