I had the most wonderful lunch today at the three hatted Marque on Crown St in Surry Hills.
They have a three course set menu for $45 available only on a Friday.
Seeming mains are usually $48, it is extremely good value (the catch is that wines by the glass start at $18)
The food is on a whole other level. We are talking Heston Blumenthal territory.
I ate here many years ago when Marque was new on the scene. I found the food to be almost too rich.
This time round many years on, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Three courses are listed for the Friday lunch special but it actually is five courses as there are two mini courses that are complimentary. The sommelier suggested we have a glass of dry riesling to accompany the lunch which was a very good suggestion. The first course was an eggshell that had the lid taken off, emptied out and filled up with the most amazing creamy filling. It was served with breadsticks that were as skinny as matchsticks.
Next was the entree which was a salad of baby kipfler potatoes with smoked tuna. The tuna was incredible and so fresh. The main followed which was roast duck with turnip, green apple and aniseed. This was a taste sensation. The two salad leaves sitting on top had been infused with aniseed and were incredibly strong in flavour. It was like a big hit of wasabi in your mouth and complimented the duck beautifully.
Then our second hidden dish came out which was a pre-dessert of a creme caramel (possibly the best one I've ever eaten) Lastly was the dessert and what a dish it was!
This goes down as one of my favourite dishes ever. It was a small piece of perfectly done welsh rarebit (done with brioche and Guinness) with poached quince & port. The combination of savoury and sweet was out of this world. For a savoury tooth it was my idea of the perfect dessert.
With the current trend of celebrity chefs being on TV, at food shows and basically anywhere but in the kitchen, it was great to see that Mark Best was in the house today and clearly runs a very well oiled machine. Marque is a very special restaurant. No wonder it was recently listed in the top 100 restaurants in the world.
http://www.marquerestaurant.com.au/index2.html
