24.07.10 – Bistro Ortolan
Man, this post has been sitting in my drafts for a good 3 months while these pics have been sitting on my comp for a good 6! It’s taken me so long to get around to posting this because I thought this batch of photos was a complete write off. Aside from the grain (enough to keep an entire race of humans fed for a few millenia), they were dark with terrible white balanace. I didn’t think they were salvageable. Thank god for adjusting levels! While you are now vaguely able to make out what the food looked like, they’re far from passable, but hey, better than not having anything at all. Here goes.
Tomato and white anchoy veloute with Coffin Bay Pacific oyster and Melfor vinegar granita
Mmm, there is no better way to start a meal than with some veloute… and oysters!
Ceviche of citrus cured ocean trout and baby octopus with fresh Tasmanian wasabi, san choy bau
A nice start to the meal. I can’t exactly remember what it tasted like but when they said baby octopus, they meant it. Those two tentacles you see on the plate are about all that was in the dish.
(_I_)(_I_)(_I_)(_I_)(_I_)(_I_)
Tartlet of Victoria smoked eel and kipfler potato with a petite salad nicoise and softly cooked quail egg
Mmm, the quail was awesome! I love poached eggs and enjoyed watching the yolk ooze out of this one.
Crepinette of Pink Snapper with seared Hervey Bay scallops, foie gras butter and summer greens
The general rule for this meal was that if it was green, it was delicious! Strange, but true. We don’t usually like greens and vegies but we absolutely loved what they did with this puree, I would have licked my plate clean if noone else was around. Bit of a turn around! I find it funny that the salad we hated from Quay was pink. Seems like green is in!
Pot-au-feu of free-range Burrawong chicken in ‘half-mourning’ with roasted chicken and Tasmanian truffle consomme
I love soups and veloute and sauce, so my eyes lit up with delight with the waiter came around to dress our meals with consomme. Very tender and succulent.
Rare, spice-roasted sirloin of Cervena venison with a fricasee of glazed winter vegetables, foie gras and game pie
We were a bit apprehensive of this one because of the pie, but it turns out that it wasn’t gamey at all. Maybe that’s not what ‘game’ was referring to…
And again! for extra measure
oh, hello there!
Epoisses Berthau with candied almonds and walnut toast
A smelly cheese that came in an interesting wooden container. Very strong, from what I remember, but it went well with the sweeter toast and walnuts. I love soft cheeses like camembert and brie, this was like a saltier, smellier version.
Pear and verjuice sorbet with apple and pear salad
Best. Dessert. Ever! I may have enjoyed this more than the Snow Egg at Quay. It was so nice and refreshing! I think the apple and pear do it for me more than the white nectarine. GREEN WAS IN!
Date and armagnac creme brulee with caramelised brioche French toast and fennel ice cream
Oh man, we were so stuffed by this course. I’m not sure we could enjoy it properly. I remember it being a very rich dessert that I could not finish 
Tea, coffee and petits four
All in all, the meal was a very enjoyable one. I think this place is a nice little gem and am glad we gave it a go. Great bang for buck as well! 9 courses at a ridiculously good price (I think it was $140). This is one I would definitely go back to. I think we did well considering the trouble we were having finding somewhere to dine for my birthday. I’m lucky a spot opened up, otherwise it would have been a 9pm sitting at Aria (waaaaaaaay too late! We would never have gotten out of there!). This booking was for 8 and I was dyingggg to go to bed by the time we finished up. The only thing I can fault Bistro Ortolan on is the lengthy intermission between (if I recall correctly) courses 4 and 5. While it’s nice to have a bit of a break, it isn’t fun when it goes on for almost an hour (or at least that’s what it felt like). Hooray, for little bang for buck gems!
