Friday 13 September 2013

RockSalt Modern Dining

Cuisine: Modern Australian
Shop 12, 20 Albert Avenue 
Broadbeach, QLD 4218
http://www.rocksaltmoderndining.com.au/ 

This 1 chef's hat restaurant was voted Best Contemporary Restaurant for South East Qld 2012 as well as their own Executive Chef and Owner, Matt Jefferson, winning Gold Coast Magazine's People's Choice Awards for Chef of the Year 2009, 2010 and 2011. This place has quite a few awards up their sleeves since opening in 2008.

Typically, we would not expect a restaurant of this calibre to be fully open facing the streets. It is a contrast to the more enclosed fine dining experience in Melbourne but it really works in their favour with the warm weather in Gold Coast, keeping it casual yet classy.
There was so much we wanted to try so we went for the 8 course degustation meal ($125pp or $200pp with matching wine) to allow us to try a variety of the chef's specialty. 
1. Pacific Oyster: Vietnamese dressing, pickled vegetables
We were wowed at the assortment of colours and beautiful presentation. The oyster was fresh and cooling however dressing lacked flavour. It sat on a bed of seaweed salad, propping the shell stably and adding another element to the plate. What we most adored about this dish was the colourful scatter of pickled vegetables complimenting each other perfectly. 
 2. An Exercise in Seasonal Spontaneity: A course decided by the chef at the time of ordering, spontaneous and fresh. 
This spontaneous dish consisted of prosciutto, scallop, lobster salad, Brazilian root tapioca (the small green balls) and pickled daikon slice showcasing the chef's creative flare. There were quite a few different flavours and textures in this dish. Every element was beautifully done however we were unable to appreciate the root tapioca.
 3. Pave of Tasmanian Salmon: Jerusalem artichoke puree, almond and caper polonaise, sauce cert, spanner crab croquette. 
Not only is the dish plated with care, the plate itself adds interest for the eyes. Crisp skin for both croquette and salmon with a complementing sweet puree. 

After the third course, we have used up all our cutlery and was presented with another 3 sets for the next ones to follow. Every piece of silverware was placed neatly and precisely which shows their care for detail. 
4. Slow Cooked Beef Cheek: Master stock, lemon perfumed parsnip skordalia, sprouts, radish, sea tangle and sweet ginger. 
The beef cheek was tender and topped with some seaweed salad ('sea tangle'), enochi mushrooms and onion, it balances the heaviness of the meat. The meat was however a bit too sweet for our palate's liking. 
Palate cleanser: Watermelon and citrus fruit ice
Although this wasn't an actual dish per se, we really enjoyed this palate cleanser. It had just the right blend of fruits and was very refreshing. It is also very cute that it was presented in a 'bent plastic cup' figured cup. 
 5. Rare Seared VenisonJuniper, smoked celeriac puree, bacon and granola, black trompette, shiraz jus
Another very interesting plate. Tender, bloody, just lovely. The addition of bacon felt very unusual to us as it didn't seem to match the the other ingredients. Who would have thought granola could be incorporated in a savoury dish like this, yet it added the perfect texture with the meat. 
 6. Epoisse: Melted, dehydrated tomato, apple balsamic, torn basic, pickled mustard seed
The male waiter we had for the night was very well informed, explaining to us the dishes in detail for every plate he brought out. This one, the epoisse (cheese) is aged in orange wine. It has a very strong taste resembling blue cheese. The tomato and citrus flavours help cut the strong taste. When the cheese was tasted with mustard seed, it brought out the strong cheesiness even more. 

After this course, we had a very long wait before our dessert courses were served. The wait seemed just too long... But the after seeing the first dessert we can definetely overlook it!
 7. Callebaute Milk Chocolate Creameux: Peanut butter powder, chocolate soil, hazelnut dust, Frangelico jelly, brown bead ice cream
This was definitely our favourite dish of the night. Chocolate cookie crumbs, the smooth, richness of the chocolate ice cream and the squishy jelly and nuts. Everything together was was like heaven in our mouth. 
 8. Strawberries and Cream 2013: Madagascan vanilla and rose parfait, textures of strawberry, dust, cloud, leather, thyme powder and rose mastic
After our favourite dish of the night, we ended with our least favourite dish. A few rose water gummy candies tasted strongly of rose. Leather strawberry fruit reminded me of the dried fruit roll up snacks we used to have when younger. Strawberry cloud was a light and fluffy as the name would suggest. This plate had flavours of rose and strawberries in different textures that I can imagine we would have liked if we enjoyed rose flavoured delicacies.  

This was a very light flavour after the chocolate. Our preference would have been to have the lighter dessert first and end in the rich chocolate. But we can understand the reason why the menu was done this way as the strawberries and cream is a good palate cleanser. 

Overall
The service was impeccable with the gentleman, however the waitress of the night lacked in terms of food knowledge and ignored the sound of broken glassware on another table. We would have rated the service higher if not for the inconsistency between the two waiters as our waters were always filled and asked if we wanted anything else when we finished our wines. The food was beautifully presented with unique plates showing the chef's creativity. Downside to the night was that we were not holding our stomachs after 8 courses however the degustation meal was a memorable experience that we enjoyed.

Food: 7.5/10
Service: 7.5/10 
Cost: Higher Priced
Overall dining experience: 8/10

RockSalt Modern Dining on Urbanspoon

No comments:

Post a Comment