Garden Court (Sofitel Wentworth) - Sydney, NSW 16/08/10

After a long working day on Monday and checking into my new hotel on Monday night I really couldn't be bothered going further than the hotel restaurant for dinner. Sometimes this can be hit and miss. I figured the Sofitel with all it's faux French behaviour was at least worth my while so I headed on down to Garden Court.Apart from the absolute douche bag who was sitting at the table beside me (and who I very nearly launched my knife at) the ambiance was quite nice. Dimly lit but not enough that it was difficult to read your menu or see your plate in front of you. Eating alone I ordered my meals quickly and waited for the entree to arrive. Not long had I been sitting there but the waiter arrived with an amuse bouche. An amuse bouche (for those who don't watch cooking programs as religiously as I do) is a single bite-sized hors d'oeuvre. Or as I have seen the most commonly a shot size glass of soup. And that was the case at Garden Court.

Carrot with ginger and kafir lime.

Super tasty - I wanted more. Maybe not a full serving of it but if I was out to dinner with someone else and they didn't want theirs - I'd take one for the team.


Yamba prawn wrapped in Spanish jambon cru
Kifpler potato, green bean, kalamata olives, red onion, boiled quail egg, herb dressing

To be honest the parts of this dish that *weren't* the prawns wrapped in jambon were the best. Disappointing.

Braised Bundawarrah pork belly
Caramelised apples, parsnip puree and chips, natural jus

I LOVE pork belly. If I found a good pork belly I would shout it from the rooftops. This was not worth shouting about. The pork belly was dry and the crackling was chewy. The parsnip *chips* were shards of parsnip - and lethally sharp.

I'm not lining up to eat at the Garden Court again. The staff were snooty, the other patrons obnoxious and the food all around disappointing. On the upside their beds are comfy :)