Dinner @ Koots

I am loving this "truffle war". There's truffle on the menu at Koots!

The approach is simple but classic - two egg omelette filled with truffle and served with a leaf salad


No guessing that this was my starter. This is such a good way of serving truffle and really helps to show the truffle at its best. There's truffle slices on the inside surrounded by that still soft egg and the ones on the top are warmed by the omelette to help release their aromas - the scent as it is placed before you just makes you want to smile.


Paalo opted for the twice-baked Fourme d’Ambert blue cheese soufflé with caramelized shallots. Fabulous flavour and feather light.

For mains


Paalo chose the Roasted barramundi fillet with a king brown mushroom carpaccio & celeriac purée. The mushrooms had been slightly pickled.


I had the slow braise of Milawa free-range chicken with autumn mushrooms, chestnuts, scallions and glazed carrots. Tender meat, excellent flavours - I was particularly enamoured with the chestnuts and how well they combined with the mushrooms. 

We decided that it had been too long between cheese platters so we indulged in the Cheese Platter to share

It is seriously one of the best cheese platters around.

With our coffees we also ordered the petit fours


which consisted of the traditional Cannelés Bordelais, paper thin tuilles and a still warm madeleine that was devilishly good.

The details:

Koots
479 Glenferrie Road
Kooyong

Phone: 9822 3809

Open:
Lunch: Tuesday - Friday
Dinner: Tuesday - Saturday

web

www.koots.com.au

Dinner @ Koots

We're in a re-visiting mood - this time we're back at Koots. The previous time we were here the Australian open was on!

For starters we opt for classic French bistro fare:


Chicken liver parfait with toasted sourdough and walnut salad


Rabbit terrine with corchicons, caramelised onions and salad

For mains:



Paalo has the 400 gram aged beef rib eye with pommes cocottes, bordelaise sauce and bone marrow - a very generous serving of both rib eye and bone marrow.




Roasted venison loin with a sweet corn flan, brussel sprout and lardon sauté, raspberry gastrique - there's a lovely sweetness in both the flan and the gastrique that just works well with the venison.

We probably didn't need dessert but we found some lighter options on the menu:


Panna cotta with coconut ice-cream




Pain perdu of brioche and pistachio with roasted pear

Food, wine and service are all consistently good and our positive impression continues.

The details:
Koots
479 Glenferrie Road
Kooyong
Phone: 9822 3809

Open:
Lunch: Tuesday - Friday
Dinner: Tuesday - Saturday

Dinner @ Koots

Koots is located within a ball-toss of the famous Kooyong Tennis Courts, one-time home of the Australian Open. As the Australian Open is currently underway, it's appropriate that we are here tonight.

First impression is that it is quite a small place - one room that seats around 40, although there is also an outside dining area.

As we do enjoy our bubble, we order a bottle of 1998 Pol Roger.



I think Elle would approve of these champagne flutes!

The menu is also rather compact - a choice of 6 starters, 6 mains and 4 side dishes.

To begin:



Paalo chooses the Hiramasa Kingfish, drizzled with a citrus sauce and topped with shredded wakame and flying fish roe.


My starter was char-grilled quail with balsamic reduction and a mille-feuile of eggplant purée and tomato concasse.

For mains:


Paalo orders the Lamb rack with Capscium Cannelloni - the cannelloni is quite clever, they use the flesh of a roasted red capsicum to take the place of pasta.


My Choice: 150 day grain-feed sirloin with bercy butter and hand cut fries. The bercy butter was excellent a mix of softened shallots, white wine and parsley and was solid enough that it was only starting to melt as I received the dish. The meat, though cooked closer to medium than rare was well flavoured and tender.



We chose a side of these simple green beans, arriving piping hot and still with a nice bite to them. They had obviously been flashed cooked in a really hot pan.

Since this is a French restaurant, cheese is next



Cheese platter for Two - Swiss Gruyere, Brie, Fourme and Milawa King River Gold

The cheese came out at the perfect temperature - it has obviously been sitting out of the fridge and so was at it's best. The last thing you want to have is cheese served cold.

As we have a problem with choosing, we also opt for the dessert platter for two:


Dessert Platter:
From top, going clockwise: Creme Brulee, Peach sorbet, Strawberry and Berries with Berry Foam, Apricots Mille-feuille - in the centre Almond Financier.

A much more reasonably sized dessert than that offered at Wildflower.

The only thing that was a bit off-putting was that the restaurant was empty by 10pm! The waiter, when serving the dessert, told us it was normal for them and that there was no rush for us to finish.

Overall, the food was enjoyable, the service efficient. We will probably return and see if we can make it to 11pm!

The details:
Koots
479 Glenferrie Road
Kooyong
Phone: 9822 3809

Open:
Lunch: Tuesday - Friday
Dinner: Tuesday - Saturday