Monday, May 10, 2010

Orso (2) - Mosman

For a celebratory dinner, my partner booked in Orso at Mosman.
We'd been here a couple of times before so I was a bit curious as to why he booked Orso for this special evening - his response was that it was a restaurant which offered reliable, quality food. And... I guess that's true.
Our booking was for 7.30pm. We were just a touch early. But before we could even open our mouths to tell the waiter our name for the booking, we were told - 'just a minute' and were pretty much... brushed off. He then scooted off and did his thing before he returned to tend to us. Normally, that probably would ticked me off a little already, but tonight, I was happy, I just let things be.

So first off, we ordered some garlic bread. The garlic bread was crispy on the outside, soft and buttery and moist on the inside. YUM. The herby butter kind of flowed throughout the bread, but there was enough non-buttered bread to balance out the unhealthiness.

Garlic Bread

We also ordered Orso's daily antipasto tasting plate ($26.50) to share. This came with two small cups of cauliflower soup, a deep fried oyster with tomatoey salsa ish thing, proscuitto with pear, chicken liver pate with sherry jelly and brioche, pickled cucumber, smoked salmon, and what I think was a smoked salmon ravioli. Like last time we were at Orso, the ravioli was a little watery and not quite tasty enough. The soup was quite heavenly but everything else was pretty standard and nothing too outstanding or awesome. I remember being much more WOWed last time we ordered the entree platter... but that must be the novelty factor LOL :)


orso's daily antipasto tasting plate - $26.50

For out mains, my partner ordered the traditional bouillabaisse ($38.50). This was a super rich seafood soup with crab, mussels, prawns and fish. This was meant to be served with crusty "garlic" bread which turned out to just be normal plain bread with a light mayo-ish dipping. To be completely honest, the mains took FOREVER to come out. I think the waiters must have mucked something up because one of them actually came up (maybe an hour later) to apologise and to inform us that our mains were being plated next. So I guess these mains were met with much anticipation. The soup was very very rich and very very seafoody. My partner had a bit of a struggle with the crab (as usual) and gave up half way. The soup must have been surprisingly filling, or my partner must not have been too hungry, as he was unable to finish it.



traditional bouillabaisse - $38.50


For my main, I had to toss up between the trout and the snapper. In the end, I chose the trout ($38.50) because I thought there was less of a chance that they would overcook it (as trout pieces tend to be thicker). My tasmanian ocean trout sat on top of a vegetable tagliatelle and was surrounded by a lemon butter sauce with mussels. The fish was pretty decent. The skin could have been crispier but atleast the bulk of it was not overdone. The vegetables completely soaked up the rich delicious buttery sauce and was divine~ The mussels however, were a little dismal looking swimming in the sauce, and honestly, the dish would probably have been just as good without them.

roast fillet of tasmanian ocean trout - $38.50

We had also ordered a side of 'chip potatoes' to share. But they were just ordinary chips - nothing spectacular... except... for some reason, my partner thought they were nice and crispy and I thought they were nice and soggy (and drenched in oil - just the way I like them).

We were both too full for dessert. So instead, we opted for coffee. I ordered a mocha affogato ($10.50). This was a shot of espresso with vanilla and chocolate icecream. The coffee was super super strong, even when mixed with the icecream, it was still strong - not in a bad way though. And plus, coffee and icecream is always a winner for me - Love it~ :)


Mocha Affogato - $10.50

And as accompaniments to our coffees, we got sticky date cubes and pistacio biscotti. They were alright - atleast they were better than the petit fours we get at Bilsons! :)

Coffee accompaniments

In all, it was a good night. The service was a bit lacking but I guess when you're in a nice environment, it's not too big a deal.

Ratings:
Food – 8/10
Service – 6.5/10
Ambiance – 9/10
Value for money – 7.5/10
Overall – 31/40

Orso Bayside Restaurant
79 Parriwi Road, Corner Spit Road
The Spit
Mosman
NSW 2088
Tel: (02) 9968 3555

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