Anyone that knows me knows that I am a Kirrbilli markets fan and every month I make my way there to buy whatever takes my fancy. And since November last year, every month I’ve walked past Catalonia, stopped by the menu and wistfully gazed inside. Call it an infrequent OCD ritual. This month, I’ve booked it for a birthday dinner, my second of three.
With a successful pedigree (the two owners are ex Salt Yard in London and Victoria Rooms in Darlinghurst) they serve not your run of the mill Spanish Tapas but a more modern, exotic and sumptuous version with ingredients like Wagyu, Zucchini Flowers and Truffle shavings. It seems that servings are a little bigger than the Tapas I’ve had in Liverpool Street although of course as they’re Tapas they’re not large by any definition.
We’re seated on a Saturday night upstairs in a rather cozy, very dimly lit, warm sunset shaded room with a lovely Pomegranate coloured wallpaper on one wall. Tables are a little small but given that the plates of tapas aren’t that big, it’s not so much of an issue. I wish some restaurants would give bigger tables, indeed a friend of mine always books for 1-2 more people than are coming as she hates being squished. And as the light was so low, I must apologise for the pictures, we did our best but didn’t want to use the flash too much so as to disturb other patrons.
There are 5 vegetarian Tapas meals and a good selection of meats including delectable sounding seafood. Indeed one of the vegetarian meals sounds so lovely that it makes it way onto the meat eaters order: the Zucchini Flowers with blue cheese mousse and honey.
Zucchini Flowers with blue cheese mousse and honey $14.50
Being tapas, the food arrives pretty quickly and in a timely fashion, with waves of 3 dishes so that it doesn’t overcrowd the table. The Zucchini flowers, 4 per plate with batons of deep fried zucchini underneath are as good as they sound. Actually, scratch that, they’re even better. Crunchy with tempura batter on the outside they are fried to perfection with an oozing mousse of blue cheese inside. If any dish could convince someone to turn vegetarian, it’s this.
Manchego croquettas with wild mushrooms and wilted greens $14.50
I try some of the croquettas and the filling is superbly soft and creamy. Rather close to one of my favourite foods in Japan, the cream croquette. Yes if I were from the vegetarian society I’d also have this in my arsenal for converting meat eaters.
Scallops with truffled potato mash, jamon and sofrito dressing $18.50
The Scallops with truffled potato mash, jamon and sofrito dressing are three fat juicy scallops, just how I like them, on a fat squiggly bed of creamy truffled mash. The jamon are those thin strips of crisped ham dotted as exclamations on top of the potato. OK yes I’m back on the meat eater’s side. I can’t give up dishes like this.
Pear, pomegranate and valdeon cheese salad $14.50
This is a favourite of the vegetarians although I have to admit, it didn’t do much for me. I dislike bitter leaves like endive and red cabbage and the valdeon cheese, a cow and goat’s milk blue cheese and the pomegranate and pear aren’t enough to make me love it.
Spanish Cheese plate $16.50
The Spanish cheese plate comes with the Valdeon blue cheese (the same cheese that they used to stuff the Zucchini flowers and the one used in the aforementioned salad), an Artavaggio, a Mahon cheese (a cow’s milk cheese from the Island of Menorca), wild figs and a date and walnut roll. I’m not a huge cheese eater, I enjoy it but I can stop after a couple of small wedges. It get the approval from the vegetarians though.
Jerusalem Artichoke tortilla with romesco sauce $11.50
The Jerusalem Artichoke tortilla with romesco sauce is an fairly interesting tortilla, mainly because of the sauce, a much more complex and interesting alternative to a straight tomato based sauce. It’s a sauce full of nuts, bread, tomatoes, vinegar and chili and I think I can taste capsicum too.
Guinea Fowl Bisteeya with quince salad $17
The Guinea Fowl Bisteeya with quince salad is similar to the B’stilla I had at Alhambra. It’s slightly sweetened with a light dusting of icing sugar although less sweet than Alhambra’s version, and the Guinea Fowl is beautifully soft inside.
Morcilla stuffed Squid with lentils and saffron aioli $16
The Morcilla stuffed Squid with lentils and saffron aioli is topped with a green shaded tempura of the squid tentacles, crisp and delicious. The stuffed squid itself is very good although the squid casing is a little tough but the filling is delicious as are the pebbly black lentils which have a delicious curry and saffrony aroma.
