Buon Ricordo Sydney 11/2010

Buon Ricordo, good memories, has been around for a long time and it has a substantial reputation for ambiance, service and food. Four years ago it was rated by Gourmet Traveler in the top dozen or so restaurants in Australia and they currently put it at 29th in the country, although it has managed to lose a star along the way. It is known for the consistency of it's food and its fine wine list. As usual, wishing to try as much as possible we chose the degustation menu which actually is made up of your choice of dishes off the main menu. We were offered a brochette which Sandra commented was burnt, a remark the waiter chose to ignore. This was not a meal that stood up well to close analysis. An Ocean trout carpachio
was see through thin and lost the texture of the fish. Mushroom caps
filled with bacon and almonds were coarse with a very tiny serve of Swiss brown mushroom soup was very good but oh so little. Their signature dish Fettuccine tossed at the table with a soft fried truffle egg, cream and a substantial amount of grated Parmesan cheese
was fun to see but had much to much cheese
and was fearsomely rich.
A tomato consomme with a basil pesto
provided a welcome relief. A small fillet of crisp skin bass groper
was pretty on the plate but ordinary on the palate.Our last main, a crisp skin duck breast was an very good piece of poultry beautifully prepared.
Other main dishes did not look inspiring. A linguine marina
and a beef roll were other options, and came with vegetables.

For dessert we had a selection
and a lovely fine sliced apple mille fleur.
Tea came with some sugared pastry and sweets. Chef/owner Armando Percuoco
was extremely amiable with a glass of red, wandering about the remaining tables chatting with patrons, toward the end of the evening. We watched the chefs scrubbing down the open kitchen for at least an hour after they stopped cooking, leaving everything spic and span. Buon Ricordo is certainly a pleasant place to dine,
quite expensive and quite good but many restaurants have now left it behind with interesting very well prepared meals. It is unlikely to hold its very high rating much longer.
Score: 14.5/20