Review: Restaurant Amusé

For my 26th birthday Teresa and I decided to splurge and enjoy a dinner at Restaurant Amusé.  Opened in August 2007 by husband and wife team Hadleigh and Carolynne Troy, Amusé was only just hitting its straps when we left to spend two years living in the nation’s capital, so this year has really been the first opportunity that we have had to dine at what many consider to be the finest restaurant in Perth.

Extremely popular, Friday and Saturday bookings normally require a wait of at least one to two months, however my birthday fell on a Wednesday this year, so we had no trouble reserving a table for two.  The restaurant space is generous and uncrowded (with plenty of space between tables), with a private function room hidden discreetly behind a curtained wall.  Luckily, there was a comfortable level of light which allowed for photos, unlike some other restaurants in Perth (I’m looking at you, Jackson’s and Balthazar!).

A degustation is the only option at Amusé, something which is made explicit on the website, and also by the staff at the time of booking and again at confirmation of booking.  I had previously read reviews of Amusé stating that most people tended to struggle by the later courses, so maintained by discipline by only lightly partaking in a sugar-heavy birthday morning tea and weekly Nando’s lunch at work.  Teresa tried to do the same but eventually caved and had some bread mid-afternoon (gasp!).  Only time would tell if this was to be a fatal error on her part (oh no, killer bread – watch out for the crust!).

To quote the website, the degustation menu at Amusé changes with the season, the quality of produce during the season and whim.  Interestingly, the website only lists the ingredients which may be used in the courses, but not the manner in which they are to be combined.  Upon being seated, we were handed the menu for the night in a sealed envelope and told that we could choose whether to open it or not.  Already giddy with anticipation and excitement, we decided to keep the envelope sealed, allowing each course to come as an entirely welcome surprise.

At this point, I should mention that the service at Amusé is spectacular.  The sheer enthusiasm and professionalism of the waitstaff shone through, whether it was the cheerful sommelier explaining the characteristics and origins of a matched wine for the umpteenth time, or the rotating waiters who would swoop mere seconds after we had finished a course to clear our table and refill our glasses of water.  Another nice touch that I enjoyed was having the chefs (including Hadleigh himself – I do admit to having a ‘oh my god it’s [insert name of celebrity chef here]‘ moment) come out of the kitchen to present every other course, allowing them to engage with the customers and present their work.

The first to come out was a selection of five ‘snacks’ including radish with avocado mole, cheesy Jamon Iberico croquettes and some playful pork floss ‘cigarettes’ (pictured below).  The other two snacks were some oatmeal crisps with a sour cream and finger lime dipping sauce and…I can’t quite remember the other one.  In fact, my memory of the fifth snack is almost as blurry as the image of it in the second photo below.  I guess that’s what seven matched wines will do to you!

The standout of the snacks was the Jamon Iberico croquettes – the crunchy texture of the exterior crumb combined with the warm, gooey cheese and salty Jamon was pure tapas perfection.  For novelty value, the pork floss ‘cigarettes’ were whimsical, with the ends slightly charred to produce a smoky aroma and flavour reminiscent of the real deal.  I loved how they were presented in a little ceramic ‘ash tray’.

After the snacks came out a bowl of sourdough bread with Normandy butter (you can see the butter in the photo below – the other option is the Kailis Organic olive oil).  I don’t have a photo of the bread, but man, that freshly baked sourdough bread was some of the best I’ve ever had.  Thin, incredibly crisp crust, soft and fluffy crumb.  The Normandy butter was delicious, rich, velvety and oh-so-spreadable.  We were very tempted to go for another bowl of bread, but ultimately we knew that we had to pace ourselves, so reluctantly had to decline the offer.

The entree (yes, after the snacks and bread came the entree!) was Pemberton marron, white miso and yuzu curd, lemon gel,  soy beans with a risotto crisp.  The entree was served without cutlery, our waiter encouraging us to use our hands, get stuck in, and have a bit of fun.  I do have to admit that I cheated by eating the soy beans first and using the half-pod as a scoopy-fork utensil, but we had great fun mixing combinations.  I was surprised at how well the plump, juicy sweet marron worked with the sweet lemon gel – very cool.

The second course was beetroot, coffee and cocoa.  On a soil of coffee, cocoa and almond meal was beetroot, Persian fetta, red wine vinegar granita and olive oil powder.  Yes, olive oil powder.  I wonder if it turns into olive oil if you add water to it?  I shall have to google that one day.

I loved the presentation of this dish, which reminded me of a vegetable garden on a crisp winter’s day, the fresh beetroot erupting out of the moist, fertile soil of the ceramic pot, the microherb used to garnish representing green baby shoots.  The cocoa, coffee and almond meal soil tasted a bit like coffee with Milo – and who wouldn’t like that!

The third course on the menu was merely called ‘Chestnut, chicken and egg’.  However, to be fully descriptive, it should be called ‘creamy chestnut polenta with crisp chicken skin, peas and egg in oak wood smoke’.  Oh, and there’s an option to pay a bit extra to have several generous shaved slices of black truffle to top it all off.  Hello, is anyone really going to say no to that offer?  We certainly couldn’t.

