Friday 26th Sep '08

After a really really trying day at work today, I gratefully headed over to Marissa's place to unwind with a drink.

Pimms with lemonade
sundried tomatoes, Persian fetta & Sakatas

Once Teresa got home from work, we got ready and headed out to Burswood. We had been trying to make a reservation for dinner at the Atrium but they were fully booked. We thought we'd go and see if they had any cancellations or perhaps kept some tables aside for 'walk-ins'. No luck! We went to Alure instead.

Our entrees:

Marissa - King prawn ravioli, champagne, ginger bisque

Teresa - Seared tuna fish, crushed chive potato, black olive puree, soused baby carrot, red radish

Myself - Salad of Pemberton marron, soft quail egg, lobster emulsion, cos spears

The colours in Teresa's dish are absolutely gorgeous! It's a pity that the lights were so dim that we couldn't actually see the colours until I took a photo of it. I like to be able to see what I'm eating to appreciate the presentation of my food. Otherwise why bother with the presentation?

My salad was delicious! It really was pretty much a caesar salad but the marron in it just gave it that touch of gourmet. It's given me inspiration to make a salad with my lobster leftovers next time. It would be perfect for the upcoming warmer weather.



Our mains:

Marissa & Teresa - Amelia Park best end lamb, herb crust, braised neck, tomato tart, glazed root vegetables

Myself - Red emperor in pancetta, risotto of vongole, shallots, parsley, aromatic lemon jus

Marissa and Teresa's lamb looked soooo succulent. I was rather disappointed with my dish. The fish and pancetta were cooked really well. The risotta was a huge let down though. I had probably three pieces of clam meat throughout it and the flavour was just wrong. All I could taste was citrus flavours and when Marissa had a try, she said she could taste lemongrass and didn't like it either. I was expecting a creamy risotto but this one was rather watery. Sort of like eating watery rice porridge. Not happy Jan!

For dessert, we all had the same thing.

Passionfruit tart
Strawberries and Cream cocktail

The cocktail was a huge disappointment. My first sip reminded me of a strawberry flavoured medicine my mum used to give me when I was young. It was drinkable, but we were all wishing we had ordered what we had last time - the chocolate martini. They made Teresa's too strong so we asked them to make her the chocolate martini as a replacement.

Overall, the service wasn't as good as it's been when we've eaten there previously. The lighting was far too dim. We still had a good time but I suppose we weren't really satisfied because we really had wanted to have dinner at the Atrium.

Back at Marissa's place, Teresa made us a pot of soup as we were all in the mood for some.

Chicken & Corn Soup

We started to watch a movie on TV but I just couldn't keep my eyes open and we all went to bed.