The Little Snail | Darling Harbour
Located behind the Harbourside Shopping complex in Pyrmont, you will find a restaurant called "The Little Snail". Don't get turned off by the name of this place like I almost did, as there are plenty of selections from the menu that do not include Frog Legs or Snail. However, if that is what you are looking for, this French restaurant will cater to your taste buds also.
This was part of a Scoopon voucher that we purchased. It was definitely good value for our money.
The voucher included a cocktail or soft drink each. We chose the Strawberry cocktail and the Lemon Lime Bitters. The Strawberry cocktail tasted nice, but you could barely taste any alcohol!
... and now starts the food journey. Sorry we didn't take any pictures of the establishment itself. It is quite small but has an amazing grande piano in the centre! I also just want to point out that the wait staff were impeccable! We even had an undercooked steak and they brought it back and cooked it longer to our liking.
Salt and Pepper Squid
Lightly coated in panko - fried - with petite mesclun and capers and cornichons aioli
We all decided to choose the Salt and Pepper Squid. It was something about the aioli that really persuaded me to this dish. Thank the heavens that I did because it by itself was heavenly. I love my sauce, and I would come back to this venue for the sauce alone. However, the squid aka "fancy name for calamari in this instance" was nothing spectacular. I was expecting something different... but end of the day squid is squid!
Loin of Lamb
With wilted baby spinach - maple glazed pommes boulangere and thyme jus
The plating for all the mains we ate were very similar. All elements had to be eaten together in order to enjoy the meal I found, as one element was lacking what another had. The lamb was very tender and worked very well with the jus. The only criticism is that there should have been more sauce! The boulangere was pretty bland in my opinion, but if you are eating it with the lamb and jus then it has a perfect balance.
Crispy Skin Duck
With wilted baby spinach and cranberry sauce.
I was REALLY disappointed when the duck came out and the skin was soggy. At first glance I assumed that it was because of the cranberry juice, but even those pieces that didn't have any on top were not crispy as advised. The duck itself was still very moist and tender, and the baby spinach was infused with loads of garlic (I LOVE GARLIC!) so end of the day I was still happy with the dish!
Fillet of Beef Tenderloin
Served with potato millefeuille and red wine jus
I didn't try any of the Beef, but was told that the fillet was a very nice cut of beef. The millefueille (had to triple check that I wrote it properly) was tasty and the red wine jus once again worked well with the beef. Nice, simple and elegant - Reminds me of what I learnt back in school KISS (Keep it simple stupid!).
Home-made Profiteroles
With creme patissiere and mint chocolate sauce
They clearly took time and effort preparing their desserts as they have a touch of class and elegance to each dish... Thankfully it tasted as good as it looks! Could have used a bit more chocolate though!
Warm Sticky Date Pudding
With butterscotch and French vanilla ice cream
This was very sweet, you need a real sweet tooth to finish it. however it didn't stop my brother from demolishing two of these servings! The presentation was amazing! It was definitely a head turner when it came to our table.
Classic Creme Caramel
I normally avoid Crème Caramel but for some reason I was oddly attracted to its sweet sweet (AND I MEAN SWEET) caramel and toffee "soup" =P I felt so guilty after eating this.
Verdict: I would definitely go back for another experience, however not at the prices they set. I'll wait for another deal to come around on Scoopon before I try this place again :)
