Char Char feels and looks like fine dining. We arrived for their second sitting, 8:30 which was a little later in the night for what we are used to. 6:30 would have been too early for us with my later finish time at work and it seemed they were still moving out the first sitting by the time we arrived. Scanning the menu I was disappointed to see they had scaled the woodfired pizzas back to two, considering the establishment used to have a signature woodfired pizza menu (under a different name).
Nothing particularly called out to me on the menu, so I settled on one of my favourites when eating out, fillet steak (200g). The menu prescribed it with bearnaise sauce, something I am not a big fan of. I spotted a porterhouse further down with a mushroom sauce and the waitress was happy to have the sauces substituted.
My steak came out fairly quickly on a bed of a rather dry mash, with a grilled tomato and three steamed green beans. The mushroom sauce added much-needed moisture to what could have been a tiringly dry dish. The beans were crisply stir-fried, lightly oiled. I was disappointed with so few beans, some sweet asparagus done in garlic would have been fantastic and complimented the steak better. The mushroom sauce was very enjoyable, rounding out the steak well. It was fantastically cooked, still tender but firm on the outside. The mash was very dry but smoothly prepared, flecked with what tasted like parsley. A little more milk and butter would have had me happier with the mash, but it mixed extremely well with my mushroom sauce. I definitely felt I ordered the right thing and it didn't sit in my stomach in a heavy mass. I was very very happy with my steak. I did find a few crispy parts on the steak here and there (I am a fan of chicago-style) but I doubt it was intentional. I'm not going to complain about it at all!
I did manage to try Rebecca's dish. She wasn't particularly impressed with the jus, and I feel she was quite justified in that impression. I tried the sauce quickly - red wine jus at the start, finishing with a very strong shot of aniseed (black jellybeans) as an aftertaste, completely distracting from the rest of the jus. I could really see it overpowering any dish it was served with.
I still had some room and had a look at the desert menu. I remember seeing something like a warm apple crumble which was terribly tempting, but fell for the sticky date pudding. I was feeling a little chilly overall and this was an excellent choice.
The pudding was warm and moist, and wonderfully strong. The butterscotch sauce was brilliant, absolutely amazing and warm. I don't normally like oversauced dishes, but I used my spoon to keep the sauce poured on top and covering my pudding. This had a bit of a vanilla lift to it which was unusual and pleasant. It was served with a little bit of vanilla ice cream which contrasted well against the warmth of the pudding and sticky feeling of the sauce. An excellent and well-controlled dish.
The bill did come to a bit, but our entertainment card brought me roughly $20 of saving. Four and a half stars from me, so close to perfection and one of my best restaurant experiences ever.
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