Alchemy 731

By Franz Scheurer

This small, modern but very cosy restaurant is spread over two floors, with glorious polished wooden floorboards, light, white rooms, excellent chairs and clever, floor-length tablecloths showing off good table-, and stem-, ware. I was particularly taken by the artwork on the walls; someone has put a lot of thought into this. I prefer the ambience of the upstairs room; and you might want to ask to be seated upstairs when you make a reservation.

The floor staff look just as smart as the restaurant, in their brown tops and black aprons, and they’re an eager and friendly mob with just enough polish to make this suburban restaurant tick over like a Swiss watch without being intimidating.

The menu is short and concise, and I could happily have ordered every dish. An amuse gueule of ‘Fish cake with remoulade’ was a deep-fried, hot-smoked morsel, salty and moreish, just perfect for whetting the appetite. I started with a ‘Celeriac soup with spinach tortellini’ and was rewarded with a very refined soup maintaining all the rustic, earthy flavours of this root vegetable. I especially liked the brunoise of celeriac and the use of tiny, salted capers.

Excellent!

My main course ‘Lamb three ways, rosemary mash and jus’ turned out to be braised lamb shoulder, unctuous and with strong flavours, a piece of pan-fried liver and a patty of forcemeat incorporating the kidney and more liver, the lot drizzled at the table with a deeply flavoured jus.

Exquisite!

It left just enough room for me to order the ‘Baked apple and walnut frangipane, apple sorbet’ something I’ve never seen before: a tiny frangipane tart with a perfectly baked whole crab apple in the middle and a sorbet and apple crisps stack on the side. Not only did it look good, it tasted divine. Similarly a ‘Rhubarb crumble with custard’, presented on a square plate, turned out to be a hot, sticky and tart crumble next to a gelatinous, wobbly blanc-mange with a tiny jug of custard. Lovely presentation and a tart and ‘wake-up’ dessert.

Outstanding!

This restaurant experience was so good that I didn’t trust myself to review it on the basis of having eaten there alone, so I went back with one of my foodie friends. We tried the ‘Seared red mullet with aubergine ravioli, tomato consommé’, a delicate and very light entrée and the ‘Seared scallops with ocean trout brandade, vanilla orange oil’ and it was a real winner. Thankfully the vanilla was hardly perceptible but the plump, perfectly seared scallops were sitting on top of a spoonful of salted cucumber relish, which brought the whole dish alive. A ‘Roasted spatchcock, sauce bourride, asparagus, tarragon’ was a real treat and the ‘Panfried pork belly, apple and leek ravioli’ the dish of the night. I loved the baby leeks!

An interesting and very good value for money wine list is full of gems that complement the food. A couple of glasses of ‘Mas des Bressades 2003’ Rosé worked a treat with the entrées and the earthy flavours of a ‘Pavelot Savigny-les-Beaune’ Pinot Noir enhanced our mains.

As well as a la carte, they offer a six-course degustation menu, which is terrific value at $75 p/person or $110 with six matched wines.

Presentation of all dishes was equivalent to the top restaurants in Sydney and I must say the whole package is right up there. It’s certainly a lot better than I’ve ever dared hope for a suburban restaurant on the North-side. Chefs Derek Baker and Keith Cawthorne know their craft and bring bucket-loads of passion along for the ride; even the bread is house-made and terrific. Service under the guidance of Bronwyn Kabboord is first class with exceptional attention to detail.

I thoroughly recommend this restaurant!

Score: 7.5/10

For more information or bookings:

Alchemy 731

731 Military Road

Mosman NSW 2088

Tel.: 9968 3731