MARQUE: Surry Hills, Sydney – FINALLLLLLLLLY! 2

www.marquerestaurant.com.au

Every year in December, on the 29th December to be precise, I eat something extremely delicious. Ok, let’s be honest, I eat delicious things on several other days of the year too, too many other days probably, but FOR A FACT, on the 29/12/every year I eat something haymarama. The reason for this is that the 29th December is the Wedding Anniversary of Husbles’ folks, an AMAZING couple, an inspiring couple! This year Mom and Dad celebrated a remarqueable 42 years and to marque this special occasion we went to Marque. (Apologies for the unfunny tri-use of the word Marque – couldn’t help myself, marque my word, I won’t do it again. Stopit.)

Like many of the other fab restos around town, I have been wanting to go here for agggggggggges. I’d heard great things and was just getting curiouser and curiouser by the minute. I really wanted to suss it out for myself. If you don’t want to read the following 620,000 word review, in summary, let’s just say that the Good Food Guide Awards crew were COMPLETELY on the marque correct when they named this place 2011 Vittoria Coffee Restaurant of the Year. FAB-U-LOUS.

Apart from taking us a little while to find a parking space, I just adore the location of Marque. Right there amongst it. Hello Billy Kwong, Hello gorgeous, amazing, packed to the brim with exceptional eateries Crown Street. Hello hustle and bustle. Yup. Love it.

From the moment I walked through the front door I felt as though I had been transported to Phoodie heaven. The place just has a vibe about it. Crisp. Fresh. Modern. Exciting. FEED ME.

Again, in summary, ’cause I don’t wanna talk about it over and over (would rather focus on the food), the service was EXCELLENT. Our waiters were knowledgeable, obliging and all had fantastic accents, that were NOT put on! They were friendly, yet professional. Informative, yet not annoying. Tick tick tick for service.

It’s become somewhat of a tradtion to choose restaurants for the Anniversary dinner that have a reputable degustation on offer, and Anniversary 2010 was no exception. I had read reviews, I had seen some pics, but nothing could have prepared me for what was to come. The beauty in front of me on each and every plate. The ingenius flavour combinations that set fireworks off on my tongue. The creativity on all levels of what it means to ‘experience’ food. FAR OUT.

Let’s do a quick walk through…

Course one aka the amuse -bouche was the Chaud-Froid free range egg. Originally created by Alain Passard in 1998, this Hot-Cold burst of flavour was as unique as it was knummmmmy!  The yolk of the egg has been slightly poached, and once salt, maple syrup and cream have been added, chives are then sprinkled on the top. Served in the original yolk casing ie La shell,  this dish is seriously va va voom! The spaghetti thin, mile long breadsticks that are presented with it are so much fun to “dunk”! Beauty to look at, beauty to eat. Perfect start to the evening.

CHAUD-FROID FREE RANGE EGG

We are then offered bread – sourdough or rye with caraway seeds. I go with the sourdough. I eat it. I weep. Look it wasn’t better than the best sourdough I have had before, but it was up there. The butter on the other hand, too hard…..unspreadable…..but don’t worry I still managed to get some on there…..

SOURDOUGH BREAD

SOURDOUGH OR RYE WITH CARAWAY SEEDS?! BOTH PLEASE!

For me, the non-drinker, I found litres of both sparkling and still water was the perfect accompaniment to my dishes!! The wine lovers would disagree! I am certainly not qualified  to even COMMENCE a conversation about the matching wines, but what I can say is those who drank to match smiled the whole night long!

H20

So after the egg, we knew we were in for not only a series of realllllly tasty treats, but also visual extravaganzas! The next dish was Almond Jelly with Blue swimmer crab, almond gazpacho, sweet corn and Avruga. Again, apart from being super preeeeeedy to look at, the flavour combos here just knocked my socks off. In addition, the TEXTURAL combos were brill. Please do read on, but this was POSSIBLY my favourite dish of the night!

