After having been to Tabou, L’etoile and Vamps, I figured I should try Assiette. After all, there’s no better way to compare restaurants unless you indulge yourself in their finest food.

Making a booking was a breeze – I thought I’d give their online enquiry form a shot, and surely enough, within 24 hours I got a response from a very courteous Rachel McShane, the manager herself.

We arrived as promised, at 8pm. Rachel showed us to our table, and as we sat – the first thing they asked was “Would you like some water or a glass of champagne?”. Clever, I thought. What a way to start off as soon as you sit down. Champagne, of course, was what we preferred and they got back with an impressive wine list – to choose both our champagne and wine for dinner.

After ordering and receiving our glasses of French bubbles, they left us with the menu and gave us ample of time before we ordered.

Just after we ordered, Rachel suggested we move our table a little to the north as she was expecting a birthday group behind us. This allowed us a little privacy by avoiding their loud conversation.

Having cracked open a beautiful bottle of 2007 St Clair Omaka Reserve Pinot Noir (Marlborough, NZ), oysters were presented on the table (I skipped this bit due to my lack of appetite for seafood).

For entree, my plate consisted of goats cheese sprinkled with spices served with tomatoes cooked 3 ways. One of the tomato were presented in jelly form and was quite remarkable – something that I’ve never had before. I’ve tried beetroot jelly – but not tomato jelly that wrapped itself around some tomato puree. Beautiful textures and flavours.

Following my entree, was sliced lamb fillet on top of mashed eggplant, served with onion puree and deep fried pieces of lamb placed on top of wilted spinach. Individually, each of them tasted great. However, I didn’t find that the entire dish came together as one. The onion puree was quite overpowering and deep fried lamb bits were just there for the sake of presentation I think. Although, the lamb and eggplant were perfectly matched. Overall, it was very enjoyable.

I must however say, that the choice of wine did very well suit the main course.

Finally for dessert, we shared a glass of dessert wine accompanied by a serving of vanilla compote. The taste was perfect to end a meal and each bite just melted in your mouth.

The staff were very good at what they did. They paid good attention to your table and knew when to top up the wine and water. They even explain each dish as it was placed on the table.

With each person having a glass of champagne, bottle of wine, entree, main, dessert and a glass of dessert wine, expect to pay about $150-$180 each.

To top it off, I had a good experience – but did I find it better than the others? Unfortunately, yes. I still prefer Tabou and L’etoile. I would have also hopped that Assiette updated their website showing their latest menu, as I went with the expectation of their existing online menu.

Atmosphere – 7.5/10
Food – 7.5/10
Wine/Cocktails – 8.5/10
Staff – 9/10
Value for money – 7/10

http://www.restaurantassiette.com.au/