Misc. is one of Parramatta's most beautiful restaurants set amongst lush greenery along the river in Parramatta Park. Come along as we try Misc's Mediterranean inspired menu and find out what is an absolute must order.
It's a sunny day when Laura and I arrive at Parramatta Gardens after a great night's staycation in Parramatta. The verdant gardens of Parramatta Park are home to Misc. a restaurant owned by Gogglebox personality Jad Nehmetallah.
The restaurant looks like a glasshouse and seats 300 with a large outdoor section that looks out onto the River as well as an indoor section. The menu is described as a bit of this and that (hence the name misc.) but with a focus on the Mediterranean. Service is very friendly and helpful.
We start with cocktails. The first is the Ignite with vodka, passion fruit, lime, sugar, elderflower and aquafaba that is set alight at the table. Watch the flames crackle and burn around the cocktail.
My cocktail is the Pop The Top is made with rum, apple juice, watermelon, and lime with a bubble on top. The fun is in popping the bubble and watching the smoke disappear and then sipping the delicious cocktail afterwards.
For food, we start with some snacks. The crispy tuna is a diamond of crispy rice topped with raw tuna on a crispy rice cake in seaweed tartar sauce. It just needs a little sprinkle of salt to bring out the flavour of this.
The Taramasalata Crostini (resembling a Very Hungry Caterpillar!) is topped with salmon caviar, cucumber slices and sesame on fried bread. It's crunchy, fresh and creamy thanks to the taramasalata.
The stone fired pita bread comes out puffed up and proud with salt sprinkled on top. You can order this plain or with your choice of four butters. We tried two of them: the black garlic and truffle butter, which has a sweetness to it although the truffle flavour is quite light in this. We also tried the French onion butter which has plenty of crispy shallots on top and French onion seasoning stirred through it. Both are delicious with the bread and it is hard to choose a favourite.
The bread goes perfectly with burrata with semi-dried tomato fondue, aged balsamic, and wild rocket. The tomato fondue is intense and the perfect sweet intensity for the creamy, milk burrata.
Next is the Prawn Toast on crumpet with a shallot mayo, bottarga and bonito flakes on top. This is luscious and saucy and I savour every bite. And because we are habitual tinkerers of food on the table we also love this with a bit of the tomato fondue from the burrata on top.
For mains, we try one of the baked rigatone with an alcohol-free vodka sauce, with ricotta, sugo and pomodoro. The alcohol-free vodka makes it halal but we don't get the peppery flavour that you get with vodka. I would have loved a bit of chilli or lemon on this just to pick it up a little bit.
The lamb shoulder is their signature dish. The lamb falls apart so easily and is fantastic on the house-made flatbread with some cucumber, parsley, sweet pickled onions, and zhoug sauce (a spicy green sauce with coriander). I can see why this is their signature dish as the lamb is cooked so beautifully.
Also make sure to get the seasonal vegetables with green goddess dressing and herbs. Today it is broccolini, which is nicely caramelised and the green goddess dressing has a bit of pickle juice in it to brighten it up.
It's time for dessert and the one that we saw coming out a lot was the tiramisu that is served straight from a large tray of tiramisu at the table. The biscuits are a bit wetter than others but overall it is lovely, soft and light.
For spectacular dessert try the Misc. caviar. This has such an eye catching presentation and is served in a large caviar tin with chocolate cake on the bottom then a layer of chocolate mousse and pop rocks above. On the very top is a layer of molecular gastronomy caviar beads made with gelatin and cherry.
But our favourite dessert out of them all is the pistachio fondant. Chocolate fondant is not something that we would normally order but change chocolate to pistachio and it is. This has an oozy intensely pistachioy centre with crushed pistachios on top. It tastes of pure pistachios and is served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. Sublime. And while we are eating the dessert, we are already planning a return visit for breakfast.
So tell me Dear Reader, what do you think of the food here? Are there any other Parramatta restaurants you recommend?
NQN and Laura were guests of Misc but all opinions remain her own.
Misc.
Little Coogee, Parramatta Park, Byrnes Avenue, Parramatta NSW 2150
Phone: (02) 9030 8668
miscparramatta.com.au
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