Amuse me at dinner

I must have mentioned to everybody that I have been dying to go to Restaurant Amusé. I have failed a few times trying to book it - 2 weeks in advance is too short notice and everyone would have snapped up spots in there. So I booked months in advance for my birthday….and was sick with worry that I was not going to get a confirmation call. I did…the call came the day before. Great.

I was already prep-ed by everyone else who had experienced Amusé that the restaurant was not romantic. Still, I was dying for the experience~! After all, it is only the best restaurant in Perth!!

The interior is spacious and surprisingly simple. Great for good service. No plants blocking the waiter’s view of you when you need the attention. It was also not as dim as other ‘romantic’ restaurants - I am guessing the reason behind it is so you can see the food and the art of it. You are in for a show, my dear reader.

Don’t be deceived by the hard plastic-ky looking chairs. They are very comfy!

For art, the wall had gibberish on it. I began an attempt to understand it but decided to order some wine instead.

We started off with some sparkling water ($9 per person). We did not know what wine to order since we did not know what we were about to eat. Just FYI , it is degustation only ($125 per person) and you tell them in advance what you cannot eat or what you would like to avoid.

The manager came by with a sealed envelope and told us it was entirely up to us whether we wanted to be surprised or look at the menu and decide that we don’t want something.

If you want to be surprised, you can either order the matched wines for $75 or have the sommelier pick it for you.

We wanted to be surprised and we wanted it picked by the sommelier!

TOP SECRET!

So a sommelier attended to us. He reminded me of my director at Credit Suisse – which was funny. Seeing someone who reminded you of your boss recommending wine to go with your first 3 courses… epic.

He recommended 2 wines that we would have side by side – a Fume blanc that was sweet and the other (I forgot) that was fatty and orange-y. It came in a bottle that looked super ancient too. I’ll have to check with Jay and get back to you on this. Whatever it was, it was amazing wine. I don’t claim to be a connoisseur but it was really different. Considering that we spent $117 on 6 glasses of wine, it must be of the expensive variety.

The snacks came. We started out with the radish served with a Mexican Mole dip/sauce. Hand food – Hurrah for Jay!

Next, Tasmanian ocean trout on a oatmeal cracker with a chutney on a rye cracker. I could tell the trout was really fresh and slightly raw. I could taste a bit of caviar in it but I could be wrong. I am really not confident here!

Third snack : A croquette with Jamon Iberico (beautiful salt cured pork – similar to the common Jamon Serrano we know…) and gruyere coated in breadcrumbs. It melted into thine mouth heavenly. I could do with this as a TV snack for sure.

Can you imagine that these are the ‘lowly’ snacks? I am impressed. Here you can see the 2 wines! The orangey fatty one on the left. Goodness!

4th SNACK: Organic oatmeal crackers with Sour cream. The most plain out of all the snacks but still so good. I love this place! Even their mediocre dishes are awesome.

Then, Jay and I had some cigarettes…because, you know…. its my birthday and its time to be naughty!

BAHAHA… FOOLED YA!!

I don’t know what its wrapped up in but it is filled with pork floss and the white powder is onion ash. It tasted a little bit like cigarettes – really strange. The white powder pops in your mouth like the sour powder you would get when you were a kid.. The powder that cackles in your mouth! So delightful!

The bread surpassed my expectations – sourdough made from organic flour (tick).

It was warm (tick tick…) – and kept warm (tick tick tick…) because of these wonderful warm stones…

and was served with Kailis EVOO !!! Organic!!! ( TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK TICK !!! * Dies in happiness…

The sad part of it all is, I was beginning to feel full. It was my fault…I was so hungry before dinner that I had toast and marmite. :(

Dinner commences anyway…as the world doth not stop spinning when you have problems….

#1: MARRON!!! *squeal squeal*!!

Also, Soy beans, Marron claw mixed into a seafood paste and served on a cracker + 2 types of Pemberton lime sauces. The light one is more sour and the creamy custard-like one is sweet. Jay prefers the sour one and I prefer the sweet one – but we like both. Its awesome.

