By St
Hello again blog world. With the mad rush and gluttony of Christmas beginning to subside, it’s time to stretch my fingers and jump back on the bibbity bopping blog wagon. (You know how it is, so hard to break away from all the delectable festive food. And let’s be honest, how many chocolate boxes did you receive this Christmas? Ans: Too many to count!)
A few months back, Filoman Mong invited a few of us to dine at The Westin Hotel’s Mosaic restaurant. Describing their cuisine as Mediterranean on the website, I was expecting punches of flavours and fresh seafood (I was disappointed). We were going to have the 3 course dinner selection which is usually $68 pp, but Filoman had some specials up his sleeves so it was only going to cost us $35 each. Can’t say no to that! (Keep it coming Filoman.)
I clearly remember it being a stormy, howling night, the clouds were marching in, rain was upon us and King Lear was calling out for his Cordelia... Actually on second thoughts, it was just an average Wednesday night and the restaurant was pretty empty- one or two couples and the odd business people.
Straight off the bat (definitely not the Aussi cricketers’ bat this Boxing day test), the starters were the best dishes of the night. Cyndi and I being clever (or greedy?) shared the duck ravioli and king crab tian. The pea puree complemented the ravioli and although I enjoyed it, the duck may have been slightly over processed (duck twice cooked). The crab meat tian was my favorite. This was the first time having gazpacho and it reminded me of salsas and mixing it in with the chunks of king crab meat really lifted the freshness of the dish without overpowering the crab. If you prefer lighter entrees, than this may not be your best pick especially with the heaviness of the gazpacho. Comparing us to the boys, we were probably greedy as they went for quality and ordered the Harvey Bay scallops instead.
A few months back, Filoman Mong invited a few of us to dine at The Westin Hotel’s Mosaic restaurant. Describing their cuisine as Mediterranean on the website, I was expecting punches of flavours and fresh seafood (I was disappointed). We were going to have the 3 course dinner selection which is usually $68 pp, but Filoman had some specials up his sleeves so it was only going to cost us $35 each. Can’t say no to that! (Keep it coming Filoman.)
I clearly remember it being a stormy, howling night, the clouds were marching in, rain was upon us and King Lear was calling out for his Cordelia... Actually on second thoughts, it was just an average Wednesday night and the restaurant was pretty empty- one or two couples and the odd business people.
Straight off the bat (definitely not the Aussi cricketers’ bat this Boxing day test), the starters were the best dishes of the night. Cyndi and I being clever (or greedy?) shared the duck ravioli and king crab tian. The pea puree complemented the ravioli and although I enjoyed it, the duck may have been slightly over processed (duck twice cooked). The crab meat tian was my favorite. This was the first time having gazpacho and it reminded me of salsas and mixing it in with the chunks of king crab meat really lifted the freshness of the dish without overpowering the crab. If you prefer lighter entrees, than this may not be your best pick especially with the heaviness of the gazpacho. Comparing us to the boys, we were probably greedy as they went for quality and ordered the Harvey Bay scallops instead.
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| Complimentary bread |
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| Duck ravioli with pea puree |
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| King crab meat tian with gazpacho, avocado, baby herbs |
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| Harvey Bay scallops with soft polenta, truffle tapenade, farmer speck |
You couldn’t split Cyndi and I at the mains and we both ordered the Mosaic seafood trilogy: kingfish, battered yamba prawns and scallops. The kingfish with baby veges and scallops were well cooked and surprisingly flavoursome. The battered prawns and aioli sauce was mediocre, the non-fuss batter masking very dull prawns.
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| Mosaic seafood trilogy: Kingfish, battered yamba prawns, scallops |
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| Black angus beef tenderloin, lemon pepper crust, artichokes, cherry tomatoes |
Keeping the trilogy theme alive, a few of us ordered the Mosaic dessert trilogy: Crème brulee, strawberry waffle, white pepper ice cream. The crème brulee was like any other crème brulee- good but nothing to rave about. The waffle was atrocious. I don’t use such strong words to label food but this waffle was as hard as a rock, most likely reheated from the freezer. Besides the hard fact that you will have trouble swallowing it, the strawberries and sauce tasted like it came from a supermarket tin. Fortunately we weren’t like the Filoman who ordered just the strawberry waffle. Another first time was the white pepper ice cream which was very interesting. It wasn’t sweet and tasted a bit plain Jane but then came the unexpected spicy after taste. A friend didn’t like the “dryness” of it and a few coughs later the ice cream was left unfinished on many plates. I think the lesson this night was not to be greedy. Barry ordered the warm chocolate pudding and indicated it was worth the stated 15 minute wait.
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| Mosaic trilogy: crème brulee, strawberry waffle, white pepper ice cream |
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Strawberry waffle
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| Warm chocolate pudding, white pepper ice cream, raspberries, honeycomb |
My rating is based on the quality of the food in conjunction with the special deal we had courtesy of Filoman. Had it been the usual price ($68pp), the rating will be half a wok less.
Wok rating /5: 
Mosaic, The Westin Hotel
1 Martin Place,
Sydney
02 8223 1110
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