Etch Restaurant, Sydney CBD

Caramelised Pork Head, Roasted Prawns, Pickled Rhubarb, Kohlrabi Puree $21.00

A few weeks ago (ok, one month ago), a bunch of us got together to celebrate Lisa’s birthday! She chose Etch Restaurant for this special occassion and we were all pleased as we we had been dying to try it for such a long time! The gorgeous and so very chic restaurant specialises in modern European fare and is located in the Intercontinental Hotel, Sydney. We were going to just have mains and desserts, but the entree menu looked too good to pass up, so we ordered two items to share. One of the items was the caramelised pork head with roasted prawns, pickled rhubarb and kohlrabi puree. As soon as I had my first spoonful with a little bit of each element, I knew we made the right decision to order entrees! The caramelised pork head fell apart beautifully and was melt-in-the mouth perfect. The dish was balanced well with the sweet Kohlrabi puree, prawns and rhubarb.

Tasting of Aylesbury Duck $22.00

The second entree that we orderd was the tasting of Aylesbury duck. There was the roasted duck, duck infused creme caramel,  duck pate and duck pancake with mandarin. The duck pate was the highlight of this tasting plate for me. It was quite rich and I liked the chunky texture.

Crusted Sea Bream, Jerusalem Artichoke, Barigoule, Trompette Puree $31.00

Onto our mains! I ordered the crusted sea bream which was absolutely delicious! We ended up deciding to share all our mains, but I would have happily finished this all to myself! The sea bream was wonderfully juicy and the crumbs on top gave it a lovely crunch. The accompaniments of artichoke, baigoule and trompette puree added a slight sweetness and balanced out the dish wonderfully.

Flathead, Serrano Ham, Parsnip Puree, Potato Fondant, Jus Gras $33.00

I was surprised when the flathead main arrived at the table. It was presented beautifully and had us questioning ‘is this the flathead?’ haha. I thought that the combination of flavours was really interesting, and although it was good, I wasn’t particularly taken by this dish.

Ballotttine of Free Range Chicken, Sauteed Brussel Sprouts, Bacon, Bread Sauce $32.00

The chicken main was so pretty! It looked like winter on a plate with the ballotine of chicken lying in the middle of a circle of sauteed brussel sprouts, bacon and bread sauce. It was another interesting dish and probably one of the most enjoyed of the night.

Risotto of Spencer Gulf Prawns, Lemon and Saffron Cream $30.00

The foam swimming on top of the risotto was so very mesmerising! The risotto was light yet had a wonderful flavour from the prawns, lemon and saffron cream.

Roasted Sirloin, Daube of Beef, Spinach, Carrot, Red Wine Jus $32.00

Lisa’s dish was probably the prettiest of the evening! The roasted sirloin was cooked perfectly to reveal a wonderful pink centre, I enjoyed the spinach and carrot accompaniments and I’d probably order this dish, if I went again.

Special: Roasted Pork Loin with Beetroot

The special of the night was roasted pork loin with beetroot sauce. We were all pretty daunted by the sheer size of this main! I was happy to have a small bit of this, but I would never have been able to conquer the whole dish by myself. The beetroot sauce and chunks of beetroot were lovely and sweet, and the pork was tender and juicy.

Etch Lolly Tray $15.00

The infamous Etch lolly tray! For so many days we were looking forward to trying this infamous dessert consisting of four varieties of lollies. The chocolate mint aero was refreshing and minty (kind of just like a chocolate aero bar but a little bit more refined!), the white chocolate covered sherbert created that wonderful tingly sensation and brought me back to my younger childhood days! There was also a cone with fizzy sherbet and the pistachio nut brittle, which was probably the best out of all of the lollies.

Baked Rice Custard, Poached Rhubarb, White Chocolate & Juniper Berry Ice Cream $15.00

The baked rice custard was so pretty and girly. I’m not a huge fan of rice custards, and never had a baked one before. I thought that overall it was a little bit bland, but the presentation definitely gave it major points.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Mille Feuille, Manuka Honey Marshmallow $15.00

We all oohed and ahhed when the chocolate and peanut butter mille feuille dessert was placed on our table. The texture of the mille feuille really confused my tastebuds. The marshmallows felt out of place and overall we were a little bit disappointed in this chocolate dessert.

Spiced Quince Crumble, Hoegaarden Ice Cream $15.00

The spiced quince crumble was lovely and the ice cream was simple and refreshing. I am a huge fan of crumbles, so I did enjoy this one especially with the added spices, although at this point I still wasn’t quite dazzled by the desserts.

Caramel Date Tart, Burnt Butter Ice Cream, Earl Grey Tea Syrup $15.00

Oh, thank god for the caramel date tart. It was simply amazing! So amazing that we ended up ordering another serve of it! It was beautiful with the rich and smooth caramel and date filling encased in sweet pastry. The burnt butter ice cream was intense and the earl grey tea syrup was favoured by all of us earl grey lovers! Ahh such bliss! This dessert was definitely the saviour of all the deserts! And how nice of the staff the spell out ‘happy birthday’ to Lisa! I love it when restaurants add little touches like this.

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Happy Birthday (again) Lisa! I hope you had a great night and a wonderful and delicious year ahead xx

Overall:

The service was friendly and prices were reasonable for this kind of establishment. The beautiful decor and food will make anyone happy. But that caramel date tart will have people cheering and doing happy dances! I would probably go again just for that!