Not Quite Worth the $$$ @ Andaluz Bar & Tapas, Perth, W.A.
We’d wanted to try out Andaluz for a while now and finally scheduled a night to venture here. I was really looking forward to it and had high expectations due to numerous reviews I had read.
First off, we decided to get a glass of bubbly. We choose a glass each of the Deutz blanc de blanc. We were both impressed with the way that the bubbles were still small and the wine wasn’t oxidised, showing that the bottle was recently opened. We were both quite hungry so our first order of tapas consisted of the Chicken and Duck Liver Parfait, the Morcilla Croquettes and the marinated olives. We were both delighted with the Chicken and Duck Liver Parfait. It was light and flavoursome – a really beautiful parfait. The bread served with it was lightly chargrilled, and this flavour was a lovely accompaniment to the flavour of the parfait. We both agreed that it added to the dish and would both happily go back for just the sparkling and parfait. The Croquettes were nice however weren’t a knock out and the olives were suppose to be marinated in citrus, garlic and thyme however I didn’t taste this marinade. Also, I found the olives a bit under-ripe as a whole, so I didn’t particularly like this tapas dish.
We then ordered the Marinated Octopus in preserved lemon and chilli and the Sautéed Mushrooms in roasted garlic and rino cream. At the same time we ordered these we also asked if we could get a bit more bread, as we still had parfait left over. The waitress was most obliging to provide some and it wasn’t added to the bill, which was a nice gesture. I really enjoyed the octopus however my partner didn’t particularly like the chewiness of the octopus. I found the flavours quite subdued but it was a really nice dish.
The sautéed mushrooms were my favourite dish of the night and it was a quite large serving. It was very filling as well, due to the heaviness of the dish supplied by the cream. The roasted garlic provided an intense flavour to the dish and overall, the merging of the ingredients led to a very appetizing dish.
Our last savoury dish of the night was the beef shin with potato puree and truffles. We decided on this dish because of the truffles – as it is truffle season and we unfortunately had to miss out on the Mundaring Truffle Festival due to unforeseen work commitments. I wasn’t the biggest fan of this dish, as we paid $39 for a dish that was quite small and didn’t taste as good as I thought it would. The beef is a cheap cut and would have been cooked for a while, however it really wasn’t worth the money flavour wise or size wise. Was quite a disappointment.
During this dinner, three men having drinks joined us at the table. It was a bit awkward and when they asked to sit down, we had said no, however they sat down anyway. We weren’t happy with this arrangement, and we were both happy to be told by the waitress that we didn’t have to share the table and they were asked to find somewhere else. This was a nice surprise, as I thought that Andaluz would make us all sit at this tiny table in the corner, however it was handled really well.
For the end of our night, we both ordered a glass of the 2005 Le tertre du lys d’or (a French dessert wine) and the Raspberry and White Chocolate Cheesecake. When we received the wine, we both noticed that it was either oxidised or corked, as the menu stated that it was a slightly sweet dessert wine and the one in our glass wasn’t sweet at all and was quite strong in taste. Our waitress was asked if it could be checked by barstaff or sommelier, as we didn’t think it was how it was meant to be. She did that and it was changed straight away. The service in this regard was also above par. The second glass of this dessert wine was very nice. It really is a great addition to their wine list. The Cheesecake was a deconstructed version, with little dollops of white chocolate and cheese mixture with raspberries and a crumbed base. It was quite nice however I would have liked to have known it wasn’t a typical cheesecake when I ordered it.
I wouldn’t be hurrying back in a hurry, however we both said at the end of the night that we would return for a glass of bubbles and some parfait. Maybe not for an evening meal as the price is just too extravagant for the meal you consume. The service was a hit by the end of the night, however at the beginning of it was disjointed and unfriendly.