Whenever I go out to eat, I always have marron because I know I do not get it easily anywhere else in the world. Also, I love how sweet these little creatures are!

Lorraine! Stop playing with your food!!

Cutlery was not offered! We were supposed to eat with our hands!! Lalalalla! Finger licking goood!

#2: Beetroot + Fetta + chocolate-coffee crunch + unidentified flowers + unidentified white powder that melts in your mouth and makes you feel extremely good. *eyebrows raised

Its a FLOWER! What is it?

I was mentioning to Jay that – I am normally very knowledgeable about food. I can usually pick out the flavours and confidently guess what is in it.. but at Amuse, I am kept on my toes. I don’t know what is in it. It frustrates me that I know so little. I am dying to learn more.

I will now make Amuse my birthday dinner restaurant every year until they amuse me no more.

1.5 hours since the beginning of dinner…
and #3 comes

What is it? Jay wonders…..

It’s smoking!! I think its for the olfactory experience. It works.

Can you recognise what this is on top?

TRUFFLES!

Its actually Australian grown black truffles (the less fragrant variety) – but it does not taste too different from the others I have had from Italy. Really good…

Mix it in with the chestnut and polenta that’s underneath for superbness! It was creamy and tasty. Here’s the side view.

It also contains peas…that’s not even gross. ( If my maid made peas like this, I would eat it everyday…)

and poached egg – I LOVE it when the yolk spills out ! So yummy!!!

Next!

Course #4 is so so beautiful.

I actually did not know what it was until I ate it because the waitress’s explanation was drowned out by the noise. (I repeat, not a romantic experience…)

I even thought it was some sort of fruit salad.

Lets start with the thicker purple sauce smeared at the bottom – it is purple carrot mash. Sitting on top of it (the white, shiny thing) is Shark Bay scallop. There is thinly sliced turnip that is enveloping the curious orange thing – and the sauce is made from red cabbage. It smelt slightly of fart when she poured it into my plate.

Luckily I am not (easily) deterred.

The orange thing is actually ocean trout – and I am crazy about it. I am crazy about fish that melts in your mouth – normally a sign of fatty fish that contains great omega-3 oils too.

After this, I was sooo full so the experience went down slightly. My advice to anyone else is not to fill up on bread and definitely do not eat marmite and toast before such a dinner.

I was doing the same, covering my overflowing stomach with my napkin

#5: Pork Belly, Roselle and bunkers mushrooms .

During times like this, I wish I had a bigger capacity to eat. The pork was soooo tender and tasty. A roselle flower sat on top of it spreading its goodness over the meat.

#5 Veal + baked pastry with oxtail? and a cube of milk that creamed the meat when you combined it.

Love.

Beautiful. I nearly teared.

#6: A great sign – palate cleanser in the form of a chardonnay jelly. Mmmm… It went down easily.

#6: Pumpkin ‘Cheesecake’ or so they claimed …

It was basically a light fluffy pumpkin flavoured cheese mousse(??) with soft jelly cubes, cinnamon ice cream and the yummiest crumbs to coat the whole experience.

Dad’s wise saying rang true in my head… ‘ No matter how full you are, there is always room for dessert!’
With dessert like this, you will make room. 9.9999/10!

#7 – Dessert
First of all, apologies for the photos of half eaten dessert. We forgot and just dug in.
oh well!
Dessert 7.1: roasted apple + apple cake + tonka bean ice cream

Dessert 7.2: Brownie + white chocolate and wasabi ice cream + caramel powder.
I LOVE ! Though Jay didn’t so we swapped ice cream!

#8: FINALLY … doughnuts, marshmallows and jubes

After 3.5 hours and $370 later… we were finally done with dinner!! While it was all very wonderful, I think sitting down for a long time just eating was a tad too extravagant for me and my waistline. Nevertheless, I shall subject myself to this ‘torture’ once a year. I am hoping they would continue serving for a few more years!