With one of my friends now seeing a key member of the team and a 50% off voucher in hand, I was invited to a family dinner with Em and her family and Matt at Virginia Plain (as it turns out shortly before it closed and was reinvented as a bar and casual eatery called Mercy Bar + Eatery).
With Matt working in the restaurant the ordering was left to him with some alterations made for allergies and dislikes. (I choose against the oyster shooter snack and went for 2 alternatives). Located on a massive first floor, it had sparsely spaced tables with a long bar and high ceilings with a simple white and wood outfit with a dark bar type feel.
After settling in with drinks at the bar first we moved to our table nearest the kitchen by facing back across the dining room. Matt proceeded to order several dishes from the various parts of the menu (bar snacks, small dishes, medium dishes and large dishes). We did amend the amount he ordered down and cut a couple of the large dishes as we did try and eat as many dishes as we could from the menu.
The other started with the Dashi Oyster shooter and Grilled Sardines with Capponata but as neither of these were my favourite and i had my eye on a couple of other bar snacks, i went in a different direction.
I therefore ordered the Machego beignets with mojo sauce. Crisp outside shells filled with soft warm cheese and combined with a spicy mojo sauce. Very good although i would have preferred the outer shell to be a harder crisp rather than soft.
Next up for me was the Braised Beef Brisket Bun. 2 mini slider burgers filled with shredded beef in a delicious sauce in a sweet white bun. These were delicious and if not for the outrageous amounts of food to come, i would have been happy to wolf down plenty more than 2 of these bite sized delights.
We then transitioned from individual bar snacks to the real menu and the small sharing plates. We had one dish of each and shares out different portions between the 6 dinners so we could try as many dishes as possibly.The first small sharing plate was a dish of Hay baked Artichokes, cep puree & goats cheese. A good combo of flavours.
The next dish was the Ceviche of Kingfish, campari and sea grapes. The Kingfish was expertly prepared with a little crust on the edge and was very nicely flavoured.
The procession of small courses continued with a Steak Tartare with a nice smokey flavour, combine with quail egg yolk and traditional garnishes. Not normally a dish i would try, it however was delicious even if there was insufficient toast to go around.
The Quail and mushroom terrine also suffered from not enough bread (this time sourdough) but was rich and gamey and combined with a delicious raisin puree that made you forget about the lack of bread.
The last small course was one of the signature dishes and billed as a must have by Em and it did not disappoint (and has been retained by the new entity). A quality but interesting combo of scallops and black pudding stuffed pigs trotter with an amazing jus. Wonderfully conceived and executed with an unusual combo of ingredients.
We then moved on to our our only medium dish, a thyme, slippery jack and pine mushroom risotto. This one was not for the Mushroom adverse and had a bold mushroom flavour that would have overpowered some palates but i loved it. Rich, warm and delicious if slightly too salty, it was homely and comforting even if made with the usually creamy goodness.
We then moved on to the large dishes and accompanying sides. We had ordered 3 but with most people slowing down significantly, we cut that back to one. A dish of a giant Pork cutlet served with kale and razor thin slices of honey turnip, it was a very decent but unspectacular dish that failed to wow me.
This was accompanied by 2 sides, a big wedge of iceberg topped with sage, pancetta and anchovy dressing. It was OK but nothing special although i despise anchovy. The other was a greater triumph. A Pearl barley and pomegranate salad. A mix of nutty barley and sweet pomegranate was a winner in my books.
With the rest flagging, it was left to only me and Em to power through desert. We both went with the chocolate & pistachio terrine and it was well worth it. Rich chocolate and terrine with small perfect circles of pistachio terrine in the bottom with a chocolate crumb base and sides of chocolate pieces it was a technical masterpiece but also felt comforting and most of all was a flavour sensation.
Overall a restaurant with a lot more hits than misses and will be sad to see it closed on the 17th June. However the new incarnation should provide some of the old favourites with new ideas. The service was very good, knowledgeable and accommodating, although having one of the staff at your table helps. And thanks to the voucher softening the blow, it was very decent value at $60 each.
