Tonight my fiancée and I were celebrating our anniversary and what better place to head to than La Grillade, a stunning French restaurant in Crows Nest, Sydney.
Situated on the corner of Albany and Alexander Streets, La Grillade is an expansive restaurant set within a rustic farmhouse-style dining room and covered courtyard with exposed wooden beams, whilst smaller side rooms by the entrance provide cosier and intimate dining experiences for couples.
Now owned and operated by Husband and Wife team George and Ann who ran The Little Snail Restaurant for more than 20 years, La Grillade offers a comprehensive menu with a focus on French style cooking. Besides the A La Carte menu, diners can also choose from the three course set price menu at $69 per person, a more affordable dining experience.
As we had the Entertainment Card, this allowed us to receive one main meal for free so we dined off the A La Carte menu. There were a variety of entrees to choose from, but the one that immediately caught my eye was the Duck Liver Pate for $18. Other entrees included the Canadian Scallops for $25, the Snails in the shell (12) which are marinated in red wine, sizzled with garlic parsley butter ($18) and Octopus Salad.
For mains, I decided upon the Filet Mignon (250g) (Manning Valley Grass fed Tenderloin MSA, wrapped in bacon served with a medley of exotic mushrooms and veal sauce) for $49. Other main dishes included a Wagyu Fillet Steak, Coq au vin and Duck Breast. There is also the House Speciality to consider which is the Lamb Shoulder, slow cooked for 14 hours to serve two ($82). The lamb is herb crusted and comes with tzatziki with a side of rosemary and garlic sauce and this looked fantastic as it was brought out for another couple in the room.
All main dishes are served with steamed vegetables and we also order some beer battered chips ($8) to accompany our meal.
La Grillade has an extensive wine menu of both local and French wines, whilst you can order by the glass or bottle. The restaurant is also BYO licensed so you bring in your own bottle if you prefer. Besides wine, you can also purchase beer, champagne and cocktails.
A waitress took our orders and it didn’t take too long for our entrees to arrive. My Duck Liver Pate was served with a good amount of croutons to accompany my pate, with some gherkins on the side. The pate was extremely smooth with some sweet port jelly on top and I really enjoyed this!
Next up was our Filet Mignons (you guessed it, we both wanted this dish!) and they looked extremely appetising and well-sized as they arrived at our table. This was served with a selection of green beans, snow peas, carrots and zucchini as well as plenty of beer battered chips.
The Filet Mignon was beautifully cooked to my liking of medium rare, with the beef still pink inside. There was a spicy pumpkin puree, as well as mushrooms on the side with a rich veal sauce. The waitress also provided us with a selection of mustards, and I chose English Mustard, forgetting how hot English mustard really is! Phwoar, that is definitely hot so be careful if you order this one!
Overall, we had a wonderful French meal and decided on just two courses as we both didn’t fancy dessert. Some of the desserts included French classics such as Crème Brulee, Classic Crème Caramel and Vanilla Bean Pannacotta.
La Grillade is a very homely setting and a wonderful place for a romantic meal. Prices are affordable if you have the Entertainment Book or go for the $69 set price menu. Otherwise, it makes a good setting for a special occasion.