Lesa
7.75/10 on Wednesday 23 January 2019.
THE SCENE
The Walrus: Good use of the space upstairs . 9/10
The Carpenter: Nice venue. Small table. Toilet is downstairs and a bit annoying. 7/10
POTATIONS
W: Started off with a dirty gin martini. The cocktail itself was quite nice but the Olives they added had an odd note to them. Didn’t quite go with the drink. 7/10
C: A lovely new gin option - Denmark. Aeijst styrian gin. Slightly dirty martini. The gin was fantastic. The olives had a bit of an off note to them. 8/10
ENTREE
W: We started off with a serve of the freshly made flat bread with a fantastic dip made from macadamia cream and mushrooms. It was so tasty, we had to get another serve. I would have been happy to just eat this all night. We then moved on to share a serve of the Spanner Crab, creme fraiche and a supporting cast of fresh veg and dressing. Very tasty. We then moved on to the chicken breast with red leaves of some sort…which was very tasty as well. Overall, the festival of entree’s, flat bread and dip was a cracking opening and all very tasty.
Perfect. 9/10
C: Shared entrees so I don’t need to say too much.
Flat bread with macadamia cream and shitake sauce. hot and fresh. 2 serves.
Spanner crab with tomatoes and a basil oil.
Chicken breast with liver and purple spinach
9/10
MAIN
W: The lamb main was up next and whilst the meat was a bit chewy…the flavor was definitely in attendance. Strong with garlic the dish was demolished with gusto. Pitty about the meat being on the tough side of the spectrum. 7/10
C: lamb rump with chocolate capsicum over a crunchy yummy bed of garlic and other bits. Lamb tasty but the texture a bit chewy . 7.5/10
DESSERT
W: A really nice light peach ice cream dessert with a crisp disc and various bits of dissassembled peach flesh. Nice and cleansing after the lamb. 8.5/10
C: Peach icecream disc over peach bits. 8/10
STICKY
W: A nice little glass of botrytis affected Riesling from Marlborough (NZ) - a perfect finish 9/10
C:. Marlborough botritis 9/10
SERVICE
W: Service is very good. However, being upstairs from Embla, you can run the risk of being a second thought. 8/10
C: Good service. 8/10
OVERALL
W: Not bad but its a bit of a duplication of Embla (downstairs) but in a quieter setting. Not sure you need two distinct restaurants. Maybe just menu variations for upstairs and downstairs. If I didnt go again, its not going to bother me. 7.5/10
C: An ok experience - some of the dishes were great but overall I won’t be heading back for any reason 8.0/10
THE CAP
W: Wandered up to Lily Blacks for a boulevadier to cap off the evening. Great drink and they were using what looked like “navy ice” which crystal clear and decent in size to keep the drink chilled. It was a little quite on the night (but it was a weekday) 8/10
C: Popped down the street to Lily Blacks for a boulevadier. Had a big square of ice. Lily Blacks was dead. Wouldn’t bother making the walk again. 6.5/10
