Pistachio
For my birthday this year, E organised a surprise dinner at Pistachio. I have a love/hate relationship with suprises, mainly because I am such a control freak and have the neeeeed to make sure that things are as and what they should be in accordance to my standard. For that reason, I had tried my hardest for almost a week to pry the name out of E, to no avail. I was so keen on finding out where we were going that I almost got cranky at him for not telling.......... yeah!
Anyways, I guessed where we were going as we were driving to the place. E told me that I had emailed him about the restaurant aaaages ago, telling him that I wanted to go. Pistachio is located in the mini shopping area of a suburb called Torrens. It is a funny little area, shaped like a crescent, it is the only "good" restaurant there. For that reason alone, you kind of have to live in the area or hear it through words of mouth - as I have never seen it advertised anywhere lately. I only remembered the place because I went to a Mum and Bub Yoga session earlier in the year, and it was located a few doors down from the restaurant.
Upon entering the restaurant, you get the feeling that it is one of those "Fancy" places, with dimmed lights and quiet murmurs of the other patrons. I was so nervous walking in with my gigantuan pram and a not-yet-sleeping baby, because sure enough, 5 minutes of us being seated and ordered, little E wailed as it was his bedtime. Luckily little E was good at going to sleep now, it only took E a few minutes of walking around outside to get him all nice and asleep.
This was our amuse bouche, artichoke soup with the best ever piece of bread I have ever had in my life! I would so go back to this place alone just for the bread, which is unfortunately, not in the menu (it was freeeeeeeeeeeee :P)
One of the things that I like about this restaurant is that they offer testing plates of entrees and dessert. It is such an awesome idea for someone like me who never can just settle on one dish. This is my testing plate of entrees - Assiette of pork, terrine, sausage and rillettes with charred sourdough and dijon mustard; House made goats cheese ravioli with baby peas, sage butter and white truffle oil; and Sautéed sea scallops with shredded Peking duck, sesame oil and crispy shallots. I loved the ravioli best!
Lamb shank tortellini with slow cooked scotch fillet, eggplant puree and ratatouille - E chose this one, and I loved it! The whole dish almost had an Indian taste to it, I'm guessing it was mainly because of the eggplant puree. I would have this again.
Roasted pork tenderloin with baby golden beetroot, puree and beetroot dressing - this was my choice. I liked the combination of flavours of this dish, the beetroot was tart to cut through the fattiness of the pork. I also liked the golden beetroot, which I never had before. It tasted less strong than the normal beetroot.
My testing plate of dessert - Warm toffee pudding with caramelised white chocolate, cider poached pears and caramel gel; Cheesecake cream with strawberries, shortbread crumble, honeycomb and vanilla ice cream; Vanilla brûlée tart with raspberry compote and rose liquor sorbet; and Hazelnut mousse with chocolate parfait, chocolate crunch and frangelico jelly. I reckon more and more places need to do testing plates like this, as you get to try out everything in the menu in a nice little bite portions. I loved the tart as well as the cheesecake, though it was the mousse that stole the limelight! Super smooth and super chocolatey - YUM!
All in all, I enjoyed my meals at Pistachio. Sure the main meals were a little more oily than I like, but again, it was one of the best eating experience, mainly because of the testing sample. On the night, I was able to have 10 different dishes (including the amuse bouche) and really test what the chef has to offer. I was told that they change their menu seasonally, so I would definitely try to go back again. One of the menu items that intrigued me was that they serve lamb brain - I would love to try a sample of this and wished it was included in the testing plate. I wasn't brave enough to try a whole dish, in case I don't like it.
For the location, Pistachio is slightly pricey, but you will have no problems finding park and it is situated quite close to where I live. According to their website, they won several awards last year, and I can definitely see why. It was a Happy Birthday to me, indeed :) Thank you, E, for organising!
Pistachio
Ph: 02 6286 2966
3A Torrens Place
Torrens
http://www.pistachiodining.com.au/index.html
