Osia

Just before we left for Sydney, DD and I went to Osia as a little treat in celebration of our 5th wedding anniversary.

(Yes, we went for modern Australian food just before leaving for Australia. We’re funny like that.)

I had my eye on this restaurant for a while but never got round to trying it. Our anniversary seemed as good a reason as any to ditch Noey and enjoy some good food on our own, so off we went!

Despite being labelled a fine-dining establishment, the restaurant had a pleasantly casual vibe, with the open kitchen adding to the general buzz. There was a good crowd, and while we didn’t bring Noey with us, we did notice a number of other families dining with children so we took it as a good sign that it wasn’t too chi-chi a place.

I’m not good at writing food reviews but suffice to say, we enjoyed our dinner a lot.

We started with an order of their special stonehearth flat breads. We got half a portion of black olive rosemary bread and half a portion of some red spice (I think) bread on our waiter’s recommendation. Both were good. Maybe I just like fluffy warm bread! The bread also interestingly came with a little tube of the spread of the day. I think ours was pistachio cream cheese. DD spread this on all his slices and thought that both flavours of bread tasted the same till I pointed out that it was probably the dip!

For our starters, DD got their Polenta Crumbed Foie Gras, which he thoroughly enjoyed. It was paired with poached daikon, which I found interesting and it went together surprisingly well. I couldn’t resist ordering their highly recommended Seafood Ice Experience and really enjoyed this dish. (Can you tell?) It was essentially different types of sashimi paired with different fruit/vegetable granitas. My favourite one was the oyster with lychee martini ice. Mmmmm, nice. Especially considering how I save all sashimi eating for special occasions now, being pregnant and all, it was an extra special treat.

Then it was time for the mains.

DD picked the grilled tenderloin, which was served on a bed of blueberry risotto. It sounds weird but it was actually pretty good — the tangy-sweet bits of the risotto coming together with the savoury taste of the beef.

I had the Chilean Sea Bass. When DD’s beef came I regretted not picking that, but once I had a piece of the sea bass, I didn’t regret my choice. It was prepared with carmelised miso on the top — a taste I particularly love so this was a winner in my books. And the fish was undoubtedly fresh. What a treat.

We also got a side order of roasted potatoes with chorizo which I didn’t fancy so much. No matter which we were both full enough that we passed on dessert. I guess I will have to go back again to try the Valrhona Hot Chocolate Soup to see if it is as good as they claim.

We both agreed that this is a place we could come back again to, which is rare for us (DD in particular) so it is a testament to how much we enjoyed our meal. The company played a part too of course. We had fun being silly kidding about feeling self-conscious of being seen on the premises of the CASINO and pretending to tell anyone and everyone that we were just there for the food. Generally we were being ourselves, which always makes for a good evening.

I look forward to returning — yes, only for the food!