Date attended: 16 December 2015 Style: Pop Up Restaurant Cuisine: Modern Australian What to look out for: The "Photato"
“I imagined it was going to be a dark, and unsophisticated place. As I pushed the door wide open, I was wrong. So very wrong.”
Café Paci (pronounced Pah-see) is quite an intriguing restaurant. For some, it may be difficult to find so you’d be forgiven for not finding this place at first. Once you start exploring the area, you’ll soon see a small door way leading you to a flight of stairs, only to find another door. Not only did it have my attention, it had my curiosity as to what I should expect when I opened the door. I mean, 2 doors and a dodgy stairwell that felt like an underground carpark you see people get stalked at is a scene straight from a movie! I imagined it was going to be a dark, and unsophisticated place.
As I pushed the door wide open, I was wrong. So very wrong.
You are rewarded with Café Paci's bar after the cardio-induced flight of stairs
The start of all degustations: a serving of homemade Rye Bread and Butter
The Amuse Bouche
Here’s a closer look
Part of the Amuse Bouche: Homemade Tacos w/ Egg, Onions and Chives
Blue Swimmer Crab, Carrot, Tarragon
Top view of the Blue Swimmer Crab, Carrot, Tarragon dish
Veal Tartare, Smoked Bone Marrow, Broccoli, Onion
Roast Lettuce, Bonito Butter, Pomelo, Nori
“Photato” – Potato “Pho” Noodles, Wagyu Beef, Enoki Mushrooms, Shaved Garlic Crisps, Watercress
Gorgonzola Cheese with Dehydrated Chocolate Mousse and Toasted Sesame covered Quince Paste
Dehydrated Chocolate shards
Gorgonzola Cheese
Toasted Sesame covered Quince Paste
Dessert time: Carrot, Yoghurt, Liquorice
… And this is the inside!
Pear and Parsley: guess which one is the Pear, and which is the Parsley?
Believe it or not, this was the Pear tasting one! The Sorbet sitting on a soft meringue was Parsley
Last dish for the night: Corn and Butter (left) and Pork and Fennel (right)
Close up on that Corn and Butter: consists of Fairy Floss and powered Butter Popcorn
Close up of the Pork and Fennel: Pork Crisp coated with Chocolate and Fennel seeds
What Lexxie Says: This degustation was an interesting experience; for my mouth. Overall, there were more hits than misses.
Veal Tartare. In terms of positives, it was a very fresh dish. However the amount of broccoli on the plate drowned the subtle fresh taste of veal and onion. If they toned down the broccoli a bit, it would’ve been quite harmonious. Though in hindsight, the smell of veal can be quite pugnent in smell so the copious amount of broccoli may have been used to mask or dull the smell.
The Pork Crisp covered in Chocolate towards the end of the night left me… I don’t know, confused? I didn’t know what to make of it. Either way, it was quite the experiment that I’m glad to say I’ve tried; and would try again – but maybe in a different concept.
Moving on to the positives, the Amuse Bouche in the beginning of the degustation were interesting and the flavours worked well. It was a great selection of starters to kick off the night.
The Blue Swimmer Crab, Carrot, Tarragon dish was pleasant. The carrots were slightly acidic and crunchy with each bite, and it hummed with the blue swimmer crab hiding underneath the carrots.
My 2 favourite dishes of the night were the Roast Lettuce, Bonito Butter, Pomelo, Nori and the Carrot, Yoghurt, Liquorice dessert. My friend and I thought that roast lettuce would be the boring dish. Obviously not as there was so much in-depth flavour within the lettuce. The texture of the lettuce remained crunchy and not soggy.
The other surprise was the Carrot, Yoghurt, Liquorice dessert. I admit, I’m not the biggest fan of liquorice. I thought to myself that this was going to be some odd dish to come out of the kitchen. And to my surprise, it was fluffy and creamy. The liquorice powder wasn’t overwhelming and the carrot resonated with the flavours. It was truly a well designed dish.
Special mentions to their signature dish: Photato. If you’ve had phở before, then you’d appreciate that this is an interesting take on it. Their noodles were made from potato strands so it had quite a bite to it.
Sadly, you won’t be able to experience Café Paci as they closed up before Christmas last year. Hopefully they’ll come back again in some way, shape or form.
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