Sitting in the place of Jacksons, WA’s legendary status degustation spot, St. Michaels is the new kid on the Beaufort Strip. While I never knew the exact details of the owners, I did know that St. Michaels were the brainchild of the Red Cabbage establishment which hmmm did not provide me with much confident at all. Do not get me wrong, Red Cabbage is a fine place but I was not the keenest person after being scarred by the lacklustre of creativity from my first attempt there. However, my sister was keen to give this place a chance and so I went anyway. For those who are not aware, St. Michaels is now open for dinner which had just happened a couple weeks back ;)
However, because no one knew they were open for nights, we were one of the only two tables that night. I loved being treated as if I had booked the whole place but really, it was just pure luck haha. The dining style here is a choice of a la-carte tapas or degustation but we went for the degustation which was a no-brainer considering the $89 tag will be quickly surpassed if orders were done a la-carte.
After enjoying some crisp lavosh and bread with whipped vegemite butter, my attention turned to St Michael’s first course, the cold pickled vegetables and Bresola.
Highly acidic on the first bite, I quickly grew fond of this setup. The musky beefy Bresola paired with the sour-sweet roots made summer dining a bliss. The taste was fresh and crisp. A meal that left a very clean feel to the palate.
Australian seafood is a major highlight during the summer. St. Michael brings the flavours of South America to plate in this dish of seared scallops.
The perfectly seared scallops were of a decent size but not massively huge. But where flavours were concerned, the dish was well-composed with the tasty salsa and sweet almost buttery charred corn complementing the fresh scallops. Likeable at every aspect, there was a certain predictability about this setup that might have made the experience all a little too “common”.
The next dish was something a little more special with pumpkin puree, orecchiette and pecorino making their way to the table.
On the plate was pureed pumpkin with little pasta shells called orecchiette and roasted pumpkin, topped with fragrant pecorino cheese. Sweet, a little cheesy with some pasta is how I would describe this one. It was quite basic and could easily have been a really good dish. However, there was an inconsistency across the plate with the doneness of the pasta. Some were a little soft whilst a few were hard with a few sitting al dente in the middle. I honestly did not mind it but sitting on the Jacksons’ spot where I had previously dined commands a lot of integrity :P!
The next dish of quail, carrot puree and deep fried crumbled ricotta was absolutely gold.
Cooked spot on, the quail was perfectly pink in the middle and superbly tender. Then comes the silky gel-like carrot puree that was just sensationally seasoned. Not too sweet, or salty, but just nicely ripe in the middle! One its own or together, the crumbed ricotta is every kids dream snack. Fluffy in the middle, crispy on the outside but more important, delicious. To finish was some popped buckwheat to give the dish a crunch. Have all the elements at once and you would be thoroughly impressed.
After grazing through the appetisers, the plat de résistance arrived. It was a dish of lamb. My first bite quickly reminded me of the lamb & scallops dish at Nine Fine Food in Highgate. The lamb was slow cooked and pulled apart before being formed and temporarily pan fried to caramelise the outsides. The fat contents were definitely pretty high with this one as it literally melted in my mouth! Little bits of nifty tricks to break the norm like the mint jelly was quite a joy to have. To sum it up, the lambs falls into the category which I call “same but different” and I like it.
After resting my buds for a bit, our maitre d introduced me to the pre-dessert course. Described as being neither savoury or sweet, the dish consisted of a thin carrot cake slice topped with celeriac ganache, little mounds of blue cheese, pear sorbet and poached pear.
I do not know where to start because this was literally my "dish of the night". Its description falls way short in explaining how delicious this combination was. The spongy carrot cake with a tart almost sweet blue cheese paired with the refreshing sorbet was simply genius. Add the crunchy walnuts and juicy pears to the equation and it was even better. This was an exemplary reinvention of the cheese course where one has blue cheese with pear, candied nuts and crackers.
Last but not least was a dessert course after an oatmeal palate cleanser. Themed parsnip, and honey, this was an all vegetarian dessert.
Parsnip sponge, and parsnip sorbet on cornflakes with honey drizzled all over. To end the night, it was quite right. Refreshing, light and over all quite easy to eat without leaving one feeling as if he/she had just eating a block of meat. Now, if only it was a little less salty! For some reason the sponge has salt in it, which I found to be unnecessary because the cornflakes itself already has some salt. Not a major fault but something that could have been easily prevented for sure.
At the end of the night, I enjoyed the meal at St. Michael quite a fair bit. Unlike its more established sibling Red Cabbage, I found myself more enticed to the creations at St. Michael. Dishes like the scallops as well as the lamb were rather predictable in flavour but still, faultless in all ways. The carrot slice with the walnuts, pear condiments and blue cheese were exemplary in reinventing the classic blue cheese plate. In saying that, there were a few errors which displeased me especially with the last dessert being quite salty or the pasta dish being inconsistently prepared but otherwise it was good. Nonetheless, this has got to be one of the better $89 dollars spent in 2014!
WenY
At the end of the night, I enjoyed the meal at St. Michael quite a fair bit. Unlike its more established sibling Red Cabbage, I found myself more enticed to the creations at St. Michael. Dishes like the scallops as well as the lamb were rather predictable in flavour but still, faultless in all ways. The carrot slice with the walnuts, pear condiments and blue cheese were exemplary in reinventing the classic blue cheese plate. In saying that, there were a few errors which displeased me especially with the last dessert being quite salty or the pasta dish being inconsistently prepared but otherwise it was good. Nonetheless, this has got to be one of the better $89 dollars spent in 2014!
WenY
