Italian-Japanese Degustation Menu at Rise, Darlinghurst – Closed

Edit: CLOSED

it is our ninth visit to Rise (23 Craigend St, Darlinghurst) and tonight we are here for the Italian-Japanese Degustation Menu ($60). Chef Hide Okazaki has spent 10years at Italian restaurants including 2years at Michelin-starred restaurants in Italy. he also reads my blog heh heh

yes i took a photo of the bread. for one, noods was a whole 45mins late! and also was playing with my new/old 50mm lens because of the ‘mood lighting’ so i apologise for the graininess of the photos to come because i didnt use flash and am still such a noob with my camera XD

Salmon paupiette with sour cream & orange glaze. for an antipasto this serving was freaking huge! totally not a complaint tho because the salmon was fantastic- baby soft and super fresh. i couldn’t really taste the orange glaze which was good for me because i have issues with citrus in savoury foods but the sour cream went well with the salmon

Pipi & saffron soup with calamari tortellini. rise always has spectacular soups. the flavour pretty much punches you in the face with awesomeness. there was a fat fat mussel floating in the bowl that i was going to pawn off to noods because i dont like em but decided to give it a try and oh boy im glad i didnt because it was so sooo tender man if all mussels were cooked this perfectly i would be firmly in the i love mussels camp. the tortellini was so pretty! look at those purpley swirls!

Gratin of pasta conchiglia with Italian sausage. the pasta shells were a cute way to hold the porky sausage slices hidden underneath a blanket of tasty cheese

Grilled black tiger prawn wrapped with prosciutto crudo & tomato salsa. noods is allergic to prawns but he couldn’t resist eating the prawn after the rest of us chomped thru the crispy shell and into the prawn flesh which was sweet and with a bite of the prosciutto a nice salty edge

Savoy cabbage rolled with braised beef cheek & creamed vegies. i have to admit i wasnt a big fan of the main. while the beef cheek was perfectly juicy and fall apart tender there was a spice in it that i couldnt quite pin which didnt suit the meat and there was a bit too much tomato sauce which kinda drowned the whole dish. the potato croquette on the bottom was awesome though with crispy breadcrumbs on the outside and creamy potato innards

the parents dont eat red meat so their meal substitute was a fish fritter with creamed vegies and potato croquette. i suffered from food envy when their plate arrived the presentation of the fish was awesome and was perfectly cooked. a firm slab of fishy that was juicy and matched the tomato sauce more than the beef did

and then it’s dessert time and 2 platters arrive with sparklers woohoo happy (early) birthday to noods and happy (late) birthday to dad

it’s a donut! hoho well, a ‘ricotta bombolone’ on a ricotta semi freddo studded with glace cherries. the awesomeness! seriously the donut was so tasty! freshly fried and super fluffy i wished i could take home a 6pack!

erm not quite sure what were in these 2 glasses as it wasn’t on the menu. but one was a green tea pannacotta and the other tasted like almond?

and woohoo another free dessert! vanilla bean ice cream on slices of dense fruit cake

da family