C’est n’est pas trop tôt ! A classy French restaurant oozing with charm, with a thoughtful inventive menu and a superlative wine list. C’est Porcine!
The Restaurant
Porcine is not one to advertise itself at street level. As this was our first visit, we had difficult working out where the restaurant was at first, however the wine shop – P & V Liquor – does have a large sign in the front window which reads “Porcine”. However, we had already assumed we were in the right place by the line of people waiting for the shop to open.
The entrance is through an eclectic French wine shop, a few doors east of the Imperial Hotel. You venture through, with a hint of a courtyard out the back, and then up the stairs. I swear you could easily believe you were in a 1 star Michelin restaurant in Nouvelle Place, Sancerre.
There are wide old floorboards, oversized blackboard menus and a view over Oxford Street to the renovated reservoir park opposite.
We had a table for 3 with a booking at 12 noon. By 12.30pm it was full.
Cocktails
We stuck to mineral water as I was driving.
The Menu
Appetizers
Bluff oysters from Tasmania, with smoked eel vinegar; Kabu Turnips and Turbot Roe; Duroc Belly Ham; Pork Creton and Lentils.
Entrée
Pate en Croute – a wild boar, duck and calvados pate with peppercorns and pistachio in a baked pastry; Raw Endive, Pear Capers and Mint; Ocean Trout Almondine with Globe Artichoke; Spring Vegetable Vinaigrette; Phoenix Mushrooms with Potato butter and d’Affinois fromage; Lobster “Mouselline” Blood Orange and Peas.
We opted for the Pate en Croute. It was delicious, and a very large portion. It is more terrine than pate in consistency, which is fine by me. Perfect to share between 3 people. It came with plenty of cornichons as well. I fancy I can make a good terrine, but this was really good.
On to the Lobster Mouselline. Another generous serving with a superb creamy bisque style sauce. Delicate and flavoursome, this really was outstanding. Once again, more than enough for three people.
Because it was the last of the truffles, we also had escargot with fried eggs on toast, with fresh truffle shavings. What a brilliant idea. I have never seen this before on any menu.
Plat Principal
Parmentier of Beef Shin with bone marrow and Foie Gras; Turbot on the Bone with Moules Mariniere; Berkshire Haunch, Larded Celeriac Apple and Mustard.
There was an additional specialite – half a roast duck with orange marmalade glaze.
Frites and salad were available.
The serving of Turbot was a large 400 gram portion with a delicate seafood reduction sauce topped with warmed mussels. The fish was perfectly cooked – firm, but still retaining the delicate flavour of turbot. It is a difficult fish to cook right, no trouble for the chef at Porcine though.
The next meal was the duck. Half a duck is a lot of canard. The duck was perfect, pink but not undercooked. The skin was dark with marmalade and crunchy. A reduction jus was poured over it. It was served in good sized segments.
To cut the richness of the duck we had a serving of raw endive and pears, in a vinaigrette sauce with capers. There was no way we were going to finish the duck and have any room for a desert treat. We did our best and then reserved the remainder, with the endive, for a lovely home based meal the next day.
Dessert
Our lovely daughter, who had organised the luncheon, suggested the duck egg and Truffle Honey Custard Tart. We said “Oui S’Il vous plait”. It was a large slice of tart with a layer of honey on top dusted with fresh truffle. C’etait magnifique!
As it was father’s day, we also had the floating island “Praline Rose” with blackberry sorbet. A large soft meringue concoction with a delicate selection of fresh strawberries, apricot reduction and blackberry sorbet.
Also on offer was the “Tete de Moine” sauternes with apricots.
Wine
When you have a French based wine shop downstairs, I am guessing there is a good chance that the wine list is going to be pretty good. And so, it was.
The white wines are mostly French, with a small selection of Italian and Spanish wines. There were no southern hemisphere white wines. We opted for the Michelet, Mont de Milieu Chablis 1er Cru 2020, White Burgundy ($172). This was everything a premier cru chardonnay wine should be. It had a pale gold colour, with subtle overtones of almonds and lemon. This wine will develop with age.
There was a similarly excellent selection of rose and red wines available. There was even 2 Australian reds, a shiraz and a Grenache.
The Review – 4 Stars
I have been so annoyed, in recent times, that Sydney hasn’t had a truly good French restaurant, which doesn’t make you feel like crying when you get the bill.
The menu at Porcine is a revelation, but it changes regularly, so you will need to be a regular to get the benefit of the innovation of this fine chef and his colleagues.
I very much look forward to visiting Porcine again, shortly.
