Absinthe Makes The Heart Grow Fonder?

The past month has been a whirlwind of dinners as Sander’s sisters (and their plus ones) have been in town.  My waistline can’t wait to wave them off at the airport tonight, but my taste buds will be very sad to see them go.  It will definitely be time to get stuck in training for a 10km run I signed myself up for in September.

Tuesday night’s treat was a 30^th birthday dinner at Absinthe, a French restaurant in Chinatown.

Image from Absinthe website

All good birthdays should involve champagne, and we got the night off to an excellent start.  I thought it was interesting we weren’t offered a choice in the bottle, but it was dry, tingly and delicious.

Having decided we weren’t hungry enough for the degustation menu, I settled on an entrée of yellow-fin tuna, olive tapenade and diced ratatouille.  The tuna was lovely and fresh, and I thought the presentation of the finely-diced ratatouille on the smear of tapenade was visually interesting, but there was just a little something missing from my first bite… something to make my mouth zing a little…  a touch of chilli perhaps?

My main was a delicious and delicate catch of the day.  Nestled beneath my barramundi fillet were tiny ravioli parcels and small slices of baby potatoes, and the butter sauce was surprisingly light.

I think the highlight for me was the cheese.  An old wooden cheese trolley is trundled around the restaurant and one by one we popped up to choose from a large and varied selection.  I choose some livarot, a hard ewe’s milk cheese and a creamy blue.  I’m secretly coveting the cheese trolley for when I have a larger house (ie not an apartment), although it was a bit of a hindrance for patrons going to the bathroom.   

Chock-a-block after cheese, we decided to share dessert.  The chocolate fondant was incredibly rich (luckily we only had enough for a mouth full or two) and perfectly cooked, oozing dark chocolatey goodness from the center.  The birthday girl’s had a candle and a few extra scoops of sorbet (raspberry one was great – cut through a chocolate-lined mouth).

So, should you go to Absinthe?  Yes, if you have a special occasion to celebrate and want to make an evening of it.  Mains (excluding wagu) are around $46 and don't forget the ++.  Book the private dining room in the wine cellar, drive up and valet park your car for $5, sink into the suitably dimmed and formal French interior and save some room for a drink at the jazz club next door.  The only catch, make sure you go to the bathroom before you arrive.  The bathrooms look smart, but the eco-flush toilets don’t have enough flushing power so all were blocked up with paper (even after three attempts).  Not a good look.

Private dining in the wine cellar
(image from Absinthe website)