Belle Fleur - Petersham

On our way to a particular open inspection, we had to travel on Parramatta Road. As it is terribly rare for me to get a Saturday off, I immediately thought of one thing as we were driving down. The chocolate store that is almost ALWAYS closed by the time I got to it - Belle Fleur. It was featured on Master Chef and it was where Alvin and Adam (YAY ADAM! :P) learned to temper chocolate and make truffles.

Belle Fleur

Chocolates galore!

When we got in, there was chocolate and chocolate displays galore. There were buildings and soccer balls and buckets and paintings ... all made of chocolate. There were simply blocks of chocolate from different origins, as well as beautifully captivating hand made chocolates in the cabinets.

Having a quick look around, I took my pick (restrainedly so as "I'm saving"... right?). So below is my pick. The 8 chocolates already took me to $11+ ... so really, if you're a chocoholic and trying to save, it's probably best to stay away. Having said that, though, the chocolate is AMAZINGLY delicious. Smooth and rich and creamy, sweet but not overly so... YUM.

my selection of chocolates

Belle Fleur - Smooth hazelnut with a hint of orange

Almond Cluster

Soft Caramel

Butterscotch - (there's two cavities filled with smooth butterscotch in this heart - just like a real heart, right?)

Peruvian Truffle - 64% Dark Peruvian chocolate cream in dark chocolate and rolled in dark chocolate shavings

Pistache - Pistacho chocolate ganache

Chocolate Mousse - Smooth and creamy dark chocolate mousse

Salted Caramel - looks interesting eh?

Dark Chocolate

I couldn't help it. Chocolate bars should not be within reaching distance to the checkout.

Belle Fleur Fine Chocolates
584 Parramatta Road
Petersham
NSW 2049
tel: (02) 9550 0650

Blancmange - Petersham

Blancmange

Work is horribleness >.< Saving is over-rated. Let's just use the money we earn on yummy food. That was my train on thought anyway, after a hecticly hectic week at work. Hence, I convinced my partner to go out to eat with me. Last minute booking got us to Blancmange, a nice cozy little restaurant in Petersham. Being seated next to the window of the small restaurant overlooking a park (in the dark), it provided for a tranquil dinner. Service was good at the beginning, but after a while (around 7 - 7.30 ish) being seated with your back to the restaurant means - limited service. LOL

We got freshly baked sourdough bread when we got seated. There were three pieces but my partner beat me to the bread. The crust wasn't super crunchy and crispy but the middle bits was really soft and fresh and tasty.

sourdough bread

At Blancmange, you can order a 3 course meal for $55 but my partner decided that it's too much food for us. As such, we opted to share an entree - the twice baked caramelised onion and gruyere souffle ($18). This was a sweet, cheesy, soft, super tasty and yummy souffle served with a witlof salad with walnuts, currents, blue cheese, semi-dried tomatoes and mustard vinaigrette. There was a super herby tasty triangular wafer in the middle. This whole dish is deliciousness! Delicately matching sweetness, savouriness, bitterness and sourness. All well balanced. YUM.

twice baked caramelised onion and gruyere souffle with witlof salad - $18

For the mains, I couldn't decide on what I wanted and my partner couldn't decided from two dishes. Hence, we ordered the two he had wanted. One was the roasted fillet of angus beef ($36). This was cooked medium rare - almost to perfection. Tender, tasty, succulent angus beef. Mmmm.... this was served with super creamy super smooth potato puree and a bourguignonne garnish of caramelised onions, mushrooms and pancetta lardons (i.e. bacon bits). This onion mushroom bacon mix was sooooooooo full of flavour. The mushroom, especially, soaked up all the juices and was just an explosion of taste. Wow. This dish was awesomely deliciousness.

roasted fillet of angus beef - $36

But wait - there's more. The other main we ordered was the pan roasted salmon ($30). So the skin isn't as crispy as I would like it to be but the fish was simply cooked just right. Not just pink on the outside and darker pink on the inside, the fillet was smooth, soft and tender. Almost melting-in-mouth type. The salmon was sitting on top of grilled green and white asparagus, and a bed of crushed kipfler potatoes, confit tomatoes and caperberries and gerkins mix. It was tasty and delicious :)

pan roasted salmon - $30

For dessert, I was dying to try the dark chocolate fondant ($16). This was served with a macadamia and chocolate crisp and vanilla icecream. The fondant was goey and flowing with warm soft chocolate cakey mixture. Not too sweet and not bland. Complemented with the icecream perfectly and who can resist chocolate with macadamia nuts on it??? I loved every bite of this desset. It was heavenly awesomeness :P

dark chocolate fondant, macadamia and chocolate crisp, vanilla icecream - $16

My partner didn't want dessert. He opted for coffee instead. A "tall" black instead of a long black by mistake LOL. It came with a sponge cake with jam and desiccated coconut. Nothing too special here.

long black with sponge cake

Overall, it was a lovely dining experience. The restaurant does get a little bit loud and echoey because of the smallness of it. But it was very much cosy and comfy. The food was comforting and delicious - did well to combat my work-blues and crashing into the garage. I would definately not mind dinning here again :)

Ratings:
Food - 9/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 8/10
Value for money - 8/10
Overall - 32/40

Blancmange
1 Station St
Petersham
NSW 2049
Tel: (02) 9568 4644