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Thursday May 24, 2012

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Ela Carte Reviews Noir

Posted by: Ela Carte | 29 November, 2011 - 9:32 AM
Noir-Ela-Carte

Noir – 175 Swan St Richmond

The interior at Noir is fittingly dark – black walls, dark chairs, even the air conditioner looks like it’s had a coat of ominous matte paint. The menu, however, is anything but gloomy – and I happily would have tried each and every item listed. There’s no spell check with this one, dishes are written out by hand in big black lettering, and it’s a an endearing touch.

Perhaps most impressively, if you make it for lunch on Friday, Saturday or Sunday – you can enjoy a fine dish and glass of wine at Noir for just $20. We’re talking dishes like crisp pork belly with apricots, sticky wine and green vegetables, confit duck and garlic mushroom ragout with potato and herb gnocchi, and King Snapper pie with grain mustard mash and truffled soubise sauce – it’s a great deal. Alternatively you can go the other way and eat your heart out, taking the $70 surprise tasting menu for a range of samples from the Noir stable.

Or, you can do as we did and face total confusion from the exceptional a’la carte menu. Eventually, we decided to share entrees of eye fillet beef tartare with finely chopped gherkin, capers, rosemary, red onion and a dash of Worcestershire sauce accompanied by a creative looking waldorf salad and crisp bread; and some divine caramelised Atlantic scallops with rich oxtail tortellini and cauliflower puree. Both were enjoyable, but the scallops went beyond the pale.

There was an element of theatre to the Macleay Valley rabbit pie, it was carried to us in a pot, a dish of root vegetables was placed on the table, the lid was removed from the pot and placed upside down atop the vegetables and the contents of the pie were scooped on top of that. Performance aside, the pie was lovely – particularly the rich gravy for the meat.

For the vegetarian, my spinach and taleggio tortellini with mushrooms, celeriac, asparagus and soft poached egg was an impressively punchy dish – for the hungover, it was a risky choice. Any other day I have no doubt I would have relished it, but on this day the pureed celeriac, runny egg and stinky cheese were not quite as gladly received.

Didn’t think I had room for dessert, then I demolished the chocolate and macadamia fondant with mascerated cherries and vanilla icecream. It was disgustingly good, at once chewy and gooey – rich and chocolatey.

There are little touches that make Noir a relaxed but stylish dining option – laid back music paired with relaxed staff, that handwritten menu and elegant glassware. It’s a bit of a contrast to bustling Swan St outside, but then that makes it all the more easier to access. For value at least, a weekend lunch at Noir is highly recommended.

 

 

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