The good folks from Noma in Denmark decided to move the (former) number 1 restaurant in the world to Sydney for a few months this year. We in Australia could feel special about this - but in reality, I suspect this was just an elaborate ruse for a whole group of Danish chefs to avoid a Copenhagen winter and learn to surf. The limited time (10 week) restaurant sold out it's entire run in just a measly four minutes.
Thanks to a willing co-worker (okay, I'm his boss, he didn't have a choice) we hit up the website on a number of phones to try to get a booking (after the office internet chose that moment to die) and managed to get one phone through on the booking system in that elusive four minute window. That was October. Five months later, I got to have lunch.
The menu was quite different to the previous two meals I've had in Denmark in 2013 and again in 2014 . Not a surprise given their penchant for foraging ingredients in the local area.
Even the wines were local - and for us very local. We were particularly intrigued by the sparkling wine made in Belconnen. Cook to be exact. Who in Cook is whipping up sparkling wine in their backyard?
The decor in the restaurant was similar to Copenhagen, with an Aussie twist. The animal skins over the backs of the chairs were wallaby, and the centerpieces were distinctly Australia. At least we were not asked to eat the centerpiece this time (though Jason tried...).
After the aptly named "snakebite" aperitif, it was time to get into the food. The first dish was unripe macadamia nuts with spanner crab. Turns out Tracey is NOT allergic to macadamias and the epipen was a (thankfully) superfluous guest at our table.
Next up was wild seasonal berries flavored with gubinge.
This was followed by desert oak wattleseed with saltbrush. Or to quote Riin - "I feel like a posh koala (eating this)".
Next up was a seafood platter - complete with crocodile fat. There may have been some issues with identifying what type of animal a croc is. Okay, so I may have accidentally called them a mammal, and then corrected myself and said amphibian. REPTILE BELINDA. They are a reptile...
Someone apparently got to forage snow crab from half a kilometer depths on the WA coast, and these were served up with cured egg yolk and fermented kangaroo. Yes, fermented kangaroo.
Next up they decided to give us some quintessential Australian fare. A pie. A pie made from dried scallops and nasturtium flowers and a seaweed pastry. The fudge like pie filling was frozen. And yes, we ate the flowers too. Rather peppery.
The next course was essentially a bush tucker taco. The ingredient list included burnt milk and magpie goose. The filling was a form of lobster.
We then moved on to sea urchin with dried tomatoes and pepper berries. Sea urchin looks like a tongue up close. Do you have any idea how hard it is to eat something that looks like a tongue?
In yet another homage to their Australian surroundings, the next course was an abalone schnitzel with bush condiments. Or an "abby schnitty" as we informed our waiter. Some of the seaweed acted like popping candy in your mouth. Riin took a disturbing level of interest in the knife that came with this dish.
This. Was. Amazing.
We then moved on to dessert. First up was a fruit course - including whiskey soaked pineapple and the most Queensland mangoes ever - covered in green ants (it is not a trip to Noma unless they make you eat ants).
A few other fruits were added. We were warned that the "toothpicks" would numb your mouth if chewed, but despite Jason and Riin's best efforts there was no evidence that dentists could use this in lieu of anesthetic.
The next round of dessert was my fav of the sweet dishes. The Noma version of a lammington. Aerated rum ice cream. It was unbelievably light and easy to eat. Riin described this as "the best air I have ever eaten".
The second dessert was the "Baytime" - an ice cream made from peanut milk and freekah (no, that is not chocolate on the outside - but roasted freekah). The stick was lemon myrtle.
There was even a surprise filling (which Jason mistook for hummus...though in his defense he had had a few alcoholic beverages at this point).
Last, but not least, was their specialty coffee (or tea if you are Tracey) and bonbons.
A quote from Jason aptly summarises the experience - "this is what fine dining would look like in a post apocalyptic Australia".
Thanks to a willing co-worker (okay, I'm his boss, he didn't have a choice) we hit up the website on a number of phones to try to get a booking (after the office internet chose that moment to die) and managed to get one phone through on the booking system in that elusive four minute window. That was October. Five months later, I got to have lunch.
The menu was quite different to the previous two meals I've had in Denmark in 2013 and again in 2014 . Not a surprise given their penchant for foraging ingredients in the local area.
Even the wines were local - and for us very local. We were particularly intrigued by the sparkling wine made in Belconnen. Cook to be exact. Who in Cook is whipping up sparkling wine in their backyard?
The decor in the restaurant was similar to Copenhagen, with an Aussie twist. The animal skins over the backs of the chairs were wallaby, and the centerpieces were distinctly Australia. At least we were not asked to eat the centerpiece this time (though Jason tried...).
After the aptly named "snakebite" aperitif, it was time to get into the food. The first dish was unripe macadamia nuts with spanner crab. Turns out Tracey is NOT allergic to macadamias and the epipen was a (thankfully) superfluous guest at our table.
Next up was wild seasonal berries flavored with gubinge.
This was followed by desert oak wattleseed with saltbrush. Or to quote Riin - "I feel like a posh koala (eating this)".
Next up was a seafood platter - complete with crocodile fat. There may have been some issues with identifying what type of animal a croc is. Okay, so I may have accidentally called them a mammal, and then corrected myself and said amphibian. REPTILE BELINDA. They are a reptile...
Someone apparently got to forage snow crab from half a kilometer depths on the WA coast, and these were served up with cured egg yolk and fermented kangaroo. Yes, fermented kangaroo.
Next up they decided to give us some quintessential Australian fare. A pie. A pie made from dried scallops and nasturtium flowers and a seaweed pastry. The fudge like pie filling was frozen. And yes, we ate the flowers too. Rather peppery.
The next course was essentially a bush tucker taco. The ingredient list included burnt milk and magpie goose. The filling was a form of lobster.
We then moved on to sea urchin with dried tomatoes and pepper berries. Sea urchin looks like a tongue up close. Do you have any idea how hard it is to eat something that looks like a tongue?
In yet another homage to their Australian surroundings, the next course was an abalone schnitzel with bush condiments. Or an "abby schnitty" as we informed our waiter. Some of the seaweed acted like popping candy in your mouth. Riin took a disturbing level of interest in the knife that came with this dish.
This. Was. Amazing.
We then moved on to dessert. First up was a fruit course - including whiskey soaked pineapple and the most Queensland mangoes ever - covered in green ants (it is not a trip to Noma unless they make you eat ants).
A few other fruits were added. We were warned that the "toothpicks" would numb your mouth if chewed, but despite Jason and Riin's best efforts there was no evidence that dentists could use this in lieu of anesthetic.
The next round of dessert was my fav of the sweet dishes. The Noma version of a lammington. Aerated rum ice cream. It was unbelievably light and easy to eat. Riin described this as "the best air I have ever eaten".
The second dessert was the "Baytime" - an ice cream made from peanut milk and freekah (no, that is not chocolate on the outside - but roasted freekah). The stick was lemon myrtle.
There was even a surprise filling (which Jason mistook for hummus...though in his defense he had had a few alcoholic beverages at this point).
Last, but not least, was their specialty coffee (or tea if you are Tracey) and bonbons.
A quote from Jason aptly summarises the experience - "this is what fine dining would look like in a post apocalyptic Australia".
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