Vasse Felix

After a wedding, what do you do in Perth? Nothing…exactly…so I took my friends down south to Margaret River to show them why I love vineyard lunches We had booked in advance but there was no real need for it. It wasn’t peak season.

My camera had run out by this time so I used my iPhone. So the pictures aren’t as great.

I’ll start with a picture of the menu.

Wine.

The wine is fabulous. I liked both the Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot and the Chardonnay.

Entree.

For my entree, I started with the marron. Have I mentioned that I recommend Marron to anyone visiting Australia? Its sweet. However, if they recommend grilling it, please stay away. Marrons are to remain soft and succulent. Here, it is served with a Wagyu Bresoala which is wagyu beef air-dried and sliced thinly. It emulates proscuitto ….just a little tougher.

Sam. G. had the duck egg, asparagus, curd and farro which is a puffed grain. Farro tastes like it belongs to a toasted muesli mix. She was a little peeved that it was served raw… Oops. I didn’t have this so I cannot tell you how it tastes.

Jay had the pork + rabbit rillet, duck liver mousse (YUM) and sliced duck. The rabbit rillet broke in strings whereas the pork rillet was in slices almost. They were both well made. Rillets are normally overly salty but these weren’t. The duck liver mousse emulated pate except much fluffier. Really good. The duck was alright. What was really nice was the carrot marmalade. I never like marmalade but this is really good. It wasn’t sickeningly sweet.

Mains.

Tony decided to have the gnocchi with gorgonzola and broad beans. You know how gnocchi varies at different establishments. These were firm ( they weren’t mushy on the outside) but really soft inside. I love Gorgonzola – its like a blue cheese. So it had that pungent flavour that I love but since it was a ricotta, it was also light and fluffy.

Ryan and Jay had the lamb neck + loin. I liked the loin (left). It was really juicy and tender. The brown paste/dip in the middle tasted like hummus. I have a feeling that its a baba ghanoush. The Tahini flavour was really strong. Everyone thought the little white ball was a quail egg… but when I poked into it, I realised it was yogurt moulded by reverse spherification.

I had the sirloin. From left, the cheek was marinated in a brine for 48 hours. The middle piece is the sirloin - only served medium rare and was so tender. The right piece is heaven. It is an oxtail cooked until it dropped off the bone and made into a sausage. I told Jay (who is hindu) that this is worth breaking the rules for. It was crispy around the edges…and flavour oozed out of it in every bite. I nearly cried when it was over.

All served with a really hot mustard sauce and really enjoyable!!

Service.
Service was polite if not a little absent minded. They took the time to explain ingredients if I asked. However, they did forget to serve Megat and I the red wine. I guess all the glasses on the table confused them. Nonetheless, we had already started drinking before and the relaxed mood ensured that I wasn’t too annoyed.

Atmosphere.
Always better to view than for me to tell… As you can see, the weather was on our side….