Meribella is the fine dining restaurant at the Crowne Plaza Terrigal Pacific hotel with sweeping views of Terrigal Beach and a fantastic new menu under the direction of the new chef Mitchell Beswick (formerly of Muse in the Hunter Valley). Find out what their signature dishes are and what is a must order!
It's the first truly warm Saturday in months when Mr NQN and I make the drive to the Central Coast for the Father's Day weekend. We are here to try Meribella restaurant, located on the first floor of the Crowne Plaza Terrigal Pacific. Chef Mitchell Beswick is the new Culinary Director and has created a new menu built around local producers on the Central Coast and surrounding areas.
What I wasn't prepared for was the view. Bathed in bright spring sunlight, the turquoise green of the ocean and the tan of the sand outside has probably stolen many people's attention and these colours are also reflected in the restaurant.
Diners can choose from two ($90) or three courses ($110) or a five course degustation menu ($145). During dinner and some lunches, the restaurant has a lovely sommelier Lisa available to match wines to your courses. It is $55 per person for matching wines for the five course degustation.
We also notice other diners are enjoying afternoon tea, some relaxing so much that they gradually sink down in the lounges for hours watching the view. Service is really lovely and helpful from everyone. After a glass of champagne, I sip on a fantastic cucumber spritz mocktail.
We are here to try 3 courses for lunch but if you're in the mood for some more snacks there are some additional items you can order at Meribella bar outside or before your meal. The fish fingers with pea cream, finger lime and Avruga caviar are spectacular although they may ruin you for any other fishfingers so just a warning!
The duck skewers are so much more than they sound. They're wonderfully succulent and tender and brushed generously with black garlic with mayonnaise. Fantastic, give me five!
Their bread is Baked Uprising sourdough from Newcastle and is served sliced and warm. It also comes with an incredible roast chicken and chive butter. We are so enamoured of the butter that I have plans to try and re-create this at home for Christmas. There are tiny pieces of roast chicken interspersed into the soft butter and a very generous amount of finely chopped chives on top.
The first course comes from literally outside the restaurant at Terrigal Beach where a local fisherman catches the bonito. Chef Mitchell Beswick jokes that the fisherman was probably fighting Terry the seal (who is resting outside on the rocks at the beach) for this catch. The bonito is lightly aged and marinated in soy and then lightly torched. Not a scrap goes to waste as all the bones are salted, smoked and then infused into cream to make a mousse. This is a fantastic dish with a balance between acidity and cream with a little bit of crunch from the puffed rice, pickled eschallots and sunrose.
The other entree is also stellar. It is a kangaroo tartare using young, wild red male kangaroos from the Paroo Darling region, far West of NSW. This kangaroo is younger and less gamey than grey kangaroo which is not graded according to age. Here it is lightly cured and then charred ever so slightly to give it a light smokiness and then combined with eschallot and traditional tartare flavours topped with purple daikon radishes, chervil and Jerusalem artichoke chips from Newcastle Greens farm and hung yogurt. This might be too good to not even share.
It's time for mains and Mr NQN has the bucatini pasta (made for them by Ormeggio in Sydney). This is paired with a buttery sauce with dainty little clams from South Australia and then crunchy breadcrumbs from their leftover sourdough to finish it. He loves the al dente texture of the pasta and the buttery sauce.
The most popular main is steak frites and once I try it I can understand why. The steak is a perfectly cooked sirloin sliced and then topped with a fantastic cafe de Paris butter with an onion jus and perfectly cut hand cut chips in a small pot. The steak is luscious without a trace of gristle or fat and the butter is a standout - so much so that we ask for the recipe. And it also has the perfect amount of fries for me! No notes.
Dessert comprises three selections plus cheese and we were intrigued by the wattleseed tiramisu which is made with wattleseed liqueur with white chocolate and home-made sponge with mascarpone. The wattleseed almost gives it a dried mushroomy aroma so it's an interesting version of tiramisu.
The brown butter cake is topped with a lime curd, finger limes for pop and shards of crisp, torched meringue and is a fresh finish to a rich meal.
So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever tried wattleseed in a dessert? What did you think? What's a restaurant dish you've loved so much that you immediately wanted the recipe?
NQN and Mr NQN were guests of Meribella but all opinions remain her own.
Meribella
Crowne Plaza Terrigal Pacific by IHG
Pine Tree Ln, Terrigal NSW 2260
Phone: 0488 394 963
Monday closed
Tuesday to Thursday 5:30-9pm
Friday and Saturday 12:30-3:30pm, 5:30-9pm
Sunday 1-3:30pm
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