Bloodwood

We took our overseas guest to Bloodwood to rest our feet and feast. I was happy to see that they were able to seat us at short notice on a Saturday night. It was quite early to be doing dinner for most... but in saying that the place was quite booming and already half full. Don't be fooled from the entrance, there's a lot of seating upstairs and downstairs towards the back of the restaurant.

We started off Polenta Chips with Gorgonzola Sauce. this dish was faultless. The chips were crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.... and that sauce... I could have drunk a cup full. Perfect start to the meal and best Polenta Chips I've had.

We then moved onto the Charcuterie Board with Beef Cheek Jam, Cured Meats, Bread and Pickles. Most of the cured meats were quite ordinary as was the pickles. The only interesting element was the Beef Cheek Jam... served cold and tasted like a pulled pork paste of some sort. It was a great dish to have on the table as it provided things to nibble on while we waited between dishes.

We then tried their Miso Fried Chicken with Iceberg and Shallot Vinegar. I always assumed fried chicken comes with some form of crispy batter... this did not. It was served with a soggy batter much like chicken that was cooked before and then reheated in a microwave. Such a shame as the sauce pairing was quite delicious and the chicken itself was not too dry. It was probably the only let down dish of the night.

We then sampled the Seared Angus Skirt Steak with Garlic Sticky Rice, BBQ Shitake and Bulls Blood. The steak was perfectly cooked... so tender. The sticky rice and shitake had a great earthy element that just complimented the dish well. Only slight complaint was the rice ended up being drowned in the sauce... but still delicious.

We had their Beer Glazed BBQ Tongue with Roast Sweet Potato and English Spinach. The tongue was served more like a pulled pork style.. which I did not expect. The flavours and textures were great. The roast potato was cooked well. Unfortunately around 6:30pm the lights were dimmed and eating this dish in low lighting proved to be quite a challenge.

We ended off with their Curry Leaf King Prawns with Scallops, Tomato and Plantain. This dish was just perfection for me. The way they cooked their prawns and scallops were beautiful. The plantain chips still had a nice crunch despite the sauce. A very well executed dish that left me with a smile.

At the end of the night when the bill came... something that seems to be a common theme in restaurants is the waitress standing next to you with the eftpos machine while it asks for a tip. For some reason this time she made me feel pressured to tip, despite them really just bringing the food to the table and then flocking together to chat while we ate.

As it's not compulsory to tip in Australia, I tend not to unless it was already factored into my meal like a surcharge on particular days. I suppose this topic itself causes a division amongst most. Anyways what I didn't appreciate was I decided to round up my bill and make that the tip and she scoffed at me... then threw my card onto the table after she took $170 from my card. When has Sydney become that kind of society??

The place has a cool vibe to it, the food was predominantly great, they had a great drinks menu... but that unnecessary attitude for dessert left a bitter taste in my mouth.