Eats: Degustation at Amuse Restaurant, Perth

While we were visiting family in Perth recently, we had the opportunity to drop by the best restaurant the city has to offer for a belated Valentine dinner celebration.

Making last minute reservation at Amuse wasn't easy. When Hubs's uncle first called to make the reservation on our behalf, he was informed by Amuse that the restaurant is fully booked for February and March and the earliest seating was April! That's how popular they were. Hubs's uncle put us on waitlist, just in case someone cancels. And lady luck was smiling on us! :)) Couple of days later, we got our table at Amuse for the night of 26th February at 630pm! Yay!!!

When we finally got there, I was expecting a swanky, upmarket restaurant. However, Amuse is housed in a single storey house that has been converted into a commercial lot. Its location on Bronte Street in East Perth is very unassuming, looking like its more suited for apartment complex. Amuse on the inside has a minimalist design - simple white chairs with fuss-free wooden tables in walnut and white wall panelling.

Once we were seated, we were presented a sealed envelope which contains the menu of what we are going to eat that night. Amuse presents a 10 course degustation menu at AUD 130 per person with optional wine pairing at AUD 80 per person. When Hubs's uncle made the reservation for us, he had requested a wheat free menu for me. And so I'm really grateful to see that my menu for that night had been specially tailored to my needs. Hubs got an "Omnivorous" menu. Lol! The staff who served us that night was also attentive to check again with us if there's anything that we don't eat before we commence our gastronomic journey that night. :)

This is our first course for the night. On the left: Rosemary flowers, sour cream and blood limes on crisp (which for me was a wheat-free option) and on the right: Carrot, walnut and hyssop

And the third part of our first course: Pumpkin, curry leaf and beurre noisette. Everything on this course is lovely, and we especially love the pumpkin served out of a jar. I took my time to spoon bits by bits and was almost disappointed when I finished the pumpkin.

Next came the bread. Hubs got a sourdough (on the left) while mine was a wheat free bread, served with olive oil and butter. I tasted almond nibs and some spices in mine and I'm so overjoyed to be able to eat bread again after such a long time. Lovely though it was, I didn't stuff myself because I wanna leave a lot of stomach space for the next 9 courses!

 And now to the main courses. Both of us really liked it how the Chef slowly builds up the palate from light to heavier tasting stuff towards the end of the mains. First up is a bit of a salad - Tomato, goats's cheese and tomatillos.

This was followed by Marron, fennel and avocado. Both of us were excited by this dish simply because a day earlier at Araluen Botanic Park, we spotted a lobster-like looking creature, taking up residence in a freshwater pond. My sister-in-law's girlfriend pointed out to us that it was a marron, a freshwater crayfish. As you can see here, there's a tiny marron claw that's cooked while the rest were sashimi style. Can't say which one I liked best, because both were very yummy.

Next up was Egg, mushroom and pine nuts. I gotta say this is probably gets my vote of best dish of the night. It's actually runny eggs with mushrooms, pine nuts and bits of deepfried chicken skin as garnish. To top it off there was a toasted bread (again wheat-free option for mine) stick. Opening the jar was magical. I opened mine first and hence did not know what to expect. As I lift the lid, I was hit by a waft of smokey-flavoured steam, almost like opening up a magical box. Lol! All the ingredient went really together in this dish, especially the chicken skin. Yum! Hubs being the pragmatic, joked that "I can't believe we are eating telur setengah masak!" Well it was an ingeniously done one, methinks.

A fish course was up next - Goldband snapper, beetroot and leek. We both didn't like this dish very much. I personally felt that the texture of the fish was a bit rough. And of course, I don't really fancy beetroot.

The Pork, prawn and popcorn is next. The prawn is fresh and succulent although I didn't particularly like the pork and thought that it was a bit heavy for this dish. The dusting of crushed popcorn added a nice texture to the dish. 

Our final main course was Venison, rustleberries and wattle. When the venison was presented to us, we heard words like berries, and coffee in the explanation and really wondered how all of this would taste in one single dish. And surprisingly, they did really well. The venison was perfectly cooked, and went really well with the rustleberry sauce and coffee wattle crunch.

 Before we started our desserts course, we were served a passionfruit meringue as a palate cleanser. Although tart but it wasn't too sharp to taste and certainly cleanse our palate before the desserts. :)

Our first dessert course was Grapes, coconut and ginger. At first look, we both thought those whitish chunks were pop corn. But actually they were pops of coconut and ginger ice cream. And hidden among them are carbonated grapes. Absolutely clever and fun to eat!

Next up is Pear, pecan and vanilla. Again another amazing feat of a dessert. Everything on this dessert is perfectly done and round up the experience.

And the finale piece, Tisane and treats.  When it was first presented, I was more intrigued by the plates of stones. Cleverly disguised among them are two pieces of white chocolate, shaped and coloured like little pebbles. If you haven't guess which are these, they are the two lighter grey "pebbles" right in the center. The other treats are sugared lemon jelly and sugared blueberries. And with a peppermint tisane to complete that night experience.

In total, Hubs paid AUD 250 for the meal. It has been nothing short of an amazing gastronomic experience. We were served really well by the staff - they took time, including some of the chefs who served us our meals to explain each dish and one can really see Amuse use all Australian produce.

I think Hubs's summed up his experience really well - "Whenever I watch Masterchef, I've always wondered what do the judges mean when they say 'Everything in this dish comes together.'' Certainly that night, we left wondering no more. :)