William Blue Dining | The Rocks
William Blue Dining is a student managed and operated fine dining restaurant located in The Rocks. It has been voted Sydney's sixth best restaurant on TripAdvisor (so impressive) - it's even more impressive when you realise that the restaurant is actually a training site for hospitality students! We had fourth term students cooking and it was really hard to tell the difference between professionals and students. William Blue College of Hospitality Management at Torrens University Australia has developed a reputation for delivering friendly service with a three-course menu created by students and chefs in training under expert supervision.
We began our dining experience with two glasses of Stewart & Prentice Blanc de Blanc NV Cuvee Celebration.It pours with a frothy white mousse with a good hold, it's quite light and subtle with notes of pear, crisp acidity and a dry finish.
Charcuterie Plate
On this plate we enjoyed serrano ham, burrata, pickles, croutes and an amazing, house made pate.
The pate was silky smooth and decadent with a hint of sweetness from the chicken liver. I wanted more croutes to eat with the cheese and pate (I ended up scraping the plate clean by using the complimetary house made bread). As always, everything is best enjoyed all in one bite!
On this plate we enjoyed serrano ham, burrata, pickles, croutes and an amazing, house made pate.
The pate was silky smooth and decadent with a hint of sweetness from the chicken liver. I wanted more croutes to eat with the cheese and pate (I ended up scraping the plate clean by using the complimetary house made bread). As always, everything is best enjoyed all in one bite!
Seared Scallops
The seared scallops were perfectly cooked with a very strong white soy and ginger dressing (more like a strong broth) with crispy enoki mushroom, snow pea and nori. It was an interesting combination with subtle sweetness from the scallop and flavourful taste from the dressing. How pretty does the dish look? The taste is most definitely nothing different to a professional chef, that's for sure!
The seared scallops were perfectly cooked with a very strong white soy and ginger dressing (more like a strong broth) with crispy enoki mushroom, snow pea and nori. It was an interesting combination with subtle sweetness from the scallop and flavourful taste from the dressing. How pretty does the dish look? The taste is most definitely nothing different to a professional chef, that's for sure!
Chargrilled Sirloin
Cooked medium, the chargrilled sirloin was mouthwatering and perfectly pink inside. The cafe de paris sauce is a complex butter-based sauce typically containing a mixture of herbs, spices and other condiments. Whilst the cooking technique of making a fondant potato sounds tasty i.e. cutting the potato into the shape of a cylinder, browning the ends and slowly roasting it in butter and stock, the one on the plate tasted like a bland potato. The flavours from the roasted shallot, swiss brown mushroom, red wine jus brought the dish together.
Cooked medium, the chargrilled sirloin was mouthwatering and perfectly pink inside. The cafe de paris sauce is a complex butter-based sauce typically containing a mixture of herbs, spices and other condiments. Whilst the cooking technique of making a fondant potato sounds tasty i.e. cutting the potato into the shape of a cylinder, browning the ends and slowly roasting it in butter and stock, the one on the plate tasted like a bland potato. The flavours from the roasted shallot, swiss brown mushroom, red wine jus brought the dish together.
Rotolo of Roast Pumpkin
What we love about our blogging adventure is learning new dishes, cooking techniques and tasting amazing flavours. Before dining at William Blue, we had no idea what a rotolo is - it's actually a pasta dish where filling is rolled up in pasta sheets like a roulade, poached, sliced and then served. It's a technical and time consuming dish. The filling of this dish was truffle ricotta, spinach and pumpkin with a buerre noisette sauce and shaved parmesan.
What we love about our blogging adventure is learning new dishes, cooking techniques and tasting amazing flavours. Before dining at William Blue, we had no idea what a rotolo is - it's actually a pasta dish where filling is rolled up in pasta sheets like a roulade, poached, sliced and then served. It's a technical and time consuming dish. The filling of this dish was truffle ricotta, spinach and pumpkin with a buerre noisette sauce and shaved parmesan.
Toffee Apple Mille-Feuille
The apple crisp placed elegantly on the cream chantily and Braeburn apple sherbet was perfection at its best. It didn't really taste like a sherbet but more like crumbed icing with a hint of spice. The pastry was flaky, easily cut through - there was a perfect balance of sweetness in this dessert. It wasn't overly sweet or sickening and whilst the ingredients are quite heavy, it tasted like a light dessert.
Orange Savarin
We try not to use the controversial 'M' word but there's no other word to describe this cake, it's 100% moist. A savarin is a ring-shaped cake drizzled with syrup so the taste is rich and m-o-i-s-t which is why the acidity from the orange syrup, candied zest compliments the richness of the cake and marmalade ice cream so well.
