"...HAD HEARD REALLY GOOD THINGS ~ WAS PRETTY DISAPPOINTED ~ WITH DINNER, ANYWAY..."
Saturday night, CAFE FLORENTINE, Church Street, Brighton, looked fully booked - they were chockers... I'd gestimate most were trusting reliable local regulars... I thought the tables were set far too close together - almost communal eating - not ideal for relatively 'finer' dining..
We started with the bruschetta, and the duck pate..
Followed by the salmon on couscous with broadbeans, and the calamari on rocket with avo mash..
We added garlic baguette and fine french fries with aioli..
Finished with bombolini and cheesecake..
1 x TAS sparkling white and 1 x NZ berry cider.
I found the dinner menu a bit pedestrian.. especially considering the price - It really needs some re-thought - Not quite contemporary enough - At these prices, dishes could be far more inventive..
On the contrary, the breakfast / brunch and lunch menus looked a little more interesting - wish we'd booked for earlier in the day..
And, I thought most of the food lacked seasoning and flavour, or had the wrong flavour combos - the foie gras was very bland, I've had better from the supermarket, the toasts were stale, the micro gherkins were bitter; the cooked topping on the bruschetta was sickly sweet, almost like a tomato jam: the salmon was over-cooked; the couscous was insipid, the calamari looked good, but was totally tasteless; the bombolini [baby doughnuts] had a heavy dense cakey texture and the choc ganache that accompanied them was just far too rich to serve with something deep-fried; the aioli was odd, all we could taste was dill, good with the calamari [which had no sauce or dressing, whatsoever]. but not good with shoe-string chips..
I did, however, [FINALLY..!!] really enjoy the freshness of my de-constructed mango cheesecake with coconut ice-cream - would have been happy to have had 3 serves of it, and nothing else - divinely delish..
Anyway, the 3 course meal, with 1 drink each, cost $140 for 2 persons - At that price I'd expect something fairly memorable...
Halfway through the meal, we asked to be seated outside - I found the inside a little oppressive - not enough air - too stuffy, maybe - how could a space be so full of people eating and drinking and yet be so lacking in joie de vivre..
Ah well.. tried hard, but not really my cuppa tea..
Visited on Sat 12 March 2016 for dinner. read more