Admittedly, Sunmoon isn’t somewhere I would have thought of visiting for dinner. This particular dinner was for a friend’s birthday – another Chef! I was pleasantly surprised by Sunmoon. The dining room was warm and intimate. It was a stormy winter’s night, so unfortunatley we didn’t have the added benefit of looking over the beautiful tropical pool and gardens.
For Entrée we had…
Crispy braised big red Pork Belly with deconstructed potato salad ($19.50) A few of us had this. We really enjoyed it, but agreed that the pork skin was salted too much. I liked the idea of the potato salad, with the tart capers and the sweetness of the apple gel.
Roast Quail, red onion marmalade, with spinach and pomegranate salad ($18.50) A nice, sweet salad.
For Main we had…
Blackwood Valley braised Beef Cheeks, with baby onions, crispy bacon lardons & shimiji mushrooms with celeriac smash ($30.50) This dish was delicious. The photo doesn’t really do it justice, but it was a sticky, gooey mess of rich, yummy meatyness! The meat was incredibly tender. Even a few of the Chefs dug into it and they all agreed with me. It was the perfect comfort-food dish for this stormy night.
Crispy skinned duck breast, duck liver parfait & duck leg roulade with fondant potato & textures of mandarin ($40) A few of the Chefs chose this, they all liked it, but found a few small faults – maybe they wouldn’t have been so picky, had it not been quite pricey.
Slow roasted Blackwood Valley Beef fillet, with boulangere potato compression, pasnip puree, baby veg & jus ($39) Chef enjoyed this dish and everything was cooked very well.
And for Dessert…
Lemon tart with raspberry & choc chip compote ($13) Delicious!
Chocolate fondant with candied orange mascarpone ($17.50) The fondant didn’t ooose chocolate sauce like some that we’ve had – but it was moist and tasty none the less.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from the Sunmoon Restaurant, given a few negative comments on Urbanspoon. A lot of those comments were about long waiting times on food, when the restaurant didn’t seem to be very busy. After chatting with the Head Chef, he explained that they also provide an a la carte room service menu, which is very popular with their guests. So that explained the issue. The night we dined, we didn’t feel we waited longer than we should have for any of the courses.
Personally, I thought that a couple of the dishes were a tad pricey – but generally it’s on par with a lot of hotels around town. Overall we all enjoyed our meals.Not bad for a table of 4 chefs, a silver service waitress and little old me!
** Sunmoon is in the Perth 2014/15 Entertainment Book – 25% off with gold card**
NOTE: I was too busy running for cover from the rain to take any outdoor shots. But here’s a couple off Sunmoon’s website…
