L'Aqua Tasting

After visiting Gunner's Barracks we had our first tasting today of the food at L'Aqua. It has been tough with the venues, as each new venue we has surpassed our expectations set by previous venues. Gunner's Barracks was spectacular, and overall the venue didn't feel like it needed much extra decoration. Seeing L'Aqua today it was bare, and we know that on paper it is cheaper, some of the savings will have to be spent on decoration. The roof and some of the walls is just bare.

During the tasting, they did begin setting up for another wedding later this evening.

Before Decoration

After Decoration - Bridal Table

Half decorated table

Earlier in the week we selected 3 entrees, 3 mains and 3 desserts. We decided to avoid picking typical dishes, as we figured this was more to test their ability rather than pick safe options to serve at a wedding (i.e. steak).

Entrees:

1. Southern Ocean seafood tasting plate

Southern Ocean seafood tasting plate

This dish was easily the best of the entrees, it was simple, neatly presented and not too heavy for an entree. The individual elements were:

• Beetroot cured salmon seaweed salad
• Scallop & avocado ceviche
• Oyster with Shiraz mignonette
• Mango sorbet
• King prawns & tomato salsa

I'm not sure where the tomato salsa was with the prawns, or if it was separate, but I didn't see it on the dish. Overall if we were served this in a restaurant we wouldn't have been disappointed

2. Roasted Duck & Ginger Ravioli

Roasted Duck & Ginger Ravioli

This dish was acceptable, however I was a little disappointed that one of the ravioli pieces seemed to have burst (see the ravioli in the top left). They were only serving approximately 45 people there today, and I would have thought that they would have made the effort to get these small details right. I felt the duck wasn't as soft as I expected, but Diane did like the dish. I think we both agreed while we would have been disappointed if this was served to us at an expensive restaurant, for a wedding it was still reasonable.

3. Slow cooked marinated king salmon

Slow cooked marinated king salmon

This dish was a fail. The description of the dish was Slow cooked marinated king salmon, Shark Bay crab meat scordalia & sugar pea coulis. The sugar pea coulis was bland, and the crab meat was simply overpowered by a really salty piece of salmon. Texture wise I wasn't a fan of of crab meat, it was a little bristly. 

At our wedding we only need to find 2 dishes for each course, so the fact that this disappointed wasn't a significant issue.

Mains:

1. Roasted barramundi fillet with enoki mushroom, basil coriander & mint

Roasted barramundi fillet

This dish was served on top of prawn chilli & lime ravioli in a miso broth. I'm not a huge fan of steamed fish, especially barramundi. However I thought the dish was alright, it wasn't too spicy for me, although as we ate more the dish did become spicier. Overall it would have been acceptable, and the fish wasn't overcooked which I guess was one of the main tests.

2. Saltimbocca of Barossa farm chicken supreme

Saltimbocca of Barossa farm chicken supreme

This had the potential to be a great dish. The chicken was wrapped in Serrano & basil, served on top of a sweet potato filled tart, with a marsala glace. It tasted really good, however the chicken was slightly overcooked and a bit dry. Diane and I were sharing all of the dishes, so it wasn't too bad to get through, but if I was eating this by myself, I think the dry chicken would have been too much. Again this was disappointing, given the numbers involved, I would have thought extra care could have been taken to not overcook the chicken. Overall it was a toss up with the dish, but I think Diane and I leaned to the fact that it was acceptable. When chicken is served this way, very few restaurants don't overcook the chicken.

3. White River veal scaloppini

White River veal scaloppini

The veal was served with roasted balsamic shallots, vine ripened cherry tomato, creamy saffron risotto and marsala jus. We didn't like this dish, I had to look at the menu again to see if the risotto had blue cheese, but it was nowhere to be seen on the menu, yet somehow there was a blue cheese taste coming through. The veal was probably overcooked for my liking. 

Overall the mains were a disappointment, and if the deserts weren't good we would have ruled out L'aqua. We did have to bear in mind however that we had not ordered Black Angus tenderloin of beef, or the grilled pork loin cutlet, or the smoked atlantic salmon fillet which were probably safer alternatives compared to the dishes we tried above.

Another couple came round after we finished desserts and while they were disappointed with these, they did say the beef was good, although probably overcooked compared to the way they liked it and the pork cutlets were apparently excellent. Their desserts however were terrible.

Desserts:

1. Mango & white chocolate Galliano

Mango & white chocolate Galliano

This dessert probably saved the day. Especially after going through 3 entrees and 3 mains between the two of us, along with several glasses of wine, the dessert was refreshingly light. I'm not a huge fan of mango, although I typically don't mind it desserts, both the mango and the white chocolate was not overpowering and went well together. Both Diane and I really liked it.

2. Triple chocolate delight

Triple choc delight

Another success! Even Diane who isn't a huge fan of chocolaty desserts like this one. The components were: chocolate pyramid, chocolate fondant & milk chocolate mousse with a chocolate macaroon. We couldn't finish it, as it was too rich given all the meals we had gone through but again was more up to the standards of what we'd expect at a reasonably priced restaurant. The dish went well together and was exactly what you would expect of a chocolaty dessert.

3. Sugar & spice tasting plate

Sugar & Spice tasting plate

This dish was a combination of a blackberry meringue, cappuccino mousse cup, baby pear & strawberry consomme. It was alright, the individual components were fine, although the pear was a bit tough. The disappointing thing was that the components did not combine into a 'sugar & spice' or any other kind of theme, it was just random components that didn't go well together. Again it probably would had been acceptable, but didn't compare to the other two desserts.

Overall L'aqua didn't win us over at the tasting, however we still won't rule it out and we are going to Gunner's Barracks on Thursday to try their food. Diane and I had attended her 3yr med party at QVB Tearoom (part of the same group who run Gunner's barracks) and the food was terrible. If Gunner's Barracks is of the same quality we will rule it out, but they are separate kitchens and different menus. 

It was good to attend L'aqua and Gunner's Barracks in the same weekend, as both venues are fresh in our mind we could clearly see what we were giving up at L'aqua to have our wedding there. Hopefully should have made our mind up by the end of this week about which venue we would like to go with.

Andy