Pistachio Dining at Torrens

It's been quite some time that i've been wanting to try out Pistachio Dining at Torrens (the first solo venture of an acclaimed local chef, David Keeley, who used to work in Courgette, Aubergine and Sabayon)  and after about 8 months, here i am! Been looking forward to this very special day...not to mention it was Valentine's too *hehehe. Like most restaurants, they have a set menu for Valentine's Day.

Left: the menu.wine glasses.1pistachio Centre:Drinks Right: butter.pistachio shells

The dinner started off with a canape - Sydney Rock Oysters - it was lightly deep-fried with what i believe tasted like a balsamic reduction with chilli flakes. It wasn't the au natural way that i was expecting so it did take me by surprise. Liked the combo but i still prefer my oysters au natural with a squeeze of lemon.

It was followed by the first entree - Seared scallops with salt cod fritter and pea and mint vinaigrette - it was my favorite dish of the night! The scallops were seared beautifully and it went well with the pea and mint vinaigrette. Loved the pea and mint vinaigrette, which is unusual because i am not a fan of mint...chocolate & mint is a no-no for me.

The second entree - vine ripened tomato minestrone with roasted Tasmanian salmon, basil pesto and hand cut pasta - the salmon skin was perfectly crispy and i hoped the minestrone had a bit more flavour and more pasta.

The third entree, yes the THIRD entree - Duck and braised sweet bread terrine with in house smoked duck breast and salad leaves - the duck terrine was nicely wrapped with prosciutto, a good balance of fat and meat in the smoked duck and i think a bit more sauce would have made the dish better.

My main was a more robust dish - Milk poached pork, onion and apple cream, smoked bacon, cos lettuce and scratchings - and i have to say that i was looking forward to this dish. From the day the booking was made, i kept wondering how a milk poached pork would taste like. Couldn't taste any traces of milk but perhaps the milk makes the pork belly super soft, that just disintegrates in your mouth. The components of the dish were good individually but it was a bit too much for me. Again, a bit more onion & apple cream would have been better. Was happy with the scratchings though =P

The other main was Grain fed Beef Tenderloin with potato and garlic mousseline and mustard green beans. The mousseline was nice and tasty and it complemented well with the beef tenderloin, my favorite of the two mains.

Before the last dish came out, we were served a raspberry sorbet to clean our palates. As i waited eagerly for the last dish, obviously a dessert, i didn't know what to expect because it simply said: Dessert Tasting Plate to share, not much clue in that. Three small-sized desserts? Well, it didn't take long before the dessert came! TA-DA! It looked so yummy and with so many options, i didn't know where to start! 

This tasting plate consisted of chocolate and hazelnut brownie with a heart-shaped shortbread, raspberry jam with tapioca served in a shooter glass, panna cotta with stone fruits, cinnamon doughnuts, pistachio cake with youghurt sorbet, fig & pistachio crumbs, chocolates with cream & fig jam centre and lastly a rich chocolate mousse wrapped by chocolate cake and topped with a creamy chocolate ice-cream. The last one was probably my favorite.