When we stepped inside the restaurant it was a lot grander than i expected. There were plush chairs, dim lighting, soft music and heaps of waitstaff greeting you as you made your way to the table. Quite impressive and made me feel somewhat special, and when you have the harbour bridge as your background you really can't complain too much.
Pre Theatre Prices:
One Course - $44
Two Course - $72
3 Course - $89
Yes, photo of the bread haha. The crust was super tough which was such a shame. I love bread and butter but when the crust is so tough and chewy, it made me look very unlady like as i wrestled it with my teeth and hand.
Amuse bouche was tomato gazpacho with a spoonful of pineapple cream. Gazpacho is a liquid vegetable soup with a prominent tomato flavour. It was very light and appetising, not too intense as it prepares you for the upcoming meal.
Out of all the entrees we ordered, the tuna definitely deserved the best-looking-entree award! The thin, bright red tuna was so beautifully and identically sliced. Such a colourful, well presented dish.
SALMON - cured New Zealand salmon with kombu and Earl Grey tea, yuzu tapioca and avocado purée
SCALLOPS - spiced and roasted with glazed witlof, pistachios and dried apricots
As i adore duck no matter what form it comes in , i ordered the duck consomme which comprised of duck dumpling, abalone slices and shitake mushroom. Funnily enough i've never ordered consomme before. It is a clear thin soup based dish where the soup is supposed to be quite rich.
It was a big bowl of consomme!! The soup base was extremely dark in colour with floating shitake slices blanketing the whole surface. It was too intense in flavour for my liking and too liquidy in consistency, i suppose what a consomme should be. Abalone pieces were soft and delicious but the amount of abalone was regretfully scarce.
CONSOMME - Peking duck consommé with duck dumplings, shaved abalone and mushrooms
Our mains arrived in a heartbeat. We were getting closer and closer to 8pm which was when they needed the table back and we could tell from the anxious waitstaff.
It was a decent chunk of barramundi, pan seared to a golden nutty brown colour. Despite the generous serving it was slightly dry.
BARRAMUNDI -crisp skinned fillet with grilled cuttlefish, apple, green olives and a horseradish sauce
The lamb was served medium as requested. It was gorgeously juicy with the right balance of fat vs meat. I particularly liked the cheesy ricotta gnocchi coupled with the sweetness of pumpkin puree. The crispness came from the asparagus and overall a marvelous dish.
LAMB - roasted rump with ricotta gnocchi, pumpkin and mustard fruit purée and a sage and balsamic sauce
As we drew closer to the finishing line we had to start planning ahead and ordered the souffle which required 20mins to make. The souffle was a passionfruit souffle and frankly, i've had a lot better ones elsewhere. The passionfruit was immensely sour even when you have a mouthful of the utterly sweet white chocolate ice cream with it. It is the first time i've surrendered midway through a dessert as my palate couldn't cope.
SOUFFLE - passionfruit soufflé with white chocolate ripple ice cream
The apple dessert was a fairy tale story on a plate. It was decorated with beautiful berries with Prince Macaron positioned next to Princess Sorbet at the centre of the plate with a castle in the background =)
The sorbet hit the right spot - it was like drinking ginger beer itself. A definite winner.
APPLE - caramel poached apple with a ginger bread and cherry macaron and ginger beer sorbet
Petit Fours - berry jelly cube, chocolate truffle, coconut biscuit
There were some missteps during my Aria experience, some stand outs and some duds. Being awarded two hats consistently throughout the years, i would expect a higher calibre of food and incorporating some creativity here and there to remind patrons why Aria deserved to be two hatted. But Aria has instead preferred to play somewhat safe.
Aria Restaurant
1 Macquarie Street
Sydney
Tel - 02 9252 2555
http://www.ariarestaurant.com/
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