Scarlett Restaurant Review

I know what you are thinking- my bread looks too fake. Well I would have to agree, my battery was dwindling by the hour so I couldn't play around with exposure and what not so minor edits at home it was, only that left my bread looking abnormally orange. Forgive me.

So it was a while since I last ate out with my mum and since we missed Vivid last year, I wanted to go this year but with uni exams around the corner we had to settle for last Sunday. The problem about Sunday is that a lot of places are closed- Why? The better restaurants that are open are most likely already booked out and or outside my budget for a mother-daughter dinner. That said, I found Scarlett Restaurant which is fortunately open 7 days and offers a $28 (not entirely sure about price) pasta and wine deal or you could like me opt for the $59 3-course meal.

Entrees:

Fan fried octopus with chorizo, coconut gel, herb salad, chilli dressing $18

My mother ordered this one but we did try each other's dish so I can say that I wished I had ordered this instead. The white cubes you see in the photo are your coconut gel which was my favourite element after the octopus of course, it was really rich but yet surprising it didn't feel out of place alongside the Spanish flavours from the chorizo and octopus. The octopus for the record was very tender and the serving was quite generous as well. 

Ceviche of Kingfish with chilli, radish, blood orange dressing $18

My entree, chose it purely because I've never had ceviche fish which is just the technique of using acid to cook raw fish. Compared to the other entree, I guess you could say that this was more one-dimensional, there was nothing wrong with the dish but there was nothing special either- my tip would be to enhance that dressing. So yes there was the kingfish had a tangy kick from the dressing but that's about it.

Mains:

Crisp Skin Atlantic Salmon with scorched and puree corn, chilli king prawn $30

According to my mother, the salmon was like every other salmon that you order at restaurants. I hope that provides you with enough information because I didn't try this except for the corn puree. I still remain a bit skeptical of the scorched corn, mainly because I am still scarred by school camp food and how we were served peas and corn (from the frozen bags that you buy at supermarkets), so corn kernels have always remained a home/camp food rather than in a restaurant. That said, I really did enjoy the corn puree, that was smooth, it had great flavour and something worked well with salmon. 

Roast Beef Fillet with Shimeji mushrooms, asparagus, bone marrow, jus  $35

For the main, I had bragging rights for choosing the better one. I actually at first overlooked the bone marrow in the description and it wasn't until I got my meal that I realised that the beef came with bone marrow. I know this makes me sound like such a food snob (kinda am one) but I absolutely love bone marrow. Being Chinese, we use a lot of bones to make stock as opposed to buying it off the shelves, so since young I have eaten bone marrow unbeknownst to the raves about it in the food world. Now I can join those people as I snobbishly order my bone marrow- it was very fatty, but that means that it was sensational. I asked for my beef fillet to be done medium, it was a bit over on the ends but I can overlook that because I'm actually a well-done type of person, it's just that I can never bring myself to order something well-done outside the confines of my home. I found the vegetable pairing to complement the rest of the meal well, I mean what is there not to love about mushrooms and asparagus (or is it because I have an affinity for the two). I still however am yet to know the identity of that fried thing sticking out (sorry for the poor description, I just wanted to be frank), my guess is a mushroom but don't take my word because I'm just guessing here.  

THAT BONE MARROW

Dessert:

Panna with berries, puffed wild rice $14

Mum doesn't know how to judge desserts so I'll just leave you with the photos.

Banana Creme Brûlée with peanut brittle ice-cream $14

My dessert and apologies for the not so great photo but I had to snap one quickly because homemade ice-cream melts ridiculously fast. So by the time I get a good shot out, my ice-cream would have already been smeared all over the plate. Ice-cream was lovely, loved the peanut pieces which is to be expected since the flavour is peanut brittle. The creme brûlée was flavoured banana but that was super subtle, it wasn't quite the custard of a normal creme brûlée but it did have the aftertaste of ripe bananas. 

Service Summary: 

The service was not poor but at the same time it wasn't outstanding, the waiters gave you ample time to look over the menu and order, water was filled up when appropriate but I found that we were often overlooked by the waiters. The meals took longer than necessary to be cleared and there was a much longer wait for the meals to arrive than what I am used to. All in all, definitely room for improvement. 

Ending this post with some obligatory Vivid Sydney photos that feature the Opera House amongst others. Don't forget to follow me on Facebook and Instagram for more information about dining out and photos along the way.