Crispy Pork Belly with chickpeas and quince aioli $17
The Crispy Pork Belly with chickpeas and quince aioli was cut into 4 pieces each showing the multi layered ripples of fat, meat and melt in the mouth crackling. The quince aioli should be bottled and sold, it was so perfect for this dish and I’m sure many others and this is the kind of dish that the meat eating council would use as a counterpoint to the pro vegetarian lobby. You just couldn’t eat this and convert to vegetarianism. And I’m not even a big fan of eating fatty pork.
Patatas Bravas $10.50
After all of this exquisite and unusual tapas, it’s no surprise that Patatas Bravas receives a lukewarm welcome. It’s not bad but compared to the other delicacies, it’s just not going to be able to compete. It’s Eric the Eel, that is, it’s in the race but just never going to win.
Braised Wagyu Beef Shin with parsnip adn vanilla bean puree and coffee soil $17.50
The last dish to arrive is the braised Wagyu beef shin with a rather interesting accompaniment, coffee soil. It looks like soil indeed though thankfully it doesn’t taste like it as it’s a combination coffee, sugar and ground nuts. The wagyu itself is fall apart soft and gelatinous in texture but lacking a little seasoning. The coffee soil is not what I would choose to season it and I am unconvinced about it on this plate. I feel the Wagyu needs salt rather than sugar.
As we leave, they run after us, asking what the photos are for as they were worried that we were neighbours taking footage as they’d received noise complaints. Why a noise complaining neighbour would be taking picture of the food itself eludes us. When we explain they are apologetic and inquire how we found our meal. It’s a little odd, although perhaps they feel that a happy diner is a neighbour that doesn’t complain about noise?
Catalonia Spanish Restaurant
Shop 2, 31A Fitzroy Street, Kirribilli 2061,
Tuesday 6pm-10pm
Wednesday - Saturday noon-10pm
Sunday noon-8.30pm
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5 Comments | Add your own
Hi NQN - I agree I think Catalonia is a fab new find and breaks up the Thai restaurant mafia in Kirribilli!
Agree that the wagyu beef was lovely but didn’t understand the reason for the ’soil’. Oh, and I had the churros for dessert which was delicious, except that Philippe decided he liked it too and ate half of mine
Looks great, if only they had large sizes!
Hi Teena-Yes I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked the food.
The soil seemed odd, I didn’t like the sweetness against the Wagyu, I thought it needed salt as ours was underseasoned. Perhaps, they liked the idea of putting “soil” on the menu as a conversation point? It might be more successful with the churros where coffee soil would would very well. Haha well if it was his Churros, he wouldn’t have shared them with you!
Hi Popeye-Hehe yes alas it was tapas but they were reasonable sized for Tapas. Sometimes you get the small bowls and you think, “Wow, that’s pretty tiny for $15″
Hello
Thank you for sharing this birthday dinner
I love that canvas on the wall. I don’t know if it’d have the same effect on me in real life.. but I find it kind of peaceful. It reminds me of being in a plane, looking down on the clouds (one of my favourite type of moments.. especially at sunset).
I wouldn’t have been able to pass-up that zucchini flower dish.. and I’ve actually *never* eaten them before, but both my husband and I are very keen to try them. Especially done exactly like this.. the way you had them.
Mmmm, croquettas (or croquette’s).. I just love anything that seems to be wrapped in a crepe.. crumbed and fried.. with a lovely soft filling. I had a ‘Pan roll’ last night (Indian takeaway)..and loved that it reminded me of a croquette. Another dish I really loved once that shares that crispy exterior/soft interior was from my cookery studies days and I was taught to make “Pommes Dauphine”.. mashed potato mixed with choux pastry and deep-fried… Gosh.. I don’t think I had ever tasted anything so good. I have never made it since and I don’t know why! I don’t have a deep-fryer for starters.. but I know I could improvise. Maybe I should try it one day soon? Sorry.. got carried away because of the croquettas!
My hubby is a huge fan of scallops but can give prawns a miss easily. I’m the other way ’round being a big fan of prawns and I find that though scallops are very nice.. I usually give them a miss. Maybe because I have ordered and received substandard scallops far more than when I’ve ordered prawns? That scallop dish looks divine. *Well described* with the jamon dotted like exclamations!
