I've said it before, and I'll say it again! I love celebrating birthdays! Of course my birthday is my favourite. But, in my family, Mr. T, my sister-in-law and my brother's birthday all lands in the same week of August, so that week is always an exciting week in our households. This year, with my brother turning the big three-oh, we decided to visit a fancy schmancy restaurant, Nine Fine Food.
We decided to dine on Friday night, the night of my brother's birthday, so when we arrived we were all famished from a long day of work and ready to dine. Looking at the menu, we all agreed with the Osusume ($69 per person), the 4 course set menu to satisfy our hunger. The 4 course consisted of two entrees, one main and one dessert. From each course you're given the choice of one of three items, but, they also have specials of the day which you could choose instead of the normal menu.
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| Salmon Sashimi |
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| Beef Cheek Soup |
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| Beef Tataki |
The dishes above were what we ordered for the first entree. My entree was the salmon sashimi and I give it nothing but praises. The sashimi was fresh and juicy, a dish that is so simple yet so satisfying. The beef cheek soup was another amazing entree. The tenderness of the beef cheek took everyone by surprise. It literally fell apart with a spoon with no effort! The taste was also very enjoyable, it was surprisingly refreshing despite looking like a very heavy dish. The beef tataki was also tasty. There was nice smokiness to the dish and it was nice and fresh as well!
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| Miso Salmon |
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| Pork Belly |
For the second entree we ordered the miso salmon and pork belly. The miso salmon was amazing! The miso flavour was to die for and again the salmon was very fresh. There was also deep fried oyster on the dish which was delicious! With the pork belly, we really enjoyed the crackling, however we thought the flavour of the chickpea mixture did not go very well with the pork belly.
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| Confit Duck Leg |
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| Beef Tenderloin |
For the mains we had the confit duck leg and beef tenderloin. The meat of the confit duck leg was, as expected, tender and fall-off-the-bone, with the skin remaining nice and crispy. The flavours was tasty, but not at all Japanese. I was expecting a more unique fusion of flavours, but overall it was a nice dish. We had the same opinion of the beef tenderloin, but we enjoyed the succulent steak and the portion was humongous.
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| Espresso Panna Cotta, Matcha Brulee, Chocolate Gelato and Forest Fruits Sorbet |
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For desserts we chose the espresso panna cotta, matcha brulee and their chocolate gelato with forest fruit sorbet. We hated to admit it, but the dessert was very meh. It was pleasant, but it didn't amaze us. Also the top of my matcha brulee was burnt, so it left a bitter aftertaste. They did redeem themselves by surprising with a happy birthday black sesame ice cream. We actually didn't mention we were celebrating birthdays, but the staff were very observant and took it upon themselves to serve us this very nice surprise!
We we had that night was just a fraction of what Nine Fine Food offers. We really have to commend the service, it was impeccable and made our night so much more enjoyable and memorable, thank you!
Ratings:/10
Food: 8
Value: 8
Atmosphere: 9
Service: 10
Overall: 8.8/10
Restaurant information
Nine Fine Food
227 Bulwer Street
Northbridge
Ph: 9227 9999
Website: Nine Fine Food