Friday 19 June 2015

REVIEW: Ananas

Ananas Sydney Cassie Cakes
Just off Argyle street is this little gem.
First off, I will apologise for the quality of these photos. It was lovely and romantically lit inside the restaurant which made photography a bit challenging. Plus, it was my birthday and we were drinking which also made photography challenging. Had we not had such a wonderful time which I want to tell you about, I wouldn't be posting these terrible photos. If something doesn't look amazing, it's me and the camera, not the restaurant.

Ananas Sydney Cassie Cakes
Oui, indeed,
Those mitigating circumstances aside, let me tell you about Ananas. If you've been following me closely, you'll know about my obsession with all things French and being my birthday, I wanted to have a sophisticated French dinner with my best girls, who both live in Sydney. So I went on a hunt for French restaurants in Sydney! And found Ananas. Which means pineapple in French, and pretty much every other language.
Ananas Sydney Cassie Cakes
Pretty table flowers.
We walked down the cobble stone alley way and up the stairs for our 8pm sitting. We were greeted quickly and walked through the busy cocktail and bar dining area to a large, plush booth at the back. The restaurant was low lit with candles and rustic chandeliers, it really felt like a wonderful date venue. But dates can include lady dates! The atmosphere was great, and even a not-so-keen eye could spot the namesake fruit dotted everywhere.

Ananas Sydney Cassie Cakes
Lets get turnt!
We ordered cocktails, one Ananas Bellini ($19) which was vanilla, honey, pineapple and champagne,  two PBE Martini's ($20). The bellini was fruity and bubbly, but for $19, I'd want more than just some champagne. Which is why I got a PBE Martini. I don't know what possessed me to get a coffee based cocktail as I don't drink coffee. I drank it though as I figured the coffee would give me a boost in addition to the alcohol.
Ananas Sydney Cassie Cakes
Creamy butter soup. Butter soup...I bet I could make that with 500g of butter and a hot day.
The waitress was so patient with us and we ordered each course one at a time, talking too much and drinking a lot. Generally being merry. But she kept coming back and helping us out with menu details and topping up our drinks. Eventually we got around to ordering. To start, we were given a complimentary veloute - a French soup, thickened with butter - made from apple, fennel and black garlic. The soup was creamy and smooth, but I couldn't pick up any of the garlic.

Ananas Sydney Cassie Cakes
Big shoutout to all the body parts of friends and family who appear in my photos.
We got things started in earnest with our starters...wait, I see what I did there. First, we had 6 oysters, at $4.50 each. We choose the Merimbula oysters which were Sydney rock oysters. They were plump little oysters, served with 3 sauces of which the cocktail sauce was the nicest with the oysters. They were plump and flavourful.
Ananas Sydney Cassie Cakes
Can I be really uncultured and say this pate tasted like Strasburg ham? But I mean that in the best way possible. I love Strasburg ham!
The second of our starters was Le Pate de Campagne - country style duck terrine with cherry gastrique and brioche ($23). This dish was delicious! The duck and the cherry sauce along with the brioche struck a balance with sweety and salty. It was snaffled up in no time.
Ananas Sydney Cassie Cakes
That's some shadow over that risotto. I'm sorry, risotto. You deserve better.
For our first entrée, we ordered Le Risotto a Notre Facon - Ananas style risotto for $24. The risotto changes depending on available produce. When we visited, the risotto of the day was beetroot, asparagus and speck. Other than colour, the beetroot didn't lend anything to the dish but the asparagus was firm and the little bits of speck were little chewy treasures in the risotto.
Ananas Sydney Cassie Cakes
Shadow strikes again. I even know how to get rid of those shadows but my mind was pretty addled by this point,
Our second entrée was Les Langoustine - crispy scampi papillotes with sweet basil, extra virgin olive oil and sauce rouille. Sauce rouille is basically a fancy mayonnaise. I really liked this, it was one of my favourite but I don't know how French it was. The crisp pastry and plump prawn were cooked really well, but the sauces were little more than decoration. A bit more of them would have been nice.

Ananas Sydney Cassie Cakes
Snails. You may use your fancy name but I know you're snails. And that's what I couldn't get over.
Now since we were in a French restaurant, how could we not get the snails! Les Escargots ($22), Burgundy Snails, parsley, garlic butter and hazelnuts. And it was my first time. They came out in a dish specifically made for escargot, which I thought was pretty cool. There were little discs of pastry atop the snail in parsley. I can't say that I would order them again. They tasted fine but for me, I couldn't get over the texture. My dining companions who had more experience in the snail eating arena both agreed they were very good and for my first escargot consumption, it was a good introduction.
Lamb shanks are da bomb.,


Ananas Sydney Cassie Cakes
We had chips too! Cos where there is Cassie, there are chips.
After some more drinks, we ordered our mains. Because not everyone is as awesome as me, two of the mains were entrees. For my main, I ordered the L'agneau ($44), lamb, charred eggplant puree, couscous, yoghurt and capsicum. This dish is usually lamb rack but on the night we visited, they ran out of lamb rack so it was a lamb shank instead. This was very pleasing to me. The lamb was unctuous and tender. I would have liked some more eggplant but this is fine dining. There was a good serve of couscous and the meal itself was well portioned. I enjoyed it very much.
Ananas Sydney Cassie Cakes
Pretty, but small. Just like the lady who ate it!
For the next main, we ordered Le Saumon ($27), citrus and cognac cured ocean trout, petits potato galettes, cucumber, dill and radish. This dish was quite small but the waitress advised us of such. It was beautifully presented and the fish absolutely melted in the mouth.
Ananas Sydney Cassie Cakes
How can raw meat taste so damn good?
The final main was so wonderfully French, Le Filet en Tartare ($24), steak tartar, capers, quail egg and toasted brioche. Ordering steak tartare is said to be the biggest compliment to the chef, as you trust the quality of their meat. And the chef didn't let us down. The steak didn't even need chewing and with the quail egg mixed through, was so delightfully creamy. The amount of steak was also really generous. It appeared to be a whole steak, which is good for a high quality steak.
Ananas Sydney Cassie Cakes
I wish you could hear the crack of that chocolate. Amazing.
We were stuffed to the gills with fine French food but it was my birthday so the girls got me a dessert, with a candle and everything. We ordered the Snickers Revolution ($19). There was no description on the menu, what was presented was a chocolate cylinder of mousse atop candied peanuts with a quenelle of peanut and chocolate ice cream. What it was bliss. A dish of pure transcendence. As full as we were, I think we all could have had a hundred more. It was the perfect way to end the night...or the dinner part of the night anyway.

http://www.memedroid.com/tags/pineapple
Also this. Source: here.

The atmosphere was dark and romantic, the staff were helpful and the food was lovely. Ananas was an absolute pleasure and my only complaint about the restaurant is that they're so far away.

Food: 4/5
Service: 4.5/5
Price: 4/5
Atmosphere: 4.5/5


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