ALMOND JELLY WITH BLUE SWIMMER CRAB, ALMOND GAZPACHO, SWEET CORN AND AVRUGA

Next in line was the Spring bay scallops with vadouvan, radish, turnip and apple. Turnip sorbet to be precise! I realllllllly am repeating myself, (but I guess that’s the theme of this place,) STUNNNNNNING PRESENTATION!!!  Every single drop is put on the plate for a reason, whether it’s to balance the flavours or to balance the look. The turnip sorbet was a divinnnnnnnne compliment to the scallops!

SPRING BAY SCALLOPS WITH VADOUVAN, RADISH, TURNIP AND APPLE

The excitement at our table is rising now, maybe it’s the wine for some!? But for me it’s the sense of “ooooh what next?!” and then out comes the next dish – Cold smoked ocean trout with lemon, dill and vanilla. The sweet crispy “ginger snap looking shell” that acted like a roof over the trout was the perfect textural contrast to the silky smooth fish that lay beneath. Dill and Lemon, classic.But vanilla!? AMAZING. Subtle but amazing.

COLD SMOKED OCEAN TROUT WITH LEMON, DILL AND VANILLA

Along with the crab, the next course of Roast scampi with mustard and ham vinaigrette was literally to die for! I am salivating at the thought of it. Perfectly cooked scampi. Sprinkled on top are fennel flowers. SOOOOO pretty and such a clever thing to balance out course 64 or whatever we were up to at this stage!

ROAST SCAMPI WITH MUSTARD AND HAM VINAIGRETTE

So that was the end of the seafood and now it was MEAT and POULTRY time! Say hello to my least fave dish of the night. That sounds horrible. And it wasn’t. It really wasn’t. The Spatchcock with peas, spinach, pistachio and samphire just really didn’t do too much for me. Yes it was gorgeous to look at. Yes it was pretty yummy, but it wasn’t as innovative…..as clever….as risky…as the other courses. And although, technically, the spatchcock was cooked “properly”, I prefer mine a little more done.

SPATCHCOCK WITH PEAS, SPINACH, PISTACHIO AND SAMPHIRE

Again, the meat course of Wagyu striploin with shallots, leek, white asparagus and ox heart was not a dish that impressed me like the others. Each component of the dish worked brilliantly together, but it just tasted like something I’d had before……and there’s nothing wrong with that….but compared to everything else, it stands out as something that doesn’t stand out…..if that makes sense. Sorry if I make ZERO sense from here on but I am on a deadlineeeeeeeee i.e. child will wake VERY SOONNNNNNN!

WAGYU STRIPLOIN WITH SHALLOTS, LEEK, WHITE ASPARAGUS AND OX HEART

The next course was optional. Half of us had it and half didn’t. It was referred to as the “Cheese course” and it was Brillat savarin with pearl barley, rocket and tea jam. Now THAT’S what I’m talkin’ ’bout!!! Back to brilliance. So gorgeous. So unique. I was one of the ones who “didn’t have it” but thanks to my husband ordering it, I did.

BRILLAT SAVARIN WITH PEARL BARLEY, ROCKET AND TEA JAM

Then onto the first dessert course. Mouth is currently watering so much all over my keyboard that I actually CANNOT TYPE. This gorgeous Sauternes custard was a liquor-y, caramel-y, creme brulee-y concoction that had our entire table speechless for about 5 minutes after we had each demolished our tea cup full. PURE GENIUS.

SAUTERNES CUSTARD

And the last dessert course was, along with the crab and the scampi, another one of my absolute faves of the evening. Who can beat the choc-coco combo?! This plate of Chocolate Mousse ‘Ecrase’ with Eucalyptus and Coconut was perfect in EVERY. SNGLE. WAY. I was scraping at my plate like a pigeon at Circular Quay scrapes the promenade when someone drops a hot chip, until I was gently tapped on the shoulder by myself and reminded of where I was.

To end off, a beautiful wooden board covered in Salted caramel chocolates and bitter bon bons is delivered to the table. We are invited to eat the Salted Caramel Chocolate AFTER the bon bons as “the gentle sweetness and subtly salty flavours linger gloriuously in the mouth”…..and they did!

SALTED CARAMEL CHOCOLATES AND BITTER BON BONS

So?? Overall!?

Thumbs up!

Bravo!

Onya!

Good one!

Yeah yeah yeah!

Top MARQUES!

DOH!