Assiette

Assiette is one of the few restaurants which was on my must-go-to list for 2010! Being so eagerly anticipated, even the slightly steep walk up Albion St was worth it. Assiette is situated on an intersection clearly visible from across the road.





It was obvious this restaurant is popular with small group gatherings or those appreciative of food art as nearly every table was equipped with a camera.

The ambience was nice and intimate even though the restaurant was quite packed for a Thursday night. Service was excellent and not intrusive. We were told that the window tables were booked out a few weeks in advance, so if you are after a table with views of the streets outside, book early =P




Sourdough

Starting off with the sourdough which was nicely baked, we were promptly served amuse bouche after we ordered our entrees.


Amuse bouche~ pumpkin with basil oil

The pumpkin soup came in an expresso cup and was pleasant to the eyes - the contrasting basil oil droplets on top of the yellow pumkin soup. The pumpkin was hot and creamy but could not taste the basil oil on the palette. Was craving for more!

We chose the seared tuna and the prawn tortellini - and also some oysters.




Oysters

The oysters were lovely and fresh with Vietnamese influences nicely complimented with a slightly chilli dressing balanced with crunchy onion pieces.


Seared Tuna

The seared tuna had a nice smooth texture cut in a decent sized serving however the smoked eel tasted very weird - was it REALLY eel?! Possessing a very gooey texture and tasted nothing like eel. This dish was very lovely presented.


Prawn Tortellini

The prawn in the tortellini reminded me of the prawns inside the prawn dumplings you get at yumcha - bursting with flavour. Somehow my prawns kept falling out of the totellini and forced me to eat the tortellini separately which was unfortunate as the tortellini was absolutely tasteless. The tortellini rested on a bed of lobster jelly which were not to my liking as it was quite salty.

For mains we ordered the snapper fillet in ginger congee with spanner crab and the swordfish fillet.


Snapper fillet with ginger congee and spanner crab


Unlike other restaurants, Assiette debone their fish perfectly! The snapper was nicely cooked and tasty but I do question the complimenting watery ginger congee. The texture was more like bland baby food with lots of onions - fortunately the crab meat in the congee was beautiful.





The first thing that caught my eye with the swordfish dish was the amazingly cute looking tomato - the skin was peeled and flipped upwards making it look like the tomato just came out of a hair salon~ It was roasted to perfection, super sweet and juicey. The swordfish steak was a bit dry but fortunately balanced with the roasted potatoes and olive salad which gave the dish the extra punch in flavour needed for the dish.


Side of mash potato

We were slightly disappointed with the dessert menu - as a dessert lover, I always order dessert but in this instance, there was nothing enticing on the list. We were served complimentary passion fruit jelly cubes which instantly melts in your mouth.



Assiette is very reasonably priced for a 2 hatted restaurant.

Next time i visit, i will definitely try the degustation.

Assiette
48 Albion Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 9212 7979
http://www.restaurantassiette.com.au/