Pony

Pony is a funky little restaurant right at the centre of the Rocks. The food is described as a "fusion of traditional Mediterranean and modern Australian cuisine". They have a range of tapas style dishes which is what we decided on that night.

Grilled Italian flatbread with smoky eggplant and white bean dip; Artisanal hand made salami, grissini; Baked eggplant, basil and feta rolls, tomato sugo; Crisp fried prawns, sichuan spice, sweet soy; Wood fired chipolatas 'le saveur de romeo', tomato relish; Salad of wild baby rocket, pear, fennel and parmesan; Chicken skewers, rosemary, lemon and mustard marinade; Seared scallops, green pawpaw, cucumber, cashews, lime and palm sugar; Pumpkin and ricotta tortellini, burnt sage butter.

All the food was exquisite! Highlights included the eggplant dip, garlicky, tangy and chunky; the eggplant rolls with a creamy feta centre; the chipolatas, smoky and meaty; pumpkin tortellini with a sweet and creamy filling.

The staff were attentive and helpful and the restaurant had a bustling atmosphere. An overall wonderful dining experience.

The Apprentice

It's always sad to farewell someone who you've been working with for a while but the silver lining is that it's a good excuse have a 2 1/2 hour lunch.

For our most recent farewell outing we went to The Apprentice, a restaurant run by the students at Ultimo TAFE. Upon arrival at the restaurant, we were greeted by some very timid looking students and shown to our tables.

The menu was quite varied with items ranging from kangaroo to quail to rabbit. The Caponata and Provolone Tarlet with baby salad leaves was probably the best of the entrees sampled with a sweet oniony flavour and a tang imparted by the balsamic dressing. The Pork Rillettes with cornichons and lavoche bread had the texture of tinned tuna and was rather uninteresting (i.e. bland).

Caponata and Provolone Tartlets

Pork Rillettes

French Onion Soup

The presentation of the mains were quite impressive: Suateed Boudin Noir Stuffed Rabbit served with rabbit jus, braised red cabbage and parnip puree; Roast Quail Stuffed with Pistachio with game jus, sauteed mushrooms and potato dauphinoise; Char-grilled Scotch Fillet with red wine jus, buttered English spinach and soft polenta; Pan-fried Bream Grenobloise with braised fennel and sauteed potatoes. I had the rabbit which was a little dry but the flavour of the dish was great, a little spicy from the black pudding and tangy from the red cabbage.

Sauteed Boudin Noir Stuffed Rabbit

Roast Quail Stuffed with Pistachio

Char-grilled Scotch Fillet

Pan-fried Bream Grenobloise

The dessert was the highlight of the meal (as always). Unfortunately the Quince Souffle didn't quite make it and continued to collapse as the rest of the desserts arrived. The Chocolate Fondant Cake with Passionfruit cream was lovely and chocolately with a bit of bitterness from the cocoa. The figs and ice-cream was the clear winner, fresh juicy figs with a sugary crust accompanied by creamy ice-cream with a hint of ginger.

Quince Souffle and Lime Sorbet

Muscat-Poached Beurre Bosc Pears

Chocolate Fondant Cake with Passionfruit Cream

Pan-fried Figs with Brandy and Ginger Ice-cream

At $20 for a three course meal (lunch) plus a welcome drink and tea/coffee, this is place provides swish food at prices povo students can afford. The major disappointment with the meal was having to go back to uni afterwards. Bummer!