Bistro Lilly, Sydney

I know I've told you about my lovely readers many times before. My readers and my compulsion to blog are the reason that I have this site so when a lovely reader told Bistro Lilly about my blog and suggested they invite me to eat, I was the unwitting beneficiary of this generous moment of magnitude. Bistro Lilly was in truth a place Mr NQN and I had tried to book for an anniversary one year but it was closed for a function so when I tell him we are going to go there a look of fear flashes across his face "Weren't we supposed to go there once for our anniversary? What happened?" fearing that it was he who forgot to book. I assure him that there wasn't a problem (it was booked for a function).

It's a warmly lit place on the bridge end of King Street, right near the bridge. I'm greeted by Marc who has invited me there and we sit down and have a look at the menu whilst sipping some sparkling wine and carbon neutral sparkling mineral water from New Zealand. We ask for recommendations as it's hard to narrow the choices down.

We first start with the bread which is a welcome sight with a head of oven baked garlic sliced across to reveal softer than soft sweet garlic pearls which we spread on the bread and dip in the olive oil and balsamic.

Our amuse bouche is a honey roasted butternut pumpkin and carrot soup with chives and a lemon myrtle oil. It's nice and sweet with the pumpkin and chives being the strongest flavours but I think it might benefit from a smoother consistency as there are tiny pieces of carrot in it.

The brioche crumbed zucchini flowers are stuffed with sweet, aromatic crab meat and are a nice change from goat's cheese field tempura ones that we often see. The Shellfish rouille is a scarlet shaded sauce and is very lightly spicy.

The fat, juicy Queensland Scallops are very good and not overcooked inside at all. The jus lardonnaise is a jus presumably flavoured with lardons (bacon).

Our mains arrive and the beef looks impressive with an eye fillet resting on a bed of mash. There are three pieces of sliced king mushroom and a fat perfect looking ravioli. The beef is delicious-not a hint of gristle it is soft and tender and cooked just as we ordered it. The ravioli is filled with sweet beef cheek and the red wine based grenache sauce is the ideal sauce for this (I just wish there was a touch more).

The crisp skinned confit of duck leg is very soft and fork tender as it should be. I particularly like the accompaniment of the caramelised apples and sweet chestnuts (ok yes I ate more chestnuts than I should have). The braised savoy was also a nice accompaniment.

At first spoonful one would think that this was a lemon sorbet but after a few mouthfuls Mr NQN thinks that he can taste some champagne.

The apple tart, one of my favourite desserts is rather splendid indeed. With puffy layered buttery puff, sliced and prettily arranged apples and a scoop of rich vanilla bean ice cream I take my entitled half not giving up an inch.

We choose two of the cheeses, the blue and the triple creme brie and they're delicious with the warm, toasted fig bread, pear and grapes. _It's a lovely end and we leave well satisfied. _

_NQN and Mr NQN dined as guests of Bistro Lilly

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Bistro Lilly

168 Kent Street, Sydney NSW

Tel: +61 (02) 9252 1116

http://www.bistrolilly.com.au