Forged in Trust: Italian in heritage, with a French kiss and a spritzing of modern Australian.
Can a restaurant really be faulted for trying to please everyone, if it does a decent job of it? I'd say no. The indoor dining space evokes a Parisian bistro, with narrow corridors, leather banquettes and the slightly out-of-place central chandelier. But you're immediately brought back to the Mediterranean with the handwritten specials on the mirrors and Italian marble tabletops. If the weather suits, and you instead choose to sit outside, you'll get the view of Hyde Park and the entire Sydney cafe experience at your feet.
The Continental back-and-forth, with a stop in Oz, is a theme that carries through to the food, where you can start with a distinctly French chicken pate and continue on with the curated selection of Italian pastas or partake in simply prepared fish caught off the coasts of Australia. No matter -- it's generally all well done, irrespective of what country suits your fancy.
I started with a soy & linseed roll from Sonoma Bakery ($1), which was fine but not noteworthy. Why a place of this price point sees a need to charge $1 (!) for bread is beyond me. Either make the bread in-house and charge accordingly or get rid of the $1 fee, which just seems like the restaurant is nickel-and-diming its customers, who are already paying quite a bit for the food and alcohol. My entree was the New Zealand grilled scampi with truffle oil and butter ($29). An exceedingly delicate dish, the 5 scampi were grilled perfectly and had an out-of-this-world sweet flavor, which was complemented beautifully by an accent of truffle oil, butter and parsley. A minor quibble: the menu said truffle, but the dish came only with the far-less-expensive, far-less-elegant oil. For my main, I ordered the Fish of the Day -- John Dory -- whole roasted and topped with zucchini, radish and salsa verde ($39). The fish was fresh and tasted clean, but was honestly underseasoned and a bit bland, even when paired with the salsa verde (which itself needed a flavor boost). Not offensive, but far from impressive. I had hoped for crisp skin, as well, but alas, flabbiness was also the Presentation of the Day. The sides that came to the table (green beans with almonds and lemon, dutch creme potatoes sauteed in duck fat (yum!) and green salad with tomato and avocado, each $9.50) were tasty and well-seasoned. My only complaint was with the potatoes, which, while creamy and flavorful from the duck fat, weren't crispy as expected. Textural fail.
Overall, not a bad meal at all, but one star deducted for a few misses in execution. Service was attentive, without being overbearing.
If your wallet can't quite handle the France-Italy-Oz itinerary, then perhaps make a stop here, where it'll take a (slightly reduced) blow. read more