Blancharu, Elizabeth Bay

There was cause for celebration; my brother had news and my cousin was visiting Sydney for a couple of days on a business trip. It's always guaranteed to be a fun, food-filled time when my cousin is in town because he is possibly even more of a foodie than I am. It was fun to get to choose a place to take him for dinner. Blancharu is a French Japanese bistro that I have heard immensely good things about but had yet to try. To be honest I was fairly put off the whole French-Japanese concept after visiting the below average A la Facon de Shimizu. So when we walked into Blancharu I had fairly lowered expectations. And Blancharu totally took me by surprise (in a fantastically good way!).

I love the feel of the restaurant as soon as I walk in. It's open and light, but cozy warm and has a calm buzz to it. My cousin is a self-proclaimed wine geek, but I like to think of him as the Wine Guru, as I am fairly lacking when it comes to wine knowledge and he is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to wines. We always let him choose the wine when he comes and he is fantastic at pairing great wines with our food. This time he had brought along some Moet and an absolutely gorgeous bottle of Riesling (Clonakilla Winery 2008) from Canberra of all places. It was seriously good Riesling and went perfectly with our meal.

Black sesame bread roll

The service is fantastic here, attentive without being overbearing. They wait patiently for all of our table to arrive and then champagne is poured and complimentary warm bread comes out. We can choose between sour dough or black sesame and I immediately go for the black sesame. It's wonderfully nutty and has a lovely fluffy dark interior. We take a long time figuring out what we want to order, there are so many options here. You can either order a la carte or there is a 4 course 'degustation' where you can choose your entree, main, pasta and dessert for $65, an 8 course degustation ($75 for the whole table) and on weekdays they have a $55 5 course degustation. We are extremely tempted to get the 5 course but end up going with the 4 course so we can all choose different things and get to try more of the menu. Keep in mind I have listed the a la carte price next to the dishes but we did this as part of the $65 four courses which was really great value.

Sashimi of the day (Market price)

Wine Guru selects the fresh sashimi and is very pleased with the fat, juicy slices. M goes with the scallops. I get to try one and they are perfectly cooked, moist pillows of goodness but some find the creamy sauce a little too heavy for the scallop. It's still delicious though. M & the brother must have snarfed the truffle before I got any because I don't remember seeing/eating it!

Roasted scallops in shell, truffle & celeriac sauce ($25.00)

A has no idea what to get so I point him in the direction of the slow cooked seafood dish. As soon as I get a taste I immediately wish I had ordered this one for myself. It is sooooooo good. The prawns, mussels and abalone are just perfection and the sauce is lick off the plate worthy.

Slow cooked prawns, abalone & mussels in a thyme & butter sauce ($22.00)

I love the look of my entree as soon as it is set down in front of me. The ocean trout has great colour with the contrast bright green dill against the bright orange flesh. It's very good, the fish just melts in my mouth. Not being a fan of dill, I actually enjoyed the flavour and texture it added although I think they could have put a bit less of it on as I found it quite overpowering.

Poached ocean trout, dill, capsicum ragout ($17.00)

The pasta course was next. I was a little apprehensive about this course but had a feeling it would be a stand out since they had dedicated a whole section of the menu to it. There's also a lovely sounding soup option (a chestnut soup) for those not wanting a carboriffic pasta dish. I love their handmade fettucine. It is cooked just right, still firm and slippery. The black truffle on mine is a tad disappointing, it sort of reminds me of truffle oil rather than fresh truffles. It's not too big a serve and I still enjoy it.

Handmade fettucine with black truffle ($30.00)

Once again I helped A pick his dish. And once again his is so good that I want it all for myself. I've had countless bad risottos as restaurants but this was just lovely. Light and so rich in flavour from the crab, everyone wants another taste of this dish.

Japanese style crab risotto ($22.00)

Unexpectedly, the carbonara is the standout here. It is just mind-blowingly tasty. It really packs a punch flavourwise, I usually find carbonaras far too rich and salty but this one is just right. Ohhhh I'm definitely coming back for more of this!

Handmade fettucine alla Carbonara ($22.00)

The mains is when the real fun begins. A and I are sharing the spatchcock as you need two people to order this dish. Just its name is enough to make me curious. Before the bring out the food, they present us with this amazing looking thing:

Salt-encrusted spatchcock

It's similar to how they presented the clay covered veal at Becasse, except this crust has been baked until it is golden and has the cutest mould ever with that happy face on the top. They waitress explains how they cook it in the thick layer of salt to keep the moisture in and the steam inside infuses the meat with all the herbs that it is covered in. As she is doing this she uses a knife to crunch through the bottom of this crust and lifts off the top to unveil a steaming, moist little spatchcock. It's quite a spectacular show.

