The Point

Posted by Almost Always Ravenous on October 30, 2010 · 8 Comments 

She is an avid eater, but is always in dilemma over whether it’ll make her fat. Only yesterday, despite eyeing them eagerly, she refused to eat any of my Cacao macarons. Only an hour-or-so later she announced: “omg hate u. just had two macarons”. Lucky I purchased a 12 box…A while back, when I began this blog my sister Miss JH was instilled with enthusiasm offering many constructive suggestions both in content and styling. There have been times when she has had a transient motivation to guest post, particularly when both our parents were overseas and I was in Bendigo. So, appropriately one of her suggested topics was “how to survive on your own for 14 days”… that never eventuated. But, after some “careful” nudging – 2 months later – she finally gave in and decided to post her opinions re: The Point, which I was not fortunate enough to accompany … sigh Ok, so you may notice some déjà vu in the writing, since I did offer a tad of help with her “creative block”. Hope you enjoy!

Albert Park Lake Aquatic Dr
Albert Park, 3206
9682 5566

…this review is written by Miss JH. It is her first time using words other than ‘YUM’ and ‘OMG that is amazing’ to describe food…

Having been recently awarded two Chef’s Hats by the The Age Good Food Guide, The Point created high expectations. The décor of the restaurant was amazing. Full ceiling to floor windows facing Albert Park Lake and tables placed strategically in the best locations. We were lucky enough to watch the sunset over the lake, and it was spectacular – the entire lake turned this deep hue of blue.

We were treated to complimentary tasters – pork loin with crisp ? (*scratches head*). The pork was amazingly succulent and tasty! Definitely a great start to the meal!

Then the entrees came out. We ordered the suckling pig, nettle puree, rock lobster, crispy ear and hazelnuts ($29). The centrepiece of suckling pork was beautifully juicy with a super-crispy skin – YUM!!! It was perfectly seasoned, neither too salty nor too bland. The nettle puree and champagne foam was also delicious! Though does remind me of swallowing bath bubbles… how odd? One thing that struck me as a bit off the mark was the lobster. The deep fried lobster just didn’t do it for me – though still moist, it was too soft and lacked that chewy bite with fresh lobster. The whole experience of the lobster and sauce reminded me too much of a Maccas Filet-o-Fish burger, and that can’t be good, especially if I’m paying $29 for it!

Then came the mains. We ordered warm ceviche of hiramasa kingfish, Crystal Bay prawn and ruby red grapefruit ($44) and new season Spring lamb ($44). They were so beautifully presented! The warm ceviche was not the typical ceviche. It wasn’t cold nor did it have strong citric or lemon flavours. Instead, it was warm and had sweet fruity flavours. I was warned that the fish would only be half cooked but that wasn’t a problem for me. What bothered me was this unidentified ‘herb ball’ (apologies for my lack of food identification skills!). It gave this pungent aftertaste which completely overpowered the taste of the fish. I actually scraped all these balls off to the side before wiping clean my dish – how professional. I much preferred it this way. The prawns on the dish presented another problem. The big one was peeled but the small ones weren’t, so am I meant to eat the skin or not? It was too confusing, so I did peel a couple, but in fact they were crisp enough to be edible.

Now, onto the Spring lamb. When we ordered, the waiter kindly informed Mr. HL that the dish contained different ‘body parts’ of a lamb and made sure that we were game enough to eat it. I clearly missed this crucial piece of information when we were ordering and was made a fool. Mr. HL fed me a ‘deep fried item’ and not knowing that it was lamb brains, I happily chewed, savoured the flavours and swallowed it. I’m not really an adventurous eater so eating it was quite a shock – too late to vomit! From what I remember, it was soft, mushy and gooey – everything that you would expect from brains! Couldn’t fault the rest of the dish though – each cut of meat was very tender and juicy – and this was definitely to be expected since The Point is renowned for their meats.

Before ordering dessert, we were given complimentary watermelon granitas to cleanse our palate. Simple dish to make, but the fresh fruity taste of the ice, fresh juicy watermelon pieces at the bottom made me crave for more.

We then finished the meal with a honeycomb and violet soufflé, cocoa waffles and iced yoghurt ($18). The soufflé rose so high above the ramekin that we wondered whether it would topple over. Luckily it didn’t! The soufflé just melted in the mouth – it was so airy and fluffy! The violet flavour was a pleasant change from the usual chocolate soufflé but perhaps lacked that sweetness and richness that one has come to expect from a soufflé. Great dessert nonetheless!

Verdict: pleasant execution, but perhaps not with flying colours. I am slightly underwhelmed by this two chef hat restaurant, but that may just lie in my choice of food, and probably should try their steaks next time since that is their specialty.

Advertisement

Filed under Albert Park, French, Modern Australian · Tagged with ceviche, lamb brain, pork loin, spring lamb, suckling pig, violet souffle