Era Bistro

The London Club

Our very first visit to The London Club was probably a good year back, on the inaugural day of the Teneriffe festival. Honestly, we don't remember what we had then but we didn't recall it to be a bad experience and so we made plans for a revisit with a friend this very day for brunch.

Claret House Wine Bar

We are real big fans of Cru Bar at James street but it is typically overcrowded on weekend nights. Claret House has been on our wishlist for sometime now and last evening, we finally made the decision to journey down Teneriffe. Driving past a busy looking Claret in search of a parking spot, we got a tad worried as we had no reservation but fortunately, we scored one of the two comfortable booth seatings indoors! YaY!

Service from start to finish was impeccable. Attentive but not intrusive. The menu was concise, consisting of nibbles, starters, share plates and mains. The wine list was interesting and it was good to see more uncommon varietals offered by the glass. This evening we started with a D'arenberg Chardonnay, Port Phillp Est. Quartier Arneis (simply love!) and completed our mains with a Durvillea Sauv Blanc (more herbaceous than passion fruit this Marlborough SB is) and a Casa Freschi Nebbiolo.

The Tassie Oysters arrived in no time after the wines were served and boy were they fresh, plump, sweet and creamy! The accompanying rasbperry and shallot vinaigrette provided good acid contrast without overpowering. Not sure whether there was any shallot though.



Indeed Freshly Shucked!

This ain't no Levain sourdough but had that good dense bite and spongey crumb nonetheless and toasted just right. Generous slices served here and we reserved the raspberry vinaigrette as a lil' dip.

Toasty Sourdough missing 1 slice-Mouth faster than Camera!

The Grilled King Salmon was the fish of the day and came with crushed new potatos and salsa verde. The presentation albeit the dim lighting was as good a delight to see as it is to eat. The salmon rich with essential omega-3 fatty acids, was so moist and the delicate texture was near that of a confit trout. All the components complemented the oily salmon to a tee- the salsa verde was different, it had somewhat of a gherkin taste and acidity, even the crushed potatos weren't simple, there were caper berries mixed in.

Pretty in Pink!

The South Burnett grain fed Eye Fillet sat atop kipfler potatoes, semi-dried tomatoes, asparagus and pickled onions.  The steak was delicious and everything cooked perfectly.  The jus had a very strong red wine taste which combined with the pickled onions can become a bit much, I think a bit more butter or cream in the jus would have made this a perfect dish for me.   

Impressed on this first visit and A+ on so many aspects that will most definitely guarantee our return visits!  We will have to balance this out with Cru ;)

Claret House Wine Bar

36 Vernon Terrace

Teneriffe

Closed monday

Bar Petite

We have a tendency to hop on a plane or take a short road trip impromptu when we feel like a little adventure. Newcastle was our chosen 4-day budget holiday end of 2010, which included the Hunter Valley region and Port Stephens. Oh and after the splurge at Hunter Valley, it was not anymore a low-cost trip! Yikes!

Before we post a summarised wrap-up of our trip, we would like to mention seperately Bar Petite, a bar cum restaurant in the heart of Newcastle. We planned ahead for this visit on the eve of New Years, so that we could take a comfortable stroll to the foreshore for the fireworks display after.

We were drawn to this place simply by the gallery photos on their website and truly, Bar Petite exudes this old charm of a bygone era, that of colonial french perhaps, as their name suggests and from evident hanging wall pics of Cambodia and Vietnam. Soft lighthing and table lit candles provided the extra cosy factor.

Food and drink orders are taken at the bar and tabs can be taken. Our dishes arrived promptly, they were to start a Chicken Terrine with pistachios, and mains of Asian Poached Chicken and Beef Short Ribs.

The Chicken Terrine with pistachos was a classic combination and it was the chunkiest we've ever eaten. It was moist and subtly seasoned, somewhat peppery. The baby cornichons and crsip croutes were essential but wished we could have more of each to accompany the good-sized terrine.

The Asian Poached Chicken salad consisted of walnuts, grapes, watercress, bean sprouts and zucchini ribbons. The salad was termed 'asian' more so because of its components rather than the overall flavour. One would expect perhaps a burst of sweet, salt, sour and sometimes spice but the dressing was a simple olive/nut oil dressing. The slivers of chicken that formed the base of the salad tower was moist and plentiful and the mild dressing helped the bitterness of the watercress and sweetness of the plump grapes to come through. This was a very textural salad.

The honey glazed Beef Short Ribs came with coconut rice, chinese pak choy and sesame onion rings. The tender ribs were braised in a star anise and cinammon type stock which was great with the coconut rice but the reduced sauce could have been less sweet.

Bar Petite offers a menu that is not solely asian. We would think modern australian is apt to describe their menu. There is a good selection of wines offered by the glass and cocktails too to fill the night!

Bar Petitie
Shop 5 The Royal
5 King street
Newcasle
Opens daily from 11am to late
www.barpetitie.com.au