The way the dish was presented made me feel all giddy with excitement like a little child.  Presented in one of those old rubber seal jars that you store pantry items in, you can see the oak wood smoke swirling around inside, like mist obscuring a mystical magical forest of culinary delights.  As we popped open our lids, the woody aromas of the smoke filled our nostrils, revealing the shaved black truffle and the other goodies waiting inside.  What I liked the most about this dish was the number of textures that were in play.  After a spoonful of the soft polenta, you would come across a crunchy piece of chicken skin, and then a pea which would just pop with freshness in your mouth.  Add to that the classic combination of a soft, runny egg and black truffle, and you’ve got a hell of a winning dish.

The fourth course was a confit of Tasmanian ocean trout in olive oil, served with a purple carrot puree, a Shark Bay scallop and a red cabbage jus.  I’m not sure what it is, but I’ve yet to find a fish course of a degustation menu that jumps out at me and yells ‘pick me as your favourite!’.  I was mildly intrigued by the colour of the purple carrot puree and the use of brussel sprout (which was actually quite tasty), but in my eyes the dish wasn’t otherwise anything spectacular.

But then came along the fifth course of mushrooms, Plantagenet pork and roselle.  As certain MasterChef judges would put it: Best – dish – of – the – night.  The succulent pork belly was melt in your mouth, and the roselle jam played the part usually reserved for apple sauce a perfect sweet yet slightly tart accompaniment.  The shiitake mushrooms were also perfectly matched – I couldn’t fault anything with this dish.

The sixth course (really now, who’s counting after the fifth wine or so) was White Rocks veal with Jerusalem artichoke, kale, an oxtail ‘spring roll’ and a cube of hay-smoked Bannister Downs milk jelly.  It sounds kind of odd when you read the description but it all came together rather well.  The milk jelly oozes over the tender veal and lends it a subtle, smoky flavour.  The oxtail ‘spring roll’ was a nice idea to add some textural crunch and to demonstrate how easily the whole animal can be used.

A palate cleanser!  We didn’t know whether to rejoice or groan at the thought that dessert must be just around the corner.  The chardonnay vinegar and lime cubes were full of intensely concentrated citrus flavours and amazingly tart, well and truly clearing the way for our taste buds to fully appreciate the sweeter courses to come.

Of course, that didn’t stop Teresa and I from splurging further and put the sweet stuff on hold whilst we enjoyed our optional cheese board – Beaufort, crackers, quince paste, muscatels, date and walnut bread.  The glass of 2007 Belasco de Baquedano Malbec from Argentina which I was nursing from the veal course went very well indeed with the cheese, as did Teresa’s glass of Palliser Estate pinot noir.

The concept of pre-dessert is something that I could get used to.  Because really, it’s just a great excuse to have two dessert courses.  And when you’re having 8-10 courses all up, it’s really not that much dessert in the grand scheme of things!  But I digress.  For our pre-dessert, we had a deconstructed Japanese pumpkin cheesecake, cinnamon sorbet and champagne jelly.  Not too sweet with a number of savoury flavours, it struck just the right balance and would be appreciated by those who are not fans of the ultra-sweet dessert.

For our proper dessert, I was given the Shima wasabi white chocolate with caramel powder, with Teresa receiving the apple, sorrel and lemon curd.  I note that we didn’t actually choose which dessert we got, so naturally we just decided to share.  I was actually wondering what happens if you were dining alone (unlikely, but hey, maybe you’re in town for a business trip or something) – would you be served both desserts, or just one?

Any thoughts of coming back by myself to find out the answer were soon banished by the fizzy, crackly sensation coming from my mouth – there were pop rocks in my dessert!  There I was, sitting at this fine dining restaurant on my 26th birthday, and I was instantly transported back to my 7th birthday when I was probably eating pop rocks – the ‘Circle of Life’ as Elton John might sing, if he happened to be singing about me at that exact time.  Which would have been really weird and quite uncomfortable.

You wouldn’t think that wasabi and white chocolate would work well together, but I was fascinated with the flavour combination.  The first hit you get is of the sugar from the white chocolate, and then the trademark nostril-clearing sensation of the wasabi starts to filter through.  It’s really quite unique and very playful.

Would you like some coffee or tea?  Two cafe lattes please, and how about some lychee jubes, Tonka bean marshmallows and fresh, hot rhubarb and strawberry jam doughnuts whilst you’re up?  That would be lovely.  I actually found out that Teresa loved jam doughnuts as a result of these sweets – I didn’t actually know that bit about her before – and she assures me that they were suitably delicious.  I was inclined to agree with her.  Guess who’s ready for marriage, then?

Amusing, to say the least: Everyone in Perth must try this restaurant at least once.  It has the best degustation I’ve had in Perth (sadly I missed out on visiting Star Anise before it closed), and probably in my top 5 of all time (26 years now, I’m practically an authority on these things).  It’s in the Entertainment Book as well, so there’s really no excuse.