Throw away the chic plateware, a funky bar and waterside views, it’s not even in Sydney. So why do so many people come back to Balzac? Many questions asked, many answers to be found and some stomach’s to be filled.

Balzac is one of the few fine diners that is open for dinner service on the last Sunday of each month where a special 9-course degustation menu is offered for $110 which is even better value with an Entertainment card discount. As someone who likes to do their food research upfront, I noted that Balzac changes their menu extremely frequently and very much in tune with the produce. What other bloggers and reviewers have eaten in the past is most likely never seen again. The one good thing about this is that you won’t build up any expectations like you would with Tetsuya’s for instance. Only until you’re firmly seated will the wait staff present you with a menu, talk about suspense. Not having expectations actually worked in my favour especially for the first course to come…

Snails with Beef Cheek and Hot Garlic Butter

Snails? As if stomaching the thought of snails wasn’t bad enough, extracting them out the shell was going to be an awkward exercise for a first timer. If I saw this on the menu I would normally:

a)      be apprehensive in going; or

b)      ask for it to be substituted; or

c)      cringe

I chose Option C and decided to try it so that I can freak out my little cousins and tell them that I love chomping on snails. Armed with a toothpick, I thought back to all the Man v Wild episodes with Bear Gryllis chowing down on monster worms plucked out of a log. Fainting was an option but I chose to suck it up and poke around for the slug and pulled it up along with the beef cheek stuffing and garlicky breadcrumbs. Down the hatchet it went in military fashion it went. Did it taste good? Let say I had a sip of wine and called it a night.

Game Consomme with Wild Hare Croustillant

The croustillant is a fancy spring roll which has a higher ratio of crisp pastry to hare filling and were very Moorish. Probably the closest experience to smoking a cigar I can have! Not so flash was the game consommé which left a strange and undesirable taste in my mouth that persisted for a few courses. Quite annoying.

Roast Scallop with Broccoli Puree, Lemon, Anchovy and Almonds

Only wished there were 28 more scallops on that plate. I think another 27 can fit on that right? What made this dish so tasty was balance: sweet scallop, acidity from the lemon, salty anchovy, crunchy almond and body from the broccoli puree (check out the colour!). As a self proclaimed Professor in Scallop consumption I was told these came from Nova Scotia (Canada) and were cooked quite well.

Jerusalem Artichoke Veloute with Fresh Truffle Mousseline and Truffle Brioche

If the previous dish was balance, this is R.I.C.H. Luxuriously creamy veloute with strong earthy aromas imparted from freshly shaven truffles is decadence with each spoonful. To mop up, even the buttery brioche also loaded with truffle bits layered the gluttony. Winter warmer it is, but too rich for my liking.

Sausage Roll of all things Duck with New Season Garlic and White Onion

Some diners forking this amount of cash for dinner may be so enraged to see the next dish being nothing more than the humble sausage roll. Memories of gloopy tomato sauce drenched all over oily paste and minced cardboard “meat” rushed through my mind but it was a trip down nostalgia lane more than anything. Rich duck mince and crispy puff pastry was deceptively light, yet still flavoursome. It’s a real pimped out version of a humble snack. Can you imagine what they could do with a pizza rounder?

Glenloth Chicken, Smoked Ham Hock, Creamed Savoy and Tarragon

Whilst this may not look like much (in fact a tad ugly), there a fair bit of technique in this. The chicken is actually flattened and rolled up like a newspaper which encases a Quiche Lorraine-like (egg and bacon) filling right in the middle. This is all surrounded by a moat of naturally sweet savoy cabbage. I felt this dish was missing a crunch factor (like chicken skin or vegetables) that could have made it a winner and wasn’t all too memorable.

Welsh Rare bit

“Where’s the rabbit?” we asked the waitress. “Oh you must mean rare-bit, it’s a really fancy cheese on toast” she amusingly replied. A rare (excuse the pun) blonde moment. Given we touched on snails and wild hare during the night, some rabbit was certainly not out of the question.

Normally the last savoury course is a heavy protein hitter but Balzac plays a humble comfort food card yet again. Thankfully this was the best cheesy toast I’ve had with a perfect cheese to bread ratio and grown up taste element from the sauce containing mustard, paprika and other secret things. It does help that cheese on toast was one of my favourite snacks growing up but because it’s so simple, it could easily be dismissed as one-dimensional if not done right. Well calculated risk I say.

Tangelo Jelly with Mandarin and Mint

Whilst not spectacular, it was certainly refreshing lifted by the mint.

Roast Banana with Peanuts and Maple Syrup

At this level and price, I like the dessert course to capture the skill of the pastry chef as its one of the few areas where you can combine precision, science, creativity and art into one dish. Balzac has taken the route of letting the goodness of natural produce speak for itself. Much like Marque’s peaches, Balzac has chosen the humble banana as the star, lightly roasted and served with a vanilla crème and peanut caramel. Pretty simple flavours but too one-dimensional for my liking.

Earl Grey Tea Chocolate Truffles

To conclude the evening, a fine chocolate truffle each brimming with earl grey tea filling was all that was needed. As I was assembling this review, I sat back and realised that Balzac’s dishes are pretty grounded and free of glitzy micro-herbs, flowers and artful assembly. There is a real emphasis on taste and the quality of seasonal produce here which may not add up to the most photogenic of dishes. Service was of high standard. We were looked after by a wonderful waitress who was most accommodating and charming. It almost like she was the host to a homely dinner party.

The restaurant was surprisingly jam packed full of diners on the cold evening. One thing that bothered me was that the tables were far too close to each other and verging on communal, so not a place if you value space and a bit of privacy.

My gripe about Balzac was that the food lacks excitement or a bit of X factor to lift it from good to something more. Everything was just a bit too ‘safe’ for me. It is certainly not bad at anything and the monthly degustation is a great way to test out some pretty rare produce at a well regarded restaurant.

Verdict

Food = 14.0/20
Service = 8.5/10
Ambience = 8.0/10
Value = 8.0/10

Overall = 38.5/50

Restaurant Balzac
141 Belmore Road Rd
Randwick NSW 2031

(02) 9399 9660