Friday, June 02, 2006

The Grange - Adelaide

Introduction: Reputed to be the best restaurant in Adelaide on the ground floor of the Hilton Hotel. Chef Cheong Liew is one of only two to receive an Order of Australia for his culinary efforts. (The other is Tetsuya!)
Ambience: Somewhat dated decorations. Badly affected by the noise emanating from the adjacent Brasserie and bar which are split level but have no seperation from one to the next

Service: Impeccably mannered young ladies with soft voices had to constantly repeat themselves to be heard and understood. We had no problems but some guests complained of long waiting periods between some courses

Food : I had the 8 course extravaganza titled 'Migration of Ideas, sensory experience'
The menu consited of the following
The four dances of the sea
Soused snok, raw calamari, squid ink noodles,octopus aoli, spiced prawn sushi
Pink snapper fillet, basil dressed pencil squid, black mussel salad.
Snapper head couscous
Sharkfin soup dumplingin venison consomme, poached quail egg
Mamak style marron, coconutfish peppers, fried spatzle
Moscovy hen breast, Cherry vinegar sauce, duck leg in turnip, almond saffron duck liver in pastry
Spiced Wagyu loin, stir fried shitake sugar snap pulse with rocket potato tortellini
Saffron grenadine orange salad with blood orange granite, white mulberry
Grange Dessert Dance
Black rice palm sugar pudding, praline torte, chocolate figs, watermelon fume'

None of these are small serves and after the complimentary lightly cooked oyster with herbs in light soy my ability to appreciate good food began to diminish well before the end of the meal
Everything was quite excellent without picking out any specific item however I rather wonder why so many of the items were there at all. Apart from the shear volume of food there was some lack of balance in the dishes and, of course, between them too.
Wine: There is a good selection by glass or bottle. For $89 they will match each dish with an appropriate wine

Price: $159 for eight courses, $104 for 3 courses or a la carte

Comments: Certainly a culinary experience

Score:16 /20

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