I’m with you on the bitter leaves.. and regarding that cheese platter… For some reason I never like it when one ingredient keeps popping-up all over the menu, just like how you mentioned the Valdeon cheese appeared more than once. ie. If a restaurant is economising by slow braising cheap cuts of meat and then marking it up by 500% because it might have a vanilla bean in it, then fine.. I can still have the illusion I’m buying something special. But when I see one ingredient being economically utilised across a menu.. it’s just too in-my-face. Mr/Ms Restaurant manager, don’t show me how you’re saving a buck when I’m paying near $20 for an entree.. that sort of thing. Don’t use your cheese 3 ways and reveal that on the menu. It makes my mind wander.. “Did someone give them a damaged wheel of cheese for half price”? That might sound spoiled or extreme.. but I just don’t like it in a fine dining atmosphere.. or even a fine-ish dining atmostphere. ((Gets off soap box — though I noted the quinces featured twice too!)) ;-)I thought that date and walnut roll was black pudding actually.
My eyes were drawn to that tortilla because it looked like an upside down crepe dish.. like the bottom of a Miss Marple.. baked with some heavenly filling. A very interesting sounding dish!
Interesting also is how the squid tentacles were done in a tempura batter..and sat on top like a garnish! I made stuffed squid once. I bought the squid tubes because they were reasonably priced and I had to come up with a recipe. This was over 15 years ago.. so there was no internet. I think I borrowed from a Hungarian stuffed capsicum recipe..(being Hungarian myself). I parboiled the rice.. and mixed that with a garlicky pork mince mixture.. and stewed it for ages in a red capsicum sauce. The dish (if I do say so myself) was perfect, I was a bit gobsmacked and wished I had been cooking it for guests or something. I was convinced I wouldn’t be able to do it again.. I didn’t write down the recipe as it happens either. But somehow the pork and squid and the sweetness of the sauce worked.
I’ve come to the realisation that I don’t really like chickpeas IN a dish as the support act. I love hommus.. I love chickpea curry’s and chickpea patties.. But yeah.. they don’t really appeal otherwise. I’ll eat them..but I’ll be wishing they were something else. I like to munch on roasted/seasoned chickpea’s too.. like chips!
I’m trying to imagine how many ‘f’ words Gordon (Ramsay) would use being served a beef dish with coffee soil. It sounds like a nice combo of ingredients.. like something that would be great over some creme fraiche or over a cheesecake (or some icecream) possibly.. but yeah.. I think they were just being too fancy with that one. I’m yet to try wagyu beef.. so that’s on the ‘to do’ list too.
Poor Patatas Bravas… it didn’t stand a chance.. lol!
Has anyone ever asked you to stop taking photo’s before in a restaurant situation?
Hi Maria-Those canvasses were gorgeous. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a piece of art in a restaurant and thought “mmm I’d like that” but I definitely like that. I can see what you’re saying with the plane view completely.
Zucchini flowers are just gorgeous when they’re stuffed and deep fried. They’re so delicate and pretty and the perfect vehicle for the cheese stuffing.
Haha yes I think I am obsessed with the crispy exterior/soft interior contrast. It’s always so nice to bite into something and be pleasantly surprised by the inside texture. The Pommes Dauphine sound divinely decadent! Forget low carb then most definitely
I don’t’ deep fry anything myself as I am terrified of getting oil splatter on me but my mum loves deep fried food so I just ask her to make it. She doesn’t have a deep fryer though she uses a regular heavy based scanpan.
Ahh ok, you see I’d vote for scallops over prawns only just. I adore seafood though so I’m happy to eat almost anything. If you get a really well cooked fat and juicy scallop, well I feel like I’ve won the jackpot. But there’s nothing worse than when a restaurant cuts a fat scallop in halves or thirds and serves that to you so that you think you’ve gotten more scallops than you actually have (cough cough Garfish!).
I’m not sure why they doubled, or in fact trebled up on the Valdeon cheese. I don’t know how many Spanish cheeses there are out there. Surely there can’t be that few good quality ones?
Yes I agree, the tortilla does look like a crepe. It wasn’t filled like one though and it was more omelette than crepe so you might have been a bit disappointed after an initial excitement
Can I be so bold as to say that I think that the chickpeas under the pork with the aioli might be able to persuade you to revise your stance on chickpeas as a support act? They were really good!
Yes I’m sure Gordon would’ve had a field day with the soil. And I’d have to say I agree with him!
Only once, at Rise restaurant they just asked us not to use flash for other guest’s enjoyment but they didn’t ask us to stop taking photos. I didn’t mind, it would’ve been quite distracting as the flash would’ve gone off like mad at it was so dark so I understood. However a large party walked in after we left and they were taking lots of photos of each other and they didn’t say anything to them. Hmmm?
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