She lets us sniff the top of the crust which is covered is all sorts of wonderful herbs. They take the spatchcock back to the kitchen so they can serve it up for us. At this point we are all salivating in anticipation.

When it does come out, there's not much meat for the two of us! But it's simple and elegant. The meat is just so so tender and the flavour from the herbs is present right through the meat. A is a little cranky that we don't get much meat after seeing the whole bird on the table earlier, but I am pleased that it isn't too heavy and am more than satisfied since it tastes so good.

Spatchcock en croûte de sel a la Haru ($28.00 min 2 people for 4 course degustation)

The only slightly disappointing dish is the beef cheeks ordered by my brother. Neither of us are huge fans of cabbage wrapped dishes, though the sauce is delicious and the meat is tender. It's very meaty and sort of pales in comparison to the other dishes in terms of wow factor.

Braised beef cheek, mushrooms & onion wrapped in cabbage with a ginger broth

Another surprise, the fish is fabulous and probably the best dish of the night. I don't know how they do it but they managed to cook this fish to absolute perfection. The flesh is the right firmness but is so tender and succulent. The skin on top is so crispy. I honestly wonder how they manage to get the skin so crisp while keeping the flesh so moist. The eggplant caviar reminds me a bit of the lovely eggplant dip we loved at Perama (but less smoky). This eggplant and the sauce (totally can't remember what was in it) are almost as good as the fish, the whole dish is a complete success.

Poisson du jour ($26.00) - Monkfish with an eggplant caviar

Mandarin souffle, mandarin sorbet ($15.00)

On to desserts, always the highlight of my meal! I have to go for the mandarin souffle, I'm sucker for those fluffy clouds of yumminess. The mandarin in this souffle is very light and so having it with a more tangy mandarin sorbet works quite well. I like it, but my brother isn't too keen (he isn't a fan of souffles in general I think).

Baked cheesecake, Earl Grey ice cream ($15.00)

A as usual is not particularly keen for a dessert but he has to order one anyway since it's part of our degustation. He didn't want to pay the $6 surcharge to get the cheese platter so I assured him I could polish off most of his dessert as well as my own. Though once he gets it he ends up eating most of it anyway. The cheesecake is nice but not massively exciting but I adore the Earl Grey icecream. It's heady with the flavour of bergamot and any lover of Earl Grey tea would enjoy this.

Choux pastry parcel, chocolate sauce & strawberry ice cream ($16.00)

This restaurant keeps taking me by surprise, the dessert I was least interested in (due to my previuous unenthusiasm for choux, I've had way too many bad ones) turns out to be the best of the lot. It's eagerly recommended by our lovely waitress and its quite a sight. A huge fluffy golden pastry which she pours molten chocolate sauce all over. It is SO unbelievable yummy. This was enough to convert me from a profiterole hater to a lover. The chocolate sauce was just fantastic and the strawberry ice cream was more of a sorbet and the strong flavour of the fruit came through nicely in it. It was pleasing to see that the dishes we had enjoyed most were on the $55 5-course weekday special, which I would totally recommend. It's always good to know that the chef knew what his standouts are.

Chef Harunobu Inukai's (previously from Galileo Restaurant) personality is evident in the menu and the restaurant, there's a fantastic caricature sitting behind the counter at the front and he is all amongst the diners all night, bringing food to tables and farewelling happy diners at the end of their meal. It adds something extra to see him around the restaurant so much.

We were so surprised by the fantastic value and great food at this restaurant. It was the polar opposite to the shitty experience I had at the the French-Japanese place in Willoughby and they're not even worth comparing. The only problem is its location in the heart of Elizabeth Bay-parking is a NIGHTMARE. But its worth the hassle, I will be back here again, it's just the type of place I enjoy when I'm looking for a nice, special, but not too expensive meal.

Blancharu French Japanese Bistro
Shop 1, 21 Elizabeth Bay Road,
Elizabeth Bay NSW 2011
(02) 9360 3555

Mon-Sat: dinner from 6pm - 10pm
Fri-Sat: lunch from 12pm - 14.30pm